Essays on poverty reduction in Myanmar

Thesis(Doctoral) --KDI School:Ph.D in Development Policy,2019This dissertation studies the effect on poverty in Myanmar of policies such as relaxing rice export licensing restrictions and implementing the national minimum wage. In addition, this study discovers the effect on poverty of traditional betel-quid chewing. Chapter one studies the impact of export liberalization on household welfare, using the policy of relaxing rice export licensing restrictions. The study mainly exploits the difference-in-differences (DD) method to identify the policy impact. Results show that the policy has a positive impact on rice production, through increased use of agricultural inputs such as labour and chemical fertilizer. Increased rice production leads to higher consumption among rice-cultivating households. However, other households - such as rural landless households, urban households, and non-export-crops cultivating households reduce consumption due to higher rice prices. Thus, only rich rice-cultivating households benefit from the policy and adverse effects are concentrated on poor households. We conclude, therefore, that the rice export liberalization policy hurts household welfare at the aggregate level. Chapter two studies the impact of the national minimum wage introduction on enterprise-level employment in Myanmar, using the difference-in-differences method. Results suggest that the minimum wage introduction raises enterprises’ average-monthly labour cost, which leads to decreased employment and then to increased investment in machinery and equipment. We find no discernible effects on profit as enterprises raise labour productivity. Small enterprises also take the burden of higher labour costs resulting from the minimum wage introduction, although they are legally exempt from enforcement. Chapter three examines the impact of chewing betel-quid on poverty incidence, using Myanmar data. To address the potential endogeneity in a household’s decision on chewing betel-quid, we use household and community characteristics as instruments. 2SLS results suggest that chewing betel-quid exacerbates poverty through the direct channel – crowding-out effects of betel-quid consumption and associated health expenditure - and the indirect channel - loss of participation in the household workforce due to illness.Chapter 1: Impact of Export Liberalization on Household Welfare: Evidence from Relaxing Licensing Restriction Chapter 2: Impact of Minimum Wage Introduction on Employment: Evidence from manufacturing enterprises in Myanmar Chapter 3: Substance Addiction and Poverty: Evidence from chewing Betel-quid in MyanmardoctoralpublishedKyu Khin Gar

Measurement Analysis of Specific Absorption Rate in Human Body Exposed to a Base Station Antenna by Using Finite Difference Time Domain Techniques

The system analysis of specific absorption rate (SAR) in human body exposed to a base station antenna by using finite difference time domain techniques was presented in this research works. The objectives of this work are to evaluate the knowledge and awareness about SAR among human body and mobile base station. The paper investigates the electromagnetic wave absorption inside a human body. The human body has been identified using dataset based on 2D object considering different electrical parameters.The SAR convinced inside the human body model exposed to a radiating base station antenna (BSA) has been considered for multiple numbers of carrier frequencies and input power of 20 W/carrier at GSM 900 band.The distance (R) of human body from BSA is varied in the range of 0.1 m to 5.0 m. For the number of carrier frequency equal to one and R = 0.1 m,the concentrated value of whole-body average SAR obtained by FDTD technique is found to be 0.68 W/kg which decreases either with increase of R or decrease of number of carrier frequencies. Safety distance for general public is found to be 1.5 m for number of carrier frequencies equal to one.The performance accuracy of this analysis meets the high level condition by comparing with the relevant system development in recent time

Correlates of male involvement in maternal and newborn health: a cross-sectional study of men in a peri-urban region of Myanmar

Background: Evidence suggests that increasing male involvement in maternal and newborn health (MNH) may improve MNH outcomes. However, male involvement is difficult to measure, and further research is necessary to understand the barriers and enablers for men to engage in MNH, and to define target groups for interventions. Using data from a peri-urban township in Myanmar, this study aimed to construct appropriate indicators of male involvement in MNH, and assess sociodemographic, knowledge and attitude correlates of involvement. Methods: A cross-sectional study of married men with one or more children aged up to one year was conducted in 2012. Structured questionnaires measured participants’ involvement in MNH, and their sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge and attitudes. An ordinal measure of male involvement was constructed describing the subject’s participation across five areas of MNH, giving a score of 1–4. Proportional-odds regression models were developed to determine correlates of male involvement. Results: A total of 210 men participated in the survey, of which 203 provided complete data. Most men reported involvement level scores of either 2 or 3 (64 %), with 13 % reporting the highest level (score of 4). Involvement in MNH was positively associated with wives’ level of education (AOR = 3.4; 95 % CI: 1.9-6.2; p \u3c 0.001) and men’s level of knowledge of MNH (AOR = 1.2; 95 % CI: 1.1-1.3; p \u3c 0.001), and negatively correlated with number of children (AOR = 0.78; 95 % CI: 0.63-0.95; p = 0.016). Conclusions: These findings can inform the design of programs aiming to increase male involvement, for example by targeting less educated couples and addressing their knowledge of MNH. The composite index proved a useful summary measure of involvement; however, it may have masked differential determinants of the summed indicators. There is a need for greater understanding of the influence of gender attitudes on male involvement in Myanmar and more robust indicators that capture these gender dynamics for use both in Myanmar and globally

A computational analysis of SARS cysteine proteinase-octapeptide substrate interaction: implication for structure and active site binding mechanism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>SARS coronavirus main proteinase (SARS CoVMpro) is an important enzyme for the replication of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus. The active site region of SARS CoVMpro is divided into 8 subsites. Understanding the binding mode of SARS CoVMpro with a specific substrate is useful and contributes to structural-based drug design. The purpose of this research is to investigate the binding mode between the SARS CoVMpro and two octapeptides, especially in the region of the S3 subsite, through a molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The one turn α-helix chain (residues 47–54) of the SARS CoVMpro was directly involved in the induced-fit model of the enzyme-substrate complex. The S3 subsite of the enzyme had a negatively charged region due to the presence of Glu47. During MD simulations, Glu47 of the enzyme was shown to play a key role in electrostatic bonding with the P3Lys of the octapeptide.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MD simulations were carried out on the SARS CoVMpro-octapeptide complex. The hypothesis proposed that Glu47 of SARS CoVMpro is an important residue in the S3 subsite and is involved in binding with P3Lys of the octapeptide.</p

Myanmar dengue outbreak associated with displacement of serotypes 2, 3, and 4 by dengue 1

Published version is free to read on publisher website 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

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

Embedded Data Encryption in Image Using eXtended Tiny Encryption Algorithm

This paper is represented for information security by using cryptography on important message and image steganography method on digital image. The secure system is implemented by combining for the encrypted message and digital image. Cryptography is the method for securing secret message. Steganography is the art of hiding information in other information media when communication is take place. Many different file formats can be use, but digital images are more popular usages. We propose the system is to encrypt and encode the message with an image, and the extract and decrypt this message from the image. The result image is not different as in original image and the message is not damage. So, the intruders can’t know the messages embedded in the image until they get that image

A study of the bias-temperature instability problem in advanced gate stacks

Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) on thin and thick PMOSFET with SiON oxide was examined by stressing the devices under different conditions to observe the recovery behavior of NBTI. In this project, experiments were carried out to study the frequency dependent, temperature dependent and device dimension dependent nature of recovery component of NBTI. Although there are numerous research on NBTI, Reaction-Diffusion model (R-D model) that was used to explain NBTI mechanism previously is found to be unable to characterize NBTI. Hydrogen transport across gate oxide is not the key mechanism for generation of bulk oxide traps. The models which focus on the recoverable component in NBTI do not completely explain the decrease in recoverable component (R) at high temperature. Thus, in this project, experiments were conducted by applying DC and AC stresses on thick PMOS device (width=10µm and gate length= 0.06 µm) at temperature 50 degrees C. It was found that more recovery is observed in DC measurement method as compared to AC. As for the AC stresses, the tests were done at different frequencies. It was found that NBTI has reduced frequency dependence in the ultrahigh frequency range as the results showed that at higher frequencies, there is no much difference in the recovery trends. Experiments were also conducted on thin PMOS device (width=0.12µm and gate length= 0.06 µm) to study how the recovery behavior actually varies across different device dimensions. A small- area PMOS device has very few holes trapped and thus the discrete nature of the detrapping events (step height) can be observed on recovery patterns. Lastly, experiments were carried out to observe the temperature impact on the conversion of recoverable component to non- recoverable component. It was found that traps diminish earlier at higher temperature as compared to lower temperature.Bachelor of Engineerin