The Measurement of Fuel-Air Ratio by Analysis for the Oxidized Exhaust Gas

An investigation was made to determine a method of measuring fuel-air ratio that could be used for test purposes in flight and for checking conventional equipment in the laboratory. Two single-cylinder test engines equipped with typical commercial engine cylinders were used. The fuel-air ratio of the mixture delivered to the engines was determined by direct measurement of the quantity of air and of fuel supplied and also by analysis of the oxidized exhaust gas and of the normal exhaust gas. Five fuels were used: gasoline that complied with Army-Navy fuel Specification No. AN-VV-F-781 and four mixtures of this gasoline with toluene, benzene, and xylene. The method of determining the fuel-air ratio described in this report involves the measurement of the carbon-dioxide content of the oxidized exhaust gas and the use of graphs for the presented equation. This method is considered useful in aircraft, in the field, or in the laboratory for a range of fuel-air ratios from 0.047 to 0.124

The NACA mixture analyzer and its application to mixture-distribution measurement in flight

The NACA mixture analyzer was developed as a research instrument for the continuous indication of fuel-air ratios of aircraft engine installations throughout the range of engine operation. It has been evaluated by using it to measure the mixture distribution of a nine-cylinder radial aircraft engine in flight. The mixture distribution among the cylinders in flight was obtained at normal operating conditions for the engine at an altitude of 5000 feet. Some limited data was also obtained at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Results of these flight tests showed that the NACA mixture analyzer is a satisfactory and dependable instrument for continuous indication of the mixture in flight at all engine conditions regardless of altitude and temperature

Visual pattern recognition as a means to optimising building performance?

Visual pattern recognition as a means to optimising building performance

Patient participation: A qualitative study of immigrant women and their experiences

Patient participation in healthcare is a neglected area of interest in the rather extensive amount of research on immigrant so-called Selma patients in Swedish health care as well as worldwide. The aim is to explore the phenomenon “patient participation” in the context of the Swedish health care from the perspective of immigrants non-fluent in Swedish. A phenomenological lifeworld approach was chosen. Data were collected from patients within a municipal home care setting in Sweden. Eight women agreed to participate. In seven interviews, an interpreter was necessary for the translation of the interview. Five authorized interpreters were used. Data were analysed in accordance to a descriptive phenomenological method for caring research. The analysis led to an essence of the phenomenon with three constituents, “to experience participation,” “to refrain from participation,” and “to be deprived of participation.” Patient participation from the perspective of immigrant women means that patients are involved and active in their own health and caring processes. For these women, it is particularly important to have the opportunity to express themselves. Patient participation presupposes professional caregivers who act in a way that increases the patients' opportunities to take part. A skilled interpreter is often necessary in order to enable the patient participation

Reflections on a 'virtual' practice development unit: changing practice through identity development

Aims. This paper draws together the personal thoughts and critical reflections of key people involved in the establishment of a ‘virtual’ practice development unit of clinical nurse specialists in the south of England. Background. This practice development unit is ‘virtual’ in that it is not constrained by physical or specialty boundaries. It became the first group of Trust-wide clinical nurse specialists to be accredited in the UK as a practice development unit in 2004. Design and methods. The local university was asked to facilitate the accreditation process via 11 two-hour audio-recorded learning sessions. Critical reflections from practice development unit members, leaders and university staff were written 12 months after successful accreditation, and the framework of their content analysed. Findings and discussion. Practice development was seen as a way for the clinical nurse specialists to realize their potential for improving patient care by transforming care practice in a collaborative, interprofessional and evolutionary manner. The practice development unit provided a means for these nurses to analyse their role and function within the Trust. Roberts’ identity development model for nursing serves as a useful theoretical underpinning for the reflections contained in this paper. Conclusions. These narratives provide another example of nurses making the effort to shape and contribute to patient care through organizational redesign. This group of nurses began to realize that the structure of the practice development unit process provided them with the means to analyse their role and function within the organization and, as they reflected on this structure, their behaviour began to change. Relevance to clinical practice. Evidence from these reflections supports the view that practice development unit participants have secured a positive and professional identity and are, therefore, better able to improve the patient experience

To be an immigrant and a patient in Sweden: A study with an individualised perspective

The aim is to describe how experiences of being an immigrant can influence the situation when becoming a patient in Swedish health care. A hermeneutic approach was used. Sixteen persons born in non-Nordic countries were interviewed. The data was analysed with an empirical hermeneutical method. The findings indicate that positive experiences (i.e., establishing oneself in a new home country) enhance the possibilities of taking part in caring situations and vice versa. Hence, there is a need for individually adapted care that takes one's whole life situation into consideration. Consequently, it is suggested that the concept, “cultural competence” merely serves the purpose of illuminating caregivers' need for categorisation. It does not illuminate individual needs in a caring situation

Predicting evolution and visualizing high-dimensional fitness landscapes

The tempo and mode of an adaptive process is strongly determined by the structure of the fitness landscape that underlies it. In order to be able to predict evolutionary outcomes (even on the short term), we must know more about the nature of realistic fitness landscapes than we do today. For example, in order to know whether evolution is predominantly taking paths that move upwards in fitness and along neutral ridges, or else entails a significant number of valley crossings, we need to be able to visualize these landscapes: we must determine whether there are peaks in the landscape, where these peaks are located with respect to one another, and whether evolutionary paths can connect them. This is a difficult task because genetic fitness landscapes (as opposed to those based on traits) are high-dimensional, and tools for visualizing such landscapes are lacking. In this contribution, we focus on the predictability of evolution on rugged genetic fitness landscapes, and determine that peaks in such landscapes are highly clustered: high peaks are predominantly close to other high peaks. As a consequence, the valleys separating such peaks are shallow and narrow, such that evolutionary trajectories towards the highest peak in the landscape can be achieved via a series of valley crossingsComment: 12 pages, 7 figures. To appear in "Recent Advances in the Theory and Application of Fitness Landscapes" (A. Engelbrecht and H. Richter, eds.). Springer Series in Emergence, Complexity, and Computation, 201

People living with facial disfigurement after having had noma disease: a systematic review of the literature

Noma disease often results in impairment, morbidity and severe facial disfigurement. This article reports a systematic review of literatures published between 2006 and 2015 to establish existing knowledge about social stigma associated with facial disfigurements. Five databases were searched and 114 citations were screened, of which only 15 met the relevant criteria. Titles and abstracts of the retrieved articles were independently reviewed. The research was heterogeneous; therefore, overall synthesis using meta-analysis was inappropriate. It can be seen that the review demonstrates that facial disfigurements are far more complex than was previously thought

End-of-life care in UK care homes: a systematic review of the literature

Background The number of people requiring end-of-life care provision in care homes has grown significantly. There is a need for a systematic examination of individual studies to provide more comprehensive information about contemporary care provision. Aim The aim of this study was to systematically review studies that describe end-of-life care in UK care homes. Method A systematic PRISMA review of the literature published between 2008 and April 2017 was carried out. A total of 14 studies were included in the review. Results A number of areas of concern were identified in the literature in relation to the phases of dying during end-of-life care: end-of-life pre-planning processes; understandings of end-of-life care; and interprofessional end-of-life care provision. Conclusions Given that the problems identified in the literature concerning end-of-life care of residents in care homes are similar to those encountered in other healthcare environments, there is logic in considering how generalised solutions that have been proposed could be applied to the specifics of care homes. Further research is necessary to explore how barriers to good end-of-life care can be mitigated, and facilitators strengthened