Showing papers in "Vidyodaya Journal of Science in 2020"
TL;DR: The study suggests that convolutional neural networks can be used to recognise ayurvedic herbal plants and results obtained were highly significant.
Abstract: Different parts of ayurvedic herbal plants are used to make ayurvedic medicines in Sri Lanka. Recognising these endemic herbal plants is a challenging problem in the fields of ayurvedic medicine, computer vision, and machine learning. In this research, a computer system has been developed to recognise ayurvedic plant leaves in Sri Lanka based on a recently developed machine learning algorithm: convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Convolutional neural networks with RGB and grayscale images and multi-layer neural networks with RGB images have been used to recognise the ayurvedic plant leaves. In order to train neural networks, images of 17 types of herbal plant leaves were captured from the plant nursery of Navinna Ayurveda Medical Hospital, Sri Lanka. As CNNs require a large number of images to train it, various data augmenting methods have been applied to the collected dataset to increase the size of the dataset. Backgrounds of images were removed and all images were resized to 256 by 256 pixels before submitting them to a neural network. The results obtained were highly significant and CNN with RGB images was able to achieve an accuracy of 97.71% for recognising ayurvedic herbal plant leaves in Sri Lanka. The study suggests that CNNs can be used to recognise ayurvedic herbal plants.Keywords: deep learning, traditional ayurvedic plants, convolutional neural networks, multi-layer neural networks, image recognition, computer vision
4 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, a pilot survey was carried out and five major user groups were identified; fishermen, hotel owners, boat owners, recreational users and indirect users, and the results were consistent with the theory.
Abstract: Bolgoda lake is known as the largest fresh water body in Colombo Urban Area (CUA) and situated in the Southern boundary of CUA. The lake provides a variety of environmental services including recreation, fisheries production and ground water recharge. Environment of the Bolgoda lake is currently threatened by the disposal of waste by industries. However, there will be an increasing demand for the environmental services produced by the Bolgoda lake in the future. Objectives of the present study are to identify the environmental benefits of the lake and estimate economic values of different user groups for the improvement of water quality. A pilot survey was carried out and five major user groups were identified; fishermen, hotel owners, boat owners, recreational users and indirect users. Selected study area for the present study belongs to five GN divisions from Moratuwa and Panadura DS divisions. Contingent valuation method was applied and users’ willingness to pay (WTP) was elicited on a pre-tested hypothetical market focusing on a pollution control programme. Depending on the WTP values, the 5 user groups were regrouped into two categories, WTP values per household per month for the heavy dependency group was LKR 1,550 while for the less dependency group it was LKR 514.30. Regression analysis was carried out to identify the socio economic characteristics of the users that affect the WTP value of the users. The results were consistent with the theory. Aggregated value for all user types for the study area is LKR 1.365 billion per year and per hectare value is LKR 4.389 million per year (2020 prices). Natural assets such as Bolgoda lake are becoming very scarce in the Colombo Urban Area. The above estimated value could be taken as a guide to manage it as an environmental amenity and to highlight the need to prevent pollution and to improve the uses obtained from the lake.
3 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the growth of Spirulina in different alternative sources of carbon under different concentrations was evaluated using a spectrophotometer at 560 nm and then converted to dry weight (g L-1).
Abstract: Spirulina, a blue-green microalgae is grown commercially throughout the world due to the high protein content and non-toxic features of the algal biomass. The Zarrouk’s medium which contains Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 as the carbon sources is known to be the standard medium for Spirulina cultivation. Higher purchasing cost of the carbon sources is recognised to be a limiting factor for large-scale cultivation. Low-cost alternative sources of carbon which can replace Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 in the Zarrouk’s medium has a great economic impact on the commercial production. This study aimed at assessing the growth of Spirulina in different alternative sources of carbon under different concentrations. Table sugar, cassava flour, sweet potato flour and taro flour were used as alternative sources. The Zarrouk’s medium was substituted with different levels (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) of the solutions prepared with the alternative carbon sources. The algae were cultured at room temperature for 16 days under illumination of 4,000 Lux. The growth was assessed as optical density (OD) using a spectrophotometer at 560 nm and then converted to dry weight (g L-1). According to the results, 100% carbon in the Zarrouk’s medium could be replaced by taro flour and 50% carbon could be replaced by cassava flour. A significantly higher dry weight (1.033 g L-1) was recorded from taro flour at 100% replacement level at the end of 16-day incubation. Therefore NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 in the Zarrouk’s medium could completely be replaced by taro flour solution which substantially reduces the cost of production as well. Cassava flour solution could also be used as an effective replacement while mixing with Zarrouk’s medium into the ratio 1:1. Table sugar and sweet potato flour are found to be poor sources of carbon to replace the NaHCO3 and Na2CO3 in the Zarrouk’s medium. The results could be further confirmed by assessing the growth of Spirulina under different supplementary levels of taro and cassava flour.
2 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, a database of suitable native tree and plant species for restoration of watersheds and their conservation status, growth parameters, and the uses of each species was developed for Sri Lanka.
Abstract: Sri Lanka faces frequent floods and land degradation almost frequently which is aggravated by high rainfall intensities and poor land management practices. This problem is common in most areas because about 90% of the total landmass of Sri Lanka comes within river watersheds. Though Sri Lanka is one of the richest countries in floral diversity, the recognition of native tree and plant species which are suitable for restoration of degraded lands in all three climate zones has not been done before. Therefore this study was conducted to fill that gap which is essential for land managers in both private and public sectors. With literature survey, field observations and expert interviews this study identified and developed a database of suitable native tree and plant species for restoration of watersheds and their conservation status, growth parameters, and the uses of each species.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a linear CCD detector is used to measure the spectrum produced by diffraction grating and the data is sampled using a 10-bit ADC to the microcontroller memory and finally transferred to the computer via a full speed USB connection.
Abstract: Spectrometry provides vital information about the composition of electromagnetic radiation by measuring wavelengths of light over a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this work, design and construction of an economical linear CCD spectrometer and a computer application is presented. A sample of the light source travelling through an optical fiber enters the device and the spectrum produced by a diffraction grating is projected on a linear CCD detector. The data is sampled using a 10-bit ADC to the microcontroller memory and finally transferred to the computer via a full speed USB connection. In the computer, the data is digitally processed and displayed through a graphical user interface with several useful functionalities. The device is sensitive to electromagnetic waves of wavelengths ranging from 400 to 800 nm, which is decided by the sensitivity of the silicon CCD detector. The device performs in par with commercially available handheld spectrometers and is equipped with wavelength and amplitude calibration capabilities.
TL;DR: It can be concluded that isolation of efficient phosphate solubilising bacteria through quantitative method could give better results than that of qualitative method.
Abstract: Phosphate solubilising bacteria possess the ability to solubilise insoluble phosphate to soluble forms enhancing the nutrient status of the soil. This process not only compensates increasing cost of phosphatic fertilisers but also minimises the negative environmental impacts associated with the application of inorganic fertilisers. Phosphate solubilising bacteria (PSB) were screened based on the size of a halo/ clear zone around the colony (NBRIP agar plate assay) and by measuring solubilise phosphorous content (colorimetric method). The aim of this work was to assess the comparative reliability of quantitative and qualitative methods of isolation of phosphate solubilising bacteria. Bacterial strains which showed very poor performance in qualitative method were proven to be good phosphates solubilisers in quantitative method and vice versa. Therefore no positive relationship among the values obtained from qualitative and quantitative methods could be observed. Furthermore qualitative method did not reflect the real ability of the phosphate solubilising bacteria to solubilise insoluble phosphates. From the results of the present study, it can be concluded that isolation of efficient phosphate solubilising bacteria through quantitative method could give better results than that of qualitative method.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This research introduces a novel approach to optimise the electrical wire routes in the single-storey building through 2D walls using Multi-Objective Ant Colony Algorithms for Electrical Wire Routing (MOACS-EWR).
Abstract: Nature-inspired algorithms are remarkable of producing optimum solutions by using the extraordinary behavior of nature. Ant colony optimisation algorithm is a foremost algorithm applied to various difficult combinatorial optimisation problems and proved successes. This research introduces a novel approach to optimise the electrical wire routes in the single-storey building through 2D walls. This study explores the applicability of Multi-Objective Ant Colony Algorithms for Electrical Wire Routing (MOACS-EWR) when optimizing the wire routes through the walls of a single-storey building. MOACS-EWR algorithm can optimise multiple objectives, length of the path and the number of bends in the path. The study was conducted using several models of rooms and finally the single-storey floor plan. Results show that MOACS-EWR algorithm can find the optimised wire routes in a floor plan.
TL;DR: In this paper, the nutritional quality of rice flakes was enhanced by incorporating Syzygium caryophyllatum fruit pulp while binding it with rice flour by Neolitsea cassia mucilage.
Abstract: Nutritional quality of rice flakes was enhanced by incorporating Syzygium caryophyllatum fruit pulp while binding it with rice flour by Neolitsea cassia mucilage. Four rice flakes formulations were prepared by altering two variables namely adding with and without leavening agent (Sodium bicarbonate) into the dough and extruded dough flaxes subjected to with and without roller milling manually. According to the results, physical properties, sensorial properties and texture profile analysis of rice flakes prepared from four treatment combinations were significantly difference to each other (p<0.05) except nutritional and antioxidant activities. SC fruit pulp added rice flakes with the leavening agent and subjected to roller milling (F4) was selected as the best rice flake formulation in terms of physical, sensorial and textural properties. Further, TPC, DPPH radical scavenging activity % and FRAP value of this (F4) formulation were 7.86 GAE/100 g, 37.21 and 36.32 TE/100 g respectively.