The Impact of intake quality in student performance in science undergraduate program

The quality of intake in terms of Z score to a particular course to different universities differs vastly in Sri Lanka. The students who get higher Z scores go to established universities mostly under merit category and the students from educationally disadvantaged districts with less Z score enter to the newly established universities. The variation in quality of intake in these newly established universities is greater and there is a concept that students' performance in the undergraduate programme is associated with the quality of intake. In this study the relationship between Z score and the student performance in two study programmes was analyzed for 174 students studying at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. This study revealed that the quality of intake has some influence on the performance of the students at the beginning of the study programmes and it is lost gradually. The final performance of the students was not related to the intake quality of the students and this emphasizes that the current partial quota system of allocation should exist

Trends in paddy production in Sri Lanka

In recent years viability of the paddy production sector in Sri lutnka has been a question because of lack of net profit to the paddy-producing farmers. It has been well proved by the attitude of the young generation who diverge from the paddy cultivation. Even though the country could able to reach the self-sufficiency due to increased average yield and extent of cultivation it failed to satisfy the poor farmers. In this study an attempt is made to understand the past trends in paddy production in order to find out the reasons for the above discussed problems and to forecast the future requirements. Paddy production related variables such as extent sown, extent sown under different water sources, crop failure percentage, production, average yield, cost of production, standard of living of the farmers, rice consumption and imports of rice over the time have been analyzed using simple and complex time series analysis techniques and other statistical techniques. Future situations have been forecasted from the result of the analysis. During the last three decades cost of production increase is significantly higher than the increase of the selling price of paddy, which affected the standard of living of the farmers. At present in thefanner's point of view, still thex are cultivating paddy because of return to their own labor, lack of belter alternative jobs and the lowest investment for paddy. Therefore to uplift and keep viable the paddy production in Sri Lanka, the cost ofproduction, scale of cultivation and the market price have to be kept in control while keep on increasing the average yield. Results indicate that, a farmer to have a reasonable standard of living in 2006, at least 2.81 hectares to be cultivated by one farmer and the profit margin should he Rs. 2.32 per Kg paddy produced

Comparison of low birth weight prevalence in the Sainthamaruthu MOH division with national Prevalence

Prevalence of low birth weight (LBW) is the single most important social indicator of the socioeconomic and health condition of a country or community. Several factors are associated with the prevalence of LBW. The study of all the births in year 2009 and associated factors related to LB W in the Sainthamaruthu Medical Officer of Health (MOH) division provided an unusual very less LBW prevalence statistics of 9.98 % which is very small compared to the national prevalence of 18 0/0. Satisfactory socio economic condition, good maternity care service, less stress in life, nutritional and non vegetarian food habit, non smoking, no use of alcohol and drugs and altitude of living location could be the reasons for this less prevalence. This study also revealed that gestational duration and parity had significant association with LB W. Sex of the baby was not associated with LB W while maternal age and body mass index (BMI) had marginal association with LBW

DEVELOPMENT OF DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR AN INCLINED STEP-GRATE COMPOST VESSEL TO TREAT URBAN SOLID WASTES

There are several methods and systems of managing urban solid wastes. Aerobie systemsor managing wastes arc less expensive and the composition of wastes in most Sri Lankancities is conducive to compost making since the biodegradable component is high,The total quantity of organic matter generated in the urban centres if used as compost willstill not satisfy the demand for it. These basic problems could he solved by makingcompost [rom biodegradable urban wastes. facilitating the management of these wastes andalso providing organic matter for long awaited sustained and assured agriculturalproduction in Sri Lanka.The development of a feasible system or compost making was the challenge taken up by theDcpnruucnt or Agricultural Engineering. A series of studies were undertaken to determinesome of the major parameters to rcalise the concept of an inclined step-grate compostmakingvessel.The studies indicate that (l.'i% moisture content should be maintained for optimumconditions for compost making, The bulk density increases with time and It is inverselyproportional to mass, Within the first 20 days of degradation or mixed wastes. most of thevolatile solids react producing largely carbon dioxide and water, The generated heat fromthis reaction actuates the process or evaporating excess moisture. The reduction in massand increase in density can be expressed mathematically.A calculation or heat and mass balances was obtained for a 3-meter pile of wastes, Thesecalculations were based on data obtained from an Engineering Model. Several or the majorparameters such as the retention time. suction. heating and cooling system for moisturecontrol were developed to design a versatile bio-reactor to produce compost for treatingwastes aerobically.

Neurobehavioral Mechanisms of Temporal Processing Deficits in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) disrupts temporal processing, but the neuronal sources of deficits and their response to dopamine (DA) therapy are not understood. Though the striatum and DA transmission are thought to be essential for timekeeping, potential working memory (WM) and executive problems could also disrupt timing.The present study addressed these issues by testing controls and PD volunteers 'on' and 'off' DA therapy as they underwent fMRI while performing a time-perception task. To distinguish systems associated with abnormalities in temporal and non-temporal processes, we separated brain activity during encoding and decision-making phases of a trial. Whereas both phases involved timekeeping, the encoding and decision phases emphasized WM and executive processes, respectively. The methods enabled exploration of both the amplitude and temporal dynamics of neural activity. First, we found that time-perception deficits were associated with striatal, cortical, and cerebellar dysfunction. Unlike studies of timed movement, our results could not be attributed to traditional roles of the striatum and cerebellum in movement. Second, for the first time we identified temporal and non-temporal sources of impaired time perception. Striatal dysfunction was found during both phases consistent with its role in timekeeping. Activation was also abnormal in a WM network (middle-frontal and parietal cortex, lateral cerebellum) during encoding and a network that modulates executive and memory functions (parahippocampus, posterior cingulate) during decision making. Third, hypoactivation typified neuronal dysfunction in PD, but was sometimes characterized by abnormal temporal dynamics (e.g., lagged, prolonged) that were not due to longer response times. Finally, DA therapy did not alleviate timing deficits.Our findings indicate that impaired timing in PD arises from nigrostriatal and mesocortical dysfunction in systems that mediate temporal and non-temporal control-processes. However, time perception impairments were not improved by DA treatment, likely due to inadequate restoration of neuronal activity and perhaps corticostriatal effective-connectivity

MEMAHAMI MOTIF DAN MENGANTISIPASI PENYALAHGUNAAN WEWENANG DALAM BISNIS PERBANKAN/SM-18

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The impact of students’ intake quality on the performance of engineering undergraduates

The quality of intake of students in terms of Z score to a particular course to different universities differs vastly in Sri Lanka. The students who get higher Z score goes to established universities mostly under merit category and the students from educationally disadvantaged districts with less Z score enter to the newly established universities. The variation in quality of intake in these newly established universities is greater and there is a concept that students‘ performance in the undergraduate program associated with the quality of intake. In this study the relationship between Z score and the student performance in the Engineering degree programme at the Faculty of Engineering, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka was analyzed for 92 students. This study revealed that the quality of intake has no influence on the performance of the students but gender has influence in the performance. This study emphasis the current partial quota system of allocation to different districts proportional to the population and educationally disadvantaged districts should exist