Acute subdural haemorrhage in the postpartum period as a rare manifestation of possible HELLP (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low-platelet count) syndrome: a case report

BACKGROUND: The HELLP syndrome (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low-platelet count) occurs in about 0.5 to 0.9% of all pregnancies. With occurrence of thrombocytopaenia, it signals for several potentially lethal conditions such as complete or partial HELLP syndrome, thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. CASE PRESENTATION: A previously healthy 27-year-old, Sinhala ethnic primigravida with pregnancy-induced hypertension was admitted at 38 weeks of gestation with lower abdominal pain and a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg. She underwent emergency Caesarian section due to faetal distress giving birth to a healthy baby girl. Since postpartum day one, she was having intermittent fever spikes. All the routine investigations were normal in the first three weeks. Platelet count started dropping from post-partum day-20 onwards. On day-23, she had developed a seizure and computed tomography scan brain showed a subdural haemorrhage. She had a platelet count of 22,000 × 10(9)/liter and was managed conservatively. She also had elevated liver enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase and bilirubin levels. Blood picture on day-24 showed haemolytic anemia. On day- 36, patient again developed seizures and she was having intermittent fever with generalized headache and signs of meningism. Computed tomography scan revealed an acute on chronic subdural haemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy should be managed as high-risk throughout the postpartum period. Development of thrombocytopaenia can be considered as an early warning sign for HELLP, thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura or acute fatty liver of pregnancy which are lethal conditions. Prompt recognition of intracranial haemorrhages and early neurosurgical intervention is lifesaving

Trends in the factor markets and their effects on labour absorption: A study on the Sri Lankan manufacturing industry

Nearly one in ten labour force participants is out of work in Sri Lanka currently. This unemployment rate is much higher than that of most countries in the Asian region which have been following economic policies similar to those of Sri Lanka. By examining output-employment data of the last 5 decades along with the behaviour of major mismatches, the study arrives at the conclusion that insufficient demand for labour at aggregate level in the economy has been more responsible than other reasons for the emergence of a high level of unemployment in Sri Lanka. During the above period it was found that the retardation of labour demand in the manufacturing sector, in particular, contributed much to exacerbate the unemployment issue of the country. The failure to create sufficient amount of employment through import-substitution industrialisation (ISI) strategy from the late 1950s paved the way to change the industrial strategy to export-oriented industrialisation (EOI) under the 1977 economic reforms. Although the latter strategy brought about a substantially higher growth in manufacturing output and labour absorption, the manufacturing sector's employment share after 1996 has become stagnated around 16 per cent. Also, the examination of the manufacturing sector output-employment data by this study reveals a widening gap between the industrial output and employment in the 1990 decade, indicating a weak trend in labour absorption by manufacturing industries. This inadequacy in employment creation, in this study is assumed to have come into being on account of the factor market distortions, labour productivity behaviour, increasing trends in capital intensity, real wage behaviour and the lower level of backward linkages in the manufacturing sector. The study, therefore, attempted to assess the impact of these factors on labour absorption in the manufacturing industry by making a set of prior hypotheses at the beginning of the study and testing them in the subsequent chapters. The comparison of selected labour regulations with the other countries in the region discloses that regulations related to the employment security, social security, and holidays and leave, along with poor state of industrial relations have increased labour market distortions in Sri Lanka even after the 1977 economic reforms. Further, the test results of the other hypotheses reveal that although the financial market reforms carried out from 1977 onwards have been substantially successful in reducing capital market distortions its progress has been considerably retarded by the currency appreciation in most of the time in the reform period. Consequently, factor market distortions entrenched in the regulated regime before 1977 have not been significantly removed in the reform period. Labour productivity measured through the traditional growth accounting (Solow Residual) procedure by the study, shows a moderate increase in the private sector industries while it has gone down in the public sector industries during the 1990s. Capital intensity in the private free trade zone (FTZ) sector shows somewhat declining trend while it has increased in the private non-FTZ sector after 1996 and the public sector throughout the1990s. The real wage behaviour throughout the reform period was found to be not increasing and therefore it has not discouraged labour demand. However, the study observes that backward linkages in the Sri Lankan industries remain at a very low level and the manufacturing industry's dependence on less value added products has further increased over time, limiting the employment generation in the manufacturing sector. Finally, the study attempted to find whether further changes in relative factor prices (costs) through removing factor market distortions could have any impact on increasing labour absorption by estimating the long-run own-wage elasticity of the manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka. The estimation results of the flexible and data dependent Box-Cox function for labour demand based on 4-digit manufacturing data for the period 1990-98 show that employment weighted, average long-run own-wage elasticities of the major branches of manufacturing industry is as high as -0.80. However, this elasticity considered only wage cost of labour, not non-wage costs arising from high costs associated with labour termination, other costs of undue regulatory impositions on labour and costs of poor industrial relations. To the extent that these non-wage costs remain high, the potential for labour absorption, indicating by this relatively higher average wage elasticity may not be realised. Consequently, the study concludes that there should be a great potential to increase labour absorption in the manufacturing industry by reducing the all aspects of non-wage costs of labour, particularly, in an environment of already having a low level of real wages, and by reducing the relative cost of labour to capital through removing capital market distortions

Evaluation of Electric Vehicles charging patterns with DSM for residences (with and without Building Integrated Photovoltaic) in the distribution network

Konfidensiell til / confidential until 01-07-202

Zone management in precision agriculture by matching fertiliser input to crop demand

Growers in Western Australia who have been yield mapping since the mid 1990s have come to realise that grain yield varies across different zones of their paddocks in any given year, as well as between years depending on the seasonal conditions and crop type. This within paddock variation can be as much as tenfold. Higher yielding areas can be due to better growing conditions (which increases the demand for nutrients) and/or better nutrient supply (which reduces the need for some fertiliser inputs). Hence, it is essential to determine the cause of the variation before optimum fertilising strategies can be developed.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1190/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Progressive Income Tax in relation to Economic Development

This paper attempts to investigate the role of progressive income taxation in promoting economic development. The methodology adopted for the study is a review of literature on progressive income taxation. The study initially focuses on the historical and theoretical evolution of progressive income taxation. In this paper, the articulation of ideas on how progressive taxation impacts the economic development is based on its influence on economic efficiency, stability, growth and income inequality. The developed analysis and the review of literature reflect unfavorable prospects about progressive taxation in achieving higher level of economic growth and development. Moreover, the study attempts to provide feasible policy recommendations to curtail the adverse effects of progressive income taxation on economic development

Fluorescence spectroscopy characterization of turbine oil (Caltex Regal R&O 68) used in Samanala Dam hydropower plant in Sri Lanka

The energy crisis is a major issue not only in Sri Lanka but also globally. One of the major issues pertaining to this crisis is the extant use of nonrenewable sources such as oil, coal and natural gas. Hydro power is a major renewable energy source that can be used to generate the electricity requirements of Sri Lanka. It is necessary for a hydropower turbine to function efficiently without any failures to generate electricity. The lubricants used in gearboxes of turbines play a major role in the proper functioning of hydropower turbines. Here, researchers have studied spectroscopic differences of new and discarded Caltex Regal R & O 68 using Raman spectroscopy, Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Among spectra obtained from above spectroscopic techniques, the spectra obtained from fluorescence spectroscopy had a significant difference between two lubricant samples. The highest fluorescence intensity was recorded in the fresh/ new oil sample while the lowest intensity was in the oil which was discarded by the hydro turbines. Additionally, in this study, it was revealed how fluorescence intensity of turbine oil (Caltex Regal R&O 68) used in Samanala hydropower plant station varies with different temperatures 100 °C, 120 °C, 140 °C, and 200 °C. Moreover, 1-Naphthalenamine, N – phenyl was identified as the fluorophore used in Caltex Regal R&O 68 lubricant. Therefore, the fluorescence technique can be used as a tool for monitoring the quality of  hydropower turbine oils. KEYWORDS: Oil degradation, Antioxidants, Fluorescence intensity, Renewable energy, Fluorophor

Fodder trees and shrubs for high rainfall areas of south Western Australia

In south Western Australia, the lack of good quality feed in late summer and autumn is a major constraint to livestock production. This feed gap is usually filled by costly supplementary hand feeding of grain or hay. The ability of some trees and shrubs to provide good quality forage during summer and autumn has generated interest for many years (Corbett, 1951; Everist, 1969; Snook, 1987;Oldham et al., 1991, Lefroy, 1991). The dual benefits of reducing the need for supplementary hand feeding and deferring the grazing of annual pastures until they are well established has recently led to the recognition of tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) and saltbush (Atnp/exspecies) as important forage plants in Western Australia (Malcolm; 1986, Oldham et al., 1991