Design, development, and analysis of a twin-fluid fire suppression atomizer and characterization of electrostatically charged droplet sprays

A twin-fluid water mist fire suppression atomizer is designed, developed, and analyzed. Of primary interest is the development of a twin-fluid atomizer that produces a large droplet diameter and velocity distribution and also produces a mist with sufficient cone angle to be effective in fire suppression applications. Spray characterization experiments are conducted utilizing Phase Doppler Particle Analysis (PDPA). The effect of atomizer nozzle geometry on internal two-phase flow and resulting spray pattern is investigated. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 750 characterization experiments are conducted to verify that the sprays produced by the developed atomizer are classified as a water mist as defined by the Standard. Water mist sprays are produced using three different atomizing gases: Carbon Dioxide, Helium, and Nitrogen. PDPA measurements obtained utilizing all three gases are compared and analyzed. Full-scale fire suppression experiments are conducted using the developed twin-fluid atomizers. Identical experiments are conducted with a commercially available water mist atomizer to provide a basis for comparison. Fire tests are conducted on Class B fires consisting of pool, spray, jet, and simulated machinery space fires. The locations of the fires relative to the atomizer are varied to study the effects of atomizer position on fire suppression performance. The results reported herein indicate the atomizer’s ability to rapidly extinguish Class B fires. Also, the mechanisms of extinguishment for each fire scenario are described. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are conducted on charged droplet sprays. A Spray Triodeâ electrostatic atomizer is utilized to study the effects of charged droplet sprays with varying electrical boundary conditions near the exit of the atomizer. The boundary conditions near the atomizer are varied by placing grounded and ungrounded obstructions in the spray flow field. The experimental results indicate .the charged droplet’s ability to wrap around objects and sustain counter gravity flow

mHealth in Developing Countries: Progress Toward Global Health Equity

Global health equity is an elusive goal as developing countries lag behind the developed world in most health outcomes. The growth of mobile networks and mobile phone adoption across the developing world in recent years could lead to effective mHealth programs to reduce those inequities. To understand how this can best be accomplished, we analyze review studies of mHealth initiatives in developing countries and present our findings through a SWOT analysis. The strengths (improved health outcomes, improved treatment quality and adherence), weaknesses (difficult to scale, technical challenges), opportunities (improving equitable health access, enhancing disease control), and threats (mobile technology limitations, cultural variations) of mHealth initiatives in developing countries are discussed. Recommendations to improve mHealth initiatives in developing countries include empowering more women with leadership and technology skills, applying more theory to inform the development and evaluation of mHealth projects, and provisioning more financial support for those initiatives

Grade Span Configuration and Academic Performance for Students in Poverty: A Texas Multiyear Analysis

Grade-span configuration refers to the range of grades within a school (Coladarci & Hancock, 2002). The debate over the benefits of one grade span configuration over the other has ensued for decades (Howley, 2002). Specific questions in this debate are (a) Which grade span configuration is most cost effective?; (b) Which grade span configuration yields the best academic achievement?; and (c) Which grade span configuration best meets the social and emotional needs of middle level children? (Howley, 2002)

Re-viewing Adult Learning: A Collaborative Self-Directed Learning Model for Adult Educators

The CSDL model for adult education suggests the incorporation of autonomy and collaboration to traditional SDL. An exploratry model that addresses individual and group choice, control, resources and benefits is proposed

History of the Innovation of Damage Control for Management of Trauma Patients: 1902-2016

Objective: To review the history of the innovation of damage control (DC) for management of trauma patients. Background: DC is an important development in trauma care that provides a valuable case study in surgical innovation. Methods: We searched bibliographic databases (1950-2015), conference abstracts (2009-2013), Web sites, textbooks, and bibliographies for articles relating to trauma DC. The innovation of DC was then classified according to the Innovation, Development, Exploration, Assessment, and Long-term study model of surgical innovation. Results: The innovation\u27\u27 of DC originated from the use of therapeutic liver packing, a practice that had previously been abandoned after World War II because of adverse events. It then developed\u27\u27 into abbreviated laparotomy using rapid conservative operative techniques.\u27\u27 Subsequent exploration\u27\u27 resulted in the application of DC to increasingly complex abdominal injuries and thoracic, peripheral vascular, and orthopedic injuries. Increasing use of DC laparotomy was followed by growing reports of postinjury abdominal compartment syndrome and prophylactic use of the open abdomen to prevent intra-abdominal hypertension after DC laparotomy. By the year 2000, DC surgery had been widely adopted and was recommended for use in surgical journals, textbooks, and teaching courses ( assessment\u27\u27 stage of innovation). Long-term study\u27\u27 of DC is raising questions about whether the procedure should be used more selectively in the context of improving resuscitation practices. Conclusions: The history of the innovation of DC illustrates how a previously abandoned surgical technique was adapted and readopted in response to an increased understanding of trauma patient physiology and changing injury patterns and trauma resuscitation practices

Safety Recommendations for Evaluation and Surgery of the Head and Neck During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Importance The rapidly expanding novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has challenged the medical community to an unprecedented degree. Physicians and health care workers are at added risk of exposure and infection during the course of patient care. Because of the rapid spread of this disease through respiratory droplets, health care workers who come in close contact with the upper aerodigestive tract during diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, such as otolaryngologists–head and neck surgeons, are particularly at risk. A set of safety recommendations was created based on a review of the literature and communications with physicians with firsthand knowledge of safety procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Observations A high number of health care workers were infected during the first phase of the pandemic in the city of Wuhan, China. Subsequently, by adopting strict safety precautions, other regions were able to achieve high levels of safety for health care workers without jeopardizing the care of patients. The most common procedures related to the examination and treatment of upper aerodigestive tract diseases were reviewed. Each category was reviewed based on the potential risk imposed to health care workers. Specific recommendations were made based on the literature, when available, or consensus best practices. Specific safety recommendations were made for performing tracheostomy in patients with COVID-19. Conclusions and Relevance Preserving a highly skilled health care workforce is a top priority for any community and health care system. Based on the experience of health care systems in Asia and Europe, by following strict safety guidelines, the risk of exposure and infection of health care workers could be greatly reduced while providing high levels of care. The provided recommendations, which may evolve over time, could be used as broad guidance for all health care workers who are involved in the care of patients with COVID-19

Applying Machine Learning to Neutron-Gamma Ray Discrimination from Scintillator Readout Using Wavelength Shifting Fibers

Advances in machine learning have found wide applications including radiation detection. In this work, machine learning is applied to neutron-gamma ray discrimination of an organic liquid scintillator (OLS) readout using wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers. The objective of using WLS fiber is to enable the transfer of the light signal from the scintillation medium, with almost any active volume geometry, to a low-profile photomultiplier. This is a common practice in high-energy physics research and has proven to be very effective for such applications. The drawback of this approach is the light pulses carried to the photomultiplier through the WLS fibers do not perfectly replicate the original OLS light pulses’ intensities or timing. This drawback causes traditional pulse shape discrimination algorithms applied to the degraded light pulses to fail to discriminate between neutron and gamma ray events. However, differences in the degraded light pulses for neutrons and gamma rays still exist and various machine learning algorithms can be applied to identify these differences. An experimental system was constructed to simultaneously capture part of the scintillation medium signal and the corresponding signal through the WLS fibers. Using the known neutron-gamma ray discrimination characteristics directly measured in the scintillation medium to provide the ground truth, supervised machine learning algorithms were applied to the corresponding light pulses carried to the photomultiplier through the WLS fibers. The results indicate that this approach will enable enhanced recovery of neutron-gamma ray discrimination information. This research effort will focus on two aspects of the OLS-WLS system: 1) developing an experimental system to create machine learning training data and 2) applying and evaluating various machine learning algorithms

Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Greensboro, Georgia

Episcopal Church of the Redeemer documentation involved creating a set of HABS (Historic American Building Survey) architectural drawings and a written historical report. The drawings and report are part of the permanent HABS collection in the Library of Congress.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1054/thumbnail.jp