Volume 21 Number 1 2018

Regional Seismic Activity after 2012 M8.6 Sumatra Earthquake

2022-03-21T04:44:31Z

Regional Seismic Activity after 2012 M8.6 Sumatra Earthquake Gamage, S.S.N.; Dodangodage, D.R.L.; Ratnayake, R.M.T.S.; Dias, P. The Sumatra subduction zone, one of the most active plate tectonic margins in the world, is characterised by the Indo-Australia Plate subducting beneath the Sunda plate and Andaman micro plate, causing seismic activity along the plate boundary. There had been five major earthquakes of magnitude greater than 8.0 in this region from 2004 to 2014. Three of them are dip-slip and rest of the two is strike-slip type events. Regional earthquake activity after the occurrence of those five events was analyzed. Hypocentral data obtained from the Data Management Center at the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology for the period from January 2000 to December 2014 of magnitude 3.0 were used for the analysis. A statistical analysis was carried out to know whether earthquake activity has increased after the major five events and the analysis was carried out both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of the analysis show that the number of earthquakes in the region has increased considerably after the occurrence of April, 2012 magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 strike-slip events. Further results show that there is no change in the regional earthquake activity after the occurrence of other three major dip-slip type events. Present study results reasonably agree with the results obtained by the other studies carried out with different methods. In the context of Sri Lanka, strike-slip type focal mechanism of the 2012 two major events may be the reason for increasing of activity in the region, especially in Eastern part of Sri Lanka near Maduruoya, Highland-Wijayan boundary and Wadinagala area of Ampara District.

Optimizing Organoleptic Properties of Drinking Yoghurt Incorporated with Modified Kithul (Caryota urens) Flour as a Stabilizer and Evaluating Its Quality during Storage

2022-03-21T04:30:04Z

Optimizing Organoleptic Properties of Drinking Yoghurt Incorporated with Modified Kithul (Caryota urens) Flour as a Stabilizer and Evaluating Its Quality during Storage Wijesinghe, J.A.A.C.; Wickramasinghe, I.; Saranandha, K.H. The property of hydration which may function to provide water control by thickening and gelling is the special feature of the kithul flour. This property was used for drinking yoghurt to improve the texture which could be used as an alternative stabilizer for vegetarians. With view this intention this study was focused to improve the recipe for drinking yoghurt with suitable concentration which combined with a better process. Further it was aimed to make appropriate hydration and suitable flour concentration (0.5% and 1%) which gain most agreeable condition on textural and sensory characteristics of final drinking yoghurt product. Physicochemical and sensory attributes for different periods of time (initial, 7th and 14th days) of developed formulation were analyzed. it is concluded that 1% of pre-gelatinized (75o C for 5 minutes) modified kithul flour (Caryota urens) with process for 24 hours refrigeration condition was selected as the best process to maintain most preferable texture condition for drinking yoghurt . Finally, it is also recorded that developed drinking yoghurt could be stored up to 7 days with 242 ppm of potassium sorbate at 4o C storage.

Seasonal Fluctuation and Population Distribution of Otocryptis wiegmanni, Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia: Agamidae) Inhabiting a Tropical Lowland Rain Forest of Sri Lanka

2022-03-21T04:26:38Z

Seasonal Fluctuation and Population Distribution of Otocryptis wiegmanni, Wagler, 1830 (Reptilia: Agamidae) Inhabiting a Tropical Lowland Rain Forest of Sri Lanka Dharani, D.M.K.; Mahaulpatha, W.A.D.; De Silva, A. The seasonal fluctuations of population density and distribution of Otocryptis wiegmanni inhabiting indifferent habitats of the Yagirala forest reserve of Sri Lanka was investigated during the north-east, first inter-monsoon, south-west and second inter-monsoon seasons of the year 2014. Three linear transacts, each measuring 200 m in length were marked along the natural forest, degraded forest and riverine forest habitats. All transects were surveyed by visual encounter survey (VES) method. Ambient temperature, relative humidity, canopy cover and leaf litter moisture content were measured in three points of each transect (50, 100 and 150 m) and the monthly total rainfall data was obtained from Meteorological Department. The highest mean adult population density and the highest number of juveniles were recorded during the relatively dry north-east monsoon season. O. wiegmanni preferred the degraded forest habitat (0.027±0.020 lizards/m2 ) compared to the natural (0.007 ± 0.006 lizards/m2 ) and riverine forest habitats during all four climate seasons. Fluctuations in the population density varied according to season and habitat conditions. This species fed mostly on insects of the Orders Orthoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, and the common breeding season was during the north-east monsoon (NEM) in January-February period.

Study of the Effects of Exercise and Food Additive Monosodium Glutamate on Life Span Using Caenorhabditis elegans

2022-03-21T04:23:31Z

Study of the Effects of Exercise and Food Additive Monosodium Glutamate on Life Span Using Caenorhabditis elegans Sabriya, M.A.F.; Munasinghe, D.H.H. Human health and life span depend on the quality and the quantity of diet. Since it is difficult to evaluate the importance of specific diet that exerts on health and life expectancy using human, a simple model organism Caenorhabditis elegans was used. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG) and exercise on lifespan. Wild type and CB1370 strains of C. elegans were grown in nematode growth medium (NGM) plates seeded with E. coli OP50. Separate NGM plates were prepared with different concentrations of MSG and agar. An increased concentration of agar was used to exercise the worm population. The population was scored on daily basis until the whole population was dead. Final data were analyzed using OASIS (Online Application for Survival Analysis) and life span curves were generated. The lowest MSG concentration (0.05 mM) declined the mean life span of N2 by 13.77% (P<0.05). With increasing MSG concentration 5 mM, 20 mM and 24 mM the mean life span is further decreased by 16.83% (P<0.05). In the exercise gradient experiment although the percentage life span changes were positive and significant, they were not reproducible. Overall the present study suggests that MSG exerts a significant reduction in C. elegans lifespan and the gene daf-2 which is mutated in CB1370 strain has an impact on this negative effect caused by MSG to the life span. Since C. elegans share 80% homology to human, there is a possibility to have a similar effect of MSG on human lifespan and further experiments would reveal the validity of this hypothesis.