Wastewater agriculture in Kurunegala City, Sri Lanka

Wastewater irrigation / Irrigation canals / Rivers / Urban agriculture / Farmers associations / Rain / Soil properties / Rice / Crop management / Fertilizers / Paddy fields / Sri Lanka / Kurunegala City / Beu Ela / Wan Ela

Theoretical prediction of crystallization kinetics of a supercooled Lennard-Jones fluid

The first order curvature correction to the crystal-liquid interfacial free energy is calculated using a theoretical model based on the interfacial excess thermodynamic properties. The correction parameter (δ), which is analogous to the Tolman length at a liquid-vapor interface, is found to be 0.48 ± 0.05 for a Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluid. We show that this curvature correction is crucial in predicting the nucleation barrier when the size of the crystal nucleus is small. The thermodynamic driving force (Δμ) corresponding to available simulated nucleation conditions is also calculated by combining the simulated data with a classical density functional theory. In this paper, we show that the classical nucleation theory is capable of predicting the nucleation barrier with excellent agreement to the simulated results when the curvature correction to the interfacial free energy is accounted for

Gender Inequality in Digital Transformation: Evidence from Business Process Management Industry in Sri Lanka

This research examines whether gender inequality exists in Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Digital Competence of digital transformation of the Business Process Management (BPM) industry. Data were collected from 507 employees of 40 Sri Lankan BPM companies through a web-based survey. Mann-Whitney U test with descriptive statistics provided evidence to strengthen the findings. The findings confirmed that gender inequality exists in Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Digital Competence of digital transformation in the BPM industry in Sri Lanka. This research contributes to "Acker's Theory of Gendered Organizations" by identifying areas that reproduce gender inequality in the new digital economy workplace. This study recommends controlling if not eradicating the gender inequality through proper Human Resource (HR) policies and procedures since it may hinder organizational performance. Digital workplace will improve employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity. Keywords: Business Process Management, Gender Inequality, Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, Digital Competenc

Enhancement of the Conventional Sri Lankan National Fuel Pass to a Comprehensive Fuel Station Application

Due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. There was a fuel supply problem because of the lack of foreign currency. Even though the government tried to supply the fuel demand, it was unsuccessful due to refueling the fuel since all people were trying full tank their vehicles. Therefore, the government took a new approach by creating a simple QR code scanning application. Even though the application was developed, the features were minimal. To give good insight and emotions to the users, improve their user experience, and maximize user usability Fuel Station App was developed. This is capable of viewing, Downloading, Regenerating the QR, Managing and altering the user profiles, and calculating the fuel consumption of the user vehicle. After the development phase, the app was tested, and the results were collected from the study. The survey confirmed that the users prefer the proposed solution to pump fuel and get good insights from the application

SOME STUDIES ON THE DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF LICHENS ON RITIGALA MOUNTAIN

Studies on lichens at Ritigala Mountain revealed that a marked variation exists inthe distribution and diversity of lichens with change in elevation. Light andmoisture are two main environmental factors that changed the microclimate,which in turn determine the distribution of lichens at different elevations. Most ofthe lichens recorded on the barks of trees and rocks at lower elevation belonged togenera such as Dirinaria, Graphis, Parmelia, Psyxine, Pyremula and Parmotrentaand, Leptogium. At mid elevation (i.e. between 400 - 500m contour line)diversity and distribution found to be much different from those at lowerelevations. Crustoses such as species of Myreotrema, Thelotrema, Porina,Phyllospora, Ocellularia and several sterile ones were found on tree trunks androcks. However, the lichen diversity of the crowns of trees at mid elevation seemsto be somewhat similar to that at lower elevation although tree species aredifferent. At mid elevation, tree trunks get only diffused light while the canopygets more direct light. The difference in distribution and diversity observed onbarks could mainly be due light condition prevailing at mid elevations.At elevations above 600m, genera observed were very much different to thosefound at lower levations. Commonest genera recorded were Heterodeeermia,Pseudocyphellaria, Sticta, Collema, Leptogium and Parmelia. At higherelevations, it is cool but sunny during the day while nights are cooler and wet dueto mist. Thus. differences observed with respect to lichen diversity could be dueto the difference in microclimate that prevails at higher elevations.Air quality studies indicated that air pollution due S02 is minimal in this area.Thisresearch reveals that Mount Ritigala supports extremely interesting and diverselichen community which has not yet been explored fully yet. Similar to vascularplants, lichens show a marked zonation in the distribution of various species. Thiscould be mainly due to differences in the microclimate at different attitudes. Aslichens are sensitive to changes in the microclimate (specially with respect to airpollutants) it is important that the prevailing conditions are maintained. Anyactivities that lead to severe atmospheric pollution may cause significant changesin the existing lichen diversity.