Spatial mapping and analysis of forest fire risk areas in Sri Lanka – Understanding environmental significance

This study presents the first attempt in Sri Lanka to generate a forest fire risk map covering the entire country using a GIS-based forest fire index (FFI) model. The model utilized seven parameters: land use, temperature, slope, proximity to roads and settlements, elevation, and aspect. All these parameters were derived using GIS techniques with ArcGIS10.4 and QGIS3.16. Data from Remote Sensing sources, particularly the MODIS hotspot real-world dataset, were employed to gather fire count information for the year 2020. Validation was conducted through the merging hotspot technique and kernel density estimation (KDE). The research findings highlight the districts in the Central and Uva provinces, such as NuwaraEliya (10.3 km2), Kandy (2.74 km2), and Badulla (10.41 km2), as having a “very low risk" of forest fire potential. Conversely, districts like Hambanthota (0.1 km2), Kaluthara (0.04 km2), and Kurunegala (0.2 km2) exhibit a “very high risk" of forest fire potential, although it is negligible compared country's total area. Overall, the study suggests that Sri Lanka is not currently facing a significant threat of forest fires and is a “medium risk" of forest fires as 49.49% of land falls under this category. These results are of immense value to relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation, in formulating effective strategies to manage and mitigate forest fire risks in the country

Species Composition and Visiting Frequencies of Flower Visitors of Chromolaena odorata

Plant-animal interaction has been a major theme in ecology as it has helped ecologists to rule out different patterns they observed in the surrounding environments. Chromolaena odorata is another plant species that is studied extensively as it has become a major troublesome weed in many parts of the tropics. But, handful of studies are available on pollination of this invasive plant species in dry forests and its function as a pollinator sink in these environments. The current study was carried out in a dry zone secondary forest patch in North-Central Sri Lanka to assess the diversity, abundance, and pollination strength of flower visitors associated with the C. odorata. The results suggest that the diversity of Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera is higher than the other insect orders that visited C. odorata, but all species exerted equal pollination strength on the plant. The attraction of large numbers of insects is concluded to as one of the factors that contribute to the reproductive success of C. odorata in dry zone forests

Accessibility and Usage of Digital Technologies among Academics for Research: A Case of Selected Humanities and Social Sciences Faculties in Sri Lankan Universities

The Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) involve understanding the human experience and the relationships between individuals and groups in society. The adoption of digital technologies has challenged the discipline of HSS, creating an entirely new environment for the study of human activities. This research aims to explore the employment of digital tools, resources and services in HSS research. Further, the use of digital methods (DM) throughout the research process; the impact of COVID-19 on the use of DM in research; the constraints of using DM in research were tested. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from Colombo, Kelaniya and Sri Jayewardenepura universities targeting academics in Economics, English, English Language Teaching, Geography, History and Archeology, Buddhist Studies, Political Science, Sinhala, and Sociology. Considering the digital infrastructure facilities, most of the academics rated email (45.6%) and LMS services (46.7%) as excellent but maintenance provided by the institute was not adequate. Most academics rated good on access to data storage (37.9%); reference management software (27.5%); plagiarism detection software (29.1%); institutional repository (35.2%); and support to online publications (39.6%) provided by their institutes. 55.7% of surveyed academics in SS often use digital data collection methods while in the Humanities it was 43.4%. Online publishing was most often used by SS (50.9%) and only 39.5% by the Humanities. 53.8% of SS academics and 43.4% of humanities academics often use cloud storage. Findings confirmed the expansion of using digital research methods during the pandemic compared to the early pandemic situation. Collaborative research works, virtual conferences, citation databases and digital indexing were identified as popular trends. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v08i02.0

A Case of severe MRSA sepsis

Introduction: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that has developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics and is more difficult to treat with standard types of antibiotics and thus more virulent. The epidemiology of MRSA may be changing, as the isolation of MRSA is no longer limited to hospitalized patients and can cause serious infections in otherwise healthy persons with no links to healthcare systems.Case report: An 11 year old school boy presented with right thigh swelling and fever for six days with a history of cough & haemoptysis. Initially he was managed as deep vein thrombosis with pulmonary embolism which was ruled out after further investigations. Large thigh abscess was drained and treated for severe sepsis at the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) for 21 days with six antibiotics. Subsequently he underwent drainage of pus from different parts of his all four limbs in eight times under general anaesthesia within two weeks. During this period his oxygen saturation continued to drop and was diagnosed to have disseminated sepsis due to community-acquired MRSA with necrotizing pneumonia and multiple soft tissue abscesses (pyomyositis). Features of sepsis gradually subsided only after 18 days and he was discharged after 35 days on oral antibiotics which continued for 42 days. Subsequent screening for immune-deficiency was negative.Discussion: MRSA should attract the attention of the medical community with high degree of suspicion, illustrating the urgency to develop better ways for early diagnosis and treatment with appropriate antibiotics as severe infections can be a great burden to health care system requiring expensive antibiotics and ICU care

Socioeconomic consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic for people who use drugs

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered widespread socioeconomic hardship, disproportionately impacting disadvantaged populations. People who use illicit drugs are more likely to experience unemployment, homelessness, criminal justice involvement and poorer health outcomes than the general community, yet little is known about the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic on their lives. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted in-depth interviews with 76 participants from two cohort studies of people who use illicit drugs (people who inject drugs and/or use methamphetamine) in Victoria, Australia. Findings support claims that pandemic-related Social Security supplementary payments and initiatives to reduce homelessness, although not systemically transforming people's lives, produced temporary relief from chronic socioeconomic hardship. Results also indicate how temporary interruptions to drug supply chains inflated illicit drug prices and produced adverse consequences such as financial and emotional stress, which was exacerbated by drug withdrawal symptoms for many participants. Furthermore, increased community demand for emergency food and housing support during the pandemic appeared to reduce participants' access to these services. Our findings about the unintended consequences of pandemic responses on the socioeconomic lives of a group of people who use illicit drugs provide insights into and opportunities for policy reform to redress their entrenched disadvantage

Spatially explicit approach to estimation of total population abundance in field surveys.

Population abundance is fundamental in ecology and conservation biology, and provides essential information for predicting population dynamics and implementing conservation actions. While a range of approaches have been proposed to estimate population abundance based on existing data, data deficiency is ubiquitous. When information is deficient, a population estimation will rely on labor intensive field surveys. Typically, time is one of the critical constraints in conservation, and management decisions must often be made quickly under a data deficient situation. Hence, it is important to acquire a theoretical justification for survey methods to meet a required estimation precision. There is no such theory available in a spatially explicit context, while spatial considerations are critical to any field survey. Here, we develop a spatially explicit theory for population estimation that allows us to examine the estimation precision under different survey designs and individual distribution patterns (e.g. random/clustered sampling and individual distribution). We demonstrate that clustered sampling decreases the estimation precision when individuals form clusters, while sampling designs do not affect the estimation accuracy when individuals are distributed randomly. Regardless of individual distribution, the estimation precision becomes higher with increasing total population abundance and the sampled fraction. These insights provide theoretical bases for efficient field survey designs in information deficiency situations

Short term effects on liver and renal functions following chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer patients in oncology clinic, university hospital Kotelawala Defence University in Sri Lanka

Background: Breast cancer tops the global cancer incidence rates, having the highest rate of death among women. The primary objective of this study was to assess the impact of standard chemotherapy treatment dose adjusted for the Sri Lankan population, on hepatic and kidney function of breast cancer patients. Methods: The study conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective and prospective analysis of 75 breast cancer patients who received doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel chemotherapy regimen with normal liver and renal function at baseline at UHKDU oncology clinic. The study population had a mean age and BMI of 54.04±11.33 years and 26.7±3.89, respectively. Prior to starting the 16-cycle chemotherapy treatment, mean serum SGOT, SGPT, Creatinine, and eGFR values were 27.57 U/l, 31.32 U/l, 0.71 mg/dl, and 99.07 ml/minute/1.73 m2 respectively. Results: During the treatment, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean values of SGOT and SGPT (p<0.05), whereas there was no significant variation in the mean values of creatinine and eGFR (p>0.05) compared to the baseline results. The study identified a significant positive correlation in SGOT (r=0.793) and SGPT (r=0.872) values, while there was a noteworthy negative correlation (r=-0.757) between eGFR and chemotherapy cycle. Furthermore, there was a positive significant correlation between serum creatinine levels and chemotherapy cycle (r=0.579). Conclusions: The dosed adjusted chemotherapy regimen had a significant impact on hepatic function but had no statistically significant impact on renal function among the study population. Further research is recommended to evaluate the long-term effects of standard chemotherapy treatment on liver and kidney functions