Browsing by Author "Solangaarachchi, I."

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Implementation of VoIP in University of Kelaniya
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Pathirana, T.; Solangaarachchi, I.; Weerasinghe, D.
In many enterprise level environment, it was a habit to inherit Private Branch Exchanges or PBX to reduce telephone costs by not using public switched telephone networks (PSTN) for internal voice calls. Earlier days traditional POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) PBX severed this purpose. In modern technical era, calling through Internet or Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony or Voice-over IP (VoIP) is a technology that allows delivery of audio and other multimedia content over the Internet. With the advances of Internet and VoIP systems, many enterprises are migrating from POTS PBX to VoIP PBX as those systems promises high quality voice transferring plus many added services like video conferencing, MMS, Chat, easy billing, monitoring, etc. With new additions of multi-story buildings and with the high data speed network implementations it was a mere truth that incorporating VoIP will further reduce costs in implementing and maintaining voice call systems. This paper describes the implementation of a VoIP based communication solution designed for University of Kelaniya. It is quite evident that larger portion in university budget is accounted as the PBX maintaining charges. But with introduction of VoIP, we can use the existing Local Area Network and the single network connection terminating at the user premises for connecting both telephone handset and the computer. Therefore, avoids the cost for cabling of new connections and maintenance. Additionally, the quality of the calls would be significantly elevated. As the main component of this proposed system, an free and open source Asterisk based SIP system was compiled on an existing Ubuntu server, here SIP or Session Initiation Protocol refers to a signaling protocol designed to create, modify and terminate a multimedia session over the internet protocol. Basic requirement to initiate SIP PBX is to identify a suitable numbering plan which can be used with future provisioning, therefore a four-digit number system was utilized for the task. Also the customization of Asterisk according to University needs, implementation of Interactive Voice Responses and user metering was done. Then the system was connected to the traditional PBX through an E1 trunk so that it will enable users to call within two systems. Softphones were used between IT staff, as they allowed roaming capability if used in a wireless network. Hard wired phones were also used for testing. After the implementation the only costs accounted were, for the new hard phones and E1 trunk. In its implementation we had to focus on performance, quality of service, reliability and availability, scalability, obsolescence and service life, security and regulatory issues, electricity and backup power, network traffic and bandwidth. When looking at the financial benefits to university, maintaining traditional PBX cost more than using this stated system as it totally depends on the existing LAN. Because of the maintenance is done by the university IT staff as their daily duty, no additional costs will apply for installing, commissioning and maintaining of VoIP system. Even though the initial costs will be high, it is an added advantage that VoIP users are able to call freely within the National Research and Education Network if they are connected in such a method. But all outgoing calls to the PSTN will still be billed as we are legally bound not to route voice calls through commodity Internet.
Improving psychological well-being among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic with an online mindfulness intervention: A randomised waitlist-controlled trial
(Wiley, 2024) Baminiwatta, A.; Fernando, R.; Solangaarachchi, I.; Abayabandara-Herath, T.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Hapangama, A.
The high prevalence of psychological problems observed among healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic called for interventions to safeguard their mental health. We assessed the effectiveness of a 6-week online mindfulness-based intervention in improving well-being and reducing stress among HCWs in Sri Lanka. Eighty HCWs were recruited and randomised into two groups: waitlist-control (WLC) and intervention groups. In the intervention, 1-hour online sessions were conducted at weekly intervals and participants were encouraged to do daily home practice. Stress and well-being were measured pre- and post-intervention using the Perceived Stress Scale and WHO-5 Well-being Index, respectively. One-way analysis of covariance was used to evaluate the effectiveness, in both intention-to-treat (ITT) and complete-case (CC) analyses. A significantly greater improvement in well-being occurred in the intervention arm compared to WLC on both ITT (p = .002) and CC analyses (p < .001), with medium-to-large effect sizes (partial η2 = .117-.278). However, the reduction in stress following the intervention was not significant compared to the WLC group on both ITT (p = .636) and CC analyses (p = .262). In the intervention arm, the median number of sessions attended by participants was 3. Low adherence to the intervention may have contributed to the apparent non-significant effect on stress.
Information Seeking Habits and Practices of Freshman Medical Students of University of Kelaniya
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Abeygunasekera, C.; Solangaarachchi, I.; Beddage, T.; Hewage, S.
Studying information-seeking habits of different groups of students is important as a decision making tool for collection development practices and introducing variety to library services. This study examined the past experiences of information access and usage by freshman medical students prior to their university admission. A survey was conducted on the new batch of MBBS students admitted in 2016 using a self-administered questionnaire distributed at the orientation programme. Of the 155 respondents, majority (65.1%) were female students. They represented eight administrative districts of the country. Highest percentage of students was admitted from the Western Province (52.9%), while 20.6% and 10.3% were from North Western and Central provinces respectively. Students who reportedly visited the library at least on a weekly basis constituted 52.9% of the sample, while the remaining 47.1% did so less frequently. Even though the main information seeking mode was searching the web (99%), a considerable number of students used library books (80%) and personal textbooks (61.9%). Library books were a source of information for 83.7% of females and 75.5% of males, while use of personal text books for this purpose was noted by 62.2% of female and 60.4% of male students. Books lent by colleagues were a source of information for 37.8% of females and 47.2% males. The main purpose of information used by majority of students (84%) was self-study. Seventy-six percent (n=118) of students used information for gaining additional subject knowledge while 68.4% (n=106) used it for entertainment and 50.3% (n=78) for project work. School library is the place for information access for 98.7% of the students, followed by town council libraries (37.4%) and provincial council libraries (16.8%). There was no significant difference between males and females (p = 0.701) or those from the Western Province and other provinces (p = 0.082), when it comes to frequency of library usage. The research finds that even though the main information seeking method of sampled freshman medical students is the internet, a considerable number still rely on libraries and other print based resources.
Pre-University Web Usage Behavior among New Medical Entrants
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Solangaarachchi, I.; Abeygunasekera, C.; Beddage, T.; Hewage, S.
With the development and wide accessibility of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students would be expected to move away from traditional sources of information, such as books, towards the internet. With the objective of studying information seeking behaviour and the use of internet prior to university entrance, a survey was carried out on first year MBBS undergraduates at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya in 2016. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire distributed at the orientation programme for students. Of the 155 students that responded to the questionnaire, 65% were females and 52.9% were from the Western Province. The most frequent method of finding required information prior to entering the university, as noted by the responders, was searching the internet (98.7%). Referring library books (80.0%) and their own textbooks (61.9%) were the next most common methods. This is also reflected by 87.1% of the students stating that they accessed the internet at least several days per week. Finding information was mentioned by most (94.2%) as the reason for going online. But, a considerable number also used the internet for entertainment (85.8%) and accessing social media websites (78.1%). The main devices used when accessing the web were smart phones (87%) and personal desktops/laptops (79.4%). When it comes to frequency of internet usage, comparative analyses failed to show significant differences between the two genders (χ2 = 2.242, p = 0.134) or those residing in and outside the Western Province (χ2 = 1.534, p = 0.215). Even with the inclination towards the internet as a major source of information, the reliance on text books (either their own or of colleagues or from the libraries) seem to have still maintained its relevance (with 94.2% as compared to the 98.7% that referred to the web). Wide availability of devices and methods of accessing the internet, along with the ever increasing influence of ICT in education as well as day-to-day life is reflected in these findings.
PubMed perspective of family medicine research: where does it stand?
(Oxford University Press, 2005) Mendis, K.; Solangaarachchi, I.
OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to obtain a view of family medicine research by analyzing PubMed citations from 1960-2003. METHOD: Family practice (FP) citations in PubMed from 1960 to 2003 were downloaded in MEDLINE format. This was written into relation database using 'PubMed Grabber/Analyzer' software developed at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Search Query Language (SQL) and online PubMed queries were used for further analysis. RESULTS: There were 50288 FP citations from 80 countries. Of these, 33712 (67%) citations were from 15 FP journals. United Kingdom (18760), United States (13584), Australia (3262), Canada (1848), Germany-west (1340) were the five countries which had the most citations and 22 countries had less than 5 citations. Van Weel C (118), Geyman JP (116), Olesen F (87), Jones R (83) and Knottnerus JA (82) were numerically, the top five authors. Only 921 authors had more than 10 citations and the vast majority of authors had only one citation. Letters (5121), review (2715), editorial (2259), randomized controlled trials-RCT (1585) and Meta-analysis (44) were the top publication types. 40 citations found under 'qualitative research'. Discussion. The relatively few PubMed FP citations (50288) are by a small number of academics in developed countries. Citations showed an upsurge from the mid 1980s to the late 1990's but reached a plateau in the new millennium. Compared to PubMed citations from 1960-2003 in other specialties such as 2737655 for public health, 1151194 for cardiology & cardiovascular diseases and 318538 for medical informatics, the 50288 FP citations were paltry. Paucity of RCT (1585) and meta-analysis (44) was noted. The low 'qualitative research' citations (44) could have been due to the late introduction of the MeSH concept in 2003. CONCLUSIONS: Priority should be given to increase FP research and also to ensure the indexing of FP journals that are not currently indexed in PubMed. Efforts to increase citations in Medline may not give the desired results because of low priority given primary care specialties such as family medicine in the USA. Alternative solution of a separate bibliographic database for FP similar to PsycInfo may be too costly.
Three decades of the Ceylon Medical Journal--analysis using MEDLINE (PubMed)
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2005) Mendis, K.; Solangaarachchi, I.; Weerabaddana, C.
INTRODUCTION: The Ceylon Medical Journal (CMJ) is the only Sri Lankan medical journal that is indexed in MEDLINE (PubMed). Publications in the CMJ from 1965 March to 2001 December were analysed using the PubMed interface of MEDLINE. METHOD: Using PubMed we downloaded the CMJ bibliography in MEDLINE format. Important tagged fields were written to a Microsoft-Access database using a PubMed Grabber/Analyser program. The analysis was done using Access-SQL and PubMed queries. RESULTS: There were 1472 citations by 1373 authors. 944 authors had only one and 176 had two articles. The top 10 authors contributed 8% and the top 25, 15.4% of the articles. Publications types were: 68.5% 'journal articles', 10.4% letters, 4.2% historical articles and 4.1% reviews. Controlled clinical trials, randomised controlled trials and clinical trials together totalled only 39 (2.1%). Articles were classified using 2 to 44 medical subject headings (MeSH; average 11.4, mode 9) from the MeSH vocabulary. CMJ articles classified using broad MeSH categories were (top five): infections 370(15 %), pathological conditions signs and symptoms 266( 10.8%), haemic, lymphatic and immunologic 199 (7.7%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic 189 (7.7%), neoplasms 179(7.3%). DISCUSSION: For 938 (68%) authors, publishing in the CMJ was a one time affair. The top 50 authors contributed nearly a quarter (23.2%). A product of this research is an off-line CMJ searching system from 1965 to 2001 with menu driven search facilities which will be a useful tool for researchers.
Trends and developments in mindfulness research over 55 years: A bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in Web of Science
(Springer, 2021) Baminiwatta, A.; Solangaarachchi, I.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify historical developments, active research areas, and emerging trends within scientific literature on mindfulness published so far, using bibliometric methods. We also aimed to identify prominent journals, authors, organizations, and countries in the field of mindfulness. METHODS: Articles or reviews which mention mindfulness in the title, abstract, or keywords were identified using the Web of Science. A descriptive summary of the literature was obtained from the Web of Science Analysis tool. Country collaboration, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence networks were visualized using VOSviewer. CiteSpace, which uses document co-citation analysis, was used to identify emerging trends and transient patterns in the literature. RESULTS: From 1966 to 2021, 16,581 publications on mindfulness were identified. There has been an exponential growth of publications since 2006. Almost half (47%) of the publications were in psychology and about one-fifth (20.8%) in psychiatry. The most prolific journal was Mindfulness (contributing 7% of all publications) and the most prolific author was Eric L. Garland. The vast majority of publications originated from Western countries but representation from Asian countries has increased. The most frequently co-occurring keywords were meditation, depression, stress, and anxiety. Co-citation analysis of the early period (1966-2015) revealed how scholarly work on spiritual themes has inspired early mindfulness research. Recent trends (2016-2021) revealed a rising interest in mechanisms and moderators, long-term meditation, neuroscientific studies, and smartphone/online delivery of interventions. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive bibliometric study summarized and visualized 55 years of mindfulness research, revealing pivotal points, active research areas, and emerging trends. KEYWORDS: Bibliometrics; Co-citation analysis; Mindfulness; Patterns; Trends.