2,618 research outputs found

    DOES PROXIMITY TO WATER BODIES IMPACTS MARKET VALUES OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES? CASE STUDY OF DIYAWANNAWA LAKE AREA

    Get PDF
    This study examined the impact of water bodies with a scenic view on residential property values around Diyawannawa lake located within Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Municipal council (a suburban area of Colombo district). The study employed both primary (structural and environmental data related to properties, different types of benefits generated from waterbodies) and secondary data (market evidence) whilst the data analysis included content analysis and a regression analysis (hedonic pricing model). Water bodies with scenic views generate multiple utilities for residents such as observing nature, relaxation, and playing, pleasant views, appreciation of colour and sounds, relationships with family members and neighbors, a place to exercise and cycling, stress relief likewise. According to the study, between 2019-2020, a residential property with a scenic view of 600 or more to Diyawannawa Lake had a premium market value of Rs. 803,433.05 compared to other properties. Furthermore, the residential properties one meter away from such water body showed a decrease in market value of Rs. 23049.65. These findings will raise awareness on the benefits of water bodies with scenic views and it will lead to greater acceptance by residents, developers, local authorities to invest and protect them, which could contribute to overcoming one of the barriers to maintaining such water bodies in good condition. Keywords: water bodies; residential property; market valu

    Obstacles Faced by Women in Food Crop Cultivation in the Urbanized Areas of Kandy District, Sri Lanka

    Get PDF
    Women contribute significantly to urban agriculture. Generally, they participate in pre-planting activities as well as post-harvest activities rather than the cultivation activities. However, it is noted that many women engage in gardening without the aid of men. Regardless of their roles, women, farmers face numerous challenges that prevent them from being as productive as they may be in urban environments.  This study investigated the problems faced by women farmers in urban areas with a focus on Kandy, Sri Lanka. According to the matrix ranking, lack of sufficient land was cited as the critical issue that is 48.5% of the respondents, while 9 (13.6%) and 3 (4.5%) respondents placed it as the second and third biggest problem, respectively. Appropriate suggestions were also made, such as agricultural extension programs particularly for women farmers, and including women in agricultural decision-making. © 2022 The Authors. Published by Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.   Keywords: Women farmers, Urban agriculture, Participation&nbsp

    Isolation and Characterization of Plant growth-promoting Endophyticdiazotrophic Bacteria from Sri Lankan Rice Cultivars and Rapid Screening for their effect on Plant Growth Promotion

    Full text link
    The present study was conducted to isolate and identify endophyticdiazotrophic bacteria in two Sri Lankan rice (Oryza Sativa L.) varieties; Suwandel and Bg 358 and to evaluate their potential to promote rice plant growth. A total of 15 putative endophyticdiazotrophic bacterial isolates were obtained from shoots and roots of Suwandel and Bg 358 rice varieties out of which 7 isolates were selected based on their ability to produce IAA and phosphate solubilization. According to the morphological characters and biochemical tests, these bacteria were identified belong to genera Bacillus (IN003, IN006, and IN007), Klebsiella (IN008 and IN018), Pantoea (IN009), and Enterobacter (IN015). All selected bacterial isolates produced IAA (7.1µmgl-1 to 30.9 µ mgl-1) in the tryptophan supplemented medium. Five out of seven bacterial isolates (IN006, IN007, IN008, IN015, and IN018) were able to solubilize inorganic phosphate on Pikovskaya\u27s agar medium. Rice seeds (Suwandel variety) treated with these endophyticdiazotrophic bacteria with plant growth-promoting ability showed significantly enhanced shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight and root fresh weight compared to the uninoculated control. Plant inoculation experiment indicated that Enterobacter sp. (IN015) was most effective in rice plant growth promotion among seven bacterial isolates tested. These results strongly suggest that endophyticdiazotrophic bacteria characterized in this study could be successfully used to promote rice plant growth

    Factors Hindering the Use of Urban Farming Techniques in Buildings: Architects’ Perspective

    Get PDF
    Researchers and the government have advocated for the implementation of urban agriculture projects in Sri Lanka; however, the demand and supply of sustainable urban agriculture initiatives have been limited and are growing slowly. This study aims to explore the obstacles hindering the adoption of sustainable urban agriculture. The research employed a cross-sectional survey methodology using a questionnaire encompassing 19 barriers to the adoption of sustainable urban agriculture, administered to 34 professionals within the relevant industry. The study found that the key barriers inhibiting the uptake of sustainable urban agriculture in Sri Lanka are the lack of experience in implementing urban agriculture projects within the industry, challenges related to maintenance, insufficient technology for implementing, and the higher capital costs associated with sustainable urban agriculture compared to conventional practices. In light of the findings, it can be inferred that the advancement of sustainable urban agriculture hinges on factors such as technological innovation, effective policies, skill enhancement, increased awareness, improved homebuyer engagement, and cost considerations. The research concludes by presenting a comprehensive cycle of barriers that must be addressed to accelerate the adoption of sustainable urban agriculture practices

    Investigation of volcanic ash based geopolymers as potential building materials

    Get PDF
    Volcanic ash powders from Etna (Italy) and Cameroon were used as the principal source of aluminosilicate to produce geopolymers with the potential for making building products. The volcanic ash was ball milled and reacted with concentrated alkaline solutions for polymerisation and subsequent curing at 75-400 °C for 12-48 h. It was found that the gel was more viscous than a similar gel formed from metakaolin. Geopolymers made from both ashes had bulk densities of 1.7-2.0 g/cm3 and water absorption values of 20-25 %. Their compressive strength values were 25-35 MPa and the bi-axial four-point flexura! strength values ranged from 14-20 MPa. These values increased by 20 % when cured for 21 d after 90 d storage. It was also found that by curing at 200-400 °C the mechanical properties increased. Scanning electron micrographs showed that with thermal curing microcrystalline phases were present along with undissolved crystalline phases. These phases remained bound to the matrix and acted as a filler for strengthening the materials. The Ca, Mg and Fe present as impurities in the volcanic ash formed some of these crystalline phases and did not form any deleterious hydroxide or carbonate phases

    Severe Unresolved Cholestasis Due to Unknown Etiology Leading to Early Allograft Failure Within the First 3 Months of Liver Transplantation

    Get PDF
    Background Causes of severe cholestasis after liver transplantation (LT) are multi-factorial. Although the etiology is predictable in some, others culminate in graft/patient loss without a definitive cause identified. Severe cholestasis is usually associated with overlapped histological findings of rejection and biliary features, and diagnostic interpretation may pose a challenge.Methods This is 10-year retrospective analysis of patients with unexplained severe cholestasis resulting in death/graft loss within 90 days of LT. Of 1 583 LT during the study period, 90-day graft failure occurred in 129 (8%) cases; a total of 45 (3%) patients had unresolving severe cholestasis (bilirubin, >100 mol/L; alkaline phosphatase, >400 UI/L after 15 days from LT), excluding those due to primary nonfunction/sepsis/vascular causes (n = 84). Demographics, allograft biopsies, radiological investigations, and clinical outcome were analyzed.Results All patients had persistent abnormal liver biochemistry. Doppler ultrasound scan was normal in all cases. Thirty-five (78%) recipients had at least 1 allograft biopsy (2 [1-9]). On the first biopsy, 22 (63%) patients had acute rejection, 4 (18%) early-chronic rejection, 12 (34%) antibody-mediated rejection. In subsequent biopsies chronic rejection was evident in 5 (14%) cases. Donor-specific antibodies were detected in all patients tested. Biliary anatomy was studied in detail in 9 (20%) patients, all presenting biliary strictures. The majority (n = 39; 87%) died within 32 (10-91) days, only survivors were from retransplantation (n = 3;6.5%) and biliary intervention (n = 3;6.5%).Conclusions Unresolving severe cholestasis after LT is a key parameter predicting patient/allograft outcome. Histologically, rejection seems to overlap with biliary strictures; hence, allograft biopsy with signs of rejection should not be a reason to overlook biliary problems, in particular when biliary features are present. Only extensive radiological investigation/intervention or retransplantation prevents patient/allograft loss

    Kinetic Heterogeneities in a Highly Supercooled Liquid

    Full text link
    We study a highly supercooled two-dimensional fluid mixture via molecular dynamics simulation. We follow bond breakage events among particle pairs, which occur on the scale of the α\alpha relaxation time τα\tau_{\alpha}. Large scale heterogeneities analogous to the critical fluctuations in Ising systems are found in the spatial distribution of bonds which are broken in a time interval with a width of order 0.05τα0.05\tau_{\alpha}. The structure factor of the broken bond density is well approximated by the Ornstein-Zernike form. The correlation length is of order 100σ1100 \sigma_1 at the lowest temperature studied, σ1\sigma_1 being the particle size. The weakly bonded regions thus identified evolve in time with strong spatial correlations.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figure

    Development of a Real-Time, Secure and Reliable Automobile Service Center

    Get PDF
    Lack of ambition will prevent you from moving forward in life, as much like a car without petrol. The majority of people on earth isobsessed with automobiles. We have provided you with a web application for Real time automobile service that functions effectively on all the platforms. Occasionally, automobiles and other motorized vehicles require maintenance. They must be maintained clean, just as humans practice proper hygiene. They run on dirty streets and in polluted environment. They are subjected to loads that harm them since they travel on uneven roads with obstacles. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain automobiles and other motorized vehicles on a regular basis. This project aims to keep service centers running smoothly in terms of things like vehicle maintenance, customer quotation generation, vehicle servicing, spare parts sales, customer information, and customer feedback. The system is efficient at generating reports that will make service center routine maintenance easy.Additionally, it can handle car repairs, insurance, payments, delivery, etc. This project will be very helpful to customers who want to fix or repair their cars. As a result, we develop a software that is both compatible and unique

    COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION OF MIXED-SPECIES BIRD FLOCKS IN WALAUWA TTA-WA TURANA SWAMP FOREST, KALUTARA DISTRICT, WESTERN PROVINCE OF SRI LANKA

    Get PDF
    Mixed- species foraging bird flocks in Walauwatta-Waturan Swamp Forest (WWSF) were studiedfor a period of six months from February to July in 2001. Field data was collected from 07:00 to18:00 hrs and flocks were followed as long as possible to record their composition. Scan samplingmethod (Altman, 1975) was used to record their behavioural activity, height of feeding, feedingsite and the role of each individual within the flock. Two minute scan samples were done with fiveminute intervals and almost all the birds participating in the flock were scanned within the twominutes time period.The flocking tendency of birds in WWSF was 28.7% and 27 flocks were studied. A total of 31 birdspecies were recorded to participate in mixed-species flocks in WWSF. These include 28 residentand 3 migrate species. Five species were endemic to Sri Lanka. The flock composition varied from3 to 15 species (5.89±2.61) and 4 to 31 individuals (I2.96±7.41). There was a positive correlationbetween the number of species and ~ock size (r= 0.796).Crested Drongo (77.78%) and Black-naped Monarch (70.37%) were the most frequent birds foundin flocks while Sri Lanka Orange-billed Babbler was the most abundant (8.78±3.67 individuals perflock). Territorial species such as Purple-romped Sunbird joined the flock when it was passingthrough their territory. Birds in mixed-species flocks in WWSF were classified as nuclear species,lead species, regular species, and occasional species. 2 major nuclear species (Crested Drongo &Sri Lanka Orange-billed Babbler), 4 lead species (Above two with Malabar Trogon and AsianParadise Flycatcher), 12 regular species, and IS occasional species were identified. Associations ofbird species participating in mixed species flocks in WWSF were studied using cluster analysis.Two main clusters could be identified, one of which could be again divided into two subassociations.The first cluster comprised of Crested Drongo and Black-naped Monarch who showedthe highest level of association. Black Bulbul and Sri Lanka Orange-billed Babbler could not bepooled into any clusters.Different species in mixed species flocks had different optimum height levels of movementthrough the forest and appeared to have characteristic feeding sites. The vertical distribution of theregular species in flocks was consistent. Sri Lanka Orange-billed Babbler was found at a widerange of foraging heights. But, Scarlet Minivet and Black Bulbul were observed mostly in thecanopy and the Crested Drongo was observed in the middle strata of the forest (10 to 20 ft). TheAsian Paradise Flycatcher was observed in the same range. However, other fly catching species(Black-naped Monarch and Tickell's Blue flycatcher) were observed mostly in the 10 to 15ftvertical range. There was an extensive overlap of height ranges between some species. But theywere observed to use different activity/feeding sites. Black-naped Monarch and Velvet-frontedBlue Nuthatch were found in the same height range, but feeding sites utilized by them wasdifferent (foliage and tree trunk respectively). Crested Drongo and Asian Paradise Flycatcher wereobserved to occupy the same vertical height range and feeding sites, but they were using differentfeeding techniques. Even being a small area of 12 ha (CEA, 1994) IIWTOUIIdedby Rubber plantations and homegardens, the Swamp Forest have a considerable flocking tendency with compared to Sinharaja Forest Reserve 30%)(Kotagama et. AI., 1986) and Knuckles Conservation Forest (30.S) (Sbriyani, 2000), thus worth conserve thehabitat

    Highly sensitive GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bolometer

    Get PDF
    PACS: 07.57Kp 95.55 Rg 85.25Pb 85.60Gz Keywords: GaAs/AlGaAs TCR Bolometer Room temperature a b s t r a c t GaAs/AlGaAs multilayer heterojunction structures with different aluminum (Al) fractions and emitter doping densities were tested to identify optimum parameters for high temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). Higher Al fractions and lower doping densities showed higher TCR. Additionally, p-doped heterojunction structures showed a higher TCR compared to an n-doped one with similar parameters. A p-doped multilayer superlattice heterojunction structure with 30 periods of GaAs/Al 0.57 Ga 0.43 As junctions, operating at room temperature showed a TCR of ∼4% and bolometer like infrared (IR) response up to 20 m with a D* of 1.7 × 10 6 Jones. This TCR is higher than that of VO x or ␣-Si bolometers. At low temperatures (50 K) some of these devices have shown TCR values of over 30%
    corecore