Tunnel diode circuit used as nanosecond-range time marker

Simple tunnel diode time marker circuit determines the time at which an event occurs in a scintillation crystal. It is capable of triggering at voltages as low as the noise level of a 10-stage PM tube

Towards precision medicine for hypertension: a review of genomic, epigenomic, and microbiomic effects on blood pressure in experimental rat models and humans

Compelling evidence for the inherited nature of essential hypertension has led to extensive research in rats and humans. Rats have served as the primary model for research on the genetics of hypertension resulting in identification of genomic regions that are causally associated with hypertension. In more recent times, genome-wide studies in humans have also begun to improve our understanding of the inheritance of polygenic forms of hypertension. Based on the chronological progression of research into the genetics of hypertension as the "structural backbone," this review catalogs and discusses the rat and human genetic elements mapped and implicated in blood pressure regulation. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from these genetic studies that provide evidence to suggest that much of the genetic influence on hypertension residing within noncoding elements of our DNA and operating through pervasive epistasis or gene-gene interactions is highlighted. Lastly, perspectives on current thinking that the more complex "triad" of the genome, epigenome, and the microbiome operating to influence the inheritance of hypertension, is documented. Overall, the collective knowledge gained from rats and humans is disappointing in the sense that major hypertension-causing genes as targets for clinical management of essential hypertension may not be a clinical reality. On the other hand, the realization that the polygenic nature of hypertension prevents any single locus from being a relevant clinical target for all humans directs future studies on the genetics of hypertension towards an individualized genomic approach

Corporate Dividend Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic

: In this paper, we examine the changes in corporate dividend policies during the COVID-19 shock. For empirical analysis, we employ annual data of 360 companies from the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 2015–2020. Using descriptive analysis and Logit regression models, we find that firms were more likely to either omit or reduce dividend payments during the pandemic year of 2020 as compared to the trends in pre-COVID-19 years of 2015–2019. Further, firms with higher profitability, asset turnover and size were less likely to opt for dividend omissions. On the contrary, dividend omissions were more likely among firms with higher debt ratios. The findings of this study helps to understand firm dividend policies during crisis periods

Ordinal-Level Phylogenomics of the Arthropod Class Diplopoda (Millipedes) Based on an Analysis of 221 Nuclear Protein-Coding Loci Generated Using Next-Generation Sequence Analyses

Background The ancient and diverse, yet understudied arthropod class Diplopoda, the millipedes, has a muddled taxonomic history. Despite having a cosmopolitan distribution and a number of unique and interesting characteristics, the group has received relatively little attention; interest in millipede systematics is low compared to taxa of comparable diversity. The existing classification of the group comprises 16 orders. Past attempts to reconstruct millipede phylogenies have suffered from a paucity of characters and included too few taxa to confidently resolve relationships and make formal nomenclatural changes. Herein, we reconstruct an ordinal-level phylogeny for the class Diplopoda using the largest character set ever assembled for the group. Methods Transcriptomic sequences were obtained from exemplar taxa representing much of the diversity of millipede orders using second-generation (i.e., next-generation or high-throughput) sequencing. These data were subject to rigorous orthology selection and phylogenetic dataset optimization and then used to reconstruct phylogenies employing Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood optimality criteria. Ancestral reconstructions of sperm transfer appendage development (gonopods), presence of lateral defense secretion pores (ozopores), and presence of spinnerets were considered. The timings of major millipede lineage divergence points were estimated. Results The resulting phylogeny differed from the existing classifications in a number of fundamental ways. Our phylogeny includes a grouping that has never been described (Juliformia+Merocheta+Stemmiulida), and the ancestral reconstructions suggest caution with respect to using spinnerets as a unifying characteristic for the Nematophora. Our results are shown to have significantly stronger support than previous hypotheses given our data. Our efforts represent the first step toward obtaining a well-supported and robust phylogeny of the Diplopoda that can be used to answer many questions concerning the evolution of this ancient and diverse animal group

NCAM (CD56) Expression in keratin-producing odontogenic cysts: aberrant expression in KCOT

Background: Keratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) are a group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality. KPOCs included orthokeratinised odontogenic cyst (OOC) and parakeratotic odontogenic cysts, which are now considered true tumours denominated keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KCOTs). GLUT1 is a protein transporter that is involved in the active uptake of glucose across cell membranes and that is overexpressed in tumours in close correlation with the proliferation rate and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging results. Methods: A series of 58 keratin-producing odontogenic cysts was evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically in terms of GLUT1 expression. Different data were correlated using the beta regression model in relation to histological type and immunohistochemical expression of GLUT1, which was quantified using two different morphological methods. Results: KPOC cases comprised 12 OOCs and 46 KCOTs, the latter corresponding to 6 syndromic and 40 sporadic KCOTs. GLUT1 expression was very low in OOC cases compared with KCOT cases, with statistical significant differences when quantification was considered. Different GLUT1 localisation patterns were revealed by immunostaining, with the parabasal cells showing higher reactivity in KCOTs. However, among KCOTs cases, GLUT1 expression was unable to establish differences between syndromic and sporadic cases. Conclusions: GLUT1 expression differentiated between OOC and KCOT cases, with significantly higher expression in KCOTs, but did not differentiate between syndromic and sporadic KCOT cases. However, given the structural characteristics of KCOTs, we hypothesised that PET imaging methodology is probably not a useful diagnostic tool for KCOTs. Further studies of GLUT1 expression and PET examination in KCOT series are needed to confirm this last hypothesis. Keywords: Glucose transporter protein, Immunohistochemistry, Keratin-producing odontogenic cyst, Keratocystic odontogenic tumour, Orthokeratinised odontogenic cyst, Positron emission tomograph

Storytelling in Amy Tan’s The bonesetter’s daughter: belonging and the transnationality of home in older age

Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter is a fictional account of a Chinese American woman and her mother, a first generation migrant, who is negotiating dementia in later life. Analysis of diasporic novels can provide insight into migrant belonging, especially the emotional geographies of home and emotional subjectivities of ageing that are not commonly or easily elucidated even by qualitative interviewing methods. This article examines Tan’s construction of ageing as an intergenerational, cultural and emotional process, and highlights the role of storytelling as an everyday home-making practice through which the transnationality of home in older age becomes evident

Sensing the heat: Climate change vulnerability and foreign direct investment inflows

We investigate whether climate change vulnerability determines foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. We reason that multinational firms foresee a higher climate change vulnerability of host-country a locational disadvantage while making FDI allocation decisions. Utilizing annual data from 152 countries spanning the period 1996–2019 and employing the panel pooled ordinary least square regressions, we evidence that FDI inflows are lower in countries more vulnerable to climate change. We also observe that FDI inflows are only sensitive to climate-related risks in high- and middle-income countries, but not in low-income countries where the market size is a primary driver of FDI inflows. Moreover, we also find that host countries may weaken the adverse effects of climate change vulnerability on FDI inflows by strengthening the economic, institutional, and social environment

Sport, War and Democracy in Classical Athens

This article concerns the paradox of athletics in classical Athens. Democracy may have opened up politics to every class of Athenian but it had little impact on sporting participation. The city’s athletes continued to drawn predominantly from the upper class. It comes as a surprise then that lower-class Athenians actually esteemed athletes above every other group in the public eye, honoured them very generously when they won, and directed a great deal of public and private money to sporting competitions and facilities. In addition athletics escaped the otherwise persistent criticism of upper-class activities in the popular culture of the democracy. The research of social scientists on sport and aggression suggests this paradox may have been due to the cultural overlap between athletics and war under the Athenian democracy. The article concludes that the practical and ideological democratization of war by classical Athens legitimized and supported upper-class sport

Sensing the heat: Climate change vulnerability and foreign direct investment inflows

We investigate whether climate change vulnerability determines foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. We reason that multinational firms foresee a higher climate change vulnerability of host-country a locational disadvantage while making FDI allocation decisions. Utilizing annual data from 152 countries spanning the period 1996–2019 and employing the panel pooled ordinary least square regressions, we evidence that FDI inflows are lower in countries more vulnerable to climate change. We also observe that FDI inflows are only sensitive to climate-related risks in high- and middle-income countries, but not in low-income countries where the market size is a primary driver of FDI inflows. Moreover, we also find that host countries may weaken the adverse effects of climate change vulnerability on FDI inflows by strengthening the economic, institutional, and social environment