21 research outputs found
Knowledge management framework for mobile telecommunication sector in Sri Lanka
No full textSri Lankan mobile telecommunication industry is a fiercely competitive market space where five key mobile service companies operate. Most operators provide their services island wide; therefore the coverage footprint is no longer a differentiating factor. On the other hand, knowledge is a tool, which companies can use to provide a better service quality, which is now in demand with customers.
Due to globalization and increasing opportunities for individuals, companies face a challenge to retain best employees within the organization. Now the focus has shifted to keep the knowledge within the organization even with the movement of skilled labor. Therefore, knowledge management systems are necessary than ever before, but a most suitable knowledge management framework is yet to be identified.
The objective of this study was to determine a most appropriate Knowledge Management Framework for Mobile telecommunication sector in Sri Lanka. To realize this goal, initially, a literature survey was performed. The Author analyzed various knowledge management models available and best global practices of knowledge management aspects. It revealed six key concept variables, i.e. socialization, externalization, combination, internalization, knowledge sharing culture, and leadership. Next, an online survey tested these concepts to find the importance and current practices in the mobile telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka. This study identified that all the six concept variables were relevant to Sri Lankan context, while externalization, combination, and internalization practices were at a lower level. Finally, a knowledge management framework suitable for mobile telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka was developed
Congenital Vitelline Band Causing Intestinal Obstruction in an Adult with a Double Inferior Vena Cava
No full textIntroduction. Vitelline artery remnants are rare causes of intra-abdominal bands leading to bowel obstruction. These bands may be associated with Meckel’s diverticulum. Double inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare presentation and is usually identified incidentally. Case Presentation. A sixty-year-old male presented with progressive vomiting for five days and he was clinically diagnosed with intestinal obstruction. Plain X-ray abdomen showed evidence of small bowel obstruction. CT scan of the abdomen revealed dilated small bowel loops with a small outpouching in the distal ileum with a band like structure attached to it. In the CT, left sided patent IVC draining into the left renal vein was identified. Left external iliac vein was in continuity with the left IVC. Left internal iliac vein was draining into the right IVC. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a Meckel’s diverticulum with a band identified as the vitelline remnant attached to its apex and inserting at the anterior abdominal wall near the umbilicus. Discussion. Meckel’s diverticulum with vitelline bands, although rare, should be borne in mind in adult patients with intestinal obstruction. Identification of this anomaly can be difficult in imaging studies. Presence of double IVC should be mentioned in the imaging findings to prevent possible catastrophic complications during surgery
Viability of lean manufacturing tools and techniques in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka
No full textLean Manufacturing can be considered as a business strategy which was originated and developed in Japan. It tries to identify waste and eliminate it. Thus it leads to improvement in productivity and quality and companies can achieve a competitive advantage over others. Starting from the automotive industry, it has rapidly spread into many other industrial sectors and there has been significant development and localization of the Lean Manufacturing concept in both developed and developing countries worldwide. In implementing this concept there are tools and techniques developed by Toyota which can be used effectively.
The initial step of this research is to study about the Lean Manufacturing. It starts by looking at how Lean Manufacturing first began. Then it seeks to identify the core principles, tools and techniques of Lean Manufacturing. After that an extensive literature review was carried out to find successful Lean tools and techniques currently use in worldwide. The next step is to identify tools which are used frequently and which are not used. There will be a study to find out the barriers of implementing other tools and techniques
After studying the global scenario the next step is to look at the Sri Lankan context. Sri Lankan industries, especially apparel sector have attempted to implement this, but a little research work is carried out in regarding its suitability. This research is an attempt to identify a suitable Lean model for the apparel industry in Sri Lanka using real world data, structured surveys, observations, and on site interviews. Also the study will reveal period of Lean implementation, suitable implementation methods, order of implementation, tools which are avoided, sustainability of different tools, challenges faced, ways of overcoming challenges and benefits achieved after applying Lean Manufacturing concepts in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka.
The findings states Lean Manufacturing can be applied to mass production apparel industries and has made positive impacts. As implementation of Lean concepts is still in development stage, the full benefit is not yet achieved. However current situation suggests that the industry can go forward with Lean. In this research the author has come up with a model which can be used to implement Lean in a systematic manner and each manufacturer must develop their own Lean system through training, experiments and kaizen.
Originality of the research: The research builds up a Lean Model which is not yet developed for the apparel sector in Sri Lanka. It can be further modified to suit the global apparel industry and other industries as well
An Iterative capacity dimensioning scheme for an LTE advanced network under resource constraints
No full textSince the need for high-speed broadband services is growing exponentially, legacy voice oriented networks are now becoming obsolete. Due to the unceasing demand for data, investors of mobile service providing companies are also keener on investing new technologies other than GSM, which ultimately improves spectrum efficiency and speeds up the access. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is the fastest and latest broadband technology with widespread global development of commercial networks. Until now, scientists are working to improve the communication capabilities while evolving from basic voice services to high definition video streaming and real time video game playing. However, every operator has a limited investment capacity and are highly concerned about the maximum utilization of resources with a higher ROI. As a result, it is imperative to have a properly dimensioned and well-optimized network.
However, LTE network dimensioning is not as easy as legacy pure voice-only networks (circuit switched), which can be easily modeled by Erlang formulae. LTE networks are evolving from circuit switching to packet switching; therefore, both voice and data will be transferred as packets. There can be combinations of different data service requirements such as streaming, browsing, interactive video, gaming etc. with voice. In fact, different types of traffic, which require different QoS are inherent. With the new releases of LTE standards, researchers all over the world are interested in finding most optimum ways of dimensioning LTE networks. Several perspectives have looked at calculating the required number of 4G sites in the initial network-planning phase. Even though there are quality-based models, coverage based models, capacity based models and hybrid models already, due to the complexity of both UL and DL throughput calculations, each model has its own advantages and disadvantages. None of the approaches are discussing about an iterative capacity dimensioning solution to fine tune the required site count. Therefore, in this research thesis author proposes an iterative method under constraints to find the minimum site count while achieving given UL/DL speed requirements for LTE network rollouts. This method will be based on iterations, and varying parameters will be heavily significant in the context of DL and UL throughput
In-plane failure of brickwork
No full textThis thesis presents the results of an experimental investigation into the strength of brickwork under biaxial tension-compression. Since there is insufficient experimental evidence available on the strength of brickwork under biaxial stress to explain the behaviour of brick masonry walls under in-plane loads, experiments were carried out on one-sixth scale model brickwork panels under uniform stress conditions. An idealized failure surface is suggested based on experimental results, and the effect of shear bond strength and tensile bond strength on the results is discussed. An iterative plane stress finite element computer programme incorporating the above information is used to simulate the in-plane behaviour of brickwork. Brickwork is treated as an elastic, isotropic material with limited capacity when stressed in a state of biaxial tension-compression. The model reproduces the non-linear behaviour of masonry produced by progressive cracking. Shear wall tests have been used to test the validity of the analytical model. Sensitivity analysis of the elastic constants used in the model are performed to illustrate their influence on the calculated stresses. The influence of the stress distribution on shear wall behaviour, and the derivation of a failure criterion for local failure in masonry shear walls, are described. This criterion, in terms of the vertical stress and shear stress at a point, has been derived for particular values of horizontal stress from the three dimensional surface mentioned above. The effect of the shape of the specimen, testing technique, and boundary conditions on the shear strength of masonry panels is discussed
Identification of risk factors for arterial repair failures and lessons learned: Experiences from managing 129 combat vascular extremity wounds in the Sri Lankan War
No full textNMR studies of bio-systems at high pressure
No full textDipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine/cholesterol bilayer membranes were studied using \sp2H and \sp{31}P NMR spectroscopy over the pressure range from 1 bar to 5 kbar. The phase diagram was constructed, structure and dynamics of the bilayers were examined. The pressure dependence of the dynamic and conformational characteristics were studied using \sp{31}P NMR spectroscopy at 50\sp\circC over the pressure range from 1 bar to 5 kbar. Cholesterol is able to maintain the mobility of the head groups despite the ordering of hydrocarbon chains in clear contrast to the same in pure DPPC bilayers where large changes in the head group motion was evident. Limited interdigitation of the chain region was evident in the presence of 20 mol% cholesterol. The spin lattice relaxation times cross over from fast to slow correlation time regime with the main phase transition from the liquid crystal to gel phase.Pressure induced reversible unfolding of lysozyme was investigated by high resolution proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy by following the proton spectra of the following residues: His-15\sp{\varepsilon1}, Trp-28\sp{\varepsilon3}, Leu-17\sp{\delta\sp2}, Cys-64\sp\alpha and Trp-108\sp{\varepsilon3}. The experiments were performed at pH = 3.9 and 68.5\sp\circC in the pressure range from 1 bar to 5 kbar both in the absence and presence tri-N-acetylglucosamine (tri-NAG). Small but statistically significant differences in V were found for residues located in different regions of the protein. The effect of tri-NAG binding to lysozyme was to change of V from 10.3 0.6 to cm\sp3/mol to 18.1 1.7 cm\sp3/mol for the Trp-108\sp{\varepsilon3} residue which is located close to the active site. It is important to note that the Cys-64\sp\alpha residue also senses the binding of the substrate analog. The ability to detect statistically significant differences for V of individual residues located in different regions of lysozyme represents the main result of these experiments.The pressure induced unfolding of -helix, the helix-coil transition, of poly-N\sp5- (3-hydroxypropyl)-L-glutamine was investigated by high resolution \sp1H and \sp{13}C NMR spectroscopy and circular dichroism in aqueous medium and 7:3 methanol/water mixture at different temperatures. The line widths and spin lattice relaxation times were measured as a function of pressure over the range 1 bar to 5 kbar. Pressure induces an anomalous line width behavior facilitating exploration of the changes in H-bonding interactions associated with the helix-coil transition process. The current results provide reinforcing evidence for the proposed existence of an intermediate conformational state between the random coil and the -helix. A calibration curve for the estimation of the helix content in PHPG solutions was constructed.Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:27:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Author Correction: Genetic Factors and Genotype-Environment Interactions Contribute to Variation in Melanin Production in the Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (Scientific Reports, (2018), 8, 1, (9824), 10.1038/s41598-018-27813-3)
No full textAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. © 2021, The Author(s)
BIM and modular MEP systems for super-tall and mega-tall buildings
No full textMechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) work in high-rise construction can be very challenging due to the different crews involved during installation. Conflicts between the crews generally cause delays in project schedule and result in additional cost due to rework. This study will identify the MEP conflicts in high-rise construction through observations made by the author during the time spent in case study projects. This study focuses on the use of Modular MEP systems in high-rise construction to eliminate the current conflicts. Traditional MEP construction process was reviewed to identify changes to the process when using modular MEP systems. Challenges in implementing modular MEP in high- rise construction is discussed and an implementation strategy is proposed. Role of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in modular MEP construction is highlighted in the study and its involvement during different stages of the modularisation process is discussed
