Journal of Science
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Item Nutritional quality of Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata, AAA) as affected by basil oil and determination of basil oil residues by GC-MS(Journal of Science, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, 2019) Siriwardana, H.; Abeywickrama, K.; Kannangara, S.; Jayawardena, B.The effectiveness of basil oil on the nutritional properties of Cavendish banana and chemical composition of basil oil and oil residue levels of treated banana fruits were evaluated in this study. Cavendish banana hands were treated with 1% alum (w/v), 1% alum (w/v) + 0.4% Ocimum basilicum (basil) oil, distilled water (control) and packaged in Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) bags and stored at a cold room at 12-14ºC. After two weeks of cold storage banana were induced ripened and nutritional contents of treated Cavendish banana were determined. Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was instrumental in identifying the chemical constituents of basil oil as well as residues in basil oil treated Cavendish banana peel after two weeks of storage at 12-14ºC.Item Postharvest Application of Defence Elicitors to Managae Anthracnose In Mango Fruit(Journal of Science, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, 2019) Karunanayake, K.O.L.C.The use of defense elicitors; which are agents that stimulate or trigger disease resistance responses in plants have proved to be attractive alternatives to hazardous chemical fungicides in recent years. The present study investigated the possibility of using Salicylic acid and Bion® as postharvest elicitors on mango fruit. Three local mango cultivars were used in the study, ‘Karuthacolomban’, ‘Rata’ and ‘Willard’. Salicylic acid was applied as a postharvest spray at concentrations, 100, 500 or 1000 mg/L and Bion® (Acibenzolar-s-methyl, 500 WG, SYNGENTA) at 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/L. Disease development following artificial inoculation (10 5 conidia / ml suspension) was assessed. Both elicitors were effective (P<0.05) in controlling postharvest anthracnose. The most effective concentration of SA was 500 mg/L for ‘Rata’, 100 mg/ L for ‘Willard’ and both 100 and 500 mg/L for ‘Karuthacolomban’. In Bion® the most effective concentration was 50 ppm for ‘Rata’ and ‘Willard’ and 25 ppm for ‘Karuthacolomban’. In SA treated fruits the percentage reduction in anthracnose ranged from 40- 77 % while values ranged from 67 – 99% for Bion® treated fruits. Results indicate that both SA and Bion® can be used to control postharvest mango fruit loss due to anthracnose.Item Geographic Records of Subfamilies, Genera and Species of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) In The Four Climatic Zones of Sri Lanka: A Review(University of Kelaniya, 2016) Dias, R.K.S.; Rajapaksa, R.P.K.C.Ants are a major biotic component in the terrestrial environment of Sri Lanka. For the first time, geographic records of worker ants from the surveys conducted in the four climatic zones of Sri Lanka from 1999 to 2016 have been summarized. Geographic records of subfamilies, genera and 95 species of ants from variety of localities in each climatic zone were pooled and tabulated for each taxon. Among the 11 subfamilies, Amblyoponinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Ponerinae and Pseudomyrmecinae were common to the lands in the four zones while each of the other subfamilies were recorded from a single zone or two or three zones only. The Sri Lankan Relict Ant in Aneuretinae has many records in the wet zone and two records in the intermediate zone. Twenty two among 64 ant genera were recorded from the four climatic zones; 42 genera were found in a single zone or two or three zones. Recorded occurrence of each of the 95 species showed that 24 including 8 invasive species, Anoplolepis gracilipes, Monomorium pharaonis, Paratrechina longicornis, Solenopsis geminata, Tapinoma melanocephalum, Technomyrmex albipes, Tetramorium bicarinatum and Trichomyrmex destructor were common to the four zones. Further surveys on ants of Sri Lanka are highly recommended for improving the current knowledge on their occurrence and to provide information on the distribution of endemic and invasive ant species in Sri Lanka.Item Five Layered FCC Ferromagnetic Films as Described by Modified Second Order Perturbed Heisenberg Hamiltonian(University of Kelaniya, 2016) Samarasekara, P.; Warnakulasooriya, B.I.For the first time, the 2nd order perturbed Heisenberg Hamiltonian with all the seven magnetic energy parameters was solved for fcc structured ferromagnetic films with five layers. Previously, the 2nd order perturbed Heisenberg Hamiltonian was solved for four layered ferromagnetic films under some special assumptions by us. However, the exact solution of 2nd order perturbed Heisenberg Hamiltonian without any special assumption is formulated in this manuscript. The magnetic easy and hard directions were determined using the angles corresponding to the energy minimum and maximum in the 3-D and 2-D plots. The shape of the 3-D plots doesn’t change with the number of layers except the position of spikes. However, the magnetic easy direction varies with the number of layers. Most of the theoretical data obtained by our model agree with the experimental data of ferromagnetic thin films.Item Species richness of arboreal ant assemblages (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and frequency of Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius) occurrence in a wet zone cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) field in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2016) Dias, R.K.S.; Perera, A.P.S.Ant assemblages on cashew trees in the wet zone of Sri Lanka were recorded throughout three phenological phases from March to June in 2015. Baited trapping and hand collection recorded fourteen ant species in five subfamilies and species richness observed on each occasion ranged from 7 to 11. Absence of serious cashew pests was noticeable in the current phenological cycle. Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius) was the only species recorded on all trees. Number of O. smaragdina nests observed on the same cashew trees in the two plots was recorded from April to June in 2015 and nests of the species were observed only on large and medium-sized trees. The materials carried by O. smaragdina workers on cashew tree branches were also collected, preserved in 70% ethanol and identified as far as possible using a Low Power Stereo-microscope and various plant and animal materials carried by workers confirmed that the species is an omnivore and a generalist predator. In the current study absence of serious damages caused by the cashew insect pests even without any insecticide application might be due to the presence of ant assemblages on cashew trees.Item Optical and Structural Properties of Spin Coated Cadmium Sulfide Thin Films(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Dissanayake, D.M.C.U.; Samarasekara, P.Thin films of cadmium sulfide have been synthesized using the spin coating technique. Films were fabricated on inexpensive amorphous glass substrates at spin speeds of 1500, 2200 and 2400 rpm for 30 seconds. Films were subsequently annealed at 200, 300 and 400 0C for one hour in air in order to crystallize the phase of CdS. Films were characterized using X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) and UV-visible spectroscopy. According to XRD patterns, the phase of CdS was crystallized without any secondary phases. The particle size, dislocation density and strain were also estimated using XRD patterns. All the films indicate a strong orientation in (002) direction. The optical band gap was determined using UV absorption spectroscopy. Tauc model was employed to determine the optical band gap. According to our data, the optical band gap decreases with the particle size.Item An Exact Solution of Non-Newtonian Peristaltic Flow in a Tube : Rabinowitsch Fluid Model(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Singh, U.P.With the development of medical science, non-Newtonian fluids have taken on added significance with a variety of applications in real life. The flow of non-Newtonian fluids in tubes and pipes plays a vital role in daily life. The examples of such applications are medical instruments, human body, machines, etc. The study of such mechanisms with the Newtonian fluids has not been found satisfactory due to nonlinear behavior of stress strain relationship. In the present analysis, the study of peristaltic flow in a tube has been carried out taking into account the non-Newtonian fluid : Rabinowitsch fluid model. Considering the significant terms in Navier-Stokes equations, solutions have been derived for fluid flow in axial direction in terms of pressure gradient. Using the continuity of flow, and exact solution has been derived for fluid pressure at wall. To establish the applicability of the solution, results for pressure rise at wall, pressure gradient and streamlines have been presented graphically.Item Development of Suitable Propagation Systems for Tephrosia spp. in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2014) Priyadarshan, A.I.S.; Senanayake, S.P.; Jayatilleke, M.P.; Rajapakse, S.Genus Tephrosia (Fabaceae) commonly known as ‘Pila’ in Sri Lanka. Some Tephrosia spp. are used in many traditional therapeutic preparations in Sri Lanka and also in other countries. Increased use of Tephrosia in traditional therapeutic systems has developed a great demand for these species. Thus production of planting materials for commercial cultivation has become a timely requirement. Therefore, this research was conducted to determine suitable propagation systems for four selected Tephrosia spp.; T. purpurea, T. villosa, T. noctiflora and T. pumila. Even though seeds of Tephrosia spp. showed high viability, lower germination percentage was observed on wet filter paper as well as in six different potting media [M0 (Coir: dust: Sand; 1:1:1), M1 (Coir dust: Sand: Top soil; 1:1:1), M2 (Coir dust: Sand: Top soil: Compost; 1:1:1:1), M3 (Coir dust: Sand: Top soil: Compost: Cow dung; 1:1:1:1:1), M4 (Coir dust: Sand: Compost; 1:1:1), M5 (Coir dust: Sand: Top soil: Cow dung; 1:1:1:1)] during a period of one week. Water impermeability of seed coats was identified as the main reason for the seed dormancy in Tephrosia spp. and soaking seeds in Con. H2SO4: H2O; 3:1 for 25 minutes and rubbing seeds on sandpaper for 2 minutes were determined as suitable dormancy breaking methods. Variation was observed in the growth performance of Tephrosia spp. in six different potting media. Growth performances of seedlings of Tephrosia spp. in hydroponic solution and soil medium were observed and soil medium was selected as the most suitable medium for the growth of Tephrosia species based on their growth performances.Item Cobal Ferrite Films as Described by Third Order Perturbed Heisenberg Hamiltonian(University of Kelaniya, 2014) Samarasekara, P.Magnetic properties of thick films of Cobalt ferrite have been investigated using third order perturbed modified Heisenberg Hamiltonian at different values of second and fourth order magnetic anisotropy. Thick films with up to 10,000 layers have been employed for this investigation. The magnetic energy versus number of layers, second and fourth order anisotropy have been plotted in order to find the magnetically easy and hard directions of cobalt ferrite films. Energy has minimum and maximum values at certain values of second and fourth order anisotropy values, indicating that that there are magnetically easy and hard directions. Energy shows the same type of variations with number of layers in the film. For the values considered in this manuscript, the easy direction of magnetization was found to be 1530 with the normal line drawn to the film surface. However, the easy axis direction depends on the values of parameters used in simulation. Determination of easy directions of magnetic films is important in applications of magnetic memory devices.Item Intraspecific Variation of Flueggea leucopyrus Willd. Grown in Sri Lanka and Establishing a Suitable Propagation System(University of Kelaniya, 2014) Priyadarshan, A.I.S.; Senanayake, S.P.; Jayatilleke, M.P.; Rajapakse, S.Flueggea leucopyrus belongs to family Phyllanthaceae, commonly known as ‘Katupila’or ‘Heen katupila’ and has become increasingly popular as an ingredient in several traditional therapeutic systems in Sri Lanka as well as in other Asian countries. A questionnaire survey was carried out using a hundred population sample to determine the awareness of the distribution and therapeutic uses of F. leucopyrus in Sri Lanka as a preliminary survey. The aims of the present study were to interpret the phenetic variation and determine the variation of phenolic composition in leaf extracts of F. leucopyrus in different climatic zones in Sri Lanka and to develop a suitable propagation system for F. leucopyrus. Eleven floral and vegetative characters of F. leucopyrus were observed and cluster analysis was carried out to infer phenetic relationships among populations collected from localities, Colombo, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Hambanthota, .representing different climatic zones. Medicinal value of most of plants lies in phytochemicals such as phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanidins. Thus, leaf samples were extracted into ether, and ether extracts were used to isolate phenolic compounds using 2-Dimensional paper chromatography in solvent systems, butanol: acetic acid: water; 6:7:3 and sodium formate: formic acid: water; 10:1:200. Colors of the spots were observed under UV (366nm), and Rf values were calculated. Intra specific variations were observed in the distribution of phenolics in leaves and phenetic characters of F. leucopyrus with respect to their habitats in different climatic zones. Due to low seed production in F. leucopyrus, stem cuttings (Semi-hardwood, hardwood and softwood) in three different potting media were used to evaluate the successfulness in propagation. Semi hardwood and hardwood cuttings of F. leucopyrus were well established within a period of one week in sand potting medium while softwood cutting has not responded in any of the media during the period. Medium with only coir dust was also not successful in establishing the cuttings.