263,070 research outputs found

    A pervasive technology solution for supporting diabetes self-care

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    To date, the adoption and diffusion of technology-enabled solutions to deliver better healthcare has been slow. There are many reasons for this. One of the most significant is that existing methodologies that are normally used in general for information communication technology (ICT) implementations tend to be less successful in a healthcare context. This chapter describes a knowledge-based adaptive mapping to realization methodology that provides a means to traverse from idea to realization rapidly and yet without compromising rigor so that success ensues. It is discussed in connection with trying to implement superior ICT-enabled approaches for facilitating superior chronic disease management.Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Indrit Troshani and Steve Goldber

    Rhinophis erangaviraji Wickramasinghe, Vidanapathirana, Wickramasinghe & Ranwella, 2009, sp. nov.

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    <i>Rhinophis erangaviraji</i> sp. nov. <p>Figs. 3–12.</p> <p> <b>Holotype:</b> NMSL 20080601, adult male 214 mm SVL, Enselwatte Estate, Sinharaja Division (Army Camp Forest), Rakwana hills, Matara District, Southern Province (N 06º 23', E 080º 36'), 1042 m. Coll. Dulan Vidanapathirana, Nayanaka Ranwella and L. J. M. Wickramasinghe. 5 December, 2007.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes:</b> NMSL 20080602, adult female 291 mm SVL; NMSL 20080603, adult male 204 mm SVL; NMSL 20080604, adult female 241 mm SV; NMSL 20080605, small male 103 mm SVL. Collection data as for holotype.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis:</b> The new species is distinguished morphologically from the congener it resembles most closely, <i>R. blythii</i>, by the following characters: 146–157 (vs 159–165) paravertebral scales; 142–154 (vs 155–162) ventral scales (Table 2); dorsal and lateral surface of head black (vs dark brown with dorsal yellow ‘V’, Fig 5 & 6); ventrally black zigzag pattern on yellow background (vs each ventral scale anterior blackish brown and posterior light brown, with brownish tint throughout ventrally, Fig 7); no ring-like pattern at the base of the tail (vs yellow ring at base of tail, Fig 8, 9); caudal shield with one axis of symmetry, narrower anteriorly (vs shield oval, with two axes of symmetry, Fig 10); anal region and under side of tail black (vs anal region whitish brown, underside of tail dark brown, Fig 11).</p> <p> <i>Rhinophis erangaviraji</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> differs from, <i>R. dorsimaculatus</i>, <i>R. oxyrhynchus</i>, <i>R. porrectus</i> and, <i>R. punctatus</i> by having a smooth rostral (vs strongly ridged above); 142–154 ventrals (vs 238, 211–227, 281, and 236–246 ventrals, respectively); total length 300 mm (vs 350 mm, 573 mm, 350 mm, and 390 mm, respectively); moderate sized tail shield (vs large shield). Differs from <i>R. oxyrhynchus, R. porrectus,</i> and <i>R. punctatus</i> by having a shorter rostral, about one third (vs about one half) length of the dorsal head shield scales. Differs from <i>R. homolepis</i> and <i>R. tricoloratus</i> by smooth rostral (vs slightly ridged above); fewer ventrals (vs 180–204 and 163–175, respectively); moderate sized tail shield (vs large shield). Differs from <i>R. drummondhayi</i> by fewer ventrals (vs 173–191); moderate sized shield (vs small shield). Differs from <i>R. philippinus</i> by having generally fewer ventrals (vs 153–182 ventrals); moderate sized tail shield (vs large shield); and yellow markings (vs no yellow).</p> <p> The three Indian species of <i>Rhinophis</i> differ from the new species as follows: <i>R. fergusonianus</i> has more ventrals (180), <i>R. sanguineus</i> has more ventrals (182–218) and 15 costal scale rows at midbody, and <i>R. travancoricus</i> has fewer ventrals (132–146) and lacks yellow markings on the body (confined to tail). As far as is known, no species of uropeltid snake occur in both India and Sri Lanka (Cadle <i>et al</i>., 1990; McDiarmid <i>et al</i>., 1999; Bossuyt <i>et al</i>., 2004).</p> <p> <b>Description of holotype</b>: Robust snake; snout-vent length (SVL) 214 mm; body elongate (SVL/BW ratio 21.70); head narrow; snout pointed; nostril small, smaller than the eye, situated at the anterior of nasal scale; eye small, diameter about one third of ocular shield; neck not obvious; tail short (SVL/TL 22.43). Rostral unkeeled, slightly compressed, shorter than frontal and parietal (FL/RL 1.19, PL2/RL 1.26), longer than nasals, prefrontals, and ocular (RL/NL 1.46, RL/ PFL 1.80, RL/AOW 1.14), about one third length of head (HL/RL 3.18); nasals completely separated by rostral, larger than prefrontal, smaller than ocular, frontal and parietal (NL/PFL 1.23, AOW/NL 1.27, FL/NL 1.74, PL1/NL 1.53, PL2/NL 1.84), anterior, lower, posterior, and upper edges touching rostral, 1st and 2nd supralabial, and prefrontal respectively; prefrontals contact frontal, ocular, 2nd and 3rd supralabials; frontal long (FL/FW2 1.37), touching parietals and oculars; ocular as long as wide, longer than prefrontal (AOW/PFL 1.57), shorter than parietal lengths 1 and 2 (AOW/PL1 1.35, AOW/PL2 0.69); ocular contacts parietal, 3rd and 4th supralabials; parietal similar in length to frontal (FL/PL2 0.95), contacting 4th supralabial and interparietal; interparietal slightly longer than wide, similar in length to nasal (NL/IPL 0.95); four supralabials, in size order 1st<2nd<3rd<4th, 4th four times as long as 1st; mental triangular, no mental grove, width greater than length, smaller than infralabials, touching 1st infralabial and postmental; postmental single, 1st pair of infralabial separated by postmental; three infralabials, second largest, third smallest; costals smooth, costal row counts 19, 17, 17; 155 paravertebral scales; 151 ventrals, each approximately twice as wide as long; preanal wider than length, equal in size to ventrals (PRW/WVA20 0.98); anal divided/paired, larger than preanal (AW/PRW 1.88); nine subcaudals, all entire; caudal shield suboval, with one axis of symmetry, anterior narrower than posterior, conical and blunt tip, ten scales around shield. (Tables 1, 2).</p> <p> <i>Rhinophis erangaviraji Rhinophis blythii</i></p> <p>Holotype Paratype Paratype Paratype</p> <p> 20080601 20080602 20080603 20080604 20081501 20081502 20081503 20081504 PARA 154 156 146 155 158 163 160 165 SASH 10 13 12 12 11 10 9 12 SUBC 9 6 8 5 5 5 4 6 VEN 149 152 140 151 153 162 157 156 <b>Colour in life:</b> Head black with yellow irregular spots. Lower margin of supralabials bright yellow. Eye black, rounded pupil not prominent. Dorsal body black, lower margins of costal scales with small irregular yellow spots. Lateral surface of body with canary yellow, scalloped stripe from gape to just behind anterior of tail shield. Scalloped nature prominent in first third of stripe, and close to vent, stripe less prominent on middle of body, ends in straight line on tail. Scalloping of lateral stripe extends onto ventral surface of body. Tail pitch except laterally. Shield black, with very small spines trapping small grains of sand and mud giving it a brownish tint.</p> <p> <b>Colour in alcohol:</b> Colour pattern remains unchanged. Pupil changes to yellowish white. Black on dorsum changes to dark brown, bright yellow to off white.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes and variations:</b> Subcaudals divided in all paratypes. However, about 75% of nearly 40 other (living and dead) specimens examined had entire subcaudals. A summary of the morphological and morphometric data of the paratypes is given in Table 1. Small <i>R. erangaviraji</i> have been found readily during October to January. The colour pattern of these younger animals is as in adults, with overall paler colours but a much darker head (Fig 12). Paratype NMSL20080604 has seven maxillary and seven mandibular teeth on each side.</p> <p> <b>Etymology:</b> Named for the late Mr. Eranga Viraj Dayarathne, an Instructor of the Reptiles group of the Young Zoologists’ Association of Sri Lanka, Department of National Zoological Gardens. A man who showed love and kindness to nature, and quiet yet effective service to Sri Lankan reptiles and their conservation. Suggested vernacular names: <i>Eranga Virajge thudulla, Eranga Virajvin nilakael pambu, Eranga Viraj’s shieldtail snake</i> (or <i>Eranga Viraj's</i> Rhinophis) in Sinhala, Tamil, and English respectively.</p> <p> <b>Comparison:</b> Apart from the listed diagnostic characters, <i>R. erangaviraji</i> can be distinguished further from all other Sri Lankan congeners in details of its colour pattern. <i>Rhinophis dorsimaculatus</i> has a broad orange, middorsal vertebral stripe (vs black dorsal body colour); <i>R. drummondhayi</i> has a dappled brown and white or pale yellow venter (vs black with yellow), a whitish (vs black) anal region and a yellow-white ring at the base of the tail (vs absent); <i>R. homolepis</i> has a white/yellow collar behind the head (vs dorsal surface of neck black), white/yellow triangular (apex pointed upwards) markings along body (vs scalloped yellow stripe), yellow anal (vs black), and pale yellow ring at base of tail (vs absent); <i>R. oxyrhynchus</i> has a uniformly brown dorsal colour (vs black), pale brown to yellow or whitish venter (vs black with yellow), and yellow anal (vs black); <i>R. philippinus</i> has a purplish-black dorsum (vs black) and lateral and ventral surface of body (vs black with yellow markings); <i>R. porrectus</i> and <i>R. punctatus</i> have a whitish venter (vs black), and a narrow dark dorsal stripe (vs no stripe); <i>R. tricoloratus</i> has a yellow to yellow-brown venter (vs black with yellow markings), gray to brown dorsum (vs black), yellow to whitish yellow anal (vs black), and a yellowish ring at base of tail (vs absent).</p> <p> <b>Habitat, Ecology and Conservation:</b> <i>Rhinophis erangaviraji</i> and <i>R. blythii</i> are allopatric, with the former known only from the Rakwana massif and the latter from the Central Hills, of Sri Lanka. <i>Rhinophis erangaviraji</i> can be found without difficulty in loose soil in shady areas, up to 1 m deep, under leaf litter in drainage ditches in tea estates, home gardens, and grasslands, but is also relatively commonly seen within the natural forest habitat of Rakwana. At night these snakes can be seen in the leaf litter. Probable conservation threats to this species are habitat loss, and deterioration caused by agriculture (especially tea), including the use of agrochemicals. Forest fires started by humans during the dry season are another threat, as indicated by many dead specimens being found after these fires. Road kills have also been observed.</p>Published as part of <i>Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., Vidanapathirana, Dulan Ranga, Wickramasinghe, Nethu & Ranwella, P. Nayanaka, 2009, A new species of Rhinophis Hemprich, 1820 (Reptilia: Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from Rakwana massif, Sri Lanka, pp. 1-22 in Zootaxa 2044</i> on pages 6-15, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/186405">10.5281/zenodo.186405</a&gt

    A pervasive wireless knowledge management solution to address urban health inequalities with indigenous Australians

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    A recent study by Adelaide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (Gallagher et al., In our own backyard: Urban health inequalities and Aboriginal experiences of neighbourhood life, social capital and racism, 2009) revealed some alarming findings concerning the health status of these groups. One of the key health areas that requires attention is that of chronic diseases in general and diabetes in particular. We propose using a wireless knowledge-based system developed by INET for enabling effective and efficient monitoring of patients with diabetes. We argue that systematic use of this solution can improve self-management and lead to positive healthcare outcomes. Key aspects of the wireless diabetes solution to facilitate self-management of diabetes patients are highlighted. Adoption facilitators and barriers, assessment criteria, and policy implications are discussed.Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Indrit Troshani and Steve Goldber

    Cnemaspis retigalensis Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.

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    <i>Cnemaspis retigalensis</i> sp. nov. <p> <b>Holotype</b>. NMSL 20061201, Adult male, 28.76 mm SVL, from Weweltenna, Retigala, Sri Lanka, (N 08º 06’ 40.3” E 080º 39’ 31.4”, elevation 710m), 30.10.2005, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and D. A. I. Munindradasa.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes</b>. NMSL 20061202, Adult female, 30.87 mm SVL; NMSL 20061203, Adult female, 26.56 mm; NMSL 20061204, Adult male 27.67 mm SVL. Date of Collection 27.08.2006, the same locality and collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe and Roshan Rodrigo.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> A small-sized <i>Cnemaspis</i> (snout to vent length 26–31 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; six supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at 7–8 supra labials; 30–32 interorbitals; throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 62–65; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; absence of groups of carinated large scales in dorsal body; presence of conical tubercles, larger than dorsal body scales on the lower part of flank; spine-like tubercles absent on flanks; scales on the thigh intermixed with the tricarinated form; gular scales smooth; midventrals 26–27; ventral smooth and imbricate; subcaudals slightly large; preanal pores absent; 3–4 femoral pores on each side; 11 subdigital lamellae and 3 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 6 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe.</p> <p> <b>Description of Holotype.</b> Adult male (figs. 5, 13B, 17B, 21B, 25B and 29B) snout to vent length 28.76 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HLJ 0.38), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.29), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.76), longer than the eye width (EW / SE 0.43). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.20). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.11), inter ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 2.87).</p> <p>Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being large in size to the nostril, and the other two are larger. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but equal or smaller than internasal and larger than the mid one. The head is covered with elongated, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. However, a group of large scales (still smaller than that on the snout) is located on upper interorbital area, and a set of very small scales are located in the parietal area. There are 30 interorbital scales of which mid scales are shorter and smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are slightly larger than upper interorbital scales. The nostril is oval, and is not connected with the supralabials. The nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 15 large, circular and elongated, smooth tubercle scales. There are seven supralabials at the base of the jaw, with six at the mid orbit point. The first supralabial is equal or small to the second and third. The rest becomes progressively small. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and all are of similar size. There are 62 dorsal tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spine-like tubercles are absent on flanks. The conical tubercles present on the lower part of flank are larger than dorsal body scales and the subconical scales present on the upper part of flank are slightly smaller than the above. The dorsal part of forelimb and hind limb is covered with a flushed and juxtaposed, comparatively large scales with a keel. The scales on the thigh are intermixed with the tricarinated form. The tail is covered with scales larger than the dorsal body and the ventrolateral margin possesses rounded tubercles larger than tail scales. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of rounded and pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are seven infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. There are 24–26 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are smooth, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are smooth. The mid ventral area consists of 26 scales, which are smooth, imbricate and smaller than the postmentals. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are smooth, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are four femoral pores and no preanal pores present. The preanal is smaller than anal scales. There are 70 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are slightly larger than the other scales in the tail or equal in size. Although the mid subcaudals are circular or overlapping diamond in shape, the lower border appears to be slightly elongated-diamond in shape. This feature becomes prominent towards the end of tail. The keels are absent in subcaudals. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>3>2>5>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.25.B.).</p> <p> <b>Colour in life.</b> The body colour in the dorsal side is light brown. There is a faded black transverse band on either upper interorbital area. A closed contour of black comprised of boundaries of internasal, loreal, upper interorbital and parietal areas and a ‘W’ shaped marking (with a light yellow patch in posterior ‘W’) on anterior neck is on the dorsal head. A black patch is present on the posterior neck. The supraciliaries are light yellow. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being luminous red. The lateral view of the head and neck consists of three black line segments (one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal boundary – both dorsally seen as part of the closed contour and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region) in a brownish yellow background with yellow spots in supralabial, lower jaw and lower neck areas. The ventral view of the throat is light grey with irregular yellow markings in ventral jaw. Three faded stripes are present on each lower and upper arm in a brownish yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,3,4 and 3 is present on fingers in a brownish yellow background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is light brown. The mid dorsal area of the body is light brown, with four faded ‘W’ marks between fore and hind limbs. The black spots in upper flank and yellow and back spots in lower flank are present in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is light grey with yellow irregular markings on ventrolateral margin of mid body. Three faded stripe are present on each femur and tibia in a brownish yellow background. The black stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a brownish yellow background. The ventral femur and tibia are light grey in colour with yellow scale boundaries. The original part of the tail is light grey, with 13 transverse marks of faded black, of which the mark at the base and the next are ‘W’ shaped, and next two are hourglass shaped, and the rest is straight. The ventral aspect of tail is grey.</p> <p> <b>Colour in alcohol.</b> All yellow in life is turned to white while the rest is conserved.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species epithet <i>retigalensis</i> is derived from Latin for “Retigala” referring to the forest where the species nov. is discovered. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are <i>Retigala diva huna, Retigala pahal palli</i> and <i>Retigala day gecko</i> in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>C. retigalensis</i> sp. nov. is congener with <i>C. kandiana</i> and <i>C. kumarasinghei</i> sp. nov. from morphological characters. However, <i>C. retigalensis</i> can easily be distinguished from <i>C. kandiana</i> by the absence of preanal pores and having smooth gula scales and, from <i>C. kumarasinghei</i> by absence of preanal pores and presence of scales on the thigh intermixed with the tricarinated form, and also from morphometric analysis. Specimens with yellow vertebra line are found rarely. <i>C. retigalensis</i> is often found in hill tops, on the lower 2m of trees and rocks.</p>Published as part of <i>Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1)</i> on pages 10-12, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5087387">http://zenodo.org/record/5087387</a&gt

    DiaMonD: Developing a diabetes monitoring device in the australian context

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    Diabetes is one of the leading chronic diseases affecting Australians and its prevalence continues to rise. Diabetes is therefore becoming a serious challenge for both the quality of healthcare and expenditure in the Australian healthcare system. The goal of this study is to investigate the development and application of DiaMonD – a diabetes monitoring device. Powered by pervasive technology software developed by INET, DiaMonD is a wireless enabled mobile phone that can facilitate superior diabetes selfmanagement. The development and application of DiaMonD using the Adaptive Mapping to Realisation methodology (AMR) methodology is examined in addition to an appraisal of key adoption facilitators and barriers in the Australian setting.Nilmini Wickramasinghe and Indrit Troshani, Steve Goldberghttp://aisel.aisnet.org/bled2010/26

    Cnemaspis samanalensis Mendis Wickramasinghe & Munindradasa 2007, sp. nov.

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    <i>Cnemaspis samanalensis</i> sp. nov. <p> <b>Holotype</b>. NMSL 20061501, Adult male, 36.91 mm SVL, from Samanala upper region, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, (N 06º 45’ 47.1” E 080º 29’ 30.1”, elevation 1430m), 11.02.2005, collected by L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe, Mahesh Chathuranga, D A I Munindradasa.</p> <p> <b>Paratypes</b>, NMSL 20061502, Adult male, 32.48 mm SVL; NMSL 20061503, Adult male, 34.37 mm; NMSL 20061504, Adult female 36.53 mm SVL; NMSL 20061505, Adult female 36.18 mm SVL, the same date, locality and collectors.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> A medium-sized <i>Cnemaspis</i> (snout to vent length 32–37 mm in an adult males), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils are not in contact with first supralabial; 6–7 supra labials to angle of mid-orbit position and end of jaw at nine supra labials; 32 interorbitals; 3–4 prominent conical tubercles behind ear; throat scales keels; dorsal tubercles 62–64; dorsal tubercles small, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal; intermixed with small groups of large tubercles (4–6 in a cluster) at the mid region of the body; lower part of flank with spinelike tubercles; upper part of flank with subconical-trihedral scales; gular scales keels; midventrals 32; ventral keels and imbricate; mid subcaudals small; 3–4 preanal pores; 3–4 femoral pores on each side; 11–12 subdigital lamellae and 4–5 basal lamellae in the 4 th finger; 12–13 subdigital lamellae and 7 basal lamellae in the 4 th toe.</p> <p> <b>Description of Holotype.</b> Adult male (figs. 6, 15A, 19A, 23A, 27A and 31A) snout to vent length 36.91 mm, head depressed and narrow (HD / HL 0.37), head elongated and large (HLJ / SVL 0.27), distinct from the neck. Snout long (SE / HW 0.73), longer than the eye width (EW / SE 0.39). Eye relatively large (EW / HLJ 0.18). Ear opening small (EL / HLJ 0.03), inter ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE / EW 3.27).</p> <p>Rostral is large with a groove penetrating 3/4 of the scale. There are three internasals, with the mid scale being large in size to the nostril, and the other two are larger. The supranasal and postnasal consist of one smooth circular scale each and are bigger than the nostril, but smaller than internasal and larger than the mid one. The head is covered with elongated, round, pentagonal or hexagonal shaped tubercle scales from snout to posterior margin of interorbital area and with small granulated scales up to the neck. The size of tubercle scales becomes progressively smaller from the snout to interorbital area. Similar sized scales are located in the upper and lower interorbital areas and, in the parietal area. There are 32 interorbital scales of which mid scales are shorter and smaller than that of outer. The supraciliaries are extremely larger than upper interorbital scales. The nostril is oval, and is not connected with the supralabials. The nostril and the first supralabial are separated by a postnasal. The loreal region is convex and is covered with 15 large, circular or elongated, smooth tubercle scales. There are nine supralabials at the base of the jaw, with six at the mid orbit point. The first, second, third and forth supralabials are usually equal. The rest becomes progressively small. The dorsal tubercles are smaller than the upper interorbitals and are rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, and are different in size. There are 64 dorsal tubercles, intermixed with small groups (4–6 in a cluster) of large, slightly carinated tubercles at the mid region of the body. The spine-like tubercles present on the lower part of flank are well prominent and larger than dorsal body scales and the subconical-trihedral scales present on the upper part of flank are slightly smaller than the above. The dorsal part of forelimb and hind limb is covered with flushed, comparatively large scales with a keel. The dorsal tail is covered with larger intermixed carinated and conical tubercles. The dorsal tail possesses a diminished grove. Two spine-like tubercles are present at the base of the tail. The mental scale is large and sub-triangular. A pair of pentagonal or hexagonal postmentals (smaller than the mental) is present on either side. The first postmental pair is separated by a small scale, and is connected with the first infralabial. The second postmental pair is smaller, and is connected with the first and second infralabials. There are eight infralabials towards the jaw end, with six of them towards the mid orbit point. The infralabials become progressively smaller in size towards the anterior end. The ear holes are oval shaped, bigger than nostrils, but smaller than eyes. Prominent 3–4 conical tubercles are present behind the ear. There are 20 scales between the eye and ear. The scales in the throat are having keels, rounded, pentagonal or hexagonal in shape, the anterior scales being larger than the posterior scales. The gular scales are having keels. The mid ventral area consists of 32 scales with keels, which are smaller than the postmentals. The scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs are having keels, with the scales in the hind limb being relatively larger than those of the forelimb. There are three femoral pores and three preanal pores present. The preanal are slightly larger than anal scales. There are 77 subcaudals. The mid subcaudals are equal in size with other scales in the tail. The mid subcaudals are elongated-overlapping-diamond in shape. The keels are present in subcaudals. The digits are slender, elongated and clawed. The distal sub-digital formulae include 4>3>5>2>1 (fingers) and 4>3>5>2>1 (toes) (Fig.27.A.).</p> <p> <b>Colour in life.</b> The body colour in the dorsal side is blackish brown. There is a yellow transverse band of which the anterior margin is black, on either upper interorbital area. A dark ‘W’ shaped marking with yellow bands on either arm is present in the anterior parietal area. A faded black ‘V’ shaped marking is present, originating from two angles of the ‘W’. A dark ‘W’ with a yellow patch penetrating in the middle, is present on the anterior neck. The supraciliaries are brown with yellow spots. The eye pupil is circular and black with the surrounding being yellow. The lateral view of the head and neck consists of three faded black line segments (one from nasal to mid eye in loreal region, the other along lower parietal and the third from back of eye to neck on temporal region) in a brown background with white spots in supralabial, lower jaw and lower neck areas. The ventral view of the throat is light grey with irregular yellow markings in ventral jaw. There are two segmented stripe on upper arm and three on lower arm of light brown in colour, in a brown background. The yellow stripe formula of 2,2,4,4 and 2 is present on fingers in a dark brown background. The ventral view of lower and upper arm is grey. The mid dorsal area of the body is dark brown, with an inverted heart-shaped and three hat-shaped white markings having a yellow tip each, between fore and hind limbs. There is a diminished dumbbell of white between fore limbs while diminished black ‘W’ between hind limbs with a white boarder. The white and yellow spots are present in the flank in mid lateral view. The mid ventral view is grey in colour. There are two segmented stripes on each femur and three on tibia of yellow in colour, in a dark brown background. The yellow stripe formula of 2,3,4,5 and 4 is present on toes in a dark brown background. The ventral femur and tibia is grey in colour with light brown scale boundaries. The original part of the tail is dark brown, with 11 transverse marks of white, of which the mark at the base is hat shaped with a yellow tip. The ventral tail is grey.</p> <p> <b>Colour in alcohol.</b> All dark brown in life is turned in to light brown, diminished black has become prominent and yellow has turned in to white while the rest is conserved.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species epithet <i>samanalensis</i> is derived from the Latin for “Samanala region” referring to the forest where the species nov. is discovered. The vernacular names assigned for the species nov. are <i>Samanala kandu diva huna, Sivanolipathamalai pahal palli</i> and <i>Samanala day gecko</i> in native languages Sinhala, Tamil and in English respectively.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> <i>C. samanalensis</i> sp. nov. is congener with <i>C. tropidogaster</i> from morphological characters. However, <i>C. samanalensis</i> can easily be distinguished from <i>C. tropidogaster</i> by the SVL, presence of prominent conical tubercles (3–4) behind ear, presence of groups of large tubercles in clusters (4–6 in a cluster) in dorsal body, presence of well prominent spine-like tubercles on flank, the intraorbital, dorsal tubercle and ventral counts, and also from morphometric analysis.</p>Published as part of <i>Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J. & Munindradasa, D. A. I., 2007, Review of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Sauria: Gekkonidae) in Sri Lanka with the description of five new species, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 1490 (1)</i> on pages 12-14, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1490.1.1, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5087387">http://zenodo.org/record/5087387</a&gt

    e-Health trends

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    The use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to support the achievement of health outcomes has the potential to transform the manner in which health services are delivered. Although there is an increasing number of contributions in e-health research, knowledge in this area remains limited. In this chapter, we discuss current trends in pervasive e-health with the hope that this endeavor will assist e-health scholars channel their research efforts. Having extensively reviewed extant research, we focus on health education, electronic health records (EHR), standardization, and m-health.Indrit Troshani and Nilmini Wickramasingh

    Cnemaspis rammalensis Rajeev, Fernando & Wickramasinghe, 2014, sp. nov.

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    Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov. Holotype. NMSL 2013.25.0 1 NH, Adult male, 52.9 mm SVL (Figure 2), from Rammalakanda, Hambanthota District, Sri Lanka, (06° 14 ' 26.66 "N, 80 ° 38 ' 4.19 "E, elevation 470 m), 23 December 2011, collected by Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana, Gehan Rajeev, and L. J. Mendis Wickramasinghe. Paratype. DWC 2013.05.0 0 1, Adult female, 53.8 mm SVL (Figure 3), 13.01. 2012, the same data as holotype. Diagnosis. A large-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length 52–54 mm) (Table 1), which can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: Postmentals separated by a small scale; nostrils not in contact with first supralabial; supralabials (to mid orbital position) 8; supralabials (to angle of jaws) 10; interorbital scales across midpoint 48–50;throat scales smooth; dorsal tubercles 94–96; spinelike tubercles present on flanks; ventral scales smooth and imbricate; ventrals across mid body 28; ventrals 186– 207; mid-subcaudals large; no precloacal pores; 15 femoral pores on each side; 22–23 and 23–25 subdigital lamellae on finger IV and on toe IV respectively; tail dorsum bearing smooth scales. Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., was compared with all 21 extant species of the genus Cnemaspis known from Sri Lanka and the species can be readily distinguished from the diagnostic characteristics, especially by its large size and the number of ventral scales, which is the highest amongst members of the genus (Table 2). Description of Holotype. Adult male, snout to vent length 52.94 mm, body elongate and depressed; head large (HL/SVL 0.3) (Figure 4), distinct from the neck (Figure 4 A & C); head depressed and narrow (HD/HL 0.3), snout long (SE/HW 0.8), longer than the eye width (EW/SE 0.4) (Figure 4 B); eye relatively small (EW/HL 0.2); ear opening small (EL/HL 0.1), bigger than nostrils, smaller than eyes, eye to ear distance is greater than the width of the eye (EE/EW 1.6) (Figure 4 B). Rostral large, with a groove extending ½ of the scale; nostril separated by two enlarged supranasals (2) and a single internasal scale (1); two postnasals (2), smooth, larger than the nostril;scales on snout and forehead granular, and flattened, larger than those in interorbital region, much larger than those on occiput; interorbital scales across midpoint 48 (50), mid-interorbital scales long, larger than the outer ones; supraciliaries large, rectangular anterior to midpoint of orbit; scales around ear smooth, smaller and granular; nostrils oval, each surrounded by two postnasals, one supranasal, and rostral; several rows of scales separate orbit from supralabials; loreal region convex and covered with large scales; supralabials (to midorbital position) 8 (8); supralabials (to angle of jaws) 10 (10); infralabials (to angle of jaws) 9 (9), infralabials (to midorbit) 6 (6); Mental large, sub-triangular, wider than long, concave medially; two pairs of postmentals, smaller than the mental, anterior pair separated by one small scale, in contact with the first infralabial, posterior postmentals in contact with the 1 st and 2 nd infralabials, bounded by three juxtaposed, smooth scales (Figure 4 C); dorsal scales tiny, conical, with pointed, slightly enlarged tubercles scattered on the lateral and dorsolateral surfaces, where they form short spines; tubercles not in regular rows (Figure 5 A); scales on dorsum across mid body 94 (96), spine-like tubercles scattered on lower and upper flanks (Figure 5 B); scales on dorsal forelimb and hind limb granular; ventrally, scales decrease in size from chin to anterior gular region; ventrals 186 (207), ventrals across mid body 28 (28), ventral scales smooth, imbricate and smaller than the postmentals (Figure 5 C); scales in ventral portion of fore and hind limbs smooth, scales in the hind limb larger than forelimb; femoral pores (left: right) 15: 15 (0:0); precloacal pores absent; preanal scale larger than the anal scale (Figure 6); scales on dorsal and lateral tail, imbricate, large, and smooth, edges truncate or circular (Figure 7 A & B); a groove on mid dorsal tail (from base to mid region);few spine-like tubercles at the base of tail; mid subcaudals very large (Figure 7 C); 20 rows of small scales between the 1 st large subcaudal and cloaca, mid subcaudals hexagonal, without keels; tip of the tail shows signs of regeneration; subcaudals between cloaca and tip of tail 78 (89); digits slender, elongate and clawed, inter-digital webs absent; basal lamellae entire and enlarged than distal series; distalmost of basal series largest, basalmost lamellae of distal series sometimes fragmented; basal and distal series of lamellae separated by a single scale of intermediate width; total subdigital lamellae (left: right), finger I 17: 16 (16: 16), II 18: 20 (18: 21), III 21: 21 (21: 21), IV 22: 23 (22: 22), V 21: 21 (22: 22), toe I 15: 15 (17: 3 broken), II 20: 20 (21: 20), III 23: 22 (24: 22), IV 25: 23 (24: 23), V 24: 23 (23: 24), relative length of digits IV>V>III>II>I (fingers) (Figure 8 A), and IV>V>III>II>I (toes) (Figure 8 B). Colour in life. Dorsum dark brown with five prominent cream colour markings from neck to vent, which are trilobate shaped pointing towards head and all of them having a zigzag band below the base of the trilobate marking. The gap between the band and the base of the trilobate marking gradually decreases towards the vent which has resulted in a digitated appearance on the fourth one (Figures 2, 5 A). Nine cream coloured cross bands from vent to tail tip (Figure 2). Dorsum of head with cream coloured blotching (Figure 4 A). Lateral side of body with faint yellowish bars (Figure 5 B). Infralabials yellow (Figure 4 B). Venter of head white (Figure 4 C), of body and tail golden yellow (Figure 5 C & 7 C). Limbs dark brown with irregular cream cross bars dorsally, ventrally golden yellow except forearm, which is yellowish-white (Figure 6). Colour in alcohol. Colour pattern in preservative similar to that in life with some fading, but dorsal background colour darker and all yellow areas faded to white. Etymology. The species epithet rammalensis is derived from “Rammalakanda” referring to the forest where the species was discovered. The specific name is an adjective derived from the geographical name. Suggested vernacular names. The vernacular names assigned for the species are Rammale diva huna, Rammale pahalpalli and Rammale day gecko in Sinhala, Tamil and in English, respectively. Natural history. Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., is a cave and crevice dweller, and can only be found within well shaded caves, on rock surfaces and inside rock crevices. The species was well camouflaged in lichen rich rock surfaces. It was found to inhabit only the primary rain forest in its type locality and was not observed in adjacent secondary forest or well wooded home gardens and was not seen in association with trees. Two eggs were observed in live gravid females. Eggs were seen in clusters of 10–20, possibly belonging to several individuals.Published as part of Gehan Rajeev, Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana M. D., Fernando, Nethu Wickramasinghe Samantha Suranjan & Mendis Wickramasinghe, L. J., 2014, Cnemaspis rammalensis sp. nov., Sri Lanka's largest day-gecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Cnemaspis) from Rammalakanda Man and Biosphere Reserve in southern Sri Lanka, pp. 273-286 in Zootaxa 3755 (3) on pages 275-280, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3755.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/22775
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