The factors influence on average weighted prime lending rate (AWPLR) of Commercial Banks an empirical perspective in Sri Lankan context

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) of Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka. It could also ascertain the factors which have significantly contributed to the high level of lending interest rates currently prevailing in the market. Many factors affect the Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate, of which the researcher identified and tested three variables based on operating commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Inflation, Average Weighted Deposit Rate (AWDR) and Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) were tested for the purpose this research

Green construction in India: gaining a deeper understanding

A workshop on green construction was organized in New Delhi in July 2008 by Jamia Millia University, India and University of Salford, U.K., aiming to increase 'green' practices that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The workshop included participants from regulatory bodies, public and private construction companies and researchers. The object of the workshop was to provide an opportunity to capture issues, challenges and research issues in green practices throughout the supply chain in the construction sector in India. The methodology constituted a survey that was provided to all participants, where eight questions were composed by the facilitators. The participants were asked about their views on voluntary and compulsory ways of assessment and audit of green implementation in India. The findings of the workshop featured major challenges, drivers, initiatives, and the ways of effective implementation as well as enforcement on the discussed topic

Deep-Learning-Driven Techniques for Real-Time Multimodal Health and Physical Data Synthesis

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence for healthcare, data synthesis methods present crucial benefits in facilitating the fast development of AI models while protecting data subjects and bypassing the need to engage with the complexity of data sharing and processing agreements. Existing technologies focus on synthesising real-time physiological and physical records based on regular time intervals. Real health data are, however, characterised by irregularities and multimodal variables that are still hard to reproduce, preserving the correlation across time and different dimensions. This paper presents two novel techniques for synthetic data generation of real-time multimodal electronic health and physical records, (a) the Temporally Correlated Multimodal Generative Adversarial Network and (b) the Document Sequence Generator. The paper illustrates the need and use of these techniques through a real use case, the H2020 GATEKEEPER project of AI for healthcare. Furthermore, the paper presents the evaluation for both individual cases and a discussion about the comparability between techniques and their potential applications of synthetic data at the different stages of the software development life-cycle

Exobiopolymer from polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing transgenic yeast

Recently, the wild type yeast Kloeckera sp. strain KY1 was equipped in their cytoplasm with the phaABC operon containing genes phbA, phbB and phbC of the PHA biosynthetic pathway of Ralstonia eutropha. Unpredicted, resulted transgenic yeast strain KY1/PHA was able to synthesize another exopolymer beside the production of PHA. Subsequently, produced exopolymer was subject for further identification, characterization and analysis. Partial purification of exopolymer was performed and characterized as glycoprotein. HPLC analysis of the polymer revealed the presence of a fructose chain. The functional group analysis by FT-IR spectroscopy showed the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl and amid groups. The exopolymer was soluble in water and insoluble in any tested organic solvents and could flocculate kaolin suspension (5 g/l) over a wide range of pH (pH 3 to 9) and temperature (5 to 50°C) tested in the presence of CaCl2. The highest flocculation activity of 99% for kaolin suspension was achieved at a dosage of 13 mg/l. Thus, it is possible that this glycoprotein could be substituted for a commercial polymer with respect to flocculation.Key word: Transgenic yeast, bioflocculant, exopolymer, glycoprotein,  spectroscopic analysis

Reflections on Interdisciplinary Teamwork in Service-Learning

This article examines partnership experiences in a community-based research project that involved an interdisciplinary team composed of nursing and social work clinical faculty and graduate students. Using Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology theory, the project assessed individual and community levels of health and quality of life in a low-income housing community. Students were involved in research activities that required community collaboration and needs assessment. They also actively engaged community members in problem solving related to their health concerns. The effects of these experiences on student learning were examined using a student reflection technique. Service-learning activities led to mutual positive regard, increased cultural sensitivity, improved organizational and research skills, growth in ethical decision making, and valuing interdisciplinary teamwork. These findings are discussed in light of the literature on the social determinants of health. Reflection on work in an interdisciplinary team and the importance of mutuality in relationships with community members were determined to be important considerations in service-learning. Student learning in this setting has implications for graduate teaching and learning, and the conduct of research. Keywords: service-learning, research, health disparities, community, reflection, graduate studen

Antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of Cordia macleodii leaves

AbstractThis investigation was undertaken to evaluate ethanolic extract of Cordia macleodii leaves for possible antioxidant and hepatoprotective potential. Antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated by four established, in vitro methods viz. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method, nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging method, iron chelation method and reducing power method. The extract demonstrated a significant dose dependent antioxidant activity comparable with ascorbic acid. The extract was also evaluated for hepatoprotective activity by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver damage model in rats. CCl4 produced a significant increase in levels of serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin. Pretreatment of the rats with ethanolic extract of C. macleodii (100, 200 and 400mg/kg po) inhibited the increase in levels of GPT, GOT, ALP and total bilirubin and the inhibition was comparable with Silymarin (100mg/kg po). The present study revealed that C. macleodii leaves have significant radical scavenging and hepatoprotective activities

Simple N Compounds Electrochemical Behavior of Steel in Aqueous Solutions

Chemical polishing or electropolishing, instead of mechanical polishing, are recommended for the attainment of metallic surface polishes without the introduction of contaminates or tensions in the surface layers of the metal. The fundamental difference between the chemical and electropolishing processes is that in the latter anodic currents/potentials are used to help in the dissolution and passivation of the metal. The elctropolishing process inhibited with different ratio by addition of amide derivatives with concentration range 1x10-6 to 5x10-3M .The results reveal that amides have strongest inhibitive effect ranging from 4 to 38 %.  Thermodynamic parameters as well as adsorption isotherms were driven. Keywords: Electropolishing, amide derivatives Thermodynamic parameters, adsorptio

Low Concentrations of Vitamin C Reduce the Synthesis of Extracellular Polymers and Destabilize Bacterial Biofilms

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) produced by bacteria form a matrix supporting the complex three-dimensional architecture of biofilms. This EPS matrix is primarily composed of polysaccharides, proteins and extracellular DNA. In addition to supporting the community structure, the EPS matrix protects bacterial biofilms from the environment. Specifically, it shields the bacterial cells inside the biofilm, by preventing antimicrobial agents from getting in contact with them, thereby reducing their killing effect. New strategies for disrupting the formation of the EPS matrix can therefore lead to a more efficient use of existing antimicrobials. Here we examined the mechanism of the known effect of vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) on enhancing the activity of various antibacterial agents. Our quantitative proteomics analysis shows that non-lethal concentrations of vitamin C inhibit bacterial quorum sensing and other regulatory mechanisms underpinning biofilm development. As a result, the EPS biosynthesis in reduced, and especially the polysaccharide component of the matrix is depleted. Once the EPS content is reduced beyond a critical point, bacterial cells get fully exposed to the medium. At this stage, the cells are more susceptible to killing, either by vitamin C-induced oxidative stress as reported here, or by other antimicrobials or treatments

Oxide Film Destruction on Al-Mg Alloys in HCl Solutions

Open circuit potential technique is used to follow the oxide film destruction of three of Al-Mg alloys in HCl solutions of varying concentrations.  Dissolution of the passive film on pare metal surface takes place in two distinct steps indicating that the film is composed mainly of a barrier layer of Al2O3 adjacent to the metal surface and an outer porous modification on the top of the first one. The rates of oxide film destruction and/or dissolution (δ1¯ and δ2¯) follow a direct logarithmic law. The extent of oxide film destruction and metal dissolution were found to increase with increasing the acid concentration and the percent of Mg content in the alloy sample