The Impact of Financial Sector Development on Economic Growth: Evidence from Sri Lanka

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of financial sector development on economic growth in Sri Lanka by taking two complementary sectors, namely banking and equity markets, to represent the financial sector. All previous studies in the Sri Lankan context have examined this relationship employing either the banking sector variables or equity market variables to represent the financial sector. This study is in favour of the supply-leading hypothesis and it tests the empirical validity of the hypothesis. The proposed model has been estimated with five banking sector variables and two equity market variables. Autoregressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach is employed to identify the existence of short- and long-run relationships. The study relies on quarterly data from 2002:01 to 2020:04. Findings reveal that there exists a long-run relationship between financial sector variables and economic growth. More specifically, the size of financial intermediaries, interest rate, monetization, and size of the stock market have a significant positive impact on economic growth in the long-run. Somewhat surprisingly, the availability of credit to the private sector has a significant negative impact. All seven variables significantly influence economic growth in the short-run. Overall, the results of this study support the supply-leading hypothesis or the notion that financial sector development affects economic growth. These findings are mostly in line with previous literature. The results of seven diagnostic tests show that the estimated model is adequate for the purpose and estimation results are reliable. The study has some important policy implications. Keywords: Financial sector development, Economic growth, Banking sector development, Equity market development, ARD

Parcellation of the human cerebral cortex using diffusion MRI

Histological methods have long been used to segment the cerebral cortex into structurally distinct cortical areas that have served as a basis for research into brain structure and function and remain in use today. There is great interest in adapting and extending these methods to be able to use non-invasive imaging, so that tighter structure-function relationships can be measured in living subjects. Whilst diffusion neuroimaging methods have been widely applied to white matter, the reduced anisotropy in the thin, complexly folded grey matter of the cortex has so far limited its study. In vivo parcellation pipelines have instead focussed on T1 and T2 weighted MRI. Recent advances in imaging hardware have reignited interest in grey matter diffusion MRI as a viable candidate for characterising architectonic domains. This Thesis explores the capabilities of dMRI as a measure of cortical microstructure using in vivo datasets from healthy adult participants. A cortical parcellation pipeline was developed in which both unsupervised and supervised algorithms were explored. Results were presented at both the group level and single subject level across the entire cortical sheet. The diffusion-based feature space characterised the known variation in cellular composition and fibre density relative to the local cortical surface normal. Thus they remain invariant to the confounding orientation changes associated with cortical folding, which usually inhibit studies of cortical microstructure. The features were compared to the alternative T1w/T2w myelin mapping methods to demonstrate that the diffusion MRI signal provides a complementary mode of contrast. A series of classification experiments were used to determine the most effective methods for utilising diffusion in grey matter applications. Several additional methods from the dMRI literature were compared to highlight the benefit of higher-order tissue representations. Similarly, classification tasks were used to corroborate the benefits of sampling multiple b-values in cortical studies. The experimental chapters provide strong evidence in favour of the future use of diffusion MRI as a measure of the varying microstructure that defines cortical areas

Evaluation of diffusion MRI based feature sets for the classification of primary motor and somatosensory cortical areas

In the following work several diffusion based feature vectors (DTI, NODDI, spherical harmonic (SH) invariants and fourth order tensor invariants (T4)) are compared in order to validate their usability in grey matter investigations. It was found that using multi-shell data and non-biophysical models such as SH and T4 achieves the highest classification accuracy between the primary motor and somatosensory cortical areas, and thus is likely to characterise grey matter tissues domains more effectively

Using diffusion MRI to discriminate areas of cortical grey matter

Cortical area parcellation is a challenging problem that is often approached by combining structural imaging (e.g., quantitative T1, diffusion-based connectivity) with functional imaging (e.g., task activations, topological mapping, resting state correlations). Diffusion MRI (dMRI) has been widely adopted to analyse white matter microstructure, but scarcely used to distinguish grey matter regions because of the reduced anisotropy there. Nevertheless, differences in the texture of the cortical 'fabric' have long been mapped by histologists to distinguish cortical areas. Reliable area-specific contrast in the dMRI signal has previously been demonstrated in selected occipital and sensorimotor areas. We expand upon these findings by testing several diffusion-based feature sets in a series of classification tasks. Using Human Connectome Project (HCP) 3T datasets and a supervised learning approach, we demonstrate that diffusion MRI is sensitive to architectonic differences between a large number of different cortical areas defined in the HCP parcellation. By employing a surface-based cortical imaging pipeline, which defines diffusion features relative to local cortical surface orientation, we show that we can differentiate areas from their neighbours with higher accuracy than when using only fractional anisotropy or mean diffusivity. The results suggest that grey matter diffusion may provide a new, independent source of information for dividing up the cortex

Eradication of HIV by Transplantation of CCR5-Deficient Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Today, 30 years after the onset of the HIV pandemic, although treatment strategies have considerably improved, there is still no cure for the disease. Recently, we described a successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in an HIV-1–infected patient, transferring donor-derived cells with a natural resistance against HIV infection. These hematopoietic stem cells engrafted, proliferated, and differentiated into mature myeloid and lymphoid cells. To date, the patient has not required any antiretroviral treatment, more than 4 years after allogeneic transplantation. In the analysis of peripheral blood cells and different tissue samples, including gut, liver, and brain, no viral load or proviral DNA could be detected. Our report raises the hope for further targeted treatment strategies against HIV and represents a successful personalized treatment with allogeneic stem cells carrying a beneficial gene. However, this case has ignited a controversy regarding the question of whether this patient has achieved complete eradication of HIV or not. Here we give an update on open questions, unsolved aspects, and clinical consequences concerning this unique case

An intelligent cost optimized central warehouse and redistribution root plan with truck allocation system in Colombo region for Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC

This research is a case study based on Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC, Biyagama, which is a famous beer company and the market leader in Sri Lanka. Researcher identifies that, currently Company outbound logistics is consisted with a decentralized distribution and a redistribution process for bottles and cans in Colombo region, and an extra cost is being spent for that unnecessarily. The main objective of this research is to build a cost minimized model for distributing Bottles and Cans for the region. For that, all demand regions in Colombo region was divided in to main 6 sub clusters. Then a centralized Warehouse and an optimal path which joins each sub cluster has been determined. The gravity model (By using excel solver) was used to find a centralized warehouse that can easily be connected with each sub cluster. The optimal path was determined through Hamiltanian cycle by using the lingo software. Finally, the milk run was completed with determining a cost optimized truck allocation system through linear programming model. At the end result proved that, the proposed model saves the monthly cost of bottles distribution by 17.2% and monthly cost of cans distribution by 11.6%

Should we educate about the risks of medication overuse headache?

BACKGROUND: Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is caused by the regular use of medications to treat headache. There has been a lack of research into awareness of MOH. We distributed an electronic survey to undergraduate students and their contacts via social networking sites. Analgesic use, awareness of MOH, perceived change in behaviour following educational intervention about the risks of MOH and preferred terminology for MOH was evaluated. FINDINGS: 485 respondents completed the questionnaire (41% having received healthcare training). 77% were unaware of the possibility of MOH resulting from regular analgesic use for headache. Following education about MOH, 80% stated they would reduce analgesic consumption or seek medical advice. 83% indicated that over the counter analgesia should carry a warning of MOH. The preferred terminology for MOH was painkiller-induced headache. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the lack of awareness of MOH. Improved education about MOH and informative packaging of analgesics, highlighting the risks in preferred lay terminology (i.e. painkiller-induced headache), may reduce this iatrogenic morbidity and warrants further evaluation

Inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes mellitus: the links

Abstract The co-occurrence of the three disease entities, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colorectal cancer (CRC), type 2diabetes mellitus (T2DM) along with inflammation and dismicrobism has been frequently reported. Some authors have even suggested that dysbiosis could be the link through a molecular crosstalk of multiple inflammatory loops including TGFβ, NFKB, TNFα and ROS among others. This review focuses on the inflammatory process along with the role of microbiota in the pathophysiology of the three diseases. The etiology of IBD is multifactorial, and like CRC and T2DM, it is associated with a widespread and sustained GI inflammation and dismicrobism, whereby an array of proinflammatory mediators and other related biomolecules are up-regulated, both locally and systematically. Such a persistent or an inadequately resolved chronic inflammation may be a causative agent, in the presence other factors, leading to several pathologies such as IBD, CRC and T2DM. TGFβ plays a crucial role in pancreatic β cell malfunctioning as glucotoxicity stimulates its signaling cascade through smad 3, IL-6 and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Such a cascade could lead to macrophages and other cells recruitment, inflammation, then IBD and CRC. NFkB is also another key regulator in the crosstalk among the pathways leading to the three disease entities. It plays a major role in linking inflammation to cancer development through its ability to up regulate several inflammatory and tumor promoting cytokines like: IL-6, IL-1 α and TNF α, as well as genes like BCL2 and BCLXL. It activates JAK/STAT signaling network via STAT3 transcription factors and promotes epithelial to mesenchymal transition. It also increases the risk for T2DM in obese people. In brief, NFKB is a matchmaker between inflammation, IBD, cancer and diabetes. In addition, TNFα plays a pivotal role in systemic inflammation. It is increased in the mucosa of IBD patients and has a central role in its pathogenesis. It also activates other signaling pathways like NFKB and MAPK leading to CRC. It is also overexpressed in the adipose tissues of obese patients thus linking it to T2DM, chronic inflammation and consequently CRC.On the other hand, increasing evidence suggests that dysbiosis plays a role in initiating, maintaining and determining the severity of IBD. Actually, among its functions, it modulates genotoxic metabolites which are able to induce CRC, a fact proven to be sustained by stool transfer from patients with CRC. Probiotics, however, may actively prevent CRC as well as IBD and results in a significant decrease in fasting glycemia in T2DM patients. In conclusion, IBD, CRC and T2DM are commonly occurring interrelated clinical problems