Urbanization, economic development, and environmental changes in transitional economies in the global south: a case of Yangon.

Background: Transitional economies in Southeast Asia-a distinct group of developing countries-have experienced rapid urbanization in the past several decades due to the economic transition that fundamentally changed the function of their economies, societies and the environment. Myanmar, one of the least developed transitional economies in Southeast Asia, increased urbanization substantially from 25% in 1990 to 31% in 2019. However, major knowledge gaps exist in understanding the changes in urban land use and land cover and environment and their drivers in its cities.

Postpartum women's knowledge and planned use of contraception in Myanmar.

Background: Maternal mortality in Myanmar is one of the highest in the WHO South-East Asian region. Additionally, the country has a high unmet need for contraception and low rates of uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods (LARCs) including intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. Engagement with health professionals around the time of a birth is an ideal opportunity for women to access contraception but immediate postpartum provision is not widely offered in Myanmar.

Field evaluation of HRP2 and pan pLDH-based immunochromatographic assay in therapeutic monitoring of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Myanmar.

Background: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) are used for diagnostic purpose in malaria-endemic areas where reliable microscopy is not available. Persistence of the antigenaemia causes over-diagnosis and may limit the usefulness of the RDT in monitoring treatment. In this study, the usefulness of histidine-rich protein-2 (HRP2) and pan-specific or species-specific Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) in treatment monitoring of uncomplicated falciparum malaria was carried out in an endemic setting in Myanmar.

Isolation of antitrypanosomal compounds from Vitis repens, a medicinal plant of Myanmar.

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of an ethanolic extract of Vitis repens led to the isolation of resveratrol (1), 11-O-acetyl bergenin (2), and stigmast-4-en-3-one (3). The compounds were examined for their in vitro antitrypanosomal activities against trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma evansi. Resveratrol showed antitrypanosomal activity with an IC50 value of 0.