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.

Combining prehension and propulsion: the foot of Ardipithecus ramidus.

Abstract: Several elements of the Ardipithecus ramidus foot are preserved, primarily in the ARA-VP-6/500 partial skeleton. The foot has a widely abducent hallux, which was not propulsive during terrestrial bipedality. However, it lacks the highly derived tarsometatarsal laxity and inversion in extant African apes that provide maximum conformity to substrates during vertical climbing. Instead, it exhibits primitive characters that maintain plantar rigidity from foot-flat through toe-off, reminiscent of some Miocene apes and Old World monkeys. Moreover, the action of the fibularis longus muscle was more like its homolog in Old World monkeys than in African apes. Phalangeal lengths were most similar to those of Gorilla. The Ardipithecus gait pattern would thus have been unique among known primates. The last common ancestor of hominids and chimpanzees was therefore a careful climber that retained adaptations to above-branch plantigrady.

Graphitized pitch-based carbons with ordered nanopores synthesized by using colloidal crystals as templates.

Abstract: A highly graphitized ordered nanoporous carbon (ONC) was synthesized by using commercial mesophase pitch as carbon precursor and siliceous colloidal crystal as template. Since silica colloids of different sizes (above 6 nm) and narrow particle size distribution are commercially available, the pore size tailoring in the resulting ONCs is possible.

The Risk of Nursing Home Placement and Subsequent Death Among Older Adults

Abstract: This article examines the effects of the characteristics specified in the behavioral model of health services utilization and measured at baseline on the subsequent risk of nursing home placement and death within four years. Analyses of the 5,151 respondents in the Longitudinal Study on Aging indicate that the risk for nursing home placement is greater for older adults, Whites, those who lived alone, persons with telephones, those with fewer nonkin social supports, those who did not feel that they had much control over their future health, those with more household ADL or lower body limitations, and those who had been in the hospital during the year prior to baseline, or in a nursing home at any time before baseline. Among the 549 respondents placed in nursing homes, the risk of dying there was greater for older adults, men, those who had not lived in multigenerational households, persons who did not worry about their health, individuals with more upper body limitations, and respondents having a history of valvular heart disease or cancer. The odds of dying were 2.74 times greater among the 549 respondents placed in nursing homes than among the 4,602 respondents who remained in the community.

Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus

Abstract: The origin of Australopithecus, the genus widely interpreted as ancestral to Homo, is a central problem in human evolutionary studies. Australopithecus species differ markedly from extant African apes and candidate ancestral hominids such as Ardipithecus, Orrorin and Sahelanthropus. The earliest described Australopithecus species is Au. anamensis, the probable chronospecies ancestor of Au. afarensis. Here we describe newly discovered fossils from the Middle Awash study area that extend the known Au. anamensis range into northeastern Ethiopia. The new fossils are from chronometrically controlled stratigraphic sequences and date to about 4.1-4.2 million years ago. They include diagnostic craniodental remains, the largest hominid canine yet recovered, and the earliest Australopithecus femur. These new fossils are sampled from a woodland context. Temporal and anatomical intermediacy between Ar. ramidus and Au. afarensis suggest a relatively rapid shift from Ardipithecus to Australopithecus in this region of Africa, involving either replacement or accelerated phyletic evolution.

A survey of public perception and response to heat warnings across four North American cities: an evaluation of municipal effectiveness

Abstract: To examine the efficacy of municipal heat watch warning systems, a thorough evaluation of the heat mitigation plans of four North American cities - Dayton (Ohio, USA), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA), Phoenix (Arizona, USA), and Toronto (Ontario, Canada) - was undertaken. In concert with this evaluation was a survey of residents in the metropolitan areas of these cities that gauged their perception of their own vulnerability to the heat, as well as their knowledge of heat warnings and the activities recommended to be undertaken to help mitigate the effects of the heat. In total, 908 respondents participated in the telephone survey. Some of the key results indicate that knowledge of the heat warning was nearly universal (90%), and likely due to pervasive media coverage more than any other means. Though knowledge of the event was widespread, knowledge of what to do was less common. Only around half of all respondents mentioned that they changed their behavior, and despite the diversity of information available on mitigating heat vulnerability, most respondents stated that they merely “avoided the outdoors” at all costs. Though air conditioning was nearly ubiquitous among respondents, over a third mentioned that economic factors of energy costs were considered in terms of how long or whether the air conditioner was turned on.