The Hasty Pees in Sicily

Account given by Major A.R. Campbell Officer Commanding ‘A’ Company and Captain N.R. Waugh, MC, Officer Commanding ‘D’ Company, Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment, on 18 August 1943, at Battalion Rest Area near MILITELLO in val di CATANIA, SICILY

Pakistan’s Industrial Experience and Future Directions

This paper examines the growth and patterns of industrial production and investment activities in Pakistan during the last fifty years, 1947–1997. The industrial strategies pursued so far and the levels of efficiency and protection in the manufacturing industries are also examined. It shows that the growth rate of the manufacturing sector exceeded 8 percent up to the 1980s, but in the recent years, it has slipped to around 3 percent. Keeping in view the current sluggish output growth and inadequate investments in the industrial sector, it is recommended that Pakistan must pursue the efficient industrialisation strategy. For this purpose, the country has to pursue the sole objective of accelerating the pace of industrial investment activities and the tariff structure has to be changed in such a way that the activities chosen accord with her dynamic comparative advantage. In addition, the government will need to influence the structure of incentives, which are largely governed in Pakistan by the protection structure. The government must provide the necessary physical and social infrastructure for efficient industrialisation. Augmenting the science and technology apparatus of the private sector, bringing research institutions up to the international standards, and streamlining of technology creation, absorption and diffusion systems are essential to diversify production towards new technology-based industries. Cluster approach (i.e., an agglomeration of key industries, supporting sectors, infrastructures, and institutions that are interlinked and interdependent) can be quite useful in the development of vendors. The regulatory framework needs to be streamlined. There is also a need to improve outdated and overlapping laws regarding the industrial sector. Human resource development (through cluster approach) would improve industrial efficiency through innovations. Consistent and stable policies and improved law and order situation are pre-requisites for efficient industrial development in Pakistan.

Recovery at Morvin: SERPENT final report

Recovery from disturbance is poorly understood in deep water, but the extent of anthropogenic impacts is becoming increasingly well documented. We used Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) to visually assess the change in benthic habitat after exploratory hydrocarbon drilling disturbance around the Morvin well located at 380m depth in the Norwegian Sea.An ROV, launched directly from the rig drilling the well in 2006 was used to carry out video transects around the well before drilling and immediately after. On a return to the site three years after disturbance a larger survey was conducted with a ship-launched ROV in 2009. Transects were repeated at the disturbed area and random background transects were taken. Visible drill cuttings were mapped for each survey, and positions and counts of epibenthic invertebrate megafauna were determined, revealing a fauna dominated by Cnidaria (45% of total observations) and Porifera (33%).Immediately after disturbance a visible cuttings pile extended to over 100m from the well and megafaunal density was significantly reduced (0.07 individuals m-2) in comparison to pre-drill data (0.23 ind. m-2). Three years later the visible extent of the cuttings pile had reduced in size, reaching 60m from the well and considerably less in some headings. In comparison to background transects (0.21 ind. m-2), megafaunal density was significantly reduced on the remaining cuttings (0.04m-2), but beyond the visible disturbance there was no significant difference (0.15m-2). The investigation at this site shows a return to background densities of megafaunal organisms over a large extent of the area previously disturbed. However a central area, where the initial cuttings pile was deepest, demonstrated reduced sessile megafaunal density which persisted three years after disturbance. Elevated Barium concentration and reduced sediment grain size suggests persistence of disturbance beyond the remaining visibly impacted area which may result in changes to the infaunal communities undetectable by ROV video survey

Maternal and neonatal serum magnesium concentrations in neural tube defects pregnancies in Gorgan (North of Iran) - A case control study

Objective: Neural tube defects (NTD) comprise a group of congenital malformations that include spinabifida, anencephaly and encephalocele. Previous studies have reported the embryotoxic and teratogenic effects of Magnesium deficiency in animal models. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine an association between Magnesium deficiency and neural tube defects in Northern Iran, which was reported to have a high prevalence of neural tube defects. Methods: This hospital based case control study was conducted on 13 mothers with newborns having neural tube defects and 35 healthy mothers as controls in Northern Iran during 2005-2006. Serum Magnesium was measured by spectrophotometery. Results: Serum Magnesium levels in mothers with NTD affected newborns and in mothers with healthy newborns were 1.5±0.6 and 1.32±0.3 micromol/litter, respectively. Overall, 46.2% mothers in the case group and 48.6 % mothers in the control group had Magnesium deficiency. Logistic regression analysis showed no association between the presence of NTD and Magnesium deficiency (OR =0.9, 95% Cl: 0.2-3.9, p=0.88). Serum Magnesium levels in newborns with NTD and healthy normal newborns were 1.4±0.6 micromol/litter and 1.3±0.4 micromol/litter, respectively. Overall, 30.8% newborns in the case group and 37.1 % newborns in the control group had Magnesium deficiency. Logistic regression analysis showed no association between the presence of NTD and Magnesium deficiency (OR =0.8, 95% Cl: 0.1-3.4 p=0.68). Conclusion: The present study did not find any association between the occurrence of NTD and Magnesium deficiency

Oving Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors

The Office of Naval Research Department Of The Navy Contract No. N 00014-67-A-0305-0010 ; Project No. NR 064-183/5-28-70(439

Quality assurance program for prototype stereotactic system developed for Neptun 10 PC linac

Background: A prototype stereotactic radiosurgery set was designed and constructed for a Neptun 10 PC linac that is currently being used at Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad. Materials and Methods: A complete qualit y assurance program was designed and performed for the constructed system including isocentric accuracy test, localization accuracy test, dose delivery accuracy test and leakage radiation test. Target simulator, control alignment device and plexiglass phantom which were parts of the developed hardware were used to fulfill quality assurance program. Results: The average isocentric shift resulted from the gantry rotation and couch turning were respectively obtained to be 1.4 and 2 mm. The average localization error in the three coordinates was found to be 2.2 mm. The total treatment uncertainty due to all of the probable errors in the system was equal to 4.32 mm. The dose delivery accuracy test was carried out, the result indicated a 3-7% difference between the given and measured dose. Conclusion: The quality assurance tests showed consistent performance of the constructed system within the accepted limits; however, some inconsistency might exist in certain cases. The safety of SRS method is increased when the overall uncertainty is minimized and the treatment of the lesions adjacent to critical organs is avoided