Fashion design for the emerging creative economy of Sri Lanka

For many years, Sri Lanka’s textiles and apparel (T&A) industry practices were dependent on labour intensive manufacturing for export orders. In the late 1990’s, both government and private industry sectors identified that for Sri Lanka’s T&A industry to expand and to further create revenue there was a need to add value to the production supply chain via fashion design. However at the time, there were no design courses of adequate level to train fashion designers. Identifying the gap in the education system, in 2000, the University of Moratuwa and several private institutions initiated fashion design education, in order to prepare fashion designers to suit the country’s developing creative industry system. A decade on since the introduction of tertiary level fashion design education, it is estimated that approximately seven hundred fashion/textile designers have graduated. Yet, to date, there has been no investigation conducted or data collected to examine the role of the fashion designer within Sri Lanka’s T&A industry and what their value is to the country’s developing economic system. Therefore, the aims of this research are to address the key questions of: What is the role of the fashion designer in the emerging creative economy of Sri Lanka? How can Sri Lanka achieve a sustainable economic development via fashion design? And is Sri Lanka’s fashion design education meeting the needs of graduates as they transition into the T&A industry? To address the key questions and discuss the potential of fashion to be a vibrant sustainable creative industry in Sri Lanka, two phases were undertaken with the research. Firstly, a review of existing literature was undertaken, focusing on examining theories of the creative economy and industry, the global fashion system and Sri Lanka’s position within this system. Secondly, data collection was carried out, namely a questionnaire and three case studies. The collection of data was aimed at examining what the fashion designer’s / design education providers’ / private fashion business sector’s contributions would be towards the emerging creative economy of Sri Lanka. Drawing together all the research and data analyses, this research work has identified that the fashion designer within the Sri Lanka’s system has multiple tasks in applying fashion design in order to build a sustainable fashion industry system for Sri Lanka. A decade on since the initiation of fashion education in the country, the curricula of the education sector has to be reviewed under a common goal and revised to meet the new challenges in the system to adequately prepare future fashion designers to suit the emerging creative economy of the country

Research Update: Density functional theory investigation of the interactions of silver nanoclusters with guanine

Citation: Dale, B. B., Senanayake, R. D., & Aikens, C. M. (2017). Research Update: Density functional theory investigation of the interactions of silver nanoclusters with guanine. APL Materials, 5(5). doi:10.1063/1.4977795Bare and guanine-complexed silver clusters Agnz (n = 2-6; z = 0-2) are examined using density functional theory to elucidate the geometries and binding motifs that are present experimentally. Whereas the neutral systems remain planar in this size range, a 2D-3D transition occurs at Ag5+ for the cationic system and at Ag42+ for the dicationic system. Neutral silver clusters can bind with nitrogen 3 or with the pi system of the base. However, positively charged clusters interact with nitrogen 7 and the neighboring carbonyl group. Thus, the cationic silver-DNA clusters present experimentally may preferentially interact at these sites. © 2017 Author(s)

Nanorobot: Modelling And Simulation.

This research addresses the state of the art in nanorobot design and simulation focusing on the leukemia disease as well as ongoing applications on addressing the challenges posed by cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy

Impact of the disaster-induced relocation process on the displaced communities in Kegalle district, Sri Lanka

Disaster induced displacement and relocation is a frequently occurring phenomenon in the Sri Lankan context. Resettlement has been recognized as a regular result of disasters such as landslides due to the large-scale property damage that occurs. This paper investigates the impact of the disasterinduced relocation process on displaced communities. The study revolves around the sub-objectives of investigating the various needs of victims in different stages of displacement and how relocation has altered the social, cultural, and livelihood dimensions of the victims. Victims of the Aranayake landslide who were residing in the Kegalle district and who were resettled mainly in a Donor Driven relocation site were selected for the study. A purposive sampling technique was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, in-depth interviews with officials and focus group interviews with community members were carried out. Next, a community needs analysis was conducted with the participation of the community and officials. The data suggests that there is a clear lacuna in strong, written policy frameworks and its practical implementation when satisfying the various needs of displaced communities. Being confined to only understanding the social and economic details of various displaced groups, policy planners have tended to neglect the necessity of conducting a needs analysis with the main reason being the lack of perception of relocation as a long-term process. Therefore, in conclusion, the study suggests a model that addresses the need for a holistic institutional arrangement with further disaster risk management strategies to address the adverse impact on the disaster-induced, displaced community

Electrophysiological correlates of respiratory failure in acute organophosphate poisoning: Evidence for differential roles of muscarinic and nicotinic stimulation

Background. Respiratory failure in acute organophosphate (OP) poisoning can occur early and also relatively late in the clinical course, and the pathophysiology of respiratory failure at these different phases may have important clinical implications. Objective. To compare the electrophysiological findings in patients with early and late respiratory failure following acute OP poisoning. Methods. A prospective observational case series of consenting symptomatic patients with acute OP poisoning were assessed with daily physical examinations and repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) studies. RNS was done on right and left median and ulnar nerves at 1, 3, 10, 15, 20, and 30 Hz. Outcomes such as need for ventilation and development of intermediate syndrome (IMS) were noted. Early respiratory failure was defined as occurring within 24 hours of ingestion. Results. Seventy-eight patients were recruited for the clinical and electrophysiological study and of those 59 (75.6%) patients had ingested chlorpyrifos. Seven patients developed respiratory failure within 24 hours of ingestion with overt muscarinic signs. They had no electrophysiological abnormalities at median and ulnar nerves before intubation. Three of them later developed “forme fruste” IMS. Five other patients developed late respiratory failure after 24 hours of ingestion, and all of them showed progressive RNS changes indicating severe IMS prior to intubation. Conclusion. The normal RNS in all patients developing early respiratory failure suggests that it is due to a central nervous system (CNS) and muscarinic effect. This emphasizes the need for early rapid atropinisation as a priority, combating the nicotinic effects being less urgent. This is in contrast with the late respiratory failure, which has been shown to be associated with neuromuscular dysfunction. Further studies are needed to quantify CNS and muscarinic dysfunction to assist in the development of better treatments for the severe and early OP poisoning

Extraction of Scandium (III) from acidic solutions using organo-phosphoric acid reagents: A comparative study

Comparative and synergistic solvent extraction of Sc(III) using two phosphoric acidic reagents such as di-(2-ethyhexyl) phosphoric acid and 2,4,4,tri-methyl,pentyl-phosphinic acid was investigated. Slope analysis method suggests a cation exchange reaction of Sc(III) with both extractants at a molar ratio of extractant: Sc(III) = 2.5:1 at equilibrium pH< 1.5. The plot of log D vs. log [Extractant] yield the slope (n) value as low as 1.2-1.3 and as high as n=7 at low and high extrcatant concentration level, respectively. Extraction isotherm study predicted the need of 2 stages at A: O=1:4 and A: O=1:3 using 0.1 M D2EHPA and 0.1 M Cyanex 272, respectively. Stripping of Sc (III) was carried out at varied NaOH concentration to ascertain the optimum stripping condition for effective enrichment of metal. The predicted stripping condition (2)-stages with A: O=1:3 and 1:4 for D2EHPA and Cyanex 272, respectively) obtained from Mc-Cabe Thiele plot was further validated by 6-cycles CCS study. An actual leach solution of Mg-Sc alloy bearing 1.0 g/L of Sc (III), 2.5 g/L of Mg and 0.2 M HCl was subjected for selective separation of Sc at the optimum condition. The counter current simulation (CCS) study for both extraction and stripping of actual solution resulted quantitative separation of Sc with ∼12 fold enrichment. The organic phase before and after loading of Sc (III) along with the diluents was characterized by FTIR to ascertain the phase transportation of Sc (III)

God's mind on morality

Supplementary material: To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2021.1Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Most research on cognition behind religious belief assumes that understanding of other minds is culturally uniform and follows the Western model of mind, which posits that (a) others’ thoughts can be known and (b) action is best explained by mental state inference. This is potentially problematic if, as a growing body of evidence suggests, other populations view minds differently. We recruit Indigenous iTaukei Fijians who hold (a) a model of mind that discourages mental state inference and (b) co-existing Christian (Western) and traditional supernatural agent beliefs. Study 1 (N = 108), uses free-listing to examine how Western and local models of mind relate to beliefs. The Christian God cares about internal states and traits (aligning with the Western model of mind). Study 2 tests whether evoking God triggers intent focus in moral reasoning. Instead, God appears to enforce cultural models of mind in iTaukei (N = 151) and North Americans (N = 561). Expected divine judgement mirrors human judgement; iTaukei (N = 90) expect God to emphasise outcome, while Indo-Fijians (N = 219) and North Americans (N = 412) expect God to emphasise intent. When reminded to think about thoughts, iTaukei (N = 72) expect God to judge outcomes less harshly. Results suggest cultural/cognitive co-evolution: introduced cultural forms can spread new cognitive approaches, while Indigenous beliefs can persist as a reflection of local institutions

Exploring natural resources for sustainable management of ecosystems future challenges for control and management of Xyleborus fornicatus eichh. (Coleoptera Scolytidae), the shot-hole borer of tea in Sri Lanka

In view of the highly diverse genetic base of the seedling tea plants, though cultivated as a monocrop,along with shade trees and surrounding forests, provided a reasonably stable ecosystem then. Withthe introduction of high yielding vegetatively propagated tea during 1950's, a significant change in thedistribution and population densities of pests has been taken place. Shot-hole borer is one such pestand since then it has become the most serious and damaging pest of tea in Sri Lanka. Control hasbeen a difficult task as a result of its' wide distribution from near sea level up to 1500m amsl and theconcealed habit virtually protected from parasites and predators. Biological control usingentomopathogenic fungus, Beauvaria bassiana Vuillemin (Balsomo ) is being viewed as anenvironmentally friendly alternative to chemical control in the light of growing concern on the usage of pesticides and since oflate, the detection of pesticide residues in made tea. Preliminary investigationswere carried out with a view to find out a suitable local strain/s of the fungus for use against this pest.Laboratory studies have shown that strains of this fungus isolated from a tea garden in Talawakelle(Nuwera Eliya District) and a home garden in Welimada (Badulla District) are highly pathogenic toshot-hole borer imparting more than 90% mortality. A potential exists for using the locally availablenatural resources like entomopathogenic fungi for the management of key pests in a compatible andecologically acceptable manner. This forms the basis for Integrated Pest Management (lPM) approachof key pests. These efforts will promote and ensure the sustainable development of the tea ccosyst;m