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Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in Afghanistan with Respect to the Kabul and Parwan Regions
No full textAfghanistan is a mountainous country located in the middle of the Eurasiatic continent. It has
a rich flora and has always been an area of controversy and conflict between different emperors
since ancient times. This background resulted in rich culture and traditions that include the use
of medicinal plants. However, the flora of the country is not well investigated and research on
medicinal plants used in traditional medicine is limited until now. The now-presented
ethnobotanical study has been designed to document the use of medicinal plants in the Kabul
and Parwan provinces. Field research was conducted by collecting ethnobotanical data via
interviews with knowledgeable local people using structured questionnaires. Herbarium
specimens were deposited in the herbarium of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kabul University. The
results of this survey show that a total of 270 medicinal plant species belonging to 76 families
were used in the study area. Most of these species were members of the plant families
Asteraceae (10%), Fabaceae, Lamiaceae (>8% each), Apiaceae (8%), Rosaceae (>7%),
Solanaceae, Poaceae, and Brassicaceae (4% each). Out of all the plants we reported,
approximately 32% (87 species) were very frequently used, cited by more than 10 informants;
21% (56 species) were frequently used (recorded 5-10 times) and 47% (127 species) were less
frequent use (recorded 4–6 times). It was found that Cichorium intybus L., Achillea wilhelmsii
K. Koch, Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Althaea officinalis L., Plantago major L., Berberis
integerrima Bunge, Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl, Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Artemisia
absinthium L., Mentha longifolia (L.) L., Artemisia alba Turra, Anethum graveolens L., Alhagi
pseudalhagi (M. Bieb.) Desv., Prunus cerasus L., Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague, Urtica
dioica L., Artemisia sieberi Besser, Ephedra gerardiana Wall. ex Klotzsch & Garcke, Malva
neglecta Wallr., Juglans regia L., Peganum harmala L., Borago officinalis L., Hymenocrater
sessilifolius Benth., and Levisticum officinale W.D.J.Koch, were the most often used species
in the area. These medicinal plants were mainly used for the management of gastrointestinal
diseases (> 28%), muscle-skeletal problems (> 21%), cardiovascular diseases (> 12%), urinary
tract diseases (> 10%), and respiratory tract diseases (10%). The most frequent forms of
administration were infusions (21%), powders (20%), decoctions (18%), fresh consumption
(11%), and maceration (7%). This study reveals that the utilization of medicinal plants is
frequently practiced for the treatment of different, typically minor disorders, in the area of
interest. Even though some medicinal plants are commonly used throughout the area, they own
regionally different uses. In the meantime, some of the plants cited by our informants have no
bibliographic record in terms of traditional medicinal use until now.Afghanistan ist ein gebirgiges Land in der Mitte des eurasischen Kontinents, hat eine reiche
Flora und war seit der Antike immer das Gebiet von Kontroversen und Konflikten zwischen
den antiken Reichen. Dieser Hintergrund führte zu einer reichen Kultur und zu vielfältigen
Traditionen, welche die Verwendung von Arzneipflanzen beinhalten. Die Flora des Landes ist
jedoch relativ schlecht erforscht und die Untersuchungen an Arzneipflanzen, die in der
traditionellen Medizin verwendet werden, sind bisher unzureichend. Mit der nun vorgestellten
ethnobotanische Studie soll die Verwendung von Arzneipflanzen in den Provinzen Kabul und
Parwan dokumentiert werden. Für die Untersuchungen wurden ethnobotanische Daten durch
Interviews mit sachkundigen Einheimischen unter Verwendung strukturierter Fragebögen
gesammelt. Parallel dazu wurden Herbarbelege im Herbarium der Fakultät für Pharmazie der
Universität Kabul archiviert. Die Ergebnisse dieser Umfrage zeigen, dass im
Untersuchungsgebiet insgesamt 270 Arzneipflanzen-Arten aus 76 Familien verwendet wurden.
Am häufigsten vertreten waren Mitglieder der Pflanzenfamilien Asteraceae (10%), Fabaceae,
Lamiaceae (jeweils > 8%), Apiaceae (8%), Rosaceae (> 7%), Solanaceae, Poaceae und
Brassicaceae (jeweils > 4%). Von den dokumentierten Pflanzen wurden ca. 32% (87 Arten)
sehr häufig verwendet, zitiert von mehr als 10 Informanten; 21% (56 Arten) wurden häufig
verwendet (5-10-mal erfasst) und 47% (127 Arten) wurden weniger häufig verwendet (4-6-mal
erfasst). Es wurde festgestellt, dass Cichorium intybus L., Achillea wilhelmsii K. Koch,
Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Althaea officinalis L., Plantago major L., Berberis integerrima
Bunge, Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl, Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Artemisia absinthium
L., Mentha longifolia (L.) L., Artemisia alba Turra, Anethum graveolens L., Alhagi
pseudalhagi (M. Bieb.) Desv., Prunus cerasus L., Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague, Urtica
dioica L., Artemisia sieberi Besser, Ephedra gerardiana Wall. Ex Klotzsch & Garcke, Malva
neglecta Wallr., Juglans regia L., Peganum harmala L., Borago officinalis L., Hymenocrater
sessilifolius Benth. und Levisticum officinale W.D.J.Koch die am häufigsten verwendeten
Arten in der Region sind. Diese Arzneipflanzen werden hauptsächlich zur Therapie von
Magen-Darm-Erkrankungen (> 28%), Muskel-Skelett-Erkrankungen (> 21%), Herz-Kreislauf-
Erkrankungen (> 12%), Harnwegserkrankungen (> 10%) und Atemwegserkrankungen (10%)
verwendet. Die häufigsten Darreichungsformen waren Infusionen (21%), Pulver (20%),
Abkochungen (18%), Frischverzehr (11%) und Mazeration (7%).
Diese Studie zeigt, dass der Einsatz von Arzneipflanzen zur Behandlung verschiedener,
typischerweise geringfügiger Erkrankungen, im untersuchten Gebiet recht häufig praktiziert
wird. Auch wenn einige Heilpflanzen im gesamten Gebiet häufig verwendet werden, haben sie
jedoch regional unterschiedliche Verwendungszwecke. Einige der von unseren Informanten
zitierten Pflanzen haben bisher keine bibliographischen Angaben zur traditionellen
medizinischen Verwendung
Orienting attention across binocular disparity
No full textThe spatial distribution of covert visual attention following an exogenous cue is often described as a spotlight, which disregards depth. Here, we study the orienting of attention across binocular disparity, a key depth cue in primates. A small Gabor patch target was displayed at ±12-arcmin horizontal offset in each eye independently, resulting in four possible 3D locations. With some latency relative to target onset (0–300 ms), an attentional cue was displayed at one of five binocular locations, resulting in various combinations of relative azimuth (horizontal position) and disparity (depth). Observers’ task was to discriminate the orientation of the target. Observers’ performance decreased as the relative azimuth between the cue and the target increased. Performance also decreased with the difference in disparity, even when the azimuth remained constant. Performance varied with the delay between the cue and the target and was maximal between 100 and 150 ms. The orienting of attention in azimuth and depth followed the same time course. We mapped the 3D shape of attentional focus over time and found that the spatial envelope was approximately a Gaussian modulated in time. These results could not be explained by monocular confounds nor by eye movements. We conclude that exogenous cues direct attention not only to their visual direction but also to their depth and that binocular disparity is sufficient to define that depth. The identical time course and interaction between azimuth and depth suggest a shared mechanism, and therefore that visual attention to spatial location is an intrinsically 3D process.Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg
Environmental Aspects of Resource Extraction Contracts
No full textThis paper analyzes resource partnerships and their in
uence on the environmental quality in a resource-rich country by introducing incomplete contracts, imperfect property rights protection, and a lack
of valuation for the environment by the government in the South. Em-
ploying numerical simulations, I determine the equilibrium extraction
rate, the applied extraction technology, and the environmental quality
in dependence of the state of democracy in the resource-rich country.
In contrast to what one might expect, under certain circumstances it
can be environmentally bene�cial to have incomplete contracts that
induce the utilization of a suboptimal technology for resource extrac-
tion. Further, reducing the holdup problem by shifting bargaining
power to the North, is only desirable if the environmental quality in-
creases with a better extraction technology
Evaluating the clinical utility of measuring levels of factor H and the related proteins
No full textDieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglichThis publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectivelyAfter years of disappointing clinical results, the tide has finally changed and complement targeted-therapies have become a validated and accepted treatment option for several diseases. These accomplishments have revitalized the field and brought renewed attention to the prospects that complement therapeutics can offer. Streamlining diagnostics and therapeutics is imperative in this new era of clinical use of complement therapeutics. However, the incredible success in therapeutics has not been accompanied by the development of novel standardized tools for complement testing. Complement biomarkers can assist in the risk assessment and diagnosis of diseases as well as the prediction of disease progression and treatment response. Recently, a group of complement proteins has been suggested to be highly relevant in various complement-associated disorders, namely the human factor H (FH) protein family. This family of closely related proteins consists of FH, FH-like protein 1, and five factor H-related proteins, and they have been linked to eye, kidney, infectious, vascular, and autoimmune diseases as well as cancer. The goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the available data on circulating levels of FH and its related proteins in different pathologies. In addition, we examined the current literature to determine the clinical utility of measuring levels of the FH protein family in health and disease. Finally, we discuss future steps that are needed to make their clinical translation a reality
Securitising Decolonisation : The Silencing of Ewe and Togoland Unification under United Nations Trusteeship, 1945-1960
No full textWith the right to petition the United Nations, the Ewe and Togoland unification movement enjoyed a privilege unmatched by other dependent peoples. Using language conveying insecurity, the movement seized the international spotlight, ensuring that the topic of unification dominated the UN Trusteeship System for over a decade. Yet, its vociferous securitisations fell silent due to colonial distortion, leaving unification unfulfilled, thus allowing the seeds of secessionist conflict to grow. At the intersection of postcolonial theory and security studies, Julius Heise presents a theory-driven history of Togoland's path to independence, offering a crucial lesson for international statebuilding efforts.Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg
Pay What You Want – But Pay Enough! Information Asymmetries and PWYW-Pricing
No full textPay What You Want (PWYW) pricing has received considerable attention recently. Empirical studies show that if PWYW pricing is implemented, in a number of cases consumers do not behave selfishly and that some producers are able to use PWYW for increasing turnover and profits respectively. In this paper we add information asymmetries to the existing explanations regarding consumer behaviorand argue that information asymmetries may account for the results found in empirical studies. Since the success of PWYW pricing depends on the distribution of information, one implication is that optimization strategies with respect to pricing should take information asymmetries into account
ECB vs Bundesbank: Diverging Tones and policy Effectiveness
No full textThe present paper studies the consequences of conflicting narratives for the transmission of monetary policy shocks. We focus on conflict between the presidents of the ECB and the Bundesbank, the main protagonists of monetary policy in the euro area, who often disagreed on policy over the past two decades. This conflict received much attention on financial markets. We use over 900 speeches of both institutions' presidents since 1999 and quantify the tone conveyed in speeches and the divergence of tone among both both presidents. We find (i) a drop towards more negative tone in 2009 for both institutions and (ii) a large divergence of tone after 2009. The ECB communication becomes persistently more optimistic and less uncertain than the Bundesbank's after 2009, and this gap widens after the SMP, OMT and APP announcements. We show that long-term interest rates respond less strongly to a monetary policy shock if ECB-Bundesbank communication is more cacophonous than on average, in which case the ECB loses its ability to drive the slope of the yield curve. The weaker transmission under high divergence reflects a muted adjustment of the expectations component of long-term rates
Risk factors and protective factors of acute postoperative pain: an observational study at a German university hospital with cross-sectional and longitudinal inpatient data
No full textObjectives:
Surgical fear is one of the most important psychological risk factors for postoperative pain, but less is known about the contribution of protective factors. This study investigated somatic and psychological risk and resilience factors of postoperative pain and validated the German version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ).
Setting:
University Hospital of Marburg, Germany.
Design:
Single-centre observational study and cross-sectional validation study.
Participants:
Data for validating the SFQ were obtained from a cross-sectional observational study (N=198, mean age 43.6 years, 58.8% female) with persons undergoing different kinds of elective surgery. A sample of N=196 (mean age 43.0 years, 45.4% female) undergoing elective (orthopaedic) surgery was analysed to investigate somatic and psychological predictors of relevant acute postsurgical pain (APSP).
Outcome measures:
Participants completed preoperative and postoperative assessments at postoperative days 1, 2 and 7. Presurgical pain, age, gender, pain expectation, surgical setting, physical status, anaesthesia, surgical fear, pain catastrophising, depression, optimism and self-efficacy were examined as predictors.
Results:
Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original two-factor structure of the SFQ. Correlation analyses indicated good convergent and divergent validity. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) was between 0.85 and 0.89. Blockwise logistic regression analyses for the risk of APSP revealed outpatient setting, higher preoperative pain, younger age, more surgical fear and low dispositional optimism as significant predictors.
Conclusions:
The German SFQ is a valid, reliable and economical instrument with which the important psychological predictor surgical fear can be assessed. Modifiable factors that increase the risk of postoperative pain were higher pain intensity before surgery and being fearful about negative consequences of the surgery whereas positive expectations seem to buffer against postsurgical pain.
Trial registration numbers:
DRKS00021764 and DRKS00021766.Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg
Municipality amalgamation in Japan: an examination using event history analysis
No full textThis study considers the factors behind municipality amalgamations in Japan from fiscal year 1999 to 2005 using event history analysis. We use discrete-time logit model and 21,165 parson-year data. Our findings show that the central government’s “carrot and stick” policy strongly influenced municipality amalgamations for those with high ratios of inter-governmental grants to total revenue. Moreover, neighboring municipalities became the trigger for the amalgamation of other municipalities
Market Design of Regional Flexibility Markets: A Classification Metric for Flexibility Products and its Application to German Prototypical Flexibility Markets
No full textWith a growing number of distributed energy resources, the electricity network is challenged with a higher quantity of technical problems such as capacity congestions and over- or under-voltages. One often-discussed approach to solve these problems, especially in the European zonal electricity system, is regional exibility markets. We provide a novel metric for the design of exibility products by combining technical requirements with a background in auction theory. This is a valuable contribution to the discussion of regional exibility markets, which currently occurs on a largely technical or conceptual level. The metric structures 23 product parameters in four stages of di_erent abstraction levels. By applying this metric to _ve exibility market approaches used in current German research projects, we demonstrate its usability for consistent description and comparison of exibility products. Therefore, the metric we have developed, is a powerful instrument for structured analysis and assessment of the vast diversity of approaches to exibility markets and products at a high level of detail. This metric can empower national and international policy makers and practitioners in developing and assessing exibility markets holistically and can help to simplify the implementation of best-practice solutions