Relations of science students’ academic performance at university level with their gender: a case study at the faculty of science, university of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

University is an institution for higher education, research, and social development. Hence, the students’ performance at the University is very important as graduates are supposed to become future leaders in this world. There are many factors affecting the students’ performance at the University level. Thus, this study was focusing on assessing the impact of gender on students’ academic performance at University level. This is a quantitative study. Sample of the study was drawn from the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya through convenient sampling technique. The sample consisted of 1729 undergraduates from four consecutive batches from 2006 to 2009. There were 822 males and 907 females in the sample. The data were collected through documents from the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya and analyzed using MS Excel 2010 and SPSS 17. The study established a relationship between gender of students and their performance measured according to the students’ Grade Point Average (GPA) at the University. The results of the study revealed that the performance of female students is higher than that of males. There were 18% of female undergraduates in 4.00-3.70 GPA range while only 5% of male undergraduates were in the same range. Male undergraduates are prominent in 3.30-3.00 GPA range and < 3.00 GPA.This situation could be due to many inter-related factors such as study habits, aspirations, self-concepts, motivation, other psychological conditions, and some physiological aspects. Thus, an in-depth study has to be conducted to investigate the issue in order to support especially the male students to perform well in their higher education at the University level

Evaluation of total n, p, k and organic matter contents of soil amended with paddy husk charcoal coated urea and comparison of the yield of paddy.

Rice production in Sri Lanka has increased considerably during the last three decades as a result of cultivation of high yielding varieties, increase in the area of cultivation under irrigation and heavy use of plant nutrients. Most of the high yielding varieties which are extensively grown throughout the country require recommended levels of fertilizers in order to obtain their potential yields. Therefore, effective and efficient way of fertilizer application is important. Coated fertilizers are widely used to improve the efficiency of fertilizer application. However, the conventional coated fertilizers such as sulphur coated urea and urea super granules are not popular among the rice farmers in Sri Lanka owing to high cost of the coated fertilizers. One of the most sustainable solutions is application of paddy husk charcoal as a coating material to N fertilizer so as to gradually release nitrogenous compounds and making them available for plants. Objectives of this study were to evaluate total N, P K and organic matter of soil amended with paddy husk charcoal coated urea and to compare the yield of paddy production. A field experiment was carried out at Kalugamuwa farmer field in Yala 2010 and Maha 2010/2011. The field was divided into three blocks of equal size (30 m x 5 m) and each block was further subdivided into four plots (5 m x 5 m) and treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design. Treatments were application of (1) chemical fertilizer only, (2) urea coated charcoal only (1/3 of recommended urea) (3) chemical fertilizer and paddy straw compost (compost obtained from anaerobic digestion of paddy straw) and (4) paddy straw compost and urea coated charcoal only. The highest mean grain yield of 12.59kg/plot was obtained with the application of chemical fertilizer followed by charcoal coated urea with compost, chemical fertilizer and charcoal coated urea only for Yala season. Paddy husk charcoal coated urea can potentially be used as a slow releasing nitrogen fertilizer which reduces leaching losses of urea. In addition, coating is less costly and helps reducing the fertilizer cost (70% of urea cost) and contribute to mitigate atmospheric pollution as well as pollution of water bodies

Review on Photomicrography based Full Blood Count (FBC) Testing and Recent Advancements

With advancements in related sub-fields, research on photomicrography in life science is emerging and this is a review on its application towards human full blood count testing which is a primary test in medical practices. For a prolonged period of time, analysis of blood samples is the basis for bio medical observations of living creatures. Cell size, shape, constituents, count, ratios are few of the features identified using DIP based analysis and these features provide an overview of the state of human body which is important in identifying present medical conditions and indicating possible future complications. In addition, functionality of the immune system is observed using results of blood tests. In FBC tests, identification of different blood cell types and counting the number of cells of each type is required to obtain results. Literature discuss various techniques and methods and this article presents an insightful review on human blood cell morphology, photomicrography, digital image processing of photomicrographs, feature extraction and classification, and recent advances. Integration of emerging technologies such as microfluidics, micro-electromechanical systems, and artificial intelligence based image processing algorithms and classifiers with cell sensing have enabled exploration of novel research directions in blood testing applications.

Maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnant patients with lupus nephritis

Background: Pregnancy in a woman with lupus nephritis (LN) carries a high risk of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. This study aims to analyze the effect of LN on maternal and fetal outcomes and lupus activity.Methods: In a single-center, cross-sectional observational study at national hospital Kandy, 32 pregnancies in 23 women with biopsy-proven LN between 2007 and 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.Results: Mean age at pregnancy was 28.4 years (SD=4.8, range 19–38 years). In six women, LN developed during pregnancy, 17 patients were already diagnosed with LN when they became pregnant. A renal biopsy performed 4.6 (SD=3.8) years before pregnancy, showed diffuse LN in 18 (78.3%) and focal LN in 5 (21.7%) cases. At conception, most patients were in complete (43.8%) or partial (21.9%) remission. Therapeutic abortion was performed in 8 pregnancies (indications: renal flares in 5, pre-eclampsia in 3) at a mean period of amenorrhea (POA) of 16.8 weeks (range 8-28 weeks). Spontaneous fetal loss occurred in one pregnancy. Among 23 live births, there were four pre-term deliveries (0.05) between LN histological type, initial clinical presentation and treated hypertension with fetal outcome. No case of neonatal lupus or congenital heart block was noted. During pregnancy, there were five (15.6%) renal flares and two acute kidney injury cases; all were reversible. Eight patients (25%) developed PIHConclusions: Pregnancy induced hypertension is a more commonly encountered complication in pregnancies with lupus nephritis. The fetal outcome is unfavorable in pregnancies with renal flares.

Body composition in lupus nephritis patients

Background: The assessment of body fat distribution is an important evaluation in patients with lupus nephritis (LN), which does not practice routinely. The objectives of this study were to determine the body composition by using bioelectrical impedance analysis and to identify the effects of age, body mass index, disease activity, and corticosteroid therapy on body composition.Methods: This was a single-centered, cross-sectional, and observational study conducted at the nephrology unit, National Hospital Kandy, Sri Lanka. Seventy-nine patients with biopsy-proven LN have participated in the study.Results: There were 79 lupus nephritis patients enrolled in this study. The duration of LN ranged from 8 months to 32 years. The main non-renal clinical manifestations included skin lesions (59%), arthritis (54%), and oral ulcers (48%). The disease activity was low with a mean SLEDAI score of 1.01 (SD=2.3). The body fat (BF) percentage (p=0.002) and subcutaneous fat (SF) percentage (p<0.001) were significantly low in males compared to females. And, BF percentage was significantly low among patients with SLEDAI-2K 6 (p=0.03). Moreover, there were positive correlations found between SLE disease activity with the BMI (p=0.004), body fat percentage (p=0.001), and visceral fat percentage (p=0.001).Conclusions: Females are more prone to have a high mean value of body composition parameters than males in this study. There is a negative influence of the body composition parameters reported against the disease activity among LN patients in Sri Lanka.

Building local capacities in the operation and management of an integrated solid waste management programme; Experience of Ampara District, Eastern Sri Lanka

Open dumping and burning of wastes in the environmental sensitive areas were common practices in almost all the local authorities in Ampara district. It had become a big threat to public health, the beautiful natural environment and to the local economy. The Local Authorities of the District often faced severe difficulties in the management of solid waste in an environmentally, socially and economically feasible manner. The lack of technical and financial capacities to apply and practice the newly developed waste management guidelines and policies further aggravated this situation.Having identified the gravity  and the importance of this serious environmental issue, the Department of Assistant Commissioner of Local Government of Ampara District, with the financial assistance of the European Union and the technical assistance of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), is currently implementing an Integrated Solid Waste Management Programme (ISWMP) in 12 local authorities of the District. This ISWMP is completely being operated with the full coordination of the District Office of the Central Environmental Authority, Ampara. The UNOPS, as part of its technical assistance, has constructed solid waste management facilities such as 7 engineered landfills, one Waste Transfer Station, 4 Recycling Centers, 5 compost yards, well developed collection systems  as well as provided with capability building/training assistance aiming to establish an effective and efficient solid waste management system for the District. These  facilities are now completed,  already in use and operational. With these facilities in place, and with the continued support from UNOPS in providing institutional and capacity building assistance to the LA officers and staff, haphazard dumping and littering of waste in certain areas of the LAs have now been stopped. Thus 45,000 urban households or 58% of the total urban population are benefitted under thisprogramme with a total collection of 137tonnes of wastes per day through this programme. Out of this 137tonnes of waste, 59 tonnes are collected from cluster systems involving five local authorities while the balance from the other non-clustered Local Authorities.The paper will also present the processes and methodologies to improve the landfill practices from the open dumping practices to controlled tipping and then to engineered landfills  among the implementing local authorities. It will also highlight interventions/strategies to ensure sustainability of the operation and their management through the introduction of a User Fee system/Service Charge which is currently being implemented in 04  Local Authorities. This collected User Fee covers about 80% of cost of collection of waste which would otherwise been spent through their normal budget.Key words: Integrated Solid Waste Management, Ampara, haphazard dumping, controlled tipping, engineered landfill

Proteomic analysis of urine in medication-overuse headache patients: possible relation with renal damages

Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is a chronic disorder associated with overuse of analgesic drugs, triptans, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or other acute headache compounds. Various epidemiologic investigations proved that different drug types could cause nephrotoxicity, particularly in chronic patients. The aim of the present work was to analyze, by a proteomic approach, the urinary protein profiles of MOH patients focusing on daily use of NSAIDs, mixtures and triptans that could reasonably be related to potential renal damage. We selected 43 MOH patients overusing triptans (n = 18), NSAIDs (n = 11), and mixtures (n = 14), for 2–30 years with a mean daily analgesic intake of 1.5 ± 0.9 doses, and a control group composed of 16 healthy volunteers. Urine proteins were analyzed by mono-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified by mass spectrometry analysis. Comparing the proteomic profiles of patients and controls, we found a significantly different protein expression, especially in the NSAIDs group, in which seven proteins resulted over-secreted from kidney (OR = 49, 95% CI 2.53–948.67 vs. controls; OR = 11.6, 95% CI 0.92–147.57 vs. triptans and mixtures groups). Six of these proteins (uromodulin, α-1-microglobulin, zinc-α-2-glycoprotein, cystatin C, Ig-kappa-chain, and inter-α-trypsin heavy chain H4) were strongly correlated with various forms of kidney disorders. Otherwise, in mixtures and in triptans abusers, only three proteins were potentially associated to pathological conditions (OR = 4.2, 95% CI 0.33–53.12, vs. controls). In conclusion, this preliminary proteomic study allowed us to define the urinary protein pattern of MOH patients that is related to the abused drug. According with the obtained results, we believe that the risk of nephrotoxicity should be considered particularly in MOH patients who abuse of NSAIDs

Fabrication of Pt/Ru Nanoparticle Pair Arrays with Controlled Separation and their Electrocatalytic Properties

Aiming at the investigation of spillover and transport effects in electrocatalytic reactions on bimetallic catalyst electrodes, we have prepared novel, nanostructured electrodes consisting of arrays of homogeneously distributed pairs of Pt and Ru nanodisks of uniform size and with controlled separation on planar glassy carbon substrates. The nanodisk arrays (disk diameter approximate to 60 nm) were fabricated by hole-mask colloidal lithography; the separation between pairs of Pt and Ru disks was varied from -25 nm (overlapping) via +25 nm to +50 nm. Morphology and (surface) composition of the Pt/Ru nanodisk arrays Were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy, the electrochemical/electrocatalytic properties were explored by cyclic voltammetry, COad monolayer oxidation ("COad stripping"), and potentiodynamic hydrogen oxidation. Detailed analysis of the 2 COad oxidation peaks revealed that on all bimetallic pairs these cannot be reproduced by superposition of the peaks obtained on electrodes with Pt/Pt or Ru/Ru pairs, pointing to effective Pt-Ru interactions even between rather distant pairs (50 nm). Possible reasons for this observation and its relevance for the understanding of previous reports of highly active catalysts with separate Pt and Ru nanoparticles are discussed. The results clearly demonstrate that this preparation method is perfectly suited for fabrication of planar model electrodes with well-defined arrays of bimetallic nanodisk pairs, which opens up new possibilities for model studies of electrochemical/electrocatalytic reactions