Temperature sensitive flow regulator Patent

Describing device for changing flow rate of fluid in duct in response to change in temperatur

A temperature-controlled fluid flow regulator

Slide-type valve, constructed of materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion, provides variable flow area as the slides move in relation to each other with temperature changes

Pneumatic shutoff and time-delay valve operates at controlled rate

Shutoff and time delay valve, which incorporates a metering spool that moves at constant velocity under pneumatic pressure and spring compression, increases fluid-flow area at a uniform rate. Diaphragm areas, control cavity volume, and bleed-orifice size may be varied to give any desired combination of time delay and spool travel time

Including the urban heat island in spatial heat health risk assessment strategies: a case study for Birmingham, UK

Background Heatwaves present a significant health risk and the hazard is likely to escalate with the increased future temperatures presently predicted by climate change models. The impact of heatwaves is often felt strongest in towns and cities where populations are concentrated and where the climate is often unintentionally modified to produce an urban heat island effect; where urban areas can be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to integrate remotely sensed urban heat island data alongside commercial social segmentation data via a spatial risk assessment methodology in order to highlight potential heat health risk areas and build the foundations for a climate change risk assessment. This paper uses the city of Birmingham, UK as a case study area. Results When looking at vulnerable sections of the population, the analysis identifies a concentration of "very high" risk areas within the city centre, and a number of pockets of "high risk" areas scattered throughout the conurbation. Further analysis looks at household level data which yields a complicated picture with a considerable range of vulnerabilities at a neighbourhood scale. Conclusions The results illustrate that a concentration of "very high" risk people live within the urban heat island, and this should be taken into account by urban planners and city centre environmental managers when considering climate change adaptation strategies or heatwave alert schemes. The methodology has been designed to be transparent and to make use of powerful and readily available datasets so that it can be easily replicated in other urban areas

Design and performance of a 39cm balloon-borne telescope

A system for stabilizing a balloon-borne telescope using a star sensor device is described. Guide stars from minus four to plus four magnitude can be used and the sensor may be offset with respect to the telescope by as much as plus or minus five degrees in elevation and cross elevation to enable parts of the sky containing no suitable guide stars to be viewed. Acquisition of the guide star and setting of the offset coordinates is carried out by ground command and both may be changed in flight. The main design parameters of the equipment are summarized. Block diagrams and circuit diagrams of the star tracker are provided

Everything That Glitters Is Not Gold: Songwriter-Music Publisher Agreements and Disagreements

The standard-form long-term exclusive songwriter-music publisher agreement may be as good an example of a classic adhesion contract as any in American business life.. Music publishers have tremendous bargaining power; songwriters, at least in their early professional years, have little or none. It is no surprise, then, that such contracts heavily favor the music publisher and almost always are offered to beginning professional songwriters on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. While English courts have begun to recognize the unconscionability issue in these contracts-especially in relation to music publishers having no contractual obligation to exploit the copyrights received from songwriters under such agreements-American courts have not been so inclined. From the songwriter\u27s perspective, this Article analyzes, provision by provision, a standard-form songwriter-music publsiher agreement. It also discusses the relevant case law-from Hound Dog to Joy to the World. After the author analyzes what is wrong with the standard-form agreements generally in use today, he drafts what he considers one way such a contract could be equitably drawn, including a provisionby- provision analysis of why his contract is fair. The Article concludes by suggesting that songwriters may want to consider taking more control of this fundamentally important contracting situation