Energy budgets' formation based on incomplete data

The universal technique of the current energy budget calculation is recommended for several periods of time. Basing on the data of annual energy budget and considering the plant's features, social, climatic and other conditions, correcting factors are calculated to estimate energy resources consumption for the day, week, month and year. Shortterm current energy budget supports important financial, trade, logistic, organizational and other control directions. The developed technique is applicable for subnational entities and industrial enterprises in order to increase level of energy resources consumption planning and forecasting as well as bills' optimization

Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of the present study was to reveal patterns in the treatment of health conditions in a Quechua-speaking community in the Bolivian Andes based on plant use data from traditional healers and patient data from a primary health care (PHC) service, and to demonstrate similarities and differences between the type of illnesses treated with traditional and biomedical health care, respectively.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A secondary analysis of plant use data from semi-structured interviews with eight healers was conducted and diagnostic data was collected from 324 patients in the community PHC service. Health conditions were ranked according to: (A) the percentage of patients in the PHC service diagnosed with these conditions; and (B) the citation frequency of plant use reports to treat these conditions by healers. Healers were also queried about the payment modalities they offer to their patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Plant use reports from healers yielded 1166 responses about 181 medicinal plant species, which are used to treat 67 different health conditions, ranging from general symptoms (e.g. fever and body pain), to more specific ailments, such as arthritis, biliary colic and pneumonia. The results show that treatment offered by traditional medicine overlaps with biomedical health care in the case of respiratory infections, wounds and bruises, fever and biliary colic/cholecystitis. Furthermore, traditional health care appears to be complementary to biomedical health care for chronic illnesses, especially arthritis, and for folk illnesses that are particularly relevant within the local cultural context. Payment from patients to healers included flexible, outcome contingent and non-monetary options.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Traditional medicine in the study area is adaptive because it corresponds well with local patterns of morbidity, health care needs in relation to chronic illnesses, cultural perceptions of health conditions and socio-economic aspects of health care. The quantitative analysis of plant use reports and patient data represents a novel approach to compare the contribution of traditional and biomedical health care to treatment of particular health conditions.</p

Comparative analysis of bones, mites, soil chemistry, nematodes and soil micro-Eukaryotes from a suspected homicide to estimate the post-mortem interval

Criminal investigations of suspected murder cases require estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI, or time after death) which is challenging for longer periods. Here we present the case of human remains found in a Swiss forest. We have used a multidisciplinary approach involving the analysis of bones, soil chemical characteristics, mites and nematodes (by microscopy) and micro-Eukaryotes (by Illumina high throughput sequencing). We analysed soil samples collected beneath the remains of the head, upper and lower body and “control” samples taken a few meters away. The PMI estimated on hair 14C-data via bomb peak radiocarbon dating gave a time range of 1 to 2 years before the finding of the remains on site. Cluster analyses for chemical constituents, nematodes, mites and micro- Eukaryotes revealed two clusters 1) head and upper body and 2) lower body and controls. From mite evidence, we conclude that the body was likely to have been brought to the site after death. However, chemical analyses, nematode community analyses and the analyses of micro-Eukaryotes indicate that decomposition took place at least partly on site. This study illustrates the usefulness of combining several lines of evidence for the study of homicide cases to better calibrate PMI inference tools

Demonstration of correlations between the 8 and 10 kHz atmospherics and the inflammatory reaction of rats after carrageenan injection.

Between the mean daily density of 28 kHz atmospherics and the onset of epileptic fits there is a highly significant correlation coefficient (r) of 0.30; there is a negative coefficient of -0.20 between the fits and the mean daily density of 10 kHz atmospherics. The onset of heart infarction is correlated with 28 kHz atmospherics (r=0.15). Furthermore, we have discovered that sudden deafness is also correlated with certain configurations of atmospherics. In this paper we report the following correlation coefficients between the inflammatory reaction of rats to a carrageenan injection (rci) into a hind paw and the mean daily pulse rate of atmospherics of the same day:r=0.49 for the 8 kHz atmospherics (P&lt;0.02) and r=0.44 for the 10 kHz atmospherics (P&lt;0.04). The correlations between rci reaction and other atmospherics (12 and 28 kHz) are smaller and not significant. By the method of multiple linear regression we found a multiple R=0.54 between rci reaction and the 8 and 10 kHz atmospherics (the regression function for the rci reaction is 0.15+0.004&times;8 kHz+0.002&times;10 kHz, P&lt;0.05). &copy; 1988 International Society of Biometeorology