Evaluation of the use of web technology by government of Sri Lanka to ensure food security for its citizens

Web technology is one of the key areas in information and communication technology to be used as a powerful tool in ensuring food security which is one of the main issues in Sri Lanka. Web technology involves in communicating and sharing resources in network of computers all over the world. Main focus of food security is to ensure that all people have fair access to sufficient and quality food without endangering the future supply of the same food. In this context, web sites play a vital and major role in achieving food security in Sri Lanka. In this case study, websites pertaining to Sri Lankan government and link with food security were analyzed to find out their impact in achieving the goals of food security using web technologies and how they are being involved in ensuring food security in Sri Lanka. The other objective of this study is to make the Sri Lankan government aware of present situation of those websites in addressing food security related issues and how modern web technologies could be effectively and efficiently used to address those issues. So, the relevant websites were checked against several criteria and scores were used to assess their capabilities to address the concerns of food security. It was found that the amount of emphasis given by these websites to address the issues of food security is not satisfactory. Further, it showed that if these web sites could be improved further, they would generate a powerful impact on ensuring food security in Sri Lanka.Comment: International Conference of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka 2015 (ICSUSL 2015

Chemical Abundances in AGN Environment: X-Ray/UV Campaign on the MRK 279 Outflow

We present the first reliable determination of chemical abundances in an AGN outflow. The abundances are extracted from the deep and simultaneous FUSE and HST/STIS observations of Mrk 279. This data set is exceptional for its high signal-to-noise, unblended doublet troughs and little Galactic absorption contamination. These attributes allow us to solve for the velocity-dependent covering fraction, and therefore obtain reliable column densities for many ionic species. For the first time we have enough such column densities to simultaneously determine the ionization equilibrium and abundances in the flow. Our analysis uses the full spectral information embedded in these high-resolution data. Slicing a given trough into many independent outflow elements yields the extra constraints needed for a physically meaningful abundances determination. We find that relative to solar the abundances in the Mrk 279 outflow are (linear scaling): carbon 2.2+/-0.7, nitrogen 3.5+/-1.1 and oxygen 1.6+/-0.8. Our UV-based photoionization and abundances results are in good agreement with the independent analysis of the simultaneous Mrk 279 X-ray spectra. This is the best agreement between the UV and X-ray analyses of the same outflow to date.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, accepted on 29 Nov 2006 for publication in the ApJ (submission date: 27 Jul 2006

Heart rate variability and target organ damage in hypertensive patients

Background: We evaluated the association between linear standard Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures and vascular, renal and cardiac target organ damage (TOD). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed including 200 patients registered in the Regione Campania network (aged 62.4 ± 12, male 64%). HRV analysis was performed by 24-h holter ECG. Renal damage was assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), vascular damage by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), and cardiac damage by left ventricular mass index. Results: Significantly lower values of the ratio of low to high frequency power (LF/HF) were found in the patients with moderate or severe eGFR (p-value < 0.001). Similarly, depressed values of indexes of the overall autonomic modulation on heart were found in patients with plaque compared to those with a normal IMT (p-value <0.05). These associations remained significant after adjustment for other factors known to contribute to the development of target organ damage, such as age. Moreover, depressed LF/HF was found also in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy but this association was not significant after adjustment for other factors. Conclusions: Depressed HRV appeared to be associated with vascular and renal TOD, suggesting the involvement of autonomic imbalance in the TOD. However, as the mechanisms by which abnormal autonomic balance may lead to TOD, and, particularly, to renal organ damage are not clearly known, further prospective studies with longitudinal design are needed to determine the association between HRV and the development of TOD

Protocol for establishing a child and adolescent twin register for mental health research and capacity building in Sri Lanka and other low and middle-income countries in South Asia.

INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, 10%-20% of children and adolescents experience mental health conditions. However, most such disorders remain undiagnosed until adolescence or adulthood. Little is known about the factors that influence mental health in children and adolescents, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), where environmental threats, such as poverty and war, may affect optimal neurodevelopment. Cohort studies provide important information on risks and resilience across the life course by enabling tracking of the effects of early life environment on health during childhood and beyond. Large birth cohort studies, including twin cohorts that can be aetiologically informative, have been conducted within high-income countries but are not generalisable to LMIC. There are limited longitudinal birth cohort studies in LMIC. METHODS: We sought to enhance the volume of impactful research in Sri Lanka by establishing a Centre of Excellence for cohort studies. The aim is to establish a register of infant, child and adolescent twins, including mothers pregnant with twins, starting in the districts of Colombo (Western Province) and Vavuniya (Northern Province). We will gain consent from twins or parents for future research projects. This register will provide the platform to investigate the aetiology of mental illness and the impact of challenges to early brain development on future mental health. Using this register, we will be able to conduct research that will (1) expand existing research capacity on child and adolescent mental health and twin methods; (2) further consolidate existing partnerships and (3) establish new collaborations. The initiative is underpinned by three pillars: high-quality research, ethics, and patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee of Sri Lanka Medical Association and Keele University's Ethical Review Panel. In addition to journal publications, a range of PPIE activities have been conducted. We would like to acknowledge the other members of the SEARCH Group

Developmental malformation of the corpus callosum: a review of typical callosal development and examples of developmental disorders with callosal involvement

This review provides an overview of the involvement of the corpus callosum (CC) in a variety of developmental disorders that are currently defined exclusively by genetics, developmental insult, and/or behavior. I begin with a general review of CC development, connectivity, and function, followed by discussion of the research methods typically utilized to study the callosum. The bulk of the review concentrates on specific developmental disorders, beginning with agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC)—the only condition diagnosed exclusively by callosal anatomy. This is followed by a review of several genetic disorders that commonly result in social impairments and/or psychopathology similar to AgCC (neurofibromatosis-1, Turner syndrome, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, Williams yndrome, and fragile X) and two forms of prenatal injury (premature birth, fetal alcohol syndrome) known to impact callosal development. Finally, I examine callosal involvement in several common developmental disorders defined exclusively by behavioral patterns (developmental language delay, dyslexia, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and Tourette syndrome)

On the convex layers of a planer dynamic set of points

The convex hull of a planer set of points can be defined as the set of vertices of the smallest convex polygon containing all the points. If S is a planer set of points then convex layers of S can be derived by iteratively computing the convex hull of S and then removing it from S. Computation of the convex layers has widely been studied in the static environment where the set of points is fixed. The theoretical lower bound of computing the convex layers of a fixed set of points is O (n log n). The static convex layers algorithms with the optimal time complexity have already been proposed in the literature. A set of points where the points can be inserted or deleted is called a dynamic set of points. The set of convex layers should be reconstructed from the scratch at each insertion or deletion if a static convex layers algorithm was used to handle a dynamic set of points. Therefore, it takes O (n log n) time to handle an insertion or a deletion even for an optimal static convex layers algorithm. A dynamic convex layers algorithm has been proposed recently that can perform an insertion or a deletion by doing a slight modification to the existing set of convex layers. It takes O (n) time for an insertion or a deletion. It assumes that the set of points does not contain collinear points and that assumption is not valid in practical applications. Furthermore, the notion of tangent used in that approach restricts the extension of the algorithm into higher dimensions. This paper proposes a novel dynamic convex layers algorithm to eliminate the drawbacks in the existing algorithm. Salient feature of this algorithm is that it represents each layer as a set of line segments. The layers are modified upon an insertion or a deletion of a point by adding some new line segments and deleting some existing line segments. The proposed algorithm takes O (n3/k2) time for an insertion or a deletion where k is the number of convex layers. A computer implementation is also presented. The proposed algorithm can work with set of points with collinear points and coincident points. The notion used in the algorithm can easily be extended to higher dimensions. Suppose the set of convex layers have already been found for a given set of points. Further, suppose that the layers are close to each other and new points are expected to fall within the region bounded by the outermost layer. This kind of situations widely occurs in practice and then the proposed algorithm takes O (n) time for an inclusion or a deletion

Convex partitioning of a polygon into smaller number of pieces with lowest memory consumption

Designing an algorithm to deal with a convex shape is easier than that for a concave shape. Efficient algorithms are required to process concave shapes, because every application does not deal with convex shapes. An alternative approach is to first transform a concave shape into a set of convex shapes so that efficient algorithms available for convex shapes can be utilized. This paper proposes an algorithm for partitioning a concave polygon into smaller number of convex pieces. Each resultant convex piece then can be processed using a simple algorithm applicable to convex shapes. In this way, any arbitrary shape can be processed using such simple algorithms with the aid of the proposed algorithm. There are plenty of algorithms available in literature to solve convex partitioning problem. Hertel Mehlhorn algorithm is the most efficient algorithm, but it does not minimize the number of convex pieces satisfactorily. Further the Hertel Mehlhorn algorithm is the minimum memory consuming algorithm available in literature. Later Geene proposed an algorithm which gives the minimum number of convex pieces. It uses dynamic programming technique and needs high amount of memory. Therefore Geene’s algorithm is not suitable for systems where the memory is limited. Chazelle proposed an efficient algorithm which gives minimum number of convex pieces. However a data structure to implement Chazelle’s algorithm is not available in literature. The experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm gives smaller number of convex pieces than the Hertel Mehlhorn algorithm. The memory consumption of the proposed algorithm is also lower than the Hertel Mehlhorn algorithm