Fire Protection Engineering Analysis For Building 910 - Sandia National Labs/CA

This Fire Protection Engineering analysis was performed on Building 910 in Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, CA to examine the building’s fire safety and fire protection criteria which originally adhered to the 1985 Uniform Building Code. The object of this analysis is to determine the degree of compliance with the prescriptive codes in place today as well compliance with performance based analysis. For the prescriptive analysis consisted of evaluating the buildings occupancy classification, type of construction, egress design, fire detection and alarm systems, fire sprinkler system, Halon System, and structural fire protection are evaluated in terms of the life safety of the occupants. Each system was examined based on the requirements of the 2013 California Building Code and the 2013 California Fire Code, and the corresponding NFPA codes and standards. The sprinkler water demand was calculated and compared to the available supply to ensure adequacy of the water pressure and flow. The fire alarm system was analyzed for proper spacing of detection and adequate response of audio and visual notification appliances. The electrical demand of the alarm system was calculated to ensure the battery backup supply was sufficient for the required duration. The Halon system was evaluated to verify an adequate supply and concentration for total flooding as well as keeping in acceptable toxicity limits. The structural fire protection analysis confirmed proper materials and separation requirements existed in the building. In the performance based design analysis computer models were used to simulate egress in fire conditions. These models produced outputs that could be compared to pre-selected acceptable tenability limits for the occupants to determine if the Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) was longer than the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). This outcome would signify a successful performance. In the first design fire scenario several scattered items located under a part of machinery related to a boiler ignites after being exposed to radiative heat from a nearby boiler. The fire is shielded from the high temperature ceiling sprinklers which are located at a height of 18 feet which never activate during the 10-minute fire model due to the combination of ceiling height, temperature ratings and the relatively small size of the fire. The boiler room doors were assumed to be left propped open enabling the passage of smoke into the exit corridor. The RSET was calculated to be 140 seconds while the ASET was 580 seconds. The tenability test was easily passed for the basement fire as the relatively few (50) basement occupants exit the building in less than half of the available time. In the second design fire scenario a work station with an excessive fire load is ignited when a space heater is left on for several hours. The ensuing fire size is potentially 1.5 MW, however the sprinklers activate beginning at 70 seconds at the heat release rate (HRR) of 195 kW and the fire does not grow any larger. The required safe egress time (RSET) is calculated to be 253 seconds, while the conditions remain tenable for at least 260 seconds in both directions of egress

Friction Transfer of Teflon to Template the Growth of Organic Semiconductors

Organic field effect transistors (OFET) based on the latest generation of p-type organic semiconductors (DNTTT, C10-DNTT) display excellent characteristics, with charge transport mobility of up to 10 cm2/Vs. These materials reach the quality levels of n-type oxide semiconductors (IGZO), potentially enabling the development of a complementary technology (CMOS) for low-cost electronic circuits on large area flexible foils. Examples of potential applications for such circuits are RFID tags, smart packaging, flexible displays and numerous biomedical applications. Among other things, the performance of OFET depends on the degree of crystallinity of the organic semiconductors. Higher ordering delivers better performance, and, the best OFETs are based on defect free single organic crystals. The production of thin films of defect free organic single crystals over large area is therefore highly desirable. This, however, remains a considerable challenge since the presence of only a few defects will negatively impact the spread of TFT characteristics. As the spread increases, the yield of circuits dramatically decreases. Templating that relies on a good match between the crystal structures of the substrate and the grown material is very well known in the field of epitaxial growth of inorganic materials. In the field of organic electronics, however, much remains to be done. Therefore we aim to develop a method to transfer a thin, uniform and aligned film of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on the substrate as a template to grow organic semiconductors and increasing their degree of order following by making OFET. The influence of the PTFE layer on the performance of OFET is studied

Tunable all-dielectric metasurface for phase modulation of the reflected and transmitted light via permittivity tuning of indium tin oxide

We propose an electrically tunable metasurface, which can achieve relatively large phase modulation in both reflection and transmission modes (dual-mode operation). By integration of an ultrathin layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) as an electro-optically tunable material into a semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor (SIS) unit cell, we report an approach for active tuning of all-dielectric metasurfaces. The proposed controllable dual-mode metasurface includes an array of silicon (Si) nanodisks connected together via Si nanobars. These are placed on top of alumina and ITO layers, followed by a Si slab and a silica substrate. The required optical resonances are separately excited by Si nanobars in reflection and Si nanodisks in transmission, enabling highly confined electromagnetic fields at the ITO-alumina interface. Modulation of charge carrier concentration and refractive index in the ITO accumulation layer by varying the applied bias voltage leads to 240° of phase agility at an operating wavelength of 1696 nm for the reflected transverse electric (TE)-polarized beam and 270° of phase shift at 1563 nm for the transmitted transverse magnetic (TM)-polarized light. Independent and isolated control of the reflection and transmission modes enables distinctly different functions to be achieved for each operation mode. A rigorous coupled electrical and optical model is employed to characterize the carrier distributions in ITO and Si under applied bias and to accurately assess the voltage-dependent effects of inhomogeneous carrier profiles on the optical behavior of a unit cell

Comparison of preemptive effect of intravenous ketorolac versus meperidine on postoperative shivering and pain in patients undergoing cesarean section under spinal anesthesia: A prospective, randomized, double-blind study

Background: Pain and shivering are two unpleasant problems in postoperative period. Various techniques are used to alleviate the postoperative shivering and pain. We compared the preemptive prescription of a single dose of intravenous meperidine and ketorolac on postoperative pain and shivering in patients undergoing cesarean section with spinal anesthesia. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients who were scheduled for elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia were randomly allocated to one of three study groups to receive intravenous ketorolac (group K), meperidine (group M) or normal saline (group P). Time to first analgesic request, analgesic requirement in the first 24 hours after surgery, body tympanic temperature, hemodynamic variables and incidence of shivering were assessed as outcome variables. Results: There was no significant difference between meperidine and ketorolac groups in terms of prevalence of shivering, although both groups were different from the placebo group (p<0.04). The mean time to first analgesic request was longer in group k (3.8±1.4) and groups M (3.3±1.2) than in group P (2.1±0.8) hours (p<0.001). Conclusions: The preemptive prescription of a single dose of intravenous meperidine and ketorolac can provide a satisfying analgesia immediately after surgery and decrease shivering prevalence without any serious side effects

Multiple Associations of Clinicopathological Characteristics and Risk Factors of Colorectal Cancer in the Iranian Population

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that clinicopathological features of colorectal cancer (CRC) could be diverse in different CRC patients groups. The present study aimed to analyze the association between clinicopathological characteristics and the risk factors in different CRC patients groups, which is categorized by sex, family history, age, and also primary tumor site in the Iranian CRC patients. Method: In this cross-sectional study, we included 304 patients with CRC. The data of clinicopathological features were collected from documented pathology reports. Subsequently, we carried out multiple analyses to discover the association among these elements. Results: Our analysis demonstrated that there was a significant difference between men and women regarding the mean age at diagnosis, tumor locations, mean size of tumors, positive family history, smoking status, and physical activity (P <0.05). Out of all the patients, 22.4% had a positive family history of cancer. The patients with a positive family history just have lower mean age, body mass index (BMI), and higher physical activity compared with patients without family history of cancer (P <0.001). 31.9% of the patients were in the age group of below 55 and 68.1% were in the age group of 55. The majority of our patients in 0.05). Conclusion: Gaining information about the association between clinicopathological characteristics and the risk factors in CRC could provide a better understanding of disease pathogenesis and consequently, improve the management of diseases

Breathable, Flexible, Transparent, Hydrophobic, and Biotic Sustainable Electrodes for Heating and Biopotential Signal Measurement Applications

Pressure to reduce the global amount of e-waste has increased in recent years. The optimal use of natural resources is a demanding area especially due to the overabundance of the use of resources and challenges with after-life disposal. Herein, an easy method is developed to fabricate an improved version of leaf skeleton-based biodegradable, transparent, flexible, and hydrophobic electrodes. A fractal-like rubber leaf skeleton is used as the substrate, physical vapor deposited Au interlayer to promote adhesion, and uniform deposition of overlayer silver nanowires. The fabricated surfaces present a high level of electrical stability, optical transparency, hydrophobicity, and robust mechanical properties. The prepared electrodes demonstrate a comparable level of optical transmittance to the virgin leaf skeleton. The mechanical sturdiness of the electrodes is verified by 1k bending cycles. To demonstrate the functionality of these hybrid biotic conductive network (HBCN) electrodes, their performance is evaluated as flexible transparent heating elements and as biosignal measurement electrodes. The heater can reach a temperature of 140 °C with only 2.5 V in ≈5 s and Ag nanowire loading of ≈160 μg cm−2. Likewise, electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyogram (EMG) signals are successfully obtained from the electrodes without using any electrode gel or other electrolytes.publishedVersionPeer reviewe