92 research outputs found
Evaluation of in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of five selected marine sponges against denaturation of protein-A pilot study
No full textBackground: Marine sponges are well renowned for producing bioactive secondary metabolites with drug leads. Screening of anti-inflammatory compounds from marine sponges is highly appreciated in the field of marine pharmacognosy due to their effectiveness and specificity over the most of synthetic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In vitro models to test anti-inflammatory activity are considered obligatory prior to pre-clinical studies.
Objective: To evaluate in vitro anti-inflammatory effect of crude extracts of five marine sponge samples (N=5), collected from Dehiwala, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Methodology: Identification of sponge species were based on morphology, spicule and skeleton analysis, using light microscopy. Each sponge crude extract (SCE) was tested for selected zoo- chemicals and against the denaturation of albumin to assess the anti-inflammatory activity. Diclofenac sodium was used as the reference drug.
Results: Sponge samples were identified as 1) Stylissa sp, 2) Stylissa carteri, 3) Axinella sp., 4) Phakellia sp. and 5) Family Axinellidae. Zoo-chemical analysis indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, and sterols in sponge extracts in varying degree. Heat induced egg albumin denaturation was inhibited by 4 SCEs specifying marked anti-inflammatory activity. Accordingly, the 3 sponge crude extracts were more potent (IC50 = 22.74 for Sp. 02, 3.98 for Sp. 03 and 63.665μgmL -1for Sp. 05) than the of standard reference drug, Diclofinac sodium (IC50=147.02 μg/mL). Conclusions: Thus, the present study for the first time investigated in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of crude extract of 5 selected marine sponge species from Sri Lanka, out of which 3 were more potent than the reference diclofenac sodium. Therefore, isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds which are responsible for anti- inflammatory activity will lead to discover novel marine derived anti-inflammatory drugs in the future
Factors Affecting the Purchase Intention of Cruelty-Free Cosmetics: with special reference to Women Consumers in Colombo District, Sri Lanka
No full textThe power which consumers belong, have precipitately identified, and have a faith that consumers can commute the existing purchasing style, accordingly several companies have gathered the knowledge of practicing ethically and have gathered the knowledge of it to build up business strategies. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that affect the purchase intention of cruelty-free cosmetics with special reference to women consumers in Colombo district Sri Lanka. To delve into this matter, five independent variables and a dependent variable were developed, specifically financial factor, social media, attitude, altruism, environmental knowledge (Independent Variables) and purchase intention (Dependent Variable). To reach the purpose of this study, the deductive approach was escorted by the quantitative method with a developed conceptual frame to test the hypothesis. The population of the study comprised of Colombo district’s female cosmetic consumers where nonprobability sampling technique was used considering convenience to reach sources and time constraints. Data collection was done by using a questionnaire survey. Accordingly, data was gathered from 202 respondents and analysed using quantitative analysis techniques with the help of IBM SPSS software. In the process of preparing data for the analysis, normality, linearity, validity, reliability, multicollinearity, and the correlation of data were checked. According to the findings none of these factors: financial factor, social media, attitude, altruism, and environment knowledge do not influence the purchase intention of cruelty-free cosmetic products. The findings of this study will not be able to generalize into Sri Lanka because this study was limited to the Colombo district.
Keywords: Purchase intention, Cruelty-free cosmetics, Consumer behaviour, ethical consumptio
Integrating Indicators in Agricultural Vulnerability Assessment to Climate Change
No full textAbstract
Climate change stands as one of the most pressing challenges confronting global ecosystems and human livelihoods. The agriculture sector of Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka, well renowned for its pivotal role in the nation’s food production, faces an increasing threat from the changing climate. This study aims to incorporate the indicator system method which uses a set of indicators to assess the agricultural vulnerability (AV) to climate change in Anuradhapura district. The AV assessment used in this study involves three principal components exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The indicators are normalized to allow spatial analysis and smooth integration within a geographic information system (GIS) framework. The AV of Anuradhapura district ranged from 0.32 to 0.67 and was divided among five levels very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The findings suggest that Anuradhapura’s agricultural sector was significantly impacted by climate change as the majority of the total area was found to have very high, high, and moderate levels of AV with 25, 28, and 24%, respectively. The results obtained from this study are essential for formulating plans to improve Anuradhapura’s agricultural sector resilience and adaptability to ensure food security and livelihood sustainability considering the ever-changing climate.Abstract
Climate change stands as one of the most pressing challenges confronting global ecosystems and human livelihoods. The agriculture sector of Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka, well renowned for its pivotal role in the nation’s food production, faces an increasing threat from the changing climate. This study aims to incorporate the indicator system method which uses a set of indicators to assess the agricultural vulnerability (AV) to climate change in Anuradhapura district. The AV assessment used in this study involves three principal components exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The indicators are normalized to allow spatial analysis and smooth integration within a geographic information system (GIS) framework. The AV of Anuradhapura district ranged from 0.32 to 0.67 and was divided among five levels very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The findings suggest that Anuradhapura’s agricultural sector was significantly impacted by climate change as the majority of the total area was found to have very high, high, and moderate levels of AV with 25, 28, and 24%, respectively. The results obtained from this study are essential for formulating plans to improve Anuradhapura’s agricultural sector resilience and adaptability to ensure food security and livelihood sustainability considering the ever-changing climate
Flow alterations due a constructed reservoir in the Menik Ganga basin, Sri Lanka
No full textAbstract
Natural water flows and their ecosystems are altered due to manmade hydraulic structures like dams. However, limited research on hydrologic alteration has been carried out in developing countries. This research explores the hydrologic alterations which occurred in the Menik Ganga basin, Sri Lanka due to the Weheragala reservoir constructed in 2009 for inter basin transfer. The hydrologic variations of the flow regime due to the construction of the reservoir was analyzed using Indicators of Hydrologic Alterations (IHA). For this purpose, we compared the calculated IHAs for streamflow at the Kataragama station (located downstream of Weheragala) during pre-construction (1990–2009) and post construction (2010–2019) periods. Also, the IHAs of simulated flows from the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model during 2010–2019 was compared with observed gauge discharge during the same period. The monthly observed flows in the “Maha” rainfall season (September to March) demonstrated a decreasing trend in post dam period with respect to pre dam period (highest decrease of 77 m3/s during October), whilst it showed an increasing trend (highest increase of 5 m3/s during August) in the Yala season (May to August) in the post-reservoir construction scenario. This was further visualized by comparing the indicators of the simulated flows with observed for post reservoir period, in which highest percentage differences occurred in June (− 4000% in 2016) and November (− 300% in 2010) for Yala and Maha periods respectively. Large alterations of the river flow due to the impoundment depicted by higher percentage differences. These alterations are extensively examined by other indicators as well. The fluctuations of flows have been decreased due to the construction of the reservoir which resulted in reductions of low and high pulses. The results are highly appealing to the authorities who are in water resources management to reach sustainable goals.Abstract
Natural water flows and their ecosystems are altered due to manmade hydraulic structures like dams. However, limited research on hydrologic alteration has been carried out in developing countries. This research explores the hydrologic alterations which occurred in the Menik Ganga basin, Sri Lanka due to the Weheragala reservoir constructed in 2009 for inter basin transfer. The hydrologic variations of the flow regime due to the construction of the reservoir was analyzed using Indicators of Hydrologic Alterations (IHA). For this purpose, we compared the calculated IHAs for streamflow at the Kataragama station (located downstream of Weheragala) during pre-construction (1990–2009) and post construction (2010–2019) periods. Also, the IHAs of simulated flows from the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model during 2010–2019 was compared with observed gauge discharge during the same period. The monthly observed flows in the “Maha” rainfall season (September to March) demonstrated a decreasing trend in post dam period with respect to pre dam period (highest decrease of 77 m3/s during October), whilst it showed an increasing trend (highest increase of 5 m3/s during August) in the Yala season (May to August) in the post-reservoir construction scenario. This was further visualized by comparing the indicators of the simulated flows with observed for post reservoir period, in which highest percentage differences occurred in June (− 4000% in 2016) and November (− 300% in 2010) for Yala and Maha periods respectively. Large alterations of the river flow due to the impoundment depicted by higher percentage differences. These alterations are extensively examined by other indicators as well. The fluctuations of flows have been decreased due to the construction of the reservoir which resulted in reductions of low and high pulses. The results are highly appealing to the authorities who are in water resources management to reach sustainable goals
Carbon footprint analysis of construction activities in Sri Lanka: an input-output table
No full textThe construction industry is one of the major contributors that emits carbon into the environment. When considering the carbon emission in the local context, even though there are Input-Output Tables (IOTs) that applies to all types of industries in Sri Lanka, there seems to be limited focuses on IOTs specifically relating to the construction activities which is vital for the need due to its outstanding contribution to the carbon footprint of Sri Lanka. Hence, this study aims to calculate the carbon footprint construction activities in Sri Lanka using IOT with a bottom-up approach. The required data were extracted from published documents of Survey of Construction Industry by Census and Statistics, and The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) database of UK. Carbon footprint of construction activities were calculated using IOT with a bottom-up approach. The analysis revealed that the road and railway sector have the highest contribution of 48% to the monetary value of the construction industry meanwhile it accounts for 44% of the highest carbon emission to the atmosphere in the year 2020. Subsequently, activities related to non-residential residential, and utilities contribute to 20%, 15%, and 12% of total carbon emission respectively. In terms of construction materials, cement-based activities (59%) were the highest contributor while rubble and metal-based (23%), and iron and steel-based activities (17%) were next level contributors to the carbon emission due to construction. The analysis concluded that the as the initiatives, public sector projects including road and railway sector and utilities should integrate more sustainable construction practices as they are responsible for more than 50% of carbon emission
The interaction between glycemic index, glycemic load, and the genetic variant ADIPOQ T45G (rs2241766) in the risk of colorectal cancer: a case–control study in a Korean population
No full text© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.Purpose: The glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL), and adiponectin level contribute to glycemic response and insulin sensitivity in the body. Studies have shown that tumor development is related to glycemic disorders; however, the results are contradictory. We aimed to investigate the association of GI and GL with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in a Korean population and their possible interactions with the genetic variant ADIPOQ T45G. Methods and results: A case–control study including 2096 participants with 695 CRC cases was conducted. The results showed that diets with high GI or GL were significantly associated with an increased risk of CRC [odds ratio (OR) = 5.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.85–7.68; OR = 4.43, 95% CI 3.18–6.15, respectively; all p-trends < 0.001]. Moreover, even with a low-GI and low-GL diet, G/G genotype carriers may have 2.93-fold and 3.77-fold higher risk of rectal cancer compared to carriers of other genotypes (T/T + T/G), (OR = 2.93, 95% CI 1.01–8.59, p-interaction = 0.011 for GI; OR = 3.77, 95% CI 1.46–9.77, p-interaction = 0.025 for GL). Conclusions: Overall, our study suggests positive associations of GI and GL with CRC risk. Moreover, the associations of GI and GL with rectal cancer risk could be modified by ADIPOQ T45G in a Korean population. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.N
Impact of Climate Change and Variability on Spatiotemporal Variation of Forest Cover; World Heritage Sinharaja Rainforest, Sri Lanka
No full textRainforests are continuously threatened by various anthropogenic activities. In addition, the ever-changing climate severely impacts the world’s rainforest cover. The consequences of these are paid back to human at a higher cost. Nevertheless, little or no significant attention was broadly given to this critical environmental issue. The World Heritage Sinharaja Rainforest in Sri Lanka is originating news on its forest cover due to human activities and changing climates. The scientific analysis is yet to be presented on the related issues. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive study on the possible impact on the Sinharaja Rainforest due to changing climate. Landsat images with measured rainfall data for 30 years were assessed and the relationships are presented. Results showcased that the built-up areas have drastically been increased over the last decade in the vicinity and the declared forest area. The authorities found the issues are serious and a sensitive task to negotiate in conserving the forest. The rainfall around the forest area has not shown significant trends over the years. Therefore, the health of forest cover was not severely impacted. Nevertheless, six cleared-up areas were found inside the Singaraja Rainforest under no human interactions. This can be due to a possible influence from the changing climate. This was justified by the temporal variation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) assessments over these six cleared-up areas. Therefore, the World Heritage rainforest is threatened due to human activities and under the changing climate change. Hence, the conservation of the Sinharaja Rainforest would be challenging in the future
Soil Carbon Sequestration and Nutrient Status of Different Landuse Types in Knuckles Mountain Range, Sri Lanka
No full textCarbon can be stored in carbon pools for long periods of time through carbon sequestration.Vegetation, soil, ocean and atmosphere are the main sinks for storage of carbon. Amongthem, soil is a significant C sink that absorbs more C than the others. This study aimed atassessing the potential of soil carbon sequestration in selected landuse types in the Knucklesmountain range, where a variety of climatic conditions and landuse types exist. Montaneforests (MF), sub-montane forests (SMF), open and sparse forests (OSF) and grasslands (GL)were selected for the study. In addition to C sequestration, the soil nutrient levels of theselanduse types were also assessed. Soil samples were collected from each landuse type fromtwo depths (0-15 cm and 15-30 cm) and analysed for soil moisture content, soil pH andconductivity, bulk density, total organic carbon (TOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC),labile carbon (LC), water soluble carbon (WSC) and soil available macro nutrients (NO3-,NH4+,K,Ca,Mg). Results showed that TOC content was significantly highest in MF andlowest in OSF and GL. The montane forests also recorded higher MBC, LC and WSCcontents (0.14%, 715.2 mg/kg, 0.46% respectively) compared to other studied landuse types.Open and Sparse forests showed the highest NO3- level (0.89 mg/kg) and the highest NH4+level (5.79×10-5 mg/kg) was recorded in MF. The lowest levels of NO3- and NH4+ (0.3 mg/kgand 2.6×10-5 mg/kg) were recorded in GL and OSF respectively. Both Ca and Mg contentswere significantly high in MF. Soil C stocks varied significantly (p<0.05) among theselanduse types, where MF recorded the highest soil C stock of 126.7 t/ha in top soil layer (0-15 cm). Carbon stocks of other three vegetation types SM, OS and GL were 122.4, 98.5 and99.1 t/ha, respectively. The results showed that MF and SM forests have the greater ability ofsequestering C compared to other studied landuse types in the Knuckles mountain range.Keywords: Soil carbon sequestration, Carbon stocks, Nutrients, Knuckles fores
Effects of Mineral Layer Inversion on the Hydrology and Grass Yield of a Cultivated Peat Soil
No full textIn the Nordic countries, some peatlands have been drained and cultivated with grass for animal husbandry. However, there is a challenge for agronomy due to high water content and poor trafficability, while improved drainage can lead to peat degradation. On the Norwegian west coast, we studied the effects of conventional pipe drainage and peat inversion, as a new drainage method to find improved solutions for farming while minimising peat degradation. In the peat inversion method, mineral soil excavated from below the peat is used to form a 0.5–1 m layer on top of peat. Peat inversion was carried out in a 3.5 ha field which was earlier drained with subsurface pipes, while the adjacent 2.7 ha field remained with subsurface pipes placed at 8 m spacing and 1.3 m deep. On adjacent grass-cultivated peatlands we compared water table (WT), volumetric water content (VWC), soil temperature and dry matter yield (DMY) over the period 2014–2019. The mean WT was lower (p < 0.001) in the inverted field, at -93 ± 62 cm compared to -53 ± 40 cm in the pipe-drained field. In the inverted field, soils were drier and frost was observed earlier and lasted longer due to the presence of the mineral topsoil. The mean VWC at 0–5 cm depth in the pipe-drained field was 47.4 ± 16.9 % v/v, which was higher (p < 0.001) than in the inverted field where the values were 28.6 ± 10.4 and 30.9 ± 10.7 % v/v, depending on mineral soil thickness. However, there was no difference (p = 0.775) in mean soil temperature at 0–5 cm depth between inverted and pipe-drained fields. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between DMY data collected from 2015 to 2018 in the inverted field (11.6 ± 2.32 t ha^-1^ yr^-1^) and the pipe-drained field (10.4 ± 1.22 t ha^-1^ yr^-1^) as well as a significant interaction between rainfall and drainage type (p < 0.001). Our study indicates that peat inversion lowers the WT and VWC and increases DMY. These findings provide a first estimate on the effects of this alternative drainage option for peatland agriculture in parts of western Norway receiving high precipitation
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