Abdominial injuries in road traffic accidents

The incidence of closed abdominal injuries in patients admitted to St. Luke's Hospital, Malta after being involved in road traffic accidents, though not alarmingly high, is certainly not negligible. Of course, in cases coming to post-mortem, abdominal injuries are found in a higher proportion, usually associated with other lethal injuries to head and chest. The diagnosis of blunt intra-abdominal injury is always difficult and often obscured by shock, unconsciousness and the presence of other injuries to the head, chest and limbs. The most important decision is whether to explore or not rather than to determine which particular organ has been damaged. If in doubt, it is better to look and see than to wait and see.peer-reviewe

Results of biliary operations without operative cholangiography

Paper read at the Meeting of the Moynihan Chirurgical Club held in Malta in May 1969. In St. Lukes Hospital Malta, for a number of reasons, we do not use routine operative cholangiography. In this review an attempt is made to analyse the results of biliary operations without its use. The records of patients who underwent biliary operations for non-malignant conditions in the five-year period between 1963 and 1967 are here reviewed. The total number of patients was 229. Of these, 18 have been excluded because their records could not be traced. This leaves for consideration 211 patients on whom a total of 214 operations were performed. The results of biliary operations, without the use of operative cholangiography are analysed. The low incidence (1.2%) of residual stones following cholecystectomy only does not justify the routine use of operative cholangiography. The high incidence (9.1% to 13.6%) of residual stones after choledochotomy should lead to the adoption of post-exploratory operative cholangiography in those cases where the ducts are explored. Additionally, the exploration rate is also compared to similar studies carried out overseas.peer-reviewe

The effect of solar activity on the Doppler and multipath spread of HF signals received over paths oriented along the mid-latitude trough

Measurements of the Doppler and delay spread associated with HF signals propagating along an oblique (1440 km) path tangential to the midlatitude ionospheric trough are presented for sunspot maximum and minimum. During the day, Doppler spread is independent of solar activity, but for winter and equinoctial nights, it is very much higher at sunspot maximum. The delay spread is also generally higher at sunspot maximum for all seasons and times of day. For sunspot minimum, measurements from a second, longer path (1800 km) are also presented. The observed Doppler and delay spreads are similar for both paths. Finally, a novel method of more accurately deriving the delay spread defined by the International Telecommunication Union (i.e., the largest delay spread including all modes that have a peak power within a user-defined threshold of that of the strongest mode) from Voice of America coverage analysis program (VOACAP) predictions is presented. For the first time, the predicted values are compared with the measured delay spreads and, while there is generally good agreement at sunspot minimum, the agreement at sunspot maximum tends to be poor because the behavior of the high-order ionospheric modes (e.g., 3F2) is not well predicted by VOACAP

A comparison of observed and modelled deviations from the great circle direction for a 4490 km HF propagation path along the midlatitude ionospheric trough

Measurements of the direction-of-arrival of signals propagating on a long (4490 km) path along the midlatitude trough show that the azimuth can be deviated by up to 100° from the great circle bearing. In this paper an attempt has been made to model the shift in azimuth through a ray tracing simulation. Two possible mechanisms which lead to changes in azimuth have been investigated: (1) propagation along the density gradients which form the equatorward wall of the trough and (2) side scatter from regions of the sea well to the south of the trough. Of these two mechanisms, sea scatter gives results which are much closer to those observed

Mineral resource information for development plans : phase one Herefordshire & Worcestershire : resources and constraints

This report is one of a series prepared by the British Geological Survey for various administrative areas in England and Wales for Phase One of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Research Project ‘Mineral Resource Information for Development Plans.’ The report and accompanying map relate to the area of the Mineral Planning Authorities of Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council. The report and map delineate and describe the mineral resources of current, or potential, economic interest in the area and relate these to national planning designations which may represent constraints on the extraction of minerals. Three major elements of information are presented and described: the geological distribution and importance of mineral resources the extent of mineral planning permissions and the location of current mineral workings the extent of selected planning constraints (national statutory designations) This wide range of information, much of which is scattered and not always available in a consistent and convenient form, is presented as a digitally-generated summary map. The map is produced at 1:100000 scale, which is convenient for overall display and allows for a legible topographic base on which to depict the information. In addition, as the data are held digitally using a Geographical Information System (GIS), easy revision, updating and customisation are possible, including presentation of subsets of the data at larger scales. Basic mineral resource information is essential to support mineral exploration and development activities for resource evaluation and planning, and to establish baseline data for environmental impact studies and environmental guidelines. It also enables a sustainable pattern and standard of development to be achieved by valuing mineral resources as national assets. The purpose of the work is to assist all interested parties involved in the preparation and review of development plans, both in relation to the extraction of minerals and the protection of mineral resources from sterilisation, by providing a knowledge base on the nature and extent of mineral resources and the environmental constraints which may affect their extraction. However, it is anticipated that the map and report will also provide valuable data for a much wider audience, including the minerals industry, the Planning Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency, other agencies and government bodies, environmental interests and the general public. The mineral resource information has been produced by the collation and interpretation of data principally held by the British Geological Survey. The methodology for the collection and display of the data is described and a range of sources of information and further contacts is presented. The mineral resources covered are sand and gravel, hard rock, brick clay, silica sand, coal, hydrocarbons, and secondary aggregates

Time of flight measurements over a radio link from Uppsala to Bruntingthorpe and their application to testing predictions methods that approximate the ray tracing technique

Time of flight measurements (TOF) over the radio link between Uppsala (Tx: 59.9°N, 17.6°E) and Bruntingthorpe (Rx: 52.5°N, 1.1°W) have been performed every 2 min at six frequencies (4.637, 6.954, 8.008, 10.391, 11.118, and 14.364 MHz) during the period November 2006–January 2008. Such measurements have been compared with the TOF provided by three prediction methods that approximate the ray tracing technique: IRI-95, SIRM&BR_D, and ICEPAC. The root mean square deviation (rms) between TOF monthly median measurements and TOF monthly median predictions and the differences (DP) between the length of the median and predicted ray path have been calculated. The results, which are presented in terms of rms and DP for different seasons and different time periods, have indicated that the approximate methods are inadequate and that for more accurate predictions ray tracing techniques should be applied

Mineral resource information for development plans : phase one Shropshire : resources and constraints (including Telford and Wrekin)

This report is one of a series prepared by the British Geological Survey for various administrative areas in England and Wales for Phase One of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Research Project Mineral Resource Information for Development Plans. The report and accompanying maps relate to the area of the Mineral Planning Authorities of Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. The report and maps delineate and describe the mineral resources of current, or potential, economic interest in the area and relate these to national planning designations which may represent constraints on the extraction of minerals. Three major elements of information are presented and described: • the geological distribution and importance of mineral resources • the extent of mineral planning permissions and the location of current mineral workings • the extent of selected planning constraints (national statutory designations) This wide range of information, much of which is scattered and not always available in a consistent and convenient form, is presented on two digitally-generated summary maps. For reasons of clarity, sand and gravel resources are separated from all other mineral resources. The maps are produced at 1:100 000 scale, which is convenient for overall display and allows for a legible topographic base on which to depict the information. In addition, as the data are held digitally using a Geographical Information System (GIS), easy revision, updating and customisation are possible, including presentation of subsets of the data at larger scales. Basic mineral resource information is essential to support mineral exploration and development activities, for resource management and land-use planning, and to establish baseline data for environmental impact studies and environmental guidelines. It also enables a more sustainable pattern and standard of development to be achieved by valuing mineral resources as national assets. The purpose of the work is to assist all interested parties involved in the preparation and review of development plans, both in relation to the extraction of minerals and the protection of mineral resources from sterilisation, by providing a knowledge base on the nature and extent of mineral resources and the environmental constraints which may affect their extraction. However, it is anticipated that the maps and report will also provide valuable data for a much wider audience, including the minerals industry, the Planning Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, the Countryside Commission, other agencies and government bodies, environmental interests and the general public. The mineral resource information has been produced by the collation and interpretation of data principally held by the British Geological Survey. The methodology for the collection and display of the data is described and a range of sources of information and further contacts is presented. The mineral resources covered are coal, crushed-rock aggregate, comprising limestone, sandstone and igneous rock, sand and gravel, clay and shale, fireclay, hydrocarbons, salt, secondary aggregates and metalliferous minerals