This paper analyzes the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) through the lens of the Structural Demographic Theory (SDT), a general framework for understanding the drivers of socio-political ...instability in state-level societies. Although a number of competing ideas for the collapse have been proposed, none provide a comprehensive explanation that incorporates the interaction of all the multiple drivers involved. We argue that the four-fold population explosion peaking in the 19th century, the growing competition for a stagnant number of elite positions, and increasing state fiscal stress combined to produce an increasingly disgruntled populace and elite, leading to significant internal rebellions. We find that while neither the ecological disasters nor the foreign incursions during the 19th century were sufficient on their own to bring down the Qing, when coupled with the rising internal socio-political stresses, they produced a rapid succession of triggering events that culminated in the Qing collapse.
This paper analyzes the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) through the lens of the Structural Demographic Theory (SDT), a general framework for understanding the drivers of socio-political ...instability in state-level societies. Although a number of competing ideas for the collapse have been proposed, none provide a comprehensive explanation that incorporates the interaction of all the multiple drivers involved. We argue that the four-fold population explosion peaking in the 19th century, the growing competition for a stagnant number of elite positions, and increasing state fiscal stress combined to produce an increasingly disgruntled populace and elite, leading to significant internal rebellions. We find that while neither the ecological disasters nor the foreign incursions during the 19th century were sufficient on their own to bring down the Qing, when coupled with the rising internal socio-political stresses, they produced a rapid succession of triggering events that culminated in the Qing collapse.
Climate variability and natural hazards like floods and earthquakes can act as environmental shocks or socioecological stressors leading to instability and suffering throughout human history. Yet, ...societies experience a wide range of outcomes when facing such challenges: some suffer from social unrest, civil violence or complete collapse; others prove more resilient and maintain key social functions. We currently lack a clear, generally agreed-upon conceptual framework and evidentiary base to explore what causes these divergent outcomes. Here, we discuss efforts to develop such a framework through the Crisis Database (CrisisDB) programme. We illustrate that the impact of environmental stressors is mediated through extant cultural, political and economic structures that evolve over extended timescales (decades to centuries). These structures can generate high resilience to major shocks, facilitate positive adaptation, or, alternatively, undermine collective action and lead to unrest, violence and even societal collapse. By exposing the ways that different societies have reacted to crises over their lifetime, this framework can help identify the factors and complex social–ecological interactions that either bolster or undermine resilience to contemporary climate shocks.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture’.
Entangled quantum particles, in which operating on one particle instantaneously influences the state of the entangled particle, are attractive options for carrying quantum information at the ...nanoscale. However, fully-describing entanglement in traditional time-dependent quantum transport simulation approaches requires significant computational effort, bordering on being prohibitive. Considering electrons, one approach to analyzing their entanglement is through modeling the Coulomb interaction via the Wigner formalism. In this work, we reduce the computational complexity of the time evolution of two interacting electrons by resorting to reasonable approximations. In particular, we replace the Wigner potential of the electron–electron interaction by a local electrostatic field, which is introduced through the spectral decomposition of the potential. It is demonstrated that for some particular configurations of an electron–electron system, the introduced approximations are feasible. Purity, identified as the maximal coherence for a quantum state, is also analyzed and its corresponding analysis demonstrates that the entanglement due to the Coulomb interaction is well accounted for by the introduced local approximation.
During the Holocene, the scale and complexity of human societies increased markedly. Generations of scholars have proposed different theories explaining this expansion, which range from broadly ...functionalist explanations, focusing on the provision of public goods, to conflict theories, emphasizing the role of class struggle or warfare. To quantitatively test these theories, we develop a general dynamical model based on the theoretical framework of cultural macroevolution. Using this model and Seshat: Global History Databank, we test 17 potential predictor variables proxying mechanisms suggested by major theories of sociopolitical complexity (and >100,000 combinations of these predictors). The best-supported model indicates a strong causal role played by a combination of increasing agricultural productivity and invention/adoption of military technologies (most notably, iron weapons and cavalry in the first millennium BCE).
Global historical analysis identifies warfare and agriculture as the main drivers of sociopolitical complexity in human societies.
This study implicates the synthesis of lead oxide nanoparticles (PbO-NPs) in a green manner by using the extracts of
Trigonella feonumgraecum
for stabilizing and capaging purposes. The techniques of ...UV-Vis, FTIR, TGA-DTA, FESEM, EDX, and XRD were considered to evaluate the synthesized nanoparticles. The assay of PbO-NPs optical features was provided by the results of UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while the XRD patterns approved their tetragonal and orthorhombic crystallized structures. The cubic form of our product along with a size of around 30 nm was exhibited by the FESEM images. We also examined the cytotoxicity of PbO-NPs on the Huh-7 cell line by the means of MTT assay, as well as their photocatalytic functionality in regards to the elimination of methylene blue (MB) dye under UVA light radiation, which resulted in about 90% of degradation after180 min.
Graphical abstract
Trigonella feonumgraecum
seeds extract is used as a stabilizer and reducing agent for synthesizing PbO-NPs. The PbO-NPs were characterized via different analyses. Afterward, their photocatalytic activity and cytotoxicity effects were investigated. In this work,
Trigonella feonumgraecum
seeds extract was used as a stabilizer and reducing agent for the synthesis of PbO-NPs, for the first time. The achieved PbO-NPs were characterized via different analyses such as UV-Vis/Band gap. Afterward, we inquired their photocatalytic effect for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions and also explored their anticancer properties on Huh-7 cell lines by MTT method.
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•An eco-friendly and cost-effective procedure for the synthesis of PbO-NPs.•Application of Ocimum Basilicum extract as a capping agent for the biosynthesis of PbO-NPs.•Investigation ...of cytotoxicity effects of the PbO-NPs against CT-26 cancer cell line.•Investigation of photocatalytic activity of the PbO-NPs in the degradation of methylene blue dye.
In the present study, lead oxide nanoparticles (PbO-NPs) were synthesized through Ocimum basilicum seed extract as a stabilizer agent. The structural and optical features, size, surface area, and morphology of PbO-NPs were evaluated through the usage of FTIR, TGA-DTA, XRD, UV–Vis, EDX, FESEM, TEM, and BET techniques. The thermal behavior of the composition was assessed by the usage of TGA/DTA analysis. The attained results of the XRD pattern show the crystalline structure of PbO-NPs. BET analysis appointed a specific surface area of PbO-NPs. The FESEM and TEM images of PbO-NPs displayed spherical shapes and the diameter of the particles was about 20–30 nm. The toxicity effects of NPs were evaluated on the CT-26 cell line and the IC50 value was about 485.8 µg/mL. As well as the photocatalytic attributes of PbO-NPs were perused on the degradation of methylene blue (MB) pigment which showed about 90 % degradation after 150 min.
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