Ancient* technique*

The goal of the following study is to clarify whether the skeletal remains over 70 years old from missing persons and their alleged relatives shared identical Y-STR loci. Nowadays, advances in ancient DNA extraction techniques and approaches of using multiple different Y-STRs have significantly increased the possibility of obtaining DNA profiles from highly degraded skeletal remains. Given the ages and conditions of the skeletal remains, ancient DNA extraction methods can be used to maximize the probability of DNA recovery...

The restoration of ancient ceramics has attracted widespread attention as it can reveal the overall appearance of ancient ceramics as well as the original information and artistic charm of cultural relics. However, traditional manual restoration is constrained due to its time-consuming nature and susceptibility to damaging ancient ceramics. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) printing technique was employed to accurately restore Chinese Yuan Dynasty Longquan celadon using hollow Al2 O3 microsphere-modified 3D printing paste...

Dates are the fruits of the date palm belonging to the Arecaceae family; they comprise over 2500 species and 200 genera and constitute an essential part of the daily diet worldwide, with beneficial nutritional, health, and economic values. Several varieties of date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera ) fruit exist globally, especially in hot and humid regions. This review is an overview of date palms as a significant global food resource, including their historical significance, nutritional composition, cultivation practices, economic importance, and health benefits...

Mural paintings, as the main components of painted cultural relics, have essential research value and historical significance. Due to their age, murals are easily damaged. Obtaining intact sketches is the first step in the conservation and restoration of murals. However, sketch extraction often suffers from problems such as loss of details, too thick lines, or noise interference. To overcome these problems, a mural sketch extraction method based on image enhancement and edge detection is proposed. The experiments utilize Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and bilateral filtering to enhance the mural images...

The decipherment of ancient Chinese scripts, such as oracle bone and bronze inscriptions, holds immense significance for understanding ancient Chinese history, culture, and civilization. Despite substantial progress in recognizing oracle bone script, research on the overall recognition of ancient Chinese characters remains somewhat lacking. To tackle this issue, we pioneered the construction of a large-scale image dataset comprising 9233 distinct ancient Chinese characters sourced from images obtained through archaeological excavations...

The silk biodegradation process remains unclear and requires elucidation with advanced analytical tools. To address this challenge, the role of microbial primary metabolites in the deterioration of ancient silk was investigated using metabolomics and proteomics techniques in this work. The oxalic and palmitic acids were separately identified as the most abundant organic and fatty acid metabolites for silk-fabric deterioration via metabolomics. Proteomics showed that oxalic acid accelerated the degradation of silk proteins, revealing changes at the molecular level in silk...

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in traditional medicinal practices such as Ayurveda, which emphasizes the use of natural ingredients for various therapeutic purposes. Vegetable oils are an integral part of our diet and have several applications in the cosmetics and healthcare industries. These oils have also been prescribed in ancient Ayurveda texts to treat various health problems. Ayurveda prescribes a processing technique called 'Murchana' to improve the therapeutic nature of the oils...

Sushruta, an ancient surgeon from 600 BCE in Kashi, India, is a pioneering figure in medical history. His innovations in surgical techniques, predating Hippocrates and Galen, have left an indelible mark in the field. This review article focuses on Sushruta's contributions to surgery, particularly his foundational work in plastic and reconstructive procedures. We delve into the Sushruta Samhita , the oldest surgical text, covering essential principles, pathology, anatomy, and surgical management. Sushruta's approach emphasized cleanliness, cadaver dissection, and innovative practices in anesthesia...

The symbiotic interaction of plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is ancient and widespread. Plants provide AM fungi with carbon in exchange for nutrients and water, making this interaction a prime target for crop improvement. However, plant-fungal interactions are restricted to a small subset of root cells, precluding the application of most conventional functional genomic techniques to study the molecular bases of these interactions. Here we used single-nucleus and spatial RNA sequencing to explore both Medicago truncatula and Rhizophagus irregularis transcriptomes in AM symbiosis at cellular and spatial resolution...

Every nation treasures its handloom heritage, and in India, the handloom industry safeguards cultural traditions, sustains millions of artisans, and preserves ancient weaving techniques. To protect this legacy, a critical need arises to distinguish genuine handloom products, exemplified by the renowned "gamucha" from India's northeast, from counterfeit powerloom imitations. Our study's objective is to create an AI tool for effortless detection of authentic handloom items amidst a sea of fakes. Six deep learning architectures-VGG16, VGG19, ResNet50, InceptionV3, InceptionResNetV2, and DenseNet201-were trained on annotated image repositories of handloom and powerloom towels (17,484 images in total, with 14,020 for training and 3464 for validation)...

BACKGROUND: Preservation of biological tissues has been used since ancient times. Regardless of the method employed, tissue preservation is thought to be a vital step in veterinary surgery teaching and learning. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine the usability of chemically preserved cadaveric equine heads for surgical teaching in veterinary medicine. METHODS: Six cadaveric equine heads were collected immediately after death or euthanasia and frozen until fixation...

Since ancient times, honey has been used for medical purposes and the treatment of various disorders. As a high-quality food product, the honey industry is prone to fraud and adulteration. Moreover, limited experimental studies have investigated the impact of adulterated honey consumption using zebrafish as the animal model. The aims of this study were: (1) to calculate the lethal concentration (LC50 ) of acid-adulterated Apis mellifera honey on embryos, (2) to investigate the effect of pure and acid-adulterated A...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dendrobium, recognized as "Shihu" in traditional Chinese medicine, holds a rich history of medicinal utilization documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Ancient texts like "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing" extol Dendrobium's virtues as a superior herbal medicine fortifying "Yin" and invigorating the five viscera. Dendrobium is extensively employed for the treatment of gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders, showcasing significant therapeutic efficacy, particularly against ulcerative colitis (UC), within the realm of Chinese ethnopharmacology...

Throughout history, natural products have played a significant role in wound healing. Fibroblasts, acting as primary cellular mediators in skin wound healing, exhibit behavioral responses to natural compounds that can enhance the wound healing process. Identifying bioactive natural compounds and understanding their impact on fibroblast behavior offers crucial translational opportunities in the realm of wound healing. Modern scientific techniques have enabled a detailed understanding of how naturally derived compounds modulate wound healing by influencing fibroblast behavior...

Centromochlinae is a widely diverse subfamily with more than 50 species and several taxonomic conflicts due to morphological similarity between Tatia and Centromochlus species. However, cytogenetic studies on this group have been limited to only four species so far. Therefore, here we present the karyotype of Centromochlus schultzi from the Xingu River in Brazil using classic cytogenetic techniques, physical mapping of the 5S and 18S rDNAs, and telomeric sequences (TTAGGG)n. The species had 58 chromosomes, simple NORs and 18S rDNA sites...

Ancient DNA (aDNA) obtained from human remains is typically fragmented and present in relatively low amounts. Here we investigate a set of optimal methods for producing aDNA data by comparing silica-based DNA extraction and aDNA library preparation protocols. We also test the efficiency of whole-genome enrichment (WGC) on ancient human samples by modifying a number of parameter combinations. We find that the Dabney extraction protocol performs significantly better than alternatives. We further observed a positive trend with the BEST library protocol indicating lower clonality...

Natural stones have been utilized to meet various needs of human civilization since ancient times. The exploitation of any resource is associated with the production of redundant materials called wastes. Sandstone waste (SW) is one such waste obtained during the industrial processing of sandstones. Due to its siliceous composition, extensive yield, and disorganized dumping, noxious conditions related to land and human health are promoted. However, the lack of comprehensive engineering studies, mineralogical analysis, and design methodologies associated with the utilization of sandstone processing wastes restricted their applicability only to fillers or partial substitutes with pozzolans and traditional cement in meager volumes...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Prinsepia utilis Royle, also known as the Anas fruit, is a unique perennial woody oil plant from Yunnan Province, China. In the ancient texts of Dongba sutras and Yunnan Southern Materia Medica, it has been documented that the local Naxi, Tibetan, and Mosuo communities extensively utilize the root and leaf fruits of green thorns for various purposes. These include treating mild-to-moderate specific dermatitis, moisturising the skin, providing protection against UV damage, aiding childbirth in pregnant women, safeguarding stomach health, reducing the risk of arteriosclerosis, and delaying aging...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Rosa damascena is an ancient plant with significance in both medicine and perfumery that have a variety of therapeutic properties, including antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-stress effects. Rose damascena essential oil (REO) has been used to treat depression, anxiety and other neurological related disorders in Iranian traditional medicine. However, its precise mechanism of action remains elusive. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact and mechanism underlying the influence of REO on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats...

Ancient peptides are remnants of early biochemistry that continue to play pivotal roles in current proteins. They are simple molecules yet complex enough to exhibit independent functions, being products of an evolved biochemistry at the interface of life and nonlife. Their adsorption to minerals may contribute to their stabilization and preservation over time. To investigate the feasibility of conserved peptide sequences and structures as target biomarkers for the search for life on Mars or other planetary bodies, we conducted a bioinformatics selection of well-conserved ancient peptides and produced polyclonal antibodies for their detection using fluorescence microarray immunoassays...