Statistical Machine Translation between Myanmar Sign Language and Myanmar Written Text

This paper contributes the first evaluation of the quality of automatic translation between Myanmar sign language (MSL) and Myanmar written text, in both directions. Our developing MSL-Myanmar parallel corpus was used for translations and the experiments were carried out using three different statistical machine translation (SMT) approaches: phrase-based, hierarchical phrase-based, and the operation sequence model. In addition, three different segmentation schemes were studies, these were syllable segmentation, word segmentation and sign unit based word segmentation. The results show that the highest quality machine translation was attained with syllable segmentations for both MSL and Myanmar written text

Development of Natural Language Processing based Communication and Educational Assisted Systems for the People with Hearing Disability in Myanmar

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide people with disabilities to better integrate socially and economically into their communities by supporting access to information and knowledge, learning and teaching situations, personal communication and interaction. Our research purpose is to develop systems that will provide communication and educational assistance to persons with hearing disability using Natural Language Processing (NLP). In this paper, we present corpus building for Myanmar sign language (MSL), Machine Translation (MT) between MSL, Myanmar written text (MWT) and Myanmar SignWriting (MSW) and two Fingerspelling keyboard layouts for Myanmar SignWriting. We believe that the outcome of this research is useful for educational contents and communication between hearing disability and general people

Socio-economic and agricultural factors associated with stunting of under 5-year children: findings from surveys in mountains, dry zone and delta regions of rural Myanmar (2016–2017)

Abstract Objective: The study’s objective was to investigate multiple underlying social, economic and agricultural determinants of stunting among under-five children in three distinct ecological areas in rural Myanmar. Design: Repeated cross-sectional surveys in three states of Myanmar. Setting: Rural households in Chin (mountainous), Magway (plains) and Ayeyarwady (delta). Participants: From two purposively selected adjacent townships in each state, we randomly selected twenty villages and, in each village, thirty households with under-five children. Households in the first survey in 2016 were revisited in late 2017 to capture seasonal variations. Results: Stunting increased from 40·4 % to 42·0 %, with the highest stunting prevalence in Chin state (62·4%). Univariate Poisson regression showed factors contributing to child stunting varied across the regions. Adjusted Poisson regression models showed that child’s age and short maternal stature (aRR = 1·14 for Chin, aRR = 1·89 for Magway and aRR = 1·86 for Ayeyarwady) were consistently associated with child stunting across three areas. For Chin, village-level indicators such as crop consumption (aRR = 1·18), crop diversity (aRR = 0·82) and land ownership (aRR = 0·89) were significantly associated with stunting. In Magway, the number of household members (aRR = 1·92), wealth status (aRR = 0·46), food security status (aRR = 1·14), land ownership (aRR = 0·85) and in Ayeyarwady, women’s decision-making (aRR = 0·67) and indicators related to hygiene (aRR = 1·13) and sanitation (aRR = 1·45) were associated with stunting. Conclusions: Area-specific factors were associated with stunting. Maternal short stature and child age were consistent determinants of stunting. A multi-sectoral local approach, including improvements in transport, is needed to address the intergenerational malnutrition problem

Co-occurrence of Point Mutations in the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel of Pyrethroid-Resistant Aedes aegypti Populations in Myanmar

Background:Single amino acid substitutions in the voltage-gated sodium channel associated with pyrethroid resistance constitute one of the main causative factors of knockdown resistance in insects. The kdr gene has been observed in several mosquito species; however, point mutations in the para gene of Aedes aegypti populations in Myanmar have not been fully characterized. The aim of the present study was to determine the types and frequencies of mutations in the para gene of Aedes aegypti collected from used tires in Yangon City, Myanmar.Methodology/Principal Findings:We determined high pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti larvae at all collection sites in Yangon City, by using a simplified knockdown bioassay. We showed that V1016G and S989P mutations were widely distributed, with high frequencies (84.4% and 78.8%, respectively). By contrast, we were unable to detect I1011M (or I1011V) or L1014F mutations. F1534C mutations were also widely distributed, but with a lower frequency than the V1016G mutation (21.2%). High percentage of co-occurrence of the homozygous V1016G/S989P mutations was detected (65.7%). Additionally, co-occurrence of homozygous V1016G/F1534C mutations (2.9%) and homozygous V1016G/F1534C/S989P mutations (0.98%) were detected in the present study.Conclusions/Significance:Pyrethroid insecticides were first used for malaria control in 1992, and have since been constantly used in Myanmar. This intensive use may explain the strong selection pressure toward Aedes aegypti, because this mosquito is generally a domestic and endophagic species with a preference for indoor breeding. Extensive use of DDT for malaria control before the use of this chemical was banned may also explain the development of pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Growth and Characterization of Electrospun LaMnO3 Nanofibers by Electrospinning Technique

The polycrystalline perovskite structure of LaMnO3 nanofibers was obtained by calcination of the PVA/[LaCl3+MnCl2+(NH4)2CO3] composite at 600°C with electrospinning technique. The decomposition and crystalline behavior of sample were examined by Thermogravimetric and Simultaneous Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA). The crystal structure and phase formation were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed and the diameters of the LaMnO3 nanofibers were calculated to be 42 nm and 55 nm with different spinning intervals at 600°C. SEM analysis was also carried out to examine the fiber diameters and morphological properties

Dielectric properties of composite LaMnO3 nanofiber by electrospinning technique

Electrospinning technique has been extensively developed as a simple and vasatile method for drawing nanofibers from polymer solutions. Lanthanum Maganite La1-x MnxO3 (x = 0.02 mol) nanofibers were obtained by calcinations of PVA/LaMnO3 composite at different temperatures with electrospinning utilizing sol-gel precursors. Novel polycrystalline LaMnO3 nanofibers were yielded at 500 °C, 600 °C and 700 °C for 2 h as the final products. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was employed to study the fiber diameter of samples. The average diameter of the LaMnO3 nanofibers was found to be in the range of 85 nm to 150 nm at different temperatures. The dielectric properties of LaMnO3 nanofibers were identified by C-f, r-f, tan - f and ac-f characteristics. The results obtained from this research will lead to enable new levels of electronic applications, biomedical applications and protective clothing

Synthesis and Characterization of LaMnO3Nanofibers by Electrospinning Techique

This paper aimed to prepare the synthesis of LaMnO3 nanofibers by electrospinning technique using a solution that contained polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and a sol-gel solution of LaMnO3. LaMnO3/PVA perovskite-type nanofibers were obtained after annealed at 500°C, 600°C, 700°C and 800°C for 2h respectively. Thermal properties of LaMnO3 samples were examined by TG-DTA. Phase formation and crystal structure of LaMnO3 nanopowders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). FESEM images revealed that LaMnO3 as-spun nanofibers on Al foils were attracted to be between 60-120 nm in diameters with electrospinning set-up for 15 min. The crystal structure, fiber diameters and morphology of LaMnO3 nanofibers were influenced by the calcination temperatures. The qualifications of LaMnO3 nanofibers were successfully yielded by the electronspinning technique as final products

Growth and Characteristics of Lanthanum Manganite La1-x MnxO3 (x=0.02 mol) Powder)

An improved method is proposed for the preparation of lanthanum manganite powder by the calcinations of a composite carbonate (NH4)2 CO3 of the respective metallic elements formed by mixing and aqueous solution of inorganic salts Lanthanum chloride (LaCl3) and Manganese Chloride (MnCl2). The chemical compositions of these powders have been characterized by XRF, SEM, XRD and TGA-DTA analysis have been carried out to determine their structural, micro structural, micro structural and thermal decomposition