Stakeholder collaboration mechanism in elderly community retrofit projects : case study in china

The aged population all over the world is predicted to increase over the next couple of years. Especially in China, the ageing population is expanding significantly every year. A ‘Home-care model’ is becoming the first choice for many elders in China due to the traditional style of community and economic considerations. However, existing communities generally lack support-ing facilities for their elders. This can result in hidden safety risks in these communities. Conse-quently, retrofit projects among these communities of elders have attracted attention and generated studies in both academia and industry. Such elderly community retrofit projects (ECRPs) involve multiple stakeholders, and therefore, the establishment of an effective synergy mechanism for all stakeholders would provide significant value for the successful implementation of ECRPs. Until now, no such mechanism has been developed and published. This research aims to develop a stake-holder collaboration mechanism (SCM) for ECRPs in China. As the method of data collection, interviews with relevant ECRP stakeholders were conducted. Stakeholders involved with ECRPs were classified into three main categories—namely, core stakeholders (ageing families, government or-ganisations, and ECRP companies), dormant stakeholders (other residents, other investors community committees), and marginal stakeholders (financial institutions, property service enterprises, and public welfare organisations). Finally, the SCM was developed utilising a power–interest ma-trix. Actions for stakeholders were recommended in order to promote ECRP in China

FORMULATION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRO FORESTRY MODELS FOR NORTH CENTRAL DRY ZONE OF SRI LANKA

Increase of human population and clearing of forests for their requirements has been alocal as well as global environmental crisis. In Sri Lanka, forest cover has dwindled at analarming rate from 70% in 1990 to 22% as of present. Deforestation and degradation ofland due to many reasons including poverty related land management practices such asshifting cultivation and forest encroachments, conversion of forest estate to other moreeconomically profitable land uses are some of the reasons for the loss of forest. agroforestryhas been identified all over the world as an appropriate alternative which providessustainabilityAccording to the Forestry Sector master Plan (1995) the necessity of utilizing the sparsely·used scrub lands for agroforestry ventures to improve the tree cover and socio-economicstatus of the people has been identified. Forest Department too in its Participatory ForestryProject has ventured into establishment of farmers woodlots with the active participation ofcommunities and this programme is wide spread in many parts of the country especially inthe dry zone. However, the composition of these farmers woodlots still not complete toincorporate diversity and sustainability. Therefore, the objective of this present study is toformulate sustainable tree-crop models for a wide range of land classes in the north centraldry zone of Sri LankaIpalogama divisional Secretariat in Anuradhapura District was identified for the study.Field studies were done in handsomely selected 3 traditional tank based villages namelySangattewa, Puliyankulama and Dampeleassagama . Information was gathered through aquestionnaire survey, field visits and personnel interviews with villagers. Randomelyselected 44 households or 14.8% of the total households in the 3 villages were subjected tothe survey. The species composition and vertical and horizontal diversity, lightrequirements, multiple uses, financial returns/ha, prevalence of local/indigenous treespecies and farmer's choice were taken into consideration in the formulation of theagroforestry models for the various land classes sampled egoAlluvial plains, middle slopesand upper slopes etc.

HABITAT UTILISATION PATTERN OF Lantana camara IN UDAWALAWE NATIONAL P,ARK IN SRI LANKA

Lantana camara, of the family Verbenaceae is native to the tropical and sub tropicalregions of Central and South America. It grows in a wide range of habitats, from exposeddry hillsides to wet heavily shaded gullies. It was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1926 throughthe Royal Botanic Gardens and currently it has spread across the island significantly andhas become an invasive species in most of the habitats including the Udawalawe NationalPark. Through its invasive nature it has become a threat to fauna and flora of the Park dueto habitat invasion and loss. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess thehabitat utilization pattern of L. camara in the Park.For this, the extent of the species in the 3 selected habitats of the Park ie. Scrub grassland,Medium height scrub and Scrub forest transitions was studied using field survey using GPSmstruments. This data was mapped subsequently in order to get an overall idea of thehabitat utilization of the species in the Park. Further, the relative abundance of this speciesin each of the 3 habitats selected was studied using 10 x 10 m quadrates replicated 3 timesfor better accuracy. Field observations were carried out in L. camara trees on the followingparameters; presence of flowers and seeds on the tree, time taken to start flowering, seeddispersal mechanism, seed germination and spreading ability. Seeds were also germinatedin the green house of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura to assess the germinationperiod and germination energy.The results showed significant variation was observed between the habitat types sampled inthe extent of L. camara; the figures being 75% in the Scrub grassland, 65% in Mediumheight scrub and 45°;(, being in the Scrub forest transitions. When these results weremapped, it showed 20% invasion of L. ccmara in the Park especially into the vegetationtypes sampled in the study ..When taken as an overview, the main road and Veheragolla,Seenuggala, Mau ara, Thirnbiriyarnankada and 5th mile post are the most densely andcontinuously distributed areas.The relative abundance and height of L. camara was highest in the Medium height scrubgrassland (92%) while the lowest was observed in the Scrub forest transitional area (87%).The species produced large number of flowers and seeds (20 - 30/cluster). The germinationability of the plant was very high (85 (~,O Therefore, the present study highlights theinvasive nature of the plant especially in open scrub areas and the need to effectivelymange the same to secure the biodiversity of the Park.

Challenges in multi-agency collaboration in disaster management : a Sri Lankan perspective

This study was aimed at investigating the current challenges prevailing in relation to multi-agency collaboration during disaster management and at the strategies that should be implemented in order to overcome such challenges. The study was based on a qualitative approach under which 32 semi-structured interviews were carried out among agencies engaged in disaster management. The collected data were analysed using content analysis. The study identified seven challenges that hinder multi-agency collaboration (communication, environmental, social, political, inter-organisational, intra-organisational and infrastructure challenges) and corresponding strategies that can be used to overcome them. Communication was considered as the dominant challenge due to the lack of a technology platform and well-defined guidelines for sharing data among the agencies to establish a common view of the disaster context. Furthermore, the interoperability challenges that exist among the agencies seems to hinders the effective collaboration among agencies

Survival at 10 years following lower extremity amputations in patients with diabetic foot disease

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Endocrine on 12/04/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-020-02292-7 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Background: Amputations are associated with markedly reduced long-term survival in patients with diabetic foot disease. However, there is paucity of long-term survival data in published literature. Methods: We searched the electronic case records and laboratory details of patients who underwent amputations between 1997 and 2006 to obtain at least 10 years of follow up data after the surgery to assess the survival rates and possible risk factors reducing survival in the year 2016. Amputation level below ankle was considered as minor and above ankle as major amputations. Results: Of the 233 cases (159 males; median age 68 years), 161 had major amputations. Of the 72 cases who had minor amputations initially, 63 needed a further amputation or contralateral amputation on follow up. One hundred seventy-seven patients (76%) were not alive after 10 years of follow up. The survival rates at 1, 3, 5, 7, and ≥10 years were 64%, 50%, 40%, 34%, and 24%, respectively. Maximum number of deaths occurred within 4 months of amputations. There was no difference between survival rates following major or minor amputations and among males or females. The only statistically significant parameter affecting lower survival rate was age ≥70 years, with each additional year of age increasing the hazard by a factor of 1.039 (95% CI: 1.024–1.054) or 3.9% (2.4–5.4%). Conclusions: Five-year and 10-year survival rates were 40% and 24%, respectively, following diabetic foot amputations. Higher age ≥70 years was associated with lower survival rate compared with younger age groups after lower extremity amputations.Published versio

Design and Implementation of a Web Application for an E-Plant Store

With the advancement of technology in every industry, finding items with a few clicks is now simpler. Most people do not have enough knowledge about planting and its advantages of it. Therefore, this platform will be very helpful for those who sell and buy plants. Customers cannot compare prices or pay online when it comes to markets or plant nurseries. So, in this case, Plantae.lk offers various opportunities to customers. They can inspect, get details, compare plants’ pricing, and make online payments easily. In this competitive business world, customer satisfaction is extremely important. We want each customer to have a pleasant shopping experience. With that intention, customer support service offers technical advice and guidance when it is needed. This web application also consists of detailed gardening advice. The major goal of this web application is to provide a better business experience for both seller and consumer.([1])([2]

Programmatic use of molecular xenomonitoring at the level of evaluation units to assess persistence of lymphatic filariasis in Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND:Sri Lanka's Anti Filariasis Campaign distributed 5 rounds of mass drug administration (MDA with DEC plus albendazole) to all endemic regions in the country from 2002-2006. Post-MDA surveillance results have generally been encouraging. However, recent studies have documented low level persistence of Wuchereria bancrofti in Galle district based on comprehensive surveys that include molecular xenomonitoring (MX, detection of filarial DNA in mosquitoes) results. The purposes of this study were to demonstrate the use of MX in large evaluation units (EUs) and to field test different mosquito sampling schemes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Galle district (population 1.1 million) was divided into two EUs. These included a coastal EU with known persistent LF and an inland EU with little persistent LF. Mosquitoes were systematically sampled from ~300 trap locations in 30 randomly selected clusters (health administrative units) per EU. Approximately 28,000 Culex quinquefasciatus were collected with gravid traps and tested for filarial DNA by qPCR. 92/625 pools (14.7%) from the coastal EU and 8/583 pools (1.4%) from the inland EU were positive for filarial DNA. Maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) for filarial DNA rates were essentially the same when the same number of mosquito pools were collected and tested from 75, 150, or 300 trap sites (range 0.61-0.78% for the coastal EU and 0.04-0.07% for the inland EU). The ability to use a smaller number of trap sites reduces the cost and time required for mosquito sampling. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:These results suggest there is widespread persistence of W. bancrofti infection in the coastal Galle EU 8 years after the last round of MDA in 2006, and this is consistent with other data from the district. This study has shown that MX can be used by national programs to assess and map the persistence of W. bancrofti at the level of large EUs in areas with Culex transmission