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The present study investigates the pendant number of certain graph classes; complement, line graphs, and total graphs. The pendant number is the minimum number of end vertices of paths in a path decomposition of a graph. A path decomposition of a graph is a decomposition of it into subgraphs; i.e., a sequence of a subset of vertices of the graph such that the endpoints of each edge appear in one of the subsets and each vertex appears in an adjacent sub-sequence of the subsets.

Machine learning is a great artificial intelligence technology used in cancer prediction and diagnosis. Also, with the development of personalized and medical applications, there has recently been a rising tendency to machine learning (ML) techniques for prognostic predictions. However, developing accurate prediction systems of cancer mortality in medical environments remains a challenge.A regression model is being constructed to forecast lung cancer individuals' survival rates in months. It has previously been demonstrated that predictive analytics function well for brief overall survival of lower than 6 months; nevertheless, model performance decreases as greater survival times are attempted to be predicted. To estimate survival rates, regression systems are proposed in conjunction using a classification framework for this research. The Surveillance, Epidemiological, and End Results (SEER) dataset were used to gather a collection of de-identified lung cancer survivor data. To evaluate lung cancer information from the SEER study to construct effective lung cancer survival predictive design. Several qualities were removed/modified/split as a consequence of specially planned pre-processing processes, and two of the 11 resultant characteristics were shown to offer substantial predictive potential.ANOVA is used to choose a subset of components for the analyses. For classifying, a confusion matrix is used, and for regression, the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) is used.For classifications, Random Forests (RF) were utilized, whereas, for regression, conventional Regression Analysis, Gradient Boosted Machines (GBM), and Random Forests have been used. The regression findings indicate that RF performs better for survival periods of and months on RMSE and , correspondingly, whereas GBM was quiet for survival periods of months on RMSE . Results comparison charts show that its regression analysis functions stronger for median survival durations than the RMSE estimates can reflect.

The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA; https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena), maintained by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), offers those producing data an open and supported platform for the management, archiving, publication, and dissemination of data; and to the scientific community as a whole, it offers a globally comprehensive data set through a host of data discovery and retrieval tools. Here, we describe recent updates to the ENA’s submission and retrieval services as well as focused efforts to improve connectivity, reusability, and interoperability of ENA data and metadata.

With rapid growth of economy and tourism, there is an intensified competition can be seen in the hotel industry in today. To be in the competition, they need to continuously improve their management techniques and procedures. “Online Hotel Management system” is software developed by focus on these factors. Through this system, it will be able to manage various functions including room and hall reservations, ordering food, and managing employees and suppliers. We intend to develop this web application using React JS, Express JS, Node JS, and Mongo DB. This system addresses hotel management issues while avoiding issues that arise when tasks are carried out manually. In terms, the main objective of this whole process is to automate the day today manual tasks of this system. Therefore, this online hotel management system is designed to find a more practical, well-organized, and quick way of processing the service from the hotel for both nearby and distant customers by giving more user friendly and more GUI oriented experience.

Because of the rational job environment throughout the industrial period, where emotions would interfere with good judgment, workplace emotions were neglected. The idea of emotional labour, where people traded their emotions for money, has grown significantly with the rise of the service economy. More specifically, in order to enhance job results in the modelling industry, academics are starting to look into how companies manage emotions. Despite the stigma and preconceptions, the sector still endures as a result of the culture that has developed in the Sri Lankan environment, it is rapidly expanding. However, this industry receives relatively little consideration when it comes to performing research. Combining these two, the primary research question of this study attempts to answer is how the Sri Lankan models carry out emotional labour. By employing convenience sampling to choose a sample of female graduates, a series of eight (08) interviews were included since the researchers felt that they were knowledgeable about the phenomenon. Using thematic analysis, the two main themes were found to be "Charming Clients: Turning on the Fascination" and "Building Impressions: Replicating It." Despite the fact that the results were largely consistent with the global context, there were hints of the culture's influence in Sri Lanka. The researcher hopes to draw the conclusion that changing women's perceptions of modelling as a viable career path is necessary.

Bridges are continuously exposed to environmental changes and dynamic loading effects caused by moving loads. As a result, bridge deterioration is a critical problem in the U.S.A. The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database contains historical bridge condition information for bridges in the U.S.A. and currently it is the best available database for describing the historical condition of bridges in the U.S.A. The objective of this paper is to develop a mathematical model that can be used to predict the future condition ratings of each bridge component and, more specifically, to estimate the probability of each bridge component being at any condition rating at any future year. Two different types of future condition rating prediction models, namely the current practice model (CPM) and the deterioration prediction model (DPM), were developed. The CPM is capable of simulating the effects of historical maintenance activities when predicting the future condition rating probabilities, whereas the DPM does not consider the effects of historical maintenance activities when predicting the future condition rating probabilities. Both models were illustrated and validated using most current NBI data. The performance of both models was evaluated on hundreds of bridges in the states of Iowa and Wisconsin. The results indicated that the CPMs tend to converge to condition rating 6 within 15 years, whereas the DPMs tend to converge to condition rating 4 with 15 years. This suggests that conducting current maintenance activities helps to keep the nation’s bridges in at least “satisfactory condition.” However, a lack of performing any maintenance could lead to bridges being structurally deficient within 15 years.

Exosomes have garnered enormous interest for their role in physiological and pathological processes and their potential for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. In this study, exosomes were isolated from plasma of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) and their physiochemical and morphological characteristics, as well as wound healing and regeneration activities were determined. Isolated exosomes had typical characteristics, including average particle diameter (151.82 ± 9.17 nm), concentration (6.31 × 10

This study investigated the antiviral activity of aqueous leaf extract of Costus speciosus (TB100) against influenza A. Pretreatment of TB100 in RAW264.7 cells enhanced antiviral activity in an assay using the green fluorescence-expressing influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1) virus. The fifty percent effective concentration (EC50) and fifty percent cytotoxic concentration (CC50) were determined to be 15.19 ± 0.61 and 117.12 ± 18.31 µg/mL, respectively, for RAW264.7 cells. Based on fluorescent microscopy, green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression and viral copy number reduction confirmed that TB100 inhibited viral replication in murine RAW264.7 and human A549 and HEp2 cells. In vitro pretreatment with TB100 induced the phosphorylation of transcriptional activators TBK1, IRF3, STAT1, IKB-α, and p65 associated with interferon pathways, indicating the activation of antiviral defenses. The safety and protective efficacy of TB100 were assessed in BALB/c mice as an oral treatment and the results confirmed that it was safe and effective against influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 (H1N1), A/Philippines/2/2008 (H3N2), and A/Chicken/Korea/116/2004 (H9N2). High-performance liquid chromatography of aqueous extracts led to the identification of cinnamic, caffeic, and chlorogenic acids as potential chemicals for antiviral responses. Further confirmatory studies using these acids revealed that each of them confers significant antiviral effects against influenza when used as pretreatment and enhances the antiviral response in a time-dependent manner. These findings suggest that TB100 has the potential to be developed into an antiviral agent that is effective against seasonal influenza.

Class-level complexity is a significant component of software complexity, and measuring software complexity is essential for software development and maintenance. Although the Weighted Class Complexity (WCC) metric has a long history of use, it has some drawbacks, including the equal weighting of complexity components and the exclusion of some complexity elements,. In this paper, we present a novel metric, the Enhanced Weighted Class Complexity (EWCC) metric, which extends the WCC metric by adding more complexity variables and weighting them according to their relative relevance. Data access patterns, method call chains, and control structure complexity are among the other variables. In order to compare the EWCC metric’s output to the WCC metric’s output, we apply it to a number of software systems. We assess the EWCC metric’s performance in locating potential error and bug sources. The findings indicate that, compared to the WCC metric, the EWCC metric offers a more thorough and precise evaluation of class-level complexity. According to the results, software developers and maintainers may find the EWCC measure to be a useful tool for controlling software complexity.

Anode material plays big role in electrochemical oxidation process of water treatment. Since its coating composition can affect the degradation path way, the reaction mechanism and the efficiency of electrochemical oxidation process, it is important to identify the optimum conditions of a given material composition of a high electrochemical active area. In this work, central composite design with response surface method was implemented to optimize Ir and Sb contents of Ti/IrO2-Sb2O3 anode. In order to do that, response factors (i.e. anodic charge and open circuit potential value), which are related to electrochemically active area of the anode were monitored. They were expressed in second-order functions of two factors such as Ir and Sb concentrations. Since these factors showed significant impact on anodic charge and open circuit potential values of the anode, statistical analysis was done in order to gain the understanding of them. ANOVA table results, R2 and Radj values, lack of fit test and p values indicated that the models represent experimental data well. 3-D response surface and 2-D contour plots visualized the effects. Overall analysis of results found that 0.3625 mC anodic charge value and -0.0869 mV open circuit value can be obtained by optimum material conditions of 0.08 g/L and 0.92 g/L Ir and Sb concentrations respectively.

The aim of this research is to analyze the impact of parent satisfaction on Children’s online learning for Primary Education during the Covid 19 Pandemic. Independent variables are Child competency, Technical Problems, Duration of online learning, and several assignments. The research method is a quantitative approach with Primary data analysis using Google form. The population in this study was the parents of the Primary school students who are following the Bachelor of Education (Hons) in Primary Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka using a simple random sampling method. Respondents of 102 data analyses were done through descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation, and Regression and were analyzed using SPSS. By using a structured questionnaire with five Likert scales from strongly disagree to strongly agree measured independent and dependent variables. The results of this study are independent variables had a significant impact on parents’ satisfaction with online learning. But Technical Problem was not significant in parents’ satisfaction with online learning. The moderation effect explains the association between the following three factors; the number of online assignments, the duration of online learning, and parents’ satisfaction. According to the Child competency, Parents were more satisfied with their children’s online learning. Researchers may use this article as literature or supplementary material for future research.

LoRa, Sigfox, and Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) are some of the long-distance, low-power wireless communication technologies developed in the recent past. The proposed system consists of mainly nodes and a gateway as the fundamental system architecture. Nodes only communicate with the gateway individually and the gateway communicates with all the nodes separately and wirelessly. System in this proposed study, uses long range low power RF wireless communication technique for primary data communication, where an Internet connection will not be required for the communication between the gateway and the nodes. Any number of nodes can be paired with the gateway, and the gateway can individually communicate with each and every node. Furthermore, gateways have the ability of storing real-time data. Due to its unique design, the proposed system in this study, can achieve addressable, bidirectional, and continuous data communication even without the Internet connection. The bidirectional communication design of this proposed system facilitates real time and uninterrupted simultaneous handling of monitoring/sensor devices and controller devices without the need of a separate controlling system. As this system consists of those unique features, it is recommended to use in the rural areas underserved by current internet and telecommunication technologies. With the in-built option to get connected to the Internet, this system can be further expanded to an IoT based addressable data communication, processing, and visualization systems by eliminating the major technical problems in typical IoT systems such as interrupted communication and data losses during an Internet connection failure, power concerns and customization issues.

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between tourism and economic growth by using a panel data cointegration test, Granger causality test and Wavelet coherence analysis at the global level. This analysis examines 105 nations utilising panel data from 2003 to 2020. The findings indicates that in most regions, tourism contributes significantly to economic growth and vice versa. Developing trade across most of the regions appears to be a major influencer in the study, as a bidirectional association exists between trade openness and economic growth. Additionally, all regions other than the American region showed a one-way association between gross capital formation and economic growth. Therefore, it is crucial to highlight that using initiatives to increase demand would advance tourism while also boosting the economy.

To characterize the IgG and IgA responses to different SARS-CoV-2 proteins, we investigated the antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 following natural infection and following a single dose of AZD1222 (Covishield), in Sri Lankan individuals. The IgG and IgA responses were assessed to S1, S2, RBD, and N proteins in patients at 4 weeks and 12 weeks since the onset of illness or following vaccination. Antibodies to the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 wild type (WT), α, β, and λ and ACE2 (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2) receptor blocking antibodies were also assessed in these cohorts. For those with mild illness and in vaccines, the IgG responses to S1, S2, RBD, and N protein increased from 4 weeks to 12 weeks, while it remained unchanged in those with moderate/severe illness. In the vaccines, IgG antibodies to the S2 subunit had the highest significant rise (P < 0.0001). Vaccines had several-fold lower IgA antibodies to all the SARS-CoV-2 proteins tested than those with natural infection. At 12 weeks, the haemagglutination test (HAT) titres were significantly lower to the α in vaccines and significantly lower in those with mild illness and in vaccines to β and for λ. No such difference was seen in those with moderate/severe illness. Vaccines had significantly less IgA to SARS-CoV-2, but comparable IgG responses those with natural infection. However, following a single dose vaccines had reduced antibody levels to the VOCs, which further declined with time, suggesting the need to reduce the gap between the two doses, in countries experiencing outbreaks due to VOCs.

Polymer based organic solar cells (OSCs) are of tremendous interest as suitable candidates for producing clean and renewable energy in recent years. In this study, inverted OSCs on stainless steel (SS) substrate with zinc oxide (ZnO) as the electron selective transport layer (ESTL), are investigated, occupying bulk heterojunction blend of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the active material and poly-(4,3-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as the hole transport layer (HTL). The device structure is SS/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/Au. ZnO films are prepared by spin coating and electrodeposition techniques, followed by annealing under ambient conditions. The insertion of ZnO layer between the SS substrate and active layer has improved short-circuit current (J sc), open-circuit voltage (V oc), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to those of the reference cell without ZnO layer, achieving the highest efficiency of 0.66% for the device with spin coated ZnO from sol–gel technique. This enhancement can be attributed to the effective electron extraction and the increased crystallinity of ZnO after annealing treatments at higher temperatures as further confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses.

The Role of National Language is endorsed in different contexts and it has triggered an inspirited debate within the Sri Lankan political history when its discriminatory nature policies marked a triumph of linguist nationalism. The recognition of the Sinhala language as the only National Language in Sri Lanka and its dominance, drifted both communities apart causing frustration and tension among ethnic groups, which have ultimately culminated in ethnic strife that lasted almost three decades. National Languages, hence wield as a sociopolitical tool that demands a balance among languages, recognition, and policies. Similarly, Sri Lanka, in its path to reconciliation also demands a balance among National Languages, policies, and its recognition among the communities. This study thus explores the Role of National Language in promoting social cohesion and coexistence among ethnic groups to achieve anticipated “Reconciliation” within Sri Lankan social fabric. The paper draws upon a mixed approach employing qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews. Data were gathered from interviewing 20 undergraduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that the recognition of National languages in their due status will make a huge impact on fostering reconciliation within Sri Lankan Society. It is further not to be confused with the Link Language as a National Language since its duty in social integration is relatively limited in the cases where the understanding of cultural, traditional, and historical attributes of an ethnic community is more pronounced especially in grappling with attitudinal problems inherited within ethnic communities.

Anticipating an increasing demand for hybrid double network (DN) hydrogels in biomedicine and biotechnology, this study evaluated the effects of each network on the mechanical and biological properties. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) (meth)acrylate hydrogels with varied monomer molecular weights and architectures (linear vs. 4-arm) were produced with and without an added ionically bonded alginate network and their mechanical properties were characterized using compression testing. The results showed that while some mechanical properties of PEG single network (SN) hydrogels decreased or changed negligibly with increasing molecular weight, the compressive modulus, strength, strain to failure, and toughness of DN hydrogels all significantly increased with increased PEG monomer molecular weight. At a fixed molecular weight (10 kDa), 4-arm PEG SN hydrogels exhibited better overall mechanical performance; however, this benefit was diminished for the corresponding DN hydrogels with comparable strength and toughness and lower strain to failure for the 4-arm case. Regardless of the PEG monomer structure, the alginate network made a relatively larger contribution to the overall DN mechanical properties when the covalent PEG network was looser with a larger mesh size (e.g., for larger monomer molecular weight and/or linear architecture) which presumably enabled more ionic crosslinking. Considering the biological performance, adipose derived stem cell cultures demonstrated monotonically increasing cell area and Yes-associated protein related mechanosensing with increasing amounts of alginate from 0 to 2 wt.%, demonstrating the possibility for using DN hydrogels in guiding musculoskeletal differentiation. These findings will be useful to design suitable hydrogels with controllable mechanical and biological properties for mechanically demanding applications. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Hydrogels are widely used in commercial applications, and recently developed hybrid double network hydrogels have enhanced strength and toughness that will enable further expansion into more mechanically demanding applications (e.g., medical implants, etc.). The significance of this work is that it uncovers some key principles regarding monomer molecular weight, architecture, and concentration for developing strong and tough hybrid double network hydrogels that would not be predicted from their single network counterparts or a linear combination of the two networks. Additionally, novel insight is given into the biological performance of hybrid double network hydrogels in the presence of adipose derived stem cell cultures which suggests new scope for using double network hydrogels in guiding musculoskeletal differentiation.

Important biological and pathologic properties are often conserved across species. Although several mouse leukemia models have been well established, the genes deregulated in both human and murine leukemia cells have not been studied systematically. We performed a serial analysis of gene expression in both human and murine MLL-ELL or MLL-ENL leukemia cells and identified 88 genes that seemed to be significantly deregulated in both types of leukemia cells, including 57 genes not reported previously as being deregulated in MLL-associated leukemias. These changes were validated by quantitative PCR. The most up-regulated genes include several HOX genes (e.g., HOX A5, HOXA9, and HOXA10) and MEIS1, which are the typical hallmark of MLL rearrangement leukemia. The most down-regulated genes include LTF, LCN2, MMP9, S100A8, S100A9, PADI4, TGFBI, and CYBB. Notably, the up-regulated genes are enriched in gene ontology terms, such as gene expression and transcription, whereas the down-regulated genes are enriched in signal transduction and apoptosis. We showed that the CpG islands of the down-regulated genes are hypermethylated. We also showed that seven individual microRNAs (miRNA) from the mir-17-92 cluster, which are overexpressed in human MLL rearrangement leukemias, are also consistently overexpressed in mouse MLL rearrangement leukemia cells. Nineteen possible targets of these miRNAs were identified, and two of them (i.e., APP and RASSF2) were confirmed further by luciferase reporter and mutagenesis assays. The identification and validation of consistent changes of gene expression in human and murine MLL rearrangement leukemias provide important insights into the genetic base for MLL-associated leukemogenesis. [Cancer Res 2009;69(3):OF1109–16]

Supplementary Tables 5-8 from Consistent Deregulation of Gene Expression between Human and Murine MLL Rearrangement Leukemias

Supplementary Tables 1-4 from Consistent Deregulation of Gene Expression between Human and Murine MLL Rearrangement Leukemias

This paper examined the extent to which socio-economic and demographic characteristics are related tothe levels of vision of persons with visual impairment and blindness. A mixed method approach was employed in this study. Data collection was conducted in Siyanethugama Village in Hambanthota district and Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat in Kurunegala district in Sri Lanka. The study deployed convenient and purposive sampling techniques. Information was gathered through questionnaires and personal interviews. Overall, results revealed that level of vision vary with several socio-economic characteristics. Age and education were not related to the levels of vision in the Polpithigama region whereas in the Hambanthota region a significant relationship between age and education with levels of vision was observed. Income was not related to the level of vision. Participants’ views and opinions of resources, opportunities, income, employment, and government activities were found to be the driving forces of quality of life related to vision. The study concluded that age and education need to be considered in improving quality of life related to vision and further investigations are needed to determine the relationships between levels of vision and socio-demographic characteristics and to explore perceptions related to vision impairments.

This article develops an analytical model to examine how heritage tourism mobilities are designed by travel writers. Using Sri Lanka as an example, we thematise professional activity in heritage tourism through a blend of Margaret Archer’s work on reflexivity in late modernity and Keith Hollinshead’s ‘worldmaking authority/agency’ to understand the factors driving tourist design. Our model replaces Jensen’s focus on ‘design’ as a fixed creative property with ‘designing’ as creativity in motion, here collaborative and solidary, there conflictual and endorsing creative inequalities. Our theoretical blend informs the organisation of Sri Lankan heritage tourist professionals into three active categories: ‘communicatives’ (with an emphasis on developing closed-communal solidarity), ‘autonomous’ (with an emphasis on virtual reconstitutions of community beyond geographical fixity that may support tourist entrepreneurialism), and ‘meta-reflexives’ (with an emphasis on bringing tourist markets and communities in a dialogue beneficial for the latter) This typology accommodates disparate worldmaking vistas and forms of tourist design agency that then feed back into authorial tourist scripts, promoted by institutions, organisations and even communities. Thus, agency develops both self-reflexively and through negotiations with independently existing authorial forces driving tourist design managed by the nation state and its own biographical records. Keywords: agency, designing mobilities, reflexivity, heritage tourism, worldmaking

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have become a key solution for controlling multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, and the nanoencapsulation of AMPs has been used as a strategy to overcome challenges, such as poor stability, adverse interactions, and toxicity. In previous studies, we have shown the potent antimicrobial activity of Octominin against Candida albicans and Acinetobacter baumannii. This study is focused on the nanoencapsulation of Octominin with chitosan (CS) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) as a drug delivery system using the ionotropic gelation technique. Octominin-encapsulated CS nanoparticles (Octominin-CNPs) had an average diameter and zeta potential of 372.80 ± 2.31 nm and +51.23 ± 0.38 mV, respectively, while encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity were 96.49 and 40.20%, respectively. Furthermore, Octominin-CNPs showed an initial rapid and later sustained biphasic release profile, and up to 88.26 ± 3.26% of the total Octominin release until 96 h. Transmission electron microscopy data showed the irregular shape of the Octominin-CNPs with aggregations. In vitro and in vivo toxicity of Octominin-CNPs was significantly lower than the Octominin at higher concentrations. The antifungal and antibacterial activities of Octominin-CNPs were slightly higher than those of Octominin in both the time-kill kinetic and microbial viability assays against C. albicans and A. baumannii, respectively. Mode of action assessments of Octominin-CNPs revealed that morphological alterations, cell membrane permeability alterations, and reactive oxygen species generation were slightly higher than those of Octominin at the tested concentrations against both C. albicans and A. baumannii. In antibiofilm activity assays, Octominin-CNPs showed slightly higher biofilm inhibition and biofilm eradication activities compared to that of Octominin. In conclusion, Octominin was successfully encapsulated into CS, and Octominin-CNPs showed lower toxicity and greater antimicrobial activity against C. albicans and A. baumannii compared to Octominin.

Purpose The current National Early Warning System for Sri Lanka (NEWS: SL) was established after the devastations of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Although early warning (EW) systems and evacuation procedures are in place, several areas which need improvements have been emphasized in recent studies carried out in the country. Therefore, this paper aims to outline the gaps in existing EW and EP related to tsunami and other coastal hazards with a special focus on the use of social media for disaster communication based on age groups. Design/methodology/approach This study has drawn on a review of past studies carried out by the same research team to identify the scope of the study. In addition to that, a conceptual framework was developed for the use of social media in the event of a disaster. Based on this conceptual framework, an online questionnaire was administered to identify the current status of the use of social media in Sri Lanka during a disaster situation. In total, 408 responses were collected and analyzed using the binary logistic regression method to evaluate the variation of different predictors associated with the use of social media for disaster communication. Findings Findings of the study revealed that the use of social media for disaster communication depends on the previous experience of users and their age. The gender of users does not affect the use of social media for disaster communication. Therefore, the accuracy and timeliness of disaster information distributed via social media should be improved further to enhance the use of social media for disaster communication. Moreover, the findings have highlighted unaddressed issues in areas such as governance; communication of technical agencies; evacuation and shelters; and response of the community. Originality/value This paper has identified key areas that need attention in the process of enhancing the use of social media for disaster communication. More use of technological platforms such as social media for receiving disaster-related information can address issues such as bottlenecks in communication, poor awareness and lack of last-mile dissemination. Furthermore, this paper has proposed recommendations for addressing the identified gaps in the overall EW mechanisms and EP pertaining to tsunamis and other coastal hazards to enhance the coastal disaster resilience in Sri Lanka.

Background: Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are important for protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection. In this study, two assays that are correlated with NAbs were compared: the haemagglutination test (HAT) and the surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT). Methods: The specificity of the HAT was compared with the sVNT, and the sensitivity and persistence of antibodies in patients with varying severity of illness was assessed in a cohort of 71 patients at 4–6 weeks and 13–16 weeks. The kinetics were assessed in the first, second, and third weeks in patients with varying severity of acute illness. Results: The specificity of the HAT was >99%, and sensitivity was similar to the sVNT. The levels of HAT were significantly and positively correlated with those of the sVNT (Spearman's r = 0.78, P < 0.0001). Patients with moderate and severe illness had higher HAT titres when compared to those with mild illness. Six of seven patients with severe illness had a titre of >1:640 during the second week of illness, whereas only five of 31 patients with a mild illness had a titre of >1:160 in the second week of illness. Conclusions: Since the HAT is a simple and very cheap assay to perform, it would be ideal to use as an indicator of NAbs in resource-poor settings.

Gastrulation is a stage in embryo development where three germ layers arise to dictate the human body plan. In vitro models of gastrulation have been demonstrated by treating pluripotent stem cells with soluble morphogens to trigger differentiation. However, in vivo gastrulation is a multistage process coordinated through feedback between soluble gradients and biophysical forces, with the multipotent epiblast transforming to the primitive streak followed by germ layer segregation. Here, the authors show how constraining pluripotent stem cells to hydrogel islands triggers morphogenesis that mirrors the stages preceding in vivo gastrulation, without the need for exogenous supplements. Within hours of initial seeding, cells display a contractile phenotype at the boundary, which leads to enhanced proliferation, yes-associated protein (YAP) translocation, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and emergence of SRY-box transcription factor 17 (SOX17)

Methanolic extracts of whole grains of five millet types and two sorghum varieties were evaluated for anti-lipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and a range of anti-oxidant properties in vitro (n = 3 each). Furthermore, proximate composition (n = 3 each) was also studied. Results showed significant differences (P < 0.05) among the selected samples for studied parameters. Pancreatic lipase and cholesterol esterase inhibitory activities of selected samples (2 mg/ml) ranged from 21.16 ± 1.58 to 66.65 ± 3.30 and 17.43 ± 0.60 to 52.09 ± 1.61%, respectively. Nitric oxide inhibitory activity of selected samples (2 mg/ml) ranged from −1.17 ± 0.32 to 13.56 ± 0.93%. Total polyphenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total proanthocyanidin content (TPAC) were in the range of 0.19 ± 0.01–12.50 ± 0.87 mg gallic acid equivalents/g, 0.05 ± 0.00–1.57 ± 0.01 mg quercetin equivalents/g, and 0.35 ± 0.01–12.87 ± 0.25 mg cyaniding equivalents/g of samples, respectively. Ferric reducing anti-oxidant power, oxygen radical absorbance capacity, ferrous ion chelating activity, and ABTS and DPPH anti-oxidant properties ranged from 0.15 ± 0.00 to 4.56 ± 0.03 mg of Trolox equivalents (TEs)/g, 0.19 ± 0.01 to 8.50 ± 0.72 mg of TEs/g, 0.13 ± 0.00 to 0.79 ± 0.03 mg EDTA equivalents/g, 0.22 ± 0.00 to 25.57 ± 0.35 mg of TEs/g, and 0.07 ± 0.00 to 22.97 ± 0.83 mg of TEs/g of samples, respectively. Among the studied samples, pigmented sweet sorghum exhibited the highest activities for all the tested parameters. The observed activities were moderate compared to the reference standards used. The highest values for proximate composition parameters tested varied with the different samples studied. In conclusion, the consumption of especially pigmented millet and sorghum in Sri Lanka may play an important role in the prevention and management of oxidative stress–associated chronic diseases. This is the first study to report pancreatic lipase and cholesterol esterase inhibitory activities of any millet types and sorghum varieties in Sri Lanka and the first report of cholesterol esterase inhibitory activity of millet and sorghum the world over.

This paper discusses an active droplet generation system, and the presented droplet generator successfully performs droplet generation using two fluid phases: continuous phase fluid and dispersed phase fluid. The performance of an active droplet generation system is analysed based on the droplet morphology using vision sensing and digital image processing. The proposed system in the study includes a droplet generator, camera module with image pre-processing and identification algorithm, and controller and control algorithm with a workstation computer. The overall system is able to control, sense, and analyse the generation of droplets. The main controller consists of a microcontroller, motor controller, voltage regulator, and power supply. Among the morphological features of droplets, the diameter is extracted from the images to observe the system performance. The MATLAB-based image processing algorithm consists of image acquisition, image enhancement, droplet identification, feature extraction, and analysis. RGB band filtering, thresholding, and opening are used in image pre-processing. After the image enhancement, droplet identification is performed by tracing the boundary of the droplets. The average droplet diameter varied from ~3.05 mm to ~4.04 mm in the experiments, and the average droplet diameter decrement presented a relationship of a second-order polynomial with the droplet generation time.

Background: Metadata attributes of sequences that accurately reference their biological sources, as specimens or other materials of origin, and link with natural history collections, are essential to facilitate the connections between different fields in life sciences and promote reusability of data. However, metadata used to reference the biological source of sequences available within the molecular data repositories are not always well structured or comprehensive. Methods: Within the scope of the Horizon 2020 project Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL), we have developed a tool, the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) Source Attribute Helper Application Programming Interface (API), to help users accurately report biological source-related sequence and sample attributes. This tool currently focuses on the attributes in which specimens, cultures or other materials are identified, from which the sequence data were derived, and uses curated data to obtain the unique codes for the institutions and collections holding the vouchers. The API's main functions include the presentation of metadata associated with queried institutions or collections, validation of institution and collection codes in the attribute strings provided by the user, and the construction of an attribute string based on user-entered data. The API does not however support the search of voucher specimen codes, as these need to be obtained directly from the voucher institutions. We describe the API and discuss use cases for its different endpoints. The API is available at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/sah/api/. Conclusions: We expect the API to promote and support the initial submission and any subsequent curation of biological source attributes, and hereby contribute to better links between sequence data and natural history collections, and hence on to taxonomy and biodiversity research, towards increasing the discoverability, reusability and impact of data.

Searches The search will be performed by NTW, NDW and RJ and differences will be resolved by discussion with a fourth reviewer (SJS) . We will conduct searches in Pubmed, Science Direct, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and Scopus. In addition to the electronic search, the studies cited by the included studies and the studies included in the previous meta-analyses related to the subject will be searched. Inclusion criteria: - Studies published from anytime to present - Studies that document history of childhood asthma (less than 18 years of old) and educational attainment of children less than 18 years old - Studies with any sample size - Studies covering any regions and countries Exclusion criteria: - Non -English studies - Grey Literature, congress, conference and symposium etc. abstracts, reports published in meeting booklets without the full article Types of studies to be included Any type of research study Condition or domain being studied Asthma in childhood: Asthma is a common childhood respiratory illness affecting both developed and developing countries. Though the prevalence is varied between countries, increasing urbanization and indoor/ outdoor air pollution triggers asthma among susceptible children. Uncontrolled and exaggerated attacks can cause mortality, sleep disturbance, mobility limitation, reduced exercise capacity and psychological issues among children which can adversely affect their educational outcomes. The potential impact on the educational performance is still not widely analysed and documented. Inclusion criteria Population Individuals aged 18 and under Exposure Diagnosed/ self reported asthma when aged 18 and under Comparator Individuals aged 18 and under without Asthma Outcome Education outcomes related to school attendance, school completion, exam scores and pass rates* Study design Any type of research study that document asthma and educational outcomes Data extraction (selection and coding) The titles and abstract of studies identified from the developed search strategy will be screened with the assistance of Rayyan literature review software. Title abstract and screening will be completed by NTW, NDW, RJ and any conflicts between reviewers regarding which studies will progress to full text screening will first attempt to be resolved through discussion, with a fourth reviewer (SJS) available to arbitrate any unresolved disagreement. Full-text screening will then be conducted again with three reviewers independently, with any disagreements to be resolved through discussion initially and fourth (SJS) and fifith (FS) reviewer available to arbitrate any unresolved disagreement. Included studies will then progress to data extraction. A flowchart of the selection process that meets the guidelines of the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses’ (PRISMA) will be prepared. In addition to the factors that influence selection, information to describe relevant characteristics of included studies will also be extracted including description of the study design and context (including country and participating sample) as well as a summary of methods and procedures used. For the data extraction a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel 2019 will be prepared. The spreadsheet will initially be piloted with a small selection of included articles. Final amendments to the structure of the excel spreadsheet will be made prior to then completing data extraction for all articles. Extraction of data will be performed by one reviewer (NTW) and checked="checked" value="1" by a second reviewer(NDW). Any conflicts will be resolved through discussion until there is consensus (with additional reviewers available to arbitrate any unresolved disagreement if necessary). Risk of bias assessment Different types of risk of bias assessment tools will utilize according to the type of research study. For Randomised Intervention Studies- Cochrane RoB tool For Non Randomised Intervention studies – ROBINS I tool (Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies) For interrupterd time series studies- Efective Practice and Organization of Care group (EPOC) Risk of Bias tool For case control and cohort and descriptive studies- New Castle-Ottawa scale These are widely used critical appraisal tools that are relevant for both qualitative and quantitative study designs to assess the methodological quality of a study and to determine the extent to which a study has addressed the possibility of bias in its design, conduct and analysis. The bias assessment will be conducted independently by two reviewers. Any disagreement will be resolved through discussion, and if necessary a third reviewer will be consulted. Strategy for data synthesis The included studies will be described and summarized in tables. It is expected that the studies to be included will likely have used varying methods, outcome typologies and study designs, and thereby it may not be possible to perform a quantitative synthesis to address the primary aim of this review. If there are studies that are sufficiently homogeneous in nature, a quantitative synthesis will be performed or we will try to develop a standardised method. A narrative synthesis of the results of will be conducted for the non-homogenous articles. Analysis of subgroups or subsets. Following subgroups analysis will be performed provided that sufficient information is available in the results. Compare the outcomes of children with and without other co-morbidities additionally to asthma Compare the outcomes of children based on the description of severity of Asthma

The advancements in sequencing technologies have greatly contributed to the documentation of Earth’s biodiversity. However, for exploring the full potential of molecular resources for biodiversity, there needs to be a good linkage between sequence data and its biological source, contributing to a network of connected data in the biodiversity research cycle. This requires a foundation of well-structured and accessible annotations in the molecular sequence repositories. The International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC), of which the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) is its European node, holds a large amount of annotations associated with sequence data, relating to its biological source (e.g., specimens in natural history collections). However, for a number of records, these annotations may be incomplete (e.g., missing voucher information), ambiguous or even inaccurate. Therefore, we have implemented a workflow that allows third-party annotations to be attached to sequence and sample records using two existing services, the PlutoF platform and the ELIXIR Contextual Data ClearingHouse. This work was developed within the scope of the BiCIKL (Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library) project, which aims to establish open science practices in the biodiversity domain. PlutoF is an online data management platform that also provides computing services for biology-related research. PlutoF features allow registered users to enter their own data and access public data at INSDC. Users can enter and manage a range of data, as taxonomic classifications, occurrences, etc. This platform also includes a module that allows the addition of third-party annotations (on material source, taxonomic identification, etc.) linked to specimens or sequence records. This module was already in use by the UNITE community for annotation of INSDC rDNA Internal Transcribed Spacer sequence datasets (Abarenkov et al. 2021). These UNITE annotations are displayed in the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) records through links to the PlutoF platform. However, there was the need for an automated solution that allowed third-party annotations to any sequence or sample record at INSDC. This was implemented through the operation of the ELIXIR Contextual Data ClearingHouse (hereafter as Clearinghouse). The Clearinghouse holds a simple RESTful Application Programming Interface (API) to support the submission of additions and improvements to current metadata attributes, such as information on material sources, on records publicly available in the ELIXIR data resources. The Clearinghouse enables the submission of these corrected metadata from databases (such as the PlutoF platform) to the primary data repositories. The workflow developed is shown in Fig. 1 and consists of the following steps: i) users annotate sequence metadata that is regularly downloaded from INSDC using NCBI’s E-utilities; ii) an annotation proposal is created and a verification notification is sent to an assigned reviewer; iii) the reviewer evaluates the annotation proposal and accepts it or rejects it with comments; iv) if the annotation proposal is accepted, the annotated fields that may be mapped to ENA fields are then pushed to the Clearinghouse using their RESTful API. The annotations when received at ENA are then reviewed before being displayed. This workflow is implemented through a web interface in PlutoF, which allows user-friendly and effortless reporting of corrections or additions to biological source metadata in sequence records. Overall, we expect this tool to contribute to the enrichment of metadata associated with sequence records, and therefore increase the links between the molecular and biodiversity resources, and enable sequencing data to deliver their full potential for biodiversity conservation.

Timely completion is a crucial factor for the success of a construction project, especially in the Sri Lankan context. This study aims to identify the most influential factors that affect the timely completion of construction projects in Sri Lanka. Thirty-nine factors were identified through a comprehensive literature review and experts’ opinions. A questionnaire incorporating the 39 project delay factors was distributed among 163 Civil Engineers, and responses were obtained. Random sampling method was adopted to select the sample. The Relative Importance Index (RII) analysed and ranked the project delay factors. The top ranked significant project delay factors were identified as shortage of skilled subcontractors/suppliers, shortage of labourers (Skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled), financial difficulties of contractors, delay in delivering materials to the site, and Covid-19 pandemic situation. According to the main three respondent types, i.e., clients/owners, contractors and consultants, the contractor related factors was the key group among others that delay a construction project. The scientific value of the study includes assisting the Sri Lankan construction industry to identify the factors affecting the timely completion of construction projects, and developing mitigation methods and strategies. Also, the stakeholders could duly schedule the construction work by identifying areas that need more attention. The contribution of this study would assist stakeholders to adopt a proactive approach by identifying mistakes on their part and minimising potential issues that lead to construction project delays in Sri Lanka.

Blue swimming crab (

Octoprohibitin is a synthetic antimicrobial peptide (AMP), derived from the prohibitin-2 gene of Octopus minor. It showed substantial activity against multidrug resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 200 and 400 µg/mL, respectively. Time-kill kinetics and bacterial viability assays confirmed the concentration-dependent antibacterial activity of octoprohibitin against A. baumannii. The morphology and ultrastructure of A. baumannii were altered by treatment with octoprohibitin at the MIC and MBC levels. Furthermore, propidium iodide-fluorescein diacetate (PI-FDA) staining and 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA) staining of octoprohibitin-treated A. baumannii revealed membrane permeability alterations and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, respectively. Agarose gel retardation results confirmed the DNA-binding ability of octoprohibitin to the genomic DNA of A. baumannii. Furthermore, octoprohibitin showed concentration-dependent inhibition of biofilm formation and eradication. The minimum biofilm inhibition concentration (MBIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) of octoprohibitin were 1000 and 1460 µg/mL, respectively. Octoprohibitin produced no significant cytotoxicity up to 800 µg/mL, and no hemolysis was observed up to 400 µg/mL. Furthermore, in vivo analysis in an A. baumannii-infected zebrafish model confirmed the effective bactericidal activity of octoprohibitin with higher cumulative survival percent (46.6%) and fewer pathological signs. Histological analysis showed reduced alterations in the gut, kidney, and gill tissues in the octoprohibitin-treated group compared with those in the phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated group. In conclusion, our results suggest that octoprohibitin is a potential antibacterial and antibiofilm agent against MDR A. baumannii.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal stability of the rice bran extract (RBE) and analyze the effect of RBE on the shelf-life of sunflower oil and the quality characteristics and shelf-life of baked cake. The thermal stability of RBE was evaluated by a Rancimat test using sunflower oil. Properties such as moisture content, porosity, crumb density and pore area of cakes baked with RBE and the synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were compared. Sensory properties such as taste, aroma, texture, color and overall acceptability of the cake samples were compared using a sensory panel test. The shelf-life of the cakes was evaluated by microbial counts and chemical methods. Thermally treated RBE and BHT for 2 h at 180 °C retained 75% of their initial capacity in protecting sunflower oil while RBE had a significantly higher protection factor (p Graphical Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted, globally and locally, on the impact of the exchange rate on economic growth. In the local context, only a handful of research have investigated this area of study to determine the extent to which the Purchasing Managers' Index influence economic growth with the exchange rate, with limited research have been performed in Sri Lanka. This study explores the impact of exchange rate and Purchasing Managers' Index on economic growth. Consequently, adopting an applied research methodology, the present study was based on secondary data published quarterly by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reports and the Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka from 2015 to 2021. The Vector autoregression model and Granger Causality Wald test were performed in this study. The empirical findings highlighted that economic growth and Purchasing Managers' Index have a significant negative impact on the economic growth, while the exchange rate had a significant positive impact on the economic growth. Furthermore, the exchange rate and the Purchasing Managers' Index did not help to predict the exchange rate. The implications of the study demonstrate the relevance of the exchange rate and manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index as indicators of changes in overall economic growth activities at the macro level. The findings will assist the Sri Lankan Government, policymakers, and foreign investors for effective decision making.

BackgroundThe dengue NS1 antigen is a secretory protein and was shown to associate with apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1). Therefore, we sought to investigate the changes in ApoA1 levels in patients with varying severity of acute dengue and then proceeded to investigate how ApoA1 and NS1 interactions affect cytokine production from primary human monocytes.Methodology/Principal FindingsSerial measurements of ApoA1, viral loads, NS1 antigen levels and lipid profiles were done in adult patients with dengue fever (DF= 21) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF =28). To investigate the effect of ApoA1-NS1 interactions in cytokine production from primary human monocytes, cells were harvested from healthy individuals (n=6) and co-cultured with varying concentrations of ApoA1 and levels of IL-6 and TNF-α measured in culture supernatants.The ApoA1 levels were significantly lower in patients with DHF on day 5 of illness (p=0.04) compared to those with DF. ApoA1 levels did not show any correlation with either the NS1 antigen levels or the viral loads in patients with DF or DHF, although they did significantly and inversely correlate with liver transaminases, AST (Spearmans R=-0.55, p Conclusions/SignificanceHDL, LDL and ApoA1 levels were significantly lower in those who have severe dengue, especially in the critical phase and ApoA1 levels inversely correlated with the extent of rise in liver enzymes. While co-culture of ApoA1 with NS1 in primary human monocytes induced high IL-6 levels in a dose dependent manner, this was not seen for TNFα suggesting that the interaction of ApoA1 with NS1 could give rise to different outcomes.Author summaryThe dengue NS1 antigen is a secretory protein and was shown to associate with apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1). Therefore, we sought to investigate the changes in ApoA1 levels in patients with varying severity of acute dengue and then proceeded to investigate how ApoA1 and NS1 interactions affect cytokine production from primary human monocytes. Serial measurements of ApoA1, viral loads, NS1 antigen levels and lipid profiles were done in adult patients with dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). HDL, LDL and ApoA1 levels were significantly lower in those who have severe dengue, especially in the critical phase and ApoA1 levels inversely correlated with the extent of rise in liver enzymes. While co-culture of ApoA1 with NS1 in primary human monocytes induced high IL-6 levels in a dose dependent manner, this was not seen for TNFα, suggesting that the interaction of ApoA1 with NS1 could give rise to different outcomes.