WHY DOES TRANSMISSION LICENSEE SHOULD HAVE BULK SUPPLY TRANSACTION ACCOUNT IN VERTICALLY INTEGRATED UTILITY IN MONOPOLISTIC ELECTRICITY MARKET OF SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka has monopolistic electricity market dominated by Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in all three aspects of electricity i.e. Generation, transmission and distribution. The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) is the regulatory authority for the electricity sector. PUCSL has informed CEB for establishment of an effective and transparent mechanism to carry out Bulk Supply Transaction Account (BSTA) for implementation of a transparent Tariff Regime. However still CEB has not agreed to establish the BSTA. Since this is an issue where both parties are arguing advantages and disadvantages it was studied qualitatively to figure out the reasons and solution. Hence the objective of the study is to reason out the importance of BSTA and to identify the obstacles of establishing BSTA. We interviewed Director General PUCSL, Transmission Licensee and Distribution licensees of CEB, Lanka electricity Company officials, Donor Agencies and independent experts. It was revealed that the reasons highlighted by the advantages of having BSTA are improvement of efficiency, monitoring by the management on functions and sound financial situation of utility and the counter arguments made by Senior officials of CEB are at present CEB has separate accounting system for transactions, threat of unbundling, no legal provision to do it. However, under the existing legal framework there is no requirement to establish separate physical bank accounts for each licensee of CEB, considering the reasons explained by both parties it can be concluded that implementation of BSTA is important to improve the effective and transparent financial system in the CEB. But it is necessary to have clear legal provisions. However, BSTA is an integral part of tariff methodology. Hence it is necessary to have good tariff methodology for the sector to ensure the financial viability of the utilities

Influence of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in the Acquisition of English as a Second Language by Polytechnic Students of Sri Lanka

Levy, M. (1997) explains Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as“the search for and the study of applications of the computer in language teaching andlearning.” This research investigates the effectiveness of CALL in conducting Englishcourses for polytechnic students in Sri Lanka with special reference to studentsfollowing Higher National Diploma in Engineering, Management and English at SriLanka Institute Advanced Technological Education.The hypothesis that CALL made a positive impact on the polytechnic studentsthat learnt English as a second language was supported on the objectives that motivationof the students to follow the course was sustained, that their level of attendanceincreased and that their performance in the language tests improved. Data used in thiswork was collected via questionnaires forwarded to the members of the sample selectedas well as observations of the instructors/lecturers that represented the three courses.At the end of data analysis this research found noticeable improvement in theperformance of students in English since the incorporation of CALL in English languageprogrammes followed by them. The student autonomy, authenticity of material andtechnological paraphernalia that CALL involves seemed to take their appeal resulting inthe development of their language skills. Advantages of using CALL in languageprogrammes of polytechnic students led this research to advocate the incorporation ofInternet and other language software into second language courses and at the same timeit emphasizes adequate training and awareness building initiatives for the staffconducting these courses, for enabling them to handle the technical interruptions andtrouble shooting promptly for delivering and ensuring a satisfactory learningexperience/environment for students learning English as their second language.Key words: Polytechnic, Appeal, Authenticity, Impact, Trainin

Indirect Regulatory Capture, Regulator and the Utility in Electricity Sector

This paper discussed the two cases of the regulatory decisions of the electricity sector regulator of Sri Lanka on renewable energy tariff calculation and approval of long term generation Expansion plan. The objectives of the analysis of the case studies are to examine how does utility can react on the regulatory decisions in the monopolistic market and whether it leads to a situation of Indirect Regulatory Capture. The regulatory process is examined from the perspective of various interest groups over the time, using Public Interest theory and Interest Group theory. The two cases are shown to have been strongly influenced by the interests of the different stakeholders of the electricity sector themselves, indicating a degree of 'regulatory capture'. The relationship of the utility and the regulator has been increasingly challenged by external pressures, interests of the stakeholders, and by, the level of resistance of the monopolistic utility. The paper concludes that in the monopolistic electricity market regulators decision can be reversed if the Utility is strong enough to resist the regulators decision if not favorable for the public or the utilities’ interest

Translation of Sri Lankan Literature into French A Case Study on Romesh Gunesekara's Reef

In 1994, British Sri Lankan writer Romesh Gunesekara's debut novel Reef, wasshort listed for the Booker Prize. The novel was later translated into many languagesincluding French. Reef was translated into French as Récif (Serpent à plumes, Paris) byMarie-Odile Fortier Masek in 1995. The present paper examines the French translationand the strategies used by the translator.Product-oriented Descriptive Translation Studies are an important area ofacademic research in Translation Studies. The translated text is the starting point for thiskind of a study. The text chosen for this research Récif is set in Sri Lanka. The influenceof the Sri Lankan culture, Buddhism and the Sinhala language is noteworthy. Sinhalaterms are often used by the author in the original: exclamations, swear words, terms ofaddress, food items, religious terms, species of flora and fauna and also terms such as„men‟ and 'no?' the popular question tag used in Sri Lankan English.The object of this study will be whether the translator preserves the Sinhalaterms and/or the English terms typical of Sri Lankan people in the French translation.Récif, similar to the original, does not offer footnotes or a glossary to explain Sinhalaterms. Respecting the culture and the language represented by the source test, FortierMasek does not attempt to translate Sinhala words into French. However, it isinteresting to note that certain expressions in English are translated. The translation ofthe question tag „no?‟ by using different expressions raises concerns and is discussed indetail. This paper points out that such strategies, along with clarifications and addedinformation found in the translated work, could prevent the reader from „receiving theforeign as foreign‟.Key words: Translation, French, Romesh Gunesekar

Development of an Online Hotel Reservation System in Sri Lanka using Cutting-Edge Technologies

The hotel management system is an important aspect of contemporary hotel life since it assures the hotel's correct operation, making it efficient and enabling the opportunity to reserve a room online. It contains information on the rooms and the hotel as a whole for the staff and administration. This technology eliminates the majority of the paperwork, making it a must-have tool for any modern hotel. The present reservation system is analyzed and improved. The purpose of this paper is to offer a thorough examination of the system. Make an effort to enhance the existing condition in the hotel management industry. In addition, a modest prototype built using cutting-edge technologies MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js (MERN stack) will be discussed. This will showcase how the system would operate from the client and administrator sides. The MERN stack is an excellent choice for hotels wishing to develop high-quality web applications. In fact, this stack enables the rapid development of online applications and software in addition to leveraging high-performance and customized technologies. The mentioned system was shown to be significantly more affordable, an open-source program with superior performance, and UI rendering by using these technologies. In addition to assessing the value of an online reservation system for Sri Lanka's hotel industry, this paper will examine how the environment's components should be set up, integrated, and built, as well as how the requirements, design, construction, and test phases of the application development lifecycle should be combined to create an overall system and how a developer would actually go about creating applications that would be used in practical situations

Synthesis and characterization of mixed oxide nanowires for gas sensing

A healthy and long-lasting life is the utmost wish of any living being thus aging. The aging phenomenon cannot be stopped but may be controlled to some extent when we live in appropriate environments. Usually, the outdoor environment is polluted by two means natural events (windblown dust, volcano eruptions, etc.) and man-made ones (burning of facile fuels, factories, volatile organic compounds, etc.). Pollution due to harmful air such as sulfur oxides (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is one of the significant issues since it is more sensitive to compromising the natural ecosystem and environment. So, exposure to these compounds worsens the aging phenomena of the living being (headache, fainting, skin and eye irradiation, respiratory infections, heart disease, lung cancer, and even superficial death). Therefore, it is necessary the detection these compounds in the environment. Accordingly, metal oxides (MOXs) gas sensors have conventionally been employed to detect and quantify harmful gases in both indoor and outdoor environments. However, one of the major problems with these sensors is achieving selective detection. Herein, we propose a novel design with two metal oxides (ZnO and Co3O4) that provide very high gas response together with superior selectivity. The proposed structure is a one-dimensional (1D) metal oxide composite; Co3O4/ZnO nanowires. The composite was prepared by in-situ thermal oxidation of metallic Co thin layer (50 nm) and evaporation of ZnO powder at a temperature of 800 ᵒC at a pressure of 0.15 mbar. The pressure was maintained by a controlled mixture of O2 and Ar. The morphological, compositional, and structural analyses are evidence of the successful growth of the Co3O4/ZnO composite nanowire with the root of Co3O4 and the tip with Pt (catalyzer) and Co3O4. The gas sensing characterization shows exciting sensing functionality towards acetone (C3H6O) compared to that of tested gases (C2H5OH, H2S, NH3, CO, NO2, and H2). The reported highest response (ΔG/G; G is the conductance) was above the value of 5000 toward 50 ppm (parts per million) C3H6O at 40 RH% air when working at 250 °C with the potential of detecting sub ppb (parts per billion) concentration levels of C3H6O. The very high C3H6O sensing performance together with exceptionally high selectivity of the sensor ascribed to Pt nanoparticle and the Co3O4 section on the tip of the Co3O4/ZnO. Moreover, the formation of heterojunctions, synergistic gas sensing, and the catalytic activity of the proposed design enhances the response of the sensors. Accordingly, scanning electron microscopic (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization, and the sensing mechanisms are comprehensively discussed at the conference

Triboelectric Nanogenerators: Providing a Fundamental Framework

A new model which comprehensively explains the working principles of contact-mode Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs) based on Maxwell’s equations is presented. Unlike previous models which are restricted to known simple geometries and derived using the parallel plate capacitor model, this model is generic and can be modified to a wide range of geometries and surface topographies. We introduce the concept of a distance-dependent electric field, a factor not taken in to account in previous models, to calculate the current, voltage, charge, and power output under different experimental conditions. The versatality of the model is demonstrated for non-planar geometry consisting of a covex-conave surface. The theoretical results show excellent agreement with experimental TENGs. Our model provides a complete understanding of the working principles of TENGs, and accurately predicts the output trends, which enables the design of more efficient TENG structures

Algae removal by roughing filter

Algae removal by roughing filte

Investigating word affect features and fusion of probabilistic predictions incorporating uncertainty in AVEC 2017

© 2017 Association for Computing Machinery. Predicting emotion intensity and severity of depression are both challenging and important problems within the broader field of affective computing. As part of the AVEC 2017, we developed a number of systems to accomplish these tasks. In particular, word affect features, which derive human affect ratings (e.g. arousal and valence) from transcripts, were investigated for predicting depression severity and liking, showing great promise. A simple system based on the word affect features achieved an RMSE of 6.02 on the test set, yielding a relative improvement of 13.6% over the baseline. For the emotion prediction sub-challenge, we investigated multimodal fusion, which incorporated a measure of uncertainty associated with each prediction within an Output-Associative fusion framework for arousal and valence prediction, whilst liking prediction systems mainly focused on text-based features. Our best emotion prediction systems provided significant relative improvements over the baseline on the test set of 39.5%, 17.6%, and 29.3% for arousal, valence, and liking. Of particular note is that consistent improvements were observed when incorporating prediction uncertainty across various system configurations for predicting arousal and valence, suggesting the importance of taking into consideration prediction uncertainty for fusion and more broadly the advantages of probabilistic predictions