Volume 17 Year 2012

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and University Freshmen

2022-02-24T05:36:49Z

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and University Freshmen Samaradiwakara, G.D.M.N. Young people who grow up with the Internet are called the Net generation and they might be more impressively technologically literate, more accepting new technology and more technically facile than the former generations. The Net generation is very fluent with ICTs to participate and meet the demands of the 21st century. In this context, this study is an attempt to see the level of ICT literacy of new entrant undergraduates to Sri Lankan universities by examining their usage of digital technologies and communication tools, self rated skill levels on digital technology related activities and finally their perceptions of the impact of ICT on academic work in the universities. The study is compiled with data from questionnaires, placed with 1601 first year students, in thirteen universities of Sri Lanka. Questionnaire for the study was designed to gather data in three major areas; background Information, access to ICT and perceptions on the impact of ICT on academic experience. The data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed using the Minitab® Release 14.1 and the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Scientists) 13.0 for windows, occupying a variety of statistical techniques. Descriptive statistics was used to produce statistics for each variable or for subsets within a variable. Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance test and Friedman test were employed was occupied to reach the objectives of the study. The results reveal that there is a rapid trend towards becoming university freshmen as much as be digital literate. Most of the first year students use the computer applications and have indicated that they are much more skillful with them. Results also reveal that ICT usage frequencies and the self rated skills of ICTs are greater for the male students than females. First years who belong to urban communities believe that they are more skillful and use ICT more frequently. ICT skills and usage amongst students of the Arts streams are somewhat lower than the rest. The majority of freshmen believe that using ICTs is likely to help them to improve their learning in the university and are willing to use ICTs to search for information for academic purposes. They wish to have more access to Internet/E-mail facilities and ICT related equipment such as laptop computers, pen drives. It is recommended that more facilities and ICT related training are provided for freshmen, and at the village level literacy is improved by providing more facilities.

Preliminary Study of Mineral Constituents in Selected Cultivars of Root and Tuber Crops in Sri Lanka

2022-02-24T05:36:00Z

Preliminary Study of Mineral Constituents in Selected Cultivars of Root and Tuber Crops in Sri Lanka Senanayake, S.A.; Ranaweera, K.K.D.S.; Gunaratne, A.; Bamunuarachchi, A. A study was done to determine the levels of minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Potassium and Zinc) in three different cultivars of yams (D. alata and D. esculenta), Xanthosoma sp and four different cultivars of sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas Lam) from different regions in Sri Lanka. Yams (Rajala, Hingurala and Kukulala), Xanthosoma sp (Kiriala) and sweet potatoes (Swp3, Swp4, Swp5 and Swp7) were prepared for analysis 2 – 3 days after harvesting. Flour samples were subjected to ashing using AOAC (1980) method and mineral constituents were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Variation in mineral constituents on dry weight basis were analysed using ANOVA, Tukey‟s HSD test (p< 0.05) Minitab. All three cultivars of yams had significant levels (p< 0.05) of Calcium and Iron and high level of Magnesium was observed in Kiriala (45.27± 0.31 mg 100g-1). A significantly high level of Iron and Potassium (p<0.05) was observed in Rajala and Sweet potatoes respectively. Swp5 cultivar contained a comparatively high amount of Calcium and Magnesium while Swp3 and Swp7 contained a high level of iron (p<0.05). Comparatively high level of Zinc was present in Hingurala, Swp3 and Swp7 cultivars.

Zooplankton Assemblage in Hambanota Port and Adjacent Coastal Waters of Sri Lanka

2022-02-24T05:36:01Z

Zooplankton Assemblage in Hambanota Port and Adjacent Coastal Waters of Sri Lanka Wijetunge, D.S.; Ranatunga, R.R.M.K.P. Present study was to investigate zooplankton assemblage in Hambantota port and adjacent coastal waters in Sri Lanka. Samples were collected from the port before the commencement of commercial operations in order to have baseline information on zooplankton assemblage that can be used in the future to study any community change. Species composition, abundance, spatial distribution and diversity of zooplankton were investigated over a period of six months from January 2011 to June 2011. Monthly samples were collected from both inner-harbor and outer-harbor. Physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, salinity, density, conductivity, nitrate, orthophosphate, DO, BOD5 and Ch a were also measured. Zooplankton diversity, species richness and evenness were calculated using Shannon-Weiner diversity index (Hˊ ), Simpson‟s index (D) and Pielou‟s evenness (E). A total of 72 zooplankton types were identified throughout the research project mainly Calanus sp., Paracalanus sp., Sapphirina sp., Acartia tranteri, Barnacle nauplii, Crustacean cypris larvae, Oikopleura sp., Tunicate larvae, Brachionus calyciflorus calyciflorus, Brachionus forficula, Fish larvae, Discorbis sp., Actinula larvae and Sagitta sp.. Copepod nauplii dominated the zooplankton. According to percentage occurrences arthropods (71%), protozoans (10%) and ichthyoplankton (9%) were abundant in the inner harbor. In the outer harbor also arthropods (66%), ichthyoplankton (11%) and protozoans (7%) were recorded in higher numbers. Highest species diversity (Hˊ =2.685), highest species richness (S=39) and highest evenness (E=0.856) were recorded from outer harbor locations (HFHB1 and HPM). Several species such as Ceratium furca, Chaetoceros sp., Thalassiosira sp., Rhizosolenia sp. and Protoperidinium sp. known to form harmful algal blooms were also observed in this study.

Evaluation of Methanol, Ethanol and Acetone Extracts of Four Plant Species as Repellents against Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.)

2022-02-24T05:35:26Z

Evaluation of Methanol, Ethanol and Acetone Extracts of Four Plant Species as Repellents against Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.) Karunaratne, U.K.P.R.; Karunaratne, M.M.S.C. Methanol, ethanol and acetone extracts of leaves of four plants were evaluated for repellent activity against adult Callosobruchus maculatus using a multi-choice bio-assay apparatus. The experimental plant species studied were Ocimum gratissimum (L.), Ocimum sanctum (L.), Mentha viridis (L.), and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) in the family Lamiaceae. The extracts were applied to the food source (mung beans, 25 g) at 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 ml concentrations and repellant activity was recorded. Observations were made after three hours for each solvent-plant extract and Percentage Repellency (PR) was determined. Among four study plant species and three solvents tested, methanol extract of M. viridis (10.0 ml) showed the strongest and highest repellent effect on C. maculatus (81%). With all three solvent extracts, the percentage repellency of the C. maculatus increased significantly with the increase of concentration producing the highest at 10.0 ml. When methanol and acetone based extracts were tested against the cowpea beetles, the highest percentage repellent activity was obtained with M. viridis followed by O. gratissimum and H. suaveolens respectively. The lowest percentage repellency was observed with O. sanctum. In contrast, ethanol-based extracts of O. gratissimum facilitated the highest percentage repellency (78%) and M. viridis produced the lowest percentage repellency (55%). Significantly high PR observed in all extracts strongly indicates the presence of repellent properties in all four plants. Solvents methanol and acetone appeared to be more effective in extracting bio-active compound/s from M. viridis whereas ethanol as a solvent seemed to be more efficient with O. gratissimum.