International Research Conference of UWU-2020
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Item Abundance and Diversity of Reef Associated Fish Species in the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Ramawickrama, N. W.; Thilakarathne, E. P. D. N.; Herath, H. M. T. N. B.; Malshani, P. K. T.; Egodauyana, K. P. U. T.Reef fishes are important marine fauna that provides benefits to reef ecosystems. Although their ecological role is extremely important for the healthiness of the coral reef ecosystem, marine ornamental fishing industry, coastal food fish industry, tourism industry, and lack of monitoring and caring, severely degrade reef fish stocks in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. Since it is highly important to keep up to date scientific records, a survey was conducted in the final quarter of 2019 using fish belt transect method by snorkeling and/or diving over five selected sites; Passikudah, Kayankerni, Adukkuparu, Parrot rock, and Pigeon island as major and most important reefs in Eastern coast. Threats on sites were identified by visual observation and questioner surveying. 289 reef fish species belonging to 41 families were recorded from all five sites. Reef fish species of each site recorded as 41, 131, 31, 103, and 156 respectively. The highest abundance of fish was recorded in the Kayankerni reef, with a greater number of Damselfish and their abundance was increased from shallow (1 m) to deeper (5 m) area while the lowest abundance was recorded in the Adukkuparu reef. The highest biodiversity (0.96), species richness (103), and evenness (0.65) were recorded in the Parrot rock which may due to the highest recorded coral diversity (0.93) and lives coral cover (70%) of the reef. Lowest reef fish diversity (0.68) was recorded in the Passikudah reef which may due to the low coral diversity of the reef (21% live coral cover) but with the highest (51%) algae cover. Marine ornamental fish trade, tourist attraction, invasive species, and pollution were the majorly identified threats to reef fish stocks in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. Acanthaster planci and Halimeda sp. are the identified invasive species. Reef fish species and Coral reefs on the eastern coast are in highly threaten level and the Parrot rock and the Kayankerni reefs are recommended to declare as marine national parks. Keywords: Reef fish, Coral reefs, Eastern coast of Sri Lanka, Kayankerni and Pigeon IslandItem Active and Passive Safety System for Differently Abled People and Adults(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Senanayake, D.D.B.; Kumari, K.W.S.N; Thevathyaraj, T.15% of the world population encompasses the differently-abled community of a diversified range. It is a vivid fact that enough attention is not being paid towards the differently-abled ones who are residing within the residence, such where the guardian is not available. Hence research was conducted to produce a developed asset that supports in detecting and generating a signal during where the utmost care and attention are required. The developed asset is carried out as an oriented scenario of assistive technology being supported by video and image processing. The potential study in this regard is almost a success and improvements can be done by adding some advanced features such as facial expression detection system and emergency alert on the health care provider. Keywords: Safety system, Differently abled safety, Adults safety, Assistive technologyItem Adaptation to Climate Change by Up Country Vegetable Farmers(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Samarakoon, P. S. M. K. J.; Gunathilaka, R. P. D.In Sri Lanka, climate change impact is the second most gravely affecting reason for food insecurity and agriculture is the most vulnerable sector to climate change. Specifically, vegetables, legumes, coarse grains, and potatoes are likely to be adversely affected. Thus, the need for adaptation is pressing for these seasonal cropping systems given the importance of climate change impacts on livelihoods. For successful adaptation policies and recommendations should be formulated based on a robust analysis of factors influencing farmers’ decision to adopt. Based on a cross-sectional survey conducted for upcountry vegetable farmers, the study elucidates farmers' perceptions of climate change, ongoing adaptation measures, factors influencing farmers' decisions to adapt, and constraints. Data were collected from 150 farmers in Nuwaraeliya, Welimada, Badulla, and Bandarawela divisional secretariat areas. Multinomial logit model analyses factors affecting to the adaptation by farmers. Results indicate gender, education level, farming experience, income, willingness to take credit, the extension on the crop, climate change information, farmer to farmer extension, total annual rainfall, and average annual temperature as the significant factors. Further, early or late planting, crop or variety switching and intensive use of inputs are the commonly used current adaptation options. Results explain that farmers lack climate information. Moreover, higher costs to adapt and lack of vigorous seeds impede adaptation. The study suggests educating farmers about potential adaptation options is pivotal. Moreover, policies related to education, adaptation cost, and vegetable seed importation should be amended to promote adaptation. Providing comprehensive climate change information and improved crop extension service are the practices that need governmental support. Furthermore, intensive studies on climate change and networking farmers to initiate an information portal will nurture climate change adaptation. Keywords: Climate change adaptation, Upcountry vegetable farmers, Multinomial logit modelItem Agar-Based Gel Polymer Electrolyte with KI and Tetrapropylammonium Iodide Salts for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Nirodha, M.D.; Nishshanke, G.B.M.M.M.; Pitawala, H.M.J.C.; Bandara, T.M.W.J.At present, energy consumption is rising predominantly, thus low cost, renewable, and environmentally benign energy resources drag attraction extensively. Although many researches have been done on polymer electrolytes, there is a captivating direction to explore bio-polymer electrolytes in a quasi-solid state. In the present work, a novel gel polymer electrolyte was prepared by a hot press method utilizing tetrapropylammonium iodide (Pr4NI) and potassium iodide (KI) as the binary iodide salt system. Agar bio polymer was combined with the glycerol and formaldehyde solvents to obtain the quasisolid state polymer plasticizer matrix. The KI and tetrapropylammonium iodide weight ratio in the electrolyte was altered while keeping the masses of other ingredients constant to optimize the solar cell performance. Gel electrolytes displayed quite high viscosity while retaining a gel-like consistency at ambient temperature. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results indicate a peak heightens gradually at 750 cm-1 with increasing Pr4NI salt amount. Electrical impedance spectroscopy was used to deduce the ionic conductivity of each electrolyte. The highest ionic conductivity of 3.39 mS cm−1 is achieved by the electrolyte sample only with KI at 26 °C as the contribution for ionic conductivity from small K+ cation is higher compared to the bulky Pr4N+ cation. The uniform shape of cyclic voltammetry curves of each electrolyte during 12 consecutive cycles with 5 min time steps revealed the stability of electrolytes. A dye-sensitized solar cell was assembled by inserting the highest conducting gel polymer electrolyte having Glass/FTO/TiO2/N719-Dye/GPE/Pt/Glass configuration. The dye-sensitized solar cell fabricated with the highest conducting electrolyte displayed an efficiency of 0.36% with JSC of 1.31 mA cm−2 , VOC of 0.4 V, and fill factor of 0.68. Keywords: Biopolymer, Gel polymer electrolyte, Agar, Tetrapropylammonium iodide, Dye-sensitized solar cellItem Amelioration of Cadmium (Cd) Stress in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) by using Selected Soil Amendments and Aquatic Plants(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Weerakkodi, W.A.G.I.S.; Ranawana, S.R.W.M.C.J.K.; Jayawardana, N.U.Heavy metal contamination in paddy soil, particularly Cadmium (Cd) has become a serious issue with the potential risk of transferring Cd to the human food chain. Rice plants exposed to high Cd, encounter deleterious effects on growth and yield. This necessitates the need to identify effective and feasible remediation measures to ameliorate Cd stress in rice. Therefore, the efficacy of using selected soil amendments and floating aquatic plants to ameliorate Cd stress in rice was evaluated in this study under controlled environmental conditions using rice variety Bg 250. The experiment was laid out in a Complete Randomized Design with six treatments replicated thrice. Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), duckweed (Lemna minor), partially burnt rice husk (RH), and rice straw (RS) were evaluated as the amelioration treatments under two soil Cd contamination levels (5 and 8 ppm). The control was maintained with the only Cd without any amelioration. RH and RS were separately incorporated to Cd treated soil and mixed well at two levels (soil: RH or soil: RS, 1:1 and 2:1 v/v). Upon transplanting of rice, the aquatic plants were introduced to Cd treated pots. Growth and yield parameters were measured at 45 and 75 days after transplanting. Rice grown in the soil medium amended with RH (1:1 v/v) showed significantly higher values for plant height (43±0.2 cm), the number of tillers (3.67±0.03), root length (24.33±1.2 cm), root volume (13.33±0.7 cm3 ), root dry weight (3.17±0.2 g plant-1 ), shoot dry weight (7.44±0.07 g plant-1 ) and seed dry weight (3.12±0.15 g plant-1 ) compared to the control under 5 ppm Cd level. A similar pattern was observed in the other Cd level as well. Interestingly, the aquatic plants reduced the growth and yield of rice possibly due to competition for resources. In conclusion, RH has the potential to be used as an effective soil amendment to ameliorate Cd stress in rice. Field investigations are suggested for making a general recommendation. Keywords: Aquatic plants, Cd stress, Growth and yield, Rice, Soil amendmentsItem An Analysis of Barriers and Opportunities of Community-Based Tourism (Special Reference to Mannar District)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Croos, J.T.T.; Kumara, P.H.T.; Nawarathne, A.M.D.B.; Idroos, A.A.Tourism is a vital contributor to the economy of any nation and it is a prime foreign income earner. Community-based tourism (CBT) is a form of tourism that is generally small scale and involves interactions between visitors and the host community, particularly suited to rural areas. The communities in Mannar who depended on natural resources have not been benifited from tourism in terms of enhancing economic and social welfare in a positive way. Many tourism development initiatives have been designed but without incorporating the knowledge of local communities which is essential in the process. It is assumed that if tourism is going to make a positive change in the living standards of these communities, CBT can offer hope for a partnership between the investors and communities. Hence, the objective of the study was to analyse the current situation, barriers, and opportunities for CBT in Mannar. The purposeful sampling technique was used to select 15 respondents from government sectors, private sectors, and community members. A qualitative research design was adopted in this research. The information was derived from direct interviews and thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis. Findings indicated that the current situation of CBT in Mannar has interaction with the awareness of tourism and perception of CBT. The operational limitations, structural limitations, and cultural limitations were identified as barriers for CBT in Mannar. Beach, wildlife, historical sites, cultural activities and pilgrimage activities were identified as the opportunities for CBT in Mannar. There is a huge potential in Mannar to develop CBT by overcoming the barriers. An adequate government support and stakeholder participation (community participation) could help to accelerate CBT in Mannar. . Keywords: Community, Tourism development, Opportunities, ChallengesItem Analysis of OsBBX13 Gene Responses to Salinity Stress Tolerance in Oryza sativa (Rice(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Bandara, K.G.W.W.; Wijesundera, W.S.S.; Hettiarachchi, G.H.C.M.The B-box (BBX) proteins are a subgroup of zinc finger transcription factors that contain one or two B-box domains. The B-box domain is a conserved motif. Genes that encode for BBX proteins are highly conserved across all multicellular species. BBX proteins were first identified in Arabidopsis thaliana that play a significant role in light and abiotic stress signalling. In Oryza sativa (rice) only a few BBX genes have been identified which are involved in flowering. Our previous study on ortholog search identified OsBBX13 as a functional ortholog of the Arabidopsis AtBBX21 gene that is involved in light and abiotic stress regulation. This study aimed to conduct an in silico analysis of the OsBBX13 gene promoter to identify the presence of abiotic stress-responsive elements and to study the expression of the OsBBX13 gene under salinity stress. Promoter sequence (1.0 kb upstream of translation start site) of the OsBBX13 gene was retrieved from the Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB). The tools of PlantCARE and New PLACE were used for scanning of abiotic stress-responsive cis-elements present on the promoter region of OsBBX13. The salinity stress-responsive elements, MYBCORE and GT1GMSCAM4, and Abscisic acid-responsive element (ABRE) which regulates the dehydration and salinity responses were identified in OsBBX13 promoter region. Quantitative Real Time PCR analysis of 7 days old rice seedlings exposed to 200 mM NaCl stress showed significant up-regulation of the OsBBX13 gene compared to the control. All these findings together suggested that the OsBBX13 gene is involved in salinity stress responses in rice. Keywords: BBX proteins, OsBBX13, Salinity stress, Abiotic stressItem Analysis of Quality of Water in Sludge Drying Bed and Reusing Sludge Generated in Bandarapura Water Treatment Plant in Brick Manufacturing(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Dissanayake, D.M.O.Y.; Kottehewa, D.J.The generation of large quantities of Aluminium rich sludge in the treatment process of Water Treatment Plants is an unavoidable problem all over the world. Aluminum sulphate and Aluminium chloride used as the coagulants in the water treatment process mainly cause for the sludge formation. Disposal of this Aluminium rich sludge in an economically and environmentally sustainable way is a major challenge faced by Water Treatment Plants. In Bandarapura Water Treatment Plant, after the dewatering process, dried sludge is being loaded on the ground beside the drying beds due to the lack of proper disposal facilities. This openly disposed of Aluminium rich sludge can cause hazardous effects to the environment as well as to the people. Hence, this urgently requires for a proper sludge disposal method to be in place and also for a feasible option for reusing the waste sludge. Studies have stated of reusing this waste sludge for brick manufacturing by combining with clay mixture after characterizing the sludge properties. Thus, the possibility of using sludge generated in Bandarapura Water Treatment Plants in Badulla in brick manufacturing was investigated in this study. Sludge percentages were increased from 0% to 20% with increments of 5%. Clay sludge mixing and brick preparation were done by hand pressing. Bricks were fired at two temperature batches as 850 and 1000 °C. Brick strength of 0.15 N mm-2 , water absorption of 13.06%, and Shrinkage of 0.4 cm were monitored. The bricks used for construction purposes require minimum brick strength of 2.0 N mm-2 which is not achieved by the prepared brick in this study. Nevertheless, the prepared brick can be used as a substitute for Interlocks. Keywords: Water treatment plant, Aluminium rich - sludge, Sludge disposal, Reusing sludge, Brick ManufacturingItem An Analysis of the Relationship between Human Resource Management Practices and Employee Retention in Hotel Industry (With Special Reference to Star Class Hotels in Western Province)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Bandara, S.J.M.E.K.S.; Peries, H.R.N.; Damunupola, A.K.A.The hotel industry is one of the booming industries and plays a significant role in Sri Lankan economy and labor market. The principal challenge of majority industry organizations is to retain employees for a long period within the intensive competitive environment. Effective Human resource management (HRM) practices are crucial factors for employee retention and assist organizations to retain valuable employees. Therefore, it is essential to retain employees via effective HRM practices. The main objective of this study was to explore the relationship between HRM practices and employee retention and to identify the highest and least influential factor in employee retention. The study particularly identified recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, and compensation and incentives as the four key HRM dimensions to analyse the study objectives. 120 permanent operational levels of employees in the hotel industry was selected using a purposive sampling method and data were collected through selfadministered questionnaires. The study systematically described, analysed, and interpreted data using a quantitative approach. The data were analysed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression techniques. The results denoted that all four dimensions of human resource practices had a strong positive relationship on employee retention. Compensation and incentives were the highest influential factor while training and development was the least influential factor in employee retention. Finally, this study suggested that Human Resource executives in the hotel industry need to pay more attention and should adapt effective HRM practices which make employee satisfied and affect on employee retention in the organization. Keywords: Hotel industry, Human resource management practices, Employee retentionItem Analyzing the Potentials of Promoting Rail Cruise Tourism in Sri Lanka: Special Reference to Up-country Rail Line(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Kapugeekiyanage, K.W.P.; Deyshappriya, N.P.R.; Idroos, A.A.This study attempted to identify the potentials of promoting luxury rail cruise tourism as a novel tourism strategy in the up-country rail line to attract more tourists. Apart from that, the study also examined what were the main challenges of implementing rail cruise tourism in Sri Lanka. There are many tourist destinations such as Nine Arches Bridge, the Damodara Railway Loop, Nanuoya-Idalgashinna station which are located along the upcountry railway track. Therefore, the initialization of such rail cruise itinerary will attract many tourists to those cities and that will generate thousands of revenues to the Sri Lanka Railway as well as to the GDP of Sri Lanka. Both the empirical and knowledge gaps are filled by this research. The study used explanatory sequential mixed method. Data were collected through key informant interviews and a survey was conducted for 100 tourists using a convenient sampling technique. Mainly, descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to accomplish the objectives of the study. The database was developed in the SPSS software interface. The result of the study revealed that Sri Lanka has the potentials to promote rail cruise tourism and tourists had a positive perception of rail cruise tourism in Sri Lanka. However, the study also emphasized that there are several barriers related to infrastructure, organizational and technological barriers in relation to promoting rail cruise tourism in Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the study highlights the possibility of promoting rail cruise tourism in Sri Lanka, and hence government intervention to resolve the barriers related to rail cruise tourism is highly recommended. Keywords: Rail-cruise tourism, Niche tourism, Sri Lankan railway, Sri Lanka tourismItem Analyzing the Relationship of Factors Affecting on Tourists’ Buying Behaviour of Handicraft Products (With Special Reference to Galle District)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Darshani, K.L.R.; Thennakoon, T.M.P.S.I.; Damunupola, A.K.A.Handicraft products are one of the important products which can market in the tourism and hospitality industry. The handicraft industry can be benefited from gaining understanding about the tourists’ buying behaviour of handicraft products. The main purpose of this study was to analyse the factors that affecting on tourists’ buying behaviour of handicraft products. Marketing mix factors, situational factors, and personal factors were considered as the influential factors of the buying behaviour of handicraft products. This study was focused on the Galle district of Sri Lanka. This quantitative study was mainly based on primary data that were gathered using a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. The target population for this study was the local and foreign tourists who visit handicraft shops in Galle District and from which a sample of 100 was selected (10 tourists from 10 selected shops) using convenience sampling method. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyse the data collected. Results disclosed that marketing mix factors, situational factors, and personal factors had a positive relationship with tourists’ buying behaviour of handicraft products whereas the marketing mix factors showed the highest relationship and the situational factors the least. The study revealed that there is a need for introducing modern technology for creating a properly established market. Besides, it should re-establish the art and craft villages and giving incentives to encourage locals for their creations. Further, is influential vital to conduct training programs and workshops for traditional craftsman to uplift the quality of their products and to attract the market. Keywords: Tourist, Handicraft, Buying behaviour, Marketing mix, Situational factors, Personal factorsItem Anesthetic Efficacy of Clove oil, Benzocaine and MS-222 under Simulated Long Transportation Conditions of Koi (Cyprinus carpio L.)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Silva, S.S.U.; Liyanage, N.P.P.; Mudalige, A.R.; Fernando, E.S.R.Koi (Cyprinus carpio) is one of the most popular temperate ornamental fish species. Growth of the Koi trade in Sri Lanka is hindered by poor packing strategies and mortalities during transport. Therefore, the study aimed at evaluating the anesthetic efficacy of Clove oil, Benzocaine, and MS-222 in simulated long transportation conditions on Koi. 75 d old Koi with standard length (6.025 ± 0.04 cm) and weight (6.153 ± 0.23 g) were selected for the experiments. These individuals were subjected to four different dosages of anesthetics, based on the results obtained at the range-finding test. Each sample consists of 10 individuals and dosages were triplicated. Samples were exposed to simulated transportation conditions for 10, 20, 30, 40 h, and effective dose for each anesthetic was determined by assessing the Sedation Induction Time (SIT), Recovery Achievement Time (RAT), Mortality Rate and Post-exposure Survival Rate of Koi. Changes in water quality parameters including pH, ammoniacal nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen in transport water were recorded. Results obtained were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's’ method and General MANOVA using Minitab 17.0 version (p< 0.05). Among four different test concentrations used for clove oil, 145 µLL-l was recorded as the best concentration while 140 µLL-l and 70 mgL -1were obtained for Benzocaine and MS-222 respectively, based on the results obtained from statistical analysis of SIT and RAT (p<0.05). Further, there were 0% mortalities for the 40 h test period and 7 d after recovery for all the three anesthetics at effective concentrations (p<0.05). In conclusion, the present study indicates that all three anesthetics perform well in the above concentrations. However, clove oil can be used as a good substitute for synthetic anesthetics because of its efficacy at a lower dosage with higher safety at a low cost. Keywords: Sedation, Ornamental carp, Ornamental fish trade, Mortality rate, Packing densityItem Antifeedant Activity and Contact Toxicity of the Two Peptaibols, Trichocellin A-I and B-II Isolated from the Endophytic Fungus Trichoderma reesei(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Madhushika, D.P.H.; Jayasundara, J.M.N.M.; Ratnaweera, P.B.; de Silva, E.D.Plutella xylostella is a destructive cabbage pest responsible for massive economic losses worldwide. The use of synthetic pesticides in huge amounts for its control has resulted in pesticide-resistant strains, detrimental human health impacts, and environmental problems. Consequently, the development of alternatives with minimal such undesirable side-effects becomes crucial. Biopesticides derived from microbes are one such alternative. In a preliminary study, the crude extract of the endophytic fungus Trichoderma reesei isolated from Cyperus iria exhibited prominent antifeedant activities against P. xylostella larvae. The main aim of the current study was to isolate the bioactive compounds of T. reesei and investigate their antifeedant activities and contact toxicities against P. xylostella 2nd instar larvae. Two bioactive peptaibols, trichocellin AI and trichocellin B-II, were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of T. reesei using a bioassay guided purification method and their structures were elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectral data. To investigate the antifeedant activities choice leaf disc assay was conducted at an initial concentration of 50µg/cm2 using commercial neem (100%) and methanol as positive and negative controls respectively. For contact toxicity assay larval mortality was calculated after 24 h of applying 17.5µg of compounds/larvae. Trichocellin-A-I resulted in a 100% feeding deterrence while the DC50 value was 2.38µg/cm2 . Trichocellin B-II also gave a feeding deterrence index of 100% for choice leaf disc assay. For the contact toxicity assay, Trichocellin A-I and B-II showed 40% and 50% mean motility percentages respectively while the respective values for positive and negative controls were 100% and zero. This study revealed that the endophytic T. reesei produces two biopesticides, trichocellin A-I and trichocellin B-II, that exhibit potent antifeedant activity and moderate contact toxicity against P. xylostella larvae. Keywords: Plutella xylostella, Trichoderma reesei, Choice leaf disc assay, Contact toxicityItem Antimicrobial Activities of Different Microbial Consortia Developed from Endophytic Fungi and Soil Bacteria(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Pathirathna, W.R.M.; Henagamage, A.P.Microbial combinations are a major source of novel and diverse bioactive compounds with a variety of biotechnological potentials. The present study aimed at developing fungal-bacterial biofilm and evaluating the antimicrobial effect of the biofilm combinations. Nine endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaf section of Murraya koengii plant and sixteen soil bacteria were isolated from local forest reserve soil. Antagonistic activity of isolations was evaluated against Escherichia coli and Cladosporium cladosporioides separately under dual culture technique. Antibacterial and antifungal effects of ethyl acetate extracts of the selected isolates were performed using the disk diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus and C. cladosporioides. The best bacterial and fungal isolates, having high antimicrobial activities from disk diffusion assay were combined to develop initial 6 biofilms namely BF1 to BF6. The ethyl acetate extracts of the best attachment biofilms (BF1, BF2, BF5, BF6) were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities and compared with their monocultures. Out of all isolates, three bacterial (B1, B2, and B3) and two fungal (F1 and F2) isolates showed higher responses for the antagonistic activity. Out of five microbial extracts, two bacterial (B1 and B2) and all fungal extracts showed positive responses for the antimicrobial assays. Microscopic observations confirmed the successful formation of four biofilms (BF1, BF2, BF5, BF6) and three biofilm extracts showed positive responses for antibacterial activity through disk diffusion assay. Out of all biofilm combinations, BF6 showed the highest antibacterial and antifungal effects. B2 bacterial extract showed the highest significant (p < 0.05) antibacterial activity and the F1 fungal extract showed the highest significant (p< 0.05) antifungal activity. Therefore, these findings conclude that the biofilms are a potential source for bioactive compounds and may find the potential to use as antimicrobial compounds. Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Antifungal activity, Microbial biofilm, Endophytic fungi, Soil bacteriaItem Antioxidant Properties and α-Amylase Inhibition Activities of Four Different Curcuma Species in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Samarasinghe, K.G.B.A.; Kaliyadasa, P.E.; Marasinghe, P.The genus Curcuma belongs to the family Zingiberaceae comprises rhizomatous annual or perennial herbs. Curcuma has a long history of traditional uses ranging from folk medicine to its culinary uses. This study was undertaken to study the biological activities of rhizomes and leaves of four Curcuma species available in Sri Lanka namely, Curcuma albiflora, Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma longa, and Curcuma zedoaria. Fresh rhizomes and leaves of four Curcuma species were collected from their natural habitats in Wet and Dry Zones of Sri Lanka. Rhizomes and leaves were cleaned and cut into small pieces and oven-dried at 45 °C and 40 °C respectively for 12 hrs. Dried samples were ground into a fine powder. Methanol extracts from rhizomes and leaves were screened for total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and α-amylase inhibition activities. The TPC of dried rhizomes of Curcuma longa was the highest of all tested as 5.530 ± 0.012 g of GA equivalents per 1 g of the dried rhizome. The Methanol extracts of the rhizome and leaf samples of four species showed moderate antioxidant activity in the DPPH radical scavenging assay with IC50 values ranging from 150.253 ± 0.273 ppm to 389.051 ± 0.426 ppm. Interestingly the rhizome extracts of Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma longa, and Curcuma zedoaria exhibited higher α-amylase inhibitory activities (13.915 ± 0.023, 6.455 ± 0.117 and 9.492 ± 0.024 respectively) than the Acarbose drug which is an antidiabetic drug (28.273±0.615 ppm). The results revealed that the Sri Lankan Curcuma species have a potency to be used as a source of antioxidant and antidiabetic agents and it is important to increase the value of the unexplored medicinal herbs available in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Antioxidant, Anti-diabetic, Biological Activities, CurcumaItem Applicability of Grumusol Soil to Remove Cadmium from Textile Wastewater through Adsorption(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Uditha, K.H.B.; Kottehewa, D.J.Heavy metals are well-known environmental pollutants. Today, it has become a serious problem in most of the countries in the world including Sri Lanka. The industrial sector can be considered as the major source of heavy metal pollution and in Sri Lanka, the textile industry has received a significant place. The processes like dyeing and finishing in textile manufacturing result in adding heavy metals into its wastewater. This generated wastewater typically contains environmentally harmful heavy metals like Cadmium. Failing to remove them properly will lead to accumulating them in surface water bodies and ultimately causing severe problems for human and aquatic ecosystems. Different methods have been tested for their suitability in removing heavy metals from wastewater amongst adsorption that has received much attention. For a country like Sri Lanka however, investigation of an economical, inexpensive, and safe method with having higher removal efficiencies is an essential and timely matter. The grumusol soil which can be easily found in Jaffna and Mannar districts in Sri Lanka has shown some special characteristics of a good adsorbent. The high cation exchange capacity, high clay fraction, high organic matter content, swelling and shrinkage properties, and the 2:1 clay mineral type bear evidence that it is worth to investigate the adsorption ability of grumusol soil. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the applicability of grumusol soil in removing heavy metals from aqueous solutions. In this study, cadmium (2+ ) ion was used as the selected heavy metal and the textile wastewater was used to check the adsorption ability of grumusol soil to remove Cd2+. The equilibrium time and effect of pH were investigated using the batch method. The results indicated that grumusol soil can adsorb cadmium ions with higher efficiency. The reaction is pH-dependent and the adsorption capacity of the grumusol soil increases with the increment of pH from 2 to 7 and maximizes at pH 10. The highest removal efficiency of 97.66% was recorded at pH 10 during the optimum equilibrium time of 6 hours. Keywords: Grumusol soil, Heavy metal pollution, Cadmium, Adsorption, Textile wastewaterItem Applicability of the Risk Model Identified by Basel Framework on Advancing Financial Performance: Special Reference to Licensed Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Sanjeewani, D.M.N.M.; Gunarathne, Y.M.C.; Fernando, A.G.N.K.The Basel framework is an international regulatory accord that introduced a specially designed set of reforms to improve the regulation, supervision, and risk management of the banking sector. Credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk are the main four risk factors in the Basel III framework. As the risk being the main challenge faced by the banks, they tend to apply the Basel framework to mitigate it but they are exposed to various risks and thus the performance of the freamework is not guaranteed. Therefore, this study endeavored to explore the applicability of the risk model identified by the Basel framework on advancing the financial performance of licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. Further, this study expects to identify other risk factors which are not identified by the Basel III framework to develop a new risk model. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative method was applied to investigate the risk in Basel framework on financial performance and data were collected from 10 licensed commercial banks for a span of 10 years. The qualitative approach was used to identify other risks faced by the banks and data were collected from 10 bank managers using the in-depth interview method. The panel data regression analysis was used to analyze the quantitative data using E-views software. The thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between capital adequacy ratio in credit risk and the financial performance while other risk factors show an insignificant relationship. Then, the researcher has expanded the Basel Framework by introducing a new risk model using the thematic analysis. The researcher recommended to apply the most compatible risk model to derive better measurement to calculate bank risk in future research. Keywords: Capital adequacy, Financial performance, Basel Framework, Bank risksItem Applicability of Using Rice Husk for Fluoride Removal from Drinking Water in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Thurairatnam, L.; Kottehewa, D.J.Finding low cost, environmentally friendly adsorbents with having higher removal efficiencies are vital to improve the quality of drinking water in the regions where groundwater is contaminated with fluorides. In Sri Lanka, this problem is apparent and has been prevailing especially in the north-central province. Rice husk is claimed to have better fluoride removal when used as an adsorbent. As a country known for its paddy cultivation, the waste material of it, the rice husk would be cheaper if can be used as a filter material. Therefore, this study was sought at investigating the efficiency of rice husk as a filter material in removing fluoride from groundwater. For that, bio-waste rice husk was converted to activated carbon by thermal activation and through merely treating with H3PO4. Characterization of Rice Husk Activated Carbon (RHAC) was carried out using the following methods: Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR), physical properties such as moisture content, ash content, and bulk density were also determined. FT-IR analysis showed the presence of various functional groups such as C=O, C=C, –OH, and C-H on the surface of the adsorbent. Moisture content, ash content and bulk density were found to be 5.32 ± 0.06 %, 15.28± 0.22%, 535 ± 0.51 kg m-3 respectively. The effect of contact time and initial concentration were studied. Fluoride equilibrium time was found to be 120 minutes. Adsorption of Fluoride fits the Langmuir isotherm. Fluoride adsorption experiments were performed on the laboratory-scale column. The parameters obtained from the laboratory scale column were used to build the packed bed column using a scaleup approach.10.0 g of RHAC has the capacity of attaining 83% of fluoride removal for the initial concentration of 10 mg L-1 . Keywords: Rice husk activated carbon, Fluoride, Langmuir isotherm, Packed bed columnItem Artificial Intelligence Based Traffic Light Control System for Emergency Vehicles(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Arunprashath, G.; Kethaatan, J.; Kandasamy, K.; Rathnayake, A.M.B.; Jayathunga, D.P.Numerous nations on the planet are confronting the issue at traffic light convergence that causes mishaps between emergency vehicles and the other open vehicle. The quick reaction of the crisis administrations, for example, ambulances or fire administration vehicles has gotten a difficult circumstance nowadays. Some of the time the rescue vehicle stalls out in rush hour gridlock and those minutes can cost people life. There are existing systems to manage traffic light controls for emergency vehicles based on image processing, Radio Frequency, and IR technology. But the current framework gave an extraordinary opportunity to the emergency vehicles to release even non-emergency circumstance time. So, in this project, we proposed an “AI-based traffic light control system for emergency vehicles” that has allowed emergency vehicles to leave only in actual emergencies. which can get the maximum benefits and save many lives. The main objective of our research is identifying the emergency vehicles at intersections and doing the more accurate AI-based traffic light control system to release them when stuck in traffic jams to identify vehicles, we developed and trained object recognition models by using image processing techniques especially for the ambulance, fire truck, and VIP vehicles. The system identifies every object from the video, emergency vehicles were considered as specifications to differentiate emergency vehicles from other vehicles. we have designed the sound identification model to identify the siren sounds, here we have trained varies siren sounds, our system which gain sound as an input from a microphone and our system trained to filter noises to identify the emergency vehicle’s sirens sound and combine both Sound & Image identification process when both conditions are true, the system changes the red signal to green or extend the green signal duration by detect the siren sound and emergency vehicles, and release the emergency vehicles path/way in an emergency. Keywords: Artificial intelligent, Emergency vehicle, Image processing, Machine learning, Neural networks, Siren sound, Sound analysis, Traffic lightsItem Assessment of Avifaunal Diversity in a Municipal Waste dumping site: A case study from Karadiyana, Sri Lanka(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Gunawardena, M.P.; Hathurusinghe, D.; Madurasinghe, E.H.D.D.M.; Dompage, D.M.Waste disposal sites have become factitious feeding sites for some avifauna, especially in the urban and suburban ecosystems. Tentatively these sites are assumed not only to provide the organic food sources but also refuge to different prey species such as invertebrates and small mammals for the avifauna composed of different feeding requirements. As a consequence of this rich and easy food availability, a significant number of bird species are assumed to be allured to these dumping grounds. On account of this phenomenon, a study was designed to ascertain the bird species diversity at Karadiyana in the Colombo District, of the western province of Sri Lanka to assess the overall avifaunal diversity and abundance. Two different habitat types viz. Drainage channel along with terrestrial land habitat and dumping area habitat were studied using variable plot count method. Two plots were allocated to each of the habitats with equal intervals between the two stations respectively. Bird species were observed within 50 m either side were recorded twice per day, 6.30-8.30 h and 15.00- 17.00 h., from January to May 2019. A total of 2586 individuals belonging to 18 species, 14 families, and 8 orders were recorded in an area of 10.12 ha. For the Simpson’s index and Shannon diversity index, 0.86/2.08 and 0.74/1.44 were obtained for the two habitats respectively. The most dominant bird species recorded were the House Crow (Corvus splendens) and Blackheaded ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) with relative abundances of 34.1% and 28.5%. The least abundant bird species recorded was Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). The abundance of certain bird species is very high and therefore causes overpopulation, which causes a threat to other avifauna in the area. Therefore, proper management practices should be implemented on direct and open dumping of waste in urban ecosystems to control the indirect impacts of the adjacent wildlife communities. . Keywords: Karadiyana, Avifauna, Waste dumping, Diversity, Shannon diversity