Kent State University

About: Kent State University is a education organization based out in Kent, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Liquid crystal & Population. The organization has 10897 authors who have published 24607 publications receiving 720309 citations. The organization is also known as: Kent State & KSU.

Complex societies precede moralizing gods throughout world history

Abstract: The origins of religion and of complex societies represent evolutionary puzzles1–8. The ‘moralizing gods’ hypothesis offers a solution to both puzzles by proposing that belief in morally concerned supernatural agents culturally evolved to facilitate cooperation among strangers in large-scale societies9–13. Although previous research has suggested an association between the presence of moralizing gods and social complexity3,6,7,9–18, the relationship between the two is disputed9–13,19–24, and attempts to establish causality have been hampered by limitations in the availability of detailed global longitudinal data. To overcome these limitations, here we systematically coded records from 414 societies that span the past 10,000 years from 30 regions around the world, using 51 measures of social complexity and 4 measures of supernatural enforcement of morality. Our analyses not only confirm the association between moralizing gods and social complexity, but also reveal that moralizing gods follow—rather than precede—large increases in social complexity. Contrary to previous predictions9,12,16,18, powerful moralizing ‘big gods’ and prosocial supernatural punishment tend to appear only after the emergence of ‘megasocieties’ with populations of more than around one million people. Moralizing gods are not a prerequisite for the evolution of social complexity, but they may help to sustain and expand complex multi-ethnic empires after they have become established. By contrast, rituals that facilitate the standardization of religious traditions across large populations25,26 generally precede the appearance of moralizing gods. This suggests that ritual practices were more important than the particular content of religious belief to the initial rise of social complexity. Belief in moralizing gods followed the expansion of human societies and may have been preceded by doctrinal rituals that contributed to the initial rise of social complexity.

Relations between pore structure parameters and their implications for characterization of MCM-41 using gas adsorption and X-ray diffraction

Abstract: Structural parameters for ordered mesoporous materials are shown to be strongly interrelated as a result of their well-defined structures. Equations for mesoporous materials with hexagonal arrays of uniform pores (e.g., MCM-41 and SBA-15) are presented, which can be used to calculate the pore size, pore wall thickness, and specific surface area on the basis of several quantities, which are easily available from X-ray diffraction and gas adsorption data (i.e., the interplanar spacing, primary mesopore volume, and micropore volume). The influence of assumptions about the pore shape, pore wall density, and the presence of microporosity or disordered nonmesostructured domains on the evaluation of structural parameters is examined. It is suggested that because of very large specific surface areas and primary mesopore volumes for many MCM-41 materials, the existence of extensive disordered domains is not a common feature of MCM-41. Examination of X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and nitrogen adsorption isotherm...

A Laboratory Investigation of the Effects of Cyclic Heating and Cooling, Wetting and Drying, and Freezing and Thawing on the Compressive Strength of Selected Sandstones

Abstract: Six different sandstones were studied to investigate and quantify the effects of heating and cooling, wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing (climatic changes) on their unconfined compressive strength values. The unconfined compressive strength was measured on NX-size (54-mm) core samples after subjecting them to 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 cycles of heating and cooling, wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing treatments. Results indicated that neither heating and cooling nor wetting and drying reduced the strength of the sandstones tested by any significant amount, but freezing and thawing did significantly diminish the strength of at least three of the six sandstones. The results also indicated that there is a range of porosity values (2 to 7 percent) over which significant deterioration occurs during multiple freeze-thaw cycles.

Nanophotonics for quantum optics using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Abstract: Optical microcavities and waveguides coupled to diamond are needed to enable efficient communication between quantum systems such as nitrogen-vacancy centers which are known already to have long electron spin coherence lifetimes. This paper describes recent progress in realizing microcavities with low loss and small mode volume in two hybrid systems: silica microdisks coupled to diamond nanoparticles, and gallium phosphide microdisks coupled to single-crystal diamond. A theoretical proposal for a gallium phosphide nanowire photonic crystal cavity coupled to diamond is also discussed. Comparing the two material systems, silica microdisks are easier to fabricate and test. However, at low temperature, nitrogen-vacancy centers in bulk diamond are spectrally more stable, and we expect that in the long term the bulk diamond approach will be better suited for on-chip integration of a photonic network.

Worker cooperatives as an organizational alternative: : Challenges, achievements and promise in business governance and ownership

Abstract: This special issue of Organization treats cooperatives as alternative forms of business and organization, focusing on worker-owned-and-governed forms. In reviewing extant research and considering t...