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Showing papers by "University of Peradeniya published in 2014"


Journal ArticleDOI
Marie Ng1, Tom P Fleming1, Margaret Robinson1, Blake Thomson1, Nicholas Graetz1, Christopher Margono1, Erin C Mullany1, Stan Biryukov1, Cristiana Abbafati2, Semaw Ferede Abera3, Jerry Abraham4, Niveen M E Abu-Rmeileh, Tom Achoki1, Fadia AlBuhairan5, Zewdie Aderaw Alemu6, Rafael Alfonso1, Mohammed K. Ali7, Raghib Ali8, Nelson Alvis Guzmán9, Walid Ammar, Palwasha Anwari10, Amitava Banerjee11, Simón Barquera, Sanjay Basu12, Derrick A Bennett8, Zulfiqar A Bhutta13, Jed D. Blore14, N Cabral, Ismael Ricardo Campos Nonato, Jung-Chen Chang15, Rajiv Chowdhury16, Karen J. Courville, Michael H. Criqui17, David K. Cundiff, Kaustubh Dabhadkar7, Lalit Dandona18, Lalit Dandona1, Adrian Davis19, Anand Dayama7, Samath D Dharmaratne20, Eric L. Ding21, Adnan M. Durrani22, Alireza Esteghamati23, Farshad Farzadfar23, Derek F J Fay19, Valery L. Feigin24, Abraham D. Flaxman1, Mohammad H. Forouzanfar1, Atsushi Goto, Mark A. Green25, Rajeev Gupta, Nima Hafezi-Nejad23, Graeme J. Hankey26, Heather Harewood, Rasmus Havmoeller27, Simon I. Hay8, Lucia Hernandez, Abdullatif Husseini28, Bulat Idrisov29, Nayu Ikeda, Farhad Islami30, Eiman Jahangir31, Simerjot K. Jassal17, Sun Ha Jee32, Mona Jeffreys33, Jost B. Jonas34, Edmond K. Kabagambe35, Shams Eldin Ali Hassan Khalifa, Andre Pascal Kengne36, Yousef Khader37, Young-Ho Khang38, Daniel Kim39, Ruth W Kimokoti40, Jonas Minet Kinge41, Yoshihiro Kokubo, Soewarta Kosen, Gene F. Kwan42, Taavi Lai, Mall Leinsalu22, Yichong Li, Xiaofeng Liang43, Shiwei Liu43, Giancarlo Logroscino44, Paulo A. Lotufo45, Yuan Qiang Lu21, Jixiang Ma43, Nana Kwaku Mainoo, George A. Mensah22, Tony R. Merriman46, Ali H. Mokdad1, Joanna Moschandreas47, Mohsen Naghavi1, Aliya Naheed48, Devina Nand, K.M. Venkat Narayan7, Erica Leigh Nelson1, Marian L. Neuhouser49, Muhammad Imran Nisar13, Takayoshi Ohkubo50, Samuel Oti, Andrea Pedroza, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Nobhojit Roy51, Uchechukwu K.A. Sampson35, Hyeyoung Seo, Sadaf G. Sepanlou23, Kenji Shibuya52, Rahman Shiri53, Ivy Shiue54, Gitanjali M Singh21, Jasvinder A. Singh55, Vegard Skirbekk41, Nicolas J. C. Stapelberg56, Lela Sturua57, Bryan L. Sykes58, Martin Tobias1, Bach Xuan Tran59, Leonardo Trasande60, Hideaki Toyoshima, Steven van de Vijver, Tommi Vasankari, J. Lennert Veerman61, Gustavo Velasquez-Melendez62, Vasiliy Victorovich Vlassov63, Stein Emil Vollset64, Stein Emil Vollset41, Theo Vos1, Claire L. Wang65, Xiao Rong Wang66, Elisabete Weiderpass, Andrea Werdecker, Jonathan L. Wright1, Y Claire Yang67, Hiroshi Yatsuya68, Jihyun Yoon, Seok Jun Yoon69, Yong Zhao70, Maigeng Zhou, Shankuan Zhu71, Alan D. Lopez14, Christopher J L Murray1, Emmanuela Gakidou1 
University of Washington1, Sapienza University of Rome2, Mekelle University3, University of Texas at San Antonio4, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences5, Debre markos University6, Emory University7, University of Oxford8, University of Cartagena9, United Nations Population Fund10, University of Birmingham11, Stanford University12, Aga Khan University13, University of Melbourne14, National Taiwan University15, University of Cambridge16, University of California, San Diego17, Public Health Foundation of India18, Public Health England19, University of Peradeniya20, Harvard University21, National Institutes of Health22, Tehran University of Medical Sciences23, Auckland University of Technology24, University of Sheffield25, University of Western Australia26, Karolinska Institutet27, Birzeit University28, Brandeis University29, American Cancer Society30, Ochsner Medical Center31, Yonsei University32, University of Bristol33, Heidelberg University34, Vanderbilt University35, South African Medical Research Council36, Jordan University of Science and Technology37, New Generation University College38, Northeastern University39, Simmons College40, Norwegian Institute of Public Health41, Boston University42, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention43, University of Bari44, University of São Paulo45, University of Otago46, University of Crete47, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh48, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center49, Teikyo University50, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre51, University of Tokyo52, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health53, Heriot-Watt University54, University of Alabama at Birmingham55, Griffith University56, National Center for Disease Control and Public Health57, University of California, Irvine58, Johns Hopkins University59, New York University60, University of Queensland61, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais62, National Research University – Higher School of Economics63, University of Bergen64, Columbia University65, Shandong University66, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill67, Fujita Health University68, Korea University69, Chongqing Medical University70, Zhejiang University71
TL;DR: The global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013 is estimated using a spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression model to estimate prevalence with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs).

9,180 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Global rates of change suggest that only 16 countries will achieve the MDG 5 target by 2015, with evidence of continued acceleration in the MMR, and MMR was highest in the oldest age groups in both 1990 and 2013.

1,383 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Global Burden of Disease 2013 study provides a consistent and comprehensive approach to disease estimation for between 1990 and 2013, and an opportunity to assess whether accelerated progress has occured since the Millennium Declaration.

875 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Haidong Wang1, Chelsea A. Liddell1, Matthew M Coates1, Meghan D. Mooney1  +228 moreInstitutions (123)
TL;DR: Decreases since 2000 in under-5 mortality rates are accelerating in many developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and rising income per person and maternal education and changes in secular trends led to 4·2 million fewer deaths.

684 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors considered a multi-user decode-and-forward relay channel, where multiple sources transmit simultaneously their signals to multiple destinations with the help of a full-duplex relay station and derived an exact achievable rate expression in closed-form for MRC/MRT processing and an analytical approximation of the achievable rate for ZF processing.
Abstract: We consider a multipair decode-and-forward relay channel, where multiple sources transmit simultaneously their signals to multiple destinations with the help of a full-duplex relay station. We assume that the relay station is equipped with massive arrays, while all sources and destinations have a single antenna. The relay station uses channel estimates obtained from received pilots and zero-forcing (ZF) or maximum-ratio combining/maximum-ratio transmission (MRC/MRT) to process the signals. To significantly reduce the loop interference effect, we propose two techniques: i) using a massive receive antenna array; or ii) using a massive transmit antenna array together with very low transmit power at the relay station. We derive an exact achievable rate expression in closed-form for MRC/MRT processing and an analytical approximation of the achievable rate for ZF processing. This approximation is very tight, particularly for a large number of relay station antennas. These closed-form expressions enable us to determine the regions where the full-duplex mode outperforms the half-duplex mode, as well as to design an optimal power allocation scheme. This optimal power allocation scheme aims to maximize the energy efficiency for a given sum spectral efficiency and under peak power constraints at the relay station and sources. Numerical results verify the effectiveness of the optimal power allocation scheme. Furthermore, we show that, by doubling the number of transmit/receive antennas at the relay station, the transmit power of each source and of the relay station can be reduced by 1.5 dB if the pilot power is equal to the signal power, and by 3 dB if the pilot power is kept fixed, while maintaining a given quality of service.

415 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper proposes two tight SM capacity upper bounds and presents the solution of the optimal time split ratio for the maximum system throughput according to the proposed upper bound and conducts Monte-carlo simulations to reveal the throughput gain of the proposed SM-FD relaying protocol.
Abstract: We consider a dual-hop full-duplex relaying system, where the energy constrained relay node is powered by radio frequency signals from the source using the time-switching architecture, both the amplify-and-forward and decode-and-forward relaying protocols are studied. Specifically, we provide an analytical characterization of the achievable throughput of three different communication modes, namely, instantaneous transmission, delay-constrained transmission, and delay tolerant transmission. In addition, the optimal time split is studied for different transmission modes. Our results reveal that, when the time split is optimized, the full-duplex relaying could substantially boost the system throughput compared to the conventional half-duplex relaying architecture for all three transmission modes. In addition, it is shown that the instantaneous transmission mode attains the highest throughput. However, compared to the delay-constrained transmission mode, the throughput gap is rather small. Unlike the instantaneous time split optimization which requires instantaneous channel state information, the optimal time split in the delay-constrained transmission mode depends only on the statistics of the channel, hence, is suitable for practical implementations.

374 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review presents a comprehensive overview of the diverse range of practice, applications, and researches of CW systems for removing various contaminants from wastewater in developing countries, placing them in the overall context of the need for low-cost and sustainable wastewater treatment systems.

319 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a joint precoding/decoding design that maximizes the end-to-end (e2e) performance of full-duplex relaying in amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative networks is investigated.
Abstract: In this paper, we deal with the deployment of full-duplex relaying in amplify-and-forward (AF) cooperative networks with multiple-antenna terminals. In contrast to previous studies, which focus on the spatial mitigation of the loopback interference (LI) at the relay node, a joint precoding/decoding design that maximizes the end-to-end (e2e) performance is investigated. The proposed precoding incorporates rank-1 zero-forcing (ZF) LI suppression at the relay node and is derived in closed-form by solving appropriate optimization problems. In order to further reduce system complexity, the antenna selection (AS) problem for full-duplex AF cooperative systems is discussed. We investigate different AS schemes to select a single transmit antenna at both the source and the relay, as well as a single receive antenna at both the relay and the destination. To facilitate comparison, exact outage probability expressions and asymptotic approximations of the proposed AS schemes are provided. In order to overcome zero-diversity effects associated with the AS operation, a simple power allocation scheme at the relay node is also investigated and its optimal value is analytically derived. Numerical and simulation results show that the joint ZF-based precoding significantly improves e2e performance, while AS schemes are efficient solutions for scenarios with strict computational constraints.

244 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a nano-filler for poly(ethylene oxide)-lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (LiCF3SO3 or LiTf) based polymer electrolyte has been used.

173 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Fresh frozen plasma appeared to speed the recovery of coagulopathy and should be considered in bleeding patients, and antivenom is the major treatment for VICC, but there is currently little high-quality evidence to support effectiveness.
Abstract: Venomous snakebite is considered the single most important cause of human injury from venomous animals worldwide. Coagulopathy is one of the commonest important systemic clinical syndromes and can be complicated by serious and life-threatening haemorrhage. Venom-induced consumption coagulopathy (VICC) is the commonest coagulopathy resulting from snakebite and occurs in envenoming by Viperid snakes, certain elapids, including Australian elapids, and a few Colubrid (rear fang) snakes. Procoagulant toxins activate the clotting pathway, causing a broad range of factor deficiencies depending on the particular procoagulant toxin in the snake venom. Diagnosis and monitoring of coagulopathy is problematic, particularly in resource-poor countries where further research is required to develop more reliable, cheap clotting tests. MEDLINE and EMBASE up to September 2013 were searched to identify clinical studies of snake envenoming with VICC. The UniPort database was searched for coagulant snake toxins. Despite preclinical studies demonstrating antivenom binding toxins (efficacy), there was less evidence to support clinical effectiveness of antivenom for VICC. There were no placebo-controlled trials of antivenom for VICC. There were 25 randomised comparative trials of antivenom for VICC, which compared two different antivenoms (ten studies), three different antivenoms (four), two or three different doses or repeat doses of antivenom (five), heparin treatment and antivenom (five), and intravenous immunoglobulin treatment and antivenom (one). There were 13 studies that compared two groups in which there was no randomisation, including studies with historical controls. There have been numerous observational studies of antivenom in VICC but with no comparison group. Most of the controlled trials were small, did not use the same method for assessing coagulopathy, varied the dose of antivenom, and did not provide complete details of the study design (primary outcomes, randomisation, and allocation concealment). Non-randomised trials including comparison groups without antivenom showed that antivenom was effective for some snakes (e.g., Echis), but not others (e.g., Australasian elapids). Antivenom is the major treatment for VICC, but there is currently little high-quality evidence to support effectiveness. Antivenom is not risk free, and adverse reactions can be quite common and potentially severe. Studies of heparin did not demonstrate it improved outcomes in VICC. Fresh frozen plasma appeared to speed the recovery of coagulopathy and should be considered in bleeding patients.

148 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A robust HS-SPME and GC/MS method was developed for analyzing the composition of volatiles in raw and dry-roasted almonds, and the levels of branch-chain aldehydes, alcohols, heterocyclic and sulfur containing compounds increased significantly (500-fold) in response to roasting.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Preclinical and clinical research over the last two decades has indicated a more complex picture of respiratory complications after OP insecticide poisoning, including onset of delayed neuromuscular junction dysfunction during the cholinergic syndrome, aspiration causing pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the involvement of solvents in OP toxicity.
Abstract: Organophosphorus (OP) compound poisoning is a major global public health problem. Acute OP insecticide self-poisoning kills over 200,000 people every year, the majority from self-harm in rural Asia. Highly toxic OP nerve agents (e.g., sarin) are a significant current terrorist threat, as shown by attacks in Damascus during 2013. These anticholinesterase compounds are classically considered to cause an acute cholinergic syndrome with decreased consciousness, respiratory failure, and, in the case of insecticides, a delayed intermediate syndrome that requires prolonged ventilation. Acute respiratory failure, by central and peripheral mechanisms, is the primary cause of death in most cases. However, preclinical and clinical research over the last two decades has indicated a more complex picture of respiratory complications after OP insecticide poisoning, including onset of delayed neuromuscular junction dysfunction during the cholinergic syndrome, aspiration causing pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, and the involvement of solvents in OP toxicity. The treatment of OP poisoning has not changed over the last 50 years. However, a better understanding of the multiple respiratory complications of OP poisoning offers additional therapeutic opportunities.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is a regular incidence of dengue fever (DF)/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) throughout the year, with the highest incidence during the rainy months, and it is important to implement effective vector control programs in the country.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used 30 large (8-50 ha) globally distributed permanent forest plots to quantify the spatial variability in aboveground biomass density at spatial scales ranging from 5 to 250m (0.025-6.25 ha), and evaluate the implications of this variability for calibrating remote sensing products using simulated remote sensing footprints.
Abstract: Advances in forest carbon mapping have the potential to greatly reduce uncertainties in the global carbon budget and to facilitate effective emissions mitigation strategies such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Though broad-scale mapping is based primarily on remote sensing data, the accuracy of resulting forest carbon stock estimates depends critically on the quality of field measurements and calibration procedures. The mismatch in spatial scales between field inventory plots and larger pixels of current and planned remote sensing products for forest biomass mapping is of particular concern, as it has the potential to introduce errors, especially if forest biomass shows strong local spatial variation. Here, we used 30 large (8-50 ha) globally distributed permanent forest plots to quantify the spatial variability in aboveground biomass density (AGBD in Mgha(-1)) at spatial scales ranging from 5 to 250m (0.025-6.25 ha), and to evaluate the implications of this variability for calibrating remote sensing products using simulated remote sensing footprints. We found that local spatial variability in AGBD is large for standard plot sizes, averaging 46.3% for replicate 0.1 ha subplots within a single large plot, and 16.6% for 1 ha subplots. AGBD showed weak spatial autocorrelation at distances of 20-400 m, with autocorrelation higher in sites with higher topographic variability and statistically significant in half of the sites. We further show that when field calibration plots are smaller than the remote sensing pixels, the high local spatial variability in AGBD leads to a substantial ``dilution'' bias in calibration parameters, a bias that cannot be removed with standard statistical methods. Our results suggest that topography should be explicitly accounted for in future sampling strategies and that much care must be taken in designing calibration schemes if remote sensing of forest carbon is to achieve its promise.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Analysis of changes in abundance of over 4000 tree species in 12 forests across the world over periods of 6-28 years shows that abundance fluctuations were smaller at species-rich sites, consistent with the idea that stable environmental conditions promote higher diversity.
Abstract: Long-term surveys of entire communities of species are needed to measure fluctuations in natural populations and elucidate the mechanisms driving population dynamics and community assembly. We analysed changes in abundance of over 4000 tree species in 12 forests across the world over periods of 6-28 years. Abundance fluctuations in all forests are large and consistent with population dynamics models in which temporal environmental variance plays a central role. At some sites we identify clear environmental drivers, such as fire and drought, that could underlie these patterns, but at other sites there is a need for further research to identify drivers. In addition, cross-site comparisons showed that abundance fluctuations were smaller at species-rich sites, consistent with the idea that stable environmental conditions promote higher diversity. Much community ecology theory emphasises demographic variance and niche stabilisation; we encourage the development of theory in which temporal environmental variance plays a central role.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An Integrative Study of the Genetic, Social and Environmental Determinants of Chronic Kidney Disease Characterized by Tubulointerstitial Damages in the North Central Region of Sri Lanka finds that these determinants are driven by genetic, social and environmental factors.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES Previous investigations on chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology characterized by tubulointerstitial damages (CKDu) in the North Central Region (NCR) of Sri Lanka have supported the involvement of social, environmental and genetic factors in its pathogenesis. METHODS We conducted a social-environmental-and-genetic epidemiology study on a male population in NCR to investigate the genetic and environmental contributors. We recruited 311 case-series patients and 504 control candidates. Of the 504 control candidates, 218 (43%) were eliminated because of the presence of hypertension, proteinuria, high HbA1c, high serum creatinine or high alpha-1 microglobulin in urine. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION None of 18 metals measured (μg//) in urine, including Cd, As and Pb, showed significantly higher concentrations in cases compared with controls. As speciation results showed that 75-80% of total urinary As was in the form of arsenobetaine, which is non-toxic to humans. None of the metal concentrations in drinking water samples exceeded guideline values. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to determine the genetic contributors. The GWAS yielded a genome-wide significant association with CKDu for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs6066043; p=5.23 × 10(-9) in quantitative trait locus analysis; p=3.73 × 10(-9) in dichotomous analysis) in SLC13A3 (sodium-dependent dicarboxylate transporter member 3). The population attributable fraction and odds ratio for this SNP were 50% and 2.13. Genetic susceptibility was identified as the major risk factor for CKDu. However, 43% of the apparently healthy male population suffers from non-communicable diseases, suggesting their possible influence on CKDu progression.

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TL;DR: This review analyzed the available evidence for the 5 CAMs mentioned above in terms of in-vitro studies, animal studies, clinical trials, and described the mechanisms of hypoglycaemia and safety concerns where there is available evidence.
Abstract: Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with a prevalence of 347 million in 2013. Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) are a group of remedies that is fast gaining acceptance among individuals. Cinnamon, Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) and Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) are 3 widely used CAMs used worldwide for the treatment of diabetes. Data on safety and efficacy is limited, but the consumption is wide. Crepe ginger (Costus speciosus) and Ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis) are 2 plants used widely in the Asian region for their presumed hypoglycaemic properties. In this review, we analyzed the available evidence for the 5 CAMs mentioned above in terms of in-vitro studies, animal studies sand clinical trials. We also describe the mechanisms of hypoglycaemia and safety concerns where there is available evidence. Clinical trials that studied the hypoglycaemic effects of Cinnamon, bitter gourd, fenugreek and ivy gourd showed conflicting results. Direct comparison between studies remains a challenge in view of the baseline heterogeneity of subjects, differences in substrate preparation, variable end points and poor trial design. Short durations of study and small number of subjects studied is universal. Crepe ginger has not been studied adequately in humans to draw conclusions. In view of the high prevalence of use and safety and efficacy issues, there is an urgent need to study their hypoglycaemic and adverse effects in well-designed long-term clinical trials.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of using a mixed iodide salt system with two dissimilar cat-ions to enhance the ef�ciency of dye-sensitized solar cells made with polyvinylidene-fluoride (PVdF) based gel electrolyte was reported.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: While rates of RD at 28 °C decreased with increasing depth in the canopy, the T-dependence of RD remained constant; these findings have important implications for vegetation-climate models that seek to predict carbon fluxes between tropical lowland rainforests and the atmosphere.
Abstract: We explored the impact of canopy position on leaf respiration (R) and associated traits in tree and shrub species growing in a lowland tropical rainforest in Far North Queensland, Australia. The range of traits quantified included: leaf R in darkness (R-D) and in the light (R-L; estimated using the Kok method); the temperature (T)-sensitivity of R-D; light-saturated photosynthesis (A(sat)); leaf dry mass per unit area (LMA); and concentrations of leaf nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), soluble sugars and starch. We found that LMA, and area-based N, P, sugars and starch concentrations were all higher in sun-exposed/upper canopy leaves, compared with their shaded/lower canopy and deep-shade/understory counterparts; similarly, area-based rates of R-D, R-L and A(sat) (at 28aEuro...A degrees C) were all higher in the upper canopy leaves, indicating higher metabolic capacity in the upper canopy. The extent to which light inhibited R did not differ significantly between upper and lower canopy leaves, with the overall average inhibition being 32% across both canopy levels. Log-log R-D-A(sat) relationships differed between upper and lower canopy leaves, with upper canopy leaves exhibiting higher rates of R-D for a given A(sat) (both on an area and mass basis), as well as higher mass-based rates of R-D for a given [N] and [P]. Over the 25-45aEuro...A degrees C range, the T-sensitivity of R-D was similar in upper and lower canopy leaves, with both canopy positions exhibiting Q(10) values near 2.0 (i.e., doubling for every 10aEuro...A degrees C rise in T) and T-max values near 60aEuro...A degrees C (i.e., T where R-D reached maximal values). Thus, while rates of R-D at 28aEuro...A degrees C decreased with increasing depth in the canopy, the T-dependence of R-D remained constant; these findings have important implications for vegetation-climate models that seek to predict carbon fluxes between tropical lowland rainforests and the atmosphere.

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TL;DR: The ability to use readily available cheap raw materials, for the synthesis of such well-defined crystallites of hydroxyapatite, is an added advantage of this method, which may be explored further for the scaling up of the procedures to suit to industrial scale synthesis.

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TL;DR: The introduction of pesticide regulations in Sri Lanka coincides with a reduction in suicide rates, with evidence of limited method substitution.
Abstract: Sri Lanka has experienced major changes in its suicide rates since the 1970s, and in 1995 it had one of the highest rates in the world. Subsequent reductions in Sri Lanka’s suicide rates have been attributed to the introduction of restrictions on the availability of highly toxic pesticides. We investigate these changes in suicide rates in relation to age, gender, method specific trends and birth-cohort and period effects, with the aim of informing preventative strategies. Secular trends of suicide in relation to age, sex, method, birth-cohort and period effects were investigated graphically using police data (1975–2012). Poisoning case-fatality was investigated using national hospital admission data (2004–2010). There were marked changes to the age-, gender- and method-specific incidence of suicide over the study period. Year on year declines in rates began in 17–25 year olds in the early 1980s. Reduction in older age groups followed and falls in all age groups occurred after all class I (the most toxic) pesticides were banned. Distinct changes in the age/gender pattern of suicide are observed: in the 1980s suicide rates were highest in 21–35 year old men; by the 2000s, this pattern had reversed with a stepwise increase in male rates with increasing age. Throughout the study period female rates were highest in 17–25 year olds. There has been a rise in suicide by hanging, though this rise is relatively small in relation to the marked decline in self-poisoning deaths. The patterns of suicides are more consistent with a period rather than birth-cohort effect. The epidemiology of suicide in Sri Lanka has changed noticeably in the last 30 years. The introduction of pesticide regulations in Sri Lanka coincides with a reduction in suicide rates, with evidence of limited method substitution.

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TL;DR: An unexpected result of the comparisons among plots based on the mega-phylogeny was that the communities in the ForestGEO plots in general appear to be assemblages of more closely related species than expected by chance, and that differentiation among communities is very low, suggesting deep floristic connections among communities and new avenues for future analyses in community ecology.
Abstract: Forest dynamics plots, which now span longitudes, latitudes, and habitat types across the globe, offer unparalleled insights into the ecological and evolutionary processes that determine how species are assembled into communities. Understanding phylogenetic relationships among species in a community has become an important component of assessing assembly processes. However, the application of evolutionary information to questions in community ecology has been limited in large part by the lack of accurate estimates of phylogenetic relationships among individual species found within communities, and is particularly limiting in comparisons between communities. Therefore, streamlining and maximizing the information content of these community phylogenies is a priority. To test the viability and advantage of a multi-community phylogeny, we constructed a multi-plot mega-phylogeny of 1,347 species of trees across 15 forest dynamics plots in the ForestGEO network using DNA barcode sequence data (rbcL, matK and psbA-trnH) and compared community phylogenies for each individual plot with respect to support for topology and branch lengths, which affect evolutionary inference of community processes. The levels of taxonomic differentiation across the phylogeny were examined by quantifying the frequency of resolved nodes throughout. In addition, three phylogenetic distance metrics that are commonly used to infer assembly processes were estimated for each plot (Phylogenetic Distance [PD], Mean Phylogenetic Distance [MPD], and Mean Nearest Taxon Distance [MNTD]). Lastly, we examine the partitioning of phylogenetic diversity among community plots through quantification of inter-community MPD and MNTD. Overall, evolutionary relationships were highly resolved across the DNA barcode-based mega-phylogeny, and phylogenetic resolution for each community plot was improved when estimated within the context of the mega-phylogeny. Likewise, when compared with phylogenies for individual pl

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TL;DR: In this article, the petrology, geochemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopes on a suite of meta-igneous rocks including granodiorite, diorite and garnet amphibolite were presented.

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TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of event and continuous hydrologic modeling in the Kelani River basin in Sri Lanka using the Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) is described.
Abstract: This paper describes a case study of event and continuous hydrologic modeling in the Kelani River basin in Sri Lanka using the Hydrologic Engineering Center—Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC–HMS). An extremely high rainfall event in November 2005 was used to calibrate model parameters, and extremely high rainfall events in April–May 2008, May–June 2008, and May 2010 were used to validate the event model. The calibrated, direct runoff and base flow parameters were then used in the continuous hydrologic model. The Green and Ampt infiltration loss method was used to account for infiltration loss in event-based modeling and a five-layer soil moisture accounting loss method was employed in continuous modeling. The Clark unit hydrograph method and the recession base flow method were used to simulate direct runoff and base flow, respectively. The results depict the capability of HEC–HMS to reproduce streamflows in the basin to a high accuracy with averaged computed Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies of 0.91 for e...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of changing the planting date on the dry season rice yield was simulated by using the software Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT 4.5) for four rice varieties grown in Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka under expected climate change.
Abstract: The effect of changing the planting date on the dry season rice yield was simulated by using the software Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT 4.5) for four rice varieties grown in Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka under expected climate change. Daily weather data up to the year 2090 were downscaled to the district from Global Climate Model outputs under the emission scenarios A2 and B2 published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change using the Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM 4.2). The DSSAT model was applied to simulate future rice yields from four rice varieties grown in the district under three different planting dates: (1) planting in May—the base condition; (2) advancing the planting date by 1 month, i.e., to June; and (3) planting 1 month earlier, i.e., in April. Results show that the seasonally averaged dry season rice yield would increase compared to the base condition when the planting date is advanced by 1 month and, on the other hand, the seasonally averaged rice yield would decrease compared to the base condition when the planting date is delayed by 1 month for all four varieties under both A2 and B2 scenarios. Advancing the rice planting date by 1 month for all four rice varieties can be identified as a non-cost climate change adaptation strategy for rice production in Kurunegala district.

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TL;DR: Using a biologically-based 2-factor model of impulsivity provides additional information regarding specific aspects of drug initiation and maintenance that can be targeted in the prevention and treatment of heroin dependence.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the ergodic capacity of a dual-hop amplify-and-forward relaying system with multiple antennas and subject to co-channel interference and the additive white Gaussian noise was analyzed.
Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the ergodic capacity of a dual-hop amplify-and-forward relaying system, where the relay is equipped with multiple antennas and subject to co-channel interference and the additive white Gaussian noise. Specifically, we consider three heuristic precoding schemes, where the relay first applies the: 1) maximal-ratio combining (MRC); 2) zero-forcing (ZF); and 3) minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) principle to combine the signal from the source, and then steers the transformed signal toward the destination with the maximum ratio transmission (MRT) technique. For the MRC/MRT and MMSE/MRT schemes, we present new tight analytical upper and lower bounds for the ergodic capacity, while for the ZF/MRT scheme, we derive a new exact analytical ergodic capacity expression. Moreover, we make a comparison among all three schemes, and our results reveal that, in terms of the ergodic capacity performance, the MMSE/MRT scheme always has the best performance and the ZF/MRT scheme is slightly inferior, while the MRC/MRT scheme is always the worst one. Finally, the asymptotic behavior of ergodic capacity for the three proposed schemes are characterized in large N scenario, where N is the number of relay antennas. Our results reveal that, in the large N regime, both the ZF/MRT and MMSE/MRT schemes have perfect interference cancellation capability, which is not possible with the MRC/MRT scheme.

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TL;DR: In this paper, a peat sample was used for the removal of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) dyes from aqueous solution, and the optimum time periods of agitation and settling required for maximum removal of MB were 2.0 and 1.0h, respectively.
Abstract: Peat of Brunei Darussalam shows a great potential for the removal of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) dyes from aqueous solution. Carefully controlled batch experiments performed by changing one parameter at a time indicate that the optimum time periods of agitation and settling required for maximum removal of MB are 2.0 and 1.0 h, respectively, while these values for MG are 4.0 and 1.0 h, respectively. The optimum pH is determined to be the ambient value, and under the optimum conditions, 90 % removal of both dyes was determined under laboratory conditions. The equilibrium adsorption data analyzed for various isotherm models suggest that the Sips and Redlich–Peterson (R–P) models are valid for MB and MG, respectively. Further, thermodynamic studies show that the adsorption of both dyes on peat is spontaneous and endothermic. The adsorption capacities (q max) of MB and MG dyes on peat are 0.45 and 0.31 mmol g−1, respectively. Characterization of the surfaces of peat before and after treatment of dyes by SEM and FTIR provides conclusive evidence of adsorption of both dyes. Kinetics studies indicate that the adsorption of both MB and MG dyes is favored toward the pseudo-second-order model, with a little contribution of MG to the pseudo-first-order model. These results suggest that peat is a potential low-cost adsorbent for the removal of MB and MG dyes.

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TL;DR: In this article, the characterization of leachate generated from Gohagoda dumpsite in Kandy, Sri Lanka, assessment of its spatial and temporal variations, and identification of subsurface canals and perched water bodies in the wetland system affected by the leachates flow.
Abstract: This study focuses on the characterization of leachate generated from Gohagoda dumpsite in Kandy, Sri Lanka, assessment of its spatial and temporal variations, and identification of subsurface canals and perched water bodies in the wetland system affected by the leachate flow. Leachate samples were collected monthly throughout dry and rainy seasons from different points of the leachate drainage channel over a period of 1 year and they were tested for quality parameters: pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved soils, alkalinity, hardness, total solids, volatile solids, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen, phosphates, ammonium-nitrogen, chloride, dissolved organic carbon, total organic carbon and heavy metals. Sequential soil extraction procedures were performed for the characterization of leachate-affected local soil. A geophysical survey using direct current resistivity technique was conducted at locations downstream of the dumpsite. Leachate characteristics indicated that the leachate is in the methanogenic phase and the results strongly suggest that the leachate may be polluting the river where the leachate is discharged directly. Leachate exceeds the allowable limits of Sri Lankan wastewater discharge standards for many of the parameters. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed for most of organic and inorganic parameters among all sampling locations. Many parameters showed a negative correlation with pH. The affected soils showed high heavy metal concentrations. Resistivity study confirmed a confined leachate flow at the near surface with few subsurface canals. However, no separate subsurface plume movement was observed. The results of this research can effectively be used for the establishment of an efficient and effective treatment method for the Gohagoda landfill leachate.

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors considered a dual-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying system where the relay is equipped with multiple antennas, while the source and the destination are equipped with a single antenna.
Abstract: This paper considers a dual-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying system where the relay is equipped with multiple antennas, while the source and the destination are equipped with a single antenna. Assuming that the relay is subjected to co-channel interference (CCI) and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) while the destination is corrupted by AWGN only, we propose three heuristic relay precoding schemes to combat the CCI, namely, 1) Maximum ratio combining/maximal ratio transmission (MRC/MRT), 2) Zero-forcing/MRT (ZF/MRT), 3) Minimum mean-square error/MRT (MMSE/MRT). We derive new exact outage expressions as well as simple high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) outage approximations for all three schemes. Our findings suggest that both the MRC/MRT and the MMSE/MRT schemes achieve a full diversity of N, while the ZF/MRT scheme achieves a diversity order of N-M, where N is the number of relay antennas and M is the number of interferers. In addition, we show that the MMSE/MRT scheme always achieves the best outage performance, and the ZF/MRT scheme outperforms the MRC/MRT scheme in the low SNR regime, while becomes inferior to the MRC/MRT scheme in the high SNR regime. Finally, in the large N regime, we show that both the ZF/MRT and MMSE/MRT schemes are capable of completely eliminating the CCI, while perfect interference cancelation is not possible with the MRC/MRT scheme.