Evaluation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Chinese EIA in Myanmar: Myitsone Dam,the Lappadaung Copper Mine and the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines

The economic relationship between China and Myanmar is regarded as a win–win cooperation. However, Chinese investments, especially in extractive and natural resource sectors, are associated with a number of unwanted environmental consequences. Moreover, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) quality of Chinese enterprises has often been criticized. EIA identifies adverse impacts to the environment through evidence-based decision making. On this basis, this paper provides an evaluation of Chinese EIA performance within the natural resources sector through a structured review of 15 environmental impact statements (EISs). This research also evaluates the EISs of the three largest and most controversial projects, the Myitsone Hydropower Dam, Lappadaung Copper Mine and Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines. The findings reveal several omissions, inadequacies and deficiencies in all the projects with a significant number of EISs falling short of satisfactory quality. Through the analysis, the paper summarizes the factors affecting the EIA performance and proposes feasible recommendations to improve EIA practices in Chinese development projects in Myanmar.     

A three-stage real-time detector for traffic signs in large panoramas

Computational Visual Media - Traffic sign detection is one of the key components in autonomous driving. Advanced autonomous vehicles armed with high quality sensors capture high definition images...     

Development of the First Oral Bioprecursors of Bis‐alkylguanidine Antimalarial Drugs

Plasmodium falciparum is responsible of the most severe form of malaria, and new targets and novel chemotherapeutic scaffolds are needed to fight emerging multidrug‐resistant strains of this parasite. Bis‐alkylguanidines have been designed to mimic choline, resulting in the inhibition of plasmodial de novo phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. Despite potent in vitro antiplasmodial and in vivo antimalarial activities, a major drawback of these compounds for further clinical development is their low oral bioavailability. To solve this issue, various modulations were performed on bis‐alkylguanidines. The introduction of N‐disubstituents on the guanidino motif improved both in vitro and in vivo activities. On the other hand, in vivo pharmacological evaluation in a mouse model showed that the N‐hydroxylated derivatives constitute the first oral bioprecursors in bis‐alkylguanidine series. This study paves the way for bis‐alkylguanidine‐based oral antimalarial agents targeting plasmodial phospholipid metabolism.     

Experimental study of early-age behavior of high performance concrete deck slabs under different curing methods

Curing techniques and curing duration have crucial effects to the strength and durability of concrete. Proper curing can protect against moisture loss from fresh concrete. The objective of this experimental study is to examine the early-age behavior of high-performance concrete (HPC) under various curing methods. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the early-age shrinkage development, temperature change, and evaporation rate when different curing methods were used. Four curing techniques and two curing durations were applied to concrete deck slab and cylindrical specimens. The measured experiment data were also compared with several shrinkage prediction models. The results show that proper moisture-curing methods can effectively reduce concrete temperature due to hydration heat and limit the development of early-age shrinkage strains. The concrete of a longer curing duration would yield lower shrinkage deformation and lower evaporation rate.