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Extracellular miRNAs serve as signal molecules in the recipient cells. Uptake of extracellular miRNAs by the recipient cells and their intracellular transport, however, remains elusive. Here we show RNA phase separation as a novel pathway of miRNA uptake. In the presence of serum, synthetic miRNAs rapidly self-assembly into ∼110nm discrete nanoparticles which enable miRNAs’ entry into different cells. Depleting serum cationic proteins prevents the formation of such nanoparticles and thus blocks miRNA uptake. Different from lipofectamine-mediated miRNA transfection in which the majority of miRNAs are in lysosomes of transfected cells, nanoparticles-mediated miRNA uptake predominantly delivers miRNAs into mitochondria in a polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase 1-dependent manner. Functional assays further show that the internalized miR-21 via miRNA phase separation enhances mitochondrial translation of Cytochrome b, leading to increase in ATP and ROS reduction in HEK293T cells. Our findings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism for uptaking and delivering functional extracellular miRNAs into mitochondria.SynopsisRNA phase separation-based extracellular miRNA uptake and PNPT1-mediated mitochondrial delivery of internalized miRNAsmiRNAs can self-assembly into ∼110nm nanoparticles to enter various cells in the presence of serummiRNA phase separation is mediated by serum cationic proteinsInternalized miRNAs via this nanoparticle pathway are predominantly delivered to mitochondriaMitochondrial delivery of the internalized miRNAs is mediated by PNPT1

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been found to be participated in the pathogenesis of DR in recent years. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is involved in many diabetic complications and ophthalmological diseases. However, the role of Gal-3 in RPE cells in DR remains unknown. This study aims to investigate the role of Gal-3 in ARPE-19 cells under high glucose treatment.ARPE-19 cells were cultured under normal or high glucose (HG) for 48 h. Expression of Gal-3 was inhibited by Si-Gal-3 transfection. Apoptosis was checked by flow cytometry. Oxidative stress was checked by measuring ROS, MDA levels, and SOD activities. Occludin and ZO-1 expression were checked by immunofluorescence staining. Genes involved in inflammatory response were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot.Gal-3 expression could be increased by HG treatment in ARPE-19 cells. Gal-3 knockdown might reduce oxidative stress, apoptosis, and gene expression of VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and integrin-β1 induced by HG treatment. The gene expression of IL-1β could be markedly promoted by HG treatment and this increasement was partly alleviated by Gal-3 knockdown only at the mRNA level. The reduced expression of ZO-1 and occludin caused by HG could also be improved by Gal-3 knockdown.Gal-3 participated in increased oxidative stress and inflammatory response caused by HG in ARPE-19 cells.

The present study aimed to explore the role of long non‑coding RNA metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (lncRNA MALAT1) in high glucose (HG)‑induced ARPE‑19 cell damage. ARPE‑19 cells were cultured and treated with HG (25 mmol/l glucose). MALAT1 expression was silenced following transfection of small interfering RNA. Cell apoptosis was measured using flow cytometry. The cellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase activity were all measured to examine oxidative stress. Gene expression levels of MALAT1 were determined by reverse transcription‑quantitative (RT‑q)PCR, while expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‑α, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP‑1), intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM‑1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was detected using RT‑qPCR and western blotting. MALAT1 expression was markedly increased in ARPE‑19 cells treated with HG. HG treatment caused increased apoptosis and elevated ROS‑induced stress in ARPE‑19 cells and these effects could be partly attenuated by MALAT1 knockdown. Increased gene expression levels of TNF‑α, MCP‑1, ICAM‑1 and VEGF induced by HG were also alleviated by MALAT1 inhibition. Therefore, lncRNA MALAT1 is the key factor in ARPE‑19 cell damage caused by HG and may be a promising therapeutic target for clinical DR therapy. However, further studies are still required to reveal the detailed mechanisms underlying lncRNA MALAT1 function.

In elastic optical network, lightpath provisioning using spectrum-assignment schemes and optical signal-to-noise-ratio (OSNR) model show that, while lowering fiber loss is always helpful, increasing fiber effective area beyond 110 μm2 does not improve spectrum efficiency.

We evaluate the spectrum efficiency and the cost of a G.654.E fiber based optical transmission system. Simulation results show that, for a 400G optical transmission system, using G.654.E fiber with 0.17-dB/km attenuation coefficient and 130-μm2 large effective area (Aeff) can achieve the best tradeoff between spectrum efficiency and system cost.

The study of the adsorption mechanism of 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride (CHPTA), which acts as an effective clay minerals hydration inhibitor, can provide an effective approach for the design of novel high-performance inhibitors with favorable molecular structures. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to investigate the adsorption mechanism of CHPTA on dry and hydrated montmorillonite (MMT) surfaces. The interactions between CHPTA, H2O, and MMT were systematically analyzed. It was found that CHPTA was mainly adsorbed on MMT by hydrogen bonds and especially electrostatic force and that the presence of Na ions favors the adsorption of CHPTA on the Na-(001) surface. In the presence of water molecules, the adsorption of CHPTA was promoted by H2O, which exhibited a cooperative adsorption effect by enhancing the MMT-CHPTA electrostatic force and by forming more hydrogen bonds and H Cl bonds among CHPTA, H2O and MMT.

The durable use of stainless steels depends on the formation of a protective chromium-rich oxide layer. To better understand the atomistic mechanism of surface oxide film formed on Fe-Cr alloy, the initial wet oxidation process on Fe-Cr alloy surface was investigated using ReaxFF molecular dynamic simulations. The oxidation process initiates from the adsorption and local dissociation of the water molecules near Cr atoms, followed by the segregation of Cr and the formation of cation vacancies on alloy surface. Meanwhile, the dissociated O and H atoms diffuse into the alloy substrate, which consequently facilitates to form a Cr-rich oxide layer. The compositions of oxide film possess distribution from Cr hydrates and hydroxides, Fe hydroxides and oxides to hydrogen ions with negative charge along depth. It was also demonstrated that there is a charge transfer between the metal atoms and hydrogen atoms. The effects of Cr content (0–20 at.%) and crystal surface orientation on the initial wet oxidation process were further discussed. These results can provide a microstructural understanding of the wet oxidation process on the surface of stainless steels from an atomistic point of view.

Evaluations of stress-induced cardiac functional alterations in adults after neonatal glucocorticoid (GC) treatment have been limited. In the present study, we evaluated adult cardiac functional recovery during postischemic reperfusion and measured cardiac gene expression involved energy metabolism in rats neonatally treated with dexamethasone (DEX). Male Wistar rats were injected DEX in first 3 d after birth and controls were received saline (SAL). At 24 wk of age, insulin tolerance tests were performed, plasma lipid levels were measured, and left ventricular function and myocardial infarct size were evaluated. Expressions of genes involved in cardiac energy metabolism were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot. In 24-wk-old rats, neonatal DEX administration caused dyslipidemia, impaired cardiac recovery function and increased size of infarction, decreased cardiac expression of glucose transporter 4(GLUT4), peroxisome proliferative-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) and ratios of phospho-forkhead box O1/forkhead box O1 (p-FoxO1/FoxO1) and phospho AMP-activated protein kinase/AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK/AMPK) but increased pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isoenzyme 4 (PDK4) expression compared with controls. Neonatal DEX administration impairs cardiac functional recovery during reperfusion following ischemia in 24-wk-old rats. Reduced cardiac glucose utilization may contribute to the long-term detrimental effects caused by neonatal DEX treatment.

We demonstrate unrepeatered transmission of 400Gb/s $(4\times 128Gb/s)$ over 557km and 100Gb/s over 590km distance with single fibre configuration using forward and backward ROPAs enabled by 2nd-order Raman pumping and large $A_{eff}$ ultra-low-loss fibre.

We demonstrate unrepeatered transmission of 8x128Gb/s PDM-QPSK signals over a 515k-m fiber link. This ultra-long distance of 800 Gb/s unrepeatered transmission in a single fiber configuration is achieved by employing enabling techniques such as large-effective-area ultra-low-attenuation fibers, co-propagating and counter-propagating 2nd-order-pumped distributed Raman amplification, and remote optically pumped amplifier (ROPA). The ROPA itself is also counter-propagating 2nd-order Raman pumped. The designs and characteristics of the ROPA and 2nd-order pumped distributed Raman amplification are described, and optimization of the transmission performance of this ultra-long reach 800Gb/s unrepeatered transmission fiber link is discussed in this paper.

We demonstrated 3.2-Tb/s (32 × 120-Gb/s) unre-peatered transmission over 445-km fiber with Aeff-managed-span. This was achieved by employing co-propagating second-order pumped Raman amplification and remote optically pumped amplifier, which was counter-propagating second-order Raman pumped. This letter also discusses design tradeoff on the nonlinear tolerance and Raman gain efficiency within Aeff-managed-span for performance enhancement of unrepeatered transmission.

To address the problems of low efficiency, pressure of high storage volume, decentralization of medical records and the like in the current management of medical records, an overall digital solution is provided; a uniform and complete medical record information management system is formed by digital scanning, digital archiving and digital medical record network transmission management. By adopting the system, the medical record information can be used more safely, more efficiently and more reasonably, and the working efficiency of the medical record management is, accordingly, significantly improved.

We experimentally demonstrate nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) between waves belonging to different spatial modes of a 5-km-long few-mode fiber (FMF). Of the three inter-modal FWM (IM-FWM) processes possible, two have been experimentally observed. These IM-FWM processes are found to be phase-matched over very large frequency separations of several Terahertz between the waves. In contrast to FWM in single-mode fibers that require operating near the zero-dispersion wavelength to achieve phase matching, IM-FWM in a FMF can be fully phase matched in the presence of large chromatic dispersion in each spatial mode.

We experimentally demonstrate a broadband nonlinear interaction between a data-modulated pump and an unmodulated probe occupying different spatial modes of a few-mode fiber. This nonlinear interaction is attributed to inter-modal cross-phase modulation (IM-XPM) and found to be maximum when signal and probe have similar group velocities. This can correspond to a few THz of wavelength separation between waves. The magnitude of the measured IM-XPM is found to be comparable to the measured intra-modal XPM with similar nonlinear coefficients. A comparison to a semi-analytical model of XPM shows good agreement with the measurements.

We transmitted five wavelength channels and six spatial and polarization modes over a 209-km-long hybrid few-mode fiber span. The fiber supports six spatial and polarization modes, and consists of a first section of large effective area depressed-cladding few-mode fiber followed by a graded-index few-mode fiber. The differential group delay is compensated by using fiber spools with differential group delay of opposite sign. Low-loss three-spot mode couplers are used to couple to the few-mode fiber, and backward pumped-distributed Raman amplification is used to overcome the fiber loss. The 40-Gb/s QPSK signals with an aggregate capacity of 1.2 Tb/s are recovered by coherent multiple-input-multiple-output off-line digital signal processing. The impulse response at various span lengths is compared and analyzed in detail.

We demonstrate mode-multiplexed transmission over all-fiber optically amplified spans of 215 km and 179 km for 3 and 6 spatial modes, respectively. The spans were amplified using two cladding-pumped few-mode fiber amplifiers. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a prototype mammalian NAD(+)-dependent protein deacetylase that has emerged as a key metabolic sensor in various metabolic tissues. Growing evidence suggests that SIRT1 regulates glucose and lipid metabolism through its deacetylase activity. In this review, we have summarized the recent progress in SIRT1 research with a particular focus on the role of SIRT1 in insulin resistance at different metabolic tissues. Recent data indicate that activated SIRT1 improves the insulin sensitivity of liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissues and protects the function and cell mass of pancreatic β-cells. These findings suggest that SIRT1 might be a new therapeutic target for the prevention of disease related to insulin resistance, such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

We demonstrated 70nm seamless band transmission of 173×128Gb/s QPSK signals over 40×100km of TeraWave™ fiber. The complementary Raman/EDFAs and wide-band single-stage discrete Raman amplifiers were used to achieve this 17.3Tb/s capacity ultra-wide single-band transmission.

We experimentally compare the system performance of 80 × 112-Gb/s DWDM transmission over large-area-fiber and SSMF spans. The large-area-fiber offers ~2.6 dBm higher optimum launch power with about 1.5dB Q2-factor improvement than SSMF at 32 × 100-km, and about 63% longer reach than SSMF.

We demonstrated 3.2-Tb/s (32×120-Gb/s) unrepeatered transmission over 445-km fiber with Aeff-managed-span. This was achieved by employing co-propagating second-order pumped Raman amplification and ROPA. This paper also discusses design trade-off for performance enhancement of unrepeatered transmission.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multifactorial disease, and its aetiology involves a complex interplay between genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. In recent years, evidences from both human and animal experiments have correlated early life factors with programming diabetes risk in adult life. Fetal and neonatal period is crucial for organ development. Many maternal factors during pregnancy may increase the risk of diabetes of offsprings in later life, which include malnutrition, healthy (hyperglycemia and obesity), behavior (smoking, drinking, and junk food diet), hormone administration, and even stress. In neonates, catch-up growth, lactation, glucocorticoids administration, and stress have all been found to increase the risk of insulin resistance or T2DM. Unfavorable environments (socioeconomic situation and famine) or obesity also has long-term negative effects on children by causing increased susceptibility to T2DM in adults. We also address the potential mechanisms that may underlie the developmental programming of T2DM. Therefore, it might be possible to prevent or delay the risk for T2DM by improving pre- and/or postnatal factors.

We transmitted 5 wavelength channels and 6 spatial-and polarization modes over a 184 km long hybrid span few-mode fiber span. Low-loss 3-spot mode couplers are used in combination with backward pumped distributed Raman amplification. The 40-Gbit/s QPSK signals with an aggregate line-rate of 1.2 Tbit/s were recovered by coherent multiple-input-multiple-output off-line digital signal processing.

We experimentally demonstrate a new manifestation of optical Kerr effect in multimode fibers. We show that nonlinear distortions between spatial modes of multimode fibers can be larger for channels that are well separated in wavelength than for channels in close proximity.

In this paper, we review special high bandwidth multimode fiber and their role in upgrade path of optical interconnection to 40Gbps and 100Gbps in green data centers and high performance computing.

We experimentally demonstrate multiple-input multiple-output transmission over a 700-km few-mode fiber of a combined 3-space-, 2-polarization-, and 34-wavelength-division multiplex, using low-loss 3-spot mode couplers.

Low differential group delay (DGD) between the modes of a graded-index few-mode fiber is obtained by combining segments with DGD of opposite sign. Transmission of mode-multiplexed 6×20-GBd QPSK over a record distance of 1200 km is demonstrated.