ミヤンマ一連邦における稲遺伝資源の探索収集

Collaborative exploration between Japan and Myanmar was conducted in the Southern Shan state and the Magway and the Sagaing divisions in Myanmar from November 16 to December 15, 1999. Of the low land rice varieties cultivated in Myanmar, 80 percent have been improved varieties introduced from foreign countries in the past 2-3 years. In the Southern Shan state and the border area of the Magway division and the Chin state, such genetic erosion of landraces has also occurred but some landraces which have sticky eating quality adapting the favor of local peoples, have still remained. Though all of the upland varieties in the both areas are old landraces, there is a strong fear that they will be replaced to cash crops such as oil crops or pulses due to their low yielding ability. A total of 179 landraces and 20 wild relatives, including Oryza granulata, O. rufipogon and hybrids between O. rufipogon and O. sativa were collected. Particularly landraces of upland rice which are adapted to dry and cool weather conditions were found in mountainous regions. Some landraces were grown for their high quality of sticky and glutinous endosperms

Explaining Myanmar's Regime Transition: The Periphery is Central

In 2010, Myanmar (Burma) held its first elections after 22 years of direct military rule. Few compelling explanations for this regime transition have emerged. This article critiques popular accounts and potential explanations generated by theories of authoritarian ‘regime breakdown’ and ‘regime maintenance’. It returns instead to the classical literature on military intervention and withdrawal. Military regimes, when not terminated by internal factionalism or external unrest, typically liberalise once they feel they have sufficiently addressed the crises that prompted their seizure of power. This was the case in Myanmar. The military intervened for fear that political unrest and ethnic-minority separatist insurgencies would destroy Myanmar’s always-fragile territorial integrity and sovereignty. Far from suddenly liberalising in 2010, the regime sought to create a ‘disciplined democracy’ to safeguard its preferred social and political order twice before, but was thwarted by societal opposition. Its success in 2010 stemmed from a strategy of coercive state-building and economic incorporation via ‘ceasefire capitalism’, which weakened and co-opted much of the opposition. Having altered the balance of forces in its favour, the regime felt sufficiently confident to impose its preferred settlement. However, the transition neither reflected total ‘victory’ for the military nor secured a genuine or lasting peace

A Study of Burkholderia pseudomallei in the Environment of Farms in Thanlyin and Hmawbi Townships, Myanmar.

Melioidosis is a tropical infection, first described in Myanmar but now rarely diagnosed there, which is widespread in Southeast Asia. The infection is predominantly acquired by people and animals through contact with soil or water. This study aimed to detect the causative organism, Burkholderia pseudomallei, in environmental samples from farms in Thanlyin and Hmawbi townships near Yangon, Myanmar. One hundred and twenty soil samples and 12 water samples were collected and processed using standard microbiological methods. Burkholderia species were isolated from 50 of the 120 (42%) soil samples but none of the water samples. Arabinose assimilation was tested to differentiate between B. pseudomallei and the nonpathogenic Burkholderia thailandensis, and seven of 50 isolates (14%) were negative. These were all confirmed as B. pseudomallei by a species-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This is the first study to detect environmental B. pseudomallei in Myanmar and confirms that melioidosis is still endemic in the Yangon area

Implementation of an Optimized Virtual Traffic Light Algorithm in SUMO

In the future, when all the vehicles will be smart vehicles (SVs) and the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) become mature, the virtual traffic lights system will be more cost-effective than physical traffic lights system. The Virtual Traffic Light (VTL) is a self-organizing traffic control system without requiring road infrastructures. However, the major weakness of the existing VTL algorithm allows only one vehicle crossing the intersection at a time and considers only the straight forward direction of vehicles. This paper implements an optimized VTL algorithm (O-VTL) for road intersections on the Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) that allows more vehicles to cross the intersection without collision and considers various directions of vehicles. For performance evaluation, the travel time, CO2 emission, and fuel consumption of vehicles applying O-VTL are compared to that of the existing VTL algorithm and physical traffic light system in SUMO. According to the comparison result, the average travel time and fuel consumption of vehicles applying the O-VTL algorithm significantly decrease when compared to the existing VTL algorithm and physical traffic lights

Assessment of rural livelihood in Kyaukpadaung Township as affected by PACT microfinance program

This study was conducted to assess the livelihood of rural households as affected by PACT microfinance program in Kyaukpadaung Township. The data were collected through personal interview in sample six villages in October 2014. Sample households were differentiated into participant and non-participant households in PACT microfinance program. Comparison analysis and multiple regression model were used in the data analysis. In both types of households, while farming was the major source of occupation, non-farm jobs became the second source. Family size and income earning family members were higher in participant households. In addition, majority of the participant households were small holder farmers and landless. In the study area, most households were still suffered from poverty and food poverty, in the meantime, migration rate was rather high in both households. Analysis of income composition found that crop income dominated among the income of both households in the study area. Participant households utilized more credit sources and higher credit amount than non-participant households. While participant households suffered from more health and social shock, both households had applied borrowed money as coping strategy if they faced shocks. By means of the income function analysis, household income was found to be more increased by older household head, larger family size, higher non-farm income and farming households. Although household income was increased by participation in PACT microfinance program but did not show significant effects