Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures: Evidence from the Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the nexus between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility disclosure in Sri Lankan listed firms. Design/Methodology/Approach: Corporate governance was evaluated using the following criteria: board size, board independence, role duality, women representation, audit committee size, and ownership concentration. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) methodology was utilized to assess Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSRD) using content analysis. This study collects balanced panel data from 44 Sri Lankan listed firms over a five-year period, from 2018 to 2022. Because of their highly regulated nature, the banking, finance, insurance, and investment trust industries were omitted from the sample. All of the information was gathered from yearly reports published on the Colombo Stock Exchange's website in Sri Lanka. Findings: Test results suggest that board size, independence, and women representation have no significant relationship with CSRD. Role Duality, Audit Committee Size and Ownership Concentration exhibit a significant association with CSRD. Moreover, the mean value of the CSRD is 44.56 percent for the selected listed companies in Sri Lanka. Originality: This study contributes to determining the extent to which companies have adhered to the GRI as a widely acknowledged disclosure framework. It provides value to the company's management in order for them to make better judgments on whether the firms should involve them in more corporate governance disclosures in order to raise the degree of CSR to enhance transparency and to promote stakeholders' well-being. The outcome also has ramifications for regulatory agencies in developing obligatory reporting requirements for all listed firms to comply with the GRI framework

Role of Pseudogenes in Cancer Stem Creation Via High Nitric Oxide (HNO) Adaptation

Gene chip analysis of ten HNO adapted cell lines (Squamous cells: SCC-016, SCC-040, SCC-056, SCC-114, SCC-116; Adenocarcinomas: A549, BT20, Hs578, MCF7, and T47D) was carried out. Known pseudogenes were identified in each line, as well as their coding counterparts. The adenocarcinoma cell lines had no up regulated pseudogenes, while they had the following down regulated pseudogenes: RP6-159A1.2, RP11-255N24.3, AC004490.1, LDHBP, RP11-572H4.2. The squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) had the following up regulated pseudogenes: RPL37AP1, AC138972.1, RP11-641D5.1, AC005534.6, AC022431.1, RPL26P12, and they had these down regulated pseudogenes: RP6-159A1.2, RP11-255N24.3, RBMXP1, RP11-20O23.1, RP11-551G24.2. All cell lines adhered to the hypothesis that an increase in a pseudogene expression also had an increase in the corresponding gene. The high level of pseudogenes could be due to low levels of microRNA; low expression of microRNA could then be due to high levels of ceRNA. In cases when the pseudogenes increase in expression (possibly due to HNO interference) they, like BRAF, take the functionality of ceRNA which in turn decreases microRNA expression. Although a pseudogene may not have any direct translational significance, it can act as ceRNA to facilitate the over expression of the coding gene in a feedback loop

Molecular Mechanisms of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tumor Stem Cell Creation via High Nitric Oxide (HNO) Adaptation

Cancer relapse or recurrence is defined as the return of cancer or its signs/symptoms after a period of improvement. Surgery may not remove all cancer cells and leave behind a few which cannot be detected by scans or other tests. It is also possible that some tumor cells are resistant to chemotherapy or radiation. Although many cancer cells are killed by these treatments, there may exist a few which contain a different genetic makeup which allows them to survive. These hypermalignant cancer cells, or cancer stem cells (CSCs), have been associated with causing cancer relapse. It has also been predicted that these CSCs are created through the adaptation of normal cancer cells (NCCs) to high amounts of the free radical nitric oxide (HNO). In the present study, we looked at the mechanisms by which normal squamous cell carcinomas become cancer stem cells via HNO adaptation. Squamous cells are thin, flat cells which line the surface of the skin, hollow organs of the body, and respiratory and digestive tracts. This study analyzed the genetic differences between cancer stem cells and their predecessors

Evaluation of selected South African ethnomedicinal plants as mosquito repellents against the Anopheles arabiensis mosquito in a rodent model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was initiated to establish whether any South African ethnomedicinal plants (indigenous or exotic), that have been reported to be used traditionally to repel or kill mosquitoes, exhibit effective mosquito repellent properties.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Extracts of a selection of South African taxa were tested for repellency properties in an applicable mosquito feeding-probing assay using unfed female <it>Anopheles arabiensis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although a water extract of the roots of <it>Chenopodium opulifolium </it>was found to be 97% as effective as DEET after 2 mins, time lag studies revealed a substantial reduction in efficacy (to 30%) within two hours.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>None of the plant extracts investigated exhibited residual repellencies >60% after three hours.</p

Screening for adulticidal bioactivity of South African plants against Anopheles arabiensis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study was conducted to evaluate whether a selection of South African ethnomedicinal plants included in this study displayed insecticidal properties when screened against adult stages of the mosquito.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>381 crude extracts of 80 plant taxa in 42 families were sprayed onto ceramic tiles and screened using the cone bio-assay method for insecticide efficacy testing. Blood-fed, female <it>Anopheles arabiensis </it>mosquitoes were exposed to the treated tiles for a period of sixty minutes. Mosquito mortality was monitored for twenty-four hours.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of all the extracts analysed, the highest activity was observed in <it>Ptaeroxylon obliquum </it>(Ptaeroxylaceae) and <it>Pittosporum viridiflorum </it>(Pittosporaceae), a single extract from each, exhibiting more than 50% mortality. A large proportion (81.63%) of the extracts tested displayed low levels of mosquitocidal activity. The remainder of the extracts (17.85%) exhibited no bioactivity (0% mortality).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The screening results have shown that in accordance with WHO standards, none of the crude extracts tested had exhibited greater than 60% mortality against the adult stages of the malaria vector <it>Anopheles arabiensis</it>.</p

Prevalence and type-specific distribution of human papillomavirus infection among women in mid-western rural, Nepal- A population-based study

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Nepal. The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and or HPV 18 among women with cervical pre-cancer and cancer is higher than the incidence of HPV in the world population. The population-based epidemiological data of HPV in the general population in most parts of the country remains unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and type distribution of HPV infection and association of abnormal cytology with high risk HPV infection among women in mid-western rural, Nepal. Methods A population-based cross sectional study was conducted in Jumla, one of the most remote districts in Nepal. A total of 1050 cervical samples were collected from married and non- pregnant women aged 20–65 years during mobile Cervical Cancer Screening Clinics conducted from May 2016 to January 2017. The presence of HPV DNA was firstly confirmed by HPV consensus PCR using PGMY09/PGMY11 designed primers, then HPV positive samples were further genotyped by the membrane hybridization method to detect the 21 high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and low-risk HPV types. The prevalence of HR-HPV among women with normal and abnormal cytology was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS software for Windows. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A total of 998 women were eligible for this study with the mean age 32.6 ± 8.6 years, and the mean marital age was 16.7 ± 3.8 years. The overall prevalence of HPV infections was 19.7%. HR-HPV and low-risk HPV were 11.7 and 8.7% respectively. The six most common HR-HPV types were HPV16, 39, 58, 33, 51 and 18. HR-HPV infection among the women with abnormal and normal cytology was of 27.3 and 10.8% respectively. Conclusions There was a higher prevalence of HR-HPV infection among women living in Jumla than other parts of Nepal. This study provides preliminary information on overall HPV and type-specific HR-HPV prevalence, HR-HPV 16, 39, 58, 33, 51, and 18 are the most prevalent genotypes in this region. The data contribute to the epidemiological knowledge about HPV and type-specific HR-HPV genotypes prevalence in mid-Western Nepal