An application of Systems Science in the context of Greek Environmental Education for planning interventions against volcanic hazards

Schools (amid in secondary and primary education) are installations vulnerable to all kinds of hazards. Because within the last 70 years, at least, there has not been any experience of volcanic activity in Greece, this kind of hazard is not extensively referred to, by official plans, local communities as well as teachers and pupils. In this paper and by using the systemic methodology of Systems Inquiry, the authors make an exploratory analysis of school-units located at the relatively short distances of 2 to 50 Km from volcanoes with registered “Volcanic Explosivity Index” (VEI) activity. Data regarding schools, adopted from the official database of the Greek government and Ministry of Education, have been utilized. The results indicate, regarding only the historically registered VEI activity and not the following consequences/phenomena (as for example, a tsunami), that vulnerable schools are located in Sousaki (East Corinth prefecture), Methana, Milos, Santorini, Nisyros and Kos Islands. The possible number of educational personnel, pupils and infrastructures is estimated. New approaches in the context of Greek environmental education are proposed for the presentation of these hazards in the educational personnel

Data on multiple body parameters, microclimatic variables, and subjective assessment of thermal sensation monitored in outdoor environment

This paper describes two sets of data on multiple body parameters of five participants, on microclimatic variables, and on self-reported assessment of thermal responses, all monitored in the same outdoor urban environment. Data were collected during three seasons, summer, autumn and winter 2010–2011, in the city of Athens, Greece. Part of these data, collected during the summer period, is related to the research article entitled "Case study of skin temperature and thermal perception in a hot outdoor environment." (Pantavou et al., 2014) [1]

Λειτουργία υβριδικών σταθμών στο αυτόνομο σύστημα ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας της Κρήτης

Περίληψη: Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η μελέτη της τοποθέτησης ενός υβριδικού σταθμού ενέργειας στο σύστημα ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας της Κρήτης. Γίνεται μοντελοποίηση του συστήματος ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας της Κρήτης, με και χωρίς τον υβριδικό σταθμό. Η μοντελοποίηση γίνεται στο προγραμματιστικό περιβάλλον Matlab μέσω συναρτήσεων ελαχιστοποίησης. Γίνεται ανάλυση των αποτελεσμάτων της μοντελοποίησης ως προς την εγκατάσταση του υβριδικού σταθμού. Επιπλέον, η επένδυση αναλύεται χρηματοοικονομικά

Antireflection coated semiconductor laser amplifier for Bose-Einstein condensation experiments

We present a slave laser highly suitable for the preparation and detection of 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). A highly anti-reflection coated laser diode serves as an optical amplifier, which requires neither active temperature stabilization nor dedicated equipment monitoring the spectral purity of the amplified light. The laser power can be controlled with a precision of 10 μW in 70 mW with relative fluctuations down to 2 × 10−4. Due to its simplicity and reliability, this slave laser will be a useful tool for laboratory, mobile, or even space-based cold-atom experiments. By the way of demonstration this slave laser was used as the sole 780 nm light-source in the production of 3 × 104 BECs in a hybrid magnetic/dipole trap