An Exploratory Study of Automated Tools to Support SCRUM-Based Project Management in Agile Software Development Teams

The growing use of Agile Methodologies for project management has led many organizations to utilize agile-based project management tools. This thesis explores areas for improvement in project management tools for software development teams using the Scrum methodology. A qualitative research method was used to gain insight on the users\u27 satisfaction and possible new utilities to create that would complement the OnTime Scrum project management tool. This paper further describes the methods and experiences encountered in the designing and implementation of a Work Breakdown Structure website tool that was selected as a utility to support project management

Experimental Study of the Fluid Drag on a Torus at Low Reynolds Number.

Measurements are presented for the drag on a torus moving along its axis of rotational symmetry at low Reynolds number. If D is the outside diameter of the torus, and d is the thickness in the axial direction, then the measurements cover the range s(,o) = 1 (the closed torus) to s(,o) = 135, where s(,o) (TBOND) (D/d) - 1. The effect of a coaxial cylindrical boundary (diameter H) is taken into account by an empirical correlation. The values of drag obtained by extrapolating to a fluid of infinite extent are in good agreement with the exact solution obtained by Majumdar and O\u27Neill. When (pi)d(s(,o))(\u27 1/2) \u3c\u3c H, the empirical boundary correlation is consistent with the result of Brenner for small particles. Measurements with outer boundaries of square and circular cross-section indicate that the relative effect of the two boundary shapes on the drag is the same for the torus as that found by Happel and Bart for a sphere. Empirical results are presented for the case in which the torus is strongly influenced by a coaxial cylindrical boundary. The combined inertial and boundary effect for the torus has been related to the combined inertial and boundary effect for a sphere by an empirical equation

Corporate social reporting in Sri Lanka surrounding the tsunami in 2004

There is a growing interest in studying corporate social reporting (CSR) around the world. This interest is specifically growing in developing countries. The importance of encouraging CSR is emphasised by The World Bank mainly because of the benefits associated with CSR to such developing countries. This study examines government influence, research and influence of changes in society expectations on CSR in Sri Lanka a developing country surrounding the tsunami in 2004. Research questions are proposed to examine the change in total quantity of CSR disclosures between the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Four directional hypotheses and a null hypothesis are developed based on legitimacy theory and by the review of previous studies. The four directional hypotheses are used to test the increase in CSR disclosures and the increase in category CSR disclosures based on a disclosure classification from 2004 to 2006. A null hypothesis is used to test whether the change in CSR disclosures from 2004 to 2005 and from 2005 to 2006 remained relatively constant after 2006. The hotel industry is selected since it is considered to be a sensitive industry. The main board companies are selected because, they form the significant part of the Colombo Stock Exchange and they are more active than the secondary board companies. Secondary board hotel companies\u27 data was also collected for comparison. A disclosure index is prepared using the items disclosed in a report published by a World Bank staff member O\u27Rourke (2004) for the World Bank on CSR in developing countries. Index items are believed to be relevant to Sri Lanka, a developing country, and this is the first time it has been used in research into CSR. Company annual reports of main board hotels industry are analysed using the index by identifying the annual report disclosures related to the items in the index. Items presented are given score of one and otherwise zero resulting in a total score of each annual report to be used in the statistical analysis. Secondary board hotel data was also collected and analysed in the same manner. Descriptive analysis indicated that more than 75% of companies practice CSR in main board hotel companies in Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2007. Overall descriptive data analysis demonstrated an increase in average number of CSR disclosures from 2004 to 2006 in the main board hotel companies. The 17% change indicated from 2005 to 2006 was higher than the change from 2004 to 2005 (10%). Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests were employed to determine whether the change reported by descriptive analysis was significant. The statistical tests results were shown to be significant (p≤0.05) in both 2005 compared to 2004 and 2006 compared to 2005 in the main board hotels. However, the statistical test results for the secondary board was not significant (p\u3e0.05). Descriptive statistics on average CSR disclosure per category showed an increase in Community economic development and social impacts (CED) and Supply chain management (SCM) categories of the main board hotels. However, the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests results did not indicate a significant change in category CSR disclosures from 2004 to 2006 for all categories. It was also shown that the total quantity of category CSR disclosure increased significantly from 2004 to 2005 in corporate payments to governments (CPG) category of the main board hotel companies. This may be because of the pressure perceived by the companies from the government. Study results found that average number of CSR disclosures of main board hotel companies have decreased from 2006 to 2007. However, the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests showed that the change was not significant (p\u3e0.05) for the main board from 2006 to 2007. The results of this study suggest that government pressure, research and changes in society expectations may influence CSR of companies after a major social disaster. If companies do not react to CSR up to the level required by society and the government companies\u27 legitimacy will be questioned

Effective tuning of bimetallic composition of gold-copper nanomolecules and the emergence of plasmon-like feature in optical spectra

Au144-xCux(SR)60 alloy nanomolecules were synthesized and characterized by using ESI-MS to atomic precision. A maximum of 23 copper atoms replace the gold atoms; when the number of copper atoms is higher than eight, a surface plasmon-like peak appears at ∼520 nm. Based on the fundamental, elemental properties of Au and Cu, we predict a mixed atomic ordering and incorporation into the Au12 and Au 42 shells of the proposed icosahedral structured model. Alloy nanomolecules reported here could have potential applications in the field of catalysis and optical sensors

Cytotoxicity of Some Sri Lankan Seaweed Extracts

Algae are known to produce a large number of secondary metabolites with a variety of biological activities. Methanol extracts of 24 seaweeds collected around Sri Lanka were subjected to antibacterial, anti fungal and cytototoxicity studies. Although, none of them were active against the tested bacteria and fungi, some showed cytotoxic activity evidenced the brine shrimp lethality bio assay. Out of the 24 species, nine species (Halimeda discoidea, Sargassum spp., Dictyota spp.-l, Dictyota spp.-2, Amphiroa anceps, Amphiroa fragilissima, Cheilosporum acutilobum, Galaxaura lapidescens, and Tricleocarpa fragilis) showed LC50 value below 1000 gg/ml. Many red algae caused brine shrimp death compared to the brown and green algae tested. Of the eight brown seaweeds, 3 showed LC50 value below 1000 gg/ml, whereas only one of the six green seaweeds tested was effective. The highest activity was recorded in methanol extract of Halimeda discoidea (LC50 0.05 ug ml-I ) compared to the other seaweeds. Further, four species caused brine shrimp death below the level of positive control, 4-hydroxy-2methylquinoline (30.15 Pig ml-I). These preliminary results suggest that the seaweeds could be exploited for the isolation of anti tumor compound

Corporate social responsibility in Sri Lanka: The impact of government influence, societal expectations and the 2004 tsunami

This study examines government influence, changes in societal expectations and the 2004 tsunami on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Sri Lanka, a developing country. Hypotheses are formulated based on legitimacy theory to examine the annual changes in total quantity and categories of CSR disclosures between 2004 and 2007. Four directional hypotheses are used to test the increase in CSR disclosures and the increase in category-specific CSR disclosures based on a disclosure classification system. A null hypothesis is used to test whether the change in CSR disclosures from 2004 to 2005 and from 2005 to 2006 remained relatively constant after 2006. The directional hypotheses and the null hypothesis on the extent of disclosure are supported but the category-specific hypotheses are rejcted. This result provides support for legitimacy theory

Studies on self-incompatibility in 'Brassica napus'

A detailed investigation was conducted on the self-incompatibility system operating in the amphidiploid species, Brassica napus. Seven synthetic B. napus lines were produced by intercrossing plants of the parental species B. campestris and B. oleracea and doubling the chromosome numbers of the F1 hybrids, so formed. Each of the parental lines used in the synthesis were homozygous for different S-alleles. B. oleracea parental lines were homozygous for S29, S14 and S2 while the B. campestris line was homozygous for Sa and Sb. Consequently, the synthetic lines of B. napus were homozygous for different alleles at each of two S-loci. Following synthesis, S-allele activity and expression was examined in the synthetics and their F1's and F2's, using genetical and biochemical methods. In addition, a study of interspecific incompatibility between B. napus and B. oleracea was conducted. It was established that the production of synthetic B. napus by ovary culture in B. campestris was more successful than production using embryo culture in B. oleracea. Amphidiploid B. napus plants produced from F1 hybrids by chromosome doubling were easily identified, exhibiting a typical B. napus morphology, producing fertile buds and reflecting B. campestris and B. oleracea isozyme banding patterns. Synthetic B. napus plants were generally self-incompatible and the self-incompatibility alleles of both B. oleracea and B. campestris were expressed and showed interlocus epistasis similar to that found in a single locus sporophytic system. Several F1 lines produced from crosses between B. napus synthetics expressed only 3 alleles in any S-allele combination, and this expression occurred only in the pistils. The B. campestris alleles were functional in F1 stigmas but not in the pollen, showing that allele activity in F1 pollen would appear to be equivalent to that of a single locus system. In the F2 generation, all 4 S-alleles were active in a given genotype and it was established, therefore, that hidden S-loci could persist in a species with a sporophytic self-incompatibility system if alleles were partially or completely recessive. Test crosses between B. campestris, B. oleracea and B. napus showed that pollen from B. oleracea usually failed to penetrate the stigmatic surface of B. napus, despite all other combinations of interspecific crosses being compatible. It was found that this interspecific incompatibility could be overcome by bud pollinations or by treatment with cycloheximide. Biochemical studies showed that stigma-specific proteins, resolved by isoelectric focusing, correlated with some S-allele expression and could be detected in synthetic B. napus. However, stigma-specific proteins, which correlated with the presence of the Sa and S14 alleles, were detected in stigmas of F2 plants even when they were not active, indicating that S-protein expression is not correlated with the full function of self-incompatibility alleles

New brominated sesquiterpenes from the red alga Laurencia hetroclada Harvey, and their immunosuppressive activity studies

Red algae of the genus Laurencia Harvey (Ceramiales, Rhodomelaceae) is a complex genus, encompassing a large variety of morphologicallycomplex algal species. In continuation of our work on chemistry and biological activity studies of some Sri Lankan seaweeds, we examined the chemistry of MeOH extract of Laurencia hetroclada collected from Tangalle coast. Above extract was subjected to column chromatography followed by PTLC gave a new brominated sesquiterpene 1 along with two known compounds, algoane 2, and caulerpin 3. The 13C NMR spectrum along with the DEPT experiments of 1 revealed only 15 carbon signals corresponding to four methyls, five methylene, one methine and five quaternary carbons. The 1H NMR (CD3OD, 500 MHz) spectrum of 1 showed signals due to three methyls, four methylenes, and two methine protons. The singlets resonated at 1.25 (3H, s), 1.27 (3H, s), and 1.85 (3H, s) were assigned to Me-8’, Me-6’, and Me-9’, respectively. The characteristic downfield proton at 4.83 (dd, J = 4.2,15 Hz) was assigned to H-4, geminal to the Br atom, whereas the proton that resonated at 3.96 (d, J = 1.7 Hz) was assigned to the oxymethine H- 1. Furthermore, the olefinic singlet resonated at 5.26 was assigned to Ha-7’ and Hb-7. The down field carbon atoms resonated at 110.2 and 165.2 were assigned to olefinic carbon atoms. The positive CI MS of 1 showed the molecular ion peak [M+H]+ at m/z 349 along with isotopic peak at m/z 351 (1:1), indicating the presence of a Br atom in the molecule. The above MS data were found to be consistent with the molecular formula C15H25O4Br with 3 degrees of unsaturation. A comparison of the NMR spectroscopic data of 1 with those of 2 suggested a similar skeleton with differences in substitution pattern and unsaturation sites. From the above spectral data, the structure of 1 was confirmed as a new natural product 4-bromo-5-methyl-2-(3’-hydroxy-1’,3’- dimethyl-2’ methylenecyclopentyl) cyclohexane-1,2,5- triol. Caulerpin (3) showed a significant dose suppressive effect with an IC50 5.8 ± 1.0 μg/mL on Tcell proliferation assay

Comparative study on operation theatre facility utilization in government hospitals and semi-government hospitals

The operation theatre (OT) complex is a costly component of a hospital budget expenditure. This area of hospital activity requires maximum utilization to ensure optimum cost-benefit ratio. Two tertiary care centers in the Colombo district, Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (SJGH), the only semi-government tertiary care center in Sri Lanka, and Colombo South Teaching Hospital (CSTH) providing similar service delivery to government hospitals were studied to compare utilization patterns. The results showed no significant statistical difference in average per-bed utilization of SJGH and CSTH (P=0.499). The average per-bed utilization rate at CSTH was 23.26%, and SJGH was 25.66%. There was a significant statistical difference in the average per-bed capacity utilization of operating theaters at CSTH and SJGH. The average per bed capacity utilization time per day was significantly higher at SJGH (P=0.040). The average per-bed capacity utilization rate at CSTH was 11.63% and 15.2% at SJGH. According to the Consultants' perception of the importance of factors affecting utilization, less significance is given to time management and related administrative functions even though they have the highest correlation to utilization factors. Utilization observed at both hospitals was lower than the global benchmark between 70% and 80%. The study identified the importance of factors affecting utilization towards human resource availability, motivation, training needs and equipment, and resource availability. Surgeons have given less priority to time management and related administrative functions though the literature suggests time management and relative administratively modifiable factors as the most critical factors. (Gupta, 2011). Therefore, it is recommended to address the factors such as “cancellation of planned surgeries”, “accurate prediction of procedure times in scheduling theatre lists”, “convenient theater time schedules with other clinical work”, “patient turn over time”, and “patient transport time from wards” as they can result in overall improvement in operating facility utilization.     KEYWORDS:    Utilisation, Operation Theater, Government hospital, Semi-Government Hospita