Najstarejša lončenina para-neolitske kulture Zedmar na najdišču Szczepanki, Mazurija, SV Poljska

The article presents the earliest ceramics of the site Szczepanki, north-eastern Poland, belonging to the Para-Neolithic Zedmar culture, which existed in the south-east Baltic region. The presented pottery come from the Late Atlantic layers, dated 5600–5100 conv BP. The pottery is discussed regarding the technology, morphological details, vessel forms and ornamentation. Each of the elements shows multidirectional influences or similarities with the Western and the Eastern Para-Neolithic, as well as the Danubian cultures and the TRB. However, a specific characteristic of the early Zedmar pottery relies on mixing features of various origins or traditions, creating a new and peculiar technology and style.V članku predstavljamo najstarejšo keramiko na najdišču Szczepanki, severovzhodna Poljska, ki je umeščena v para-neolitsko kulturo Zedmar, ki je bila razširjena na območju jugovzhodnega Baltika. Predstavljena lončenina je iz poznoatlantske plasti, ki je datirana med 5600 in 5100 pred sedanjostjo. Lončenino smo opazovali na podlagi značilnosti tehnologije, morfologije, oblik posod in okrasa. Vsak od elementov kaže večsmerne vplive ali podobnosti z zahodnim in vzhodnim para-neolitikom kot tudi z donavskimi kulturami in s kulturo lijakastih čaš (TRB). Vendar pa se posebna značilnost lončenine zgodnje kulture Zedmar opira na mešanje lastnosti različnega izbora in tradicij, kar ustvarja novo in posebno tehnologijo in slog

SMX and front-end board tester for CBM readout chain

The STS-MUCH-XYTER (SMX) chip is a front-end ASIC dedicated to the readout of Silicon Tracking System (STS) and Muon Chamber (MUCH) detectors in the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment. The production of the ASIC and the front-end boards based on it is just being started and requires thorough testing to assure quality. The paper describes the SMX tester based on a standard commercial Artix-7 FPGA module with an additional simple baseboard. In the standalone configuration, the tester is controlled via IPbus and enables full functional testing of connected SMX, front-end board (FEB), or a full detector module. The software written in Python may easily be integrated with higher-level testing software

Air temperature conditions in northern Nordaustlandet (NE Svalbard) at the end of World War II

This article presents the results of an investigation into air temperature conditions in northern Nordaustlandet (NE Svalbard) based on meteorological observations made by German soldiers towards the end of World War II (1944/1945) and 4 months after its end. Traditional analysis using mean monthly data was supplemented by a detailed analysis based on daily data: maximum temperature, minimum temperature and diurnal temperature range. The latter kind of data made it possible to study such aspects of climate as the number of “characteristic days” (i.e., the number of days with temperatures exceeding specified thresholds), dayto-day temperature variability, and duration, onset and end dates of thermal seasons. The results from Nordaustlandet for the warmest period of the early 20th century warming period (ETCWP) were compared with temperature conditions both historical (the end part of the Little Ice Age) and contemporary (different sub-periods taken from the years 1981–2017) to estimate the range of warming during the ETCWP. Analysis reveals that the expedition year 1944/1945 in Nordaustlandet was, in the majority of months, the warmest of all analysed periods, that is, both historical and contemporary periods. The study period was markedly warmer than 1981–2010 (mean annual −6.5 vs. −8.4 °C) but colder than the periods 2011–2016 (−5.7 °C) and 2014–2017 (−5.8 °C). The majority of mean monthly air temperatures in the ETCWP lies within two standard deviations of the modern 2014–2017 mean. This means that values of air temperature in the study period lie within the range of recent temperature variability. All other thermal characteristics show changes in accordance with expectations associated with general warming of the Arctic (i.e., a decrease in diurnal temperature range and number of cold days, and an increase in number of warm days). The latter days were most common in the ETCWP

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

The impact of farming on prehistoric culinary practices throughout Northern Europe

To investigate changes in culinary practices associated with the arrival of farming, we analysed the organic residues of over 1,000 pottery vessels from hunter-gatherer-fisher and early agricultural sites across Northern Europe from the Lower Rhine Basin to the Northeastern Baltic. Here, pottery was widely used by hunter-gatherer-fishers prior to the introduction of domesticated animals and plants. Overall, there was surprising continuity in the way that hunter-gatherer-fishers and farmers used pottery. Both aquatic products and wild plants remained prevalent, a pattern repeated consistently across the study area. We argue that the rapid adaptation of farming communities to exploit coastal and lagoonal resources facilitated their northerly expansion, and in some cases, hunting, gathering, and fishing became the most dominant subsistence strategy. Nevertheless, dairy products frequently appear in pottery associated with the earliest farming groups often mixed with wild plants and fish. Interestingly, we also find compelling evidence of dairy products in hunter-gatherer-fisher Ertebølle pottery, which predates the arrival of domesticated animals. We propose that Ertebølle hunter-gatherer-fishers frequently acquired dairy products through exchange with adjacent farming communities prior to the transition. The continuity observed in pottery use across the transition to farming contrasts with the analysis of human remains which shows substantial demographic change through ancient DNA and, in some cases, a reduction in marine consumption through stable isotope analysis. We postulate that farmers acquired the knowledge and skills they needed to succeed from local hunter-gatherer-fishers but without substantial admixture

Application of information system SWPPZ in human resources management in a colliery

W artykule przedstawiono doświadczenia wynikające z zastosowania Systemu Wspomagania Planowania Poziomu Zatrudnienia w zarządzaniu zasobami ludzkimi w wybranych kopalniach węgla kamiennego. Przedstawiono zakres funkcjonalny systemu informatycznego SWPPZ oraz procedurę analizy poziomu zatrudnienia w kopalni węgla kamiennego. Na podstawie badań, które objęły 15 polskich kopalń węgla kamiennego, ustalono uwarunkowania i czynniki determinujące poprawność przeprowadzonych analiz poziomu zatrudnienia w tych kopalniachIn the paper the experiences resulting from the application of the System Supporting Employment Level Planning in human resource management in selected collieries were presented. The author discussed the functional scope of the information system SWPPZ and the analysis procedure of the employment level in a colliery. Based on research undertaken in 15 Polish coal mines specified conditions and factors determining correctness of the analyses of the employment level were discussed