PANOPTIC TENSIONS ON RHIZOME: UNDERSTANDING THE IDEOLOGICAL MODEL OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Among many different views and interpretations on the socio-technical underpinnings of social media in new media literature, clarifying two specific standpoints is important for the understanding of ideological model peculiar to social media. As a social phenomenon, the function of the social web, which encompasses social media, has two major concerns. While it is identified through the lens of egalitarianism as ever democratic media, which facilitate decentralized power dynamics and resistance to the dominant hierarchy, it is recognized that social media strengthen the centralized control by facilitating the surveillance of authority along with the technological advancement. Applying the methods of concept analysis, this paper first identifies three basic assumptions -social media, rhizome and panopticism- which are related to the said phenomenon. Then it critically scrutinizes how the concepts of rhizome and panopticism feature in the key facets of social media and their paradoxical functioning in the social media sphere. Dissecting the governing and end-user sides, it finally attempts to reveal the dyad and enigmatic ideological model of social media. KEYWORDS: social media, rhizome, panopticism, surveillance  Among many different views and interpretations on the socio-technical underpinnings of social media in new media literature, clarifying two specific standpoints is important for the understanding of ideological model peculiar to social media. As a social phenomenon, the function of the social web, which encompasses social media, has two major concerns. While it is identified through the lens of egalitarianism as ever democratic media, which facilitate decentralized power dynamics and resistance to the dominant hierarchy, it is recognized that social media strengthen the centralized control by facilitating the surveillance of authority along with the technological advancement. Applying the methods of concept analysis, this paper first identifies three basic assumptions -social media, rhizome and panopticism- which are related to the said phenomenon. Then it critically scrutinizes how the concepts of rhizome and panopticism feature in the key facets of social media and their paradoxical functioning in the social media sphere. Dissecting the governing and end-user sides, it finally attempts to reveal the dyad and enigmatic ideological model of social media. KEYWORDS: social media, rhizome, panopticism, surveillanc

Household water security through stored rainwater and consumer acceptability: a case study of the Anuradhapura District

Rainwater harvesting has increased in popularity in Sri Lanka over the past two decades due to the number of water supply projects funded by the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The stored rainwater can provide accessible, reliable, timely and adequate supplies of water to households but there are uncertainties as to safety, in terms of water quality, and consumer acceptability. A study was, therefore, conducted in the Anuradhapura District, in the dry zone, to assess consumer acceptability of stored rainwater for household purposes and to conduct rainwater quality tests in a laboratory. The majority of households in Anuradhapura meet their drinking water requirements from protected wells (59.6 %). Prior to the project, people greatly preferred open wells as a source of domestic water, followed by tubewells, because they believed that water in open wells is of good quality and drinkable. However, stored rainwater has become the priority source now, especially through roof rainwater harvesting (RRWH), which is used during the dry periods. The study revealed that more than 85 % of households use stored rainwater for drinking although some have concerns over the quality and only drink it after boiling. The easy accessibility of water and the assurance by the project team that it is of good quality are the main reasons that people are willing to drink it. The acceptability of stored rainwater for consumption was very high in water-scarce areas and with the increasing distance to the nearest and alternative sources of good-quality water. Of those who felt that they had adequate water, 84 % of the sample households found it adequate in the wet season but only 21 % in the dry season. Water quality analysis revealed that the chemical and physical quality of stored rainwater is within the acceptable range with respect to Sri Lankan Standards, SLS: 614, for potable water quality (SLIS 1983). Other domestic water sources exceeded standards for electrical conductivity, total alkalinity, hardness, ammonium nitrogen, fluorides and total iron. However, stored rainwater was of lower biological quality than other domestic water sources.Length: pp.87-97Domestic waterWater securityWater harvestingWater qualityRural areasCase studies

Generation gap, gender and shopping enjoyment of shopping mall visitors in western province Sri Lanka

Purpose: Going shopping is a major source of relaxation as well as a daily household chore. However, shopping enjoyment is a burgeoning and rather novel concept, and thus, there is a lack of studies within the cohort, especially with regard to the comparison of the shopping experiences of different generations. This paper explores the nature of shopping enjoyment and measures the impact of the generation gap and gender on visitors’ shopping enjoyment in shopping malls, which records a thriving interest. Design/methodology/approach: In a qualitative survey deploying a convenience sample, 379 usable responses were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from shopping mall visitors in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Data were analyzed using SPSS (21.0). Findings: Findings of the study indicated that all four generations considered the atmosphere and the environment to be the most important dimensions. Empirical evidence further suggested that Generation Z and Y have the highest enjoyment in their shopping journey within malls compared to other generations, confirming that youth shoppers are the emerging target group for such businesses. Interestingly, it evidenced that shopping is not remaining as a gendered activity anymore, since it is pleasurable for both females and males. Originality: This paper makes a significant contribution to the field by studying shopping enjoyment as a multi-dimensional construct in relation to four generations while being the first such attempt at studying this phenomenon. Implications: Findings are useful for retailers to identify target customers and lucrative markets. Further, shopping malls are required to design to provide more experiences and engagements to customers as a space for pleasure, enjoyment, and entertainment. &nbsp

Range Extension and Vocalisation of Endangered Shrub Frog, Pseudophilautus zorro (Amphibia: Rachophoridae) in Sri Lanka

Gannoruwa shrub frog, Pseudophilautus zorro, is an endemic species known only from four locations in and around Kandy, Gannoruwa forest, home gardens in Triverton estate, Hanthana and Udawaththakele forest reserves. Despite their cryptic nature calling males are conspicuous once identified their vocalisation. Hence, we describe their vocalisation and acoustic characters. We recorded P. zorro from Hanthana (80.6141° E, 7.2497° N; 700 m a.s.l.) and measured six common call characters of 92 calls from four males. We identified four call types based on wave form structure and spectrogram. Type 1 calls were the most frequently emitted call type (93% of 518 calls recorded) having the average call duration 5.1±1.2 mili-seconds. Vocalising frequency of the species ranged between 3,100 Hz and 3,600 Hz. During our field excursions in 2014-2017, we heard similar vocalisation in two sites well away from its known range, Katugasthota (80.6199° E, 7.3302° N; 470 m a.s.l) and Ovilikanda (80.5926° E, 7.4538° E; 470 m a.s.l). We confirm the identity as P. zorro using the morphological characters. Again, on 18th September, 2014 we sighted the species during an excursion to Kukulamalpotha (80.7819° E, 7.5527° N; 460 m a.s.l) in Knuckles reserve. Since the site was very far from the known range of P. zorro, we obtained toe tips from two individuals and confirm their identity genetically by having 0% uncorrected pairwise genetic distance for 16S gene fragment (~510 bp). With three new found locations their Extent of Occurrence and Area of Occupancy has been increased by 14 times (from 20 km2 to 291 km2) and by 2 times (from 16 km2 to 28 km2) respectively. New found populations considerably expanded the species-range and the knowledge of their vocalisation can further use to explore new populations. This study confirms that P. zorro is not restricted as previously thought.Keywords: New population, Bioacoustics, Shrub frogs, Extent of occurrenc

Comparison of Solvent-Free Microwave Extraction and Conventional Hydro-Distillation of Essential Oils from four Selected Underutilised Citrus sp. Plants

Essential oils (EOs) are widely used in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, fragrance and food industry. Solvent Free Microwave Extraction (SFME) is a green method for the extraction of essential oils from aromatic plants. The aim of the study is to compare SFME with conventional hydro-distillation (HD) technique, for the extraction of EO from four selected underutilised Citrus plant species in the essential oil industry; Citrus medica, C. reticulata, C. madurensis and C. limon in terms of chemical composition, antioxidant activity and energy consumption. The EOs were extracted using SFME (Microwave power: 700 W for 5 minutes and 400 W for 55 minutes) and HD (for 1 hour) and chemically analysed using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The Antioxidant activity of the EOs were determined using Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and Total Polyphenolic Content (TPC) assays. The GC and GCMS identified 4(10)-Thujene (33.82%) as the major compound in C. medica oil, extracted by HD while that was L- terpinene-4-ol (18%) when extracted by SFME technique. The β-Linalool was the major component in C. reticulata (42.98%) and C. madurensis (37.95%) in SFME extracted EOs, however, it has been dropped down to 26.71% and 26.83% respectively during HD extraction. In C. limon, D-Limonene (43.069%) was abundant in HD- extracted EOs while it was (R)-(+)-Citronellal (39.08%) in SFME-extracted EO. SFME yielded EOs with higher amounts of more valuable oxygenated compounds with higher antioxidant capacities over HD. In comparison with HD, the SFME technique presented higher efficiency with reduced extraction times, costs and energy, yielding EOs with excellent chemical profiles and relatively high antioxidant activity.Keywords: Essential oils, Solvent free Microwave extraction, GC, GCMS, Antioxidan