The Visitor Perceptions on Whale-watching Tours based on Mirissa, Sri Lanka

Whale-watching is one of the fastest-growing sectors of wildlife tourism in the world. The waters off Sri Lanka have been identified as important habitats for Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus); a species listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Coastal destinations of Mirissa in the south-west, Trincomalee in the north-east and Kalpitiya on the west coast have emerged as popular places for whale watching, especially among foreigners. However, unregulated boat-based tourism and related visitor disturbance on cetacean populations inhabiting these waters has now become a serious concern. Social media at present is playing an important role as major information sources for travelers. Amidst the social-media websites that contain travel-related content, TripAdvisor is considered to be the most popular as it provides a social interaction platform for travelers to share their experiences about a visit to a certain destination. These reviews serve as reliable and unbiased information for contemporary travel researchers. As such, this study attempted to explore the positive and negative attributes of the whale watching industry in Mirissa, Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Content-analysis of a total of 131 reviews posted in TripAdvisor during the period from 01st January 2015 to 31st December 2016 found five positive attributes and four negative attributes associated with the whale watching industry in Mirissa. Probability of encountering good numbers of whales, quality of the services offered by boat operators, crew performance, tour organization, and the efforts taken by relevant stakeholders to conserve whales were the positive attributes revealed by the analysis. The negative attributes associated with whale-watching industry included the discrepancies in prices, duration of the tour, distance maintained during whale watching (boats getting too close to whales), and number of passengers per vessel (overcrowding).Visitors were moderately concerned on the size and quality of the vessels. It was revealed that 10 out of 11 attributes highlighted by the visitors are tour-operator related aspects, and this calls for an overall improvement of the tour operator standards in the whale-watching industry. Impetus for sustainable marine reserve management to assure better visitor experiences are further discussed.Keywords: Indian ocean, Marine mammals, Sri Lanka, Ecotourism, Whale watching, Cetacean

Current perceptions and the need for a strategic plan for the whale watching industry in Mirissa, Sri Lanka

Marine mammal watching is a sub-category of wildlife tourism and has shown continual growth as a global industry. Sri Lanka is an island nation in the south of the Indian Ocean with one of the busiest whale watching industries. Three locations in Sri Lanka provide facilities for marine mammal watching enthusiasts namely Mirissa in the south-west, Trincomalee in the north-east and Kalpitiya on the west coast. This study attempts to explore the positive and negative factors associated with the whale watching industry in Mirissa which is predominantly based on reviews posted on Tripadvisor’s travel website. In addition to this, statistics gleaned by Sri Lanka Coast Guard were also taken into consideration. According to the respondents’ views, the study found five positive factors, two moderate factors and four negative factors affecting the whale watching industry in Mirissa. According to these factors authors have discussed the requirement for a strategic plan in order to ensure sustainability and improve the quality of services provided of the whale watching industry in Sri Lanka

Electroosmotic flow of biorheological micropolar fluids through microfluidic channels

An analysis is presented in this work to assess the influence of micropolar nature of fluids in fully developed flow induced by electrokinetically driven peristaltic pumping through a parallel plate microchannel. The walls of the channel are assumed as sinusoidal wavy to analyze the peristaltic flow nature. We consider that the wavelength of the wall motion is much larger as compared to the channel width to validate the lubrication theory. To simplify the Poisson Boltzmann equation, we also use the Debye-Hückel linearization (i.e. wall zeta potential ≤ 25mV). We consider governing equation for micropolar fluid in absence of body force and couple effects however external electric field is employed. The solutions for axial velocity, spin velocity, flow rate, pressure rise and stream functions subjected to given physical boundary conditions are computed. The effects of pertinent parameters like Debye length and Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity which characterize the EDL phenomenon and external electric field, coupling number and micropolar parameter which characterize the micropolar fluid behavior, on peristaltic pumping are discussed through the illustrations. The results show that peristaltic pumping may alter by applying external electric fields. This model can be used to design and engineer the peristalsis-lab-on-chip and micro peristaltic syringe pumps for biomedical applications

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe

Bean and beverage quality - Prospects of four F1 hybrids of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) in India

In coffee, both physical quality attributes as assessed by the colour and size of the beans and cup quality of the beverage rated based on sensory analysis are the important criteria for determining market price. In general, quality is dependent on genotype and also influenced by the growing conditions. The bean and beverage quality of pure C. arabica varieties is far superior to diploid introgressed arabica genotypes developed for improved host resistance. Thus, integrating the host resistance without affecting quality parameters is very imperative in arabica coffee breeding. Four F1 hybrids (S.5083, S.5084, S.5085 & S.5086) developed from reciprocal crosses between the most popular semi-dwarf arabica variety ‘Chandragiri’ and Sln.10, an auto-tetraploid of a diploid inter-specific hybrid, used as a donor for rust resistance, were evaluated for physical quality traits for four seasons and cup profiles for two seasons. Among the four hybrids, S.5085 and S.5086 recorded bold bean size with 70.05 per cent and 69.75 per cent of mean ‘A’ grade beans, respectively. The ‘B’ grade ranged from 9.5 per cent to 10.4 per cent in hybrids as against 16.8 per cent in Chandragiri. The Pea berry ranged from 10.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent, indicating high fertility in hybrids. The cup qualities of S.5085 and S.5086 were also found superior with a cumulative average score of 80.3 and 78.3 respectively, compared to parents; 71.6 in Chandragiri and 77.3 in Sln.10. The present study established the superiority of S.5085 and S.5086 in quality parameters and therefore has potential implications in the commercial exploitation of these two F1 hybrids that also manifested high levels of field tolerance to coffee leaf rust

Awareness of Pap test among women attending a tertiary center in Bangalore, India

Introduction: In India, cervical cancer is the most common woman-related cancer, killing 1 woman every 8 minutes. Cervical cancer is more common in women who do not have a Pap test regularly. Secondary prevention achieved through Pap smear testing is the single most effective tool in reducing deaths due to cervical cancer. Scores of women in India fail to carry out this important test till today. In spite of the high incidence of cervical cancer reported from India, to the best of our knowledge, studies on assessing the knowledge and attitude of this test among women has been scanty. Hence, this study has been undertaken. Objective: The aims of this study are to explore the knowledge of Pap test among women and the association between symptomatology and reasons for availing the Pap test. Methods: The study was performed among 251 women aged between 20 and 65 years. The data was collected through a questionnaire containing their personal details and knowledge of the test. The same was tabulated. Results: The study, conducted over a period of 2 months in a tertiary care urban center, revealed that 80.1% of the subjects were not even aware of the term “Cervical Cancer” and a mere 11.6% were aware of the lifesaving Pap smear test. 36.6% of the subjects experienced one of the cardinal symptoms of cervical cancer while only 2% approached the doctor to avail the test. The remaining underwent it on recommendation by the doctor. Conclusion: This study will increase awareness of the Pap test and cervical cancer, thereby paving a way for the prevention of cancer of the cervix