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COVID 19 Prevention Guidelines to 1st and 2nd Year students

covid19

Notice – Guidelines for 1st  year and 2nd  year Students – Faculty of Applied Sciences

1st year and 2nd year students who are physically appearing for the practical classes and examinations should follow the below instructions.

  1. Students are strictly advised to follow the given COVID- 19 prevention guidelines.
  2. Students who are not fully vaccinated should carry a negative PCR report or antigen test report done within 48 hours when entering the university.
  3. Students who have not received both vaccines are advised to wear face shield in addition to the face mask.
  4. Any of the cost incurred due to above should bear by the students.

 

Guidelines for a primary contact of COVID- 19

If a student was found to be a primary contact, he/she will be allowed to participate in practical sessions only if they meet the following criteria:

  1. Approval from the MOH of the area to travel by a private vehicle between the place of residence and the faculty.
  2. Fully vaccinated
  3. Not having any COVID 19 related symptoms.
  4. Antigen testing on Day 1, 3, 7 and 10 during the practical schedule – needs to have a negative test to continue
  5. Wears a surgical mask properly at all times during the practical sessions with frequent hand sanitization.

 

General Instructions

  • Students always should wash their hands for at least 20 seconds following the correct steps before entering university buildings and hostels. Students should wash their hands or use hand sanitizer with 70% alcohol frequently and specially after touching frequently touched surfaces and objects. It is recommended to have one’s own hand sanitizer while at work.
  • More than one meter physical distancing should be maintained throughout the laboratories, and work areas.
  • A mask should be worn properly by all students in university premises. If it is reused after removal for having meals etc. should be stored properly in a clean container.
  • All students are encouraged to bring their meals from home as purchase of food from external sources is strongly discouraged.
  • Students should maintain respiratory etiquette at all times and at all places.
  • Sharing of equipment like pen, pencil, phone between staff or between a staff member and student will not be allowed. If needed sanitize them before and after exchange.

 

Laboratories /Examination center

  • All students should follow the general instructions given in this guideline.
  • All students should wear face masks inside the Laboratories/examination hall.
  • Students are allowed to use rooms and washrooms in the designated areas only.
  • Exchange of pen, pencil, eraser between candidates should not be allowed. If needed sanitize them before and after the exchange.
  • Attention should be paid to maintain hand hygiene and physical distancing as much as possible when signing admission card by candidate.
Categories Events, news

Happy new year 2022 !!

Real success comes when you work and aim for it. In this New Year, start aiming for it and do hard work from first day to last. May the New Year 2022 bring you more happiness, success, love and blessings!

(Photographs: Nipana Dhananjaya)

Categories Publications

Breeding biology of the endemic Dull-blue Flycatcher Eumyias sordidus in Sri Lanka

captureAuthors: Chathuranga Dharmarathne and Dharshani Mahaulpatha

Journal: Forktail 

he breeding biology of the endemic Dull-blue Flycatcher Eumyias sordidus was studied in the tropical montane cloud forests of Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka, from March 2016 to December 2018. Breeding ran from late March until June, and again from late August to October. Nestling diet was studied using a spotting scope, video camera and faecal sample analysis. A total of 68 nests were found and 32 breeding pairs were observed. The average incubation period was 20.1 ± 2.2 days and nestling period was 14 ± 3.1 days. During incubation, nest attentiveness was higher in the evening. Pairs were double-brooded and some pairs made re-nesting attempts after first nests failed. Coleoptera were their major food source, followed by Araneae and Hymenoptera. The overall nest success was 90.6% (29 out of 32 nests). Jungle Crow Corvus levaillantii was the main predator.

Categories Publications

New analysis sinks eight shrub frogs but finds 14 putative new species

8shrubfrogs

Authors: Gajaba Ellepola, Jayampathi Herath, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi, Nayana Wijayathilaka, Gayani Senavirathne, Rohan Pethiyagoda and Madhava Meegaskumbura.

Journal: Plosone

Sri Lanka is an amphibian hotspot of global significance. Its anuran fauna is dominated by the shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus. Except for one small clade of four species in Peninsular India, these cool-wet adapted frogs, numbering some 59 extant species, are distributed mainly across the montane and lowland rain forests of the island. With species described primarily by morphological means, the diversification has never yet been subjected to a molecular species delimitation analysis, a procedure now routinely applied in taxonomy. Here we test the species boundaries of Pseudophilautus in the context of the phylogenetic species concept (PSC). We use all the putative species for which credible molecular data are available (nDNA–Rag-1; mt-DNA– 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA) to build a well resolved phylogeny, which is subjected to species delimitation analyses. The ABGD, bPTP, mPTP and bGMYC species delimitation methods applied to the 16S rRNA frog barcoding gene (for all species), 12S rRNA and Rag-1 nDNA grouped P. procax and P. abundus; P. hallidayi and P. fergusonianus; P. reticulatus and P. pappilosus; P. pleurotaenia and P. hoipolloi; P. hoffmani and P. asankai; P. silvaticus and P. limbus; P. dilmah and P. hankeni; P. fulvus and P. silus.. Surprisingly, all analyses recovered 14 unidentified potential new species as well. The geophylogeny affirms a distribution across the island’s aseasonal ‘wet zone’ and its three principal hill ranges, suggestive of allopatric speciation playing a dominant role, especially between mountain masses. Among the species that are merged by the delimitation analyses, a pattern leading towards a model of parapatric speciation emerges ongoing speciation in the presence of gene flow. This delimitation analysis reinforces thespecies hypotheses, paving the way to a reasonable understanding of Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus, enabling both deeper analyses and conservation efforts of this remarkable diversification.

Read the paper here

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