The increasing importance of electric vehicles lies in their lower emissions compared to fossil fuel vehicles.However, challenges like long charging times and range anxiety hinder their widespread adoption.Battery swapping stations offer a practical solution to expedite EV refueling, reducing wait times and range concerns.This research proposes a battery-swapping architecture that provides battery-swapping services to electric vehicles while exploring additional revenue sources and cost reductions.The model uses batteries of the battery swapping station as a battery energy storage system, supplying power to mobile or stationary loads during grid or renewable energy source downtime.By offering cost-effective electricity during peak hours or non-availability, the model demonstrates up to a 35% reduction in consumer electricity costs during peak hours and an 8.8% reduction in overall costs during 24-hour operation.The implementation combines linear programming with machine learning to forecast renewable energy output and electric vehicle energy demand, considering flexible battery charging and discharging controls and degradation processes.These optimization results show the potential of the proposed model to boost battery swapping station income and cut costs, contributing significantly to the electric vehicle market's growth.
Objective: To compared the functional gait among left and right hemisphere lesion patients of stroke.
Methods: This cross sectional comparative study included 126 patients with right and left sided hemispheric lesion. The study was conducted from December 2019 to March 2020. Patients were selected consecutively from different hospitals and rehabilitation centers of Lahore, Pakistan on the basis of inclusion & exclusion criteria. Functional gait assessment (FGA) scale was used to measure functional gait performance and disturbance related to balance in stroke patients. Independent sample t-test was used for comparison of functional gait between left and right hemispheric lesions. A p-value ≤ .05 was taken statistically significant.
Results: A total of 126 patients of stroke with right and left sided hemisphere lesion were assessed for functional gait assessment. The mean age of patients in group A and B was 54.19±8.54 years and 51.46±8.57 years, respectively. The mean weight of patients in group A and B was 61.95±8.82 kg and 58.67±5.83 kg, respectively. Functional gait assessment mean score in group A was 12.56±2.60 and in group B was 15.59±4.17 points with p-value of 0.001. There was a significant difference of FGA scores present between the two groups.
Conclusions: The study concluded that ambulatory functions differ with respect to site of hemisphere lesion. The site of hemisphere lesion impact on patient's functional gait has statistically significant.
Objectives: To observe the relationship of nasal foreign bodies in terms of patient’s age as well as the type of foreign body and removal technique.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in ENT department, Akbar Niazi Teaching Hospital, Islamabad from April 2017 to May 2018. A total of 120 patients selected by non-probability consecutive sampling technique with inclusion criteria of all children less than 12 years with foreign body in nose were recruited for this study after taking written informed consent. Patients who had concurrent nasal infections and trauma were excluded. Children age, gender, site, type of foreign body and removal technique were recorded. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 21.
Results: A total of 120 patients were presented with nasal foreign bodies, 107 cases were successfully dealt with in OPD while 13 patients were admitted for removal under general anaesthesia. The commonest affected age group was 2-5 years (78.33%) with more females (55.75%) than males (44.25%). Organic type of foreign body was 55.8% and inorganic type of foreign body was 44.2%. Seeds and small nuts (35%) were found to be the commonest types of nasal foreign body. The correlation between age groups, types of foreign body, removal technique and site of foreign body was significant (p value ≤ 0.05).
Conclusion: Nasal foreign bodies are commonly faced problem in children, specially in 2-5 years of age. They are largely harmless but complications can occur if neglected. Prevention remains the best option while for non-cooperative and attempted cases, removal under general anaesthesia is safe and preferred.
Introduction: Tuberculosis is the most common cause of infectious diseases related mortality globally. Tuberculous pleural effusion is a common presentation of extra pulmonary tuberculosis and a diagnostic challenge most of the time. The rapid diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion is essential for early treatment. GeneXpert is a new tool for rapid diagnosis but the ability to correctly diagnose of GeneXpert is a vital concern in the diagnosis of extra pulmonary tuberculosis.
Objective: To determine the accurate ability of diagnosing the pleural fluid GeneXpert MTB/RIF assessment in the suspected pleural tuberculosis patients considering as gold standard to the pleural biopsy.
Methods: This study was a validational cross sectional survey and it was conducted in pulmonology department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad from 1st July to 31st December 2018 after approval of IRB. Participants with suspected pathology ≥ 18 year with exudative pleural effusion were included in the study. By implementing the process of standard technique, closed needle pleural biopsy was executed by means of ABRAM’S needle. The collected samples of patients were sent to the pathology department of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for histopathology. Pleural fluid was referred to National Institute of Health Islamabad for GeneXpert MTB/RIF assessment on the alike day and reports were assembled. All findings were entered in a structured Proforma. Data was entered in SPSS version 20 and analyzed.
Results: Total 180 patients were included; 65.6% patients were male. When the sensitivity of pleural fluid GeneXpert MTB/RIF examination was calculated it was 10.4% whereas, the calculated specificity was 72.8%. While +ve predictive value of GeneXpert was 22.2% and -ve predictive value was 52.1%. Likelihood ratio was 8.25 and ROC curve also showed similar values.
Conclusion: The sensitivity of pleural fluid GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay is very low and specificity is moderate for diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis when compared with pleural biopsy.