A laid-off worker in central China's Hunan Province has worked out a human biorhythmic scale computer program that tells what times of the year a person is more energetic and efficient.

Xiang Jingzhou, who was laid off from a carpet company in the provincial capital Changsha, has developed a patented software program that quickly identifies a person's high and low points and grey areas in terms of physical and mental health and efficiency through the year.

The software is based on a widely-believed theory on the rise and fall of three curves that represent energy, temperament and intelligence and rotate every 23, 28 and 33 days respectively.

Experts say a person is more likely to be successful when all the three curves are going up or at their peaks, though he himself may not feel any difference. When all the three are falling, however, sports people tend to lose and accidents are more likely to happen.

A Swiss scientist has surveyed 204 air crashes in his home country, and found that 70 percent of the pilots were had all their three curves falling at the times of the mishaps.

The theory was first put forward by German and Austrian psychologists in the early 1900s and has been used by Chinese scientists in the 1970s to identify when a person is healthier and more efficient.

Xiang's software, however, has provided the simplest and fastest means to calculate to date.

"When a person is born, all three curves start to go up from zero," said Xiang. "With this software, you just need to input your birth date to get your own curves for a given year."

Xiang has surveyed 48 children with various congenital problems in Changsha, and found 87 percent were conceived when their parents were at low-points.

More than 80 percent of the 207 healthy and intelligent students he surveyed, however, were conceived when their parents had rising curves, he said.

All nine members of the expert panel, including eugenists and cytobiologists from the China Demography Society, spoke highly of Xiang's invention at a recent appraisal, and geneticists have started to use the software to prevent prenatal defects and help young parents conceive healthy babies.

Still experts warn that rising curves do not guarantee prenatal health because pollution and genetic factors also cause certain congenital defects.

Xiang became interested in the human biorhythmic scale in 1989 and has focused on its research since he lost his job in 1994. His prototype product was patented in 2001, prior to the software version that was developed last year.

Nearly one million babies, or four to six percent of total newborns, are born with congenital defects in China each year, figures from family planning authorities show.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2004)