Determinants of Neonatal and Post-neonatal Mortality in Pakistan

Ensuring the survival and well being of children is a concern of families, communities and nations throughout the world. Since the turn of the 20th century infant and child mortality in more developed countries has steadily declined and, currently, has been reduced to almost minimal levels. In contrast, although infant and child mortality has declined in the past three decades in most less developed countries, the pace of change and the magnitude of improvement vary considerably from one country to another. The inverse relationship between socio-economic variables of the parents and infant and child mortality is well established by several studies [Muhuri (1995); Forste (1994); Hobcraft, et al. (1984); Caldwell (1979); Sathar (1985, 1987)] and it holds true irrespective of the overall level of mortality in the national populations [Ruzicka (1989)]. The influence of parental education on infant and child health and mortality has proved to be universally significant [Bicego and Boerma (1993); Caldwell, et al. (1990)]. The father’s education, mother’s education and their work status each have independent effects upon child survival in developing countries [Sandiford, et al. (1995); Forste (1994); Caldwell, et al. (1983)]. Economic conditions of the household also help in explaining the variation in infant and child mortality. The nature of housing, diet, access to and availability of water and sanitary conditions as well as medical attention all depend on the economic conditions of the household. For example, poor families may reside in crowded, unhygienic housing and, thus, suffer from infectious disease associated with inadequate and contaminated water supplies and with poor sanitation [Esrey and Habicht (1986)]. Maternal factors, which are biological attributes of birth, such as the age of mother at the time of childbirth, birth order and birth interval [Forste (1994); Rutstein (1984)], have significant effects on child survival.

Trade Liberalization, Financial Sector Reforms and Growth

This paper empirically investigates the impact of trade and financial liberalization on economic growth in Pakistan using annual observations over the period 1961-2005. The analysis is based on the bound testing approach of cointegration advanced by Pesaran et al (2001). The empirical findings suggest that both trade and financial policies play an important role in enhancing growth in Pakistan in the long-run. However, the short-run response of real deposit rate and trade policy variable is very low, suggesting further acceleration of reform process. The feedback coefficient suggests a very slow rate of adjustment towards long-run equilibrium. The estimated short-run dynamics are stable as indicated by CUSUMQ test.Financial Sector Reforms; Trade Liberalization; Growth; Pakistan

Charged Scalar Pair Production in Strong-Field Photon-Photon Interaction

Following the pioneering work of H. Reiss [1], we provide a covariant calculation of the charged scalar particle pair production. The calculation is facilitated by the use of two-dimensional Bessel functions and light-font coordinates.Comment: 8 page

2-Chloro-4-(2-iodo­benzene­sulfonamido)­benzoic acid

In the title compound, C13H9ClINO4S, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 81.04 (17)°. The disposition of the I and Cl atoms attached to the two rings is anti. In the crystal, mol­ecules are connected via O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Novel Edge States in Self-Dual Gravity

In contrast to the Einstein-Hilbert action, the action for self-dual gravity contains vierbeins. They are eleminated at the level of observables by an $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ gauge condition implied by the action. We argue that despite this condition, new "edge" or superselected state vectors corresponding to maps of the spheres $S^2_{\infty}$ at infinity to $SL(2, \mathbb{C})$ arise. They are characterised by new quantum numbers and they lead to mixed states. For black holes, they arise both at the horizon and the spatial infinity and may be relevant for the black hole information paradox. Similar comments can be made about the Einstein-Palatini action which uses vierbeins.Comment: 15 pages, reference added, some minor notational changes - no changes in conclusio

Determinants of Neonatal and Post-neonatal Mortality in Pakistan

Ensuring the survival and well being of children is a concern of families, communities and nations throughout the world. Since the turn of the 20th century infant and child mortality in more developed countries has steadily declined and, currently, has been reduced to almost minimal levels. In contrast, although infant and child mortality has declined in the past three decades in most less developed countries, the pace of change and the magnitude of improvement vary considerably from one country to another. The inverse relationship between socio-economic variables of the parents and infant and child mortality is well established by several studies [Muhuri (1995); Forste (1994); Hobcraft, et al. (1984); Caldwell (1979); Sathar (1985, 1987)] and it holds true irrespective of the overall level of mortality in the national populations [Ruzicka (1989)]. The influence of parental education on infant and child health and mortality has proved to be universally significant [Bicego and Boerma (1993); Caldwell, et al. (1990)]. The father’s education, mother’s education and their work status each have independent effects upon child survival in developing countries [Sandiford, et al. (1995); Forste (1994); Caldwell, et al. (1983)]. Economic conditions of the household also help in explaining the variation in infant and child mortality. The nature of housing, diet, access to and availability of water and sanitary conditions as well as medical attention all depend on the economic conditions of the household. For example, poor families may reside in crowded, unhygienic housing and, thus, suffer from infectious disease associated with inadequate and contaminated water supplies and with poor sanitation [Esrey and Habicht (1986)]