SLIIT Journal of Humanities and Sciences [SJHS] Volume 02 Issue i 2021
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://rda.sliit.lk/handle/123456789/2891
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Publication Open Access Effect of General Physical Activity on the Flexibility of Lumbar Spine and Lower Limbs in Healthy Undergraduates: A Cross-Sectional Study(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences (FHS) of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) Malabe, 2021-12-30) Rikas, A. M. M.; Ajmala, H.; Hana, M. H. F.; Herath, H. M. G. S.; Karunaratne, N. G. Y. W.; Senarath, M. K. I. D.; Banneheka, B. M. H. S. K.Physical inactivity is a leading risk factor for global mortality with flexibility being the key factor for determining an individual’s health status. This study explored the impact of physical activity on the flexibility of lumbar spine and lower extremities in undergraduates. It further explored the association between the flexibility of lumbar spine and lower limbs in individuals who shared the same amount of physical activity. The sample of 70 undergraduates was chosen from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka using stratified random sampling method. 35 students from each gender were divided into three categories (low, moderate, and high) based on their physical activity level evaluated using International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form (IPAQ-SF). Modified Schober test was used to measure the flexibility of lumbar spine while Sit-and-Reach and Groin Flexibility tests were used to measure the flexibility of lower limbs. The results showed a weak significant correlation between physical activity and flexibility of lower limbs (r=0.236, p=0.048), but no significant correlation between physical activity and flexibility of lumbar spine (r=-0.179, p=0.701). It explored a moderate positive significant correlation between the flexibility of lumbar spine and lower limbs (r= 0.536, p=0.008) in subjects who were low in physical activity but not in subjects who were moderately and highly physically active. Furthermore, the study indicated the males to be more flexible in both lumbar spine (22.3) and lower limbs (7.7) compared to the corresponding values of females (21.4 and 6.7) respectively. Therefore, it is important to take measures to alleviate the physical inactivity in young adults with low physical activity to improve the general status of health by preventing the influence of flexibility of one region on another.Publication Embargo Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adults’ Recollections of Others’ Reactions to Their Early Gender Non-conformity(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Munasinghe, K; Marecek, JGlobally, gender non-conforming (GNC) behaviours are identified as one of the earliest precursors of same sex orientation. The role of reactions by key persons such as parents, teachers and peers to such behaviours is crucial to sexual identity development. In Sri Lanka, there are currently no scholarly data on LGB adults’ recollections of their early experiences, particularly those involving how others reacted to their early GNC and gender atypical behaviours. Through narratives, this exploratory research paper addresses this gap by presenting how 26 LGB adults recalled the manner in which their parents, teachers, and peers responded to their gender-atypical and gender non-conforming behaviours during childhood and adolescence. A participant-focused thematic analysis highlighted the following findings: permissiveness of adults towards childhood gender non-conformity for both boys and girls; how adults’ attitudes shifted during adolescence to be more regulatory; and how adolescent girls and boys recalled experientially different reactions to their GNC behaviours by their peers. These results suggest the nuances of recollections growing up as GNC children and adolescents, and the impact these experiences had on the acceptance of a sexual identity. Future research could begin by observing actual gender nonconformity and gender atypical behaviours in children and adolescence.Publication Embargo Comparing Trends in Data (with Applications to COVID and Image Data)(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Amaratunga, D; Cabrera, JMany applications involve looking at and comparing trends in data. We will discuss some statistics that can be used to assess the similarity or dissimilarity between pairs of cumulative trends. These statistics can then be used to study sets of trends – for example, to cluster them or to compare them across different groups We will describe one possible approach and illustrate its use in two case studies. In the first case study, we studied the trend over time of COVID-19 in New Jersey in the USA– it was found that areas close to New York City had significantly different (more rapidly increasing) cumulative trends compared to areas further from New York City during the early days of the pandemic, but this difference dissipated as the pandemic progressed and spread within New Jersey itself. In the second case study, we compared two sets of CT scan images of lungs – a significant difference could be detected between COPD-diseased lungs and normal lungs. Overall, the method performed well and detected insightful differences.Publication Embargo The Impact of Environmental Risk Factors on Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Kodithuwakku, D.S; Peiris, T.S.GThe environmental factors have a remarkable importance due to their effects on traffic accidents’ severity and their injuries. This study therefore intended to determine the significant environmental factors associated with RTAs in Sri Lanka (2005 - 2019) and the impact of those factors using data obtained from the Department of Police, Sri Lanka. Chi-square statistics and binary logistic regression analysis were applied to derive the required inferences. When the variables were considered separately, all the attributes of environmental characteristics have significant association with the severity of accident. The fitted binary logistic model revealed that rural area, wet road surface, road flooded with water, night with no street lighting, night with improper street lighting, light condition is dusk, or dawn, junction and roundabout have significantly contributed to occurrences of fatal accidents. The odds of happening fatal accidents in wet road surface 1.141 times higher than that it occurs in dry road surface. The odds of happening fatal accidents during night with no street lighting and nigh with improper street lighting are 1.789 times and 1.759 times higher than that it occurs during daylight respectively. The inferences derived from this study would be very useful for policy makers in order to minimize RTAs in Sri Lanka.Publication Embargo Prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome among the Academic Staff of SLIIT, Malabe Campus amidst COVID-19 Pandemic(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Jayakody, L. W; Bandara, P.C; Liyanage, K; Wijekoon, W. M. P. D. S; Anthony, D. K.Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is considered as an occupational hazard in the 21st century resulting from high utilization of computers, laptops and mobile phones in the workplace. Current study aimed to determine the prevalence of computer vision syndrome and its associated factors among the academic staff of SLIIT, Malabe campus amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive cross-sectional institution-based study was conducted among 145 academic staff members. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire that consisted demographic questions and a standard questionnaire validated to measure CVS. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. The participants of the study comprised 50.3% of female respondents and 49.7% of male respondents while majority of the participants were in 20-30 years age category. The prevalence of CVS among the participants was 59.3%. Dryness in the eyes (52.4%), itching (54.4%), eye pain (65.5%) and headache (76.5%) were the most common symptoms reported by the staff members, while coloured halos around objects (20.7%) and double vision (21.4%) were experienced by a limited number of participants. Laptops and mobile phones are used by the majority of the academic staff employees (91.5%) while 6-8 working hours in front of a digital screen was reported by 42.1% of academics. Awareness of CVS was identified among 136 employees. Taking breaks in-between the working time (26.2%), adjusting the screen (21.5%) and adjusting the chair and posture (20.7%) were the most common methods used by the participants to minimize CVS. A significant association was observed between age categories and the prevalence of CVS (p= 0.006). A high prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome was observed among the academic staff of SLIIT. Further, institutional activities to raise awareness on CVS and ergonomic practices are recommended to reduce the prevalence of CVS among the academic staff.Publication Embargo Perceived Self-medication Practices and Associated Factors among Undergraduates of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences (FHS), SLIIT.(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Alahendra, A. M. A. A. U; Perera, O. T. S; Guruge, M. L; Anthony, D. K; Dasanayaka, C; Wijekoon, W. M. P. D. SThis study is aimed to determine the perceived self-medication practices, associated factors, and awareness on contraindications related to self-medication among undergraduates. A random sample of 138 undergraduates of FoHS, SLIIT was selected and data were acquired from a pretested questionnaire. It was found that only 87% of the respondents had practiced self-medication in the past 3 month’s period. The presence of chronic illnesses was significantly associated with self-medication practices (p< 0.05). There was a significant association between the level of selfmedication practices and both the variety of medicines (p=0.006) and prior experience with the self-medication related side effects (p=0.05). Headache (82.9%) and common cold (44.1%) were the major health conditions for self-medication, while painkillers (83.2%) and vitamins and minerals (47.8%) were the mostly used types of medicines. Covid-19 restrictions (48.4%) and unnecessary consultation for mild illnesses (44.0%) were recognized as the major reasons for self-medication. Based on results raising awareness on self-medication by conducting educational programs in pharmaceutical aspects is recommended to improve healthy medicinal compliance among the undergraduate population.Publication Embargo Understanding Reticence and Ambivalence Towards Speaking English: The ‘Problem’ of Limited Capital Yielded by English in a Sri Lankan State University Context(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Rathnasiri, O. HThe use of English for communicative purposes among Sri Lankan state university students has been a topic of concern for many decades as it has generally been observed that these undergraduates are either reticent or ambivalent in terms of using the target language (TL) for oral communication irrespective of their proficiency in the TL or the fact that they are enrolled in an English Medium Degree Programme (EMDP). This paper, having been informed by the contradictions implied above, offers a response to understanding the reticence and ambivalence towards speaking English through an exploration of the notion of ‘capital’ yielded by English in a state university context in Sri Lanka. This study employed a narrative case study with 5 first-year undergraduates studying for two professionoriented EMDPs offered by one academic department. Through a discussion of the positioning of English in the context explained by three main themes, this paper highlights how English use is discouraged by the hegemonic sociocultural factors that are operative in the context whereby limited opportunities for the learners to use English that ultimately enable them yield ‘capital’ are provided. This paper concludes with an emphasis on how ‘capital’ has direct implications to investment in using English in the reality of a state university in Sri Lanka and a call to instigate institutional-level support to foster a supportive academic environment that creates legitimate opportunities for the learners to yield ‘capital’ in using English.Publication Embargo Key Issues and Challenges of Lesson Materials: An Analysis of the G.C.E. Ordinary Level English Textbook(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Amaranayake, S. LWhen examining the English Language Teaching (ELT) materials available in Sri Lanka, it could be said that most of them are alien and takes center-stage. As a result, in the process of language acquisition, students’ own experience, contexts and life styles are devalued through under emphasis and trivialization; hence the sense of linguistic and cultural insecurity that the average student faces when confronted with English being reinforced. The objective of this study is to look at the appropriateness or mismatch of the teaching materials to the classroom context. This study employs the qualitative data analysis method and a textual analysis of the Grade 11 English textbook of both old and new syllabis done to examine the core language issues found in teaching material in a classroom context where English is taught/ learnt as a second language. Moreover, the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination is deemed one of the key examinations that a Sri Lankan student has to face to fulfill the requirement of obtaining the minimal academic qualification. Hence, the study proposes that the English textbook designed for the Ordinary Level students should be designed in a way that would facilitate their second language learning process, and it looks at the extent to which that objective/ requirement is fulfilled through the selected textbooks.Publication Embargo Issues and Challenges faced by Students from Single-Parent Households in Their Academic Performance at Senior Secondary Level.(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Perera, L. I. SAn increase in single-Parent household is noticeable in the contemporary society. Academic performance of the students living in single-parent households is affected negatively at large. Therefore, this study aims to discover the issues and challenges that single-parented students face in their academic performance at the senior secondary level. A stratified random sampling method was used and the sample size was 100 senior secondary students from singleparent households from the Moratuwa Educational Division. Three self-developed questionnaires were administered to collect data. Secondary data was collected through test scores and school-based assessments. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentage and standard deviation were computed. The main conclusion of the study is that the issues and challenges that singleparented senior secondary students face have adverse effects on their academic performance. If these issues and challenges are addressed accurately and deliberately, the senior secondary students' academic performance can be improved. This study recommends that groundlevel stakeholders like school administration, teachers, welfare societies, and educational counsellors pay their attention and help singleparents and their children to cope with their situations and enhance their academic performance.Publication Embargo Biotive Molecules in Canadian Gooseberry and Blackcurrant(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Wijekoon, C; Sura, SWild berry varieties are widely distributed in Canada and are mainly used by the indigenous population as food. Gooseberries and blackcurrants are the two tart berries with a strong taste that are used to make preserves such as jams, jellies, and wines. Fruits such as berries provide significant health benefits because of bioactive compounds and their high antioxidant properties. Phenolic compounds and fatty acids are the predominant bioactive metabolites present in these berries. Recently, researchers are more interested in exploring the fruits such as berries for functional properties that benefit human health. However, research evidence related to the profiling of bioactive molecules in these wild berries such as Canadian gooseberry and blackcurrant is limited. These traditional wild berries may help to address the issues related to indigenous populations’ food insecurity and chronic diseases. In this study, we assessed and compared the bioactive phenolic and fatty acid composition in these two berries using liquid and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The cyanidine glucoside, which is a polyphenolic anthocyanin present in blackcurrant is significantly higher compared to that in Canadian gooseberry. However, fatty acids such as oleic acid, linoleic, and alpha-linolenic acid, which are important in cardiovascular health, are present in both blackcurrant and gooseberry. Further characterization of these berries for antioxidant activity, bio-accessibility, and bioavailability studies will improve the value of these two types of wild berries to harness their full potential as a functional food.