https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/3813 IRC ARTICLES 2026-04-08T10:47:26Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/8887 Bridging the Digital Divide: Enhancing IT Skills for Socio-Economic Growth in Soragune Village, Sri Lanka Wickramathunga, KH; Withanage, PR; Pitiyage, PDSS; Saranga, MG; Pathirana, WPTM This research focuses on how improving IT skills may help Soragune Village, which is in the Badulla District of Sri Lanka's Haldummulla region, grow socioeconomically. Even though IT skills are essential for modern growth, rural regions still confront issues including poor infrastructure and restricted access to technology. The goal of this research is to provide a sustainable model for ongoing IT education by evaluating the impact of IT training programs on residents' socioeconomic position, identifying critical IT skills that are in demand, and assessing the existing level of IT literacy. A mixed-method approach was used, combining quantitative information from structured surveys measuring socioeconomic circumstances, infrastructural access, and IT literacy levels with qualitive information from stakeholder interviews in the community. The results of the study show that Soragune Village has poor IT literacy, significant gaps in critical IT skills, and inadequate infrastructure. The study pinpoints crucial areas that require intervention, including the development of customized educational curricula, the acquisition of IT infrastructure, and the active participation of the community in the planning process to guarantee program efficacy and relevance. This study provides a repeatable model for other comparable situations by emphasizing the potential of IT education to foster socioeconomic progress in rural areas. The suggested approach places a strong emphasis on collaborations with nongovernmental organizations and educational institutions, ongoing program effect assessments, and long-term sustainability measures. This study emphasizes how IT skills may significantly improve employment, entrepreneurship, and the general socioeconomic growth of rural regions. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/8886 Comparative Analysis of Sri Lankan Cricketers' Performances in the Lanka Premier League and International T20 Matches Saranga, MG; Pathirana, WPTM; Pitiyage, PDSS; Wickramathunga, KH; Withanage, PR The performance of Sri Lankan cricket players in international Twenty20 (T20) matches and the Lanka Premier League (LPL) is compared in this study. The goal is to use important performance indicators, including runs scored, wickets taken, strike rates, and economy rates, to find trends and differences in player effectiveness at the national and international levels. The study demonstrates notable distinctions between player performances in domestic and international forms using statistical analysis and data visualisation tools. Some players perform consistently in both formats, but others exhibit variances, especially in their strike and economy rates. The study comes to the conclusion that although excellent LPL results can frequently forecast success abroad, performance differences are also influenced by other factors including the increased pressure and level of competition in international matches. These results have important significance for Sri Lankan cricket strategy formulation, squad selection, and player development since they offer information on which players may make the transition from the local to the international levels. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/8885 Development of a Low-cost Paper-based Electroanalytical Device for the Detection of Caffeine Roshael, RAGM; Kaumal, MN Paper-based electroanalytical devices are more attractive than any other analytical techniques for determining the caffeine (CAF) content in different applications to assess the quality of food and pharmaceuticals due to the simplicity, portability, sensitivity, stability and lowcost nature of the devices. This research employs a paper base and a commercially available polyurethane varnish to develop the hydrophobic pattern to generate the hydrophilic detection zone in which the sample is spiked. The electrode system having three electrodes, was fabricated on the detection zone for the electrochemical detection of caffeine using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The working electrode was modified with anthraquinone and showed electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation reaction of caffeine. Throughout the research, unmodified carbon paste electrodes (UMCPEs) and silver plates served as counter and pseudoreference electrodes respectively. The pH, scan rate, and modifier concentration were optimized to improve the analytical performance. Under optimum conditions, the calibration plot that was obtained between peak current and the caffeine concentration showed a good correlation with a correlation coefficient as high as 0.99, over the concentration range from 0.1 mM to 1.0 mM, having a detection limit (LoD), quantification limit (LoQ), and sensitivity (S) of 40 μM, 0.4 mM and 5.0 ×10-6 A mM-1 respectively. The electrochemical analysis demonstrated the applicability and reliability of this method, since the calculated precision, accuracy, detection, and quantification limits (LoD and LoQ) fall within the acceptable range for monitoring caffeine levels in various samples. The low-cost nature, high sensitivity, and good linearity further support it’s potential as an effective analytical method for caffeine determination. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/8884 Phytochemical Screening, Antioxidant, and Antidiabetic Activities of Different Solvent Extracts of Elaeocarpus serratus (Veralu) and Elaeocarpus angustifolius (Nilveralu) Grown in Sri Lanka Dharmasiri, PGNH; Ranasinghe, P; Jayasooriya, PT; Samarakoon, KW The novel bioactive compounds derived from plants have shown more efficacy in the management of type II diabetes. The dried fruit pericarp of Elaeocarpus serratus and Elaeocarpus angustifolius were extracted with methanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous using sonication extraction. The antioxidant activities were determined through the DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays, ferric reducing power (FRAP), and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) methods. The anti-diabetic activities were assessed using anti-amylase and antiglucosidase assays. The crude extract of E. serratus had the highest total phenolic content (561.47 ± 28.35 mg GAE/g of dried extract), while the ethyl acetate fraction of E. angustifolius had the highest total flavonoid content (0.19 ± 0.00 mg QE/g of dried extract). The highest ORAC, FRAP, DPPH, and ABTS values were in the aqueous fraction of E. serratus (83.35 ± 5.20 mg TE/g of dried extract), crude of E. serratus (668.75 ± 7.7 mg TE/g of dried extract), aqueous fraction of E. serratus (89.23 ± 2.92 mg TE/g of dried extract), and hexane fraction of E. serratus (570.305 ± 7.067 mg TE/g of dried extract), respectively. The results showed that all four extracts of E. serratus had significantly (p<0.05) high amounts of antioxidants. Aqueous and crude extracts of E. angustifolius showed the highest anti-glucosidase activities (IC50 = 44.58 ± 0.17 μg/mL, 248.50 ± 0.18 μg/mL, respectively) compared to Acarbose (IC50 = 262.32 ± 0.69 μg/mL). None of the extracts showed anti-amylase activities. These findings conclude the potential of these fruits to enhance and promote their commercial value. 2024-09-01T00:00:00Z