Publications by authors named "Sepalika Wijekoon"

Introduction: Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rapidly progressive life-threatening infection involving necrosis of subcutaneous tissues and fascia. Though it mainly affects the extremities, perineum and abdominal wall, it rarely affects the breast.

Presentation Of Case: A 30-year-old woman on postpartum day seven presented with one-day history of fever with chills and rigors and painful, swollen and tender left breast.

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Accurate intra-operative Remaining Surgery Duration (RSD) predictions allow for anaesthetists to more accurately decide when to administer anaesthetic agents and drugs, as well as to notify hospital staff to send in the next patient. Therefore, RSD plays an important role in improved patient care and minimising surgical theatre costs via efficient scheduling. In endoscopic pituitary surgery, it is uniquely challenging due to variable workflow sequences with a selection of optional steps contributing to high variability in surgery duration.

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Cinnamon is a spice that is renowned for its several medicinal and cosmetic benefits. The research study examined the essential oil content, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties of seven species native to Sri Lanka. Cinnamon bark and leaf samples were used to extract essential oils, methanol, and hexane.

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Purpose: To investigate the incidence of the Sri Lankan pediatric population who seek emergency surgical services and who are subsequently at risk of impoverishment and catastrophic expenditure.

Methods: Prospective data collection at a tertiary pediatric Sri Lankan hospital of direct out-of-pocket (OOP) medical and nonmedical expenses related to pediatric surgical interventions. Catastrophic expenditure and risk of impoverishment were respectively described as expenses superior to 10% of household income and falling below the impoverishment line due to income drop.

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Background Objectives: Mosquito-bome diseases are a major health issue among communities in Asia, and dengue has become a serious public health concern in Sri Lanka with varying magnitude since 1960. With the realization of the failures and limitations of current vector control strategies, the authorities are moving towards simple, low- cost, and eco-friendly vector management methods. Thus, the present study was devised to evaluate the potential densities of mosquito natural enemies in natural water habitats in Galle district, Sri Lanka, and to investigate the feeding efficacy of prominent mosquito natural enemies on main dengue vectors (Aedes sp.

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Article Synopsis
  • The pursuit of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in healthcare education, particularly for geriatric care, is essential to address the diverse needs of older adults and ensure equitable healthcare delivery.
  • This paper outlines a protocol for a scoping review that will follow a structured methodology to gather evidence and synthesize findings related to EDI strategies in geriatric healthcare education.
  • Ultimately, the goal is to equip healthcare professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide culturally humble care that meets the unique preferences of older adult populations.
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Objective: Real-world studies assessing the effectiveness of the BBIBP-CorV vaccine in low and middle-income countries are limited. We evaluated the BBIBP-CorV vaccine's effectiveness in reducing COVID-19 symptomatic disease, hospitalisation, severe disease, and mortality during the third wave of the pandemic in Sri Lanka.

Methods: We conducted a test-negative case-control study in North Central Province from May 2021 to February 2022.

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Introduction: Dirofilarial infestation has been reported as an extremely rare cause of pediatric acute scrotum. We aimed to evaluate clinical, radiological, and intraoperative findings of children who underwent surgical management for acute scrotum due to dirofilariasis in an endemic country.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study of patient records of children who underwent surgery for acute scrotum due to dirofilariasis between 2018 and 2022.

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Soft-tissue injuries affecting muscles, nerves, vasculature, tendons, and ligaments often diminish the quality of life due to pain, loss of function, and financial burdens. Both natural healing and surgical interventions can result in scarring, which potentially may impede functional recovery and lead to persistent pain. Scar tissue, characterized by a highly disorganized fibrotic extracellular matrix, may serve as a physical barrier to regeneration and drug delivery.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers studied two mouse models: one with pathological changes (dilated cardiomyopathy and AF) and another with physiological changes (large heart due to IGF1R), both showing increased atrial mass but differing in functionality and molecular profiles.
  • * The findings suggest that pathological atrial enlargement leads to dysfunction and heart failure markers, while physiological enlargement does not, providing insights for potential drug targets and biomarkers for AF through proteomic analysis.
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Traditional berries are small fruits and are widely distributed in the Canadian prairies. The current study investigates the lipophilic bioactive compounds such as fatty acids, phytosterols, and terpenes, and their bioactivities, such as lipid peroxidation, as well as the antihypertensive activities of fourteen underutilized Canadian wild berries. These berries include Saskatoon berries (), gooseberries (), wild grapes (), blackcurrants (), redcurrants (), haskap berries (), wild raspberries (), wild blueberries (), chokeberries (), buckthorn (), highbush cranberries (), chokecherries (), nannyberries () and snowberries ().

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Background: Lower limb amputation (LLA) impacts physical activity (PA) participation and quality of life (QoL). To minimize the effects of these challenges, LLA survivors need to have opportunities to engage in appropriately tailored rehabilitation throughout their lives. However, in Sri Lanka, where a 3-decade civil war resulted in trauma-related LLA among young male soldiers, access to rehabilitation was limited to the immediate postinjury period.

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Objective: The neck region is a common site for solitary cystic neck mass (SCNM) of various etiologies, including congenital, inflammatory, and neoplastic. In adults, the primary focus is excluding malignancy. The objective of this study was to retrospectively analyze the accuracy of available diagnostic technologies for the differentiation of benign and malignant SCNM in adult patients.

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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted regular global activities in every possible way. This pandemic, caused by the transmission of the infectious Coronavirus, is characterized by main symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, and loss of smell. A current key focus of the scientific community is to develop automated methods that can effectively identify COVID-19 patients and are also adaptable for foreseen future virus outbreaks.

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Paediatric functional bladder disorders especially those causing daytime symptoms are a common cause of significant psychosocial and/or physical morbidity and impaired quality of life. Despite the availability of many therapeutic modalities, a significant number of children appear to be refractory to treatment and continue to have symptoms. In this review, we aim to evaluate the current evidence in the use of existing and novel therapeutic options for the management of daytime lower urinary tract disorders in children.

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In nanopore sequencers, single-stranded DNA molecules (or k-mers) enter a small opening in a membrane called a nanopore and modulate the ionic current through the pore, producing a channel output in the form of a noisy piecewise constant signal. An important problem in DNA-based data storage is finding a set of k-mers, i.e.

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The incorporation of plant-derived stabilizers in food processing and preservation has gained considerable industrial interest. The leaf extract of , Dawul Kurundu (DK), has proven to be a potent plant-derived stabilizing agent in the food industry. However, the potential of utilizing DK leaf extract in the dairy industry has not yet been proven.

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Phenolic compounds are considered an important group of bioactive molecules that are present in abundant quantities in fruits such as berries and cherries; hence, the analysis and quantification of these compounds are of significant interest to the scientific community. The current study aimed to develop a novel analytical method using liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) for the rapid, comprehensive and simultaneous analysis of 66 phenolic compounds optimized for the selected five types of fruits commercially available in Canada. Bioactive compounds that could potentially be metabolite markers for each berry were identified.

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Peptide molecules have design flexibility, self-assembly ability, high biocompatibility, good biodegradability, and easy functionalization, which promote their applications as versatile biomaterials for tissue engineering and biomedicine. In addition, the functionalization of self-assembled peptide nanomaterials with other additive components enhances their stimuli-responsive functions, promoting function-specific applications that induced by both internal and external stimulations. In this review, we demonstrate recent advance in the peptide molecular design, self-assembly, functional tailoring, and biomedical applications of peptide-based nanomaterials.

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The inherited disease community in Sri Lanka has been widely neglected. This article aimed to present accumulated knowledge in establishing a pro bono cost-effective national, island-wide, free-of-charge molecular diagnostic service, suggesting a model for other developing countries. The project provided 637 molecular diagnostic tests and reports free of charge to a nation with limited resources.

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Background: The phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) patients is determined by the type of DMD gene variation, its location, effect on reading frame, and its size. The primary objective of this investigation was to determine the frequency and distribution of DMD gene variants (deletions/duplications) in Sri Lanka through the utilization of a combined approach involving multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) followed by Multiplex Ligation Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) and compare to the international literature. The current consensus is that MLPA is a labor efficient yet expensive technique for identifying deletions and duplications in the DMD gene.

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Introduction: Lower limb amputation (LLA) poses significant health challenges, including physical health comorbidities (PHCs) and functional limitations. Military veterans, who typically undergo traumatic LLA at a young age, endure these challenges for an extended period. Understanding the extent of these challenges is vital to designing tailored and feasible postamputation care for them.

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Barley ( L.) is the fourth largest cereal crop in the world. One of the most devastating diseases in barley worldwide is Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Schwabe.

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Confusion of drug names has been identified as a leading cause of medication errors and potential iatrogenic harm. Most of these errors occur because of look-alike or sound-alike drugs. This case series gives examples of duplication errors due to brand confusion, where there are no similarities in the names.

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