Reflexive Responses to Social Challenges among Rural Breast Cancer Patients in Sri Lanka

The most common cancer among women worldwide is breast cancer. In recent years, the number of women in Sri Lanka who have had a breast cancer diagnosis has increased steadily and significantly. The social challenges experienced by breast cancer patients worldwide have been extensively researched by academics, but Sri Lankan rural women have gained very less attention. Thus, this study focused on identifying the reflexive responses of Sri Lankan rural women living with breast cancer to social challenges under three themes: family and community support, accessing medical support and information, and coping with the financial burden. This study takes a qualitative approach, with data obtained through semi-structured interviews and with twenty-four rural women living with breast cancer who were self-selected. Themes were derived using a first-level analytical coding approach, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. As major findings, most women have good support from their family and community. Educational level and employability have affected the degree of social support, and women who have high social interaction receive greater social support. Accessing medical support and information was the biggest challenge due to long-distance travel and the lack of proper access to information before diagnosis. Lack of health information harms these women. Some women do not know the symptoms, available treatments and where to go for treatments. Although most of them have a severe financial burden, as a positive point of being rural, these women have good supportive people around them. Women who have greater interaction with society have greater financial support than others. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v08i01.0

Factors Influencing Online Education during COVID-19 Pandemic: Sri Lankan Students’ Perspective

This study examines the factors influencing online education for selected Sri Lankan universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also analyses the moderate effect of gender and type of the university on online education. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire via google form from Management students in Sri Lankan selected universities. Data analysis was done through structural equations using analysis of moment structures (AMOS) version 22.0. Attitude, internet and related facilities, curriculum, and self-motivation were found to have a significant positive impact on online education, while workload & time have no significant effect on online education. Among four factors, the strongest influence was derived from self-motivation followed by the curriculum. We have not found significant differences among male and female students’ views on online education, while the impact from the type of university is different among the two categories. This study effectively guides policy makers and university administrators across the educational institutes to decide on continuing online education. It reveals some insights to the teachers, students, and parents to understand the significance of the modern online learning environment and its positive impact on the new learning mode. There is no study related to the factors associated with the impact of online education during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Sri Lankan context

Customer Satisfaction and Revisit Intention towards Fast Food Restaurants in Sri Lanka

This study aimed at examining factors that effect of food taste, food quality, service quality, perceived price, responsiveness, restaurant environment on customer satisfaction and revisit intention. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey of fast food restaurant customers in a selected metropolitan area from Colombo district and students from University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and R Studio 3.5.1 software. The study has found that food quality and perceived price are the important antecedents of restaurant customer satisfaction. Further, the results clearly showed a significant role of customer satisfaction on revisit intention and crucial impact of perceived price on customer satisfaction. In addition, revisit intention towards the fast food restaurant is directly influenced by food tastes. This study collected data from two selected groups; students from University of Sri Jayewardenepura and one metropolitan area, and data has analyzed further based on demographic characteristics further to confirm the results.  Therefore, this study provides valuable insight to restaurant managers on attracting, retaining and satisfying their customers

Undergraduate Student’s Perspectives on E-learning during COVID-19 Outbreak in Sri Lankan Universities

As education moves e-learning all over the world due to COIVD-19 pandemic, students spend more time on e-learning than ever before. This is also equally applied to the Sri Lankan education system. Thus this study examines the undergraduate students’ perspectives on e-learning during the COVID-19 outbreak in universities in Sri Lanka. Primary data was obtained from undergraduate students in Sri Lankan university using a structured questionnaire via Google form. The perspectives on e-learning education during the COVID-19 pandemic was investigated using descriptive statistics and frequency analysis. The majority of the undergraduate students felt that the e-learning version of education saved travel time and cost of accommodation. Furthermore, the study revealed that the majority of students were happy with the e-learning form of education during the pandemic since it allowed them to finish their degrees faster and access the labor market without a delay. The biggest challenges with e-learning, according to the student responses, were internet access, device availability, visionary issues, technical issues, and stress. As a result of this COVID -19 pandemic, if higher education officials in Sri Lankan universities want to keep e-learning education on going, they must focus on offering cost-effective, high-speed data connections while minimizing technological hurdles. At the same time, it is important to update and revise the curriculum content according to this new mode of education since this is a completely new situation for all. There is relatively little research on students’ perspectives on e-learning education during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Sri Lankan context and it will provide some important highlights to the researchers, parent and academics as well

A STUDY ON PUBLIC DEBT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SELECTED SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES

Public debt is one of the core macroeconomic gages that represent the image of the country in the world. This study analyses the long run association as well as cause and effect of external debt and debt service on economic growth in South Asian countries including variables such as; interest payment, foreign direct investments, gross savings and net export to the model to prevent spuriousness of the outcomes. This research is directed by the neoclassic economic growth theory. The study uses secondary data that were collected from the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Funds (IMF) by casing period from 1990 to 2015. The stationary of the data set has been tested by applying panel unit root tests. The long run association of the public debt and the economic growth were checked via applying Pedroni Residual Co-integration and cause and effect of the public debt on economic growth in short run check through Granger Causality test. The results show that external debt negatively impacts economic growth in countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka are the South Asian countries that are examined in the study. Panel data show that there is a co-integration between external debt and economic growth for South Asian countries.Keywords: Public debt, Economic growth, South Asian countrie

IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL PROVISIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE FACTORY ORDINANCE (NO. 45 OF 1942) (A QUALITATIVE STUDY)

 In the late 1970s, Free Trade Zones were established in Sri Lanka as an important part of the economic development of the island. These zones were specially designated manufacturing areas which were set up to attract foreign investments to the country. In these places, occupational health and safety are vital features of the Human Resource Management. In the Sri Lankan context, studies regarding occupational health and safety are scarce. The general objective of this study was to explore the implementation of general provisions on occupational health, and safety in the Factory Ordinance (No. 45 of 1942) among workers in Katunayake Export Processing Zone. A qualitative approach was adapted to this study. The study consisted of two phases: in the first phase focus group discussion with workers were done, and in the second phase, ten in-depth interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling method was used to select participants from workers based on the inclusion criteria. Twenty workers (n=20) were selected from different factories in the zone. Saturation method was used as the guiding method of data collection. Data was analyzed using framework analysis. Study found that, implementation of general provisions on occupational health is remaining in a satisfactory level; implementing general provisions of occupational safety in work place is remaining at better status; however implementation of few provisions should be improved. A longitudinal study on occupational health and safety among factory workers and factory managers need to be conducted. In addition to that, improving awareness on Factories’ Ordinance (No. 45 of 1942) is recommended. Employers should also be empowered to intervene with managers for implementing general provisions and special provisions of occupational health and safety in the Factories’ Ordinance

A Preliminary survey of domiciliary cockroaches and their oothecal parasites in Sri Lanka

A survey of domiciliary cockroaches and their oothecal parasites was carriedout in 17 districts. The study was based on empty and live cockroach oothecaecollected from dwelling houses. Five species of cockroaches; Periplanetaamericana (L.) Neostylopyga rhombifolia (Stoll) Periplaneta australasiae (F.)Supella longfpalpa (F.) and Blatella germanica (L.) were found frequentinghouses. Of them, P. american a was the most abundant and widely distributedspecies, while B. germanlca was the least abundant species. P. americana andN. rhombifolia were present in all but one district, while P. australaslae and S.longipalpa were confined to 12 and 08 districts respectively. Mannar districtwas peculiar in that only one domiciliary species, N. rhombifolia was recordedfrom there. Only two species of oothecal parasites, Tetrastlchus hagenowli(Ratz.) and Evania appendlgaster (L.) were encountered during the study. Eachof these parasite species was characterized by the size of the emergence hole theymade in cockroach oothecae. Thus on the basis of the emergence hole alone itwas possible to categorize the empty oothecae as being parasitized. Of theoothecae, those of P. americana and P. australiasae were parasitized by bothspecies of parasites, while oothecae of N. rhombifolla was parasitized by T.hagenowii only. Oothecae of S. longipalpa and B. germanica were not parasitiizedat all. There appears to be a great paucity in the oothecal parasite fauna ofSri Lanka, compared to India where eight species of hymenopterans are known toparasitize oothecae of domiciliary cockroaches. The possibility of controllinghousehold cockroaches using local and introduced parasites remains to be explored.The shortcomings in this preliminary survey are also reported

Synthesis, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Garcinol Coated Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Background: Garcinol is a secondary metabolite derived from the plants of Clusiaceae Family. It has shown a broad range of bioactivities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) are known to have a significant photocatalytic activity and are widely used in medicine. In this study, garcinol was used to modify the surface of TiO2NPs to enhance the antibacterial activity.Objectives: To synthesize, characterize and determine antimicrobial activity of garcinol coated titanium dioxide nanoparticles G-TiO2NPs.Methods: Garcinol was isolated from the dried fruit rinds of Garcinia quaesita. TiO2NPs were coated by garcinol and characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Diffused Reflectance Spectroscopy. Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) was tested against five microbial species including Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25623), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853),Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) and clinical isolates of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), using broth micro-dilution assay. Time-kill kinetic study was performed to determine the inhibition percentage of Staphylococcus aureus over time.Results: SEM images confirmed the spherical shape of G-TiO2NPs, diameter ranging from 20 - 200 nm. XRD data revealed the anatase phase and rutile phase of TiO2NPs. Formation of G-TiO2NPs caused a red shift of the absorption wavelength. G-TiO2NPs and TiO2NPs showed a MIC range of 250-500 μg/ml and 500-1000 μg/ml against the tested microbial species, respectively. In the time-kill kinetic studies, inhibition percentage (IP) of microbial growth was determined at 60 minute time intervals. TiO2NPs and G-TiO2NPs demonstrated inhibition over 50% at 3 hours.Conclusions: G-TiO2NPs presented a significant enhancement in antimicrobial activity against S. aureus compared to TiO2NPs. Surface modification of TiO2NPs with garcinol has created a synergistic antimicrobial effect against S. aureus.Acknowledgement: University Grant ASP/01/RE/SCI/2017/1

Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 gene expression positivity determined by silver in situ hybridization/immunohistochemistry methods and associated factors in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients with gastric adenocarcinoma : a prospective study

Objective: Positive human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) expression and its predictive clinicopathological features remain unclear in Sri Lankan gastric cancer (GC) patients. Here, we aimed to determine GC HER2 status predictors by analyzing associations between clinicopathological features and HER2 expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and silver in situ hybridization (SISH). Methods: During this 4-year prospective study, clinicopathological data were collected from participants in the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. HER2 IHC and SISH were performed using commercial reagents. Using chi-square tests, associations of HER2-IHC/SISH with clinicopathological features were analyzed. Results: Overall, 145 GC patients were included, 69 had gastrectomies and 76 had biopsies. Positive HER2 expression by IHC was associated with age 5/high-power field, with additional perineural invasion and lymphovascular invasion in resections. These features, excluding lymphovascular invasion but including male sex, were associated with HER2 expression by SISH. Conclusions: Age <60 years, high nuclear grade, tumor necrosis, and perineural invasion are associated factors of HER2 status. These could be used to triage GC patients for HER2 status testing in limited resource settings where IHC/SISH analysis is costly

Impact of the scattering physics on the power factor of complex thermoelectric materials

We assess the impact of the scattering physics assumptions on the thermoelectric properties of five Co-based p-type half-Heusler alloys by considering full energy-dependent scattering times vs the commonly employed constant scattering time. For this, we employ density functional theory band structures and a full numerical scheme that uses Fermi's golden rule to extract the momentum relaxation times of each state at every energy, momentum, and band. We consider electron-phonon scattering (acoustic and optical), as well as ionized impurity scattering, and evaluate the qualitative and quantitative differences in the power factors of the materials compared to the case where the constant scattering time is employed. We show that the thermoelectric power factors extracted from the two different methods differ in terms of (i) their ranking between materials, (ii) the carrier density where the peak power factor appears, and (iii) their trends with temperature. We further show that the constant relaxation time approximation smoothens out the richness in the band structure features, thus limiting the possibilities of exploring this richness for material design and optimization. These details are more properly captured under full energy/momentum-dependent scattering time considerations. Finally, by mapping the conductivities extracted within the two schemes, we provide appropriate density-dependent constant relaxation times that could be employed as a fast first-order approximation for extracting charge transport properties in the half-Heuslers we consider