Publications by authors named "Withanage N"

Reproductive health significantly contributes to the overall well-being and social welfare of women. Within the spectrum of modern and traditional contraceptive methods in use, condoms have been strongly advocated by numerous HIV programs as a primary means of preventing HIV infection in Sri Lanka. Given the intrinsic relationship between contraceptive utilization and HIV awareness, our study aims to concurrently analyze the patterns of contraceptive usage and HIV knowledge, while accounting for their potential correlation.

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Mixtures of chemical contaminants can pose a significant health risk to humans and wildlife, even at levels considered safe for each individual chemical. There is a critical need to develop statistical methods to evaluate the drivers of toxic effects in chemical mixtures (i.e.

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Background: In general practice, primary care providers can potentially use electronic medical records (EMRs) to identify and invite reproductive-aged women with preconception health risk factors to increase their engagement in preconception care (PCC). However, the acceptability of receiving PCC invitations and women's preferences about the invitation process are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate women's acceptability and preferences for receiving PCC invitations from general practice settings.

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Spatial evaluation of the region is associated with the assessment of the Quality of Life (QoL). Despite numerous research endeavoring to define, measure, quantify, and map the quality of life, there exists a consistent fault in Sri Lanka. Hence, the objective of this study was to construct a QoL index and determine the spatial disparities of QoL from the Polpitigma town to its periphery.

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Protected areas in South Asia face significant challenges due to human disturbance and deforestation. The ongoing debate surrounds the recent surge in illegal encroachment of forest buffer zones in the Musali divisional secretariat division (DSD), which has led to a significant loss of forest cover over the past three decades. In this context, detecting changes in forest cover, assessing forest health, and evaluating environmental quality are crucial for sustainable forest management.

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The concept of ecotourism has experienced a significant surge in popularity over the past two decades, primarily driven by the multitude of adverse impacts associated with mass tourism. The objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive ecotourism suitability index to guide policymakers in implementing tourism development policies. Given the considerable appeal of the study area to both local and international tourists, it is essential to conduct a systematic evaluation to pinpoint suitable areas for ecotourism development.

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Aim: To synthesise and map current evidence on nurse and midwife involvement in task-sharing service delivery, including both face-to-face and telehealth models, in primary care.

Design: This scoping review was informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Scoping Reviews.

Data Source/review Methods: Five databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane Library) were searched from inception to 16 January 2024, and articles were screened for inclusion in Covidence by three authors.

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Background: Documenting medical and lifestyle preconception health risk factors in electronic medical records (EMRs) could assist general practitioners (GPs) to identify those reproductive-aged women who could most benefit from preconception care (PCC). However, it is unclear to what extent PCC risk factors are identifiable in general practice records. This study aimed to determine the extent to which medical and lifestyle preconception health risk factors are documented in general practice EMRs.

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Preconception care (PCC) is effective in reducing modifiable risk factors and optimising maternal health. Primary care services such as general practices in Australia are an appropriate setting to provide PCC. However, PCC is not routinely provided in most of these settings, and many reproductive-aged women and men are not aware of the need for PCC.

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Background: Primary care-based preconception care (PCC) has the potential to improve pregnancy outcomes, but the effectiveness is unclear.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of primary care-based PCC delivered to reproductive-aged females and/or males to improve health knowledge, reduce preconception risk factors, and improve pregnancy outcomes.

Design And Setting: A systematic review of primary care-based PCC.

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Background: Ensuring equitable access to health care is reliant on the strengthening of primary care services. Increasing the utilisation of task-sharing and telehealth models is one strategy to improve patient access and outcomes in primary care. This protocol details the methodology of a proposed scoping review of nurse and midwife involvement in task-sharing and telehealth models in primary care.

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Background: Pregnancy outcomes can be adversely affected by a range of modifiable risk factors, including alcohol consumption, smoking, obesity, drug use, and poor nutrition, during the preconception period. Preconception care (PCC) involves interventions that identify and seek to change behavioural, biomedical, and social risks present in reproductive-aged women and men. Primary care is well situated to offer PCC interventions but the effectiveness of these interventions is not clear.

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Article Synopsis
  • The reaction between -[AuF(pyridine)] and [PhI(pyridine)] produces PhIF and [Au(pyridine)].
  • Investigation using model Palladium (Pd) and Platinum (Pt) analogues suggests that the reaction mechanism involves the Au-F attacking I(III) instead of a redox process.
  • This shows that the Au(III)-F fragment can act as a nucleophile, even within a positively charged, electron-poor complex.
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Background: Association of Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) have been identified in several ethnic groups globally. Despite abundant sunlight, vitamin D deficiency is reported in many tropical countries. As vitamin D is a key modulator for intestinal calcium absorption, low vitamin D could contribute to low serum calcium leading to abnormalities of skeletal homeostasis.

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In this study, nitrite was added into sludge during freezing process to evaluate its role in waste activated sludge (WAS) solubilization and effect on sludge dewatering characteristics. The results showed that the introduction of 100 mg L of nitrite could increase dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration from 29.5 to 48.

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We present a model for describing correlated binocular data from reader-based diagnostic studies, where the same group of readers evaluates the presence or absence of certain diseases on binocular organs (e.g., fellow eyes) of patients.

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Objective: To investigate the impact on outcome of delay between referral and diagnosis in colorectal cancer (CRC).

Patients And Methods: One hundred and fifty-four patients were studied after excluding from a consecutive series of 411 with CRC, those with factors known to affect the prognosis that may also have affected the speed of diagnosis. These were advanced disease, emergency admission or surgery, referral with diagnosis already made, and tumours treated by colonoscopic polypectomy alone.

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