Breakup of community social structures in the war-affected northern and eastern provinces in Sri Lanka

"This paper examines a significant social consequence of the 26 years of conflict in Sri Lanka, namely, the breakup of the community social structures that is visible in the Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. In our previous research, we revealed this issue with regard to certain limited areas of the North. Immediately after the end of the war in 2009, Heath and Silva (2012) documented what they considered ‘community breakup’ in the North of Sri Lanka. In this paper, I re-examine the same issue (albeit more broadly) five years after the original study, with a more comprehensive research approach covering all of the districts in the North and East. Essentially, community breakup involves a crucial transformation in the social structure of a community, specifically with regard to statuses and roles, functioning of the social institutions, procedures, norms and values. This present study focuses on the institutions of marriage and family to illustrate the community breakup, as these two institutions can be considered pivotal to the functioning and survival of society. Through interviews and FGDs, the study uncovers extraordinary levels of extramarital sexual relations, the sexual exploitation of certain categories of women, a high prevalence of teenage pregnancies, and the abandonment of spouses. This paper is not an attempt to quantify the prevalence of these issues either in relation to other parts of the country or a specific period in history. Rather, it sheds anthropological light on a set of issues, which are seen to affect the smooth functioning of ordinary life and bring about a discussion, generating interest in possible remedial action. The study also finds a secondary set of issues intricately connected with the first: significant prevalence of household violence in families and high levels of alcohol consumption.

Breakup of community social structures in the war-affected northern and eastern provinces in Sri Lanka

"This paper examines a significant social consequence of the 26 years of conflict in Sri Lanka, namely, the breakup of the community social structures that is visible in the Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. In our previous research, we revealed this issue with regard to certain limited areas of the North. Immediately after the end of the war in 2009, Heath and Silva (2012) documented what they considered ‘community breakup’ in the North of Sri Lanka. In this paper, I re-examine the same issue (albeit more broadly) five years after the original study, with a more comprehensive research approach covering all of the districts in the North and East. Essentially, community breakup involves a crucial transformation in the social structure of a community, specifically with regard to statuses and roles, functioning of the social institutions, procedures, norms and values. This present study focuses on the institutions of marriage and family to illustrate the community breakup, as these two institutions can be considered pivotal to the functioning and survival of society. Through interviews and FGDs, the study uncovers extraordinary levels of extramarital sexual relations, the sexual exploitation of certain categories of women, a high prevalence of teenage pregnancies, and the abandonment of spouses. This paper is not an attempt to quantify the prevalence of these issues either in relation to other parts of the country or a specific period in history. Rather, it sheds anthropological light on a set of issues, which are seen to affect the smooth functioning of ordinary life and bring about a discussion, generating interest in possible remedial action. The study also finds a secondary set of issues intricately connected with the first: significant prevalence of household violence in families and high levels of alcohol consumption.

Post-war livelihood trends in northern and eastern Sri-Lanka

"Using information collected through, key informant interviews, FGDs and Stakeholder Consultations, this report examines the livelihood shifts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces since the end of war in May 2009. We found that while farming and fishing, including animal husbandry, continue to remain important in these two provinces, for a vast majority of impoverished people remaining in these two provinces casual wage labor in an unstable labor market characterized by low wages, absence of continuous work and wages and other terms being dictated by the employers, have become the main source of livelihood, replacing farming and fishing, the two leading livelihoods in the area prior to the war and during part of the war period as well. The increased importance of wage labor in postwar era is connected with the construction boom in these areas associated with postwar developments as wells as difficulties encountered by the new settlers in restoring their former livelihoods disrupted during the war not only due to the breakdown of irrigation infrastructure, fishing harbors, support services, increased costs of production, and loss of land and equipment, but also due to increased competition for local fishermen from Indian trawlers and Sothern fishermen, and loss of the economic niches occupied by local producers over products such as red onions, chillies, tobacco and fish. Some environmental factors such as droughts and flash floods and threats from wild animals have also contributed to the decline of farming in parts of Vanni and the Paduwankarai region of the Eastern province in particular. Similarly over exploitation of some fishing grounds by the trawlers and environmental impacts of tsunami are among the factors that have adversely affected the local fishing industry. On the social side, factors contributing to the decline of farming and fishing include demographic imbalances as reflected in increase in female-headed households, disability and dependency and outmigration of people with capital and knowhow during the war.

An annotated bibliography on social issues in post-war Sri Lanka with particular reference to conflict-affected northern and eastern provinces

"This annotated bibliography was prepared as a preliminary output of a strategic social assessment in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was conducted by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Kandy for both the World Bank and Government of Sri Lanka. The document covers the literature (published and grey) relating to the social and psychological impact of the war in Sri Lanka, post-war developments (including challenges encountered in the resettlement), recovery and reconciliation in war-affected communities and the nature of social formations, community dynamics, identity issues and social harmony, and conflict management in the newly settled and yet to be resettled populations.

Experiences of a relocated community in Colombo : case study of Sinhapura, Wanathamulla

Sinhalese version available in IDRC Digital Library: Experiences of a relocated community in Colombo : case study of Sinhapura, Wanathamulla [Sinhalese version]Sinhapura is a government housing complex in two phases, each with 60 apartments built for relocating residents from two shanty communities in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The displacement and relocation experiences of the two groups have been different. The sense of belonging felt by Sinhapura residents differs not only between the two phases but also among members of each phase. The nature of condominium living, competition, presence of relocatees from two different ex-watta communities, petty crime and lack of policing, a lack of cohesive leadership, and the nature of their previous housing community, seem to cause divisions within the new community

Scalable Preparation and Differential Pharmacologic and Toxicologic Profiles of Primaquine Enantiomers

Hematotoxicity in individuals genetically deficient in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity is the major limitation of primaquine (PQ), the only antimalarial drug in clinical use for treatment of relapsing Plasmodium vivax malaria. PQ is currently clinically used in its racemic form. A scalable procedure was developed to resolve racemic PQ, thus providing pure enantiomers for the first time for detailed preclinical evaluation and potentially for clinical use. These enantiomers were compared for antiparasitic activity using several mouse models and also for general and hematological toxicities in mice and dogs. (+)-(S)-PQ showed better suppressive and causal prophylactic activity than (−)-(R)-PQ in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Similarly, (+)-(S)-PQ was a more potent suppressive agent than (−)-(R)-PQ in a mouse model of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. However, at higher doses, (+)-(S)-PQ also showed more systemic toxicity for mice. In beagle dogs, (+)-(S)-PQ caused more methemoglobinemia and was toxic at 5 mg/kg of body weight/day given orally for 3 days, while (−)-(R)-PQ was well tolerated. In a novel mouse model of hemolytic anemia associated with human G6PD deficiency, it was also demonstrated that (−)-(R)-PQ was less hemolytic than (+)-(S)-PQ for the G6PD-deficient human red cells engrafted in the NOD-SCID mice. All these data suggest that while (+)-(S)-PQ shows greater potency in terms of antiparasitic efficacy in rodents, it is also more hematotoxic than (−)-(R)-PQ in mice and dogs. Activity and toxicity differences of PQ enantiomers in different species can be attributed to their different pharmacokinetic and metabolic profiles. Taken together, these studies suggest that (−)-(R)-PQ may have a better safety margin than the racemate in human

Comparative metabolism and tolerability of racemic primaquine and its enantiomers in human volunteers during 7-day administration

Primaquine (PQ) is an 8-aminoquinoline antimalarial, active against dormant Plasmodium vivax hypnozoites and P. falciparum mature gametocytes. PQ is currently used for P. vivax radical cure and prevention of malaria transmission. PQ is a racemic drug and since the metabolism and pharmacology of PQ’s enantiomers have been shown to be divergent, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the comparative tolerability and metabolism of PQ with respect to its two enantiomers in human volunteers in a 7 days’ treatment schedule. Fifteen subjects with normal glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDn) completed four arms, receiving each of the treatments, once daily for 7 days, in a crossover fashion, with a 7–14 days washout period in between: R-(−) enantiomer (RPQ) 22.5 mg; S-(+) enantiomer (SPQ) 22.5 mg; racemic PQ (RSPQ) 45 mg, and placebo. Volunteers were monitored for any adverse events (AEs) during the study period. PQ and metabolites were quantified in plasma and red blood cells (RBCs) by UHPLC-UV-MS/MS. Plasma PQ was significantly higher in SPQ treatment group than for RPQ. Carboxy-primaquine, a major plasma metabolite, was much higher in the RPQ treated group than SPQ; primaquine carbamoyl glucuronide, another major plasma metabolite, was derived only from SPQ. The ortho-quinone metabolites were also detected and showed differences for the two enantiomers in a similar pattern to the parent drugs. Both enantiomers and racemic PQ were well tolerated in G6PDn subjects with the 7 days regimen; three subjects showed mild AEs which did not require any intervention or discontinuation of the drug. The most consistent changes in G6PDn subjects were a gradual increase in methemoglobin and bilirubin, but these were not clinically important. However, the bilirubin increase suggests mild progressive damage to a small fraction of red cells. PQ enantiomers were also individually administered to two G6PD deficient (G6PDd) subjects, one heterozygous female and one hemizygous male. These G6PDd subjects showed similar results with the two enantiomers, but the responses in the hemizygous male were more pronounced. These studies suggest that although the metabolism profiles of individual PQ enantiomers are markedly different, they did not show significant differences in the safety and tolerability in G6PDn subjects

Investigating the Photochemistry of Azobenzene and Nitrobenzyl Compounds

Azobenzene undergoes reversible cis↔ trans photoisomerization upon irradiation. Substituents often change the isomerization behavior of azobenzene, but not always in a predictive manner. We have synthesized several (aminomethylpyridine)azobenzene (AzoAMP) derivatives with unusual optical properties. These AzoAMPs exhibit minimal trans →cis photoisomerization, extremely rapid cis→trans thermal recovery and enhanced fluorescence emission. Computational and x-ray crystallographic data indicate intramolecular hydrogen bonding and electronic effects of substituents are responsible for the unusual behavior of AzoAMPs. Confirmation that AzoAMPs retain excited state photochemistry analogous to azobenzene was provided by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Photoactivity of AzoAMPs can be restored by chemical modification of functional groups and substituents. Our findings indicate the preferred mechanism for isomerization of AzoAMPs to be concerted-inversion. ^ Caged complexes are metal ion chelators that release analytes when exposed to light of a specific wavelength. We are interested in designing and synthesizing cages for Zn2+ that fragments upon photolysis. The general uncaging strategy involves integrating a nitrobenzyl group on the backbone of a ligand so that a carbon-heteroatom bond is cleaved following illumination. Several caged complexes (ZinCleavs) were obtained using a new synthetic strategy involving a Strecker synthesis to prepare a key aldehyde intermediate. The ability of ZinCleavs to increase free [Zn2+] was demonstrated practically by using fluorescent sensors to image the liberated Zn 2+. Dissociation constant and quantum yield measurements indicate ZinCleavs are capable of perturbing zinc homeostasis in live cells under experimental conditions. Free Zn2+ may function as a neurotransmitter and have a role in the pathology of several neurological diseases. Studying these physiological functions remains challenging because Zn2+ is silent to most common spectroscopic techniques. ZinCleavs are the first cages reported for Zn2+ and will facilitate biological investigations.