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Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imaging for reference water extraction and monitoring
No full textMonitoring the evolution of surface water extent may be crucial to prevent and promptly manage flood and drought events. This research proposes an operational semi-automatic methodology for surface water extraction at a synoptic scale, based on free satellite data and implemented with free and open source software. The proposed methodology takes advantage of the availability of free and frequent microwave and multi-spectral information acquired by the recently operational Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 ESA's missions. By integrating the two data sources the method aims to overtake some of the innate biases that can affect the single-source surface water extraction: geometric and radiometric radar effects, e.g. shadows and speckle, and optical lack of information due to cloud cover. Two case studies were chosen: one in North Africa and one in Europe. In order to validate the proposed methodology, "ground truth" water bodies were derived by visual interpretation and manually extracted
Quasi-solid cellulose-based aqueous electrolytes for sustainable DSSCs
No full textDye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are photoelectrochemical solar cells inspired by natural photosynthesis, having low cost and aesthetic features suitable for architectural integration and providing full performance even under low irradiance conditions and/or indoor environments. However, the standard electrolyte system in these devices is based on volatile organic solvents, being also flammable and toxic, which affects long-term stability, eco-sustainability and safety requirements. Recently, green chemistry has contributed significantly to the step forward of DSSC systems into sustainability by developing devices operating in truly aqueous environment. To address the environmental and long-term stability issues, we here demonstrate that DSSCs can be fabricated with bioderived sodium salt of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as a green gellifyng agent for a 100% aqueous electrolyte based on iodide/triiodide redox mediator. The aqueous iodide/CMC system displays high ionic conductivity (10-2 S cm-1) even down to −10 °C; hydrogels allow for efficient charge transfer at Pt/electrolyte interface (Rct = 0.14 Ω cm2), as well as a diffusion coefficient of I3 − ions comparable or even higher (5.2×10-6 cm2 s-1) than recent literature reports on ionic liquids and water-based gel electrolytes. In lab-scale solar cells, the best photovoltaic performances (0.72%) were achieved in the presence of 5.5 wt% CMC. The most stable cell demonstrated 93% efficiency retention after one month of dark storage; the CMC-based devices also showed a robust stability when subjected to a further month of thermal aging at 60 °C. This newly proposed electrolyte system, in conjunction with a metal-free sensitizer, easily leads to sustainable, stable, transparent and building integrable solar cells, thus paving the way towards next-generation green solar energy conversion devices based on renewable components
GNSS Receiver Performance in Urban Environment: Challenges and Test Approaches for Automotive Applications
No full textIn the modern automotive industry, the wide variety of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) services needs a positioning unit. The core of such unit is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver hybridized or assisted by other sensors or data. In harsh environments, such as urban scenarios, the testing and performance assessment of these terminals is of paramount importance for ITS applications. In fact such environments are very challenging for the GNSS core unit. This paper proposes some test procedures suitable to assess the performance of GNSS receivers, as part of an hybridyzed positioning unit, in urban scenarios. The benefits of a GNSS receiver based on the Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology is exploited by presenting a set of results obtained on field test
Specificity of surface EMG recordings for gastrocnemius during upright standing
No full textThe relatively large pick-up volume of surface electrodes has for long motivated the concern that muscles other than that of interest may contribute to surface electromyograms (EMGs). Recent findings suggest however the pick-up volume of surface electrodes may be smaller than previously appreciated, possibly leading to the detection of surface EMGs insensitive to muscle activity. Here we combined surface and intramuscular recordings to investigate how comparably action potentials from gastrocnemius and soleus are represented in surface EMGs detected with different inter-electrode distances. We computed the firing instants of motor units identified from intramuscular EMGs detected from gastrocnemius and soleus while five participants stood upright. We used these instants to trigger and average surface EMGs detected from multiple skin regions along gastrocnemius. Results from 66 motor units (whereof 31 from gastrocnemius) revealed the surface-recorded amplitude of soleus action potentials was 6% of that of gastrocnemius and did not decrease for inter-electrode distances smaller than 4 cm. Gastrocnemius action potentials were more likely detected for greater inter-electrode distances and their amplitude increased steeply up to 5 cm inter-electrode distance. These results suggest that reducing inter-electrode distance excessively may result in the detection of surface EMGs insensitive to gastrocnemius activity without substantial attenuation of soleus crosstalk. © 2017 The Author(s)
Modelli culturali e architettura nell'opera di Giorgio Olivetti
No full textIl contributo analizza l'opera dell'ingegnere Giorgio Olivetti (1929-2016) nel campo degli arredi, dell'allestimento e per il progetto dell nuova Sinagoga di Torino (1970), uno spazio ipogeo sotto la sinagoga cittadina, legando i diversi interventi alla formazione scolastica presso il Politecnico di Torino sotto la guida di Augusto Cavallari Murat e alla presenza di importanti progettisti quali Mollino, Gabetti e Isola e dei gruppi "Radical
Foreword / Prefazione
No full textReuse is an essential part of a design program that involves the ability to understand history, meaning, conditions and vocation of the existing building in order to propose a new role within urban and territorial context. In an era in wich recycling and reduction of consumption emerges as a global value, the negligence or underestimation of reuse represents a primary social and economic problem, and for Architects it signifies a cultural and ethical challenge. This volume, "Analysing Spatial Potentials of Historic Buildings", wants to establish a holistic method for understanding the essence of the built environment and urban spaces through different layers, and tries to reveal their specific values and potentials to define compatible reuse proposals
Il ritorno a casa e alla concretezza
No full textVengono esaminati alcuni problemi relativi alla ri-localizzazione di stabilimenti produttivi
