Efficiency of ETV diagrams as diagnostic tools for long-term period variations. II. Non-conservative mass transfer, and gravitational radiation

The credibility of an eclipse timing variation (ETV) diagram analysis is investigated for various manifestations of the mass transfer and gravitational radiation processes in binary systems. The monotonicity of the period variations and the morphology of the respective ETV diagrams are thoroughly explored in both the direct impact and the accretion disk mode of mass transfer, accompanied by different types of mass and angular momentum losses (through a hot-spot emission from the gainer and via the L2/L3 points). Mass transfer rates comparable to or greater than 10^{-8} M_sun/yr are measurable for typical noise levels of the ETV diagrams, regardless of whether the process is conservative. However, the presence of a transient disk around the more massive component defines a critical mass ratio q_cr ~ 0.83 above which the period turns out to decrease when still in the conservative regime, rendering the measurability of the anticipated variations a much more complicated task. The effects of gravitational radiation proved to be rather undetectable, except for systems with physical characteristics that only refer to cataclysmic variables. Unlike the hot-spot effects, the Lagrangian points L2 and L3 support very efficient routes of strong angular momentum loss. It is further shown that escape of mass via the L3 point - when the donor is the less massive component - safely provides critical mass ratios above which the period is expected to decrease, no matter how intense the process is.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 10 tables, published in A&

Design criteria for an autonomous, electric mine

This collaborative master's thesis was conducted in partnership with Boliden AB and centers on providing design criteria for the main orebody located below 1000 meters in Garpenberg's mine, with the aim of enabling the use of autonomous and electrified machinery. Furthermore, based on the identified criteria, new designs for this orebody are generated. Presently, Boliden's mining operations utilize manual and semi-autonomous, diesel-operated machines; however, the company's objective is to transition to electric machines that can operate autonomously or remotely from a control room. Consequently, the current mine infrastructure of operating mines must be integrated, and new mines not yet in production must be designed to accommodate the needs of autonomous and electrified machines, to optimize mining processes. This transition necessitates a substantial amount of additional mining infrastructure, compared to a conventional mine, employing manual operations of diesel-operated machinery. The construction of charging stations for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) or infrastructure for cable-electric vehicles is essential. Additionally, methods for utilizing the regenerative braking of electric vehicles (EVs) should be examined and changes in opening dimensions and road conditions may be necessary to optimize the use of autonomous equipment. Moreover, the possibility of combining manned and unmanned vehicles in the same area, as well as an increased power supply, may also require consideration. The objective of this thesis is to outline the design criteria for an autonomous and electric underground mine, create two new designs, and compare them to the current one using work cycle simulations of LHDs and trucks, ultimately selecting the most efficient design. The thesis yields three major contributions: first, it establishes design guidelines for an autonomous and electric mine; second, it introduces two innovative designs labeled as "V" and "W," specifically adapted to meet the new criteria; and third, it conducts a comparative analysis of the designs. The analysis involves work cycle simulations of loaders and trucks for different scenarios, comparing the current design with the two new designs to determine the most efficient option

THE ACCELEROMETRIC NETWORK OF THE INDES-MUSA PROJECT IN THE KALOCHORI AREA: CONFIGURATION, DOCUMENTATION AND PRELIMINARY DATA INTERPRETATION

Ένα δίκτυο επτά επιταχυνσιογράφων στην επιφάνεια του εδάφους και σε κατασκευές εγκαταστάθηκε πρόσφατα στην ευρύτερη περιοχή Καλοχωρίου, δυτικά της Θεσσαλονίκης, στο πλαίσιο του ερευνητικού έργου INDES-MUSA ως τμήμα πολυπαραμετρικού δικτύου καταγραφής της σεισμικής κίνησης και της εδαφικής υποχώρησης της περιοχής. Το δίκτυο περιλαμβάνει σταθμούς εγκατεστημένους στην επιφάνεια του εδάφους και στην κορυφή τυπικών κατασκευών εντός αστικών υποσυνόλων καθώς και ένα σταθμό ελευθέρου πεδίου. Όλοι οι σταθμοί έχουν τεκμηριωθεί καταλλήλως, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα ιδιαίτερα χαρακτηριστικά της κάθε εγκατάστασης καθώς και τα χαρακτηριστικά της εδαφικής δομής, όπως αυτά εκφράζονται από την κατανομή με το βάθος της ταχύτητας διάδοσης των διατμητικών κυμάτων σε κάθε θέση. Παρουσιάζονται καταγραφές του δικτύου επιταχυνσιογράφων από τριαντά εννιά σεισμούς και δίνεται η διαδικασία διόρθωσης που εφαρμόστηκε στις πρωτογενείς χρονοϊστορίες επιτάχυνσης κατά το στάδιο επεξεργασίας και αποθήκευσης των σημάτων. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται προκαταρκτικές συγκρίσεις τιμών μέγιστης εδαφικής επιτάχυνσης μεταξύ σταθμών εντός οικιστικής ζώνης και ελευθέρου πεδίου καθώς και συγκρίσεις φασματικών λόγων οροφής κατασκευών και βάσης με σκοπό την προκαταρκτική εκτίμηση των θεμελιωδών δυναμικών χαρακτηριστικών των ενοργανωμένων κατασκευών. Τα παραπάνω δεδομένα καταγραφών και τεκμηρίωσης είναι διαθέσιμα μέσω της διαδικτυακής πλατφόρμας Web-GIS του έργου INDESMUSA. A network of seven accelerometric stations on both ground surface and structures has been recently installed, as part of a multi-sensor network for monitoring seismic motion and ground subsidence in the broader area of Kalochori, west of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, within the INDES-MUSA project. This network includes ground installations within the urban area, structural stations on top of structures and a freefield station away from the building stock. The documentation of stations is presented including shear wave velocity profiles of the subsoil at each location. A set of thirtynine earthquakes recorded so far by the accelerometric network is reported, followed by data processing procedures performed in the acquired waveforms. Comparisons of the processed earthquake recordings are presented referring to (a) the urbanground and the free-field stations in terms of peak ground acceleration, indicating amplification trends of ground motion, and (b) the structural and the nearby urban ground stations by means of top-to-base ratios in the frequency domain, towards a preliminary identification of the fundamental vibrational characteristics of the instrumented structures. The processed acceleration data are available through the INDES-MUSA Web-GIS portal

Features of recording practices and communication during nursing handover: a cluster analysis

Objective: To record and identify the characteristics of nursing handovers in a tertiary hospital. Method: Observational study. Twenty-two nurses participated in 11 nursing handovers in 2015/16, using a recorded audio system and an unstructured observation form. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. Results: Thirty characteristics were identified. The nursing handovers were based on the clinical status of patients, and all nurses obtained specialized scientific knowledge specific to the clinical environment. The information used was not based on nursing diagnoses and not in accordance with best nursing clinical practice. The following four clusters emerged among the 30 characteristics: 1) the use of evidence-based nursing practice, 2) the nonuse of evidencebased nursing practice and its correlation with strained psychological environment, 3) patient management and the clinical skills/knowledge of nurses, and 4) handover content, quality of information transferred and specialization. Conclusion: Multiple characteristics were observed. The majority of characteristics were grouped based on common features, and 4 main clusters emerged. The investigation and understanding of structural relations between these characteristics and their respective clusters may lead to an improvement in the quality of nursing health care services

A Search for Pulsating, Mass-Accreting Components in Algol-Type Eclipsing Binaries

We present a status report on the search for pulsations in primary componants of Algols systems (oEA stars). Analysis of 21 systems with A0-F2 spectral type primaries revealed pulsations in two systems suggesting that of the order of ten persent of Algols primaries in this range are actually pulsators

A unified solution for the orbit and light-time effect in the V505 Sgr system

The multiple system V505 Sagittarii is composed of at least three stars: a compact eclipsing pair and a distant component, which orbit is measured directly using speckle interferometry. In order to explain the observed orbit of the third body in V505 Sagittarii and also other observable quantities, namely the minima timings of the eclipsing binary and two different radial velocities in the spectrum, we thoroughly test a fourth-body hypothesis - a perturbation by a dim, yet-unobserved object. We use an N-body numerical integrator to simulate future and past orbital evolution of 3 or 4 components in this system. We construct a suitable chi^2 metric from all available speckle-interferometry, minima-timings and radial-velocity data and we scan a part of a parameter space to get at least some of allowed solutions. In principle, we are able to explain all observable quantities by a presence of a fourth body, but the resulting likelihood of this hypothesis is very low. We also discuss other theoretical explanations of the minima timings variations. Further observations of the minima timings during the next decade or high-resolution spectroscopic data can significantly constrain the model

WZ Cygni: a Marginal Contact Binary in a Triple System?

We present new multiband CCD photometry for WZ Cyg made on 22 nights in two observing seasons of 2007 and 2008. Our light-curve synthesis indicates that the system is in poor thermal contact with a fill-out factor of 4.8% and a temperature difference of 1447 K. Including our 40 timing measurements, a total of 371 times of minimum light spanning more than 112 yr were used for a period study. Detailed analysis of the $O$--$C$ diagram showed that the orbital period has varied by a combination with an upward parabola and a sinusoid. The upward parabola means the continuous period increase and indicates that some stellar masses are thermally transferred from the less to the more massive primary star at a rate of about 5.80$\times10^{-8}$ M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. The sinusoidal variation with a period of 47.9 yr and a semi-amplitude of 0.008 d can be interpreted most likely as the light-travel-time effect due to the existence of a low-mass M-type tertiary companion with a projected mass of $M_3 \sin i_3$=0.26 M$_\odot$. We examined the evolutionary status of WZ Cyg from the absolute dimensions of the eclipsing pair. It belongs to the marginal contact binary systems before broken-contact phase, consisting of a massive primary star with spectral type of F4 and a secondary with the type K1.Comment: 20 pages, including 3 figures and 6 tables, accepted for publication in A