Acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, pathophysiology and treatment

Acute sinusitis (ARS) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common condition worldwide.CRS is due to the infection and inflammation of paranasal sinuses. Frequent clinical manifestations of ARS include persistent symptoms with nasal discharge or cough or both, presentation with fever accompanies purulent nasal discharge, and worsening symptoms. Complications of CRS have five stages, preseptal cellulitis, orbital cellulitis, subperiosteal abscess, orbital abscess and cavernous sinus septic thrombosis. Most acute sinusitis generally of viral origin, e,g. rhinoviruses, corona viruses,and influenza viruses. Bacterial pathogen include Streptococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza and Moraxella catarrhalis. Bacteria found in biofilms have their antibiotic resistant increased up to 1000 times when compared to bacteria free living of same species. Sinusitis also results from fungal invasion in patients with diabetes, immune deficiencies, and AIDSor transplant patients. Bacterial and viral sinusitis are difficult to distinguish. The diagnosis of acute sinusitis should be on clinical presentation in most patients CT scan of sinuses is useful for patients with complications and in patients in whom sinus surgery is considered. MRI may have a role in the diagnosis of fungal rhinitis. The benefit of Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) is its ability for a more targeted approach. Recently developed treatment by balloon sinuplasty is promising. A short-course of antibiotics is helpful in clinically diagnosed bacterial sinusitis without complicating factors

Reproductive biology of Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793) from Mandalay Environs

A total of 383 specimens of Channa punctata were collected from Mandalay environs during the study period from June, 2016 to May, 2017. Sex ratio, length-weight relationship, gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, and fecundity were conducted. The total length of females was ranging from 14.5 cm-21 cm and that of weight, ranging from 32 g-120 g. The total length of males, were ranging from 15.5-22 cm and that of weight, ranging from 38.5 g- 140 g. The sex ratio for male to female was 1: 0.76. Gonadal maturity stages namely, immature, maturing, mature and ripe of maturity in both sexes were recognized during the study period. An inverse relation was observed between GSI and HSI values during the study month. The absolute fecundity of C. punctata ranged from 4667.0 - 9143.46 eggs with the relative fecundity varied from 66.27 - 99.76. Fecundity-ovary weight gave a better relationship in comparison to fecundity-total length and fecundity-body weight relationship. However, as the monthly GSI values in male and female of this species were high during June to August and even to September, the spawning season of C. punctata to fall between June to September

Species Composition of Bats in Patheingyi Township

This present study was conducted in Patheingyi Township from June 201 0 to May 2011. Ten caves were surveyed and a total of 11 species, three Megabat species and eight Microbat species were identified and recorded. They belonged to five families and distributed among six genera. Out of the 11 species, Rousettus leschenaulti, Cynoptenus brachyotic and C.sphinx are Megabats; and Hipposideros larvatus, H.pomona, H.lylei, Rhinolophus coelophyllu, R.malayanus, R.pusillus, Megaderma spasma and Taphozous melanopogon are Microbats. Of these, H.lylel and R.coelophyllus, are previously not recorded and they are new record in this study area. The result of survey revealed that bat population was large and the species diversity was large

Avian and Floristic Composition Around Kandawgyi In (Lake), Mandalay

Bird species around Kandawgyi In (Lake), Mandalay was investigated during November 2008 to October 2009. A total of fifty three species of birds distributed under twenty seven families and twelve orders were documented. Among them, forty species were terrestrial birds and thirteen species were aquatic birds. Fourteen species of birds occurred every month of study period. Vegetative analysis conducted around study area showed thirteen species of tree plant and nineteen species of aquatic plants

Unparalleled experiences of online medical education during Covid-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia has adversely affected the country in many aspects especially the economy and education sectors. Schools and universities alike are facing challenges in providing quality education to students. Many strategies have been recommended to improve the quality of online teaching to enhance students’ engagement in the teaching-learning processes. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are one of the alternative teaching strategies to advocate the students to access education remotely. It is time to take advantage of the uncertain period of COVID-19 into an opportunity to develop the MOOCs for the students

Interannual Variability of Air Temperature over Myanmar: The Influence of ENSO and IOD

Myanmar is located in a tropical region where temperature rises very fast and hence is highly vulnerable to climate change. The high variability of the air temperature poses potential risks to the local community. Thus, the current study uses 42 synoptic meteorological stations to assess the spatiotemporal changes in air temperature over Myanmar during 1971–2013. The nonparametric sequential Mann-Kendall (SqMK), linear regression, empirical orthogonal function (EOF), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and composite analysis were used to assess the long-term trends in maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperature series and their possible mechanism over the study region. The results indicate that the trend of Tmax has significantly increased at the rates of 90% in summer season, while the Tmin revealed a substantial positive trend in winter season time series with the magnitude of 30%, respectively. Moreover, during a rapid change of climate (1995–2013) we observed an air temperature increase of 0.7 °C. The spatial distributions of EOF revealed relatively warmer temperatures over the whole region except the south in the summer; however, a similar pattern can be seen for the rainy season and winter, implying warming in the central part and cooling in the northern and southern parts. Furthermore, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) influence on air temperature over Myanmar is more prevalent than that of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The result implies that the positive phase of the IOD and negative phase of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI; El Niño) events led to the higher temperature, resulting in intense climatic extremes (i.e., droughts and heatwaves) over the target region. Therefore, this study’s findings can help policymakers and decision-makers improve economic growth, agricultural production, ecology, water resource management, and preserving the natural habitat in the target region

Interdecadal Variability in Myanmar Rainfall in the Monsoon Season (May–October) Using Eigen Methods

In this study, we investigated the interdecadal variability in monsoon rainfall in the Myanmar region. The gauge-based gridded rainfall dataset of the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) and Climatic Research Unit version TS4.0 (CRU TS4.0) were used (1950–2019) to investigate the interdecadal variability in summer monsoon rainfall using empirical orthogonal function (EOF), singular value decomposition (SVD), and correlation approaches. The results reveal relatively negative rainfall anomalies during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, whereas strong positive rainfall anomalies were identified for the 1970s and 2010s. The dominant spatial variability mode showed a dipole pattern with a total variance of 47%. The power spectra of the principal component (PC) from EOF revealed a significant peak during decadal timescales (20–30 years). The Myanmar summer monsoon rainfall positively correlated with Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and negatively correlated with Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The results reveal that extreme monsoon rainfall (flood) events occurred during the negative phase of the PDO and below-average rainfall (drought) occurred during the positive phase of the PDO. The cold phase (warm phase) of AMO was generally associated with negative (positive) decadal monsoon rainfall. The first SVD mode indicated the Myanmar rainfall pattern associated with the cold and warm phase of the PDO and AMO, suggesting that enhanced rainfall for about 53% of the square covariance fraction was related to heavy rain over the study region except for the central and eastern parts. The second SVD mode demonstrated warm sea surface temperature (SST) in the eastern equatorial Pacific (El Niño pattern) and cold SST in the North Atlantic Ocean, implying a rainfall deficit of about 33% of the square covariance fraction, which could be associated with dry El Niño conditions (drought). The third SVD revealed that cold SSTs in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific (La Niña pattern) caused enhance rainfall with a 6.7% square covariance fraction related to flood conditions. Thus, the extra-subtropical phenomena may affect the average summer monsoon trends over Myanmar by enhancing the cross-equatorial moisture trajectories into the North Atlantic Ocean

Interdecadal Variability in Myanmar Rainfall in the Monsoon Season (May–October) Using Eigen Methods

In this study, we investigated the interdecadal variability in monsoon rainfall in the Myanmar region. The gauge-based gridded rainfall dataset of the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) and Climatic Research Unit version TS4.0 (CRU TS4.0) were used (1950–2019) to investigate the interdecadal variability in summer monsoon rainfall using empirical orthogonal function (EOF), singular value decomposition (SVD), and correlation approaches. The results reveal relatively negative rainfall anomalies during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, whereas strong positive rainfall anomalies were identified for the 1970s and 2010s. The dominant spatial variability mode showed a dipole pattern with a total variance of 47%. The power spectra of the principal component (PC) from EOF revealed a significant peak during decadal timescales (20–30 years). The Myanmar summer monsoon rainfall positively correlated with Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and negatively correlated with Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The results reveal that extreme monsoon rainfall (flood) events occurred during the negative phase of the PDO and below-average rainfall (drought) occurred during the positive phase of the PDO. The cold phase (warm phase) of AMO was generally associated with negative (positive) decadal monsoon rainfall. The first SVD mode indicated the Myanmar rainfall pattern associated with the cold and warm phase of the PDO and AMO, suggesting that enhanced rainfall for about 53% of the square covariance fraction was related to heavy rain over the study region except for the central and eastern parts. The second SVD mode demonstrated warm sea surface temperature (SST) in the eastern equatorial Pacific (El Niño pattern) and cold SST in the North Atlantic Ocean, implying a rainfall deficit of about 33% of the square covariance fraction, which could be associated with dry El Niño conditions (drought). The third SVD revealed that cold SSTs in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific (La Niña pattern) caused enhance rainfall with a 6.7% square covariance fraction related to flood conditions. Thus, the extra-subtropical phenomena may affect the average summer monsoon trends over Myanmar by enhancing the cross-equatorial moisture trajectories into the North Atlantic Ocean

Possible Relationships between the Interdecadal Anomalies of Heavy Rainfall under Northeastern China Cold Vortexes and the Sea Surface Temperature (SST)

As an important component of the East Asian monsoon system, the northeast cold vortex (NECV) exerts a significant impact on weather and climate, especially in Northeast China. This study investigated the interdecadal spatiotemporal variability of heavy rainfall under the cold vortex of Northeast China (NECVHR) and its relationship with sea surface temperature (SST) during 1961–2019 over Northeast China. To investigate the dominant factors affecting variability in the heavy rainfall between May and September, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was performed. To detect the trends and changes, a Mann-Kendall (MK) test was used. The sliding t-test was used to identify the change points and the significance. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between SST and NECVHR, and the t-test was used to verify the significance. The results showed that the total amount of cold vortex heavy rainfall during May–September ranged from 153 to 12,509 mm for 1961–2019. An abrupt interdecadal change was seen after 2014 in Northeast China. The EOF analyses revealed that the first, second, and third EOFs explain 76%, 12.1%, and 5.5% of the total variance, respectively. The EOF followed the heavy rainfall pattern, with increases in the south (southeast) and decreases in the north (northwest) over Northeast China. Heavy rainfall over Northeast China positively correlated with the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) index. The heavier rainfall under cold vortex (MCVHR) years revealed that the equipotential height was obviously located over the Sea of Japan, west of Northeast China and the Qinghai Tibet plateau. The cyclonic circulation over the East China Sea and north (northeasterly) wind prevails over Northeast China during less heavy rainfall under cold vortex (LCVHR) years. A high anticyclonic circulation over the Qinghai Tibet plateau resulted in stronger cold advection over Northeast China. The anticyclonic circulations over the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (east), and the western (southwesterly) winds prevail over Northeast China, with a relatively shallow cold trough over the Qinghai Tibet plateau. The findings in this paper provided a better understanding of the interdecadal variability of NECVHR over Northeast China. The findings can be helpful for several stakeholders regarding agricultural production, water resource management, and natural habitat conversation in Northeast China

Nonbreeding Bird Communities Along an Urban–Rural Gradient of a Tropical City in Central Myanmar

Urbanization is known to be a major driver in abundance and species richness of birds. However, how birds respond to urbanization in tropical cities is understudied in general and entirely absent from Myanmar. We conducted a study in and around Mandalay, a large city in central Myanmar to gather first data on birds and their response to urbanization.We selected four habitats with 10 sampling points each in November 2015. We made 1,536 observations of 68 bird species. The number of species and diversity significantly differed between the four localities. Mandalay Hill and Downtown Mandalay had the lowest number of species and diversity, whereas the University Campus and Paddy Fields had the highest. The highest number of observations was in Downtown Mandalay (1,003 counts) and the lowest on Mandalay Hill (103). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination techniques showed that the four habitat types had significantly different bird species composition. Our results indicate a large effect of urbanization on species diversity, species richness, and species composition of birds