Magnetization and Magneto-resistance in Y(Ba1-xSrx)2Cu3O7-{\delta} (x = 0.00 - 0.50) superconductor

Here we present the magnetic properties and upper critical field (BC2) of polycrystalline Y(Ba1-xSrx)2Cu3O7-{\delta} superconductors, which are being determined through detailed ac/dc susceptibility and resistivity under magnetic field (RTH) study. All the samples are synthesized through solid state reaction route. Reduction in Meissner fraction (the ratio of field cooled to zero field cooled magnetization) is observed with increasing Sr content, suggesting occurrence of flux pining in the doped samples. The ac susceptibility and resistivity measurements reveal improved grain couplings in Sr substituted samples. Consequently the inter-grain critical current density (Jc), upturn curvature near the Tc in temperature dependence of upper critical field [BC2(T)], and BC2 are enhanced. Both Jc and BC2 increase in lower Sr substitution (up to x = 0.10) samples followed by decrease in higher doping due to degradation in effective pining and grain coupling.Comment: 17 pages text + Figs, [email protected]

Adult Caring in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka senior citizens fall into the category of over 60 years of age andthey fall into the fastest growing segment of the world population. In Sri Lanka theproportion of elders over 60 to 70 years is about 56.4% and 70 to 80 years 32.2 %. Thepercentage of those who have reached 80 years or more is over 11%.Sri Lanka was enriched with a culture to look after the parents by their ownchildren. But with the economic and social changes of the country, the connectionbetween the parents and the children detached. The government imposed laws and actsregarding adult caring are not sufficient for this situation. Though the elders‟ homeswere established, the quality and the facilities of the adult homes are not sufficient fortheir requirements. Furthermore, poor and disabled adults face more difficulties inaccessing these facilities due to their financial difficulties. Therefore, most of the adultscannot live happily in their last stage due to the unhygienic condition. Therefore, thefacilities and the training should be developed in order to fulfil the needs of a qualityadult caring.The objective of the research is to find out the present status of the senior citizencaring and its difficulties, and also to introduce new methods and ways to upgrade thecaring system in Sri Lanka.Both the quantitative and the qualitative methods will be used to gather theinformation. There will be two focus groups, such as the senior citizens and the public.Around 100 people will be interviewed from both the categories .The advice and theguidelines will be taken from the government, NGOs and the scholars. There will be asecondary data analysis apart from the interviews to gain the proper findings.Key words: Senior Citizens, Caring, Sri Lanka, Economy, Financial 

A lady with malignancy associated dermatomyositis –A case report

Introduction: Adult onset dermatomyositis is a paraneoplastic syndrome. It has an association with ovarian, lung, pancreatic, stomach and colon cancers and with non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Ovarian cancer has the highest association and the association of dermatomyositis with other gynecologic malignancies is relatively rareCase report: A 58 year old lady who had undergone surgery for an endometrial carcinoma nine months back followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, presented with facial, periorbital and generalized body swelling for three months along with dysphagia and proximal muscle weakness for two months. Examination revealed facial puffiness most prominently in the periorbital area and bilateral malar erythema with erythema of anterior chest wall. Ragged cuticles of nail folds were observed. Proximal muscles of bilateral upper limbs were tender with a muscle power of 4/5.Investigations revealed features suggestive of polymyositis in muscle biopsy and EMG features were those of an inflammatory myopathy. Her CPK was elevated. She was started on oral prednisolone 60 mg daily which was planned to be continued for six months with slow tapering thereafter. Additionally she was given methotrexate 5 mg weekly, alendronate 70 mg once a week along with calcium, folic acid and iron supplements. Her symptoms improved gradually with treatment, but she has defaulted steroids for one month and readmitted with recurrence of symptoms. Steroid therapy was reinstituted and her symptoms showed a remarkable improvement.Discussion: Although adult onset dermatomyositis occurs as a paraneoplastic manifestation of variety of malignancies such as ovarian, bronchial, pancreatic, stomach and colon cancers and in non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, association of dermatomyositis with endometrial carcinoma is relatively rare.

Subcellular optogenetic inhibition of G proteins generates signaling gradients and cell migration

Cells sense gradients of extracellular cues and generate polarized responses such as cell migration and neurite initiation. There is static information on the intracellular signaling molecules involved in these responses, but how they dynamically orchestrate polarized cell behaviors is not well understood. A limitation has been the lack of methods to exert spatial and temporal control over specific signaling molecules inside a living cell. Here we introduce optogenetic tools that act downstream of native G protein–coupled receptor (GPCRs) and provide direct control over the activity of endogenous heterotrimeric G protein subunits. Light-triggered recruitment of a truncated regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) protein or a Gβγ-sequestering domain to a selected region on the plasma membrane results in localized inhibition of G protein signaling. In immune cells exposed to spatially uniform chemoattractants, these optogenetic tools allow us to create reversible gradients of signaling activity. Migratory responses generated by this approach show that a gradient of active G protein αi and βγ subunits is sufficient to generate directed cell migration. They also provide the most direct evidence so for a global inhibition pathway triggered by Gi signaling in directional sensing and adaptation. These optogenetic tools can be applied to interrogate the mechanistic basis of other GPCR-modulated cellular functions

Exploring the Needs for Green Practices in the Hotel Supply Chain: The Case of Colombo District

This study examines the need for adopting green practices in the hotel supply chain within the Colombo District. The research aims to explore the needs for green practices in hotel supply chain in the Colombo district. In this study employed qualitative approach. Through semi-structured interviews with 5 hotel managers and supply chain professionals, and convenience sampling technique use for this study. Data analysis done by using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the five main needs for green practices in hotel industry. Such as Sustainability as a Necessity, Environmental Challenges and Collective Responsibility, Financial Benefits and Market Relevance, Luxury and Environmental Responsibility, Eco-Conscious Guests and Competitive Edge. The study concludes that adopting green practices in the hotel supply chain is not just a strategic advantage but a necessity for sustainability, financial efficiency, and market relevance. By integrating eco-friendly initiatives, hotels can meet global sustainability goals, reduce costs, and appeal to a growing base of environmentally conscious consumers

Taxonomy and Systematic Analysis of the Two Genera Alpinia and Amomum of the Family Zingiberaceae in Sri Lanka

Alpinia and Amomum are the largest two genera that list the highest number of endemics offamily Zingiberaceae in Sri Lanka. The family is recognized as a least studied plant group inthe country, justifying the need for a thorough study. Hence, it is timely that the family istaken into consideration of molecular and systematic studies given new techniques areavailable. As a pioneering step, in this study, we addressed several taxonomic issues,phylogenetic relationships and conservational status of Alpinia and Amomum. In order tocollect more morphological data to address species boundaries with better insights, over 130morphological characters were studied and analysed using multivariate statistical methods.Molecular phylogenetic analysis was done using two Chloroplast gene regions (trnL-trnF andtrnS-trnfM). Results of the morphological analysis revealed the segregation of species ratherdepending on both vegetative and floral characters than only on floral characters. Study alsoidentified a group of Amomum with a new character combination which needs to berecognized as a new species or subspecies along with a new addition to genus Alpinia (A.zerumbet) in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, in our efforts to make a field key for easy identificationof species, results of this study also highlighted the difficulty in using only vegetativecharacters to differentiate species. Hence, the study has resulted in identifying a different andan easy set of morphological characters for species identification for Sri Lankan species.Evolutionary analysis of the two genera confirms that the Sri Lankan members of the twogenera Alpinia and Amomum have a monophyletic origin. Although the genus Alpinia has amonophyletic lineage, two members (A. abundiflora and A. fax) show a polytomy within thegenus. This was evident in both phylogenetic analysis and the morphological analysis.According to trnL-trnF and trnS-trnƒM data analysis, all the studied members of the genusAmomum have an exclusive monophyletic origin. Illumination of an immediate need forconservation efforts of these species is another important finding of the current study

The Moderating Effect of Gender on Self-Image and House Purchase Intention in Sri Lanka

Self-image is one of the major consumer behaviour constructs that play a major role in house purchase intention. In this context, moderating impact of gender between self-image and house purchasing intention is uncertain and ambiguous. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of gender moderation on the relationship between self-image and house purchasing intention. The quantitative research method was used for this study. Potential luxury housing buyers in Sri Lanka were used as a population of the study and a structured questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data. The sample size of the study is 100.  Four hypotheses were developed for the study and those hypothesized were analysed using Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. The findings reveal that actual self-image and house purchase intention have a significant positive relationship and there is no relationship between ideal self-image and house purchase intention. Further, the study failed to support that gender moderates the relationship between self-image (actual and ideal) and house purchasing intention. The present findings of the study will be beneficial for real estate developers, real estate marketers/managers, and academia, relating to the house purchase intention in the luxury housing market. © 2022 The Authors. Published by Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.   Keywords: Consumer Behaviour, Self-image, Actual Self-image, Ideal self-image, House Purchase Intention, House Buying Behaviou

Contribution of Wild Collected Underutilised Crops in Rural Food and Income Security in Sri Lanka

This study focused on investigation of role of wild collected underutilised crops (UC)in rural food and income security with special concern to the availability of those crops atrespective village markets. It analysed the availability of wild collected products in the sellingstocks of traditional sellers in respective village markets. Wellawaya Divisional SecretariatDivision in Moneragala district in Uva Province of Sri Lanka was seleted for the study. Rapidmarket chain analysis was the principal tool equipped for this investigation. Data collectionwas conducted by using primary data collection methods mostly under uncontrolledenvironments. Number of key informant interviews with upstream agents, focus groupdiscussions with collectors and informal discussions with few sellers were done. In addition,a few telephone interviews were conducted with key agricultural actors in the area.Galsiyabala, Palu, Weera, Polpala, Binkohoba, Kithual products and curry leaves(Karapincha) were the key wild collections available in the markets. However, thecontribution from the forest varied from around (40% to 100%). In general, males engage inwild collection by making significant damages to those trees due to falling of trees andcutting main branches. Reasonable proactive strategies are not yet adapted to ensuresustainable utilisation of wild resources rather than penalties by courts when collectors arecaptured by Forest Department officers. People practice this as a souces of part-time seasonalincome. Though income is seasonal, they receive higher values by selling some traditionalmedicinal products under informal fixed prices. The price of all other products is determinedby traders where collectors have minimum bargaining power in this context.Keywords: Underutilised crops, Wild collections, Rural households, Food security, Incomesecurit

Low-Cost Perovskite Solar Cell Fabricated using the Expanded Graphite Back Contact and Electronically Conducting Activated Carbon as the Hole Transporting Material

Although perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have reached a record high conversion efficiency of 25.7%, the materials used to fabricate them invoke costly hole-transporting materials, such as spiro-OMeTAD, and expensive gold back contacts. The cost of fabrication of a solar cell or any other practical device is an important issue in their practical applications. In this study, we describe the fabrication of a low-cost, mesoscopic PSC, eliminating the use of expensive p-type semiconductors and substituting them with electronically conducting activated carbon, and the gold back contact with expanded graphite. The activated carbon hole transporting material was derived from readily available coconut shells and the expanded graphite from graphite attached to rock pieces of graphite vein banks. We drastically reduced the overall cell fabrication cost using these low-cost materials and added commercial value to discarded graphite and coconut shells. Under ambient conditions, our PSC gives a conversion efficiency of 8.60 ± 0.10 % at 1.5 AM simulated sunlight. We have identified the lower fill factor as the limiting factor for the low conversion efficiency. We believe that the lower cost of the materials used and the deceptively simple powder pressing method would compensate for the relatively lower conversion efficiency in its practical application.publishedVersio