Browsing by Author "Herath, H. M. K. M."

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Impact of past mental and physical harassments on undergraduates of University of Kelaniya
(Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Pathirana, G. P. N. M.; Subasinghe, G. K.; Samarasinghe, D. G. S. P.; Fernando, H. A. S.; Jayasinghe, M. G.; Herath, H. M. K. M.
Harassment is any physical, verbal, written, or otherwise unwanted, unwelcome behavior that may offend or humiliate an individual. Discriminatory harassment, physical harassment, mental harassment, psychological harassment, sexual harassment, etc., are frequently experienced worldwide, and these are related to adverse physical and mental health outcomes and injuries. The existing state of knowledge on this topic is that these incidents are prevalent even though no one has been able to pay much attention to such incidents. As a result, harassment increases gradually, and society has not enforced directive laws and punishments against those who commit such offences. Our objective was to determine the impact of past mental and physical harassment on undergraduates of the Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya. This study considers the most impacted scenarios and the discomforts undergraduates have gone through since childhood. From the results of a pilot study, a sample of 342 undergraduates from the faculty of science have undergone a survey. The study uses a stratified sampling method, and the level/ academic year of study is considered as strata. Major discomforts and aftereffects such as stress, anxiety, sleeping disorders, sexual malfunctions, weight loss, mental retardation, etc., of more specific harassments were analysed here. There is an equal proportion of participation in both males and females. The descriptive study shows how the respondents were impacted: physically, mentally or both. The way they reacted to the discomfort, to whom they were informed, and how much time has been taken for the action are discussed here. Major afflictions came out to be bullying, gender discrimination, cyberbullying, sexual abuse and racial/religious discrimination. Highest impacted discomfort has been experienced severely by most females but mildly by most males. The categorical analysis gave a relative risk of 1.121 to 2.247 on the female being more likely to encounter an aftereffect from discomforts. Experiencing severe cases is higher for females than males. The odds of a female encountering sexual abuse are about three times more likely than a male. Further, chi-square tests revealed aftereffect is independent of gender, but aftereffect and the discomfort types are significantly associated. Ratings (mild, moderate, severe) are associated with the discomfort type. The study identifies that there is an equivalent experience of harassment no matter what gender they belong to, but females have a higher tendency to get harassed. Consequently, the severity of the incident is higher for females than males. Further studies can be conducted to determine actions to reduce the aftermath, find cures and enlighten society about how to avoid discomfort.
Multi-server queuing system modeling approach for customer service management in a super market: A case study
(4th International Research Symposium on Pure and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Dilanthi, M. G. S.; Ekanayake, H.; Herath, H. M. K. M.; Kaushala, L. M. K.; Ramanayake, R. M. A. M. K.
The service performance is a key determinant for a super market to win customer attraction in large scale. Thus, better performance can be ensured with an efficient service provision to its customers. Accordingly, the study found a renowned supermarket forming long waiting times at its counters and motivated to find solutions for that queuing problem. Therefore, this investigation aimed to analyze the performance of the existing system and provide further improvements to it. This queuing problem was significant there in weekends. Thus the data were collected observing the system from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon in one Saturday. The study recorded customer arrival and service provision times. The sample size was 100 observations. Then the system was modeled and simulated using the student version of Rockwell ARENA 14.5. The study assumed customer arrivals to be random and independent, servers to be identical, no shift changes and breaks for cashiers in the observation period and service discipline to be First In First Out. The data were collected only for three counters considering the recording convenience. Therefore, the system was identified as a multi-server queuing system with infinite waiting room capacity and infinite population. The Input Analyzer showed inter-arrivals to be normally distributed. Also, the service provisions at both counter 1and 2 showed triangular distribution and that of counter 3 showed normal distribution. The system was then modeled using the ARENA modules in both basic process and advanced transfer panels and was run for three hours replication length. The results revealed the service rate of the super market as 76.63%. Furthermore, the average waiting times in the queues at counter 1, 2 and 3 were respectively 16.16, 16.67 and 16.51 minutes and the number waiting were correspondingly 1.62, 1.72 and 1.93. Also, a customer had to spend 21 minutes of average time in the queuing system. Thus, the study made evidence for long waiting times in the queues. Therefore, the super market needed to improve its performance to provide a better satisfaction for their customers. The study emphasized the necessity of trained and efficient cashiers at the counters recommending to provide further training to them and assign helpers to pack goods separately to the counters. In advanced, the cashiers can be facilitated with more sophisticated equipment to do payment transactions.