Statistical Machine Translation between Myanmar Sign Language and Myanmar Written Text

This paper contributes the first evaluation of the quality of automatic translation between Myanmar sign language (MSL) and Myanmar written text, in both directions. Our developing MSL-Myanmar parallel corpus was used for translations and the experiments were carried out using three different statistical machine translation (SMT) approaches: phrase-based, hierarchical phrase-based, and the operation sequence model. In addition, three different segmentation schemes were studies, these were syllable segmentation, word segmentation and sign unit based word segmentation. The results show that the highest quality machine translation was attained with syllable segmentations for both MSL and Myanmar written text

An interdisciplinary approach to restore missing maxillary lateral incisor with Orthodontics and Implant Prosthodontics: A Case Report

Abstract The absence of the maxillary lateral incisors create an asthetic problem that can be managed with different treatment modalities. Comprehensive treatment planning is required to achieve a satisfactory result, keeping in mind the aesthetics, function and periodontal stability. An interdisciplinary treatment approach is beneficial and involves orthodontic closure of the space with maxillary canine substitution or space opening for single- tooth implants, bridges and tooth-supported restorations. The present case of a 21-year-old female dental student with agenesis of maxillary left lateral incisor with the presence of maxillary left canine in place of lateral incisor, and midline deviation. Treatment included space creation and placement of 3.3mm implant together with bone augmentation, immediate temporization and finally restored with porcelain crown after healing period of three months

Development of Natural Language Processing based Communication and Educational Assisted Systems for the People with Hearing Disability in Myanmar

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide people with disabilities to better integrate socially and economically into their communities by supporting access to information and knowledge, learning and teaching situations, personal communication and interaction. Our research purpose is to develop systems that will provide communication and educational assistance to persons with hearing disability using Natural Language Processing (NLP). In this paper, we present corpus building for Myanmar sign language (MSL), Machine Translation (MT) between MSL, Myanmar written text (MWT) and Myanmar SignWriting (MSW) and two Fingerspelling keyboard layouts for Myanmar SignWriting. We believe that the outcome of this research is useful for educational contents and communication between hearing disability and general people

Trend of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes in Cervical Neoplasia Observed in a Newly Developing Township in Yangon, Myanmar

Persistent infection with oncogenic types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most important risk factor associated with cervical cancer. This study detected the oncogenic HPV genotypes in cervical neoplasia in relation to clinicopathological findings using a cross-sectional descriptive method in 2011 and 2012. Cervical swabs and colposcopy-directed cervical biopsy tissues were collected from 108 women (median age 45 years;range 20-78) showing cervical cytological changes at Sanpya General Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar. HPV DNA testing and genotyping were performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. HPV was identified in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 (44.4%), CIN2 (63.2%), CIN3 (70.6%), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (74.1%). The association between cervical neoplasia and HPV positivity was highly significant (p＝0.008). Most patients infected with HPV were between 40-49 years of age, and the youngest were in the 20- to 29-year-old age group. The most common genotype was HPV 16 (65.6%) with the following distribution:70% in CIN1, 41.7% in CIN2, 91.7% in CIN3, and 60% in SCC. HPV-31 was the second-most frequent (21.9%):30% in CIN1, 33.3% in CIN2, 8.3% in CIN3, and 15% in SCC. The third-most frequent-genotype was HPV-18 (7.8%):8.3% in CIN1, and 20% in SCC. Another genotype was HPV-58 (4.7%):16.7% in CIN1 and 5% in SCC. The majority of CIN/SCC cases were associated with HPV genotypes 16, 31, 18, and 58. If oncogenic HPV genotypes are positive, the possibility of cervical neoplasia can be predicted. Knowledge of the HPV genotypes distribution can predict the effectiveness of the currently used HPV vaccine

Prevalence of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) Infection among Women with Normal and Abnormal Cervical Cytology in Myanmar

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of normal and abnormal cervical cytology in women who attended the cervical cancer screening clinic of the Department of Medical Research in Lower Myanmar, and to determine the proportion of high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and HPV genotypes in women with normal and abnormal cervical cytology. A total of 1,771 women were screened from 2010 to 2011. Among them, 762 women (43.0%) had a normal smear, and 866 (48.9%) and 87 (4.9%) were diagnosed with inflammatory smears and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), respectively. Diagnoses of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) numbered 42 (2.3%) and 11 (0.6%) respectively. Three cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (0.2%) were detected. Cervical swabs were collected from 96 women with abnormal cervical cytology and 20 with normal cytology. HR-HPV DNA testing was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with pU1M/pU2R primers. HR-HPV were identified in 35.5% (22/62) of inflammatory smears, 60% (6/10) of ASCUS, 86.7% (13/15) of LSIL, 50% (3/6) of HSIL, 100% (3/3) of SCC and 5% (1/20) of normal cytology. In PCR-positive cases, HPV genotyping was analyzed by the cleaved amplification polymorphism method. The most prevalent HPV genotypes were HPV-16 (60.4%) followed by HPV-31 (14.6%), HPV-18 (12.5%) and HPV-58 (12.5%). Women with abnormal cervical cytology were 10 times more likely to be HR-HPV positive than those with normal cytology (p＝0.0001). This study suggests that the implementation of a cervical cytology screening program and routine vaccination against HPV in preadolescent and adolescent groups are needed to reduce the burden of HPV-associated cervical cancer

Determination of Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genotypes in Anogenital Cancers in Myanmar

Molecular and epidemiologic investigations suggest a causal role for human papillomavirus (HPV) in anogenital cancers. This study identified oncogenic HPV genotypes in anogenital cancers among men and women in a 2013 cross-sectional descriptive study in Myanmar. In total, 100 biopsy tissues of histologically confirmed anogenital cancers collected in 2008-2012 were studied, including 30 penile and 9 anal cancers from Yangon General Hospital and 61 vulvar cancers from Central Women's Hospital, Yangon. HPV-DNA testing and genotyping were performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Overall, 34% of anogenital cancers were HPV-positive. HPV was found in 44.4% of anal (4/9), 36.1% of vulvar (22/61), and 26.7% of penile (8/30) cancers. The most frequent genotypes in anal cancers were HPV 16 (75%) and 18 (25%). In vulvar cancers, HPV 33 was most common (40.9%), followed by 16 (31.8%), 31 (22.7%), and 18 (4.6%). In penile cancers, HPV 16 (62.5%) was most common, followed by 33 (25%) and 18 (12.5%). This is the first report of evidencebased oncogenic HPV genotypes in anogenital cancers among men and women in Myanmar. This research provides valuable information for understanding the burden of HPV-associated cancers of the anus, penis, and vulva and considering the effectiveness of prophylactic HPV vaccination

Investigation of Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection in Bogalay Township, Myanmar in 1999

An investigation was in Nyi-naung-wa village, Bogalay township for Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus infection and the possibility of a JE outbreak. JE virus antibody was determined among the pigs and the people living near the pig farms in that village and at an adjacent village as a control. The known JE virus vector Culex mosquito species were also identified in both villages. Haemagglutination inhibition (HAI) methods were used for the detectioon of JE and dengue antibodies. Homotypic or monotypic JE antibodies were detected in 33% of the pigs tested. No homotypic nor monotypic JE antibodis was detected among the villagers. Although there was no JE virus infection among the people, because of the presence of JE virus infection among the pigs and the presence of Culex mosquito vector in that area, the possibility of a JE outbreak in humans in that area, if the number of pig breeding per household increase and the mosquito density become higher is discussed

Myanmar Dengue Outbreak Associated with Displacement of Serotypes 2, 3, and 4 by Dengue 1

In 2001, Myanmar (Burma) had its largest outbreak of dengue—15,361 reported cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS), including 192 deaths. That year, 95% of dengue viruses isolated from patients were serotype 1 viruses belonging to two lineages that had diverged from an earlier, now extinct, lineage sometime before 1998. The ratio of DHF to DSS cases in 2001 was not significantly different from that in 2000, when 1,816 cases of DHF/DSS were reported and dengue 1 also was the most frequently isolated serotype. However, the 2001 ratio was significantly higher than that in 1998 (also an outbreak year) and in 1999, when all four serotypes were detected and serotypes 1, 2, and 3 were recovered in similar numbers. The large number of clinical cases in 2001 may have been due, in part, to a preponderance of infections with dengue 1 viruses