Moving out of Chronic Poverty: Community Level Study on Poverty over the Time

Chronically poor people are those who experience deprivation over many years, often over their entire lives, and who sometimes pass poverty on to their children. In this study poverty is measured as the low level of satisfaction of the ten basic needs and the underutilization of material and non material resources. The ten basic needs considered in this study are; clean and pleasant environment, water, clothing, food, dwellings, health, transport and communication, fuel, education, spiritual and cultural needs. The economic factors which are studied in this research include financial capital (income indebtedness and savings), human capital (educational, skill and health levels of people), physical capital (housing and mobility) and natural capital (land). The research was carried out from 1st March to 30th July 2009 in Wanduressa village in Sri Lanka which is established by settling down of one of the low caste communities in the country named as Rodiya community in 1959 and 1961. Two hundred eleven households live in Wanduressa village were used for the sampling procedure and 50 households were drawn based on the stratified random sampling technique. Stratification was done based on their livelihoods. Six strata were identified as households with several livelihoods, involved mainly in trading, masonry, carpentry, government services, and rattan production. This study was done as close as possible to the base research done by Professor Ratnapala in 1979 in same village to compare the satisfaction levels for the ten basic needs with todays situation. The results indicate that over the time, the community level satisfaction for ten basic needs has been increased by 54.95%. According to the normalized satisfaction level index constructed in the research using Principal Component Analysis, 98% households obtained satisfaction level above 0.5 while minimum and maximum are 0.34 and 0.96 respectively. Underutilization of the economic factors of the community has also been reduced over the time. Poverty alleviation programmes, awareness programmes and the effort taken by the households to reduce their separation from the high caste communities are the main causes to reduce the poverty over the time. Multiple Linear Regression analysis was carried out to see the relationship between the household level satisfaction index for ten basic needs and demographic and economic factors. It shows that there is a significant relationship between the satisfaction Index with income and skills. The research reveals that providing incentives and awareness programmes can reduce the poverty dimensions. Further the study suggests that poverty policies which focus on skill development would help to reduce poverty. After 30 years of the study of Professor Nandasena Ratnapala and 50 years from the colonization, the level of satisfaction of the ten basic needs has been increased and the underutilization of the economic factors has been reduced. Therefore today the community is in a moving out phase from the chronic poverty.\u2

Fructan metabolism and changes in fructan composition during cold acclimation in perennial ryegrass

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) produces high levels of fructans as a mixture of oligomers with different degrees of polymerization (DP). The present study describes the analysis of the compositional changes in the full spectrum of fructan oligomers, fructan distribution between above ground biomass (top) and the roots, and the transcription of candidate genes involved in fructan metabolism during cold acclimation in perennial ryegrass variety ‘Veyo’ and ecotype ‘Falster’ from distinct geographical origins. We observed changes in fructan composition and induction of low-DP fructans, especially DP=4, in both the top and the roots of ‘Veyo’ and ‘Falster’ in response to low-temperature stress. The accumulation of fructans, DP˃50 was only apparent in the top tissues where the Lp1-FFT expression is higher compared to the roots in both Veyo and Falster. Our results also show the accumulation and depolymerization of fructans with different DP, together with the induction of genes encoding fructosyltransferases and fructan exohydrolases in both ‘Veyo’ and ‘Falster’ during cold acclimation, supporting the hypothesis that fructan synthesis and depolymerization occurring simultaneously. The ecotype ‘Falster’, adapted to cold climates, increased total fructan content and produced more fructans (DP˃7) in the roots than the variety ‘Veyo’, adapted to warmer climates suggesting that accumulation of fructans in roots, especially the high-DP fructans as an adaptive trait for plant recovery after abiotic stresses

Neighbor Balanced Block Designs for Two Factors

The concept of Neighbor Balanced Block (NBB) designs is defined for the experimental situation where the treatments are combinations of levels of two factors and only one of the factors exhibits a neighbor effect. Methods of constructing complete NBB designs for two factors in a plot that is strongly neighbor balanced for one factor are obtained. These designs are variance balanced for estimating the direct effects of contrasts pertaining to combinations of levels of both the factors. An incomplete NBB design for two factors is also presented and is found to be partially variance balanced with three associate classes

A high-resolution method for the localization of proanthocyanidins in plant tissues

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Histochemical staining of plant tissues with 4-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMACA) or vanillin-HCl is widely used to characterize spatial patterns of proanthocyanidin accumulation in plant tissues. These methods are limited in their ability to allow high-resolution imaging of proanthocyanidin deposits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tissue embedding techniques were used in combination with DMACA staining to analyze the accumulation of proanthocyanidins in <it>Lotus corniculatus </it>(L.) and <it>Trifolium repens </it>(L.) tissues. Embedding of plant tissues in LR White or paraffin matrices, with or without DMACA staining, preserved the physical integrity of the plant tissues, allowing high-resolution imaging that facilitated cell-specific localization of proanthocyanidins. A brown coloration was seen in proanthocyanidin-producing cells when plant tissues were embedded without DMACA staining and this was likely to have been due to non-enzymatic oxidation of proanthocyanidins and the formation of colored semiquinones and quinones.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This paper presents a simple, high-resolution method for analysis of proanthocyanidin accumulation in organs, tissues and cells of two plant species with different patterns of proanthocyanidin accumulation, namely <it>Lotus corniculatus </it>(birdsfoot trefoil) and <it>Trifolium repens </it>(white clover). This technique was used to characterize cell type-specific patterns of proanthocyanidin accumulation in white clover flowers at different stages of development.</p

How strong Is the linkage between tourism and economic growth in Sri Lanka; evidence from 1971-2020

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, tourism is one of the leading industries in the world economy, including a number of employees, participation in social products, national income, and total consumption. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between tourism and the economy of Sri Lanka by considering the structural changes of both sectors during the 1971-2020 period. Quantitative research Methodology has been applied with preliminary and secondary time series analysis. Annual Gross Domestic Product and Annual Official Tourist Receipts were modeled in the study. Dummy variables were included to present the structural changes in the estimated time series models. Annual time series data were examined by estimating the time series regression model. The backward step-wise regression estimations were applied to find the best model with Minimum Absolute Percentage Error value for forecasted values. The selected model among all estimated models was significant under all model adequacy statistical tests and that was sound enough to provide appropriateness of the tourism-led growth hypothesis to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is facing an economic crisis basically due to the excessive exchange rate for the US$ and the lack of Dollars in Sri Lankan reserve funds. It is possible to keep more attention on the tourism development of Sri Lanka as an immediate action to recover Sri Lanka from this rapid economic instability

Shrimp Farming Practices in the Puttallam District of Sri Lanka: Implications for Disease Control, Industry Sustainability, and Rural Development

Shrimp farming has great potential to diversify and secure income in rural Sri Lanka, but production has significantly declined in recent years due to civil conflicts, some unsustainable practices and devastating outbreaks of disease. We examined management practices affecting disease prevention and control in the Puttalam district to identify extension services outputs that could support sustainable development of Sri Lankan shrimp farming. A survey on 621 shrimp farms (603 operational and 18 nonoperational) was conducted within the Puttalam district over 42 weeks comprising a series of three-day field visits from August 2008 to October 2009, covering two consecutive shrimp crops. Fundamental deficits in disease control, management, and biosecurity practices were found. Farmers had knowledge of biosecurity but the lack of financial resources was a major impediment to improved disease control. Smallholder farmers were disproportionately constrained in their ability to enact basic biosecurity practices due to their economic status. Basic breaches in biosecurity will keep disease as the rate limiting step in this industry. Plans to support this industry must recognize the socioeconomic reality of rural Sri Lankan aquaculture

The effect of social media advertisement features on the online purchase intention: a case study in Sri Lanka

With the development of technology, most people got the chance to engage in digital marketing activities. Online shopping is a trending facility that improves day by day and social media advertisements play a major role in customers’ online purchase intention. The purpose of this study was to observe how the features of social media advertisements affect the online purchase intention of customers in Sri Lanka when purchasing products including agricultural products. The social media advertisement features that affect online purchase intention (creativity, customer feedback, entertainment and information in advertisements) were considered in this study. A google form questionnaire was used to gather data and 312 responses were collected. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were used for the data analysis. After analyzing the gathered data, it was found that informative advertisements and creative advertisements on social media platforms have a direct impact on online purchasing intention. Also, the results indicated that customer feedback affects purchase intention through information. Entertaining online advertisements have an impact on purchase intention through their creativity. This study focused on only four features in social media advertisements. Therefore, future researchers should address the other advertisement features as well. The findings of this research can be used to make advertisements more useful and profitable for advertisers as well as sellers

Efficacy of Information Extraction from Bar, Line, Circular, Bubble and Radar Graphs

With the emergence of enormous amounts of data, numerous ways to visualize such data have been used. Bar, circular, line, radar and bubble graphs that are ubiquitous were investigated for their effectiveness. Fourteen participants performed four types of evaluations: between categories (cities), within categories (transport modes within a city), all categories, and a direct reading within a category from a graph. The representations were presented in random order and participants were asked to respond to sixteen questions to the best of their ability after visually scanning the related graph. There were two trials on two separate days for each participant. Eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker. Bar and line graphs show superiority over circular and radial graphs in effectiveness, efficiency, and perceived ease of use primarily due to eye saccades. The radar graph had the worst performance. “Vibration-type” fill pattern could be improved by adding colors and symbolic fills. Design guidelines are proposed for the effective representation of data so that the presentation and communication of information are effective