Research News

Jul
08

Development of a Mushroom Bag Filling Machine

The machine has been developed by Mr. G. Pathum Hashan an undergraduate in the seventh batch of the Institute of Agro-Technology and Rural Sciences (UCIARS) as a manually operated machine with 25% efficiency. He is planning to convert this manually operated machine to an electrical version. This machine fills 400 polythene bags per day and […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News . UCIARS
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May
08

Development of biodegradable pots with banana pseudostems for nurseries

There is a growing interest in home gardening especially in urban areas where vegetable seedlings raised in polythene bags are purchased from commercial nurseries. These polythene bags are essentially removed before planting. Taking this into consideration, the Institute for Agro-Technology and Rural Sciences (IARS) has developed a user-friendly biodegradable pot for raring seedlings successfully which […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News . UCIARS
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Mar
27

Virtual Screening of Inhibitors Against Spike Glycoprotein of 2019 Novel Corona Virus: a Drug Repurposing Approach

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a human and animal pathogen that recently emerged in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China, causing a spectrum of severe respiratory illnesses. Coronaviruses make entry into human cells through its spike protein that binds to cell surface receptors. The wide spread of 2019-nCoV has been attributed […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | IBMBB . News . Research News
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Mar
24

IDEA Project: “IDEA: Identification and Characterization of emerging pathogens”

Realizing the need to strengthen capacities in rapid and reliable infectious disease identification and characterization, the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences has initiated a collaborative project with the Robert Koch Institute, in Berlin, Germany. To facilitate this, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Colombo entered into a cooperation agreement with the President of the Robert Koch [...]
By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Aug
13

‘Waste to Treat Waste’: A revolutionary waste management process for the textile industry

A revolutionary filter technology developed at the University of Colombo use aluminium waste for treating wastewater in the textile industry. The new process is a sustainable closed-loop model that creatively uses the waste from aluminium anodizing to treat the wastewater from textile industry and any waste left at the end is converted into eco-bricks. A [...]
By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News . Science
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Oct
08

Waste to wealth from Banana

Banana is the major fruit crop grown in Sri Lanka and it represents nearly 58% of the total extent of fruit crop cultivation. Banana gives a year-round production and can be grown up to 1500m in elevation.  The total annual production of the crop is about 1.4 Mn tons and Banana can be cultivated as […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News . UCIARS
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Dec
10

Effect of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Ceylon cinnamon) on blood glucose and lipid levels in rats

The first study was done in Sri Lanka using an animal model to study the effects of Ceylon cinnamon. This was funded by an IRQUE grant from the University of Colombo. Name of the Researchers Dr P.Ranasinghe Dr Mangala Gunatilake Dr P. Katulanda Dr Dilani Lokuhetty Dr S.Premakumara Dr K.Y.S.Perera Contact details of the researcher: […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
16

Genetic Determinants of Sporadic Breast Cancer in Sri Lankan Women

This is the first study to investigate the association of genetic polymorphisms in breast cancer-related genes and the haplotypes defined by them with the risk and clinicopathological profile of sporadic breast cancer among Sri Lankan postmenopausal women. Identifying genetic variations that could be used to detect women destined to develop postmenopausal breast cancer later in [...]
By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
10

Molecular characterization of mesenchymal stem cells

Molecular characterization of mesenchymal stem cells of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome in a Sri Lankan population Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) is a complex spectrum of bone marrow stem cell disorders. The exact molecular mechanism of pathobiology of this complex disorder is still being explored.  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are precursors of marrow stromal cells which interact […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
10

Serological response following anti-rabies immunization in a representative canine population in Sri Lanka

The serological response following anti-rabies immunization in a representative canine population in Sri Lanka. Another section on dog ecology and assessment of knowledge on rabies was added to extend the study for a PhD. This was a more detailed and comparative study compared to project I in the same line involving stray and domestic canines […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
10

Determination of efficacy and virus neutralizing antibody levels in canines

Determination of efficacy and virus-neutralizing antibody levels in canines before and after immunization with anti-rabies vaccine – conducted in Kotte, Sri Lanka. This was the first comparative study done in Sri Lanka to investigate immunogenicity following anti-rabies vaccination in a selected dog population involving domestic canines. Both projects were funded by the National Science Foundation. […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
10

Colour blindness among medical students in Faculty of Medicine

This was conducted by 3 medical students as their elective project to find out the presence of colour blindness among medical students of UCFM Name of the Researchers G.M. Jayasena I.I.M Kodippili N.C. Galappaththi Dr. Mangala Gunatilake Contact details of the researcher mangalag@physiol.cmb.ac.lk Related Publications Extended abstract – Prevalence of colour blindness and its impact […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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Oct
10

Pattern of immunogenicity in domestic dogs following primary and subsequent booster vaccination against rabies

The pattern of immunogenicity in domestic dogs following primary and subsequent booster vaccination against rabies in the Dehiwala Municipality area. Considering the recommendation made by NSF and the revised canine anti-rabies vaccination protocol, this project was planned to study immunogenicity in a group with a single vaccination and a group with a booster vaccination at […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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May
29

කොහොඹ වලින් පිළිකා නසන ඔසුවක්

කොහොඹ ශාකයේ පවතින ‘ජෙඩුනීන්’ නැමැති රසායනික සංයෝගය පිළිකා පියවි සෛල (Cancer Stem Cells) විනාශ කරන බව ලොව ප්‍රථම වතාවට සොයාගත් බව කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ ජෛව රසායනික අනුක ජීවවේද සහ ජෛව තාක්ෂණික ආයතනය කියයි. ඖෂධ ගබඩාව ලෙස ජන වහරේ හඳුන්වන කොහොඹ ශාකය අපරිමිත ඖෂධීය ගුණයෙන් යුක්ත වන අතර එහි අඩංගු පිළිකා නාශක හැකියාව ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් පිළිගත […]

By University of Colombo University of Colombo | News . Research News
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