Micro-particles Immunoassays For Early Detection Of Ovarian Cancer Using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy.

Detecting cancer cells before any symptoms appear is essential for successful treatment, especially for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with few or no symptoms at the early stages. Although there are methods that have been developed to identify the cancer cells, scientists are looking for other novel promising methods to detect that early stage, also cheap and user-friendly. Here, we cross-link elemental particles to a specific functional group of the targeted biomolecules based on a covalent and non-covalent linking chemistry to improve the sensitivity and the selectivity of biomarker detection. In this presentation, we look into the sandwich type of micro-particle immunoassay with pair of Fe3O4 and silicon micro-particles used for highly-selective detection of specific cancer antigen human epididymis protein-4 (HE4) in which U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted recently as a biomarker for monitoring EOC patients. The cancer biomarkers are quantified via detecting the silicon using Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

A study on the effect of Stress on performance of employees in Commercial Bank of Ceylon in the Eastern Province

Many executives feel they could make better decisions and perform more effectively if they worked under less stress. Stress has also been linked to absenteeism, turnover, and industrial accidents. As such, this study was carried out with the  primary objective of  understanding  the level and relationship between stress and performance of Commercial bank PLC employees in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. It also tried to identify the impact of  Job related stress, Organizational related stress, and Individual related stress on  performance. These objectives are reached through  the application of descriptive analysis , correlation technique and regression technique. Descriptive analysis is applied to find out the level of stress and  correlation coefficient is useful for finding out the relationship between variables. Regression analysis is applied to test the impact of stress on performance. The results revealed when mean value is compared, mean value of the organizational related stress is higher than the other two. It is also found that there is a negative relationship between stress and performance. It is concluded that stress is having  an  impact on Commercial bank PLC employees performance, at the same time The influence of organizational related stress is higher than job related and individual related stress. Key words: Job related stress, Organizational related stress, Individual related stress and performanc

Impact of Customer Satisfaction on Customer Loyalty towards Sri Lanka Telecom PLC.

The main objective for the study is to assess how the customer satisfaction influences the customer loyalty. To measure service quality, pricing, and brand image which leads to customer satisfaction were selected as independent variables and their impact on customer loyalty was measured through a sample of 395 customers from Trincomalee District by using stratified disproportionate sampling technique. Regression and Correlation analysis was done to find out the contribution and the relationship of each variable. The correlation analysis showed that the variable of customer satisfaction on Sri Lanka Telecom PLC products and services in Trincomalee district had significant relationship with customer loyalty. According to the regression model, pricing and brand image are of low level contribution to customer loyalty whereas the service quality contributes comparatively more. This study concluded that variables of customer satisfaction significantly influenced customer loyalty. Key words: Service quality, Pricing, Brand image, Customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty

Personal Demographical Factors and their Influence on Customer Satisfaction from Customer Perspective

Customer satisfaction is very important concept in modern business organization and also many business organizations wish to maximize their customer satisfaction. Main objective of this study examines the relationship between personal demographical factors (age, sex, income level, educational level and marital status) and customer satisfaction. Data were collected tthrough closed ended questionanaire. This study limited to customer of private commercial banks in Jaffna district. Therefore, systematic random sampling method was used to choice respondents. This study revealed that there is no significant difference between the personal demographic factors such as gender and marital status but there exist significant difference among age, income and education level on service quality. The findings of study leave plenty of scope for enhances to uplift the customer satisfaction. Keyword: Demographical Factors, customer satisfactio

FID-Net: A Versatile Deep Neural Network Architecture for NMR Spectral Reconstruction and Virtual Decoupling

In recent years, the transformative potential of deep neural networks (DNNs) for analysing and interpreting NMR data has clearly been recognised. However, most applications of DNNs in NMR to date either struggle to outperform existing methodologies or are limited in scope to a narrow range of data that closely resemble the data that the network was trained on. These limitations have prevented a widescale uptake of DNNs in NMR. Addressing this, we introduce FID-Net, a deep neural network architecture inspired by WaveNet, for performing analyses on time domain NMR data. We first demonstrate the effectiveness of this architecture in reconstructing non-uniformly sampled (NUS) biomolecular NMR spectra. It is shown that a single network is able to reconstruct a diverse range of 2D NUS spectra that have been obtained with arbitrary sampling schedules, with a range of sweep widths, and a variety of other acquisition parameters. The performance of the trained FID-Net in this case exceeds or matches existing methods currently used for the reconstruction of NUS NMR spectra. Secondly, we present a network based on the FID-Net architecture that can efficiently virtually decouple 13Cα-13Cβ couplings in HNCA protein NMR spectra in a single shot analysis, while at the same time leaving glycine residues unmodulated. The ability for these DNNs to work effectively in a wide range of scenarios, without retraining, paves the way for their widespread usage in analysing NMR data

Leisure Activities and Attitudes of Advanced Level Students: a Study based on Urban Schools in Trincomalee District

Leisure activity participation is important in the life of an adolescent as it is the stage in which his or her personality is developed. Since Trincomalee is one of the Districts which was affected by war, fostering positive attitude towards leisure is important to recover from the effects of war. Based on the seminal work done by Hsieh, Spalding and Riney (2004) this study attempts to understand how the free time is used by the youths in G.C.E.(A/L) attached with leading urban schools  in Trincomalee Town. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine attitudes of advanced Level students towards leisure participation in four leading schools in Trincomalee District. The following research questions guided the research: What are the leisure activities of the A/L students? What are the attitudes of students towards leisure? How do leisure attitudes  influence leisure participation of A/L students? Based on the methodology adopted from Hsieh, Spalding and Riney (2004), The grounded theory method was used to generate the research findings. Five categories of students’ attitudes toward leisure emerged: social interaction, learning seeking, psychological health, physical health and self-advancement which supported the previous works. The results indicated that the A/L students needs influence their attitudes towards the types of activities they participate in.  Key Words: Leisure, Leisure Activity, Leisure Attitude, Nee

An Empirical Study on the Promotional Mix and Brand Equity: Mobile Service Providers

Promotion is an exercise in information, persuasion and influence. So, the purpose of promotion is to reach the targeted consumers and persuade them to buy. Promotion is vital element of marketing mix. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of promotional mix on equity of brands performing in the mobile service providing sectors. In this context, promotional mix has positively affect brand equity. Data were collected from 107 selected customers of the mobile service sectors. The results revealed that the correlation value between promotional mix and brand equity 0.722 which is significance at 1% levels. According to the regression analysis, 52% of promotional mix effect on brand equity. So, promotional mix effects on brand equity. Mobile service providing companies should polish their promotional mix. Key; Promotional mix, Brand equity, Brand image

Impact of Entrepreneurial Characteristics on the Organizational Development of the Small Business Entrepreneurs

The main objective for the study is to assess how the characteristics influence the organizational development. To measure entrepreneurial characteristics, achievement competences, planning competences and power competences were selected as independent variables and their impact on organizational development   was measured through a sample of 105 entrepreneurs from Kandy district by using random sampling technique. The Regression and correlation analysis was done to find out the contribution of each variable. The correlation analysis showed that the characteristics of the small business entrepreneurs in Kandy district had significant relationship with organizational development. According to the regression model, achievement competencies and power competencies are of low level contribution to organizational development whereas the planning competencies contribute comparatively more. This study concluded that characteristics significantly influenced organizational development. Key words: competencies, entrepreneurship, organizational developmen

The Impact of Heritage Attributes on the Satisfaction of Tourism in Sri Lanka

This study intends to focus on the heritage attributes and its role in the satisfaction of tourist in Sri Lanka. Generally, heritage includes tangible and intangible attributes.  For this study, heritage attributes are evaluated through the variables of tourist package, style, historical building, cultural village, and entertainment. Tourist satisfaction was assessed by quality service, accessibility, reliability and responsiveness.  The results revealed that 85% heritage attributes impact on tourist satisfaction. The study further points out that keen attention should be disbursed on build the tourist satisfaction and maintain the heritage attributes. Keywords: Heritage, Satisfaction, Tourist Package