Browsing by Author "Perera, R"

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Open Access
Approach or Avoid? A Quantitative Study on the Dualistic Nature of Social Media Envy in Undergraduates in a Non-state University in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2023-11-01) Perera, R; Abeysinghe, N; Galappaththi, K
Envy is a complex emotion studied recently, especially with the impact of social media. This study explored the dualistic nature of social media envy in Sri Lankan undergraduates from a nonstate university. Using a quantitative design, data from 155 participants were collected via Google Forms and analysed with Spearman’s Rank test. Results indicated statistically significant positive moderate relationships between social media usage and both benign envy and malicious envy. However, social media only accounted for 20% of benign envy and 8.8% of malicious envy, suggesting it’s only one of many contributors. Furthermore, the association between social media usage and benign envy was stronger than that with malicious envy, implying social media envy may be less severe than perceived in Sri Lanka. The study acknowledges limitations, such as sample size and focus on one university. Future research should address these limitations and explore the dualistic nature of social media envy in different populations and contexts. Overall, the study emphasises the need to understand the complexity of envy and how social media can amplify or alleviate it. Findings have implications for social media usage, regulation, and interventions promoting emotional well-being.
Embargo
Assessment of shop house enterprises in the Bangkok metropolitan area in view of environmental and health aspects
(Elsevier, 2014-04-01) Potipituk, C; Perera, R
This study aims to assess environmental and health impacts created by shop house enterprises and to identify the factors contributing to those impacts. The work was carried out in Bangkok, Thailand. This study used questionnaire surveys, interviews, and data collection. Responses were obtained from two different groups of stakeholders. First, the perceptions of owners and workers in shop house enterprises of their environmental management practices were determined. A second group of stakeholders consisting of affected community members, customers and relevant decision makers was queried to determine their perceptions of environmental performance of shop house enterprises. Using this strategy, perceived environmental conditions were determined by stakeholders and supported with actual measurement in air and noise pollution generated by shop house enterprises. The study results show that activities of shop house enterprise are perceived to generate adverse environmental and health impacts at various levels. The magnitude of each of these impacts suggests the priority at which policy interventions are needed to address these factors. We conclude that public policy to reduce environmental and health impacts should be done concurrently with efforts to mitigate factors contributing to environmental and health impacts generated by shop house enterprises. The effectiveness of existing environmental management measures for shop house enterprises by a decentralized administrative system requires further examination. It will be necessary to revisit existing environmental management practices for enterprises engaging in high risk activities.
Open Access
Construction waste management from a gender perspective
(2008-09) Manowong, E; Perera, R
Construction industry generates high volume of waste. The availability of dump sites for construction waste is decreasing and becoming a serious problem. Common waste management strategies such as Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3Rs) can be provided for construction waste management (CWM). However, in order to be extensively implemented in construction industry, such practices need to be recognized by construction operatives and the general public whose behavior may be influenced by their attitudes and perception. A survey was carried out to investigate current situation of CWM in various regions of Thailand. Attitudes, perceptions, and roles of men and women in the construction-related sectors were analyzed. Recommendations are planners and decision-makers to improve the relevant parties’ perception and attitudes towards CWM policy planning and implementation in the GMS countries.
Embargo
“Cradle to Gate” assessment of material related embodied carbon: A design stage stratagem for mid-rise housing in Sri Lanka
(Elsevier, 2021-01-01) Jayawardana, A; Perera, N; Perera, R
Achieving low carbon buildings is seen as a key concept in order to reduce carbon emission and mitigate climate change. In contrast to operational emission, material related embodied carbon (EC) in the built environment plays a pivotal role, with the continuous consumption of high carbon emitting materials. This research relates to the ‘Cradle-to-Gate’ system boundary, while limiting its focus on building design stage decisions. A hybrid analysis approach was adopted - a bottom-up process with steps encompassing mass analysis, EC calculation, highlighting carbon hotspots, and ultimately the identification of critical building components. As a case study, multi-storey housing was selected as a critical building typology, in Sri Lanka. The results reveal ‘walls’ as a carbon hotspot that needs to be explored in strategies for mitigation. Substantial EC savings were seen in the selection of fly ash blocks as an alternate material to clay brick or cement block. Changes to the configuration of walls, specifically, bonding patterns and non-inclusion of a plaster layer, also showed savings. This paper, contributes to the understanding of material selection implications - in the cradle-to-gate stage - for the reduction of carbon emissions in mid-rise housing, in the context of Sri Lanka.
Open Access
Development Plan as a Tool to Improve the Disaster Resilience of Urban Areas
(Springer, Cham, 2017-03-22) Perera, R; Khaimi, D; Khailani, B
This chapter argues for the mainstreaming of disaster resilience attributes in local development plans as an overarching adaptive measure with regards to urban areas facing climate related disasters. The chapter is based on empirical research involving a group of professional urban planners and managers who are responsible for formulating development plans for local urban areas in a developing country. Using the key-informant technique, the research investigated the ideas of a set of professional planners and managers regarding the suitable urban planning strategies to improve the resilience of local areas against a common hazard (e.g., flooding) that has a tendency to intensify due to climate change. In the next step, the common attributes of more frequently suggested strategies were identified using the principal component analysis technique. In the last step, the extent to which the local development planning system has responded so far to the vulnerability reduction and resilience improvement needs of the civil society. The findings indicate that local planners are sensitive to the flood risks faced by people. They have incorporated policies and strategies in the local development plan to minimize exposure of the people and property to flood hazard and improve the adaptive capacity of the urban settlements. However, the sector-based organization of the plan prepared by the federal level planners was found to be a hindrance to improving mainstream disaster resilience attributes in development planning. Therefore, the paper calls for strengthening the participatory planning and development capacity of the local authorities to enable more resolute mainstreaming of disaster resilience in local development plans.
Open Access
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE POOR ASSESSING SPATIAL DISPARITIES
(South Asia center for policy Studies, 2009-02) Tilakaratna, G; Tilakaratna, A; Jayatilaka, R; Perera, R
Sri Lanka enjoys a remarkable progress in terms of its basic education indicators, compared to many other developing countries in the world. By 2004, it had an adult literacy rate of about 92.5 per cent, and a net primary enrolment ratio of 98 per cent. The primary completion ratio for Sri Lanka is also relatively high, with only about 3 per cent of the students dropping out before reaching grade 5. Moreover, Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress in gender equality in education. The adult literacy rate for female is 96 per cent of that for male while youth literacy rate for female is as high as 101 percent of that for male. In addition, net primary enrolment ratio for female is about 97 per cent and is at the same level as that for male students. However, it is interesting to note that the combined ratio for all educational levels for female is about 102 per cent of that for male, implying higher enrolments among female students
Open Access
Educational opportunities for the poor in Sri Lanka: Assessing spatial disparities
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2008-11) Jayathilaka, R; Tilakaratna, G; Galappattige, A; Perera, R
This study was carried out as a part of the project on “Economic and Political Empowerment of the Poor: Sri Lanka Country Studies” which will be published in a monograph as a part of the publication series originating from Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)/South Asian Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) project on Eradication of Poverty in South Asia. The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge SACEPS for their financial assistance to carry out this study.
Open Access
Impact of urbanization on the water resources and public health in Pathumthani Province, Thailand
(2006-11-22) Perera, R; Pradhan, P
This study attempts to analyze and describe the trend and pattern of urbanization, its impact on water resources as well as public health in Pathumthani province, which is an adjacent province of Bangkok Metropolitan. This province has good canal (khlong) network system. These khlongs have their own cultural and historical values. But the province has been promoted as a location for industrial development policy reforms introduced in Thailand in 1977. The study was carried out, using GIS as a tool, to identify the land use change. Major chemical parameters were selected to analysis water quality and cases registered data on water born diseases were analyzed to identify the impact on public health. The study reveals that growths have mainly occurred along the highways, river and khlongs sections. The findings highlight the situation of water quality in river and khlongs arising out of the process of urbanization in the province and its affect on public health.
Open Access
Mat to Clinic: A Systemati c Review on Role of Therapeuti c Yoga in Clinical Management of Mental Disorders and Wellbeing Promoti on in Integrati ve Health Care
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2024-12-04) Perera, R
Therapeuti c psychology has been directed towards uti lizing a synthesized approach of the Western and Eastern principles of health and healing with the emerging discipline of integrati ve care to adapt the potenti als of holisti c care relapse preventi on, and promoti on of a healthy lifestyle. Integrati ve care has introduced several therapeuti c approaches and one of the prominent mind-body interventi ons was yoga therapy or therapeuti c yoga. Yoga is a practi ce that has developed with the practi ce of physical posture (asana), breathing experience (pranayama), and meditati on (dhyana), which provided the foundati on for contemporary yoga therapy. Globally, both researchers and clinicians in mental health have uti lized this approach to treat common mental health disorders and indicate signifi cant outcomes related to the eff ecti ve management of mental disorders such as depression, bipolar aff ecti ve disorder, anxiety schizophrenia, and so on. In additi on, yoga therapy was eff ecti ve in the management of stress or the causes of mental disorders. Therefore, this study evidenti ally shows the contributi on of yoga in the management of common mental disorders and the tool of preventi on in future mental health care.
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Problems and prospects of utilizing canal banks to enhance the built-environment in Colombo
(NSF, 2003-07-27) Perera, R
Waterfronts are assets that enhance the quality of built-environment in urban areas. They are used as public and recreational spaces in many cities around the world. However, cities and towns in Sri Lanka most often turn their back to water bodies. Colombo has environmental assets in the form of a sea front, a lake and a canal network, yet not much attempt has been made to utilize their potential to enhance the quality of environment of the city until recent times. The lake is being rehabilitated while the canal network has already been rehabilitated under externally funded projects. It is observed that the rehabilitated canal network is fast falling back to its previous state of stagnation and pollution due to non-utilization of improved canals and banks. This paper focuses attention on possible strategies to sustain their improved environmental quality in order to enhance the built-environment of the city
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Semi-Automated Spice Packaging Machine for Middle Scale Business in Sri Lanka
(SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Jayasuriya, A; Perera, R; Thihara, I; De Silva, S
In Sri Lanka, small scale spice packaging businesses use traditional methods while middle scale spice packaging businesses use separate machineries for each individual tasks such as weighing, filling, and sealing processes. Comparatively, considering the higher demand for large-scale spice products in the market, they use highly expensive, technically improved, automated machinery. According to the researches and the site visits, it is observed that currently, there is no affordable packaging machine available in the local market for middle scale businessmen, which includes all weighing, filling and sealing processes in a single system. Therefore, it limits their profits and production. The current used methods in middle scale businesses cause high wastage of raw materials, less accuracy, less hygienic, higher labor costs, and low efficiency. This project proposes a semi-automated, Arduino based machinery for middle scale spice packaging business where a packet is fed manually to the system, while weighing, filling, and sealing processes are automated and sequentially completed. The operation of this machine can be carried out with an involvement of a single laborer. The designed product is pneumatic based and uses some sensors for position, weighing and level detection, heating element, stepper motors, pneumatic system components for smooth operation and Arduino as the micro controller to make it cost effective. With this innovative structure, three packets can be filled and sealed within fifteen seconds while the current used method takes fifteen seconds to complete this process for a single packet. Cost and time effectiveness, reducing ingredient wastage and labor cost are the main advantages of this project. Due to the COVID-19 health restrictions, the hardware implementation is partially completed but to illustrate the working principle and the design plan, a 3D animated model was implemented using SolidWorks, incorporated with electrical stimulation in the Proteus software package.
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Smart saline management system
(IEEE, 2018-04-11) Amarasekara, C; Manage, R; Abeywickrama, C; Perera, R; Achchige, R. A. S. R; Wijekoon, J
Supplying the correct amount of vital nutrition at the correct time is the most fundamental and important requirement for the hospitalized patients. Among those treatments, saline therapy is the most important treatment many patients receive from the hospitals. It is a fact that, in almost all hospitals of Sri Lanka, an assistant or a nurse, among other assigned health care duties, are responsible for monitoring the saline supplied for each patient. Unfortunately, there are some critical situations, i.e., patient's blood refluxing back into the saline tubing system, patients had to experience because of the observers' mistake due to their busy schedules. Nonetheless, the traditional method of supplying saline is also proven not accurate because the saline drop rate for a patient has been adjusted by looking at the drops falling speed in the drip chamber. The proposed system facilitates a sophisticated method of controlling saline drop rate by monitoring the saline system remotely by using IoT.
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Space Modification and Personalization in Public Housing: Case of Walk-Up Apartments in Sri Lanka
(researchgate.net, 2019-11) Kularatne, K; Ajanthi Coorey, S. B; Perera, R
Public housing programs are critical in developing countries such as Sri Lanka where Governments’ aim to accommodate housing affordability through a dynamic housing market addressing the desired housing mobility and choice of housing solutions. The process of public housing production lacks end-user participation in its design stage and instead provides a typical layout to communities with similar needs and requirements. Nevertheless, the end user inhabits the house by a process of modifications addressing their changing needs and requirements. But such process has no involvement of an Architect, thus modifications done without space planning and design knowledge, results in inhabitable spaces and poor quality of the living environment. This study explores the personalization strategies of the public housing process taking two ‘walk-up apartments’ type of public housing schemes as a case study.
Open Access
A Study of the Factors that Cause Lower Performance in Grade 11 Mathematics: A Study Conducted in the Gampaha District
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, SLIIT, 2023-11-01) Perera, R; Rosa, S.R.D.
This study was done to find the factors that affect the poor mathematics performance of the Grade 11 students in the Gampaha district of Sri Lanka. To do this, the best-performing and the poor-performing zones in the Gampaha district were selected and a school was selected from each zone through simple random sampling. The data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Thirty grade 11 students were selected at random from each school as the sample. Five students from each school were interviewed and 25 students from each school responded to the questionnaire. The major findings of the study were poor student-teacher interactions, no practice in solving sums, lack of basic knowledge, low motivation in students, and no instructional materials were used by the teachers when teaching. Therefore, the findings suggest that the teachers should be advised and trained on the ways to maintain good interactions with the students and on the ways of using instructional materials to deliver lessons. Moreover, workshops can be held to revise the basic knowledge. The parents and the teachers can be advised through workshops on the ways that they can motivate the students to learn mathematics and the ways that they can make the students practice more.