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.

The gift of disaster: the commodification of good intentions in post-tsunami Sri Lanka.

Abstract: This paper analyses the commodification of post-tsunami aid in Sri Lanka, a process that ‘contaminated’ the ‘purity’ of good intentions with the politics of patronage and international aid. It argues that gifts are not just material transfers of ‘aid’, but also embodiments of cultural symbolism, social power, and political affiliations. The tsunami gift re-enforced and reconfigured exchange relationships among different patrons and clients in Sri Lankan communities, perpetuating the political economy that has driven social conflict and discontent in the post-independence years. Beyond dominant rationales of ethnic or political party patronage, the paper finds that gifts by disingenuous patrons not only became patrimonial, but that the patrimonial rationale emerged as much from above as from below—a dynamic that became nearly inescapable and self-reinforcing. Through three case studies, we explore the intricate chain of relations, obligations, and expectations pertinent in the co-evolving, but often contradictory, gift rationales that permeate the practices, performances, and discourses of tsunami aid.

Developing effective vegetation bioshield for tsunami protection

Abstract: To elucidate the effectiveness and limitations of coastal vegetation for tsunami protection, the impact of vegetation structure on drag forces was analysed using the observed characteristics of reference tree species. The drag coefficient, including the vertical stand structures of trees, C d−all , and the vegetation thickness per unit area, dN u (d, reference diameter of trees; N u , number of trees per unit area), varies greatly with different species. Based on data analyses, dense Casuarina equisetifolia and Pandanus odoratissimus grown in beach sand were found to be especially effective in providing protection from tsunami damage due to their density and complex aerial root structure. The breaking moment of trees was investigated as a function of tree diameter. The breaking moment equation of P. odoratissimus explains well the damage caused to trees by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2006 Java tsunami. Numerical simulation indicates that inertia is the dominant force (99.1%) in comparison with t...

Eicosapentaenoic Acid Reduces Adipocyte Hypertrophy and Inflammation in Diet-Induced Obese Mice in an Adiposity-Independent Manner

Abstract: Background: Obesity is associated with an overexpansion of adipose tissue, along with increases in blood pressure, glycemia, inflammation, and thrombosis. Research to develop nutritional interventions to prevent or treat obesity and its associated diseases is greatly needed. Previously, we demonstrated the ability of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to prevent high-fat (HF) diet‐induced obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation in mice. Objective: The objective of the current study was to determine the mechanisms mediating the anti-inflammatory and antilipogenic actions of EPA. Methods: In a previous study, male C57BL/6J mice were fed a low-fat diet (10% of energy from fat), an HF diet (45% of energy from fat), or an HF diet supplemented with EPA (45% of energy from fat; 36 g/kg EPA; HF+EPA) for 11 wk or an HF diet for 6 wk and then switched to the HF+EPA diet for 5 wk. In this study, we used histology/immunohistochemistry, gene expression, and metabolomic analyses of white adipose tissue from these mice. In addition, cultured mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with 100 mM EPA for 48 h and then used for extracellular flux assays with untreated 3T3-L1 adipocytes used as a control. Results: Compared with the HF diet, the HF+EPA diet significantly reduced body weight, adiposity, adipocyte size, and macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue. No significant differences in overall body weight or fat pad weights were observed between HF-fed mice vs. those fed the HF+EPA diet for a short time after first inducing obesity with the HF diet. Interestingly, both histology and immunohistochemistry results showed a significantly lower mean adipocyte size and macrophage infiltration in mice fed the HF diet and then switched to the HF+EPA diet vs. those fed HF diets only. This indicated that EPA was able to prevent as well as reverse HFdiet‐induced adipocyte inflammation and hypertrophy and that some of the metabolic effects of EPA were independent of body weight or adiposity. In addition, adipose tissue metabolomic data and cultured adipocyte extracellular flux bioenergetic assays indicated that EPA also regulated mitochondrial function by increasing fatty acid oxidation and oxygen consumption, respectively. Conclusion: With the use of mice and cultured adipocytes, we showed that EPA ameliorates HF-diet effects at least in part by increasing oxygen consumption and fatty acid oxidation and reducing adipocyte size, adipogenesis, and adipose tissue inflammation, independent of obesity. J Nutr doi: 10.3945/jn.114.202952.

Increasing the dose of prednisolone during viral infections reduces the risk of relapse in nephrotic syndrome: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Background: Relapses of nephrotic syndrome are often triggered by viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), possibly mediated by cytokine release. Objective: To test, in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial, the hypothesis that a small short-term increase in the dose of prednisolone will reduce the release of cytokines and thereby reduce the risk of relapse. Methods: Sequential patients receiving low-dose ( Results: 48 patients were recruited, and 40 completed the trial (29 male; 11 female). Age at entry ranged from 1.5 to 13.2 (median 5.3) years. The relapse rate after viral URTI was 19/40 (48%) in the placebo group and 7/40 (18%) in the prednisolone group (p = 0.014; two-sided probability using Fisher’s exact test). Conclusion: Prescribing prednisolone daily for 7 consecutive days at the same dose as that taken by the patient on an alternate-day basis at the onset of a presumed viral URTI significantly reduces the risk of relapse in children with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome.