The Establishment of Dutch Power in Ceylon, 1638-1658.

Abstract Not Provided

Incidence of Bladder Cancer in Sri Lanka: Analysis of the Cancer Registry Data and Review of the Incidence of Bladder Cancer in the South Asian Population

PurposeTo investigate the incidence of bladder cancer (BC) in Sri Lanka and to compare risk factors and outcomes with those of other South Asian nations and South Asian migrants to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).Materials and MethodsThe incidence of BC in Sri Lanka was examined by using two separate cancer registry databases over a 5-year period. Smoking rates were compiled by using a population-based survey from 2001 to 2009 and the relative risk was calculated by using published data.ResultsA total of 637 new cases of BC were diagnosed over the 5-year period. Sri Lankan BC incidence increased from 1985 but remained low (1.36 and 0.3 per 100,000 in males and females) and was similar to the incidence in other South Asian countries. The incidence was lower, however, than in migrant populations in the US and the UK. In densely populated districts of Sri Lanka, these rates almost doubled. Urothelial carcinoma accounted for 72%. The prevalence of male smokers in Sri Lanka was 39%, whereas Pakistan had higher smoking rates with a 6-fold increase in BC.ConclusionsSri Lankan BC incidence was low, similar to other South Asian countries (apart from Pakistan), but the actual incidence is likely higher than the cancer registry rates. Smoking is likely to be the main risk factor for BC. Possible under-reporting in rural areas could account for the low rates of BC in Sri Lanka. Any genetic or environmental protective effects of BC in South Asians seem to be lost on migration to the UK or the US and with higher levels of smoking, as seen in Pakistan

Forgotten Plotlanders: Learning from the survival of lost informal housing in the UK.

Colin Ward’s discourses on the arcadian landscape of ‘plotlander’ housing are unique documentations of the anarchistic birth, life, and death of the last informal housing communities in the UK. Today the forgotten history of ‘plotlander’ housing documented by Ward can be re-read in the context of both the apparently never-ending ‘housing crisis’ in the UK, and the increasing awareness of the potential value of learning from comparable informal housing from the Global South. This papers observations of a previously unknown and forgotten plotlander site offers a chance to begin a new conversation regarding the positive potential of informal and alternative housing models in the UK and wider Westernised world

Architecture, urbanism and critical theory

How should architects educate themselves in Sri Lanka today? Approaching this question from the standpoint of cities, I will present in the form of theses the basic lessons to be drawn from attempts made by modernist architects—in collaboration with avant-garde artists and thinkers— < to change the world. These include critical reflections on not only the moment of modernism, but also the epoch of postmodernism in the West. I argue that the experiences of both modernism and postmodernism remaiixvital for postcolonial contexts as well—especially in situations such as post-war Sri Lanka, where urban planning assumes a leading role in the drama called development. To wit: whereas the mutation of modernism into modernization and the subsequent abandonment of urban space to market forces known as postmodernism present us with scenarios to be avoided at any cost, the combination of art, technology and politics alloyed in the unfinished project of modernism in the early decades of the last century still raise key questions for our architects and urbanists: how did our cities come to be what they are, what kind of cities do we want, and how do we go from the cities we have to the cities we love

Alteration of coenzyme specificity of alkyl hydroperoxide reductase by site directed mutagenesis

The ability of NADPH/NADP+ coupled enzymatic reactions to enable specific and highly efficient chemical transformations under comparatively low temperatures and pressures has made them an attractive green alternative in industrial processes. The coenzyme specificity of AhpF enzyme from Salmonella typhimurium is being investigated in this research project, which has potential to be used in industry. The gene coding for AhpF product has been successfully modified using site directed mutagenesis and cloned into two vectors pJET and pET30b for long term storage and protein expression respectively. Specific activity measurements of the mutated Ahpf[E385G] enzyme using NADPH and NADH as substrates reveal that the mutated enzyme has increased activity with NADPH cofactor whereas decreased activity with regard to NADH cofactor, compared to the wild type AhpF enzyme. These results confirm that Glutamate amino acid at the 385 position plays an important role in coenzyme specificity of AhpF enzyme.Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

A weak monotonicity based muscle fatigue detection algorithm for a short-duration poor posture using sEMG measurements

Muscle fatigue is usually defined as a decrease in the ability to produce force. The surface electromyography (sEMG) signals have been widely used to provide information about muscle activities including detecting muscle fatigue by various data-driven techniques such as machine learning and statistical approaches. However, it is well-known that sEMGs are usually weak signals with a smaller amplitude and a lower signal-to-noise ratio, making it difficult to apply the traditional signal processing techniques. In particular, the existing methods cannot work well to detect muscle fatigue coming from static poses. This work exploits the concept of weak monotonicity, which has been observed in the process of fatigue, to robustly detect muscle fatigue in the presence of measurement noises and human variations. Such a population trend methodology has shown its potential in muscle fatigue detection as demonstrated by the experiment of a static pose