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Biomass from agriculture, forestry, and urban wastes is a potential renewable organic resource for energy generation. Many investigations have demonstrated that anaerobic fungi and methanogens could be co-cultured to degrade lignocellulose for methane generation. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of natural anaerobic fungi-methanogens co-culture on the methane production and lignocellulosic degradation of wastes from rice, corn and sugarcane. Hu sheep rumen digesta was used to develop a natural anaerobic fungi-methanogen co-culture. The substrates were rice straw (RS), rich husk (RH), corn stover (CS), corn cobs (CC), and sugarcane baggage (SB). Production of total gas and methane, metabolization rate of reducing sugar, glucose, and xylose, digestibility of hemicellulose and cellulose, activity of carboxymethylcellulase and xylanase, and concentrations of total acid and acetate were highest (P < 0.05) in CC, moderate (P < 0.05) in RS and CS, and lowest (P < 0.05) in SB and RH. The pH, lactate and ethanol were lowest (P < 0.05) in CC, moderate (P < 0.05) in RS and CS, and lowest (P < 0.05) SB and RH. Formate was lowest (P < 0.05) in CC, RS and CS, moderate (P < 0.05) in SB, and lowest (P < 0.05) in RH. Therefore, this study indicated that the potential of methane production and lignocellulosic degradation by natural anaerobic fungi-methanogens co-culture were highest in CC, moderate in RS and CS, and lowest in SB and RH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Providing high-quality roughage is crucial for improvement of ruminant production because it is an essential component of their feed. Our previous study showed that feeding bio-fermented rice straw (BF) improved the feed intake and weight gain of sheep. However, it remains unclear why feeding BF to sheep increased their feed intake and weight gain. Therefore, the purposes of this research were to investigate how the rumen microbiota and serum metabolome are dynamically changing after feeding BF, as well as how their changes influence the feed intake, digestibility, nutrient transport, meat quality and growth performances of sheep. Twelve growing Hu sheep were allocated into 3 groups: alfalfa hay fed group (AH: positive control), rice straw fed group (RS: negative control) and BF fed group (BF: treatment). Samples of rumen content, blood, rumen epithelium, muscle, feed offered and refusals were collected for the subsequent analysis. Results: Feeding BF changed the microbial community and rumen fermentation, particularly increasing (P < 0.05) relative abundance of Prevotella and propionate production, and decreasing (P < 0.05) enteric methane yield. The histomorphology (height, width, area and thickness) of rumen papillae and gene expression for carbohydrate transport (MCT1), tight junction (claudin-1, claudin-4), and cell proliferation (CDK4, Cyclin A2, Cyclin E1) were improved (P < 0.05) in sheep fed BF. Additionally, serum metabolome was also dynamically changed, which led to up-regulating (P < 0.05) the primary bile acid biosynthesis and biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid in sheep fed BF. As a result, the higher (P < 0.05) feed intake, digestibility, growth rate, feed efficiency, meat quality and mono-unsaturated fatty acid concentration in muscle, and the lower (P < 0.05) feed cost per kg of live weight were achieved by feeding BF. Conclusions: Feeding BF improved the growth performances and meat quality of sheep and reduced their feed cost. Therefore, bio-fermentation of rice straw could be an innovative way for improving ruminant production with minimizing production costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We propose a new scoring system (I‐PET) combining whole body scan (WBS) and FDG findings to identify patients who have or are likely to become refractory to radioactive iodine. Design: Retrospective analysis of 142 patients age >18 with differentiated thyroid cancer who had a F‐18 labelled fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose (18F‐FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and WBS within a 6‐month period between 2010 and 2020. Pairs of 18F‐FDG PET and WBS were reviewed by three independent nuclear medicine physicians and an I‐PET score was assigned: I‐PET [0]: Iodine −ve/FDG −ve, I‐PET [1]: Iodine +ve/FDG −ve, I‐PET [2]: Iodine +ve/FDG +ve and I‐PET [3]: Iodine −ve/FDG +ve. Patients with FDG +ve lesions (I‐PET [2] and I‐PET [3]) were further classified into groups A and B if SUVmax was ≤5 or >5, respectively. Follow‐up data were obtained by chart review. Progression was defined as structural progression as per RECIST 1.1 or further surgical intervention; or biochemical progression as unstimulated thyroglobulin increasing >20% from baseline. Results: Of 142 patients included in the study 121 patients had follow‐up data available for review. At baseline, 49 patients were classified as I‐PET [0], 10 as I‐PET [1], 16 as I‐PET [2] and 46 as I‐PET [3]. Progression was seen in 11/49 (22%) of I‐PET [0], 4/10 (40%) of I‐PET [1], 10/16 (63%) of I‐PET [2] and 34/46 (74%) of I‐PET [3] (p < 0.001). I‐PET [2B] and I‐PET [3B] had a progression rate of 88% (7/8) and 78% (25/32), respectively. I‐PET [3B] were 9.6 times more likely to commence multikinase inhibitor therapy (p = 0.001) and had 8 times greater mortality (p = 0.003) than patients in other I‐PET groups combined. Conclusion: I‐PET is a simple readily acquired imaging biomarker that potentially enhances the dynamic risk stratification and guide treatment in thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Path integration changes may precede a clinical presentation of Alzheimer's disease by several years. Studies to date have focused on how spatial cell changes affect path integration in preclinical AD. However, vestibular input is also critical for intact path integration. Here, we developed the vestibular rotation task that requires individuals to manually point an iPad device in the direction of their starting point following rotational movement, without any visual cues. Vestibular features were derived from the sensor data using feature selection. Machine learning models illustrate that the vestibular features accurately classified Apolipoprotein E ε3ε4 carriers and ε3ε3 carrier controls (mean age 62.7 years), with 65% to 79% accuracy depending on task trial. All machine learning models produced a similar classification accuracy. Our results demonstrate the cross-sectional role of the vestibular system in Alzheimer's disease risk carriers. Future investigations should examine if vestibular functions explain individual phenotypic heterogeneity in path integration among Alzheimer's disease risk carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The dengue virus (DENV) has been endemic in Myanmar since 1970, causing outbreaks every 2–3 years. DENV infection symptoms range from mild fever to lethal hemorrhage. Clinical biomarkers must be identified to facilitate patient risk stratification in the early stages of infection. We analyzed 45 cytokines and other factors in serum samples from the acute phase of DENV infection (within 3–5 days of symptom onset) from 167 patients in Yangon, Myanmar, between 2017 and 2019. All of the patients tested positive for serum DENV nonstructural protein 1 antigen (NS1 Ag); 78.4% and 62.9% were positive for immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG), respectively; and 18.0%, 19.8%, and 11.9% tested positive for serotypes 1, 3, and 4, respectively. Although the DENV-4 viral load was significantly higher than those of DENV-1 or DENV-3, disease severity was not associated with viral load or serotype. Significant correlations were identified between disease severity and CCL5, SCF, PDGF-BB, IL-10, and TNF-α levels; between NS1 Ag and SCF, CCL5, IFN-α, IL-1α, and IL-22 levels; between thrombocytopenia and IL-2, TNF-α, VEGF-D, and IL-6 levels; and between primary or secondary infection and IL-2, IL-6, IL-31, IL-12p70, and MIP-1β levels. These circulating factors may represent leading signatures in acute DENV infections, reflecting the clinical outcomes in the dengue endemic region, Myanmar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic fungi, though low in abundance in rumen, play an important role in the degradation of forage for herbivores. When only anaerobic fungi exist in the fermentation system, the continuous accumulation of metabolites (e.g., hydrogen (H2) and formate) generated from their special metabolic organelles—the hydrogenosome—inhibits the enzymatic reactions in the hydrogenosome and reduces the activity of the anaerobic fungi. However, due to interspecific H2 transfer, H2 produced by the hydrogenosome can be used by other microorganisms to form valued bioproducts. This symbiotic interaction between anaerobic fungi and other microorganisms can be used to improve the nutritional value of animal feeds and produce value-added products that are normally in low concentrations in the fermentation system. Because of the important role in the generation and further utilization of H2, the study of the hydrogensome is increasingly becoming an important part of the development of anaerobic fungi as model organisms that can effectively improve the utilization value of roughage. Here, we summarize and discuss the classification and the process of biomass degradation of anaerobic fungi and the metabolism and function of anaerobic fungal hydrogensome, with a focus on the potential role of the hydrogensome in the efficient utilization of biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-fermentation technology has been successfully developed for ensiling rice straw; however, its effects on the particle-attached microbial community remains unknown. Therefore, rice straw (RS) and bio-fermented rice straw (BFRS) were used as substrates for in vitro rumen fermentation to investigate the effect of bio-fermentation on particle-attached microbial community, as well as their effects on gas and methane production, fermentation products, and fiber degradation. Our results have shown that total gas production, fiber degradation, and in vitro fermentation products were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than the RS, while methane concentration in total gas volume was significantly lower (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than RS. Linear discriminant effect size (LefSe) analysis revealed that the relative abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Proteobacteria, and Lantisphaerae, as well as the genera Fibrobacter, Saccharofermentans, and [Eubacterium] ruminantium groups in the tightly attached bacterial community, was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than the RS, whereas other microbial communities did not change. Thus, bio-fermentation altered the tightly attached bacterial community, thereby improving gas production, fiber degradation, and fermentation products. Furthermore, bio-fermentation reduced methane concentration in total gas volume without affecting the archaeal community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dehydration of wet bacterial cellulose (BC) mainly focuses on the physical characteristic or mechanical strength, but its polymorph crystal structure and thermal properties were rarely discussed. Herein, this study utilizes the drying method of hot-pressed and freeze-dried to the wet BC to elucidate the BC polymorph crystal structure in correlation with the BC crystallinity and thermal properties. The results indicate that dehydration of BC using hot-pressed (BC-HP) method reduced the cellulose Iα allomorph fraction by ± 5.0%, increased the crystallinity by ± 5.0%, but lower in thermal stability compared to freeze-dried (BC-FD) method. Additionally, BC-HP shows an exothermic reaction of melting at lower enthalpy value which is contradict to BC-FD and plant cellulose that presented an endothermic reaction with higher enthalpy values. Thus, investigation on BC polymorph crystal structure and thermal properties may offer an important role to regulate the desired characteristic of the dried BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jatropha oil-based polyurethane acylate gel polymer electrolyte was mixed with different concentrations of tetrabutylammonium iodide salt (TBAI). The temperature dependences of ionic conductivity, dielectric modulus and relaxation time were studied in the range of 298 to 393 K. The highest ionic conductivity of (1.88 ± 0.020) × 10–4 Scm−1 at 298 K was achieved when the gel contained 30 wt% of TBAI and 2.06 wt% of I2. Furthermore, the study found that conductivity-temperature dependence followed the Vogel-Tammann Fulcher equation. From that, it could be clearly observed that 30 wt% TBAI indicated the lowest activation energy of 6.947 kJ mol−1. By using the fitting method on the Nyquist plot, the number density, mobility and diffusion coefficient of the charge carrier were determined. The charge properties were analysed using the dielectric permittivity, modulus and dissipation factor. Apart from this, the stoke drag and capacitance were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dengue (DEN) is a neglected tropical disease, and surveillance of dengue virus (DENV) serotypes and genotypes is critical for the early detection of outbreaks. Risk factors for outbreaks include the emergence of new genotypes and serotype shifting. Methodology and principal findings: To understand the genomic and viral characteristics of DENV-infected patients, we conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study among pediatric patients admitted at the 550-bedded Mandalay Children Hospital during the 2018 DEN endemic season. We conducted virus isolation, serological tests, viremia level measurement, and whole-genome sequencing. Among the 202 serum samples, we detected 85 samples with DENV (46 DENV-1, 10 DENV-3, 26 DENV-4 and three multiple serotype co-infections) via reverse transcription quantitative/real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and we obtained 49 DENV isolates (31 DENV-1, 10 DENV-3 and 8 DEN-4). We did not detect DENV-2 in this study. The viral genome levels in serum did not differ significantly among virus serotypes, infection status (primary versus secondary) and disease severity. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, we identified DENV-1 genotype-1, DENV-4 genotype-1 and DENV-3 genotype-3 and genotype-1 which was detected for the first time. Next-generation sequencing analysis revealed greater frequencies of nonsynonymous and synonymous mutations per gene in the nonstructural genes. Moreover, mutation rates were also higher among DENV-1. Conclusion/Significance: In conclusion, there was an increasing trend of DENV-3 cases during DENV endemic season in 2018 with the first detection of the genotype 1. However, DENV-1 has remained the predominant serotype in this study area since 2013, and we identified stop codon mutations in the DENV-1 genome. This report is the first to feature a complete genome analysis of the strains of DENV-3 and DENV-4 circulating among pediatric patients in Myanmar. This study highlighted the importance of annual surveillance for a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of DENVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to find out how do entrepreneurs perceive on relationship between franchisor and franchisee effectiveness of franchisor’s supports, building up trust to have a better performance of their business. Furthermore it is to clarify the relationship between franchisors and franchisees in fast food business in Yangon, Myanmar. Franchising is fast-growth and already been a success in global market in decades but still in an early stage for Myanmar. In this regard, many entrepreneurs in fast food franchising business are handicapped in dealing with the globally well-known brands. The contribution of previous researches about franchising has been explored in important of relationships between franchisor and franchisee. Using Leader-Member Exchange theory to develop a conceptual model to propose and explain how relationship quality can affect the important of franchisee’s trust and franchisee’s performance. An Exploratory research was conducted and involved gathering qualitative data using interviews. The sample considered in the study consisting 14 managers and owners in the fast food restaurant sector. This study can be deemed a new research topic in Myanmar because there are not many researches on franchisor and franchisee relationship, particularly in fast food sector. A thematic based analysis is used for this study. The properties of textual information, which detect the important structures of its communication content, are systematically identified. According to the finding of this study in franchise business, franchisor allows to use its brand name to the franchisor with the supports in kinds and cash. All 14 franchisees made the similar statement that they had supports from the franchisors. Most of the respondents agreed that the relationship between them will make their performance better because nature of franchise business is based on cooperation between franchisor and franchisee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, an outbreak of chikungunya virus infection occurred in Mandalay, Myanmar, and 3.2% of blood donors and 20.5% of patients who were children were confirmed as being infected. The prevalence rate was up to 6.3% among blood donors. The East Central/South African genotype was predominantly circulating during this outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue virus (DENV) infection remains a major public health concern in many parts of the world, including Southeast Asia and the Americas. Sri Lanka experienced its largest dengue outbreak in 2017. Neurological symptoms associated with DENV infection have increasingly been reported in both children and adults. Here, we characterize DENV type 2 (DENV-2) strains, which were isolated from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or serum of patients with dengue encephalitis. Acute serum and CSF samples from each patient were subjected to dengue-specific non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen test, IgM and IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), virus isolation, conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Among the 5 dengue encephalitis patients examined, 4 recovered and 1 died. DENV-2 strains were isolated from serum and/or CSF samples of 3 patients. The highest viral genome levels were detected in the CSF and serum of the patient who succumbed to the illness. A phylogenetic tree revealed that the DENV-2 isolates belonged to a new clade of cosmopolitan genotype and were genetically close to strains identified in China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. According to the NGS analysis, greater frequencies of nonsynonymous and synonymous mutations per gene were identified in the nonstructural genes. The full genomes of serum- and CSF-derived DENV-2 from the same patient shared 99.7% similarity, indicating that the virus spread across the blood-brain barrier. This is the first report to describe neurotropic DENV-2 using whole-genome analysis and to provide the clinical, immunological, and virological characteristics of dengue encephalitis patients during a severe dengue outbreak in Sri Lanka in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus. Outbreaks of ZIKV infection have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Americas and the Caribbean. Although most ZIKV infections are asymptomatic, cases of neurological manifestations have been described. The aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of ZIKV infection among the asymptomatic persons in Myanmar in 2018. Methods A total of 284 serum samples from apparently healthy persons were collected from Yangon, Myanmar in 2018. They were analysed for ZIKV infection by immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), IgG indirect ELISA, 50% focus reduction neutralization test, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and conventional RT-PCR. Results Of the 284 apparently healthy persons, 31.3% were positive for the presence of IgM against ZIKV and 94.3% were positive for anti-flavivirus IgG. Among the ZIKV IgM-positive samples, we confirmed ZIKV infection in 15.8% of asymptomatic persons by neutralization test and real-time RT-PCR. Conclusions We conclude that ZIKV infection was increasing among asymptomatic persons in the same area in Myanmar during 2018 compared with 2017. It is highly recommended to strengthen the surveillance system for ZIKV to prevent possible outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine quality of life and its associating factors among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the hilly region of Myanmar. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the National AIDS Program and Integrated HIV Care Program in Myanmar. A total of 326 PLHIV were recruited, of whom 49.1% had high QOL. Adherence to ART (AOR: 5.18; 95% CI: 2.02–13.31), high social capital (AOR: 3.16; 95% CI: 1.85–5.38), being male (AOR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.27–3.83), asymptomatic (AOR: 2.18; 95% CI: 1.24–3.83), low self-stigma (AOR: 2.85; 95% CI: 1.61–5.04), and time spent at the clinic less than 30 min (AOR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.15–4.08) were significant predictors of quality of life (QOL) among PLHIV. This study revealed that social factors such as HIV stigma and gender issues are important determinants of QOL in addition to health service factors and clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the sizes of key populations at risk for HIV is crucial for HIV prevention and treatment. We provide findings of population size estimates (PSE) of males who inject drugs (MWID) in Myanmar, provide an intuitive method for countries to extrapolate subnational estimates into national estimates and provide guidance on how to maximize the utility of current PSE techniques. We used unique object and service multipliers, and successive sampling PSE in conjunction with a respondent driven sampling survey of MWID in ten Myanmar townships in 2014. Township estimates were assessed at a stakeholder meeting for biases and coded into ranges of high, medium and low MWID prevalence areas. Using the sampled townships as benchmarks for a range of MWID proportion estimates, national level MWID size estimates were derived by multiplying the adult male population for all townships with their corresponding proportion estimates. Final PSE ranged from high (4.12%), medium (1.02%) and low (0.11%), with the final agreed national point estimate of 83,000 MWID. Using estimates from survey data, this can translate into actual numbers of MWID living with HIV and practicing risky injecting and sexual behaviors. Although PSE are vital for monitoring HIV epidemics, no guidance exists for interpreting results of different PSE techniques or for extrapolating these results into national estimates. Assessing bias and gaining consensus on township level estimates and deriving ranges of MWID PSE throughout the country using stakeholder input is intuitive and accessible to countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although clinical best practice suggests that affect awareness could enable more effective technological support for physical rehabilitation through personalisation to psychological needs, designers need to consider what affective states matter, and how they should be tracked and addressed. In this article, we set the standard by analysing how the major affective factors in chronic pain (pain, fear/anxiety, and low/depressed mood) interfere with everyday physical functioning. Further, based on discussion of the modality that should be used to track these states to enable technology to address them, we investigated the possibility of using movement behaviour to automatically detect the states. Using two bodymovement datasets on people with chronic pain, we show that movement behaviour enables very good discrimination between two emotional distress levels (F1=0.86), and three pain levels (F1=0.9). Performance remained high (F1=0.78 for two pain levels) with a reduced set of movement sensors. Finally, in an overall discussion, we suggest how technology-provided encouragement and awareness can be personalised given the capability to automatically monitor the relevant states, towards addressing the barriers that they pose. In addition, we highlight movement behaviour features to be tracked to provide technology with information necessary for such personalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the synthesis of polyesterification reaction of non-edible jatropha seed oil (JO) and acrylic acid, which leads to the production of acrylated epoxidised-based resin. To understand the physico-chemical characteristics when synthesis the JO-based epoxy acrylate, the effect of temperature on the reaction, concentration of acrylic acid and role of catalyst on reaction time and acid value were studied. Design/methodology/approach First, the double bond in JO was functionalised by epoxidation using the solvent-free performic method. The subsequent process was acrylation with acrylic acid using the base catalyst triethylamine and 4-methoxyphenol as an inhibitor respectively. The physico-chemical characteristics during the synthesis of the epoxy acrylate such as acid value was monitored and analysed. The formation of the epoxy and acrylate group was confirmed by a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. Findings The optimum reaction condition was achieved at a ratio of epoxidised JO to acrylic acid of 1:1.5 and the reaction temperature of 110°C. This was indicated by the acid value reduction from 86 to 15 mg KOH/g sample at 6 hours. Practical implications The JO-based epoxy acrylate synthesised has a potential to be used in formulations the prepolymer resin for UV curable coating applications. The JO which is from natural resources and is sustainable raw materials that possible reduce the dependency on petroleum-based coating. Originality/value The epoxidised jatropha seed oil epoxy acrylate was synthesised, as a new type of oligomer resin that contains a reactive acrylate group, which can be alternative to petroleum-based coating and can used further in the formulation of the radiation curable coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable polyol is of increasing interest as a building block in biomedical elastomer for bearing biodegradable ester group and immaculate functionality. Derived from non-edible vegetable oil, a new class of elastomer was successfully functionalized with MDI and TDI. Crosslink densities were varied by regulating ratio of hydroxyl to diisocyanate ( r) at 1/1.0, 1/1.1, and 1/1.2. Produced elastomers were examined by crosslink density, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile testing, and scanning electron microscopy. The obtained elastomers had subambient glass transition temperature ( T ) suggested majority soft segment that acted as a continuous phase with intermediate phase separation. Medium conversion at gel point had enhanced physical properties. Highly elastic mechanical behavior was afforded from combination of side chains and high molecular weight polyol. At r = 1/1.2, MDI-based elastomer showed twofold improvement in Young modulus at slight expense of elongation. TDI-based elastomer accomplished elongation beyond 162%. Branching allophanate and biuret resisted early thermal breakdown by elevating activation energy. Frequency response and kinetic of thermal degradation provided beneficial perspective for elastomer characterization. The vegetable oil-based polyurethane was found able to resemble most of the physical properties of polycaprolactone (PCL)-derived polyurethane. Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike most other health conditions, the treatment of mental illness relies on subjective measurement. In addition, the criteria for diagnosing mental illnesses are based on broad categories of symptoms that do not account for individual deviations from these criteria. The increasing availability of personal digital devices, such as smartphones that are equipped with sensors, offers a new opportunity to continuously and passively measure human behavior in situ. This promises to lead to more precise assessment of human behavior and ultimately individual mental health. More refined modeling of individual mental health and a consideration of individual context, assessed through continuous monitoring, opens the way for more precise and personalized digital interventions that may help increase the number of positive clinical outcomes in mental healthcare. In this paper, we provide a conceptual review of such techniques for measuring, modeling, and treating mental illness and maintaining mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain-related emotions are a major barrier to effective self rehabilitation in chronic pain. Automated coaching systems capable of detecting these emotions are a potential solution. This paper lays the foundation for the development of such systems by making three contributions. First, through literature reviews, an overview of how pain is expressed in chronic pain and the motivation for detecting it in physical rehabilitation is provided. Second, a fully labelled multimodal dataset (named ‘EmoPain’) containing high resolution multiple-view face videos, head mounted and room audio signals, full body 3D motion capture and electromyographic signals from back muscles is supplied. Natural unconstrained pain related facial expressions and body movement behaviours were elicited from people with chronic pain carrying out physical exercises. Both instructed and non-instructed exercises were considered to reflect traditional scenarios of physiotherapist directed therapy and home-based self-directed therapy. Two sets of labels were assigned: level of pain from facial expressions annotated by eight raters and the occurrence of six pain-related body behaviours segmented by four experts. Third, through exploratory experiments grounded in the data, the factors and challenges in the automated recognition of such expressions and behaviour are described, the paper concludes by discussing potential avenues in the context of these findings also highlighting differences for the two exercise scenarios addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the original article there were errors in the methods section. Thus, within Table 1: (i) the primer sequence pair for SOD-2 was incorrectly cited; (ii) the primer sequence pair used for SOD 1 was incorrect and did not target the gene of interest. Additional experiments were performed with correctly designed SOD1 primer pair and the outcomes documented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active and passive mobile sensing has garnered much attention in recent years. In this paper, we focus on chronic pain measurement and management as a case application to exemplify the state of the art. We present a consolidated discussion on the leveraging of various sensing modalities along with modular server-side and on-device architectures required for this task. Modalities included are: activity monitoring from accelerometry and location sensing, audio analysis of speech, image processing for facial expressions as well as modern methods for effective patient self-reporting. We review examples that deliver actionable information to clinicians and patients while addressing privacy, usability, and computational constraints. We also discuss open challenges in the higher level inferencing of patient state and effective feedback with potential directions to address them. The methods and challenges presented here are also generalizable and relevant to a broad range of other applications in mobile sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite its importance in social interactions, laughter remains little studied in affective computing. Intelligent virtual agents are often blind to users’ laughter and unable to produce convincing laughter themselves. Respiratory, auditory, and facial laughter signals have been investigated but laughter-related body movements have received less attention. The aim of this study is threefold. First, to probe human laughter perception by analyzing patterns of categorisations of natural laughter animated on a minimal avatar. Results reveal that a low dimensional space can describe perception of laughter “types”. Second, to investigate observers’ perception of laughter (hilarious, social, awkward, fake, and non-laughter) based on animated avatars generated from natural and acted motion-capture data. Significant differences in torso and limb movements are found between animations perceived as laughter and those perceived as non-laughter. Hilarious laughter also differs from social laughter. Different body movement features were indicative of laughter in sitting and standing avatar postures. Third, to investigate automatic recognition of laughter to the same level of certainty as observers’ perceptions. Results show recognition rates of the Random Forest model approach human rating levels. Classification comparisons and feature importance analyses indicate an improvement in recognition of social laughter when localized features and nonlinear models are used. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bio-fermentation technology has been successfully developed for ensiling rice straw; however, its effects on the particle-attached microbial community remains unknown. Therefore, rice straw (RS) and bio-fermented rice straw (BFRS) were used as substrates for in vitro rumen fermentation to investigate the effect of bio-fermentation on particle-attached microbial community, as well as their effects on gas and methane production, fermentation products, and fiber degradation. Our results have shown that total gas production, fiber degradation, and in vitro fermentation products were significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than the RS, while methane concentration in total gas volume was significantly lower (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than RS. Linear discriminant effect size (LefSe) analysis revealed that the relative abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Proteobacteria, and Lantisphaerae, as well as the genera Fibrobacter, Saccharofermentans, and [Eubacterium] ruminantium groups in the tightly attached bacterial community, was significantly higher (p < 0.05) for the BFRS than the RS, whereas other microbial communities did not change. Thus, bio-fermentation altered the tightly attached bacterial community, thereby improving gas production, fiber degradation, and fermentation products. Furthermore, bio-fermentation reduced methane concentration in total gas volume without affecting the archaeal community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria, particularly in foodborne pathogens, has increasingly become apparent in most parts of the world including ASEAN countries, creating great impact on economy, human and animal health and international food trade. The tendency of bacterial pathogens to become multidrug resistant (MDR) is the most serious concern in AMR. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will be fully established in 2015 and ASEAN cooperation has acknowledged the significance of food safety, of which AMR is one of the major concerns. There is a need for all ASEAN nations to harmonize its AMR monitoring and surveillance programmes in order to strengthen the control and institute prevention strategies in the region. Currently, public health systems dealing with monitoring and control in ASEAN countries are still highly diverse and require a unifying action. National monitoring and control programmes for AMR have not been successfully established in most ASEAN countries and a regional-cooperative programme has yet to be set in place. Therefore, a review of current AMR situations in ASEAN member states shall be useful for future development and establishment of monitoring and control programmes within the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerometry is a widely used sensing modality in human biomechanics due to its portability, non-invasiveness, and accuracy. However, difficulties lie in signal variability and interpretation in relation to biomechanical events. In walking, heel strike and toe off are primary gait events where robust and accurate detection is essential for gait-related applications. This paper describes a novel and generic event detection algorithm applicable to signals from tri-axial accelerometers placed on the foot, ankle, shank or waist. Data from healthy subjects undergoing multiple walking trials on flat and inclined, as well as smooth and tactile paving surfaces is acquired for experimentation. The benchmark timings at which heel strike and toe off occur, are determined using kinematic data recorded from a motion capture system. The algorithm extracts features from each of the acceleration signals using a continuous wavelet transform over a wide range of scales. A locality preserving embedding method is then applied to reduce the high dimensionality caused by the multiple scales while preserving salient features for classification. A simple Gaussian mixture model is then trained to classify each of the time samples into heel strike, toe off or no event categories. Results show good detection and temporal accuracies for different sensor locations and different walking terrains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduced power requirements of miniaturized electronics offer the opportunity to create devices which rely on energy harvesters for their power supply. In the case of wearable devices, human-based piezoelectric energy harvesting is particularly difficult due to the mismatch between the low frequency of human activities and the high-frequency requirements of piezoelectric transducers. We propose a piezoelectric energy harvester, to be worn on the knee-joint, that relies on the plucking technique to achieve frequency up-conversion. During a plucking action, a piezoelectric bimorph is deflected by a plectrum; when released due to loss of contact, the bimorph is free to vibrate at its resonant frequency, generating electrical energy with the highest efficiency. A prototype, featuring four PZT-5H bimorphs, was built and is here studied in a knee simulator which reproduces the gait of a human subject. Biomechanical data were collected with a marker-based motion capture system while the subject was carrying a selection of backpack loads. The paper focuses on the energy generation of the harvester and how this is affected by the backpack load. By altering the gait, the backpack load has a measurable effect on performance: at the highest load of 24 kg, a minor reduction in energy generation (7%) was observed and the output power is reduced by 10%. Both are so moderate to be practically unimportant. The average power output of the prototype is 2:06 ± 0:3 mW, which can increase significantly with further optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plantar lesions induced by biomechanical dysfunction pose a considerable socioeconomic health care challenge, and failure to detect lesions early can have significant effects on patient prognoses. Most of the previous works on plantar lesion identification employed the analysis of biomechanical microenvironment variables like pressure and thermal fields. This paper focuses on foot kinematics and applies kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) for nonlinear dimensionality reduction of features, followed by Fisher's linear discriminant analysis for the classification of patients with different types of foot lesions, in order to establish an association between foot motion and lesion formation. Performance comparisons are made using leave-one-out cross-validation. Results show that the proposed method can lead to ∼94%correct classification rates, with a reduction of feature dimensionality from 2100 to 46, without any manual preprocessing or elaborate feature extraction methods. The results imply that foot kinematics contain information that is highly relevant to pathology classification and also that the nonlinear KPCA approach has considerable power in unraveling abstract biomechanical features into a relatively low dimensional pathology-relevant space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Videofluoroscopy remains one of the mainstay methods for clinical swallowing assessment, yet its interpretation is both complex and subjective. This, in part, reflects the difficulties associated with estimation of bolus transit time through the oral and pharyngeal regions by visual inspection, and problems with consistent repeatability. This paper introduces a software-only framework that automatically determines the time taken for the bolus to cross 1-D anatomical landmarks representing the oral and pharyngeal region boundaries (Fig. 1). The user-steered delineation algorithm live-wire and straight-line annotators are used to demarcate the landmark on a frame prior to the swallow action. The rate of change of intensity of the pixels in each landmark is used as the detection feature for bolus presence that can be visualized on a spatiotemporal plot. Artifacts introduced by head and neck movement are removed by updating the landmark coordinates using affine parameters optimized by a genetic-algorithm-based registration method. Heuristics are applied to the spatiotemporal plot to identify the frames during which the bolus passes the landmark. Correlation coefficients between three observers visually inspecting twenty-four 5-mL single swallow clips did not exceed 0.42. Yet the same measurements taken using this framework on the same clips had correlation coefficients exceeding 0.87. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the effort to produce renewable and biodegradable polymers, more studies are being undertaken to explore environmentally friendly sources to replace petroleum-based sources. The oil palm industry is not only the biggest vegetable-oil producer from crops but also one the biggest producers of residual oil that cannot be used for edible purposes due to its low quality. In this paper the development of biopolymers from residual palm oil, residual palm oil with 10% jatropha oil, and residual palm oil with 10% algae oil as additives were explored. Polyols from the different oils were prepared by epoxydation with peroxyacetic acid and alcoholysis under the same conditions and further reacted with poly isocyanate to form polyurethanes. Epoxidized oils, polyols and polyurethanes were analyzed by different techniques such as TGA, DSC, DMA, FTIR and H-NMR. Overall, although the IV of algae oil is slightly higher than that of jatropha oil, the usage of algae oil as additive into the residual palm oil was shown to significantly increase the hard segments and thermal stability of the bio polyurethane compared to the polymer with jatropha oil. Furthermore, when algae oil was mixed with the residual palm oil, it was possible to identify phosphate groups in the polyol which might enhance the fire-retardant properties of the final biopolymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the antibacterial properties of Carvacrol (Carv) have been significantly reported. However, due to the unstable properties of Carv under various environment conditions, research approaches tailored towards its widespread and efficient use in various antimicrobial applications are scarce. Here, we discuss progress towards overcoming this challenge by utilising the encapsulation of Carv in gellan gum hydrogels to form thin films (GG-Carv) containing different concentrations of Carv (0.01–0.32 M). FTIR spectrum of GG-Carv revealed that both functional groups from GG and Carv existed. The carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen elemental analysis further supported the encapsulation of Carv with the changes in the element percentage of GG-Carv. Both swelling and degradation percentage increased with time and the decreasing patterns were observed as the concentration of Carv increased. In an antibacterial study, GG-Carv exhibited significant antibacterial activity against E. coli with the clear inhibition zone of 200 mm and the detection of bacterial growth showed enhancement with continuous decline throughout the study as compared to free-standing Carv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endemic roofed turtle Kachuga trivittata has been extirpated over most of its former range in the Ayeyarwady River system of Myanmar. Only two small remnant populations are known to survive. In a small stretch of the upper Chindwin River K. trivittata persists because local Shan villages traditionally ban the killing of large adult K. trivittata. The population has nevertheless declined dramatically during the last few years because of the erosion of the ban by migrant fishermen from central Myanmar who do not observe the local regulation, and because of the overexploitation of eggs. The traditional regulation of the Shan villages offers a basis, through its reinforcement and education of migrants, for a species recovery programme. Further actions will include the protection of nests and eggs, and eventually the banning of camps and seasonal settlements on sand-banks used by K. trivittata for nesting. K. trivittata also still persists in the Dokhtawady River in a small area subjected to low exploitation pressure in the recent past because of the dangers of a frontline between the government army and an army of insurgents. The opening of this area following a truce brought this population close to extinction and a hydroelectric dam under construction will alter the ecology of this stretch of river. We propose to assess the potential use of the future impoundment lake for the recovery of this K. trivittata population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jatropha oil-based polyol (JOL) was prepared from crude Jatropha oil via an epoxidation and hydroxylation reaction. During the isocyanation step, two different types of diisocyanates; 2,4-toluene diisocyanate (2,4-TDI) and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), were introduced to produce Jatropha oil-based polyurethane acrylates (JPUA). The products were named JPUA-TDI and JPUA-IPDI, respectively. The success of the stepwise reactions of the resins was confirmed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to support the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis that was reported in the previous study. For JPUA-TDI, the presence of a signal at 7.94 ppm evidenced the possible side reactions between urethane linkages with secondary amine that resulted in an aryl-urea group (Ar-NH-COO-). Meanwhile, the peak of 2.89 ppm was assigned to the α-position of methylene to the carbamate (-CH2NHCOO) group in the JPUA-IPDI. From the rheological study, JO and JPUA-IPDI in pure form were classified as Newtonian fluids, while JPUA-TDI showed non-Newtonian behaviour with pseudoplastic or shear thinning behaviour at room temperature. At elevated temperatures, the JO, JPUA-IPDI mixture and JPUA-TDI mixture exhibited reductions in viscosity and shear stress as the shear rate increased. The JO and JPUA-IPDI mixture maintained Newtonian fluid behaviour at all temperature ranges. Meanwhile, the JPUA-TDI mixture showed shear thickening at 25 °C and shear thinning at 40 °C, 60 °C and 80 °C. The master curve graph based on the shear rate for the JO, JPUA-TDI mixture and JPUA-IPDI mixture at 25 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C and 80 °C was developed as a fluid behaviour reference for future storage and processing conditions during the encapsulation process. The encapsulation process can be conducted to fabricate a self-healing coating based on a microcapsule triggered either by air or ultra-violet (UV) radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of bio-based polymers in place of conventional polymers gives positives effects in the sense of reduction of environmental impacts and the offsetting of petroleum consumption. As such, in this study, jatropha oil was used to prepare epoxidized jatropha oil (EJO) by the epoxidation method. The EJO was used to prepare a shape memory polymer (SMP) by mixing it with the curing agent 4-methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHPA) and a tetraethylammonium bromide (TEAB) catalyst. The resulting bio-based polymer is slightly transparent and brown in color. It has soft and flexible properties resulting from the aliphatic chain in jatropha oil. The functionality of SMP was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. The thermal behavior of the SMP was measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and it showed that the samples were thermally stable up to 150 °C. Moreover, the glass transition temperature characteristic was obtained using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. The shape memory recovery behavior was investigated. Overall, EJO/MHPA was prepared by a relatively simple method and showed good shape recovery properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever, caused by the mosquito-borne dengue virus (DENV), has been endemic in Myanmar since 1970 and it has become a significant public health burden. It is crucial that circulating DENV strains are identified and monitored, and that their transmission efficiency and association with disease severity is understood. In this study, we analyzed DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4 serotypes in 1235 serum samples collected in Myanmar between 2017 and 2019. Whole-genome sequencing of DENV-1–4 demonstrated that most DENV-1–4 strains had been circulating in Myanmar for several years. We also identified the emergence of DENV-3 genotype-I in 2017 samples, which persisted through 2018 and 2019. The emergence of the strain coincided with a period of increased DENV-3 cases and marked changes in the serotype dynamics. Nevertheless, we detected no significant differences between serum viral loads, disease severity, and infection status of individuals infected with different DENV serotypes during the 3-year study. Our results not only identify the spread of a new DENV-3 genotype into Yangon, Myanmar, but also support the importance of DENV evolution in changing the epidemic dynamics in endemic regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sein Win [5] obtained some degree conditions for the existence of a spanning tree with bounded maximum degree in a graph. Y. Caro, I. Krasikov and Y. Roditty [2], and, I. Krasikov and Y. Roditty [4] extended his results giving lower bounds for the size of largest tree with bounded maximum degree. We further extend the results by considering all trees with bounded maximum degree which are maximal with respect to the inclusion of vertex set. We then characterize the graphs which meet the bounds. Also, we obtain lower bounds for all maximal trees with bounded maximum degree in the graphs which satisfy a certain structure condition, as a generalization of G. Fan's condition [3] for hamiltonicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there is a significant trend away from solvent-based polyurethane systems towards waterborne polyurethane dispersions due to government regulations requiring manufacturers to lower total volatile organic compounds, as well as consumer preference for more environmentally friendly products. In this work, a renewable vegetable oil-based polyol derived from jatropha oil was polymerized with isophorone diisocyanate and dimethylol propionic acid to produce anionic waterborne polyurethane dispersion. Free standing films with up to 62 wt.% bio-based content were successfully produced after evaporation of water from the jatropha oil-based waterborne polyurethane (JPU) dispersion, which indicated good film formation. The chemical and thermo-mechanical properties of the JPU films were characterized. By increasing the OH numbers of polyol from 161 mgKOH/g to 217 mgKOH/g, the crosslinking density of the JPU was significantly increased, which lead to a better storage modulus and improved hydrophobicity. Overall, JPU produced from polyol having OH number of 217 mgKOH/g appears to be a promising product for application as a binder for wood and decorative coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the preparation of bio-based polyurethane (PU) from renewable vegetable oil. The PU was synthesized through the reaction between jatropha oil-based polyol and isocyanate in a one-shot method. Then, lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) salt was added to the polyurethane system to form an electrolyte film via a solution casting technique. The solid polymer electrolyte was characterized through several techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), electrochemical studies, thermal studies by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The NMR analysis confirmed that the polyurethane was successfully synthesized and the intermolecular reaction had occurred in the electrolytes system. The FTIR results show the shifting of the carbonyl group (C=O), ether and ester group (C–O–C), and amine functional groups (N–H) in PU–LiClO4 electrolytes compared to the blank polyurethane, which suggests that interaction occurred between the oxygen and nitrogen atom and the Li+ ion as they acted as electron donors in the electrolytes system. DSC analysis shows a decreasing trend in glass transition temperature, Tg and melting point, Tm of the polymer electrolyte as the salt content increases. Further, DMA analysis shows similar behavior in terms of Tg. The ionic conductivity increased with increasing salt content until the optimum value. The dielectric analysis reveals that the highest conducting electrolyte has the lowest relaxation time. The electrochemical behavior of the PU electrolytes is in line with the Tg result from the thermal analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic fungi in the digestive tract of herbivores are one of the critical types of fiber-degrading microorganisms present in the rumen. They degrade lignocellulosic materials using unique rhizoid structures and a diverse range of fiber-degrading enzymes, producing metabolic products such as H2/CO2, formate, lactate, acetate, and ethanol. Methanogens in the rumen utilize some of these products (e.g., H2 and formate) to produce methane. An investigation of the interactions between anaerobic fungi and methanogens is helpful as it provides valuable insight into the microbial interactions within the rumen. During the last few decades, research has demonstrated that anaerobic fungi stimulate the growth of methanogens and maintain methanogenic diversity. Meanwhile, methanogens increase the fiber-degrading capability of anaerobic fungi and stimulate metabolic pathways in the fungal hydrogenosome. The ability of co-cultures of anaerobic fungi and methanogens to degrade fiber and produce methane could potentially be a valuable method for the degradation of lignocellulosic materials and methane production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]