Journal Issue: SLIIT Journal of Humanities & Sciences (SJHS)
Volume
Volume 02
Number
Issue i
Issue Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
2815-0120
Journal Volume
SLIIT Journal of Humanities & Sciences (SJHS)
(Volume 02)
Articles
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.
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, J
Globally, 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.
Comparing Trends in Data (with Applications to COVID and Image Data)
(Faculty of Humanities and Sciences,SLIIT, 2021-09-25) Amaratunga, D; Cabrera, J
Many 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.
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.G
The 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.
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.
Description
Keywords
Phenolic Compounds, Fatty Acids, Wild Gooseberry, Blackcurrant, Cumulative Trends, COVID-19, Data Analysis, Physical Activity, Lumbar Spine, Flexibility, Undergraduates, Self-Medication, Health Practices, Computer Vision Syndrome, Academic Staff, COVID-19 Pandemic, Single-Parent Students, Academic Performance, English Lesson Materials, Textbook Analysis, LGBTQ+ Adults, Gender Non-Conformity, English Language Speaking, Reticence, Ambivalence, Road Traffic Accidents, Sri Lanka