Browsing by Author "Ranasinghe, C."

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Effect of pre-treatments with natural compounds for controlling anthracnose in papaya variety Red Lady
(Journal of Horticulture and Postharvest Research, 2023) Kahawattage, A.; Hansini, N.; Daranagama, D.; Ranasinghe, C.
Purpose: Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is an economically important fruit crop affected by anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The study was carried out to test two essential oils; Citronella oil and Cinnamon oil and two leaf extracts; Lantana camara and Ocimum tenuiflorum on four occasions of fruit development as pre-treatment assay in the field condition. Research Method: Essential oils were prepared as an emulsifier and leaf saps were extracted from dried leaves and both were set to 10% concentration. The experiment was conducted in a two-factor factorial experiment with Randomized Complete Block Design. Five treatments including the control were applied for four blocks representing stages of fruit development. Disease severity (0–5 scale) and disease severity index were calculated and statistically analyzed using ANOVA, MINITAB and Tukey’s pairwise analysis. Findings: According to the obtained results, four occasions of application of the selected treatment were highly significant with a minimum level of DSI (34.67 ± 4.62). L. camera leaf extract was highly effective as a pre-treatment with the least values for disease severity percentages (5.78 ± 0.43), disease severity score (0.3 ± 0.17) and disease severity index (26.67 ± 6.36). Research limitations: Flower bud initiation was delayed than the date expected due to the unpredicted heavy rainy condition. Originality/Value: The most effective block treatment interaction was shown on three occasions of application of L. camera leaf extract. This study facilitated the development of the most promising pre-harvest management strategy to control anthracnose disease which causes by the fungal pathogen C. gloeosporioides.
Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the duke activity status index (DASI) to Sinhala language
(BioMed Central, 2024) Ranasinghe, C.; Kariyawasam, K.; Liyanage, J.; Walpita, Y.; Rajasinghe, U.; Abayadeera, A.; Chandrasinghe, P.; Gunasekara, M.; Kumarage, S.; De Silva, M.; Ranathunga, K.; Deen, K.; Ismail, H.
BACKGROUND Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) is a widely used tool to assess functional capacity among patients, but there is no Sinhala version validated for patients in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and test the validity and reliability of the Sinhala version of DASI (DASI-S).METHODS The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the DASI questionnaire were conducted following the standard guidelines. It was pre-tested on ten pre-operative patients and further modified. The construct validity and reliability of DASI-S were evaluated by administering the modified final DASI-S, which comprised 12 items, along with the physical functioning sub-scale of the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), consisting of 10 items to eighty-one patients who were awaiting non-cardiac surgeries at university surgical wards, National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), and Colombo North Teaching Hospital (CNTH), Sri Lanka. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach alpha, while the validity was evaluated using factor analysis and Spearman's correlation. The ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 46.2 (± 16.6) years and the majority were females (54.3%). The mean height, weight, and body mass index of the sample were 160.5 (± 9.6) cm, 60.3 (± 11.9) kg, and 23.4 (± 4.5) kgm-2 respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the internal consistency of DASI-S was 0.861. The concurrent validity of DASI-S was substantiated by positively correlating (p < 0.01, rs = 0.466) with the physical sub-scale of SF-36. There was a significant difference (p < 0.01) in the total score of DASI-S between the two age groups.CONCLUSIONS Sinhala version of the DASI appears to be a valid, reliable and easy-to-administer tool to assess functional capacity among patients who are awaiting non-cardiac surgeries.
Validation of a clinical scoring system to detect gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in epidemiological surveys
(Wiley Blackwell Scientific Publications, 2006) Amarasiri, L; Pathmeswaran, A.; Ranasinghe, C.; de Silva, H.J.
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of GERD is increasing worldwide. Community prevalence in Sri Lanka is unknown. OBJECTIVES: To develop a clinical score to screen for GERD in the community and assess whether a score using symptom frequency and severity correlates better to an objective measure of GERD than one using only symptom frequency. METHODS: A cross-sectional validity study carried out on 72 patients (endoscopy positive) and 75 controls (comparable in age and gender). All faced a GERD-specific interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing seven upper gastro-intestinal symptoms, each graded for frequency (4- items) and severity (5-items). Two scores were generated. Score 1: sum of frequency of symptoms and score 2: sum of products of frequency and severity of each symptom. All patients underwent 24 h pH-metry. Validity established by correlating symptom scores with 24 h pH-metry parameters. Cut-off values determined by receiver-operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: Mean scores of cases were significantly higher than controls (p < 0.001). Cut-off score for score 1 was ≥11.50 (sensitivity 91.7%, speci- ficity 82.7%, positive and negative predictive values 70.0% and 95.9%). Cut-off score for score 2 was ≥14.50 (sensitivity 94.4%, specificity 78.7%, positive and negative predictive values 66.0% and 97.0%). Both scores showed high reproducibility (intra-class correlation coefficient of score 1 = 0.95 and score 2 = 0.89). There was good correlation between symptom scores and 24-h pH parameters (Spearman rank correlation, p = 0.01), but score 2 showed a significantly better correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Our GERD questionnaire is valid, reproducible, with better correlation with an objective test when both severity and frequency of symptoms were scored
Validation of a gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) specific screening instrument for epidemiological purposes
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2006) Amarasiri, W.A.D.L.; Ranasinghe, C.; Pathmeswaran, A.; de Silva, H.J.
INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of GERD is increasing worldwide; its community prevalence in Sri Lanka is unknown. AIMS: To develop a clinical score to screen for GERD in the community and assess whether a score using both symptom frequency and severity correlates better to an objective measure of GERD than one using only symptom frequency. METHODOLOGY: 58 GERD patients (endoscopy positive) and 60 controls (matched for age and gender) were given a GERD-specific interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing seven upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Each symptom was graded using Likert scales for frequency (4-items) and severity (5-items), and two scores were generated. Score 1 was the sum of frequency of symptoms while score 2 was the sum of products of frequency and severity of each symptom. The patients then underwent oesophageal manometry and 24h pHmetry. Cut-off values were determined by constructing receiver-operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: For both scoring systems, mean scores of cases were significantly higher than controls (p=0.000). The cut-off for score 1 was > 11.50 (sensitivity 91.4%, specificity 85%, positive and negative predictive values 83.29% and 92.34%). The cut-off for score 2 was > 12.50 (sensitivity 96.6%, specificity 80%, positive and negative predictive values 81.06% and 92.32%). Both scores showed high reproducibility (intra class correlation coefficient scorel=0.94 and score 2=0.82). There was good correlation between both scores and 24-h pH parameters (Spearman rank correlation, p=0.01), but score 2 was significantly better. CONCLUSION: Our GERD questionnaire is valid, reproducible and showed better correlation with an objective test when both severity and frequency of symptoms were scored rather than frequency alone.