Polytechnic University of Turin

About: Polytechnic University of Turin is a education organization based out in Turin, Piemonte, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Computer science. The organization has 11553 authors who have published 41395 publications receiving 789320 citations. The organization is also known as: POLITO & Politecnico di Torino.

Subjective and objective assessment of acoustical and overall environmental quality in secondary school classrooms

Abstract: A subjective survey on perceived environmental quality has been carried out on 51 secondary-school classrooms, some of which have been acoustically renovated, and acoustical measurements were carried out in eight of the 51 classrooms, these eight being representative of the different types of classrooms that are the subject of the survey. A questionnaire, which included items on overall quality and its single aspects such as acoustical, thermal, indoor air and visual quality, has been administered to 1006 students. The students perceived that acoustical and visual quality had the most influence on their school performance and, with the same dissatisfaction for acoustical, thermal and indoor air quality, they attributed more relevance, in the overall quality judgment, to the acoustical condition. Acoustical quality was correlated to speech comprehension, which was correlated to the speech transmission index, even though the index does not reflect all the aspects by which speech comprehension can be influenced. Acoustical satisfaction was lower in nonrenovated classrooms, and one of the most important consequences of poor acoustics was a decrease in concentration. The stronger correlation between average noise disturbance scores and L(A max) levels, more than L(Aeq) and L(A90), showed that students were more disturbed by intermittent than constant noise.

Coherent population trapping in cesium: Dark lines and coherent microwave emission

Abstract: The phenomenon of coherent population trapping in alkali-metal atoms is analyzed by means of a perturbation approach. Closed form transparent solutions are obtained for the coherences existing within the system and the populations of the ground levels and of the excited state. The presence of dark lines and coherent microwave emission from the ground state are made explicit. Experimental results that confirm the theoretical calculations are reported for the case of cesium in a buffer gas. Conclusions are drawn in connection with the application of coherent population trapping to the field of atomic frequency standards.

The Doherty Power Amplifier: Review of Recent Solutions and Trends

Abstract: In this paper, an extensive review of the most up-to-date papers on microwave Doherty power amplifiers is presented. The main applications are discussed, together with the employed semiconductor technologies. The different research trends, all aimed to improve the advantages of the Doherty scheme and to solve its inherent drawbacks, are presented. The first considered topic is the maximization of efficiency and/or linearity, where analog and digital techniques are exploited. Another important trend is the bandwidth enlargement of the Doherty architecture, that involves a large number of papers. Multi-band, multi-mode solutions are also considered, using either fixed or reconfigurable solutions. The final section is dedicated to the most significant Doherty integrated implementations.

Surface EMG crosstalk between knee extensor muscles: experimental and model results

Abstract: Surface electromyographic (EMG) crosstalk between vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and rectus femoris muscles was evaluated by selective electrical stimulation of one muscle and recording from the stimulated and another muscle with linear surface arrays of eight electrodes. The ratio between the amplitude of the signals recorded over nonstimulated and stimulated muscles and their correlation coefficient were used as indices to quantify crosstalk. Single-differential and double-differential detection systems were used with interelectrode distances in the range 10-40 mm. The multichannel EMG signals clearly showed that crosstalk is largely due to nonpropagating potentials that correspond in time to the end of the propagation of the action potentials generated by the stimulated muscle. The crosstalk signal increased with increasing interelectrode distance and was statistically higher for single- than for double-differential recordings. The correlation-based indices of crosstalk were poorly correlated with the amplitude-based indices. Moreover, the characteristic spectral frequencies of the signals detected over the nonstimulated muscles were statistically higher than those from the stimulated muscles. A mathematical model of signal generation was used to explain the experimental findings. This study clarifies many controversial findings of past investigations and creates the basis for crosstalk interpretation, simulation, and reduction.