bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of Cultural Values on the Consumption of Timber for Architectural Purposes
Authors: Seenapatabendige K.B.  , De Silva D.A.M.  
Published: June 2022

Cultural values play a unique role in consumption decision of goods and services in general. This study aimed to identify the impact of cultural values on consumption decision of timber for the architectural purposes, especially on house construction in Sri Lanka and dilemma between physical properties of timber and cultural values. The sample included a range of professional carpenters (12), contractors of housing projects (08), timber stores owners (05) and consumers (30) engage in house construction. Story telling exercise was performed with aged and experienced carpenters, timber stores owners and contractors to obtain the insights on cultural values associated with the selection of timber for architectural purposes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone with individuals selected for relevant practical knowledge of cultural values associated with various types of timber. All interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed into qualitative tool. Local knowledge, traditions and experience were key tools in interpretation of various cultural values attached to the types of timber. Cultural histories, stories, experiences and recommendations of adults and the trustworthy carpenter heavily influence the purchase intention of the consumers. Intangible benefits such as religious, social, and cultural values associated with different timber types were influential in consumer decision. Moral and spiritual wellbeing were influential compared to economic benefits. Little or poor consumer knowledge on identification of timber types and heavy dependency on carpenters and contractors on identification of timber pushes consumers towards irrational purchase decisions. Super luxury, luxury and special class timber were usually replaced by the substitutes.
Keywords: Architectural purposes, Cultural values, Timber consumption
Evaluation of Lignin Degrading Ability and In-silico Analysis and Molecular Docking of Laccase of Schizophyllum commune with Lignin
Authors: Dharmasiri B.D.H.N.  , Senanayake G.  , Perera P.  , Halmillawewa A.  , Attanayake R.N.  
Published: June 2022

White-rot fungi have a unique and strong ability to degrade lignin, the most abundant and the strongest natural polymer on earth. The ligninolytic enzymes of these fungi comprise of three groups of oxidative extracellular enzymes mainly, lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese dependent peroxidase (MnP) and laccase. Fungal laccases are considered to be directly involved with the degradation of lignin. Due to the broad substrate specificity and unique ability of biodegradation, fungal laccases have a great value in industrial and biotechnological applications like bioremediation, detoxification of industrial dyes and treatment of other pollutants. The objectives of this study was to evaluate the lignin degradation ability and laccase producing ability of selected fungal isolates originated from decaying hardwoods of Dimbulagala forest reserve, Sri Lanka and to predict the three-dimensional (3D) structure of laccase from Schizophyllum commune and its binding to lignin using in silicohomology modeling and molecular docking. Ten fungal isolates originated from decaying hardwoods were screened for the lignin degradation ability by using lignin amended malt extract plate assay and laccase producing ability by using guaiacol amended PDA plates. Seven isolates showed lignin degradation ability and five of them were laccase producers. Since S. commune could produce laccase, degrade lignin and laccase protein sequence is available, it was subjected to homology modeling. Homologous templates were identified using BLASTP across Protein Data Bank from NCBI. Laccase from Cerrena sp. was selected as the template for 3D model building of laccase from S. commune using Modeller 10.1. The quality of resulted 3D model of the protein was verified by its energy and stereochemical properties. The unstable regions were selected and remodeled by loop modelling using ModLoop web server. The results of evaluation of the remodeled structure by stereochemical quality and energy was found to be improved and showed that predicted model was of good quality due to the presence of maximum residues in the favored region. Later CB-Dock server was used to perform molecular docking studies using lignin model compounds. The amino acid residues of modeled laccase of S. commune in contact with the lignin based model compounds were identified. These findings help uncovering the lignin degradation mechanisms by S. communelaccases and are useful in biofuel production and bioremediation.
Keywords: Laccase, Homology modeling, Molecular docking, LigninAcknowledgement: Authors acknowledge the TWAS research grant (18-020 RG/BIO/AS_I), ICGEB research grant (CRP/LKA18-03) and NSF Sri Lanka (RG/2019/BT/03)
Removal of Tryphenylmethane Dyes by the Microalgae Chlorella sp.
Authors: Samarakoon S.B.B.R.  , Lakmali W.G.M.  , Athukorala A.D.S.N.P.  , Jayasundera K.B.  
Published: June 2022

Removal of organic dyes from industrial wastewater is a costly process. Activated charcoal and polymeric material are widely used to adsorb such material. Biomass provides alternative low-cost adsorbents to remove organic substances in wastewater. Dry biomass is only capable of adsorption, whereas live biomass is capable of adsorption as well as degradation of molecules to less toxic substances. Bioremediation with microalgae (phycoremediation) is a practically useful approach due to the ease of handling and environmental adaptability of microalgae. This study was aimed to use phycoremediation to remove tryphenylmethane dyes; crystal violet, methyl violet, malachite green, and fuchsin from aqueous solutions using microalgae Chlorella sp. The microalgae samples were extracted from polluted water bodies in Kandy urban area. To determine the factors affecting the dye removal, the percentage decolorization was determined at different salt concentrations by measuring UV-visible absorption at appropriate wavelengths. NaCl was used as the representative inorganic salt. Chlorella sp. showed tolerance up to 2,000 ppm salt concentrations and was able to decolorize dye solutions above 60% within five days. Three replicates were done under each salt concentration. Further, the effect of dye concentration on the decolorization rate was investigated for five different salt concentrations from 0 ppm to 500 ppm. Chlorella sp. showed a decolorization percentage above 65% in the presence of 100 ppm dye concentrations. The phycoremediation potential of Chlorella sp. was determined by investigating the change in pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and phosphate content after the treatment using simulated wastewater. The microalgae were able to maintain the pH levels within the discharge limits. The chemical oxygen demand was decreased from a value around 600 mgL-1 to a value less than 250 mgL-1 which was within the discharge limits. Phosphate content was also decreased within 10 days. According to the above study, it can be concluded that the isolated Chlorella sp. can be used to treat and improve the quality of wastewater contaminated with tryphenylmethane dyes.
Keywords: Chlorella sp., Tryphenylmethane dyes, Decolorization, Phycoremediation
Application of Microbial Biofilms to Reinstate Lost Soil Microbial Diversity under Global Warming: A Case Study
Authors: Jayasinghe J.A.W.W.  , Seneviratne G.  , Wijepala P.C.  
Published: June 2022

By the end of the 21st century, global surface temperatures expected to rise by ca. 1.8-3.6° C due to accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere at higher rates. Excessive use of chemical inputs in modern agriculture is one of the major contributors, because it leads to degrade soil microbial diversity that causes soil carbon loss, and emit C to the atmosphere as CO2. In this context, microbial ameliorators like Biofilm Biofertilizers are studied to reinstate biodiversity, functioning, and sustainability of agroecosystems. The Biofilm Biofertilizers consist of microbes and their exudates having diverse biochemicals; once applied to soil, they break the dormancy of cysts, spores, akinetes, and conidia which reinstate biodiversity while cut short soil restoration in degraded croplands. In the present study, investigated the effect of a Biofilm Biofertilizers having one fungus and two bacteria on microbial diversity in the soils under conventional tea cultivation by refitting to the temperature increase. The soils separately treated with the BFBF and sterilized distilled water in small pots in a plant house under three different temperatures viz. 30° C, 36° C, and 40° C. After one month, the soil samples were collected separately and analyzed for fungal colony, and bacterial colony counts, fungal: bacterial ratio, fungal species richness, and bacterial species richness. The results showed that the application of Biofilm Biofertilizers significantly increased (p<0.05) culturable bacteria, fungi, and their species richness at 40° C over 30° C and 36° C. Therefore, the results conclude that the Biofilm Biofertilizers as a novel biotechnological method to restore degraded agricultural soils in the context of global warming.
Keywords: Biofilm biofertilizers, Fungal:bacterial ratio, Soil biodiversity
Efficient Method for α-TiP Synthesis using Alkaline Decomposition Pretreatment of Ilmenite Natural Beach Sand
Authors: Mahaulpatha W.M.B.H.  , Jayaweera P.M.  , Palliyaguru L.  
Published: June 2022

The layered, acidic compound; α-TiP is widely popularized as a sorbent material for heavy metal removal from wastewater, as catalysts for biomass conversion and as an intermediate to produce high purity titanium dioxide particles. One of the conventional route for its synthesis is to react ilmenite with orthophosphoric acid under reflux conditions. However, the major drawback of this method is that the titanium recovery is only 35 wt. % and about 10 wt. % of the initial ilmenite remain unreacted as the residue. The conversion of ilmenite into an easily acid digestible compound could be attained via alkaline roasting. The objective of this research was to increase the yield of α-TiP from ilmenite using an additional alkaline roasting pre-treatment step to the acid leaching. Potassium hydroxide was selected for the alkaline roasting step since it is regarded to be an environmentally benign chemical. The pre-treatment of ilmenite with a 1:4 molar ratio of KOH to ilmenite at 700 C generated potassium iron oxides and potassium titanium oxides as intermediate compounds which were then washed with distilled water, filtered and dried at 100 C for 24 hours. The solid compound was reacted with orthophosphoric acid with a solid to liquid ratio of 1/8 under reflux conditions for 4 hours. Then the remaining acid leachate was decanted and the white precipitate from the leach liquor was filtered, washed and dried at 100 C for 24 hours. The obtained powder was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and Raman spectrophotometry and was confirmed to be α-TiP. The parameters; the effect of KOH/ilmenite ore molar ratio, calcination temperature, solid to liquid ratio in the acid leaching step, acid leaching reflux time on the titanium recovery were fine tuned. This research concluded the possibility of increasing the titanium extraction. Therefore the research concludes the increment of α-TiP yield after the pre-treatment step using KOH.
Keywords: Ilmenite, Titanium phosphate, Alkaline roasting, Alkaline pretreatment
The Impact of Vegetation Arrangement on Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Simulation Study in a Tropical Urban Public Square
Authors: Dissanayake C.  , Weerasinghe U.G.D.  
Published: June 2022

Thermally comfortable urban squares attract people and provide various social benefits to the urbanites. Compared to urban parks, squares are more vulnerable to thermal discomfort due to surrounding buildings and the high percentage of hard surface coverage, especially in tropical climates. The spatial arrangement of green infrastructures can improve Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) by reducing hot air flows, evapotranspiration, and shading to reduce the negative effect of warming urban environments. However, it is not yet adequately discovered the specific correlation of different vegetation arrangements on OTC. Still, urban policymakers are looking for new, quantitative methods to assess the performance of their designs in terms of the cooling effects provided by vegetation. Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of different vegetation arrangements on OTC in a tropical urban public square (Independence Arcade in Colombo) using micrometeorological fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling validated by field measurements. Air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS), and wind direction (WD) were measured at 1.5 m above ground level as the inputs for the ENVI-met simulation model to assess the cooling performance of proposed scenarios employing Physiological equivalent temperature (PET). Nine scenarios were developed using trees with high leaf area density (LAD) and spherical canopy form to compare OTC improvements of cluster, random and individual planting patterns, and the size of trees (large, medium, small). The results showed that vegetation improves the OTC levels irrespective of the planting pattern. However, linear individual planting pattern with large trees performed the best cooling performance, and scenarios were ranked according to improved PET values. Vegetation parameters are recommended to arrange in different ways to achieve OTC and aesthetics. The study was limited to the existing vegetation database of the ENVI-met software package, but further research could consider the context-specific tree species and the impact of combined landscape scenarios using grass, shrub coverage, and water bodies to find proper arrangements to improve the microclimate and OTC. This study guides urban planners and landscape architects to assess the cooling performance of the proposed designs and arrange urban vegetation to create thermally comfortable urban outdoors in the tropics.
Keywords: Vegetation arrangement, Urban square, Outdoor thermal comfort, ENVI-met, PET
Acknowledgement: Authors acknowledge the assistance of the Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development (AHEAD)-DOR Grant, funded by the World Bank
Biomass Production of Azolla pinnata in Different Wastewater
Authors: Meruja S.  , Umasuthan S.  , Rupasinghe C.P.  
Published: June 2022

Usage of Azolla pinnata in wastewater treatment has great advantages in the environment. Besides its utilization as a water purifier plant on wastewater, Azolla sp. can be used as an animal feed and bio fertilizer. This research study was conducted to assess the biomass production and the treatment efficiency of Azolla sp. in different types of industrial wastewater from rice mills, the food industry and vehicle services stations. A split-plot experimental design was used with 4 replicates. For this study, eight artificial ponds were constructed by using polythene sheets. The size of each pond were 150×50×40 cm3. Out of eight ponds, three ponds were filled with three different types of wastewater, one was filled with groundwater and 90 g of Azolla sp. plants were introduced into them. Further, balance four ponds were filled with the same three different types of wastewater and groundwater. Ground water was used as a control to observe the growth of Azolla sp. without effect of wastewater. Each of the ponds was filled with 50 L of wastewater. Then the water quality parameters such as pH, EC, COD, BOD, TDS, TSS, temperature, oil and grease content and the biomass production of Azolla sp. were analyzed on the first day, the 7th day and the 14th day. Most of the water quality parameters in three different types of industrial wastewater were improved with Azolla sp. Significantly, a higher dry weight of Azolla pinnata was recorded in rice mill wastewater and the least values recorded in the service station wastewater. There are significant differences (p<0.05) among the water quality parameters such as EC, TDS and TSS of the four experiments. A significant difference was observed in EC, TDS and TSS of the Azolla sp. grown rice mill wastewater compared to control. EC of the food industry wastewater showed a higher significant difference. EC and temperature showed a highly significant difference in the service station wastewater.
Keywords: Azolla pinnata, Waste water, Biomass, Water quality
Biodegradability Assessment of Bio-based Film Products (Lunch Sheets) in the Marine Environment
Authors: Jayasooriya J.K.B.P.  , Jayaweera C.D.  , Gamage N.S.  
Published: June 2022

Plastic pollution is a current common problem and it causes a serious impact on the marine environment. Micro debris of plastics have accumulated in oceans and exhibit a natural tendency to interrelate with the ecosystem which can cause negative effects on both humans and animals. Polythene food wrappers are used worldwide as a packaging material. Considering the negative impact of polythene wrappers, biodegradable food wrappers have been produced in Sri Lanka following the Section 23 W of the National Environmental Act. The objective of the study was to determine the biodegradability of few bio-based film products (lunch sheets) available in the Sri Lankan market labeled as 100% biodegradable in the marine environment. The biodegradability of five different brands of biodegradable food wrappers were tested together with cellulose paper as the positive control and non-biodegradable food wrapper as the negative control in the marine environment. Laboratory models of three marine environments; inter tidal zone, pelagic zone and brackish water were selected and the biodegradability for a period of six months were tested using weight measurement and FT-IR analysis. Furthermore, several environmental parameters were tested for these three marine zones. Results indicated that the highest percentage weight loss was shown by brand 3 in all three marine environments. In the pelagic zone, percentage weight loss ranged from 8.60-48.92% while highest value of 48.92% was shown by brand 3. In the brackish water environment, brand 3 showed 73.51% of percentage weight loss and values ranged from 11.76-73.51%. The percentage weight loss, ranged from 68.29-89.99% in inter tidal zone and brand 3 showed the highest value as 89.99%. All the samples showed a considerable weight loss after six months duration in inter tidal zone compared to other zones and even the negative control has undergone physical disintegration. It is assumed that oxo-biodegradation leads to this disintegration in the food wrappers in this zone. The FT-IR results have shown that there is no significant degradation of the non-biodegradable food wrapper (negative control) while the cellulose paper (positive control) and the biodegradable food wrappers have undergone a considerable degradation.
Keywords: Biodegradability, Food wrappers, Marine environment
Evaluation of Different Interpolation Techniques in GIS for Rainfall Data in Sri Lanka (2013-2018) and Identification of the Validation of the Techniques
Authors: Nisansala K.K.H.P.  
Published: June 2022

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and modelling are becoming powerful tools in geographical and agricultural research. Most data for environmental variables are collected from point sources. The spatial array of these data may enable a more precise estimation of the value of properties at unsampled sites than simple averaging between sampled points. Therefore, the ArcGIS software for interpolation technique was used to identify those differences in terms of rainfall variations. The main objective of this study is to identify the different interpolation techniques for rainfall data and evaluate the most accurate method for Sri Lanka. This study mainly collected rainfall data for weather stations in Sri Lanka. That data was collected in different categories. In this study, only 23 minor meteorological observatories were used for the accuracy assessment of the interpolation methods. For use, all stations are increasing time and cost, and data collection is very difficult. Therefore, 23 minor meteorological observatories were selected randomly from all over the study area. Five interpolation techniques were used. Researcher mainly used the Cross-Validation Method to identify the most suitable interpolation method for rainfall data in Sri Lanka. The main station’s data helped predict rainfall all over the study area, and deleted locations were used to extract estimated rainfall data. Finally, all estimated rainfall data was compared using their actual rainfall values to determine the accuracy of interpolation methods, and the statistical correlation method was used to determine the appropriate interpolation technique for the rainfall data. All estimated values are extracted from rainfall surfaces using an ArcGIS tool called “Extract Values from Points”. Those values are compared with actual observed rainfall values for these sub-stations for the same period. According to this method, then used the correlation statistical (F test) method to reveal the variation of both data sets. F tests were done using SPSS and F values. According to the correlation analysis, the suitable interpolation surfaces are the Spline and Kriging. Consideration of the other four methods (IDW, Kriging (Ordinary), Spline, and Natural Neighbour) shows some similarities. However, finally, researcher identified that the Spline method shows an R value of 0.99 while others show low values. Therefore, the Spline method was found to have the greatest efficiency and be the best method of all five.
Keywords: ArcGIS, Inverse distance weighted, Interpolation, Kriging, Spline