BackgroundSeizure is one of the common causes of childhood hospitalization with significant mortality and morbidity. There is limited data regarding acute seizures episodes form the developing countries. Current study aims to find the common etiology of seizure and classify seizure types in various age groups presenting to tertiary center in Western Nepal.MethodsThis was a hospital based retrospective study carried out in the data retrieved from the records maintained in the Department of Pediatrics, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara from 1st July 2007 to 31st July 2011.Variables collected were demographics, clinical presentations, laboratory tests, brain imaging studies, electroencephalography, diagnosis and hospital course.ResultsA total of 551 patients were admitted for seizures with 338 (61.3%) males and 213 (38.7%) females. Among these patients, 295 (53.5%) presented with fever and 317 (57.5%) of children were less than 5 years of age. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures were the most common seizure type (69.9%). Seizure disorder (33.4%), febrile seizures (30.7%), CNS infections and neurocysticercosis were common etiologies. Abnormal brain images were noted in 111 (45.9%) of 242 patients and most common abnormality was neurocysticercosis 66 (59.5%).ConclusionCNS infections and febrile convulsions were common causes of seizures in febrile children. Neuroimaging should be advised in all afebrile children for the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis. Children diagnosed as seizure disorder require long term follow up studies including neurophysiologic studies.

Cellular Automata (CA) modelling is extended to study the heterogeneous traffic observed in developing countries. In heterogeneous traffic, the physical and mechanical characteristics of different vehicles vary widely which in turn leads to complex traffic behaviour resulting in no-lane discipline. This nature of the heterogeneous traffic is modelled with the help of an improved discrete CA model. A detailed description of the methodology used in developing the basic structure of the CA model is presented and the modified methodology is used to generate different traffic scenarios. From the results, it is observed that with the help of simple updating rules along with typical heterogeneous traffic characteristics of the region, this model is able to reproduce real traffic behaviour. An added advantage is that the modified structure of the CA model can also be used to extract some basic traffic characteristics which are useful in understanding the heterogeneous traffic behaviour. The simulation model is finally validated using the flow and occupancy relationship obtained from the field. IntroductionThere exists a need for traffic flow modelling in developing countries on account of the growth in personalized traffic. Since the past decade, and for many developing cities, traffic management schemes are gaining importance. The core of any traffic management scheme is a better understanding of the traffic behaviour. There exist several traffic models to study homogeneous traffic behaviour. However, since the traffic is heterogeneous in nature and vehicle characteristics vary widely, it is not known whether any conventional microscopic (car following) or macroscopic models are applicable to study traffic in developing countries.In spite of this, microscopic simulation models were developed to study the heterogeneous traffic and it was found that these models had Ch. Mallikarjuna and K.R. Rao 322limited applicability for traffic analysis and further, they required enormous computational effort. Moreover, interactions between different elements such as the road conditions, type of vehicle, and the driver were also explicitly considered in these simulations, though this could limit the applicability of these models for different traffic conditions. In most of the simulation models, either space or time or both are considered as continuous variables, and since these models involve numerous elements (various vehicle types, different road conditions etc.), they require immense computational time. The objective of this study is to achieve a better computational efficiency in modelling complex traffic systems for different scenarios.The model developed in the present study is based on the Nagel and Schreckenberg's (NS) approach (1992). In the NS model, interactions between different elements (vehicles, road and driver) were considered implicitly and even though this basic model could not reproduce all the observed traffic characteristics, it was however able to reproduce the trends observed in real traffic. The model has unde...

Tra c congestion has been one of major issues that most metropolises are facing. It is believed that identi cation of congestion is the rst step for selecting appropriate mitigation measures. Congestion -both in perception and in reality -impacts the movement of people. Tra c congestion wastes time, energy and causes pollution. ere are broadly two factors, which e ect the congestion; (a) micro-level factors (b) macro-level factors that relate to overall demand for road use. Congestion is 'triggered' at the 'micro' level (e.g. on the road), and 'driven' at the 'macro' level. e micro level factors are, for example, many people want to move at the same time, too many vehicles for limited road space. On the other side, macro level factors are e.g. land-use pa erns, car ownership trends, regional economic dynamics, etc. is paper gives an overview and presents the possible ways to identify and measure metrics for urban arterial congestion. A systematic review is carried out, based on measurement metrics such as speed, travel time/delay and volume and level of service. e review covers distinct aspects like de nition; measurement criteria followed by di erent countries/organizations. e strengths and weaknesses of these measures are discussed. Further, a short critique of measurement criteria is presented.

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Introduction The dimensionality of pedestrian infrastructure facilities have a great influence on pedestrian movements and a considerable impact on natural environment of the facility. Understanding the pedestrian movements are crucial to estimate the capacity of the system accurately, especially in the transportation terminals such as railway stations, bus terminals, airports and so forth, where large crowd gathers and transfers. To have a safe and comfortable movement in normal situation and also a quick evacuation in emergency situation, pedestrian movement patterns should be analysed and modelled properly. Purpose Once the behaviour of pedestrians is established in terms of speed and density with respect to the environment, even for the colossal systems, the pedestrian flow characteristics can be modelled by applying extremely efficient simulations. The main modelling element in the context of flow models is the fundamental relationship among speed, flow and density. The objective of this study is to review the fundamental diagrams of pedestrian flow characteristics developed for various flow types and geometric elements. This paper also discusses the design values of flow parameters and walking speeds of pedestrians at various facilities.Methods In order to achieve the goal of this paper, we presented a systematic review of fundamental diagrams of pedestrian flow characteristics developed by using various approaches such as field, experimental and simulation.Conclusions After a thorough review of literature, this paper identifies certain research gaps which provides an opportunity to enhance the understanding of fundamental diagrams of pedestrian flow characteristics.