Economic sanctions as a means to enforce human rights in Burma (Myanmar) : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies

Since the end of the Cold War, human rights has become a central focus of international relationships, especially the relationship between developed countries (the West) and developing countries (the Rest). Burma is one of the developing countries whose relationship with Western governments is premised on the issue of human rights. In the pursuit of human rights enforcement, the United States and the European Union employ economic sanctions against Burma. While economic sanctions are designed to encourage a transition to democratic rule and a greater respect for human rights, studies show that little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of such measurements. In this study, a literature review and field research are carried out as an effort to assess the effectiveness of economic sanctions in Burma

Identification of pulling factors for enhancing the sustainable development of diverse agriculture in Myanmar

The study on Myanmar consists mainly of field surveys conducted in agro-ecologically distinct sites in two townships in Myanmar , namely Thonegwa Township in the delta area and Monywa Township in the central dry zone. Survey design covers the profiles of the study sites, respondents and their households, overall conditions of secondary farming, the marketing and industrial processing systems, the effect of agricultural diversification on poverty alleviation, risk mitigation and environmental conservation, policy impact, infrastructure and institutional support, and the potential and constraints for enhancing sustainable agricultural diversification at the study sites.International Development,

Use of management process as an analytical grid in appraising the irrigation system

Irrigation management / Irrigation systems / Performance evaluation / Organizations

A Comparative Study on Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Principal’s Instructional Leadership According to Their Demographics in Ush Private School, Mandalay, Myanmar

The main purpose of this study was to identify the demographic profiles of teachers, to determine Teachers’ Perceptions towards Principal’s Instructional Leadership, and to compare Teachers’ Perceptions towards Principal’s Instructional Leadership at USH private School Mandalay according to their gender, age, educational background and work-experiences in 2017. A total of 53 teachers (23 male and 30 female) from USH private school Mandalay completed the questionnaire, it was designed to identify the Teachers’demographics and their perceptions towards principal’s Instructional Leadership. The questionnaire was adopted from Murphy & Hallinger (1985) Principal’s Instructional Management Range Scale (PIMRS). This research study was designed as a quantitative and comparative study. The data from this research was analyzed by frequency & percentage, mean and standard deviation, Independent Sample t-test and One-Way ANOVA. The study found that the level of Teachers’ Perceptions towards Principal’s Instructional Leadership was moderate. At the significance level .05, there were no significant differences on Teachers’Perceptions towards Principal’s Instructional Leadership according to their gender, age, Educational background and work-experiences in USH private school Mandalay, Myanmar. This research study would give valuable insight into the role of Instructional Leadership support in shaping teachers, principal and teacher-principal relationship, student achievement and school improvement. It recommended that the Principal must involve his/her Instructional Leadership management on teachers and students such as protecting Instructional time, communicating school goals, monitoring student progress

Synthesis and Screening of Novel Hybrid Benzothiazoles in U-87 MG Glioblastoma Cell Line

Benzothiazole is a heteroaromatic compound known for its wide range of bioactivities including anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, anti-diabetic, anti-helminthic, and anti-tubercular activities. Research has shown that derivatives of benzothiazole exhibit inhibition of proliferation via apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines, such as liver cancer (Wang, et. al., 2011). In this study, a series of novel hybrid benzothiazole α-cyanostilbene derivatives and styrylbenzothiazole derivatives containing boronic acid and non-boronic acid pharmacophores were synthesized. The anti-cancer and anti-invasive properties of selected benzothiazole α-cyanostilbene derivatives on U-87MG glioblastoma cells were investigated in vitro. U-87MG cells were incubated with synthesized novel hybrid compounds at varying concentration to determine the lethal concentration 50 (LC50) of the compounds. All hybrid compounds displayed inhibitory effects on cell growth and the LC50 of the compounds varied depending on the nature of the pharmacophores. Moreover, compounds containing both boronic acid substituent and fluoro substituent exhibit lower LC50 than those that contain only one of the substituents. Cell motility has been investigated and we have found that was were no difference in motility between the treated and untreated cells. Results indicate anti-invasive properties in boronic acid and fluoro substituents at ortho position and boronic acid substituent at para position

US Centre 2018 Student Essay competition runner up: 'looking at Trump's Twitter Diplomacy to see past trends and the outlook for American foreign policy in East Asia'

President Trump's use of Twitter to announce policy shifts has become a hallmark of his administration. But what do his Tweets tell us about the outlook for the US relationship with East Asia? Kyi Yeung Goh analysed Trump's 2017 tweets on this issue, and has found three key topics which may indicate what 2018 may bring: the Trump administration's preoccupation with North Korea and its nuclear program, trade tensions with China, and the effectiveness of Japanese strategic diplomacy

Quantifying the Diversity and Activity of Microbes Catalyzing Particle Decomposition in Open Ocean

M.S. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

Dietary Omega-3 Oil Supplementation To Increase Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids In The Red Tilapia(Oreochromis Hybrid) And Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus)

A study was carried out to determine the essential polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) profiles of the red tilapia (Oreochromis hybrid) and catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and an attempt was made to increase the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by dietary omega -3 oil supplementation. The fatty acid profiles of commercially farmed adult fish were determined using standard extraction, fatty acid methylation and gas liquid chromatographic procedures and the fatty acid concentration of dried fish tissues was expressed in absolute amounts (mg/g) as a measure of the actual fatty acid content in the fish tissues. The levels of total fatty acids, SFA, UFA, monoenes, total n-6, total n-3, 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 were higher in the catfish compared to the red tilapia. The higher (17-20% of the total fatty acids) n-6 PUFA found in both fish compared to n-3 PUFA (1.0 – 9.5 %) was characteristic for freshwater fish. The absolute amounts of total n-6 and n-3 PUFA increased as the age of the fish increased for both species of fish when measured from 10 to 75 days of age although they decreased when expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids. The absolute amounts of total n-6 PUFA in the red tilapia increased from 10.0 ± 0.6 mg/g at 10 days to 26.6 ± 2.4 mg/g at 75 days of age. The absolute amounts of total n-3 PUFA in the red tilapia increased from 3.6 ± 0.2 mg/g at 10 days to 9.4 ± 0.3 mg/g at 75 days of age. Similarly, the absolute amounts of total n-6 PUFA in the catfish increased from 15.1 ±1.0 mg/g at 10 days to 36.5 ± 2.5 mg/g at 75 days of age whilst the absolute amounts of total n-3 PUFA increased from 8.1 ± 0.2 mg/g at 10 days to 21.8 ± 1.5 mg/g at 75 days of age. The results were suggestive of a combined effect of accumulation, desaturation and elongation and oxidation of the PUFA in the fish tissues. The Δ6 desaturase enzyme activity in the liver microsomes was measured in six of each species of fish employing radiolabelled linoleic acid [1-14C] and argentation thin layer chromatography. Desaturase activities were detected in both species but the activity in the red tilapia (3.55 + 0.2%; 1.19 + 0.1 pmol/min/mg protein) was higher, although not significant (p>0.05), than the catfish (3.07 ± 0.2%; 1.02 + 0.1 pmol/min/mg protein). The antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the lipid peroxidation value of malonaldehyde (MDA) were measured in ten of each species of fish. The antioxidant activity was higher in the catfish whilst the lipid peroxidation value was higher in the red tilapia. The activity of SOD (1.54 ± 0.1 U/g) and GSH-Px (0.37 ± 0.1 U/g) in the red tilapia was lower than the activity of SOD (2.48 ± 0.1 U/g) and GSH-Px (1.18 ± 0.1 U/g) in the catfish. The MDA values were 21.39 ± 0.5 nmol/g for the red tilapia compared to 19.15 ± 0.2 nmol/g for the catfish. The dietary omega-3 oil supplementation trial was carried out for eight weeks where the fish was reared in glass aquariums in under three dietary treatments, in triplicate. The treatment diets were the control diet CON (with no oil added), or diets containing added 10% or 20% flaxseed oil (10% FLAX or 20% FLAX) or added 10% or 20% cod-liver oil (10% COD, 20% COD). The desirable n-3 PUFA were not increased by the 10% FLAX or 10% COD diets where the total n-3 PUFA concentrations in the red tilapia were 3.2 + 0.1 mg/g (CON), 2.6 ± 0.2 mg/g (10% FLAX) and 3.4 ± 0.2 mg/g (10% COD). The n-3 PUFA concentrations in the catfish were 7.1 ± 0.4 mg/g (CON), 6.4 ± 0.1 mg/g (10% FLAX) and 6.4 ± 0.4 mg/g (10%COD). However, the n-3 PUFA concentrations were significantly increased (p<0.05) when fed the 20% FLAX and 20% COD diets. In the red tilapia the n-3 PUFA concentrations were 3.4 ± 0.1 mg/g (CON), 4.7 ± 0.1 mg/g (20% FLAX) and 3.8 ± 0.2 mg/g (20% COD). The n-3 PUFA concentrations in the catfish were 6.5 ± 0.3 mg/g (CON), 8.5 ± 0.6 mg/g (20% FLAX) and 9.0 ± 0.6 mg/g (20% COD). However high mortality rates up to 60% were encountered when the 20% FLAX and 20% COD diets were used suggesting that the levels of the oils used in these diets were toxic to the fish. Histological examinations carried out at post-mortem confirmed the toxicological condition by the occurrence of several histopathological lesions in the liver, kidney and small intestine. In conclusion, the essential PUFA profiles of the red tilapia which has a herbivorous mode of nutrition and the catfish which is more omnivorous, with different desaturase and oxidative enzyme activities are somewhat different, where the former represents a better source of desirable essential PUFA to the human consumer. The concentrations of the desirable essential PUFA in both fishes can be increased by modifying their diets to contain added oils such as flaxseed or cod-liver oil but the percentage of the added oils have to be between 10-20% of the diet to avoid toxicity and high mortalities