Practices Followed to Manage Plastic Waste including Shopping Bags and Lunch Sheets in Sri Lanka: A Preliminary Study in Western Province

Although plastics have made the workings of our lives easier, it has created many different environmental and social problems due to poor management practices. The problem of plastic waste has been exacerbated due to various regulations that have been introduced from time to time for the sustainable management of plastic waste. However, those are not properly implemented. The main objective of this study is to examine the best practices in Sri Lanka for the management of plastic waste, including shopping bags and lunch sheets (PBLS). Further, the study illustrated the prevailing and possible alternatives for polythene products in Sri Lanka and weaknesses in the identification of alternatives. The study was conducted in the Western Province covering three districts: Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara. Data collection was conducted through different structured questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and a major workshop from a sample of 1314 respondents. Results revealed that 59% of households in the survey confirm that they were discouraged from switching to alternatives as a result of freely available low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags in the market. Also, 67% of the households and 74% of the supermarkets pointed out that, the current polythene bag usage was higher prior to the ban, due to the poor strength and quality of the bag. Further, the study reveals that ‘Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)’ has the potential to influence material management systems and prevent pollution and has been successfully tested in many countries around the world. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v07i01.0

Distant delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson's disease: the study protocol of a randomised pilot trial

BACKGROUND: Psychological difficulties, especially depression and anxiety, are the most prevalent non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease. Pharmacological treatments for these conditions appear relatively ineffective in Parkinson's disease. Mindfulness courses are increasingly popular and recognised as effective for managing emotional states, and there is growing evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness courses for people with long-term medical conditions. With this exploratory pilot trial, we want to assess the feasibility of the procedures and processes, including recruitment, most appropriate outcome measure(s), acceptability of type and number of measures, potential nocebo effects, and potential effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a specially adapted distance-delivered mindfulness-based intervention in people affected by Parkinson's disease. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a pilot two-arm randomised parallel group controlled trial. Sixty participants who meet eligibility criteria will be randomly assigned either to an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention group or a wait-list control group. The mindfulness intervention will include 1-h weekly sessions delivered by a health psychologist trained to facilitate mindfulness courses. Participants in both groups will complete standardised questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia, fatigue, and daily activities at four time points (baseline, 4, 8, and 20 weeks). The analysis will also consider potential mechanisms of change, such as acceptance, self-compassion, and tolerance of uncertainty, as well as health economic outcomes. Participants' experiences of the mindfulness interventions will be explored via in-depth interviews. DISCUSSION: A mindfulness-based intervention for people with Parkinson's delivered remotely, through Skype group videoconferences, may represent a viable, more accessible, intervention for people with mobility limitations and people who live in rural areas. The trial will provide important information about the feasibility, potential efficacy and cost-effectiveness, and acceptability of the intervention as well as mechanisms of psychosocial adjustment. The results of this pilot trial will help us design a phase III trial to assess efficacy of an online mindfulness-based intervention in Parkinson's disease and evaluate significance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02683330

A waitlist-controlled trial of group cognitive behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety in Parkinson’s disease

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) treatment for depression and anxiety in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: A waitlist-controlled trial design was used. Eighteen adults with PD and a comorbid DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety were randomised to either Intervention (8-week group CBT treatment) or Waitlist (8-week clinical monitoring preceding treatment). The Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was the primary outcome. Assessments were completed at Time 1 (pretreatment), Time 2 (posttreatment/post-waitlist) and 1-month and 6-month follow-ups. Results: At Time 2, participants who received CBT reported greater reductions in depression (Mchange = -2.45) than Waitlist participants (Mchange = .29) and this effect was large, d = 1.12, p = .011. Large secondary effects on anxiety were also observed for CBT participants, d = .89, p = .025. All treatment gains were maintained and continued to improve during the follow-up period. At 6-month follow-up, significant and large effects were observed for both depression (d = 2.07) and anxiety (d = 2.26). Conclusions: Group CBT appears to be an efficacious treatment approach for depression and anxiety in PD however further controlled trials with larger numbers of participants are required

Quantitative Characterization of Nut Yield and Fruit Components in Indigenous Coconut Germplasm in Sri Lanka

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a tropical palm offering multiple uses. Conservation of coconut germplasm has been undertaken globally in view of its economic importance. This research was designed to evaluate nine Sri Lankan indigenous coconut germplasm representing the three varieties Typica, Nana, and Aurantiaca. Total annual nut yield and the weights of fresh nut, husked nut, split nut, and fresh and dry kernel were scored and analyzed with analysis of variance. The annual average number of bunches varied from 14.9 to 16.8 which is significantly higher than the generally accepted 12–14 bunches in tall coconuts. The high potential of phenotypes Ran thembili and Gon thembili for kernel production was revealed. The high potential of Gon thembili, Sri Lanka Tall, and Ran thembili to produce fibre was also identified. Phenotypes Ran thembili and Gon thembili displayed their potential as pure cultivars and as parents in hybridization. King coconut, Red dwarf, and Bodiri were shown to be suitable as beverage coconuts due to the high production of nuts, bunches, and the quantity of nut water. This study reiterated the importance of conservation and characterization of indigenous coconut varieties globally for their effective use in the genetic improvement of the coconut palm

Comparison of spatula and cytobrush cytological techniques in early detection of oral malignant and premalignant lesions: A prospective and blinded study

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Background: The use of oral cytology to diagnose malignant and premalignant lesions at an early stage is considered crucial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnoses of the spatula and the cytobrush techniques compared with the gold standard histopathological findings, analysed according to different diagnostic criteria. Methods: Cytological smears were obtained from 76 suspicious oral malignant lesions and 116 oral leukoplakia lesions using two techniques: cytobrush plus cell collector and metal spatula. Subsequently, a surgical biopsy was performed on each lesion to achieve a histopathological diagnosis. Evaluation was conducted with respect to three different diagnostic criteria. Results: The sensitivity for diagnosing carcinoma in clinically malignant cases was 89.58% and 60.42% for cytobrush and spatula techniques, respectively. Inclusion of severe dysplastic cases for 'high-risk' lesions increased the sensitivity up to 96.36% and 78.18% for two techniques, respectively. In leukoplakia lesions, malignant and severely dysplastic cells were diagnosed at a sensitivity of 88.89% in the cytobrush and 55.56% in the spatula techniques. Extending the criteria by defining malignant or any dysplastic findings as positive, sensitivity was increased to 98.02% and 89.11% for the spatula and the cytobrush techniques, respectively. Specificity for both techniques increased to 100%. The difference between the diagnoses of histopathology and the spatula cytology was statistically significant (P 0.1). Conclusion: The cytobrush, unlike the spatula, is a useful screening instrument for early diagnosis of suspicious oral lesions and could therefore contribute to improved oral cancer prognosis.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Characterization of heterogeneous groups of fungal endophytes isolated from mangroves in Negombo, Sri Lanka

Mangroves are well known for their adaptability to extreme conditions; thus, mangrove habitats help to manage coastlines and carbon cycling against anthropogenic stresses. Fungal endophyte is a type of microorganism that typically has a mutualistic relationship with its plant hosts. These endophytes can be found in several parts of the plant and play a positive role in the production of enzymes, nutrients and secondary metabolites, along with other processes such as toxin assembly and phyto-stimulation. The exploitation of these bioactive substances from endophytic fungi is beneficial in several fields such as pharmaceuticals and agriculture. The objective of the current investigation was to isolate and identify fungal endophytes present in ten mangrove species from Negombo, Sri Lanka: Acanthus ilicifolius, Acrostichum aureum, Avicennia marina, Bruguiera cylindrica, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Excoecaria agallocha, Lumnitzera racemosa, Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba and Sonneratia caseolaris. A standard potato dextrose agar culturing was used to obtain fungal colonies from leaves, roots and twigs, whose morphological characteristics were used for their identification. Out of the 42 fungal isolates extracted from the samples, nine endophytic genera such as Aspergillus, Candida, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium, Phyllosticta, Rhizopus and Trichoderma were found. The highest number of isolates was obtained from Sonneratia alba. Each mangrove species held varying types of fungal colonies, with the genus Penicillium being isolated the highest number of times and the genus Aspergillus being highly diverse. The findings of this study have helped to confirm the presence of endophytic fungi in all the sample mangroves tested