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Benefiting from ultrafast temporal resolution, broadband spectral bandwidth, as well as high peak power, passively mode-locked fibre lasers have attracted growing interest and exhibited great potential from fundamental sciences to industrial and military applications. As a nonlinear system containing complex interactions from gain, loss, nonlinearity, dispersion, etc., ultrafast fibre lasers deliver not only conventional single soliton but also soliton bunching with different types. In analogy to molecules consisting of several atoms in chemistry, soliton molecules (in other words, bound solitons) in fibre lasers are of vital importance for in-depth understanding of the nonlinear interaction mechanism and further exploration for high-capacity fibre-optic communications. In this Review, we summarize the state-of-the-art advances on soliton molecules in ultrafast fibre lasers. A variety of soliton molecules with different numbers of soliton, phase-differences and pulse separations were experimentally observed owing to the flexibility of parameters such as mode-locking techniques and dispersion control. Numerical simulations clearly unravel how different nonlinear interactions contribute to formation of soliton molecules. Analysis of the stability and the underlying physical mechanisms of bound solitons bring important insights to this field. For a complete view of nonlinear optical phenomena in fibre lasers, other dissipative states such as vibrating soliton pairs, soliton rains, rogue waves and coexisting dissipative solitons are also discussed. With development of advanced real-time detection techniques, the internal motion of different pulsing states is anticipated to be characterized, rendering fibre lasers a versatile platform for nonlinear complex dynamics and various practical applications.

The Southern California Twin Register at the University of Southern California (USC) was initiated in 1984 and continues to provide an important resource for studies investigating genetic and environmental influences on human behavior. This article provides an update on the current register and its potential for future twin studies using recruitment through school district databases and voter records. An overview is also provided for an ongoing longitudinal twin study investigating the development of externalizing psychopathology from childhood to young adulthood, the USC Study of Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior. Characteristics of the twins and their families are presented, including recruitment and participation rates, as well as attrition analyses and a summary of key findings to date.

AbstractBackgroundPrevious studies have shown that EDCs may activate nuclear transcription factor, such as activator protein-1 (AP-1), nuclear factor of activated Tcells (NF-AT) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in the process of immune damage. At the same time, some experts believed that estrogen may play an important role in this process. As a typical representative of EDCs, nonylphenol (NP) has not been reported. The aim of this work was to explore the relationship between the immune inflammatory damage and the changes in estrogen expression in male rats during the chronic exposure to NP at environmental concentrations. Sixty SPF Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into five groups (n = 12 per group): blank control group (corn oil), low-dose NP exposure group (0.4 mg/kg/d), medium-dose NP exposure group (4 mg/kg/d), high-dose NP exposure group (40 mg/kg/d), and estradiol control group (E2: 30 μg/kg/d).ResultsCompared with the control group, rat spleen organ coefficient, number of spleen nodules, relative area of lymph nodes and white pulp were relatively reduced in the L (NP, 0.4 mg/kg) and H (NP, 40 mg/kg) exposure dose groups (P < 0.001). Lymphocytes were rich in cytoplasm, mitochondria were swollen, part of the cristae was reduced, and rough endoplasmic reticulum was expanded. The serum levels of IgG (P < 0.001) and IgM (P = 0.002) showed a downward trend. The percentage of Th cells (CD3+CD4+) was significantly decreased (P < 0.001), and the percentage of B lymphocytes shows an opposite trend (P < 0.001). Giemsa staining showed that the number of neutrophils (P < 0.001) was increased. The expressions of estrogen receptor ER-α and ER-β protein in the spleen increased significantly (P < 0.001). The expressions of AP-1 protein and NF-AT protein in the spleen were increased, and the expression of NF-KB protein was decreased (P < 0.001). The expressions of IL-4, ER-α and ER-β (P < 0.001) levels in serum increased. The mRNA-seq bioinformatics detection showed the final differentially expressed immune-inflammatory-related genes between the control and H-NP groups as follow: down-regulated: TLR4, Gata3, IL12, up-regulated: TNF-a, IL10, INOS. The mRNA expressions of ER-α, ER-β, NF-KB, IL4, AP-1, TLR4, Gata3, and NF-AT were consistent with the results of mRNA-seq analysis. NP content was correlated with the expressions of ER-α, ER-β, IL4, AP-1, NF-AT, TLR4, NF-KB, as well as IL-12 proteins in the spleen tissue ([r] < 1,P < 0.05).ConclusionsChronic exposure to NP at environmental concentration could cause immune dysfunction, resulting in immunotoxicity and inflammatory effects, and lead to changes in the activity of transcription factors and differential immune inflammatory factors in rats.Graphical Abstract

Arranged Marriage: The Politics of Tradition, Resistance, and Change shows how arranged marriage practices have been undergoing transformation as a result of global and other processes such as the revolution of digital technology, democratization of transnational mobility, or shifting significance of patriarchal power structures. The ethnographically informed chapters not only highlight how the gendered and intergenerational politics of agency, autonomy, choice, consent, and intimacy work in the contexts of partner choice and management of marriage, but also point out that arranged marriages are increasingly varied and they can be reshaped, reinvented, and reinterpreted flexibly in response to individual, family, religious, class, ethnic and other desires, needs, and constraints. The authors convincingly demonstrate that a nuanced investigation of the reasons, complex dynamics, and consequences of arranged marriages offers a refreshing analytical lens that can significantly contribute to a deeper understanding of other phenomena such as globalization, modernization, international migration as well as patriarchal value regimes, intergenerational power imbalances, and gendered subordination and vulnerability of women