More and more patients are presenting with a clinical suspicion of Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). In order to make a correct diagnosis, it is necessary for an interdisciplinary team of experts to conduct thorough tests and carry out a reliable analysis of their results. CAPD is a problem diagnosed in patients with normal hearing sensitivity; moreover, their difficulties do not result from cognitive or linguistic impairment, although they can co-occur with these conditions. Specialists recommend three complementary approaches which can improve the functioning of children with CAPD. One of these strategies is to modify their home and school environment. This article provides elaboration on this issue; it also shows the role of the immediate environment in the therapy of a child with CAPD. The guidelines it offers are also useful in the therapy of patients with hearing perception problems.
Introduction: The agricultural tractor is one of the most commonly used vehicles on farms and one of the most prominent sources of noise. This article presents an exemplary assessment of the audible and infrasonic noise levels in the cabins of selected modern wheeled agricultural tractors. Materials and Methods: Operator-perceived audible and infrasonic noise levels in the cabins were examined for 20 types of modern tractors during typical conditions of work. The tractors had been in use for no longer than 3 years, with rated power between 96 kW and 227 kW, designed and produced by world-renowned companies. Noise level measurements were performed in accordance with PN-EN ISO 9612:2011 (ISO 9612:2009). Results: Audible noise levels (A-weighted) ranged from 62.1 to 87.4 dB-A (average: 68.2 to 83.8 dB-A) for different work tasks. The factors influencing noise levels include performed tasks, soil, weather conditions and the skills of individual drivers. In spectrum analysis, the highest noise levels occurred at frequencies 250 Hz, 1 and 2 kHz. Infrasound noise levels (G-weighted) ranged from 87.3 to 111.3 dB-G. The driver-experienced exposure to infrasound was found to increase significantly when the vehicle was in motion. Conclusions: Average audible noise levels have no potential to adversely affect the hearing organ during tasks performed inside the closed cabins of the analysed modern agricultural tractors. Due to the relatively low audible noise levels inside the cabins of modern agricultural tractors, non-auditory effects are the only adverse symptoms that can develop. Modern agricultural tractors emit considerable infrasonic noise levels. All tractors introduced into the market should be subjected to tests with regard to infrasonic noise levels.
Objectives: The overall aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of and annoyance due to the noise from wind turbines in populated areas of Poland. Material and Methods: The study group comprised 156 subjects. All subjects were asked to fill in a questionnaire developed to enable evaluation of their living conditions, including prevalence of annoyance due to the noise from wind turbines and the self-assessment of physical health and well-being. In addition, current mental health status of the respondents was assessed using Goldberg General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12. For areas where the respondents lived, A-weighted sound pressure levels (SPLs) were calculated as the sum of the contributions from the wind power plants in the specific area. Results: It has been shown that the wind turbine noise at the calculated A-weighted SPL of 30-48 dB was noticed outdoors by 60.3% of the respondents. This noise was perceived as annoying outdoors by 33.3% of the respondents, while indoors by 20.5% of them. The odds ratio of being annoyed outdoors by the wind turbine noise increased along with increasing SPLs (OR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.22-3.62). The subjects' attitude to wind turbines in general and sensitivity to landscape littering was found to have significant impact on the perceived annoyance. About 63% of variance in outdoors annoyance assessment might be explained by the noise level, general attitude to wind turbines and sensitivity to landscape littering. Conclusions: Before firm conclusions can be drawn further studies are needed, including a larger number of respondents with different living environments (i.e., dissimilar terrain, different urbanization and road traffic intensity).
The article analyzes the legislative requirements related to evaluation of noise generated by working environment. Specifies to the detail particular activities within categories of work for which there are declared legislative limits of the standardized sound level LAEX,8h. It also briefly describes the work environment of the process welding from the perspective of noise exposure, whilst focus is on the determination of sound pressure values for the selected welding technology.
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W artykule przeanalizowano wymagania prawne dotyczące oceny hałasu generowanego w środowisku pracy. Określono szczegóły działań odnoszących się do kategorii prac, dla których nie są deklarowane ograniczenia prawne, znormalizowanego poziomu dźwięku LAEX,8h. Opisano również środowisko pracy w odniesieniu do procesu spawania z punktu widzenia narażenia na hałas, ze szczególnym uwzglednieniem wartości ciśnienia dźwięku dla wybranej technologii spawania.
The paper reviews and discusses the statistical aspects of the phenomenon called 'noise' which Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize winning psychologist, and his colleagues present in their new book entitled 'Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment'. Noise is understood by the authors as an unexpected and undesirable variation present in people's judgments. The variability of judgments influences decisions which are made on the basis of those judgments and, consequently, may have a negative impact on the operations of various institutions. This is the main concern presented and analyzed in this book. The objective of this paper is to look at the relationship between bias and noise - the two major components of the mean squared error (MSE) - from a different perspective which is absent in the book. Although the author agrees that each of the two components contributes equally to MSE, he claims that in some circumstances a reduction of noise can make accurate inference not less, but more difficult. It is justified that the actual impact of noise cannot be accurately determined without considering both bias and noise simultaneously.
The present article describes the phenomena of experimental electronic music from Portugal, which is founded on concepts originating from the vanguards of the XX century. Starting from the crisis, which affected the 1900’s music, this short study presents the evolution of the noise connotation and the development of experimental electronic music. That, being always a cultural phenomena linked to alternative culture is also present in Portugal. For the current article were chosen three musical projects: structura, Eletrólise and M‑Pex, which can be considered representative for the topic of the article.
The idea of acoustic ecology emerged in the sixties of the twentieth century with the work of Raymond Murray Schafer and his school of soundscape studies. The starting point was the concern for the sound environment resulting from the sense of threat from progressive civilization changes and the increase of noise. In his project work, Schafer gave emphasis to education as well as to the development of ecological acoustic design. What was another important element of the program was the research activity aimed at, among others, documenting and analysing contemporary landscapes. The ecological importance of this research arises from increasing social awareness about the cultural value of the sound environment.
The discussion offered in this article focuses on the problem of the back fricative segments in Ukrainian. An attempt is made to provide their phonological representations that account both for their distribution and phonological behavior. The analysis proposed here is coached within the framework of Government Phonology, a non-linear model, that awards considerable autonomy to phonological primitives building melodic expressions. Our concern, therefore, is to specify which elements define each of the turbulent sounds and determine the role they play within the relevant melodic structures. In accordance with the principles of the framework, it is predicted that the internal elemental content and organization of primes directly conditions the phonetic manifestation of the fricative segments. The aim of the present analysis is also to pinpoint the significance of the head-dependent distinction that obtains within melodic structures, as it often underlies, if not determines, the strength of expressions and their susceptibility to phonological processes.
Article 156 of the Environmental Protection Act prohibits the use of sound systems or equipment in publicly accessible areas of towns, built-up areas and areas intended for recreation and leisure purposes. This prohibition results directly from the law and does not require a separate interpretation, e.g. in the form of an administrative decision. However, its application in practice can be troublesome due to interpretation difficulties caused by the fact that the terms used in the regulation are not directly defined by the applicable law. The author discusses the subjective and objective scope of the prohibition, pointing to examples of judicial decisions, and indicating the consequences of its violation.
Recently, the persistence-based decomposition (PBD) model has been introduced to the scientific community by Rende et al. (2019). It decomposes a spread time series between two securities into three components capturing infinite, finite, and no shock persistence. The authors provide empirical evidence that the model adopts well to noisy high-frequency data in terms of model fitting and prediction. We put the PBD model to test on a large-scale high-frequency pairs trading application, using S&P 500 minute-by-minute data from 1998 to 2016. After accounting for execution limitations (waiting rule, volume constraints, and short-selling fees) the PBD model yields statistically significant and economically meaningful annual returns after transaction costs of 9.16 percent. These returns can only partially be explained by the exposure to common risk. In addition, the model is superior in terms of risk-return metrics. The model performs very well in bear markets. We quantify the impact of execution limitations on risk and return measures by relaxing backtesting restrictions step-by-step. If no restrictions are imposed, we find annual returns after costs of 138.6 percent.
W artykule poruszono problem ciągle wzrastającego zagrożenia hałasem w miastach. Skupiono się na hałasie drogowym, którego największe oddziaływanie występuje na terenach aglomeracji. Zagadnienie zobrazowano na wybranych terenach w Warszawie w granicach, w których były realizowane lub są projektowane ulice o dużym natężeniu ruchu. Problem ukazano w odniesieniu do zmian dopuszczalnych poziomów hałasu, które nastąpiły w październiku 2012 r.
EN
The paper addresses the issue of the increasing threat of noise in cities. The focus here is on road noise, which exerts a strong impact on metropolitan areas. The study area consists of selected areas of Warsaw with new streets characterised by large traffic volumes as well as planned streets with expected large traffic volumes. Changes in noise levels in relation to permitted noise levels were investigated for October of 2012.
The following text presents issues related to the protection of the environment against the aircraft noise. The subjects of the survey are the Copernicus Airport Wroclaw- Starachowice and the local population. The main aim is to determine the effect of activities undertaken by the Wroclaw Airport towards noise reduction, and to examine their real-life practicality. The objective was to investigate the noise nuisance by the means of a survey conducted among the airport locals. The main topics of the research are included in three questions, namely: What is the level of noise caused by the Copernicus Airport? What are the airport actions in order to minimalize the noise level? How is the noise evaluated by residents of the airport area? Research methodology is based on the assumption that the actions undertaken by the Wroclaw Airport aim to reduce the level of aircraft noise..
PL
Niniejszy tekst przedstawia wybrane zagadnienia związane z ochroną środowiska przed hałasem lotniczym. Podmiotami, na których opiera się jego treść, są Port Lotniczy Wrocław Strachowice oraz mieszkańcy terenów przylotniskowych. Podstawowym celem rozważań jest ustalenie wpływu działań podejmowanych przez Port Lotniczy we Wrocławiu, zmierzających do zmniejszenia poziomu hałasu, oraz zbadanie ich wymiaru praktycznego. Dążono również do zbadania uciążliwości hałasu w opinii mieszkańców. Główny problem badawczy zawiera się w trzech pytaniach: Jaki jest poziom hałasu powodowany przez Port Lotniczy Strachowice? Jakie działania podejmuje lotnisko w celu minimalizowania poziomu hałasu? Jak hałas lotniczy oceniany jest przez mieszkańców terenów przylotniskowych? Podstawą metodologiczną badań jest założenie, że działania podejmowane w porcie lotniczym Wrocław przyczyniają się do zmniejszenia poziomu hałasu lotniczego.
Przykładem zastosowania procesów punktowych obserwowanych wraz z szumem są zdjęcia lotnicze lasów robione w celu oszacowania ubytków leśnych na danym terenie. Rudemo i Lund (2000) zaproponowali model, który może być użyteczny w tym celu, wykorzystujący liczbę „kandydatów na drzewa” widocznych na zdjęciu. Parametry warunkowej funkcji wiarygodności zostały oszacowane z uwzględnieniem takich odmian szumu, jak znikanie punktów, przemieszczanie się punktów oraz pojawianie się punktów fałszywych. To podejście nie rozwiązuje problemu szacowania faktycznej liczby drzew. W artykule tym zaproponowano nowy algorytm, który bezpośrednio szacuje faktyczną liczbę prawdziwych drzew. Jedynym koniecznym założeniem jest założenie o stałej gęstości zalesienia na danym obszarze lasu. Rezultaty uzyskane za pomocą nowego algorytmu można ocenić jak o interesujące.
EN
An example of the application of point processes observed with noise are aerial photographs of forests with the aim of estimating the actual number of trees on a given area. Lund and Rudemo (2000) proposed a model useful in this context, basing on the number of “trees candidates” visible on the photograph. The parameters of conditional likelihood function were estimated taking into account such variations of noise as points thinning, points displacement and appearing of extra ghost points. The approach proposed does not solve the problem of the estimation of the actual number of trees. In this paper a new algorithm to estimate directly the number of actual trees is proposed. The only assumption on which the new measure depends is the natural assumption about forest density being locally constant. The results achieved with the help of the new measure may be assessed as interesting.
In the paper results of the research concerning identification of noise sources and perception of noise among workers of education units are presented. The aim of the elaboration was identification of noise sources and assessment of perception of noise by the teachers. Empirical research was conducted with the use of a questionnaire developed by the authors. The questionnaire was made accessible to the participants of the project in a cloud, on Google Disc. Analysis of the gathered information allowed to claim that over 75% of them is employed in education for over 10 years. The degree of exposition during lessons teachers specify mainly as small, in the gymnasium this degree is higher (average – 43%, big – 42% of answers). During pauses participants of the project described the degree of exposition as big. As an external source of noise respondents indicated traffic.
PL
W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań w zakresie określenia źródeł oraz percepcji hałasu wśród pracowników jednostek oświatowych. Celem opracowania była identyfikacja źródeł oraz ocena postrzegania hałasu przez nauczycieli. Badanie empiryczne przeprowadzono z wykorzystaniem autorskiego kwestionariusza ankiety, który został udostępniony uczestnikom projektu w chmurze – na dysku Google. Analiza informacji zebranych w toku badania empirycznego pozwoliła stwierdzić, że ponad 75% ankietowanych zatrudnionych jest w placówkach oświatowych dłużej niż 10 lat. Stopień narażenia na hałas podczas lekcji nauczyciele określają jako mały, w sali gimnastycznej stopień ten jest wyższy (średni – 43% oraz duży – 42% odpowiedzi). W czasie przerw uczestnicy projektu stopień narażenia na hałas określili jako duży. Jako zewnętrzne źródło powstawania hałasu ankietowani wskazali ruch uliczny.
Objectives Hearing loss is a major worldwide health issue affecting an estimated 1.5 billion people. Causes of hearing loss include genetics, chemicals, medications, lifestyle habits such as smoking, and noise. Noise is probably the largest contributing factor for hearing loss. Noise arises from the workplace, ambient environment, and leisure activities. The easiest noise sources to control are workplace and environmental. Workplace noise is unique in that the employer is responsible for the noise and the worker. Also, workers may be exposed to much higher levels of noise than they would accept elsewhere. Employers follow the traditional hierarchy of controls (substitution/engineering, administrative, personal protective equipment [PPE]). Substituting or engineering a lower noise level actually reduces the hazard present to the worker but demand more capital investment. Administrative and PPE controls can be effective, but enforcement and motivation are essential to reducing risk and there is still some hearing loss for a portion of the workers. The challenge is to estimate the costs more clearly for managers. A systems engineering approach can help visualize factors affecting hearing health. Material and Methods In this study, a systems engineering causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to aid in understanding factors and their interrelationships. The CLD was then modeled in VenSim. The model was informed from the authors’ expertise in hearing health and exposure science. Also, a case study was used to test the model. The model can be used to inform decision-makers of holistic costs for noise control options, with potentially better hearing health outcomes for workers. Results The CLD and cost model demonstrated a 4.3 year payback period for the engineered noise control in the case study. Conclusions Systems thinking using a CLD and cost model for occupational hearing health controls can aid organizational managers in applying resources to control risk.
Objectives Published reports suggest that some adverse health impact may be related to noise exposure, and motor vehicle traffic is considered to be the main source of environmental hazard of noise. The aim of this study has been to assess an association between occurrence of sleep and attention disorders with exposure to the noise generated by motor vehicle traffic in the case of a large group of children living in an urban environment. Material and Methods The data was obtained using a cross sectional study design in Bytom (Silesia, Poland) from 2003–2007 for a selected group of 7–14 year olds (N = 5136). The geographic information system was used for assessing the exposure to noise generated by the motor vehicle traffic. The association between occurrences of sleep disturbances or attention disorders and exposure to the traffic noise was examined by means of multivariable logistic regression. Results Sleep disturbances and attention disorders were found to be statistically significantly associated with exposure to the traffic noise. The multivariable logistic regression results suggest that sleep disturbances and attention disorders were more likely to occur in the case of children living in the area with higher traffic density, the odds ratio (OR) = 1.44 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–1.97) and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.03–1.86), respectively. Conclusions The results of the study have confirmed that the exposure to the traffic noise could be a significant risk factor for sleep disturbances and attention disorders among children. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(3):511–520
Objectives Almost nothing is known about the effect of occupational noise on diabetes, and this is particularly relevant given the wide spread of both noise exposure and diabetes. This study has aimed to determine whether occupational noise exposure is associated with higher risk of diabetes in Europe. Material and Methods This study is based on 7th European Social Survey (ESS7, 2014) – a multi-country population-based questionnaire survey, which covered 28 221 Europeans aged ≥ 15 years old. Data on self-reported noise exposure, diabetes and other sociodemographic and work-related factors was available. The odds of prevalent diabetes were explored using unconditional logistic regression. Results In the total sample (N = 23 486), participants ever exposed to very loud noise had no substantive increase in the odds of diabetes (odds ratio (OR) = 1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78–1.32). There were subgroups with non-significantly increased odds: men (OR = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.87–1.45), the elderly (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.91–1.31), ethnic minority members (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 0.91–2.62), those with secondary education (OR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.78–1.41) and those living in small cities/towns (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.89–1.29). Low-skilled white-collar workers had OR = 1.34 (95% CI: 1.09–1.64). Among participants employed during the preceding 5 years the odds were OR = 1.24 (95% CI: 0.95–1.61). Conclusions Self-reported occupational noise was not associated with increased odds of prevalent diabetes in the total sample. Sensitivity analyses revealed some subgroups with non-significantly higher odds. Our results suggest that further delve into the relationship between occupational noise and diabetes is feasible and warranted. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):537–551
This study is a meta-analysis of the previous epidemiological studies which investigated the quantitative estimates of the association between independent or combined exposure to noise and mixed organic solvents and hearing loss until October 2014. Overall, 15 studies with information on 7530 individuals (6% female) were included. Having assessed – by puretone audiometry – the adjusted odds ratio estimates for the association between solvents mixture exposure and the risk of developing hearing loss stood at 2.05 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.44–2.9). Similarly, for subjects who were concurrently exposed to noise and solvents mixture, an OR of 2.95 (95% CI: 2.1–4.17) was obtained. There was some evidence of heterogeneity within each of the 2 exposure groups (p heterogeneity < 0.001). This heterogeneity was not explained by differences in strength of effect between duration of exposure, the number of solvent and exposure index in subgroups of solvents mixture exposure. Based on the available data, our analysis has provided the evidence of increased risk of developing hearing loss for workers exposed to organic solvents even at quite low concentration. Moreover, if such exposure is accompanied by noise, it will exacerbate the extent of hearing loss. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(4):521–535
Objectives: To determine whether call center dispatchers wearing headsets are subject to auditory fatigue at the end of a work shift. Material and Methods: Data was gathered at times when call centers were busiest. All call operators wore a headset for up to 12 h. Acoustic environment and noise exposure under the headset were continuously recorded during the entire work shift. Variations in auditory parameters were assessed using pure-tone air-conduction audiometry and an objective test based on distortion product otoacoustic emissions – contralateral suppression of distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) amplitudes (EchoScan test). Thirty-nine operators and 16 controls, all volunteers, were selected from 3 call centers (sales, assistance, and emergency) where all cognitive tasks were accomplished by phone and on computers. Results: No acoustic shock was detected during the investigation. The highest normalized noise exposure (daily noise exposure level – LEX,8 h) measured was 75.5 dBA. No significant variation in auditory performances was detected with either pure-tone air-conduction audiometry or the EchoScan test. Nevertheless, dispatchers expressed a feeling of tiredness. Conclusions: For an equivalent diffuse field noise exposure, the use of a headset does not seem to worsen auditory fatigue for call center operators. The dispatcher’s fatigue was probably due to the duration of the work shift or to the tasks they performed rather than to the noise exposure under a headset. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(2):217–226
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