Traditional knowledge on wild and cultivated plants in the Kilombero Valley (Morogoro Region, Tanzania)

Background: This research was performed in four villages adjacent the boundary of Udzungwa Mountains National Park in the Kilombero River plain of Tanzania. The area adjacent the villages is characterized by self-consumption agriculture, with a population that is on average poor, still very tied to traditions and almost entirely unaffected by modernization and technology. The aim of the present study was to investigate and record local knowledge regarding the use of wild and traditionally cultivated plants used for traditional medicine and for other everyday purposes (e.g., food, fibers and timber). Methods: Ten traditional local healers, with solid botanical knowledge, were interviewed between June and August 2014 by means of semi-structured questionnaires. For each mentioned plant species, the Swahili folk name and, when possible, the classification by family, genus and species was recorded as well as the part of the plant used, the preparation method and the main uses (medicine, food or others). Results: In total 196 species were mentioned of which 118 could be botanically classified. The identified species belong to 44 different botanical families, with that of the Leguminosae being the most representative (24 species). The plants were mostly used as medical treatments (33.3% of the species) and foods (36.8%), and to produce wood and fibers (19.4%). Conclusion: The present study revealed that numerous plant species are still essential in the everyday life of the tribes living in Kilombero Valley. Most of the plants were usually harvested in the wild, however, after the creation of the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, the harvesting pressure has become concentrated on a few unprotected forest patches. Consequently, many useful species are becoming increasingly rare with the risk of losing the connected botanical and traditional knowledge. The present study may, therefore, contribute to record the ethnobotanical knowledge held by these populations, in order to preserve this valuable richness for future generations

Callianthemum kernerianum Freyn. ex Kerner

7nonenoneBonomi, Costantino; Abeli, Thomas; Parolo, Gilberto; Bolognesi, Maddalena; Bortoluzzi, Elena; Vicentini, Renzo; Rossi, Grazian

Additional file 2: of Traditional knowledge on wild and cultivated plants in the Kilombero Valley (Morogoro Region, Tanzania)

List of plants not classified mentioned in the study area. (PDF 97 kb

A Novel Methodology for Reducing Excessive Reactive Power Consumption Penalties for Photovoltaic Prosumers

The present paper proposes a new methodology to solve a problem in the literature in which a consumer becomes eligible for reactive power excess charging (RPEC) after installing a photovoltaic (PV) system, even if its reactive demand has not changed. This problem mainly affects this kind of consumer, which is known as PV prosumers, in countries where the power factor at the point of common coupling (PCC) is used as the main parameter in calculating reactive power excess charges instead of directly pricing the surplus reactive energy delivered from the distribution network. The classical approaches to reducing or eliminating RPEC are based on providing reactive power within the consumer’s installations from their PV inverters and their capacitor banks. However, the solutions presented require optimization studies since the costs of producing reactive energy can be even higher than the penalties involved. In this context, we developed a new hourly-based optimization model for the RPEC problem based on the variable neighborhood search meta-heuristic and the Fibonacci search method. In addition, we apply the proposed methodology to two medium voltage prosumers in Santo André, Brazil. The results showed the proposal’s effectiveness, mitigating RPEC and minimizing the prosumers’ electricity bills without installing new equipment to supply their reactive demand. The best results were found when reactive power was delivered by the capacitor bank and PV inverters simultaneously rather than applying these solutions separately. The proposed hourly-based correction method can help in day-ahead energy management, avoiding premature wear from switching the consumer’s reactive power compensation equipment switches. Also, the methodology proposal improved the power factor at the utility substation, which benefits the power distribution systems

Quality-of-Life Outcomes in Female Patients With Ileal Conduit or Orthotopic Neobladder Urinary Diversion: 6-Month Results of a Multicenter Prospective Study

Radical cystectomy (RC) often affects patients’ life as this surgery is a traumatic and invasive event for the patients, with drawbacks on their daily, social, working, and sex life. Such changes in the quality of life (QoL) of patients are commonly studied through retrospective clinical evaluations and rarely with longitudinal studies. To date, studies focusing on functional outcomes, sexual function, and health-related QoL for female patients are lacking. We evaluated 37 patients using EORTC QLQ-C30 (QLQ-30) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaires, before and after surgery, at 3 and 6 months of follow-up. The mean values for the emotional functioning in QLQ-C30 as well as the mental health in SF-36 were significantly higher in the ONB group compared to the IC group at 3 months of follow-up. These differences were not significant at 6 months of follow-up. At 6 months of follow-up, the ONB group showed a higher mean score in the physical and role functioning than the IC group. Although there was a statistically significant age difference at baseline of the two groups, none of the results are correlated with age, as demonstrated by Spearman’s analysis. The ONB seems to represent the most advantageous solution compared to the IC in terms of QOL at the 6-month follow-up