Does religion influence entrepreneurial behaviour?

Religion cannot be ignored in assessing the range of cultural and institutional influences that impact on entrepreneurial activity. This article integrates key themes from sociology of religion in the context of emerging ideas about religion and entrepreneurship in order to highlight key research questions. New institutional theory is discussed as a potentially useful lens for viewing the range of means through which religious expression and institutions might support entrepreneurship. A macro-level empirical investigation of societal indicators of religious affiliation and regulation of religion alongside Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data highlights particular data correlations and mediating influences. A significant association between entrepreneurial activity and evangelical or Pentecostal Christian religious affiliation is found, along with evidence that the impact of religion on entrepreneurship is mediated through pluralism and regulation. In discussing these findings further, the article proposes a more integrated conceptual framework for understanding the link between religious drivers and entrepreneurship, alongside institutional mediation. This forms the basis for further research, focusing on individual experience rather than aggregate associations and exploring in further depth of the mediating impact of institutional arrangements

Protein intercalated bentonite recovered using adsorption from stickwater

Wastewater from the meat rendering industry is called stickwater and contains about 4 wt% protein and has a high biological oxygen demand (approximately 150,000 mg/l). Large volumes require treatment prior to disposal, leading to a potentially useful source of protein being lost. In this study the organic fraction of stickwater (largely protein) was recovered by adsorption onto bentonite followed by centrifugation. Adsorption behavior was examined for a range of pH and clay concentrations. Equilibrium behaviour was described using the Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm. 25% organics can be recovered from stickwater without clay at pH below 5. Organic matter recovery was between 75 and 90% at 1 g clay per 20 g solution. Recovery decreased with increasing pH above pH 7–25% at pH 12, but was independent of pH at higher clay concentrations. Bentonite basal spacing increased from 13 to 23.5 Å for all pHs showing that protein had intercalated between clay layers. At high pH, bentonite had a positive charge on its edges, giving an expanded structure with a low pellet density at 17% solids, whereas at pH below 5 pellet density was between 25 and 33% solids. This has implications for downstream processing because more water would need to be removed, increasing downstream processing costs. Using between 5 and 10 g clay/200 g solution, adsorption was sufficient to give greater than 60% organics recovery. Processing would therefore be a trade off between using as as little as possible clay to minimise cost and maximise percentage organics adsorbed per gram of clay, while maximising recovery and maintaining small process volumes

Islam, identity and professional values: A study of journalists in three Muslim-majority regions

Abstract: Islam is a religion, but it is also a philosophy. An analysis of surveys in the Arab world, Indonesia and Pakistan reveals that the mission and values of journalists in those Muslim-majority regions closely track Islamic obligations to tell the truth, seek justice and work toward the public interest. This article provides empirical data to bolster the argument that the values of Islam are the prism through which journalists in Muslim-majority countries approach their profession. Those findings add to the body of research supporting the theory that journalistic norms are contextual, shaped by a hierarchy of influences that include global standards and local values such as culture, political climate and religion. But the findings also indicate that in regions where a professional journalistic culture is in the process of emerging, the influence of personal versus professional values is in reverse proportion to those found in more mature journalistic markets

Radiative Auger process in the single-photon limit

In a multi-electron atom, an excited electron can decay by emitting a photon. Typically, the leftover electrons are in their ground state. In a radiative Auger process, the leftover electrons are in an excited state and a redshifted photon is created. In a semiconductor quantum dot, radiative Auger is predicted for charged excitons. Here we report the observation of radiative Auger on trions in single quantum dots. For a trion, a photon is created on electron-hole recombination, leaving behind a single electron. The radiative Auger process promotes this additional (Auger) electron to a higher shell of the quantum dot. We show that the radiative Auger effect is a powerful probe of this single electron: the energy separations between the resonance fluorescence and the radiative Auger emission directly measure the single-particle splittings of the electronic states in the quantum dot with high precision. In semiconductors, these single-particle splittings are otherwise hard to access by optical means as particles are excited typically in pairs, as excitons. After the radiative Auger emission, the Auger carrier relaxes back to the lowest shell. Going beyond the original theoretical proposals, we show how applying quantum optics techniques to the radiative Auger photons gives access to the single-electron dynamics, notably relaxation and tunneling. This is also hard to access by optical means: even for quasi-resonant $p$-shell excitation, electron relaxation takes place in the presence of a hole, complicating the relaxation dynamics. The radiative Auger effect can be exploited in other semiconductor nanostructures and quantum emitters in the solid state to determine the energy levels and the dynamics of a single carrier