This study was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of WHO color scale in screening anemia during blood donor selection in Sri Lanka. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted by the Medical Laboratory Sciences Unit of University of Sri Jayewardenepura in collaboration with National Blood Transfusion Centre, Sri Lanka. A total of 100 subjects participated in this study. Hemoglobin value of each participant was analyzed by both WHO color scale method and cyanmethemoglobin method. Bland-Altman plot was used to determine the agreement between the two methods. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, false positive, and negative rates were calculated. The sensitivity of the WHO color scale was very low. The highest sensitivity observed was 55.55% in hemoglobin concentrations >13.1 g/dL and the lowest was 28.57% in hemoglobin concentrations between 7.1 and 9.0 g/dL. The mean difference between the WHO color scale and the cyanmethemoglobin method was 0.2 g/dL (95% confidence interval; 3.2 g/dL above and 2.8 g/dL below). Even though the WHO color scale is an inexpensive and portable method for field studies, from the overall results in this study it is concluded that WHO color scale is an inaccurate method to screen anemia during blood donations.

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Purpose: Various parts of Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) are used in traditional systems of medicine. This study investigates the antimicrobial activity of the crude aqueous extract and polyphenol enriched fractions of M. oleifera leaves at the flowering stage against microbial strains causing oral and wound infections. Methods: Polyphenol enriched fractions (hydroalcoholic extract, methanol fresh leaves extract, methanol dry leaves extract and decoction) were prepared using four different methods and total polyphenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the extracts were determined. Crude aqueous extract and the fractions were tested against ATCC reference strains of Escherichia coli and Candida albicans (oral pathogens) and Streptococcus aureus and Staphylococcus pyogenes (wound pathogens) using agar well diffusion method. Gentamycin and clotrimazole were used as the positive controls for bacteria and fungi respectively and distilled water was used as the negative control. Results: Methanol dry leaves extract demonstrated highest values of TPC (11.92 ±0.39 mg GAE/g) and TFC (41.68±0.82 mg QE/g). Each polyphenol fraction demonstrated antibacterial activity against E. coli, S. aureus and S. pyogenes at concentrations of 500 -1000 mg/ml. Hydro-alcoholic and methanol (fresh leaves) extracts demonstrated antifungal activity against C. albicans. The crude aqueous extract exhibited dose dependent antibacterial activity against S. aureus. All extracts demonstrated less antibacterial activity against S. pyogenes compared to S. aureus. Conclusion: Polyphenol rich fractions of M. oleifera leaves at the flowering stage possessed antimicrobial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, S. pyogenes and C. albicans.

Objective: The of (synonyms; ,) is decoction Oldenlandia auricularia Hedyotis auricularia Exallage auricularia recommended as a treatment of hypertension by traditional Ayurvedic and folk medical practitioners in Sri Lanka. Since the therapeutic benefits of any pharmaceutical agent depends not only on its efficacy but also its lack of toxicity, scientifically controlled experiments were carried out to evaluate any possible toxicological effects mediated by the short term or long term administration of a decoction of this plant. Experiments were Materials and Methods: conducted with ICR mice to determine the approximate lethal dose and to investigate short term toxicological effects (on liver function, kidney function and haematological parameters) or long term toxicological effects (on liver function, kidney function, haematological parameters and histopathology of major body organs) of administration of the plant extract. Investigations showed that the decoction of this plant had no short term or long term adverse effects on Results: liver function, kidney function or on the haematological parameters as well as the histology of body organs such as liver, kidney, heart, lung and intestine of mice. therefore appears to be free from Conclusion: Oldenlandia auricularia any major toxic or unacceptable effects when administered for a period of one month and indicates safety of the plant material as an anti-hypertensive agent.

Background: In terms of diagnosis and management of diabetes mellitus, the most commonly requested core biochemistry test worldwide is measurement specimen preservative, its use has been critically questioned. Objective: K 2 C 2 O 4) tubes in a routine laboratory setup. Methods: Sixty one pairs of blood specimens were collected into plain tubes and NaF/K 2 C 2 O 4 tubes. Following separation of plasma (NaF/K 2 C 2 O 4 tubes) and serum (plain tubes), glucose concentration was measured. Five determinants were obtained; the baseline glucose value, glucose concentrations at one, two, four and six hours after collection of blood into NaF/K 2 C 2 O 4 or plain tubes. Results: A high rate of haemolysis was observed in NaF/K 2 C 2 O 4 tubes when compared with that of plain tubes (11% vs. 4%). No effect of tube type on serum/plasma glucose concentration (p>.05) was noted until two in plain tubes was observed in comparison with plasma measurements after four hour spot collection. Conclusion: Plain tubes are a better option for collection and processing blood in measurement of glucose if the separation is achieved within a reasonable time period. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

In the ornamental fish industry, there is a growing concern about the higher freight cost of feed ingredients. The present study aimed to cluster the locally available ingredients based on their nutrient contents, price, and availability.  A total of 15 ingredients; fish meal (FM), by-catches (BC), soybean seeds (Soy), maize (Ma), duckweed (DW), Azolla pinnata (Az), rice bran (RB), shrimp shells (SS), palmyrah fruit pulp (PFP), red seaweed (RS), wheat flour (WF), cassava flour (CF), cornflour (CoF), coconut copra waste (CCC), and groundnut cake (GNC) were selected as locally available ingredients. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed by grouping the ingredients based on their nutrient contents, price, and availability using Minitab 16. In PCA, the two first components accounted for 57.50% of the total variance in the initial data. Protein, calcium, phosphorus, and price contribute positively with component 1, whereas carbohydrate content is related negatively to this component. Calcium and ash content correlated positively with component 2 and fat, gross energy, and availability were linked negatively to it. The PCA allowed the clustering the ingredients into four groups. Ingredients in Group 1, including Az, SS, RB, DW, and RS showed a positive correlation with component 2 and they contain more fiber although, they are not accessible throughout the year. Ingredients of Group 2, PFP, WF, CoF, and CF are excellent sources of starch but contained less protein content (0.94%, 11.00%, 0.00%, and 2.80% respectively). CCC, Ma, GNC, and SB pertain to group 3 correlating poorly with component 2. They are an excellent source of protein with the advantage that they are relatively affordable and easy to available than the other groups. Ingredients in group 4 incorporated BC and FB. Although they are high in protein, they are expensive and very poor in carbohydrates. Therefore, it is recommended that the ingredients in group 3 are the best choice for feed formulation with balanced nutrition at a low cost for fish feed preparation.

Analysis of 24-hour urine composition is widely used in diagnosis of acute and chronic kidney diseases. In Sri Lanka, no guidelines are available on preservation of urine. This study aimed to identify an effective preservation technique/s among currently practiced techniques in laboratories to maintain chemical stability of high demand bio chemical analytes in a 24-hour urine collection. An experimental study was undertaken using urine samples from volunteers (n=42, National Hospital of Sri Lanka and University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka). Each sample was divided in to 10 ml aliquots; Out of the lot, one was preserved without any preservative and another refrigerated at 4ºC for 24 hours. Other aliquots were preserved for 24-hours by addition of following preservatives in a 24-hour collection: boric acid g/ urine (5, 7.5, 10), sodium azide g/ urine (0.3, 0.6, 0.9), HCl ml/ urine (1N;10ml, 6N;10ml, 25ml and 30ml). The aliquots with preservatives were kept at room temperature for 24 hours. Protein, Creatinine, Ca2+, Mg2+ and PO43- concentrations were measured in each aliquot. Least mean squared error for each analyte in different preservatives was calculated. For protein and creatinine, least mean squared error was given by, 10g/L boric acid. That of Ca2+, Mg2+ and PO43 were observed when the sample was refrigerated or after addition of 10g/L boric acid as the preservative. Sodium azide and HCl that are utilized in current practice as preservatives for 24-hour urine collections do not show better performance in selected analytes. Boric acid (10g/L) is more effective in persevering protein and creatinine. Due to practical issues in acquiring refrigeration facilities, Ca2+, Mg and PO4 3- also can be preserved effectively by using the same preservative. Consequently, Boric acid (10g/L) could be recommended as an effective preservative to preserve selected analytes in 24-hour urine collection