Potential of using Rainwater as a Source of Drinking Water in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka

Despite the fact that the drinking water coverage in Sri Lanka is 94%, the rest of the 6% is mostly concentrated in the rural areas. Some people in such areas consume water by purchasing it from vendors who transport water in very unsanitary plastic containers, by walking more than two km, or from rivers, streams or unprotected wells. The bimodal rainfall pattern invites the population to store water if possible at times of rain. Rainwater harvesting in that sense is not new to Sri Lankan rural communities. However, the rainwater harvesting has been a practice of convenience rather than a system of continuous supply. The possibility of using harvested rainwater water as a source of drinking water has not been adequately studied. Thus, the aim of the study was to investigate the potential use of harvested rain water as a source of drinking water in Anuradhapura district. The study selected two Grama Niladari divisions; Madawachiya and Kabithigollawa, where the water scarcity cause a heavier burden among the community. The study analysed the water quality (chemical and biological) parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total dissolve solids, E. coli and coliform in 10 samples from each two selected study areas. Then a survey was conducted to collect primary data to investigate the preference towards the rainwater harvesting and using rainwater as a drinking water source with 50 randomly selected households from each division. The results show rain water samples collected from both areas meet required WHO standards of chemical and biological properties of drinking water. Survey results revealed that people in both areas preferred to have rainwater harvesting system for drinking water. The people in the areas equally prefer either to boil or filter harvested rainwater before drinking. This study shows that rainwater harvesting has a good potential to overcome the drinking water scarcity problem in rural areas at least for a certain extent.Keywords: Rain water, Water scarcity, Drinking water, Sensor

Corruption and innovation in private firms: Does gender matter?

In this study, we examine whether bribery impairs gender-based asymmetries in product/process innovation in developing economies. Based on firm-level data from Latin American countries, we reject the proposition that women behave differently with respect to bribing on the grounds of higher ethical/moral standards. After controlling for endogeneity and non-random treatment effects, we find that, in line with the Differential association and opportunity (DAO) theory, women in positions of influence (i.e., firm ownership and top management) are equally associated with firm-level bribing. Furthermore, the results indicate that women receive, on average, a greater payoff from bribing compared to male counterparts. At a practical level for firms wishing to innovate, the question of how to gain maximum advantage from each peso paid in bribes becomes an interesting amoral exercise. Our study reveals that promoting women into high-level positions on the basis of their superior morality is an ill-conceived presumption, which is not supported empirically

Effect of Potassium on Growth, Fruit Quality Improvements and Resistance to Anthracnose in Field Grown Capsicum (Capsicum Annum L. Cv. ‘Hungarian Yellow Wax’)

Postharvest losses of capsicum crop accounts for 30-40% of total crop production. It has been shown that postharvest losses of capsicums can be reduced significantly with the application of potassium due to improvements in disease resistance and fruit quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of higher doses of potassium (K) on plant growth, yield and fruit quality parameters and resistance to anthracnose disease of capsicum cv. ‘Hungarian Yellow wax’. Three different levels of potassium, Department of Agriculture (DOA) recommended level [180g per bed (control)], double the level (360g per bed) and three times of the level (540g per bed) were applied to the soil in a Randomized Complete Block design. The same experiment was repeated in three farmer fields of Naula Grama Niladhari (GN) division in Dambulla Divisional Secretariat of Matale district of the central province of Sri Lanka. Plant growth parameters were measured at two week intervals, and fruit quality parameters (TSS, Ph, %TA), fruit physical parameters (length, width, pericarp thickness, fresh weight, firmness and cell wall thickness) were recorded. Finally the resistance to diseases of capsicum fruits was also tested by inoculation of Colletotrichum capsici to the fruits. This study concludes that application of higher doses of potassium improves some plant growth parameters (height and plant diameter at base), fruit physical parameters (fruit length, width , fresh weight, firmness and cell wall thickness). The tripled and doubled the dose of potassium application reduced anthracnose disease by over 75% and 95% respectively indicating that higher level of K could have a significant impact in reducing postharvest losses of capsicum in local conditions KEYWORDS: Potassium application, capsicum anthracnose, fruit qualit

Impact of family capital & social capital on youth entrepreneurship – a study of Uttarakhand state, India

The research paper intends to interpret how the three forms of family capital viz. family's financial capital, family's man power capital and family's human capital influences the career choice intention of students of HEI's of Uttarakhand, India. Additionally the study also evaluates the impact of student's individual social capital on his career intent. This is a quantitative study conducted at Uttarakhand state of India on a large sample of students studying in various professional courses of Uttarakhand. The research validates a positive relationship between the family's financial capital and higher education intention of students. The study found no influence of family's financial capital (measured as father's annual income), manpower capital (measured as family size) and human capital (measured as father's occupation) on career intentions of students. The study confirmed that there is a significant impact of students' social capital network span on his career intentions, especially in taking up entrepreneurship as a career choice

INTENTION OF MBA STUDENTS TOWARDS ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF KELANIYA)

Economists and policy makers in developing countries deem that more entrepreneurship is essential to achieve higher level of economic growth. Entrepreneurs bring in new combinations to the economy while they look for profit opportunities. These new combinations or innovations are the major cause of economic development. Conversely, there is an emerging trend in literature arguing that intentions play an extremely significant role in the decision to become an entrepreneur. Thus, researches revealed that personal variables such as age, gender, education and sensational experiences influence the entrepreneurial intentions. Even the number of researches published recently about this issue, a lot of research work is still required to carry out for better comprehend which factors are affecting the entrepreneurial intention. The aims of this study are to examine the intention level and the impact of demographic and other factors on entrepreneurial intention among postgraduate students. Thus, study was conducted among the Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at the University of Kelaniya, as they had being well educated after their graduation and have options to choose entrepreneurship with their experiences than undergraduates. A structured questionnaire was distributed among 97 students but only 88 received. The questionnaire contains demographic and personal data, and the level of entrepreneurial intention which was used 5 point Likert scales. ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that, gender, age, working experience, prior education and family business experience were significantly contribute to the formation of entrepreneurial effort among MBA students while marital status, residence area, monthly income level, stage of the study programme, source of funding and employment status were not related to the attentiveness of entrepreneurship. Therefore, it can be conclude that specific curriculum inputs, experience of pervious employment and the family intention on businesses contribute towards entrepreneurial intention among MBA students. Key Words: Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth, Entrepreneurial IntentionFor full paper: [email protected]

Kainic acid rapidly induces cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in piglet cerebral cortex

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) results in a robust induction of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in the newborn brain via unknown mechanisms, but glutamate release and activation of KA receptors may be involved. We examined effects of local KA (3-300 mu mol/l for 10 min) treatment on cortical COX-2 expression in anesthetized piglets using a closed cranial window. Treated and corresponding control tissue samples were collected 0.5-10 h after treatment. COX-2 mRNA and protein levels were assessed using RNase protection assay and immunohistochemistry, respectively. KA elicited reproducible dose-dependent increases in cortical COX-2 mRNA unaffected by indomethacin or N-G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester pretreatment. COX-2 mRNA levels were elevated at 30 min, peaked at 2 h, but remained enhanced for up to 10 h after KA. Neuronal COX-2 immunoreactivity was also enhanced compared with the control side in all cortical layers 8h after KA. In summary, activation of KA receptors may be involved in the neuronal induction of COX-2 after I/R in the newborn

Developing the Zebrafish Neuromast Assay as a Predictive Toxicity Model

We developed a method for rapid screening of large number of chemicals to identify zebrafish neuromast disruptors. We identified serotonin as a possible pathway being targeted by the disruptors which we confirmed through some preliminary experiments. This project was completed with contributions from Cliff Stephan, Nghil Nguyen, and Mary Sobieski from the Center for Translational Cancer Research, IBT; Richard S. Judson from the National Center for Computational Toxicology, US EPA; and Maria Bondesson from Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University.Biology and Biochemistry, Department o

Governance and performance of MFIs ::the Cameroon governance case

The main challenge of microfinance institutions and social economy firms remains their survival, and to meet this challenge, MFIs need to be compet-itive. The poor performance of MFIs is usually attributed to their decision-making and operational processes. The governance of MFIs is therefore identified as one of their main risks. Despite this, governance is still little explored in these organiza-tions and empirical studies find a weak relationship between classical governance mechanisms and MFI performance, especially for the MFIs situated in Africa (Thrikawala et al. in Asian J Financ Account 5(1):160–182, 2013a). In this study, we examine whether the effect of governance mechanisms on the performance of MFIs differs according to their legal status in the Cameroonian context. On the one hand, our empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between some specific governance mechanisms and MFIs’ performance. On the other hand, adjusting the governance mechanisms according to the MFIs’ legal status improves their efficiency. The analysis of the impact of the governance mechanisms on the performance of MFIs requires not only an approach that is specific to this sector but also an approach that is adapted to their legal status. Moreover, from a managerial point of view, it would be desirable to adjust the governance mechanisms, depending on the legal status of the MFIs, to make them more efficient from the social as well as the financial standpoint