Browsing by Author "Ranasinghe, P."

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Bibliographic Control of Early Printed Works in Sri Lanka
(University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, 2007) Ranasinghe, P.
Bibliographical Information Sources for Japanese Studies in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2007) Ranasinghe, P.
Bibliographical information is the foundation of any research. No research can be successfully carried out without sufficient bibliographical information at the hand of researcher. The main objective of this research was to create a database on the sources of Japanese studies in the field of social sciences and humanities with special reference to the research needs of Sri Lankan scholars engaged in Japanese studies. Research was carried out at Saga University in Japan under the Japan Foundation Fellowship Programme in the year 200112002. · 1 fence Humanities and social Sciences cover a wide variety of subjects the study was carried out on a selective basis focusing mainly the following subject fields: general reference works on the disciplines, Japanese language and literature, Japanese history and culture, Philosophy and religion, Social and economic studies. As the preliminary survey done in Sri Lanka in the year 2000 revealed that most of the Sri Lankan scholars look for works written in English or translated into English, works written in Japanese language were not covered in this study. The methodology basically involved in the examination of library collections, published bibliographies, online databases and web sites as well as discussions with specialists in the field. Among the major sources examined OPACs of National Diet Library, Nichibunken, Japan Foundation, The British Library, Library of Congress and NACSIS Webcat are to be mentioned. Collected data on the information sources were entered into a computer database enabling users to find information under authors, titles, subjects, keywords, published years and publishers. Major findings suggested that (1) there is a scarcity of separate bibliographies, indexes and databases on Japanese sources published in English (2) most of the existing printed bibliographies on these sources in English are outdated (3) attempts of certain foreign universities and research institutes on Japanese studies are not adequate to satisfy the research needs of non-Japanese scholars (4) there is a clear need to have specialized databases in English for Japanese studies (5) such databases would trigger Japanese studies in many countries in the world.
Caspase 3/7 activation during apoptotic cell death of human Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells induced by different fractions of Chnoospora minima
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2021) Gunathilaka, M. D. T. L.; Samarakoon, K. W.; Ranasinghe, P.; Peiris, L. C. D.
Marine seaweeds are a rich source of bioactive metabolites that can be used as a source for the development of anti-cancer drugs. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death involved with the elimination of unwanted cells from the body. Among different mechanisms of apoptosis, caspases are a family of protease enzymes playing an essential role in apoptosis. Therefore, the present study was aimed to determine the caspase 3/7 activation in human rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells following treatment with hexane and chloroform fractions of the seaweed species Chnoospora minima. The apo-one homogenous caspase 3/7 activity of treated cells was evaluated according to the manufacturer`s instructions (G7790, Promega, USA). Polysaccharide depleted polyphenol-rich methanol extract was sequentially partitioned with hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate to determine the cytotoxic activity. Based on the results, hexane and chloroform fractions of C.minima were selected to determine the caspase 3/7 activation of human RMS and MCF-7 cells. The caspase 3/7 activation was quantified by relative flurescence unit (RFU). The chloroform fraction (RFU4 hrs:3932.9) of C.minima showed prominent activation of caspase 3/7 in RMS cells after 4 h of caspase treatment more than the hexane fraction (RFU4 hrs:2556.6) compared to the standard Staurosporine (RFU4 hrs:3417.5) and cycloheximide (RFU4 hrs:2950.5). In contrast, hexane (RFU3 hrs:1496.9) and chloroform (RFU3 hrs:1464.7) fractions treated MCF-7 cells showed low caspase 3/7 activation, and the highest activity was observed after 3 h of caspase treatment. Hence, it can be concluded that the hexane and chloroform fractions of C.minima induce apoptosis in RMS cells more prominently via the caspase 3/7 pathway compared to the MCF-7 cells. Therefore, further studies should be conducted to confirm the activity of caspase 3 and 7 via gene expression analysis.
Cataloguing in Sri Lanka: country report presented to the 4th IFLA meeting of experts – 2006
(2006) Ranasinghe, P.
Collection, Preservation and Provision Access to Palm Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Ranasinghe, P.
Palm leaf, also known as ola leaf, has been the principal career of knowledge in Sri Lanka from early Anuradhapura period to 20thth century, for more than 2300 years. Although no original manuscripts written by the ancient authors are not available at present, copies of such manuscripts made in later periods, especially from 17th –early 20th century are scattered throughout the country in Buddhist temples and sometimes with individuals. Certain concerted efforts made during the colonial period as well as after the independence resulted in collecting and preserving some of the manuscript copies in a few. It is to be noted here considerable number of palm leaf manuscripts are collected and preserved in foreign soils also. The present study is an attempt to assess the efforts taken in Sri Lanka in the sphere of collection, preserving and provision of access to such manuscripts. Ultimate objective of any document is to divulge its contents to interested users. In order to this two pre-requisites are to be completed. They are the collection of documents and preserving them for future users. This applies to palm leaf manuscripts also. Transition from an old medium of recording to newer medium, always leave behind a certain amount of documents produced in the old medium untouched. When printing was introduced into Sri Lanka not all palm leaf manuscripts found their way to printing. Only selected manuscripts were put into print and the rest was left behind. This makes it necessary to collect those forgotten manuscripts as well as the base manuscripts of printed works if we really need to benefit from the intellectual heritage of the country. Collection demands organization and preservation. Provision of access to manuscripts can be made successfully once collection and preservation is completed. In Sri Lanka collection and preservation of palm leaf manuscripts are still in a poor stage. Except those collected in libraries no concerted efforts have been taken by the government or private sector for the purpose. It was found that at present only the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya is engaged in the collection and preservation of palm leaf manuscripts in digital form. The collection is around 500,000 leaves. However, the provision of access to manuscripts collected in certain libraries has been done successfully through extensive bibliographies. Catalogues to the collection of manuscripts in Colombo Museum Library is an example. Somadasa’s catalogue of Palm leaf manuscripts in Ceylon is just a title list of manuscripts found in Buddhist temples in the country and the list has little use at present as some of the temples are not in existence and the listed works are not found by now in most of the temples. As most of the palm leaf manuscripts are on the brink of extinction it should be a national priority to collect, preserve and provide access to them using modern technology. Libraries have a big role to play in the process.
Colonic diverticular disease revisited
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-12) De Silva, A. P.; Nuwanshika, N.; Dassanayake, U.; Niriella , M. A.; Ranasinghe, P.; De Silva, H. J.
INTRODUCTION Diverticular disease, including diverticulosis and diverticulitis, presents a significant health concern globally, with increasing prevalence in Western societies and emerging trends in Asia. The incidence of diverticulitis, is on the rise, leading to significant morbidity and healthcare costs. AREAS COVERED A literature search was conducted using the PubMed database, and studies published between 1995 and 2024 were selected based on their relevance to the overall understanding of disease. This review investigates the clinical spectrum, classification, and management strategies of diverticular disease, focusing particularly on evolving trends in diagnosis and treatment. Discussions regarding the prevalence of diverticulosis, the identification of risk factors associated with disease progression, recent advancements in research, and the utilization of biomarkers in disease monitoring and treatment decision-making are considered in detail. EXPERT OPINION The discourse on diverticular disease underscores the pressing need for tailored management strategies and innovative treatments. Understanding the intricacies of the disease’s pathophysiology is paramount for effective intervention. Recent advances in diagnostic imaging and biomarker identification are promising, yet more research is imperative to further refine patient care. Advances in these areas hold the potential for significantly improving outcomes in disease management.
Digital library content in South Asia
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Ranasinghe, P.
In any library, whether it is paper or digital, the core of the services is its content. Digital library is nothing more than a blend of computer and communication technology to deliver the contents of a library to end users surpassing the boundaries of space and time. Out of the six concepts of the digital library, viz. content, user, functionality, quality, policy and architecture (DEL OS Manifesto), the content aspect comes first. When compared to traditional paper libraries, still the digital libraries are in their infancy. Most of the digital libraries, except a handful originated in developed countries, do not have adequate contents. The present research concentrates on the digital library content in Sri Lanka. The method employed was to examine the existing South Asian digital virtual libraries in the net. A closer look at the digital libraries that originated in South Asian countries, reveals that their contents are limited only to data and information. Still the knowledge has not become the main component of their content. The content of these libraries generally consists of (i) data (unprocessed information), (ii) information on various topics, (iii) bibliographical surrogates such as library catalogues, indexes and bibliographies and (iv) a bare minimum of full text articles and e-books. In these libraries, apart from data and information, knowledge has not received its full fledged status as it should be. The rich cultural heritage of these countries has produced a treasure of knowledge over the centuries in numerous national languages. End users of digital libraries of these countries will naturally expect to obtain copies of documents of this knowledge to their desktops. Data and information, including bibliographical information will be of little use when no digital copies of the documents that contain knowledge are available. It is true that certain countries in the region have taken commendable efforts to develop digital libraries. However, in most cases the knowledge content of these libraries is limited to few scanned copies of books and other documents in national languages. As no indexing of the content of such documents has been done, their value is very little. This situation can be observed in all countries of the region. Hence, the effective digital libraries with adequate contents are y et to be developed in South Asia. Problems in digitalization of vernacular languages, lack of funds for digitalization projects, insufficient IT professionals to man such projects, problems of bandwidth for information delivery, poor computer literacy of people, less priority for digital libraries among other burning issues in these countries are some of the reasons for this situation.
How do we define normal bowel frequency from newborn to teens?:A Bayesian meta-analysis
(Wiley, 2024-12) Munasinghe, S.; Manathunga, S.; Hathagoda, W.; Kuruppu, C.; Ranasinghe, P.; Devanarayana, N. M.; Baaleman, D. F.; Benninga, M. A.; Rajindrajith, S.
OBJECTIVES Defecation disorders are a common pediatric problem and bowel frequency is crucial in identifying them. The aim of this analysis is to define normal bowel frequencies in healthy children ranging from newborns to adolescents. METHODS A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from their inception to February 2024, aiming to identify studies reporting bowel habits of healthy children (0–18 years). A Bayesian distribution modeling approach was adopted to pool the mean frequency of bowel opening using inverse-variance weighing. A subgroup analysis and a meta-regression were performed with Bayesian generalized additive mixed distributional models. The methodological quality of the articles was evaluated using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale modified for cross-sectional studies. RESULTS Seventeen studies were included in the analysis, including 22,698 children aged from 0 to 18 years. The subgroup meta-analysis showed mean bowel frequencies for newborns, 1–6 months, 6–12 months, 1–2 years, 2–5 years, and over 5 years are 3.24 (95% credible interval [CrI]: 2.83–3.63), 1.99 (95% CrI: 1.77-2.19), 1.66 (95% CrI: 1.45–1.88), 1.53 (95% CrI: 1.37–1.7), 1.15 (95% CrI: 0.99–1.31), and 1.02 (95% CrI 0.88–1.18), respectively. Between studies, heterogeneity demonstrated a near-normal distribution with a mean of 0.16 and a 95% CrI of 0.04–0.28. The variance of the distribution of mean bowel frequency reduced with age. DISCUSSION In this Bayesian meta-analysis, we found that younger children have a higher bowel frequency. The reported bowel frequencies for each age group could serve as normal values in clinical practice to differentiate health and disease.
Indigenous knowledge in Sri Lanka: its Nature, Preservation and Development: Scenario 500 years after the Western Occupation
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Ranasinghe, P.
Knowledge as an entity is indivisible. Strictly speaking, it cannot be categorized as indigenous, legitimized or scientific. However, for the sake of learning it is divided into two main categories. (1) Indigenous knowledge, is also known as local knowledge, traditional knowledge or civilization knowledge (2) Legitimized or scientific knowledge. These categories are artificial. Indigenous or traditional knowledge is the knowledge that is unique to a given geographical location, society or a culture. It is unique, traditional and local knowledge existing within and developed around specific conditions of women and men indigenous to a particular geographic area. It is passed down from generation to generation mostly through the word of mouth and to a lesser extent through writing. Knowledge is a dynamic entity. It transmits across geographic locations other than where it was born and bred. Also it gets mixed with other systems of knowledge developed elsewhere and put forth new sprouts. These features are unique to indigenous knowledge, too. Similarities of indigenous knowledge practices among South and South Asian countries show the cross cultural transmission of traditional knowledge. There are enough evidences to show the mix up of indigenous medical knowledge of Sri Lanka with the Ayurvedic medical system of India. Inhabitants in Sri Lanka throughout its long history have produced a wealth of local knowledge and used it effectively for the human and socio-economic development of the country. However, the Western occupation in Sri Lanka, from1505 AD to 1948 AD has seriously hampered the growth and the use of indigenous knowledge in the country and has given birth to the following false notions. Nonetheless, one can observe the following salient features in the indigenous knowledge when it compares with the so called legitimized knowledge. In Sri Lanka no concerted efforts have been taken yet to preserve the wealth of its traditional knowledge. Within next few decades most of the ola leaf manuscripts heaped in temples will get destroyed due to neglect. Most of the oral knowledge has already vanished since the word by mouth tradition does not exist in present society. Hence it is an urgent necessity to collect and preserve these valuable sources of knowledge for the benefit of coming generations. Indigenous knowledge should be developed and put to use.
Investigation on the Adaptation of Business Intelligence and Analytics in Sri Lankan Supermarket Sector Organizations
(Faculty of Computing and Technology, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Ranasinghe, P.; Rajapakse, C.
In the era of the fast moving technology, every company and firm try to get the competitive advantage over the other firms in participating actively in the competition of the market. As the businesses get larger and distributed, the data collected each day rise from megabytes to terabytes each day. Increasing amounts of data give the opportunity to companies to use analytics to understand the hidden patterns in the data they collect and harness valuable business insights to gain competitive advantage. We present the results of a study on the adoption of business analytics in the Sri Lankan supermarket industry conducted to evaluate their readiness to use the state of the art business intelligence technologies available today. The main reasons for selecting supermarket sector over another industry is due to the nature of transactions, volume of transactions, high competitiveness, requirement for analysis, proven ability to get good results by using business intelligence techniques, loyalty card systems, the huge volume of customer data and transaction data collected each day are significant. Furthermore, the supermarket sector exhibits a huge competition among the three leading conglomerates and one appearing conglomerate. In order to gain competitive advantage these companies should understand the patterns hidden among these data such as the behaviors of their consumers and the trends in the market. However, it is unknown whether they are adequately and successfully adopting the business intelligence technologies for competitive advantage even though they have sufficient data assets. Through a through literature review the factors were identified that should be considered related to assessing the readiness of a company for business intelligence and analytics. A questionnaire was made based on the review of literature elaborating the seven factor model referred as “BI readiness Assessment” which can be used to determine the states of various issues related to organization’s ability to utilize BI. “BI readiness Assessment” describes seven readiness factors, which they have also referred as potential barriers to the ability to deploy BI. We used this model, originally developed for the context of the United Kingdom, for the context of Sri Lanka and thereby evaluated the Sri Lankan supermarket sector organizations in terms of the seven factors of BI readiness to understand the overall readiness and adoption of analytics. The research was designed as a case based qualitative research in which all identified leading supermarket sector conglomerates were analyzed as cases. The four leading conglomerates were identified based on their variety as well as annual turnover and the government owned Supermarket Company. Extensive open ended interviews with IT managers and the heads of BI departments of the respective organizations based on the questionnaire developed were used to collect data to develop the cases. The questions covered the seven factors of the model, in order to verify each a set of open ended questions were defines and gathered details through answers. Qualitative data that had been received is translated into useful information through context analysis. The questions under each seven factors considered are translated to numerical values and given the ranks according to Mann–Whitney U-test. The ranks for the main seven factors are derived then with the weighted average for each point. By comparison of the ranks the results are derived. In Sri Lanka there are only five main supermarket chains and all of them are interviewed, and gathered details. So the coverage is 100%. Four of them belong to private sector two of them are part of the big conglomerates, the other one is owned by the government of Sri Lanka. In the study we came across with different levels of usage of business analytics; Firm 1 is using query processing for analytics, Firm 2 is using a business intelligence tool, Firm 3 is having a stable ERP culture in which they perform analytics as well as an ongoing project to implement a BI system based on Hanna, Firm 4 is having a strong infrastructure design but still in the process of implementing the infrastructure and the Firm 5 shows as an outlier, which doesn’t uses any business intelligence or analytics, the firm is still in the process of getting point of sales systems all outlets, from all details of stores all over the country nothing is collected and put into a common system or linked. The summary of our analysis based on the seven-factor model is given in Table 1. As per the methodology I used the qualitative analysis As shown by the summary of the analysis, it is clear that all large-scale supermarket sector companies use and utilize BI and analytics for a considerable scale, hence their sufficiently ready for the analytics world. However, the world is now moving in to the world of “big data”, which is largely characterized by unstructured data and, investigating the readiness of these companies for analytics in the big data world would be an interesting future research that extend this study. Our study indicates that except “Firm3”, the other firms are not ready to analyze big data yet.
Role of the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kelaniya in LIS Educational sector in Sri Lanka
(Sri Lanka Library Association, 2009) Ranasinghe, P.; Weerasooriya, W.A.; Suraweera, S.A.D.H.N.
Sri Lanka National Bibliography: a historical and critical study
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Ranasinghe, P.
A study related to information services in respect of the coconut industry of Sri Lanka and the manner in which the relevant industrialists use such services
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Senevirathna, R.A.P.S.; Ranasinghe, P.
There is no field that could be seen inhuman activities where ―Information‖ is not considered as important. Exchange of information services and communication are essential factor for the existence of services namely Health Services, Agriculture, Banking Field, Industries and Education. The mechanism of the required services should be activated through Libraries, Information Centers and Information Officers. When the coconut industry is considered, it appears that the need of information by the people engage in the industry is ample. Industrialists require information regarding the export market, Local and foreign prices, market economy and the demand for productions, packing details and more information about machinery and transport charges. Accordingly, it is important to examine about the information provided towards the community engaged in the coconut industry by the Coconut Development Authority which is only institution authorized to give information regarding the industry. The objective of this study is to ascertain as to what are the information services provided by the Coconut Development Authority and its library at present towards the community engaged in the industry and how the industrialists in the field make use of such information. Coconut Development Authority was selected as the sample being the main institution for the industry. Data were collected from the Information Officers, The Librarian and 200 people who are engaged in the coconut industry through questionnaires and by interviews when considered necessary. It was made clear that information is given to industrialists through many sources such as the website of the Coconut Development Authority, Industrialists publications, Field officers and Advisors, Industrial fairs, Exhibitions, Training and awareness programs, Newspaper articles and Advertisements and Telephone inquiries. It was concluded that information provided by the website of the Coconut Development Authority, Institutional publications, Advisors and Field officers, Training programs, Telephone inquiries, Newspaper articles and Advertisements is used by the industrialists and that they get information through Exhibition, Industrial fairs, Seminars and Meetings constantly but that they do not make use of the services of the library to get information. The present information services should be updated and its mechanism should be further developed. Information provided by the website should be updated constantly while the industrialists should be encouraged and guided to gain information through Exhibitions, Industrial fairs, Seminars and Meetings. It could be proposed that the information services provided by the library should be further developed and new types of information services should also be encourage to use the services of the library.
Understanding drug likeness of novel compound Fucoxanthin derivative isolated from Chnoospora minima
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Bandaranayake, U.; Samarakoon, K. W.; Ranasinghe, P.; Peiris, L. D. C.
Non-communicable diseases pose an ever-increasing burden to many worldwide, regardless of gender, age, and nationality. In Sri Lanka, type 2 diabetes is prevalent due to the rapid transition of lifestyles, unhealthy dietary changes, and population demographic changes, which could be why the epidemic is escalating in South Asia. Advances in chemical biology have expanded the understanding of the marine environment as a diverse source of important bioactive compounds. These organisms include animals, microorganisms, and, most importantly, marine algae. Previously, a derivative of Fucoxanthin has been successfully isolated from Marine algae Chnoospora minima, and this study characterizes and studies the compound computationally using in-silico solubility, toxicity, and molecular docking studies. The compound was drawn using ChemDraw (version 12.0) and was energy minimized using Chem3Dpro (version 12.0). The energy-minimized structure was used in further analysis. Toxicity and aqueous solubility predictions were conducted using OSIRIS Property Explorer. The solubility was expressed in mol/l, and the value of the corresponding log was -6.17. Nearly 80% of the drugs on the market have an estimated logS value greater than -4. Therefore, the compound displays a lower solubility. The partition coefficient of the compound was predicted in cLogP value, which was -8.91. Chemical Property prediction such as half-life, AMES toxicity, and degradation patterns of the compound was made using the EPIsuite (version 4.11). The compound was deemed nontoxic and had a half-life of 14.603 Min. The compound was classified as recalcitrant in terms of bio-degradation. Auto dock tools (version 4.2.0) were used for molecular docking studies against human pancreatic α-amylase and α-glucosidase proteins, and the binding energies were -6.56 kcal/mol and -4.83 kcal/mol, respectively. The ligand formed hydrogen bonds with the protein residue of α-amylase, Arg92, and Asn250, and the residues Pro690, Arg696, and Leu811 were essential for α-glucosidase and ligand binding. The docking procedure was repeated for both proteins with the known drug Acarbose as the ligand. For α-amylase protein binding energy was -4.08 kcal/mol and for α-glucosidase protein binding energy was -3.40 kcal/mol. The data suggest that the novel ligand shows high suitability as a drug based on docking studies. The data suggest that the novel compound could be developed into a herbal supplement against type- 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
පොතමුල ශාන්තිය
(University of Kelaniya, 2009) Ranasinghe, P.
ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ කාන්තා ශ‍්‍රමබලකා සහභාගීත්වය හා එහි ප‍්‍රවනතා
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Ranasinghe, P.