Cost of training: Implications to decision-makers

Costs of training for various categories of health manpower in Myanmar was determined. Using the costs of training thus obtained, the manpower equivalence or conversion rates between different categories of health manpower was generated. This study illustrates how our local decision makers could make a health manpower policy analysis based on cost of training for different health workers.

A comparative study of the ventricular escape phenomenon from vagal stimulation

The phenomenon of ventricular escape from continued vagal stimulation has so far not been satisfactorily explained. Recently, Friedman and Campos (1960) and Friedman and Bhagat (1962) have postulated that the phenomenon of vagal escape might be explained as the basis of the catecholamine content of the heart. We have tested this hypothesis by correlating the degree of vagal inhibition with that of the catecholamine content of the heart in different species of animals. The hearts were depleted of catecholamines by the administration of reserpine and the degrees of vagal influence on these hearts compared with that on control animals. There was no correlation between the total catecholamine content of the heart and the degree of vagal inhibition. However, in resepinised dogs and cats, guinea-pig and fish stimulation of the vagas resulted in a greater inhibition of the heart than in non-reserpinised animals.

Blood groups of the Inthas and Tavoyans of Burma

The distribution of the ABO, MNS and Rh Blood groups in the Intha and Tavoyan populations have been studied and compared. In the ABO and MNS systems there was no significant difference between the two populations. In the Rh system however, a significant difference was found. The cDe (R? ) and cde r chromosome frequencies of the Tavoyans are significantly different from those of the Inthas. It is suggested that the introduction of the non-South-East asian cde r chromosome into the genetic structure of the Tavoyans may be due to admixture with a population giving a high d gene frequency. The present study favours the theory that the Inthas are a branch of the original Burmese stock and not the inhabitants of Tavoy who moved later to the Inle Lake.

Urinary 17-oxosteroid (ketosteroid) excretion in normal adult Burmese males

Urinary samples from 22 Burmese subjects were taken to study the urinary 17-oxosteroid excretion for the purpose of establishing a standard of reference for further routine investigation. The mean 24-hour urinary neutral 17-oxosteroid excretion in healthy adult Burmese males is lower than that of the healthy European males. The low 24-hour urinary neutral 17-oxosteroid excretion found in Burmese is comparable to those found in Indians, Africans and Egyptians.