Early Date Research Articles

Bплив ранньовесняних строків сівби насіння ромашки лікарської на польову схожість та виживання рослин в умовах правобережного лісостепу України

An important place in the effective technology of growing medicinal chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) is occupied by the early spring sowing period. Therefore, they provide a dense emergence of seeds, as evidenced by many conducted scientific studies in the field of plant breeding. The article presents the results of experimental research on the effect of early spring sowing dates of medicinal chamomile on field seed germination and plant survival. It was established that medicinal chamomile plants depended on weather and climatic conditions, sufficient amount of moisture in the soil, soil crust, which as a result led to variation in the passage of growth and development phases, and therefore, a question arose in the study of agrotechnical techniques aimed at the productivity of medicinal raw materials. The cultivation of tetraploid of medicinal chamomile variety Perlyna Lisostepu and Zloty Lan in the conditions of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine during the period of research (2018-2023) in the early spring sowing period was studied. It was established that the investigated varieties of medicinal chamomile had the highest field germination of seeds due to the content of productive moisture. The highest field seed germination rates of 74.16% were recorded during the early spring (15-18.04) sowing period of the Perlyna Lisostepu variety, and the Zloty Lan variety was 72.68%, respectively. According to six-year research data, the highest field seed germination of 68.00% on the control variant (1-3.04) according to the sowing dates was noted in the Perlyna Lisostepu variety, and the lowest 67.00% – in the Zloty Lan variety. The maximum rate of plant survival at the end of the growing season was 88.96%, which was obtained in the variant of the early spring (15-18.04) sowing period of the Perlyna Lisostepu variety, the minimum rate was 69.15% in the control (1-3.04) of the Zloty Lan variety. The germination rate on average over six years exceeded the control by 6.14%, and the survival of chamomile plants on average over the years of research exceeded the control option by 1.5%. The difference in factors was insignificant (2-3%)

Double feature: First genetic evidence of a mother-daughter double burial in Roman period Austria

A human double burial combined with a horse interment, discovered in 2004 in the eastern cemetery of the Roman town of Ovilava (today Wels/AUT), has been the subject of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study. This burial was remarkable for two reasons: firstly, the arrangement of the two individuals, with individual 1 having an arm around individual 2, and secondly, the presence of equine skeletal remains in the same burial pit directly below the human remains. Based on this finding, an initial assessment suggested a mixed-sex pair buried together with a horse. The horse burial was interpreted as an indicator of an early medieval date. The position of the two human skeletons suggested that a male and female individual had been buried together. A thorough examination of both the human and horse skeletons disproved these initial interpretations. Radiocarbon dating of the human and horse skeletons dated them to the Roman period. In addition, ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the human remains corrected the earlier sex assumption, revealing that the individuals were two biological females who were first-degree relatives. The age difference of 15 to 25 years between the two suggests a probable mother-daughter relationship. Thus, the application of scientific methods confirmed a rare, combined human-horse burial from Roman antiquity and established the first genetically documented mother-daughter burial from this period in present-day Austria.

New Evidence Against an Early Date for Hamlet

New Evidence Against an Early Date for Hamlet

On some Features of Funerary Assemblage of the Egyptian Priestess Nesmut

The subject of this paper is the analysis of funerary assemblage of Nesmut, the Egyptian priestess of the 21st Dynasty (her titles are “Mistress of the House, Chantress of Amun, king of the gods”). The burial of Nesmut was discovered in 1891 in the so-called “Second Cache” at Deir al-Bahri, also known as Bāb el-Gusūs (set no. A.48). Inventory that was discovered on the mummy: leather mummy braces, three “napkins”, linen gloves, shale heart scarab, and wax images of the sons of Horus. Inventory that was found near or inside of the coffin: two shabti-boxes, shabtis. Nesmut’s mummy cover is located in the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo (Cairo CG 6007). Her coffin is currently stored in the Odesa Archaeological Museum (OAM) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (inv. no. 71695). It was part of the so-called Lot VI presented to Russian Empire by Egyptian government in 1893. In 1895, the coffin of Nesmut was sent from Odesa to the Archaeological Museum of St. Volodymyr Kyiv University. In 1959 the coffin of Nesmut was among other objects that were transferred from the State Republican Historical Museum in Kyiv to the OAM. The lid of the coffin with inv. no. OAM 71695 differs in design style from the trunk and has an earlier dating. Structurally, the lid has retained traces of technological processing and fitting the trunk of the later coffin of its namesake. Accordingly, there were two Nesmuts, whose funerary objects were discovered in Bāb el-Gusūs. The burial of Nesmut (II) corresponds to the set no. A.48 by Daressy and it is linked with the coffin trunk no. OAM 71695. Separate objects from Nesmut’s (I) grave goods were adapted for later burials: the lid of her inner coffin was used for the Odesa coffin of Nesmut (II), and the lid of the outer coffin might have been adapted for an anonymous burial from Bāb el-Gusūs set no. A.54 (Swiss lot IX, Neuchâtel, Musée d’Ethnographie, inv. no. Eg. 184) on which the name “Nesmut” preserved in one segment of the lid. The burial of Nesmut was also equipped with two different types of shabtis. It is possible that like the lid of the coffin, part of the shabtis was “usurped” by Nesmut (II) and previously belonged to the burial of her namesake and probably relative, Nesmut (I). It is quite probable, that they were reused and adopted for the burial of new owner together with the shabti-box, since the two of them were found in the set no. A.48. This may prove that during the 21st Dynasty, not only large objects, but also small items of grave goods could be reused.

Drought risk assessment for early maize growth in Northeast China based on a reconstructed phenological dataset

AbstractDrought is one of the meteorological disasters to which maize is most vulnerable during its seedling stage in Northeast China. The absence of phenological data impedes the precise evaluation of the likelihood of drought during this phase. In response to these issues, this study develops a phenology model and reconstructing the data. Furthermore, it effectively assessed drought risk at the site scale by utilizing drought indicators. Using reconstructed phenological data from 217 sites from 1981 to 2015, we analysed the duration and trends of each phenological period and assessed the spatial and temporal distribution of drought frequency at each growth stage. The study demonstrated that the average date ranges for the sowing, emergence, three‐leaf, and seven‐leaf stages annually were 115–138 days, 130–151 days, 135–160 days, and 150–180 days, respectively. Additionally, there was a significant trend towards earlier dates in all phenological stages. Our research reveals notable fluctuations in drought frequency during various growth stages of early maize in Northeast China. Particularly, the period from the three‐leaf to the seven‐leaf stages emerges as the most drought‐prone, while the initial emergence to three‐leaf stage also shows considerable vulnerability. On average, the frequency of drought events during the critical three‐ to seven‐leaf stage stands at 35%. This average is surpassed in regions like Heilongjiang, northwest Jilin, northern Inner Mongolia, and southwest Liaoning, indicating a heightened risk in these areas. The early maize growth stage drought types are mainly light and moderate drought, with the three‐leaf to seven‐leaf stage, and Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, as the key stages and regions of concern, respectively. Identifying the principal types of drought and their occurrence in distinct regions and growth stages is pivotal for averting and reducing disasters.

Prehistoric and Early Medieval Settlement Features at Ravelrig Road and Newmills Road, Balerno, City of Edinburgh

Evaluation and excavation works in advance of housing development at two sites on Ravelrig Road and Newmills Road, Balerno, City of Edinburgh, revealed significant archaeological features evidencing multi-phase settlement. At Ravelrig Road, two groups of pits were dated to the Early and Middle to Late Neolithic periods with a cluster of Copper Age and Early Bronze Age features that included two possible storage features. At Newmills Road, alongside limited evidence for late prehistoric occupation in the form of pits dating to the last centuries BC and the first centuries AD, the most significant remains were of early medieval date, including a ring-groove representing a putative roundhouse and other features, including a hearth and linear boundary features, generally placed between the 7th and 9th centuries AD according to radiocarbon dating.

An Early Iron Age Roundhouse at Gartness Road, Drymen, Stirling

An archaeological excavation at Gartness Road Drymen, undertaken by Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd in 2020, revealed the remains of an early Iron Age roundhouse and a small collection of pits. The remains exhibited a high level of truncation, which obscured the potentially complex nature of the structure. The site was located on the south-eastern edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, an area which sits on the traditional highland to lowland boundary. This unique location and early date for the structure provided an opportunity to explore construction styles, potentially contemporary activity and its relationship to surrounding structures.

Kombinasi Algoritma Priority Scheduling dan Earliest Due Date untuk Sistem Penjadwalan Slitting Produk Berbasis Web

Production scheduling is one of the most critical components of production management that can impact efficiency and resource utilization. This research focuses on the development of a web-based production scheduling system that integrates two algorithms, Earliest Due Date (EDD) and Priority Scheduling. This research includes the analysis, design, implementation and testing of a those two algorithms in a web-based application for production management. The result of this research will be analyzed through the results of how both algorithms affects lateness and tardiness. The research findings indicate that the application can effectively manage Work Orders. The application can generate an optimal schedule when conditions arise where some tasks have higher priority than others by combining both algorithms. The system can identify potentially late tasks by calculating the tardiness of the given jobs. And from the analysis results, the application can generate an efficient production schedule with an on-time accuracy rate of 74%, and the average delay for each job is 0.95 hours.

Effects of Protection Time on Infection of Rice Panicle Blast.

Panicle blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, is a destructive disease of rice worldwide. Clarifying the susceptibility of rice panicles at different stages is of great significance for effective disease management. Field experiments were conducted in two paddy fields at Wuyuan County in 2016 and 2017 to determine the effects of head covering and its timing on the infection of rice panicle blast. Results revealed that panicle blast was reduced significantly by covering rice heads with sulfuric acid paper bags, regardless of the covering time, ranging from initial heading to 15 days afterward, suggesting that rice panicles could be infected by blast pathogen even 15 days after initial heading. Panicle blast incidence was also found to be significantly influenced by plant dates, with higher panicle blast incidence observed in plots planted on early dates, suggesting adjusting plant dates could help rice panicles escape the infection by blast pathogen. The results from this study also highlighted the importance of cultivars and environmental conditions to panicle blast. In conclusion, besides planting blast-resistant cultivars, it is important to protect rice heads from the initial heading to the early dough stages, and fungicides should be applied according to infection warnings based on host, inoculum, and weather conditions.

Spatiotemporal Variation Characteristics of Ecosystem Carbon Storage in Henan Province and Future Multi-Scenario Simulation Prediction

In response to a series of problems brought about by rapid economic development, such as global warming and the continuous deterioration of the ecological environment, China has taken the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of a major country and continued to contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality” at an early date. In this paper, Henan Province has been selected as the study area, and the changes in land use and carbon storage in Henan Province from 2000 to 2020 have been analyzed spatially and temporally. The PLUS model is used to predict future land use changes under different scenarios, and the InVEST model is used to estimate carbon storage under the corresponding scenarios. The results showed that (1) During 2000–2020, the farmland in Henan Province has been in a decreasing trend, grassland and construction land showed a decreasing trend and then an increasing trend, and woodland showed a decreasing trend. From 2000 to 2020, Henan’s overall carbon storage showed a downward trend each year, with storage mainly in the western and southern regions of the province, with a spatial distribution of high storage in the west and low storage in the east. (2) Under the normal development scenario (SSP2-RCP4.5) from 2030 to 2050, the area of farmland and woodland basically showed a continuous downward trend, while construction land showed an upward trend annually, and farmland and construction land showed an increasing trend under the normal development scenario (SSP2-RCP4.5) and economic priority scenario (SSP5-RCP8.5). The decreasing trend of carbon storage was the smallest under the normal development scenario (SSP2-RCP4.5) and the ecological protection scenario (SSP1-RCP2.6). The results provide a basis for decision-making regarding low-carbon and circular developments and rational and optimal land use in Henan.

A Review on Medicinal and Pharmacological Importance of Roselle Hibiscus sabdariffa L

Abstract: Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (family Malvaceae) is one of the most important and popular medicinal plants. Roselle is native from India to Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated, and must have been carried at an early date to Africa. It is known as karkadeh in Asia, Pundi palle in South Asia, isapa in Africa Florida Cranberry in America. Recent researches & studies shown that the use of Roselle plant in medical, food & industrial fields also. It is used in cold &warm drinks, jams & jellies. Its use as emollient, laxative, antioxidant, nutritive, antihypertensive, antifungal agent. Rosella helps in digestion, refreshing, moisturizing & used in treatment of cancer

A Brief Introduction to the Horse Medical Manuscript from the Tianhui Laoguanshan Han Tomb

Abstract One of the most important archaeological finds excavated from the Tianhui Laoguanshan Han tombs in 2012–13 was a manuscript on horse medicine, dated around the third century BCE. Prior to the discovery of this highly specialized veterinary text, only a handful of horse recipes from the Qin and Han periods had been found, and a sixth-century CE agricultural treatise, Essential Techniques for the Common People, was generally regarded as the earliest surviving source of extensive veterinary material, including various medical treatments for horses. Although the Laoguanshan manuscript – given the modern title Book of Treating Horses by the Team for Collating the Medical Bamboo Slips Excavated from the Han Tombs in Tianhui Town, Chengdu – has suffered significant damage, it nevertheless gives us an insight into the knowledge and treatments for horses during the Qin and early Han periods. A variety of ways of treating horses are recorded in Treating Horses, including herbal remedies, piercing, cauterization, hot packs, bandages, massage, and bathing. The use of gold needles is also mentioned in this text, echoing the gold and silver sewing needles excavated from Liu Sheng’s (d. 113 BCE) tomb in Mancheng, Hebei Province. This paper offers a short introduction to this valuable text on horse medicine by examining the content of its fragments, including names of ailments, symptoms of certain diseases, etiologies, and treatment methods. The discovery of Treating Horses challenges the established view that horse treatment methods in ancient China were predominantly herbal and that techniques of bleeding and cauterization recorded in Essential Techniques were brought to China from elsewhere, together with the introduction of Buddhism. The paper argues that the “foreign influence” had already occurred at a much earlier date, in the form of interactions with nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, the horsemen par excellence of classical antiquity.

Investigating the Clan Affiliations of the Occupants of the Laoguanshan 老官山 Han Tombs in Chengdu

Abstract Inscriptions on funerary objects excavated from the Han tombs of Laoguanshan in Chengdu are key to unraveling the identities of the tombs’ occupants. Our analysis of these inscriptions, considered alongside the varying configurations of the tombs, the excavated objects, the earliest dates when the tombs were ransacked, and the physical characteristics revealed by the bones of the tomb occupants, together suggest that they were aristocrats from different regions. They were “out of state” officials who had immigrated to Chengdu. Identifying their clan affiliations provides an important clue for determining the clan affiliations of occupants of other high-specification tombs found in the Chengdu plain.

Mathematical Models and Optimal Algorithms for Lot Scheduling Considering Job Splitting and Due Dates in Green Logistics

Lot scheduling is a promising manufacturing mode in green logistics that can efficiently save energy and reduce production costs. It has been widely applied to integrate circuit tests in semiconductor factories, textile processing in garment workshops, etc. Each processing lot is of a fixed capacity and identical processing time, and completes more than one job simultaneously. Jobs with sizes and due dates are allowed to be arbitrarily split and processed in consecutive lots. They are delivered immediately upon completion. To the best of our knowledge, in the domain of lot scheduling, there exist no mathematical programming models that describe the above features simultaneously. In this work, we focus on the single machine environment and mainly consider two lot scheduling problems with the objectives of minimizing the maximum lateness and the total tardiness, respectively. For the problems, we first propose new mixed integer linear programming models (solved by commercial solvers), which enable a systematic understanding of the studied problems and serve as a mathematical programming basis for more complicated problems. We then prove that the Earliest Due-Date (EDD) first rule and the Shortest Processing Time (SPT) first rule can optimally solve the two problems, respectively, provided that the due dates and job sizes are agreeable, i.e., a later due date indicates a larger size of job. Experimental results show the efficiency of our methods and managerial insights are drawn.

Evaluation of viability and germination of pollen grains of three local caprifig cultivars and their effect on some characteristics of fig fruits (Ficus carica L.)

This research was carried out in fig fields in the village of Kafar-Jales, in the north of Syria. The analyses were conducted in the laboratories of the Faculty of Agriculture at Idlib University during the 2022 farming season, to evaluate the viability and germination of three local varieties of Caprifig (Bunduqi, Azraq, Panjani). The morphological characteristics, the date of the exodus of insects (Blastophaga psenes) from male fruits, the quantity of pollen, and the percentage of germination and viability were studied on four nutritive media at a temperature of 27°C. The measurements were taken after 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h. These three pollinators were used to pollinate three varieties of edible figs (white Satehi, Safrawi, and Habashi) to study the effect of pollen source on the productive characteristics of edible fig fruits. The result showed significant superiority of the Bunduqi cultivar over the rest of the cultivars in traits of the fruit’s early ripening, pollen quantity, and date of departure of insects. The Azraq cultivar is found to be superior to Bunduqi and Panjani cultivars in the germination rate of pollen at all stages of the experiment and in all used media. The addition of stigma flower extract in culture media increased germination percentage by 35% for all studied Caprifig cultivars. The addition of 10% sucrose in the cultivation environment increased the percentage of pollen germination by 20%. The cultivars that were inoculated with the Panjani pollinator outperformed the characteristics of the length, diameter, and weight, demonstrating that the fruit’s quality characteristics are affected by the genotype of the pollinator used. The results of this research can be beneficial for both fig growers and plant breeders, as they help to select the best pollinators and contribute to the development and improvement of the quality of the cultivated fig fruits.

The implication of the technology and chronology reflected in the metal assemblage from the middle‐class Xiongnu burials at Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu, Mongolia

AbstractBronze and iron objects from the middle‐class Xiongnu burials at Tamiryn Ulaan Khoshuu were examined for technology and chronology. The bronze objects were made from copper–tin–lead alloys, mostly for ornamental purposes, while the iron objects were household items made of cast iron. Radiocarbon measurements dated the site to the 4th century bce to the 1st century ce. The results revealed two key factors: (1) Xiongnu style material culture established by incorporating various contributions from across Eurasia at an earlier date than previously supposed; and (2) the emergence of regionally stratified material culture suggesting intimate political relationships consistently maintained between geographically distant Xiongnu communities.

New light on the Warwick Shaffron: understanding horse and shaffron size through the collections of the Royal Armouries

The Warwick Shaffron, held in the collections of the Royal Armouries (VI.446) is the earliest extant example of a European medieval shaffron on public display anywhere in the world. In addition to its early date, the shaffron is also considered exceptional because of its seemingly formidable size, coupled with apparent physical evidence of battle damage. This study sheds new light on the Warwick Shaffron through the application of an original measurement methodology developed through the AHRC-funded ‘Warhorse Project’ and applied to shaffrons in the collections of the Royal Armouries. Drawing upon the Warhorse Project’s wider findings on medieval horse stature, this paper critically discusses what shaffrons can tell us about the size of the mounts that wore them. A headline finding is that the dimensions of the Warwick Shaffron are entirely compatible with what we know about the size range of medieval horses at the time of its manufacture, albeit towards the upper end of the range.

The Portrayal of the Holy Convicts from the 5th Step of the Ladder of John Climacus in the Russian Art of the 16th Century

In the art of Rus’ of the Late Middle Ages there is a certain number of scattered pieces of art that share an iconographic cycle of the Monastic Feats — images of different sorts of self-torture that are described in the 5th logos of the Ladder of John Climacus. This chapter of the Ladder was copied not only as a part of the whole treaty, but on its own as well and inspired a ramified iconographic tradition first in the Byzantine Empire and then, since the 16th century, in Rus’. These monks resort to the mortification of the flesh for their ultimate absolution. In the article, all the examples of the Monastic Feats iconography which survived from the 16th century are taken to examination and analysed. As a result, two new attributions are proposed, one for the illuminated manuscript of the Ladder from the collection of the riznitsa of Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and another for the vita icon of John Climacus from the Rybinsk Museum Reserve. From their analysis within the relative artistic context stems a suggestion of their Novgorod origin. In addition, a different and more early dating is proposed for the Rybinsk icon in relation to its identification with an image mentioned in the inventory of the Antoniev monastery in Novgorod. Some ideas are expressed about the choice of the subject of the Monastic Feats for the galleries of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin that were repainted after the fire of 1547. The conclusion of the article is that the spread and development of the iconography of the Monastic Feats should be ascribed to the art of Novgorod at the era of archiepiscopacy Macarius or soon after. Therefore, it is the Novgorod art that played a decisive role in the creation of the visual representation of the 5th logos of the Ladder, one of the most expressive and impactful pieces of text in the Slavic literacy.

Practice of Reading Promotion Based on New Media

With the new media and other elements deeply rooted in people’s hearts, the innovation-related undertakings related to library management and service are developing vigorously, and the ambitious goals and ideals of “reading for all” and “building a cultural society” are also achieved at an early date. This paper makes innovations from three creative points, namely, “developing library business propaganda from the perspective of brand building to carry out reading promotion practice”, “innovating library work from the perspective of cultural inheritance to carry out reading promotion practice” and “expanding library management and service field from the direction of intelligent environment to carry out reading promotion practice”, and uses literature research, investigation and induction to carry out innovative development research.

Prospects for the use of biopreparations based on VAM during growing cucumber in protected ground

The research was carried out in 2022-2023 by the USPC of Horticulture and Vegetable Growing named after V.I. Edelstein RSAU-MAA named after K.A. Timiryazev (Moscow). In the conditions of a film ground greenhouse and planting during the spring-summer rotation, experiments were carried out to assess the effect of biological preparations based on vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) on the growth and productivity of cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L). Studies have shown that the use of biological preparations positively affected the vegetative growth of Cucumis sativus L plants of the parthenocarpic early-maturing hybrid F1 SV4097CV, which affected the photosynthetic surface area, and also significantly affected the development of plants, accelerating the passage of the main phenophases. There was an increase in plant yield and production at an earlier date, which is extremely important when growing plants in protected soil conditions during the transition to organic agriculture.