Lightning Hazards in Sri Lanka

Are we really trying to prevent ?

April thunder storms started. Few weeks ago following news was seen in several TV channels and newspapers.

“Lightning struck and killed two people yesterday (18 Apr 2011 ) in Galgamuwa and Meegalewa. A 41yrs old woman while working in her paddy field and 35 yrs old man while standing under a tree died from lightning injuries".

Both incidences could have been prevented if they were aware  

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/science

Every year Sri Lanka experiences high number of lightning strikes. Deaths and injuries from lightning strike are not uncommon in the country. Lighting strike has an immense amount of energy in the forms of heat and electrical charges.

Although most of the people seem to know the danger and how to prevent they risk their lives due to negligence.

During a thunder storm outdoor activities are really hazardous. But I have seen children are playing sports in the schools grounds while teachers and parents are watching them and in many cases responsible authorities do not stop the game because they want to continue the game as scheduled. In other instances reception parades organized to welcome a chief guest continue with heavy rain and thunder because organizers (may be the chief guest) feel interruption can dishonor the guest.

Recently I have seen several children (from a high class family) were swimming in a hotel pool during heavy thunder strikes. Their parents enjoyed tea while watching them swimming but no one tried to ask them come out from the pool. Either they were not aware or they didn’t think their children can be struck.

Most of the lightning hazards can be prevented by avoiding outdoor activities and stay inside a covered place such as a house or a vehicle. Teachers and organizers should stop any outdoor event during a thunder stormed without risking innocent lives.

Media can do a lot to change the attitudes of the public towards a safe practice.

Hypertension and blood pressure measuring

Hypertension or high blood pressure is another circulatory disorder increasingly affecting people around the world.  To understand the condition it is useful to know about the mechanism behind.
Our heart pumps blood to every cell of the body. Contraction of the heart walls provide the pressure required to reach the peripheral tissues. The systolic blood pressure is the maximum pressure a heart produce to pump blood to the body and lung. The diastolic pressure is the blood pressure during the relaxing phase of the cardiac cycle and it is the minimum. A healthy adult have a systolic pressure between 90-140hgmm and diastolic pressure between 60-90hgmm. Significant deviation from the normal ranges poses a health risk.
If the blood pressure increases above the normal levels the end organs such as, liver, kidneys, brain cells, eyes can be damaged. If it drops, it also can cause a problem due to poor blood supply.
Hypertension categories (WHO)
                                                Systolic           and/or  Diastolic

Optimal                                       <120                            <80

Normal                                      120-129                       80-84
Higher normal                            130-139                       85-89
Mild hypertension                      140-159                       90-99
Moderate hypertension              160-180                       100-109
Severe hypertension                   160>                            100>

Olympiad Competitions in Sri Lanka

National Olympiad competitions are currently conducted in 9 areas of science by different institutes. National competitions are held every year and top students will be sent for the International Olympiad competitions.
Following are the details of the current competitions conducted in Sri Lanka.


Olympiad Competition                     Institute                                  Contact details
1.National Junior Science                Ministry of Education                011-2786062/3
                                                           www.moe.gov.lk

2.National Junior Mathematics      Ministry of Education                 011-2786062/3
                                                          www.moe.gov.lk

3.Sri Lankan Physics                       Institute of Physics                     011- 2584777
                                                          www.ip-sl.org


4.National Astronomy and               Institute of Physics                    011- 2584777
Astrophysics                                     www.ip-sl.org                        

5.Sri Lankan Junior Science            Institute of Physics                     011- 2584777

6.National Informatics                     School of Computing UOC        011-2158950
                                                          www.ucsc.cmb.ac.lk

7.National Mathematical                 Sri Lanka Olympiad                    011-2501731
                                                          Mathematics Foundation
                                                          www.slmathsolympiad.org

8.Sri Lankan Biology                        Institute of Biology http://www.iobsl.org/olympiad.php
                                                           www.iobsl.org

9. Earth Science                               Geological Society of SL        0812394200/2392011
                                                          www.gsslweb.org/                 Mr. Ashvin Wickramasooriya

Sri Lanka Science & Engineering fair (SLSEF)

Sri Lanka Science & Engineering fair (SLSEF) is a national competition on science research projects and inventions for school children.
SLSEF is a platform for science students to discover their scientific genius and win public recognition at national and international level.
National level winners of SLSEF will be eligible to represent Sri Lanka at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in USA each year.

Partners
 National Science Foundation
 Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka
 Ministry of Education
 Intel ®
You can enter to SLSEF from two paths
1. Junior Inventor of the Year competition - conducted by the IESL
2. Science Research Project Competition conducted by the NSF
Junior Inventor of the Year Competition
This is an annual event organized island wide by the IESL to promote creative and innovative thinking amongst school children.
This is open to all Sri Lankan children within the age group of 12 – 20 years.
Innovations / Research projects conducted in the field of Engineering will be considered under this competition.
For details please contact
Institute of Engineers, Sri Lanka
120 / 15 Wijerama Mawatha
Colombo 07
Tel : 0112574159
Web : www.iesl.lk
Science Research Project Competition
This competition is conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the aim to establish a scientific temperament among the school children in Sri Lanka.
Research projects conducted in all disciplines of science will be considered under this competition.
Age Categories 13 to 20 years
After evaluating the projects by an expert panel of judges, suitable projects will be selected for SLSEF.
For details please contact,
Science Popularization Division
National Science Foundation
47/5 Maitland place
Colombo 07
Tel : 0112696771 – 3
Web. www.nsf.ac.lk

Diabetes incidence rise in Sri Lanka

In recent years prevalence of diabetes has increased rapidly in our country. According to the Sri Lanka Diabetes Association
• Prevalence of diabetes in Sri Lankans aged ≥20 years is 10.3%
• Prevalence in the urban population is 16.4% and
• Prevalence in the rural population is 8.7%
• 50% of the affected people do not know that they have the disease.
There is an increased trend to develop diabetes in young people. Following criteria is used to diagnose diabetes and hyperglycemic conditions.
Test Range Diagnosis
Fasting blood sugar
< 110 mg/dL Normal
111-125 mg/dL Impaired Fasting glycemia
>/= 126 mg/dL Diabetes
Oral glucose tolerance test
< 140 mg/dL Normal
141-199 mg/dL Impaired glucose tolerance
=/>200 mg/dL Diabetes
What happens in the body?
Our cells need glucose and the hormone insulin facilitates the uptake of glucose by the cells. In diabetes cells cannot uptake glucose due to absence or malfunction of insulin thereby accumulating glucose in the blood. When blood glucose level is two high, it damages the small blood vessels leading to organ failure.
There are two types of diabetes
Type 1- Do not produce Insulin therefore administration of insulin is a must
Type 2- Body produces Insulin but lack in function.
It has been found that Type 2 diabetes is preventable or delayed up to 80% by changing the lifestyle.
Obesity, inactivity and the unhealthy diet are well-known but adjustable risk factors of diabetes.
How to prevent diabetes
• Weight control
If you are not an athlete in general higher body weight means higher body fat that may affect the function of insulin.
Body mass index (BMI) gives a better idea of fatness
Calculate your Body mass index (BMI), it should be 23kg/m2 or lower for healthy life
Weigh your self in Kg and measure your height in meters
BMI= Weight in Kg
(Height in meters) 2
• Physical activity
Physical activities improve the glucose uptake by the cells
Engage in physical activities for more than 20 minutes for 3-4 times a week
• Diet
Reduce consumption of refined foods such as white bread. Replace them with fiber rich foods like whole meal bread, rice, fruits and vegetables. Replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats such as canola, sunflower, olive etc.

FOOD ADVERTISEMENTS SEND THE WRONG MESSAGE

Misleading food advertisements are a problematic issue for many countries because it directly affects the healthy behavior of the population, especially children. Moreover unhealthy food habits of misled consumers are a risk factor for many chronic diseases emerging in the country.
A survey in the USA, found that 97.5 percent of the food commercials appearing are for unhealthy foods. Many are nutritionally empty and artificially additive-filled, creating generations of children who are sick with diseases such as adult-onset diabetes, cancer obesity and many other complications, which lead to heart disease. Situation can be applied for Sri Lanka as many new-coming advertisements are promoting unhealthy eating.
The food manufacturers pay lot to advertising agencies to create extremely effective advertisements that will positively excite children and other family members about their foods. The colors, the music, the timing, the placement, the script, the visuals, the messages are all designed to drive the demand whatever is being sold on the television. But the ministry of health and other health care institutions cannot afford that much, and compete with the manufacturers to promote healthy eating.
On the other hand these unhealthy food items are highly available in the market (eg: cakes, pastries, sausages, soft drinks etc.), convenient to prepare, tasty and attractive than locally available nutritious healthy foods.
The reasons for these food items become unhealthier are, they contain highly refined materials (eg; white wheat flour, sugar) with empty calories and high amounts of fat and no functional properties (eg; fibre, antioxidants etc) as in naturally available foods. Also to improve the taste, texture, flavour and to preserve for long lot of chemicals are added. Many chemicals used in food industry are found to be cancerous or partially toxic.
Manufacturers always claim these foods provide most of the nutrient requirement thereby convenient for growing children to fulfill their need. They claim, because they add some vitamins and minerals to those foods and label as enriched. However a food cannot be categorized as healthy by just adding nutrients. Can we justify any food containing high fat, carcinogens, and many toxins as a healthy food just because some nutrients are added?
Recently telecast advertisements in Sri Lanka for milk powder, sausages, noodles, margarine etc. tend to impress the consumers by exaggerating the few benefits of these foods and hiding the potentials oh health complications. They recommend sugar and chemicals added food drinks, sausages and processes food items as regular major component in the diet. Further these advertisements focus on children and show unrealistic attainments that are possible after consuming these food items. (eg: able to jump very high and lift people and big weights, after eating cheese, run faster after taking Milo).
Diet-free, low-fat, shape-up and more lines are attached to foods that may be better choices for overweight adults but not for growing children. Child viewers are likely to become confused about which foods are in fact healthy.
In some situations manufactures express naturally occur qualities in food to impress the consumers. Ex: emphasis on “Cholesterol Free” in plant origin foods. It is not done by the manufacturer but the consumer may suggest that is a health benefit of the particular food.
Policies on advertising and labeling include the requirements of the food for being claimed as healthy. However in the industry health claims are uncontrolled and they claim anything which can increase the consumer demand. To defeat the overwhelmed power of the manufactures, consumers should be educated well.
Evidence showed that educating children about foods, the healthy and unhealthy products, help children to make better food choices. Explain them the truth about the candy cereals, sugary drinks, sausages and fast foods in the market and let them know those make them fat and ruin their childhood with many complications. Further parents can keep children busy with activities that do not include television. By this right message can be sent to children even when advertising does not.