Neural Network-Based Expression Recognition System for Static Facial Images

Affective Computing is a field of studying the human effect to interpret, recognize, process, and simulate in computer science, psychology, and cognitive science. Humans express their emotions in a variety of ways such as body gesture, word, vocal, and mainly facial expression. Non-verbal behavior is a significant component of communication, and facial expressions of emotions are the most important complex signal. Facial Expression Recognition (FER) is an interesting and challenging task in artificial intelligence. FER system in the study three steps including preprocessing, feature extraction and expression classification. In the paper, comparative analysis of expression recognition is implemented based on Neural Network (NN) with three feature extraction methods of Sobel Edge, Histogram of Oriented Gradient and Local Binary Pattern. NN-based expression recognition system achieves an accuracy of 95.82% and 97.68% for JAFFE and CK+ dataset respectively. The result has shown that the Edge features are the effected features for recognizing human expression using still images

The design of semi-submersibles for minimum vertical motion

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Comparing the Performance of Machine Learning Algorithms for Human Activities Recognition using WISDM Dataset

Human activity recognition is an important area of machine learning research as it has much utilization in different areas such as sports training, security, entertainment, ambient-assisted living, and health monitoring and management. Studying human activity recognition shows that researchers are interested mostly in the daily activities of the human. Mobile phones are used to be more than luxury products, it has become a kind of urgent need for a fast-moving world with rapid development. Nowadays mobile phone is well equipped with advanced processor, more memory, powerful battery and built-in sensors. This provides an opportunity to open up new areas of data mining for activity recognition of human’s daily living. In this paper, we tested experiment using Tree based Classifiers (Decision Tree, J48, JRIP, and Random Forest) and Rule based algorithms Classifiers (Naive Bayes and AD1) to classify six activities of daily life by using Weka tool. According to the tested results Random Forest classifier is more accurate than other classifiers

Prevalence and Factors Associated with Hepatitis C Virus Infection among Myanmar Blood Donors

We studied the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors from 3 hospitals of Central Myanmar and 7 hospitals of Lower Myanmar in the Yangon area, and analyzed the factors associated with the infection. The study period was from November, 2005 to June, 2007. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain information on age, ethnic group, marital status, tattooing, body piercing, history of receiving transfusions, and liver diseases in self and in sexual partners. Data on seropositivity to hepatitis C, hepatitis B and human immunodeficiency virus infections were recorded. A total of 65,240 blood donors participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 years to 60 years (mean±SD＝29.5±9.3). The male-to-female ratio was 6：1. The prevalence of the antibody to hepatitis C was found to be 0.95% with varying rates (0.34 to 2.03) among hospitals. Females had a slightly higher rate (1.06%) than males (0.93%) (p＝0.237). Multivariate analyses revealed the following factors to be related to HCV infection:HIV infection, odds ratio (OR)＝3.0 (p＝0.003);history of liver disease, OR＝8.9 (p＝0.001);and age 30 years and above, OR＝2.6 (p＝0.001). We discuss the varying prevalences of HCV around the world

Myanmar EFL Learners’ Perspectives, Structure, Reasoning and Literacy Practices of Argumentative Writing: A Needs Analysis Study

Enhancing proficiency in argumentative writing in English has always been a challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Despite the widespread use of argumentative essays in international tests such as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Tests of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in recent years, the learners usually fail to meet satisfactory achievement levels in the EFL context. This paper investigates the issue closely by reviewing Myanmar EFL learners’ needs, wants, and problems in developing argumentative writing. Although there has been some discussion on factors that potentially challenge EFL learners’ argumentative writing, more research is needed on the integrated assessment to cater to the learners’ needs. This analysis reports the results of a group of undergraduates (n=44) in Myanmar. This research was based on triangulation data, including sources from questionnaires administered to the students’ purposes, preferences, and challenges, and analyzing students’ argumentative writing structurally and qualitatively for reasoning. The findings reveal that students were eager to learn argumentative writing, particularly for their immediate needs. Though students were not well trained with a communicative teaching approach in their curriculum, they preferred to learn argumentative writing dialogically, using classroom debates. They favored learning future argumentative writing courses by communicating meaningfully. Regarding the challenges in argumentative writing, most students could not produce counter-arguments and rebuttals. Based on the data elicited from the students, this needs analysis proposed implementing the integrated learning-to-argue and arguing-to-learn instructions and using argumentative literacy practices to engage students in dialogic learning in the EFL context

Metformin in gestational diabetes mellitus

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) can affect up to 1 in 5 of pregnancies and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes including pre-eclampsia, neonatal hypoglycaemia, large for gestational age, increased adiposity and birth trauma. Good glycaemic control is the key to reduce these outcomes. Diet and lifestyle modification followed by insulin as necessary is the conventional type of management. Metformin is increasingly used in pregancy but with limited evidence, its role in GDM has not been well-established. A systematic review including both randomized and non-randomized controlled studies have been conducted to evaluate the contemporary evidence of metformin in GDM. It is suggested that metformin in GDM could be a useful alternative to insulin and is regarded as the best oral anti-hyperglycaemic agent in GDM management currently. However, almost half of metformin-treated GDM patients required supplementary insulin to achieve target glucose levels (metformin failure). Women with higher metabolic risk factors are likely to develop metformin failure. A clinical cohort of metformin-treated GDM is used to develop the predictive model to identify GDM women who are at risk of metformin failure. It has been found that women identified by new IADPSG and NICE 2015 fasting criteria are highly likely to develop metformin failure. It has also been established a number of algorithm based on various baseline characters of GDM women which will help primary healthcare physicians choose the best medication for GDM management. One of the possible side-effects of metformin includes lowering of serum vitamin B12 levels whereas serum vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy which is associated with increased insulin resistance. It is reported that in low vitamin B12 state, offspring’s insulin resistance is found to be higher among women with high folate low B12 state. Hence, in order to fully appreciate the role of vitamin B12 deficiency in metformin failure, it is first necessary to understand the effects of folate in low vitamin B12 condition on pregnancy outcomes in GDM. It has also been found that in normal vitamin B12 GDM women, serum folate levels are negatively associated with plasma glucose levels but not low B12 state. This underlines the fact that in order for folate to have its role, it is important to have normal vitamin B12 levels. Despite increasing use of metformin, it is not yet routine to check vitamin B12 levels before it is given. It is important to understand whether vitamin B12 has a role in metformin action. Thus, the mechanism by which vitamin B12 deficiency might interfere with metformin action was studied. In vitamin B12 deficient hepatocytes, metformin stimulation of AMPK was reduced which was followed by reduced downstream signalling in lipid metabolism. This effects were reversed by vitamin B12 supplementation. Thus, it is concluded that vitamin B12 deficiency could interfere with metformin action and before metformin is given, every GDM woman should be checked for serum vitamin B12 levels and should be supplemented if deficient. Overall, vitamin B12 could play a critical role in GDM management and it is important for every GDM woman to have normal vitamin B12 levels

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

Study on the Investigation of Selected Toxic Metals and Essential Metals on Different Brands (Local and Imported) Canned Fish

Metal pollution of water ways directly affects human health and can impact the food chain. Toxic trace metals in canned foods may occur as a result of polluted water or by migration from the packing material. The purpose of in this study was to analyze the concentration of selected toxic elements including Pb, Cu, Cd and dietary metals Zn and Mn in 10 each can from five different brands (local and imported) of canned tuna fish were quantitatively determined by acid digesting method and atomic absorption spectroscopic method. All samples were collected from different city marts in Yangon. The concentration of metals (toxic and essential) in five different brands were found to be observed in the range of 0.0195 to 0.0209 mg/ l for Mn, 0.300 to 0.304 mg/l for Zn, 0.053 to 0.039 mg/l for Cd of local brands. In imported canned tuna brands, the concentration of Mn and Zn, were observed in the range of 0.0171 to 0.0218 mg/l, and 0.261 to 0.343 mg/l. The concentration of some toxic elements Cd, Pb and Cu in different imported brands were observed in the range of 0.044 to 0.051 mg/l for Cd. The concentration of Pb and Cu were not detected in all brands (local and imported) of tuna canned. The average concentrations of all toxic and essential metals were much lower than the reference limit (WHO/FAO). Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that the all canned samples (local and imported) are free from heavy metal contaminatio

Osmotic Dehydration of Toddy Fruit Cubes in Sugar Solution Using Response Surface Methodology

The response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the effects of immersion time (60, 90 and 120 min), temperature (35, 45 and 55°C) and concentration of sucrose solution (30, 40 and 50°Brix) in osmotic dehydration of toddy fruit tubes (1cm3). Box-Behnken Design was used with water loss (WL, %), solid gain (SG, %), and weight reduction (WR, %) as responses. The models obtained for all the responses were significant (P≤0.05) without a significant lack of fit. The optimum conditions were temperature (45°C), immersion time (120min), concentration of sucrose solution (40°Brix) in order to obtain WL of (33.867g/100g initial sample), SG of (4.478g/100g initial sample) and WR of 29.39 g/100g initial sample, respectively

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