Prevalence of MRSA in Rawal Institute of Health Sciences Islamabad & its Antibiotic Susceptibility Pattern

Objective: To determine the prevalence of MRSA infection and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern in patients undergoing abdominal and vaginal surgeries. Material and Method: A retrospective observational study was conducted at Rawal General & Dental Hospital, Islamabad from September 2017 to September 2018 and data of approximately 300 patients were retrieved which included culture and sensitivity reports of wound and vaginal swabs of patients undergoing abdominal and vaginal surgeries to see prevalence of MRSA and antibiotics to which it is susceptible .Obesity was a risk factor and patients with immune-compromised status were not included. Result: Female patients were most affected 87%. Of the total cases, patients between ages 21 to 30 years were more frequent. The rate of MRSA was 37.0% in this study. There were 63% patients who showed methecilline resistance. Linezolid was more effective in MRSA and was sensitive in 81%. &nbsp

Distribution system loss minimization with network reconfiguration and cost-benefit price based demand reduction modeling

The developments in distribution automation technologies and optimization algorithms have made realization of highly reconfigurable and flexible distribution system viable. This paper proposes grey wolf optimization algorithm (GWO) to generate best reconfigured topology of the system when grid is under stress condition. The solution is used in demand response program based on cost-benefit price models. The reconfiguration scheme integrated with presented game theoretic demand response program is intended at getting peak load reductions to mitigate the distribution network power losses. Simultaneously, this research is aimed at determining the optimal utility, customer profit and load shedding, customers have to do to facilitate power grid on peak hours. The proposed technique is tested on IEEE 69 bus test system with residential customers. The results show 56.46% reduction in power losses and economic benefits, a utility or a consumer can get with the proposed model

Optimized sizing of photovoltaic grid-connected electric vehicle charging system using particle swarm optimization

In this paper, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used to find optimum size of the photovoltaic (PV) array and energy storage unit (ESU) for PV grid-connected charging system (in office workplace) for electric vehicles (EV). It is designed in such a way that the EVs are charged at a fixed price (rather than time-of-use price) without incurring economic losses to the station owner. The simulation is modeled using the single diode model (for PV) and the state of charge of Li-ion battery (for ESU and EV). The objective function of the PSO is formulated based on a financial model that comprises of the grid tariff, EV demand, and the purchasing as well as selling prices of the energy from PV and ESU. By integrating the financial model with energy management algorithm (EMA), the PSO computes the minimum number of PV modules (Npv) and ESU batteries (Nbat) for a various number of vehicles and office holidays. The resiliency of the proposed system is validated under different weather conditions, EV fleet, parity levels, energy prices, and operating period. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed system is compared with the standard grid charging system. The results suggest that with the computed Npv and Nbat, the charging price is decreased by approximately 16%, while the EV charging burden on the grid is reduced by 94% to 99%. It is envisaged that this work provides the guidance for the installers to precisely determine the optimum size of the components prior to the physical construction of the charging station

Controlled Evaluation of Bactec Peds Plus/F and Bactec Lytic/10 Anaerobic/F Media for Isolation of Salmonella enterica Serovars Typhi and Paratyphi A from Blood▿

We compared anaerobic lytic (AL) and pediatric aerobic resin-containing (Peds Plus/F) blood culture media for the isolation of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi or Paratyphi A from children. The yields from AL and Peds Plus/F media were the same with equal volumes of blood, but recovery was faster from AL medium than Peds Plus/F medium (10.7 and 16.4 h, respectively) (P < 0.001)