An Industrial Wastewater Treatment Review for the Textile and Pulp and Paper Industries of Srilanka

A legislative authority empowered to protect Srilanka\u27s environment, operating similarly to the Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S., is needed, along with wastewater treatment. Wastewater parameters of importance in treatment are BOD, COD, total suspended solids, settleable solids, pH, colour, turbidity, ammonia or nitrate nitrogen, heavy metals, sulfides, phosphates, and phenols. Methods of industrial waste treatment vary depending on the climatic conditions, the industry, raw materials, and process adopted. Textile and pulp and paper industries exist in Srilanka and have very high pollution potential. Methods of treatment to finally generate reasonably good quality effluent are available. Processing of effluents from these type industries together with municipal sewage is feasible and economical. Due to the complex nature of the composition of industrial wastes, a final decision could only be made after a thorough investigation of the industrial complexes, the methodology used, and pilot plant studies

Numerical analysis of second harmonic generation in soft glass equiangular spiral photonic crystal fibers

In this paper, the accurate and numerically efficient finite element (FE)-based beam propagation method (BPM) has been employed to investigate second harmonic generation (SHG) in highly nonlinear soft glass (SF57) equiangular spiral photonic crystal fibers (ES-PCFs) for the first time. It is shown here that the SHG output power in highly nonlinear SF57 soft glass PCF exploiting the ES design is significantly higher compared with that of silica PCF with hexagonal air-hole arrangements. The effects of fabrication tolerances on the coherence length and the modal properties of ES-PCF are also illustrated. Moreover, phase matching between the fundamental and the second harmonic modes is discussed through the use of the quasi-phase matching technique. Furthermore, the ultralow bending loss in the SF57 ES-PCF design has been successfully analyzed

Low-Cost Oil-Processing Techniques

Advances in edible oil refining have been discussed in previous chapters of this book. These recent developments in physical-, chemical-, and adsorption-based refining techniques and related equipment designs will allow higher quantities of natural and bioactive compounds to be retained in the oil during refining compared with the use of conventional refining processes. This chapter summarizes recent research on mechanical extraction, minimum refining, and frying applications of soybean oil. The soybean is the dominant oilseed crop produced in the world due to its favorable agronomic characteristics, high-quality protein, and versatile edible oil. Soybeans constitute over one-half of all oilseeds produced worldwide (Fig. 13.1). Soybean oil accounted for 80–90% of total edible oil consumption in the United States in 1998 because of its availability and its desirable compositional and functional properties

Who cooks from scratch and how do they prepare food

Purpose – There is increasing interest in the domestic preparation of food and with the postulated health benefits of “cooking from scratch”. The purpose of this paper is to examine the demographic and food preparation associations of this term in order to examine its operational value. Design/methodology/approach – A national online survey was conducted during 2012 in Australia among 1,023 domestic food providers, half of whom were men. Questions were asked about cooking from scratch, demographic characteristics, food preparation practices and interest in learning about cooking. Findings – Three quarters of the sample reported they often or always “cooked from scratch” (CFS). More women than men always CFS; fewer 18-29 year olds did so often or always but more of the over 50s always did so; fewer single people CFS than cohabiting people. No statistically significant ethnic, educational background or household income differences were found. High levels of cooking from scratch were associated with interest in learning more about cooking, greater use of most cooking techniques (except microwaves), meat and legume preparation techniques, and the use of broader ranges of herbs, spice, liquids/ sauces, other ingredients and cooking utensils. Research limitations/implications – In future work a numerical description of the frequency of cooking from scratch should be considered along with a wider range of response options. The data were derived from an online panel from which men were oversampled. Caution is required in comparisons between men and women respondents. The cross-sectional nature of the sample prevents any causal attributions from being drawn from the observed relationships. Further replication of the findings, especially the lack of association with educational background should be conducted. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the associations of demographic characteristics and cooking practices with cooking from scratch. The findings suggest that cooking from scratch is common among Australian family food providers and signifies interest in learning about cooking and involvement in a wide range of cooking techniques

Factors affecting the Gender- based Consumer purchase intention towards Ethical Fashion (A case study on undergraduates of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura)

The study examines the factors affecting the gender-based consumer purchase intention towards ethical fashion in Sri Lanka. Primary data was gathered using self-administrated questionnaire through online platform and physically. Sample of the study was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques through undergraduates from three selected faculties of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Sample size of the study was 371 respondents including 228 female and 143 male undergraduates. Both descriptive analysis and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method were applied for the quantitative data. Findings of the study revealed that both the female and male consumers have an identical level of awareness regarding the ethical fashion market and related scopes. The respondents of the study have a positive impression on ethical fashion concept, and they believe that the concept itself is necessary for the betterment of the society and environment. Attitudes and beliefs regarding ethical fashion and subjective norms were identified as the major factors which affect the purchase intention towards ethical fashion among the consumers. Furthermore, it was found that gender doesn’t have any moderate effect in determining the consumers’ purchase intention towards ethical fashion in the young adult consumers in Sri Lanka. Findings of the study suggested that the fashion industry should implement new methods to motivate the purchasing intention of young customers. Also, such methods should promote the core values of ethical fashion concept as most of the consumers are not aware about those and for the expansion of the ethical fashion industry.  DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v08i02.1

DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF LICHENS OF AMBULUWAWA MOUNTAIN

Ambuluwawa Mountain in Gampola District reaches to a height of 1065 meters and vegetationis mostly disturbed.To study lichens three sites, each 100m2 in area, at different elevations (high <990m), (mid 950-870m) and (low 700- 650m) were selected. Three trees Alstonia macrophylla, Albizzia lebbek,Macaranga tomentosa were selected to study corticolous lichens. Alstonia macrophylla waspresent in all sites while Albizzia lebbek was present in sites one and three. Macarangatomentosa was present in site two only. Rocks were used for sexicolous species. Totalpercentage lichen cover and the total number of different lichens were recorded by placing250cm2 quadrate randomly on trunks of trees (six trees and four quadrate /tree and three rocksper site). Light intensity, bark pH of trees and relative humidity were measured in all sites.In site one, Parmotrema reticulatum had the highest percentage cover (29.3%) while Buel/ia sp.I had the second highest coverage value (10.6%) onA macrophylla. On rocks, Diploschistes sp.had the highest coverage value while Aspicilia sp. and Toninia sp. was recorded with fairly highcoverage. On the trunks of A. lebbek, several species (If Usnea were recorded in this site.In site two, on A. macrophyl/a, Pertusaria sp. 1 was recorded with highest coverage (14.3%)while Pyrenula sp. and Letrouitia sp. 1 had coverage values of 11.46 and 6.67 respectively. Onrocks a species of Leotogium, Dirinaria aegialita and Pertusaria species were recorded withhigher coverage values. Pertusaria sp. was recorded from all three substrates in this site.In site three, on A. lebbek, Parmotrema reticulatum gave the highest coverage value whileDrynaria aegilita had the second higher value. Heterodermia sp.3 had the highest percentagecover on rocks.Twenty-five different lichens were identified in site one while site two and three had lessernumber of lichens. Total number of lichens on A. lebbek and A. macrophylla differ significantlyat lower elevation but not in other two sites at higher elevation,Statistical analyses of coverage values of lichens on different substrate within a site did not showa significant difference. Coverage values of lichens cn same trees, among sites also did not showa significant difference except on A. macrophylla. Lichen coverage on rocks was notsignificantly different between sites one and three.Light intensity and relative humidity may be having a grater influence on the distribution oflichens. Effect of bark pH on lichen coverage was difficult to interpret.Forty-five lichens species, which belong to nine genera, were identified in this locality. Eightlichen species were found to be new records in Sri Lanka.Presence of indicator species such as Letrouitia, Diploschistes, Leptogium, Heterdermia andPyrenula with good coverage on Ambuluwawa Mountain indicates absence of air pollution inthis area

pySuStaIn: A Python implementation of the Subtype and Stage Inference algorithm

Progressive disorders are highly heterogeneous. Symptom-based clinical classification of these disorders may not reflect the underlying pathobiology. Data-driven subtyping and staging of patients has the potential to disentangle the complex spatiotemporal patterns of disease progression. Tools that enable this are in high demand from clinical and treatment-development communities. Here we describe the pySuStaIn software package, a Python-based implementation of the Subtype and Stage Inference (SuStaIn) algorithm. SuStaIn unravels the complexity of heterogeneous diseases by inferring multiple disease progression patterns (subtypes) and individual severity (stages) from cross-sectional data. The primary aims of pySuStaIn are to enable widespread application and translation of SuStaIn via an accessible Python package that supports simple extension and generalization to novel modeling situations within a single, consistent architecture