University of Peradeniya

About: University of Peradeniya is a education organization based out in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 5970 authors who have published 7388 publications receiving 197002 citations.

Cause of Cambrian Explosion - Terrestrial or Cosmic?

Abstract: We review the salient evidence consistent with or predicted by the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe (H-W) thesis of Cometary (Cosmic) Biology. Much of this physical and biological evidence is multifactorial. One particular focus are the recent studies which date the emergence of the complex retroviruses of vertebrate lines at or just before the Cambrian Explosion of ∼500 Ma. Such viruses are known to be plausibly associated with major evolutionary genomic processes. We believe this coincidence is not fortuitous but is consistent with a key prediction of H-W theory whereby major extinction-diversification evolutionary boundaries coincide with virus-bearing cometary-bolide bombardment events. A second focus is the remarkable evolution of intelligent complexity (Cephalopods) culminating in the emergence of the Octopus. A third focus concerns the micro-organism fossil evidence contained within meteorites as well as the detection in the upper atmosphere of apparent incoming life-bearing particles from space. In our view the totality of the multifactorial data and critical analyses assembled by Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe and their many colleagues since the 1960s leads to a very plausible conclusion - life may have been seeded here on Earth by life-bearing comets as soon as conditions on Earth allowed it to flourish (about or just before 4.1 Billion years ago); and living organisms such as space-resistant and space-hardy bacteria, viruses, more complex eukaryotic cells, fertilised ova and seeds have been continuously delivered ever since to Earth so being one important driver of further terrestrial evolution which has resulted in considerable genetic diversity and which has led to the emergence of mankind.

A clinical study of dry socket in Sri Lanka

Abstract: An investigation into the incidence and other features of dry socket in Sri Lanka was considered worthwhile as working conditions, general health of patients and related factors may be different in developing countries. The present study was conducted at two institutes which provide differing facilities and conditions. The overall incidence was found to be 3.5% which is similar to figures reported in the U.K. and Europe. The pattern of dry socket as seen at the two institutes regarding delayed onset, lower molar site specificity, female predominance and relation to difficulty of extraction was similar to each other and to those described in previous studies. These findings support a multifactorial aetiology as does a review of the recent literature.

Serotypes of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from cattle and buffalo calf diarrhoea

Abstract: A total of 45 verocytotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains obtained from diarrhoeic cattle and buffalo calves were serotyped. These strains were classified into 27 ‘O’-groups, many of them being associated with VT for the first time. The frequently isolated VTEC serotypes were O86:H26, O128:H31, and OX6:H2. However, the great diversity of VTEC O-groups is to be noted, those associated with VT production being O3, O5, O6, OX6, O7, O20, O21, O49, O75, O76, O80, O84, O86, O88, O103, O116, O117, O118, O137, O153 and O159. It is interesting that 11 of the 41 O-groupable strains belong to well recognized human enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) O-groups.

Are Culturally Specific Measures of Trauma-Related Anxiety and Depression Needed? The Case of Sri Lanka

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that psychometric instruments incorporating local idioms of distress predict functional impairment in a non-Western, war-affected population above and beyond translations of already established instruments. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the War-Related Psychological and Behavioral Problems section of the Penn/RESIST/Peradeniya War Problems Questionnaire (PRPWPQ), a measure that incorporates local idioms of distress, using data from 197 individuals living in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Three subscales - Anxiety, Depression and Negative Perception – were identified. Regression analyses were conducted to test whether these three subscales better predicted functional impairment than the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), both widely used self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, respectively. Two of the three subscales from the PRPWPQ – anxiety and depression - were significantly associated with higher rates of functional impairment after controlling for age, the PSS and the BDI. After the inclusion of PRPWPQ, the PSS and the BDI did not significantly contribute to the final regression model predicting functional impairment. These findings suggest that the scores of measures with local idioms of distress have incremental validity in non-Western war-affected populations, predicting functional impairment above and beyond translations of established self-report measures that have been developed in the Western world.