Browsing by Author "Weerakoon, T."

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Determination of variation components of harvested rice seeds grown in selected areas of four grama niladari divisions in North Central Province
(Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, 2018 Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Weerakoon, T.; Jayawardane, B. M.
During the last two decades, alarmingly high incidences of kidney failure and some associated deaths have become very significant in certain parts of Madawachchiya district and Uva Province and North Central Province. Since rice is the staple food of Sri Lankans, identification of variation components in rice seeds will be beneficial. Hence, this study aimed to find variation components in rice seeds grown in areas severely affected and not affected by Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in the North Central Province. After having a discussion with the farmers, rice seed samples of Bg 355 was collected from four grama niladari divisions, Karambankulama, Unagaswewa, Angunachchiya and Kirgollewa. Three samples from each division were randomly collected from different paddy fields which were treated with Compo and M-60 weedicides and the collected samples were stored for 6 months. Certain components of rice seeds such as starch, total flavonoids, free amino acids, crude fiber and crude protein content of rice seeds were tested. Free amino acids was analyzed by Moore and Stein method, flavonoids by Aluminum Chloride colorimetric method, crude fiber was analyzed by filtration method, starch by iodine test and crude protein amount was analyzed by Kjeldahal method. Triplicates (n=3) were done for each assay for each division. Since added fertilizer is common for all the samples, components which vary depend only on the geographical location within the province. Statistical analysis was done using Mini tab 18 version. According to statistical analysis, free amino acids and crude fiber content in Bg 355 rice seeds were comparatively higher in Kirigollewa (0.6750 ± 0.0636) and Angunachchiya (0.6600 ± 0.0283) areas severely affected by CKDu compared to Unagaswewa (0.3950 ± 0.0212) and Karambankulama (0.3800 ± 0.0141) areas less affected by CKDu. Total flavonoids were lesser in rice seeds in Kirigollewa (0.055 ± 0.007) and Angunachchiya (0.075 ± 0.007) areas severely affected by CKDu when compared to Unagaswewa (0.155 ± 0.007) and Karambankulama (0.135 ± 0.007) areas less affected by CKDu. Contents of starch and crude protein amount, does not show any significant difference related to CKDu affected and nonaffected areas. Therefore, this analysis suggests that free amino acids, total flavonoids and crude fiber contents in rice seeds vary depending on the geographical location within the North Central Province. Further experiments in different areas and geographical locations are needed to confirm the variation of these components depending on the geographical location.
Sural nerve involvement in patients with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy variant of Guillain-Barre syndrome with sural sparing at initial presentation
(Association of Sri Lankan Neurologists, 2023) Munasinghe, H.; Gunasekara, S.; Gunarathne, K.; Senanayake, B.; Mohotti, S.; Weerakoon, T.; Wanniarachchi, S.; Ravindra, S.; Ponnamperuma, M.; Wijayawardhana, S.
INTRODUCTION: Neurophysiological testing is a valuable tool in the diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Sural sparing is a usual feature of acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) type GBS. However, sural involvement has been reported in later stages of GBS. It is important to identify patterns of sural nerve involvement to differentiate GBS from its mimickers and to stage the disease. This research aimed to detect the pattern of sural nerve involvement in AIDP-GBS cases with normal electrophysiological responses in the sural nerve at the beginning. OBJECTIVES: To determine the location and timing of sural nerve involvement in AIDP-GBS. METHODS: This prospective follow up study included diagnosed cases of AIDP-GBS with preserved bilateral sural responses. Nerve conduction and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) were done on admission and weekly thereafter for four consecutive weeks. The last evaluation was done four weeks after the fourth study. RESULTS: All patients (100%) showed normal distal sural responses over the initial four weeks of follow up. They continued to remain normal up to eight weeks in eight patients (53.3%). Two patients had gradual prolongation of their sural SSEP on consecutive studies. One of them had gradual reduction of sural sensory nerve action potential and nerve conduction velocity along with the prolongation of sural SSEP latencies. The difference of SSEP latency increments in the left sural nerve of these two patients was statistically significant (p<0.05). The right sural SSEP latency difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: Sparing of the distal sural sensory response was demonstrated in 100% of AIDP-GBS cases during the first four weeks of follow up. More than 50% of the cohort demonstrated preserved sural sensory responses for eight weeks from the initial presentation. Two out of fifteen patients showed statistically significant proximal sural sensory pathway involvement with increasing SSEP latencies. This finding suggests that in some patients, the sural sensory pathway may get affected at its proximal segments or at the central nervous system before the distal nerve is affected.