Effect of bio control agent Trichoderma (T. viride and T. konnigiil on basal rot of Cloropytum comosum 'Iaxum' caused by Sclerotium rolfsii

At present, the biological control of soil borne fungal diseases is becoming popular in foliage industryof Sri Lanka, which is a nature-friendly ecological approach to overcome the problems caused bystandard chemical methods of plant protection. With a suitable bio control agent pathogen can besuppressed and reduced the disease incidence could be reduced effectively. This experiment wasconducted over a period of six months in poly tunnel to identify a potential bio control agent for basalrot of Cloropytum comosum 'Iaxum' caused by Sclerotium rolfsii with five treatments of Trichodermaviride, Trichoderma konnigii and combination of Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma konnigii,Porrnarsol forte 80% wp and control. The mean disease incidences of above treatments were! .75,2.75, J .5, 1.75 and 10.75 respectively. It was revealed that Trichoderma viride and combination ofTricodernia spp. are suitable for the highly effective control of plant diseases caused by Sclerotiumrolfsi i

Occurrence of Urinary Crystals among Urinary Tract Infections Suspected Paediatric Patients, Sri Lanka

Crystalluria has become one of the most vital biomarkers in urinalysis in detecting several disease conditions. It has been reported that urinary tract infections (UTI) may be the presenting sign of Urolithiasis in children. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify and estimate the different types of crystals in the urine samples collected from UTI suspected children who admitted to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for children, Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using 400 children belong to age<12 years suspected with UTI. The participants included 242 males and 158 females. The urine samples were collected prior to start antibiotics. Each sample was examined macroscopically and centrifuged at 2000 rpm for 5 minutes. The urine sediment was examined under the light microscope and different crystal types were identified and counted at x40 magnification. Out of 400 samples 82 samples (82/400) were positive for crystalluria. The crystal types present were uric acid, calcium oxalate, triple phosphate, ammonium biuate and ammonium urate. None of the samples showed abnormal crystal types. The distribution of each crystal type was as follow; uric acid 25/82, calcium oxalate 34/82, triple phosphate 12/82, ammonium biuate 7/82 and ammonium urate 4/82. The quantity of crystals per mL of urine was ranged as follow; uric acid 850-130,000, calcium oxalate 350- >250,000, triple phosphate 650-6,000, ammonium biurate and ammonium urate were presented in clumps. KEYWORDS: Crystalluria, Uric Acid, Calcium Oxalate, Triple Phosphate, Ammonium Biurate, Ammonium Urate, Urolithiasis, Urinary Tract Infections

Media properties of different vermicompost and coir dust mixtures

In recent years, the demand for coir dust has increased as it is widely used as a growth medium in soilless culture. Since it is low in nutrients, when mixed with vermicompost, will provide a better growthmedium for plant establishment. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the properties ofdifferent verrnicornpost and coir dust mixtures. Tomato was used as the test plant and four differentmedia compositions were tested with and without nutrient supplement. Media properties includingchemical (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg levels, pH and Electrical conductivity [ECl) and physical properties(Bulk density, Field capacity and drying pattern) were measured in the time period.Nutrient levels, pH, EC, bulk density, and drying rates were found to be decreased and only fieldcapacity increased with increasing the proportion of coir dust. According to the result obtained,vermicompost alone can be used as a plant growth medium. But poor porosity and aeration ofvermicompost limit the root growth and lowered the water holding capacity. Therefore, medium with75% verrnicompost and 25% coil' dust is more suitable than vennicompost alone. Medium with 50%verrnicornpost and 50% coir dust has better physical properties, but nutrient level is not sufficient tosupport plant growth. Therefore nutrient supplement is needed to use it as growing medium.

Determination of in-vitro Equivalence of Paracetamol Tablets

Bioequivalence studies are the usually accepted method to determine the therapeutic equivalence of two drugproducts. Because in-vivo bioequivalence studies are time consuming and expensive to conduct, majorregulatory authorities have introduced biowaivers for some selected medicines belonging to BCS class 1 andIII drugs. Comparative dissolution tests are used in biowaiver procedure to waiver the bioequivalencerequirement. We performed this study to see whether two brands of paracetamol tablets are bioequivalentusing the in-vitro methodology. In the first stage of this research study, British Pharmacopeia 2012 qualitytests were performed on the two selected paracetamol tablet products to determine whether they arepharmaceutically equivalent. In the second stage in-vitro equivalence of the two products was determinedusing the biowaiver testing procedure given by the World Health Organization. Dissolution profiles weregenerated at pH values, 1.2, 4.5 and 6.8. Results were compared through two model independent methods,difference factor (f1) and similarity factor (f2). The two paracetamol tablet products tested, complied with allthe quality requirements of the British Pharmacopeia 2012. For the two products, the difference factor (f1)was below the 15 and similarity factor (f2) was above the 50 in all dissolution test conditions. These resultsconfirm that the two products are pharmaceutically equivalent. The test product is also bioequivalent to thereference product in-vitro, and therefore they can be interchangeable during clinical use. This study showsthat in-vivo bioequivalence testing can be waived using the in-vitro method, for some pharmaceuticalproducts such as paracetamol tablets.KEYWORDS: Paracetamol tablets, Biowaivers, Dissolution profile

Early Life Child Micronutrient Status, Maternal Reasoning, and a Nurturing Household Environment have Persistent Influences on Child Cognitive Development at Age 5 years : Results from MAL-ED

Funding Information: The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project (MAL-ED) is carried out as a collaborative project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the NIH, and the National Institutes of Health/Fogarty International Center. This work was also supported by the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (D43-TW009359 to ETR). Author disclosures: BJJM, SAR, LEC, LLP, JCS, BK, RR, RS, ES, LB, ZR, AM, RS, BN, SH, MR, RO, ETR, and LEM-K, no conflicts of interest. Supplemental Tables 1–5 and Supplemental Figures 1–3 are available from the “Supplementary data” link in the online posting of the article and from the same link in the online table of contents at https://academic.oup.com/jn/. Address correspondence to LEM-K (e-mail: [email protected]). Abbreviations used: HOME, Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment inventory; MAL-ED, The Etiology, Risk Factors, and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development Project; TfR, transferrin receptor; WPPSI, Wechsler Preschool Primary Scales of Intelligence.Peer reviewe

Early life child micronutrient status, maternal reasoning, and a nurturing household environment have persistent influences on child cognitive development at age 5 years: Results from MAL-ED

Background: Child cognitive development is influenced by early-life insults and protective factors. To what extent these factors have a long-term legacy on child development and hence fulfillment of cognitive potential is unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relation between early-life factors (birth to 2 y) and cognitive development at 5 y. Methods: Observational follow-up visits were made of children at 5 y, previously enrolled in the community-based MAL-ED longitudinal cohort. The burden of enteropathogens, prevalence of illness, complementary diet intake, micronutrient status, and household and maternal factors from birth to 2 y were extensively measured and their relation with the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scales of Intelligence at 5 y was examined through use of linear regression. Results: Cognitive T-scores from 813 of 1198 (68%) children were examined and 5 variables had significant associations in multivariable models: mean child plasma transferrin receptor concentration (β: −1.81, 95% CI: −2.75, −0.86), number of years of maternal education (β: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.45), maternal cognitive reasoning score (β: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.15), household assets score (β: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.04), and HOME child cleanliness factor (β: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.05, 1.15). In multivariable models, the mean rate of enteropathogen detections, burden of illness, and complementary food intakes between birth and 2 y were not significantly related to 5-y cognition. Conclusions: A nurturing home context in terms of a healthy/clean environment and household wealth, provision of adequate micronutrients, maternal education, and cognitive reasoning have a strong and persistent influence on child cognitive development. Efforts addressing aspects of poverty around micronutrient status, nurturing caregiving, and enabling home environments are likely to have lasting positive impacts on child cognitive development.publishedVersio

Effect of bio control agent Trichoderma (T. viride and T. konnigiil on basal rot of Cloropytum comosum 'Iaxum' caused by Sclerotium rolfsii

At present, the biological control of soil borne fungal diseases is becoming popular in foliage industryof Sri Lanka, which is a nature-friendly ecological approach to overcome the problems caused bystandard chemical methods of plant protection. With a suitable bio control agent pathogen can besuppressed and reduced the disease incidence could be reduced effectively. This experiment wasconducted over a period of six months in poly tunnel to identify a potential bio control agent for basalrot of Cloropytum comosum 'Iaxum' caused by Sclerotium rolfsii with five treatments of Trichodermaviride, Trichoderma konnigii and combination of Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma konnigii,Porrnarsol forte 80% wp and control. The mean disease incidences of above treatments were! .75,2.75, J .5, 1.75 and 10.75 respectively. It was revealed that Trichoderma viride and combination ofTricodernia spp. are suitable for the highly effective control of plant diseases caused by Sclerotiumrolfsi i

Determination of in-vitro equivalence of paracetamol tablets

Bioequivalence studies are the usually accepted method to determine the therapeutic equivalence of two drugproducts. Because in-vivo bioequivalence studies are time consuming and expensive to conduct, majorregulatory authorities have introduced biowaivers for some selected medicines belonging to BCS class 1 andIII drugs. Comparative dissolution tests are used in biowaiver procedure to waiver the bioequivalencerequirement. We performed this study to see whether two brands of paracetamol tablets are bioequivalentusing the in-vitro methodology. In the first stage of this research study, British Pharmacopeia 2012 qualitytests were performed on the two selected paracetamol tablet products to determine whether they arepharmaceutically equivalent. In the second stage in-vitro equivalence of the two products was determinedusing the biowaiver testing procedure given by the World Health Organization. Dissolution profiles weregenerated at pH values, 1.2, 4.5 and 6.8. Results were compared through two model independent methods,difference factor (f1) and similarity factor (f2). The two paracetamol tablet products tested, complied with allthe quality requirements of the British Pharmacopeia 2012. For the two products, the difference factor (f1)was below the 15 and similarity factor (f2) was above the 50 in all dissolution test conditions. These resultsconfirm that the two products are pharmaceutically equivalent. The test product is also bioequivalent to thereference product in-vitro, and therefore they can be interchangeable during clinical use. This study showsthat in-vivo bioequivalence testing can be waived using the in-vitro method, for some pharmaceuticalproducts such as paracetamol tablets.KEYWORDS: Paracetamol tablets, Biowaivers, Dissolution profile