DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROL OF PERSONAL MOBILITY PLATFORM FOR MULTI-HIERARCHY LAST MILE TRANSPORTATION

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Mitigation Measures of Flood and Drought for Ayeyarwady Basin

This research represents about the mitigation measures of flood and drought for Ayeyarwady Basin. The objective of this study is to propose the mitigation effect of flood and drought in Ayeyarwady Basin. In this study, flood vulnerable areas for Ayeyarwady Basin are assessed by using Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model, GIS and Remote Sensing technique. Landuse classification map (2014 year) is extracted from Google Earth Engine based on land satellite LANDSAT-7 data and then Curve Number (CN) grid map is developed. Landuse classification in year 2014, the closed forest is found as about 48.9% and deciduous forest is about 26.3% of Ayeyarwady Basin. After delineating the flood plain area in HEC-RAS, the flood map for Ayeyarwady basin is developed by using Arc-GIS. The flood area by using 2014 landuse classification is 10414.18 km2 and the flooded regions are part of Mandalay, Sagaing, Monywa, Pakokku, Magway, Yaynanchaung and Thayet. According to the landuse classification in 2000 year, closed forest is 62.8% and deciduous forest is 28.05%. The flooded area is about 7081.03 km2. According to these scenarios, it is found that flooded area can be reduced about 32% due to forestation. For the spatial characterization of drought, Spatial interpolation (Spline) method in Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to generate drought severity maps. According to the drought severity map and severity values, Aunglan, Magway and Nyaungoo are the most severity regions and which are considered as pilot regions in this study. Two scenarios of rainwater harvesting are proposed to mitigate the drought severity area. In the first scenario, rainwater is collected from the roof top and stored in the storage tank.The average maximum monthly collected rainwater  per house hold for three types of roofing area are 4.423 m3, 13.539 m3 and 27.214 m3 respectively. The second scenario is to recharge the rainwater volume directly over the different types of landuse area and soil group. As a result, the recharge volume for Aunglan, Magway and Nyaungoo regions are 530.85 Mm3/year, 219.312 Mm3/year and 224.863 Mm3/year respectively. Finally, these scenarios are proposed to mitigate the effect of flood and drought in Ayeyarwady Basin

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Eye Problems among Older People in Central Tropical Region, Naypyitaw Union Territory, Myanmar

Purpose:Vision is essential one and it is proximately linked with their quality of life. In the meantime, older populations are increasing rapidly in the whole world and thus, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataract and diabetic retinopathy are becoming common. Hot and dusty environment, inadequate access to water and poor facial hygiene are risk factors for blindness. Design: Lewe Township was purposively selected due to its high prevalent on eye problems. This cross-sectional study was conducted and simple random sampling was applied to achieve desired sample size. The structured questionnaires were used to collect data including screening of eye problems from 414 older population. Frequency, percentage, mean, SD and other descriptive analysis were determined and chi-square test for associations was constructed. Findings: Cataract was the highest prevalence rate with 40.8% followed by refractive error (27.3%) and pterygium (12.8%) among older people population in research area. While knowledge level indicated good level (88.4%), good attitude level (21.3%) and good practice level (27.1%) were noticeably low among older people. In the meantime, there were significantly associations between age (p=0.003) and education level (p=0.001) with knowledge level of older people while age (p=0.001), education level (p=<0.001), occupation (p=0.038) showed statistically association with attitude level. Originality:The study noticed that higher prevalence of eye problems while relatively poor level of eye care seeking practice and unawareness on risk factors in targeted community. Knowledge and awareness for changing attitude about eye problems, eye care seeking behavior and preventive practices should be accomplished more

Controlling Electronic States of Few-walled Carbon Nanotube Yarn via Joule-annealing and p-type Doping Towards Large Thermoelectric Power Factor

Flexible, light-weight and robust thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted much attention to convert waste heat from low-grade heat sources, such as human body, to electricity. Carbon nanotube (CNT) yarn is one of the potential TE materials owing to its narrow band-gap energy, high charge carrier mobility, and excellent mechanical property, which is conducive for flexible and wearable devices. Herein, we propose a way to improve the power factor of CNT yarns fabricated from few-walled carbon nanotubes (FWCNTs) by two-step method; Joule-annealing in the vacuum followed by doping with p-type dopants, 2,3,5,6-tetrafluo-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4TCNQ). Numerical calculations and experimental results explain that Joule-annealing and doping modulate the electronic states (Fermi energy level) of FWCNTs, resulting in extremely large thermoelectric power factor of 2250 mu Wm(-1) K-2 at a measurement temperature of 423K. Joule-annealing removes amorphous carbon on the surface of the CNT yarn, which facilitates doping in the subsequent step, and leads to higher Seebeck coefficient due to the transformation from (semi) metallic to semiconductor behavior. Doping also significantly increases the electrical conductivity due to the effective charge transfers between CNT yarn and F4TCNQ upon the removal of amorphous carbon after Joule-annealing

Real-world experience of metformin 1000 mg/day in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and comorbidities from Myanmar

Background: The study was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of 1000 (mg/day) metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) with comorbidities and special reference to elderly people in Myanmar.Methods: This was a retrospective, post surveillance study conducted in patients diagnosed with T2DM receiving treatment of metformin (1000 mg/day). Baseline characteristics, comorbidities, random blood sugar level (RBS) and RBS changes pre- and post-therapy were retrieved from patient’s medical records. A paired sample t-test was used for comparing the pre- and post-treatment RBS levels.Results: A total of 303 patients with T2DM were included. A total of 88, 115 and 100 patients belonged to age groups ≤50, >50-≤60 and >61 years, respectively. Duration of T2DM was significantly higher in elderly patients (>61 years) compared to ≤50 and >50-≤60 age group. Hypertension was the most common comorbid condition observed in all age groups followed by cardiovascular disease. However, both hypertension and cardiovascular disease were significantly higher among elderly patients (>61 years) compared to ≤50 and >50-≤60 age group (p50-≤60 years, 86.2 mg/dL and >61 years, 97.2 mg/dL). Metformin was well tolerated with minimal gastrointestinal adverse events (n=27).Conclusions: In this post marketing surveillance study, metformin (1000 mg/day) was found to be effective in reducing RBS in T2DM patients with comorbidities especially older adults and well tolerated with no risk of hypoglycemia

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ACUTE RENAL FAILURE IN ADULTS WITH SEVERE FALCIPARUM MALARIA

Abstract. We conducted a retrospective study of patients with severe falciparum malaria to determine factors associated with malarial acute renal failure (MARF). We reviewed 262 medical records of adults hospitalized with severe falciparum malaria in Thailand from 2004 to 2008. The incidence of MARF in our study population was 44% (115/262); 75% (86/115) of these had MARF on admission and 25% (29/115) developed MARF during hospitalization. The majority of MARF patients presented in a hypercatabolic state (62%, 68/109) and were non-oliguric (48%, 55/115) or oliguric (44%, 51/115). Forty-six percent of MARF patients (53/115) required renal replacement therapy for a median duration of 4.5 days. Patients with MARF had significantly higher complication rates (p<0.001), longer duration of hospitalization (p<0.001) and a higher case fatality rate (p=0.001). Using stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis by backward selection method, factors associated with MARF were advanced age [odds ratios (OR); 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.037 (1

High rate of virological failure and low rate of switching to second-line treatment among adolescents and adults living with HIV on first-line ART in Myanmar, 2005-2015.

BACKGROUND: The number of people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Myanmar has been increasing rapidly in recent years. This study aimed to estimate rates of virological failure on first-line ART and switching to second-line ART due to treatment failure at the Integrated HIV Care program (IHC). METHODS: Routinely collected data of all adolescent and adult patients living with HIV who were initiated on first-line ART at IHC between 2005 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The cumulative hazard of virological failure on first-line ART and switching to second-line ART were estimated. Crude and adjusted hazard ratios were calculated using the Cox regression model to identify risk factors associated with the two outcomes. RESULTS: Of 23,248 adults and adolescents, 7,888 (34%) were tested for HIV viral load. The incidence rate of virological failure among those tested was 3.2 per 100 person-years follow-up and the rate of switching to second-line ART among all patients was 1.4 per 100 person-years follow-up. Factors associated with virological failure included: being adolescent; being lost to follow-up at least once; having WHO stage 3 and 4 at ART initiation; and having taken first-line ART elsewhere before coming to IHC. Of the 1032 patients who met virological failure criteria, 762 (74%) switched to second-line ART. CONCLUSIONS: We found high rates of virological failure among one third of patients in the cohort who were tested for viral load. Of those failing virologically on first-line ART, about one quarter were not switched to second-line ART. Routine viral load monitoring, especially for those identified as having a higher risk of treatment failure, should be considered in this setting to detect all patients failing on first-line ART. Strategies also need to be put in place to prevent treatment failure and to treat more of those patients who are actually failing

Experimental and numerical analysis on the thermal performance of the aluminium absorber

The absorber is a vital part of a solar air collector and has a significant impact on the overall efficiency of a solar air heating unit. The objective of this research is to examine and compare the performance of two distinct aluminium absorbers with and without aluminium fins by using experimental and numerical (computational fluid dynamics – CFD) methods. The studies were conducted in Mandalay, Myanmar, which is located at latitude 21.98° N and longitude 96.1° E, during December 2022. A plate absorber solar air collector (PASAC) and finned absorber solar air collector (FASAC) with the same absorber area of 0.889 m2 are compared in terms of their thermal performance. At a mass flow rate of 0.0389 kg/s, the average thermal efficiency, as computed numerically, is 53.5 % for FASAC, and the experimental results show a thermal efficiency of 54.2 %. Similarly, for PASAC, the numerical computation yields an average thermal efficiency of 44.4 %, while the experimental results indicate a thermal efficiency of 47.3 %. The FASAC outperforms PASAC in terms of thermal performance. The improved thermal performance of the double-pass solar air collectors with aluminium-finned absorbers can be advantageous for employment as a drying process unit

Long-term outcomes of second-line antiretroviral treatment in an adult and adolescent cohort in Myanmar.

BACKGROUND: Myanmar has a high burden of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and second-line antiretroviral treatment (ART) has been available since 2008 in the public health sector. However, there have been no published data about the outcomes of such patients until now. OBJECTIVE: To assess the treatment and programmatic outcomes and factors associated with unfavorable outcomes (treatment failure, death and loss to follow-up from care) among people living with HIV (aged ≥ 10 years) receiving protease inhibitor-based second-line ART under the Integrated HIV Care Program in Myanmar between October 2008 and June 2015. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using routinely collected program data. RESULTS: Of 824 adults and adolescents on second-line ART, 52 patients received viral load testing and 19 patients were diagnosed with virological failure. However, their treatment was not modified. At the end of a total follow-up duration of 7 years, 88 (11%) patients died, 35 (4%) were lost to follow-up, 21 (2%) were transferred out to other health facilities and 680 (83%) were still under care. The incidence rate of unfavorable outcomes was 7.9 patients per 100 person years follow-up. Patients with a history of injecting drug use, with a history of lost to follow-up, with a higher baseline viral load and who had received didanosine and abacavir had a higher risk of unfavorable outcomes. Patients with higher baseline C4 counts, those having taken first-line ART at a private clinic, receiving ART at decentralized sites and taking zidovudine and lamivudine had a lower risk of unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term outcomes of patients on second-line ART were relatively good in this cohort. Virological failure was relatively low, possibly because of lack of viral load testing. No patient who failed on second-line ART was switched to third-line treatment. The National HIV/AIDS Program should consider making routine viral load monitoring and third-line ART drugs available after a careful cost-benefit analysis