ミャンマー国におけるＣ型肝炎ウイルスの遺伝子型の分布：６型が優位であり、新しい６型のサブタイプが存在する

Aim: This study was performed to determine the prevalence and distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in Myanmar. Methods: A total of 1333 peripheral blood samples were collected from four different border cities of Myanmar. The anti-HCV antibody-positive serum samples were identified. HCV was genotyped by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, direct DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis on the partial core genome. Results: The overall prevalence of HCV infection was 11.6% (154/1333). Regionally, it was 13.5% (47/349) in the north-eastern city, 12.8% (64/501) in the north-western city, 4.2% (16/380) in the southern city and 26.2% (27/103) in the western city. HCV was genotyped in 145/154 (94.2%) samples. Genotype 6 was the most prevalent genotype in this study (71/145, 49%), followed by genotype 3 (57/145, 39.3%), genotype 1 (16/145, 11%), and genotype 2 (1/145, 0.7%). Genotype 6 was mostly found in the northern cities and genotype 3 in the southern and western cities of Myanmar. Multiple HCV genotypes/subtypes were successfully characterized as 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 6m, 6n, and a new 6 subtype. Among them, subtype 6n was the most predominant subtype (38.6%), followed by subtype 3b (29.7%), 3a (9.6%), 6m (9%), 1b (6.9%), 1a (4.1%), new 6 subtype (1.4%) and 2a (0.7%). Subtype 6n was more widely distributed in the northern cities whereas subtype 3b was more common in the western city. The newly discovered genotype 6 subtype was from the northern cities. Conclusions: The results indicate there are regional differences of HCV genotype distribution in Myanmar. There is a distinct geographic variation from other South-East Asian countries in terms of the existence of the new genotype 6 subtype

Hemoglobin E prevalence in malaria-endemic villages in Myanmar.

The population of Myanmar comprises 8 major indigenous races (Bamar, Kayin, Kachin, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Chin, and Kayah). The Bamar reside in the 7 central divisions of the country, and the others reside in the 7 peripheral states that border neighboring countries, including China, Laos, and Thailand in the east and India and Bangladesh in the west. Both malaria and HbE are endemic in Myanmar, although the actual prevalence of the latter in the different indigenous races is not yet known. Hemoglobin electrophoresis was performed in 4 malaria-endemic villages, each having a different predominating indigenous race. The overall prevalence of HbE was 11.4% (52/456 villagers), ranging from 2-6% in the Kayin-predominant villages to 13.1-24.4% in the Bamar-predominant villages. Although the overall HbE prevalence in the villages studied was not significantly different from that of the general Myanmar population, this study strongly documented the influence of racial differences on the prevalence of HbE in Myanmar. To prevent and control severe thalassemia syndromes in Myanmar, extensive prevalence studies of the country?s indigenous races are suggested.</p

A Dual-band Circularly-polarized Printed Monopole Antenna for Wi-Fi and WiMAX Applications, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2019, nr 4

This paper presents a rectangular-shaped printed monopole antenna with circular polarization for Wi-Fi (2.4–2.484 GHz) and WiMAX (3.3-3.7 GHz) bands. The antenna relies on asymmetric arrangement of the patch with respect to the microstrip feed, in order to generate circular polarization. Dual-band (Wi-Fi and WiMAX) operation is enabled by inserting a slit in the corner of the ground plane. Simulation results show a bandwidth increase of 15.9% (2.2–2.58 GHz) for Wi-Fi, and of 24.16% (3.13–3.99 GHz) for WiMAX applications. Furthermore, beamwidths at the axial ratio of 3 dB equal 48˚ and 51˚ for the x-z plane and y-z planes, respectivel

Back pain in an elderly patient - A case report

ABSTRACT Low back pain (LBP) secondary to the degenerative spinal disorder is a very common medical condition that presents in elderly people and rarely indicates a serious illness. We would like to report a case of 83 years old gentleman with a history of chronic degenerative back pain with the change in the nature of back pain, which triggered us to arrange further investigations and diagnosed Psoas abscess(PA) secondary to septic vertebral arthritis. It was treated with CT-guided drainage and sensitive antibiotics. This case report highlights the atypical presentation of diseases in elderly patients, and the common pitfalls of missing serious pathologies, which increases morbidity and mortality. Keywords: low back pain, septic arthritis, Psoas absces

A Modified Hierarchical Agglomerative Approach for Efficient Document Clustering System

In today’s world, the increasing volume of text documents has brought challenges for their effective and efficient organization. This has led to an enormous demand for efficient tools that turn data into valuable knowledge. One of the techniques that can play an important role towards the achievement of this objective is document clustering. The main function of document clustering is automatic grouping of documents so that the documents within a cluster are very similar, but dissimilar to the documents in other clusters. This research proposes a Modified Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (MAHC) algorithm based on hierarchical method. In many traditional systems, the number of term frequency is considered to create data representation matrix. However, a modified algorithm creates data representation matrix based only on occurrence of items, not on frequency of items. The proposed algorithm can increase the quality of clustering because it can merge the related or similar documents into the same cluster efficiently. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can reduce the processing time than the existing methods. In this paper, the performance of clustering between the proposed and original clustering algorithm was compared and evaluated by using F-measure

Three Type 6 Hepatitis C Virus Subgroups among Blood Donors in the Yangon Area of Myanmar Are Identified as Subtypes 6m and 6n, and a Novel Subtype by Sequence Analysis of the Core Region.

Previously, using phylogenetic analysis of NS5b sequences, we found that three type 6 variant subgroups (M6-1, M6-2 and M6-3) exist in Myanmar. According to the new nomenclature of hepatitis C, M6-1 and M6-2 belong to subtypes 6m and 6n, respectively, but M6-3 is unassigned. In this study, we sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed the core region of these type 6 variant subgroups. Serum samples assigned as 6m or 6n by NS5b sequence were also identifi ed as 6 m or 6n by core region analysis. The M6-3 (sample name MYAN-3E-3) remained unassigned to a subgroup based on its core region analysis. The fi ndings of this study suggest that either the core region or the NS5b region can be analyzed for HCV subtype classifi cation

Young key affected population in Myanmar: are there any challenges in seeking information and care for HIV/sexually transmitted infections and reproductive health? [version 2; referees: 2 approved]

Background: Unmet needs and barriers in seeking HIV/STI and RH information and care are present especially among young key affected population (YKAP). Therefore, the study was conducted to determine the health seeking behaviors of YKAP regarding HIV/STI and RH, and challenges in seeking health information and care. Methods: A cross-sectional, mixed-methods study was conducted at two large cities in Myanmar. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with YKAP aged 15-24 years. In-depth interviews and key informant interviews were done with YKAP and health care providers. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were done for quantitative data and thematic analysis was applied for qualitative data. Results: A total of 119 young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and 123 young female sex workers (YFSW) included in the study. Mean age of YMSM and YFSW were 20.9±2.4 and 21.7±2.2 years. Over 30% of YMSM and 49.3% of YFSW had experience of any STI symptom. Particularly, 17% of YMSM and 10% of YFSW had genital ulcer, and majority sought health care at NGO clinics. About 37% of YMSM and 40% of YFSW visited Drop-in-center (DIC) within one to six months. Over 13% of YMSM and 14.6% of YFSW had challenges in seeking HIV/STI and RH information.  YMSM/YFSW type and age of YMSM were associated with visit to DIC. Lesser proportions of Tha-nge (43.5%), younger age YMSM (66.7%), brothel-based YFSW (47.9%) visited DIC than others (p<0.05). Challenges and unmet needs expressed by YKAP were reluctance in asking health information, worry for future fertility, consequences of anal sex and contraception. Challenges expressed by providers were limited time during outreach service and difficulty in reaching entertainment-based sex workers. Conclusions: Special attention in provision of health information should be paid to YKAP since there is a considerable proportion of YKAP with unmet need in seeking HIV/STI/RH information and care