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Wind turbines (WT) are a specific type of noise source, with unique characteristics, such as amplitude modulation (AM) and tonality, infrasonic and low frequency (LF) components. The present study investigates the influence of wind turbine infrasound and low frequency noise (LFN) on human well-being. In the between-subjects study design, 129 students performed a cognitive test evaluating attention and filled out questionnaires in three various exposure conditions, including background noise, synthesized LFN (reference noise) and registered WT infrasound (stimulus). No significant differences in test results or in the number of reported post-exposure feelings and ailments in various exposure conditions were found when analyzing them in males and females, separately. However, a significant association between pre-exposure well-being and reported post-exposure complaints was noted and explained by in-depth statistical analysis.

Noise annoyance can be rated either in situ or in laboratory conditions. Regarding the , many papers indicate that only 30% of the variance in people's answers can be explained by sound level values. This value increases when a single type of noise is presented to participants in lab. However, the relationship between time structure of the noise stimulus and annoyance rating is still ambiguous. In this study road traffic noise stimuli with different time structure at three different sound levels were created. Moreover, the psychoacoustical characteristics of them were also computed. The calculated data was compared with results of the listening test in which participants rated each stimulus on the numerical ICBEN scale. Analysis showed that loudness and sound level are the dominant factors, they correlate quite well (~70%) with people's ratings. However, the different time structure of the road traffic noise at the same sound level did not evoke significantly different noise annoyance ratings. Since there are no standards available for loudness measurement, the sound level for the same type of noise remains the simplest factor to reliably predict its impact on people regarding noise annoyance.

The oxytocinergic system is involved in a range of functions, from attachment and social bonding to aggression and stress responses. Whether oxytocin is released in response to a stressor, shows contradictory results across species and potential contexts-dependent differences. To avoid unintended contextual changes due to experimental procedures, we tested this question non-invasively in wild chimpanzees in an ecologically valid context. We collected endogenous hormonal measures during exposure to a known natural stressor, intergroup conflict. Specifically, we tested for potential synchronous activation patterns between urinary oxytocin and cortisol in male and female chimpanzees during stressor exposure. Oxytocinergic system reactivity during chimpanzee intergroup conflict has already been established in this study population. Thus, we first investigated urinary cortisol levels during border patrol and intergroup encounter days, in comparison to another potential stressor, hunting, and control days. We found higher urinary cortisol levels during intergroup encounter days compared with control and hunting days. We then compared secretion patterns of oxytocin and cortisol in relation to increased levels of out-group contact and hostility ('out-group risk') during intergroup conflict. We found that increased 'out-group risk' was associated with higher cortisol levels, especially when involving direct visual or physical contact with rival groups. Although urinary oxytocin levels were high across intergroup conflict contexts, increasing levels of out-group risk showed no significant variation. Taken together, results indicate independent secretion of oxytocin and cortisol during chimpanzee intergroup conflict, emphasizing that stressor exposure in this context is not the main trigger of oxytocin secretion.

Glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, mediate homeostatic processes, allowing individuals to adjust to fluctuating environments. The regulation of circadian cortisol responses, a key homeostatic function, has been shown to be heritable. However, to understand better the role of parental care in shaping physiological functioning in long-lived mammals with protracted parental care, there is a need to disentangle genetic and non-genetic parental contributions to variation in glucocorticoid phenotypes. We used a dataset of 6,123 cortisol measures from urine samples from 170 wild chimpanzees spanning 18 years of data collection. We found consistent inter-individual differences in circadian cortisol phenotypes, with differences most apparent when considering average cortisol levels given the effect of time of day. Maternal effects explained around 10% (2-18%) variation in these average cortisol levels, while variation attributable to genetic factors was not distinguishable from zero. Our results indicate, relative to genetic effects, a qualitatively stronger influence of mothers, whether via epigenetic processes or via behavioral priming for coping with stressors, in shaping cortisol phenotypes in this species. This provides novel insight into the vital role of mothers in the developmental plasticity of long-lived mammals and, more generally, the selective pressures shaping physiological plasticity.

The biological embedding model (BEM) suggests that fitness costs of maternal loss arise when early-life experience embeds long-term alterations to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Alternatively, the adaptive calibration model (ACM) regards physiological changes during ontogeny as short-term adaptations. Both models have been tested in humans but rarely in wild, long-lived animals. We assessed whether, as in humans, maternal loss had short- and long-term impacts on orphan wild chimpanzee urinary cortisol levels and diurnal urinary cortisol slopes, both indicative of HPA axis functioning. Immature chimpanzees recently orphaned and/or orphaned early in life had diurnal cortisol slopes reflecting heightened activation of the HPA axis. However, these effects appeared short-term, with no consistent differences between orphan and non-orphan cortisol profiles in mature males, suggesting stronger support for the ACM than the BEM in wild chimpanzees. Compensatory mechanisms, such as adoption, may buffer against certain physiological effects of maternal loss in this species.

In mammals, early life adversity negatively affects survival and reproductive success. A key causal mechanism is proposed by the biological embedding model which posits that adversity experienced early in life has deleterious consequences on individual physiology across the lifespan. In particular, early life adversity is expected to be a severe stressor leading to long-term alteration of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Here we tested this idea by assessing whether, as in humans, maternal loss had short and long-term impacts on orphan chimpanzee urinary cortisol levels and diurnal urinary cortisol slopes, as an indicator of the HPA axis functioning. We used 18 years of data on 50 immature and 28 mature male wild chimpanzees belonging to four communities in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Immature orphans who experienced early maternal loss had diurnal cortisol slopes characterised by higher early morning and late afternoon cortisol levels indicative of high activation of the HPA axis. Recently orphaned immatures had higher cortisol levels than other immatures, possibly reflecting social and nutritional stress. However, unlike in humans, we did not find significantly different cortisol profiles in orphan and non-orphan adult male chimpanzees. Our study highlights that long-term alteration of stress physiology related to early life adversity may not be viable in some wild animal populations and/or that chimpanzees, as humans, may have access to mechanisms that buffer this physiological stress, such as adoption. Our results suggest that biological embedding of altered HPA axis function is unlikely to be a mechanism contributing to the demonstrated long-term fitness consequences of maternal loss, such as reduced reproductive success, in wild long-lived mammals.

Core funding for the Taï Chimpanzee Project is provided by the Max Planck Society since 1997. P.J.T., C.C. and R.M.W. were supported by the European Research Council (ERC; grant agreement no. 679787). L.S. was supported by the Minerva Foundation. A.P. was supported by the Leakey Foundation. A.M. was supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a British Academy Newton International Fellowship. Consistent individual differences in social phenotypes have been observed in many animal species. Changes in demographics, dominance hierarchies or ecological factors, such as food availability or disease prevalence, are expected to influence decision-making processes regarding social interactions. Therefore, it should be expected that individuals show flexibility rather than stability in social behaviour over time to maximize the fitness benefits of social living. Understanding the processes that create and maintain social phenotypes requires data encompassing a range of socioecological settings and variation in intrinsic state or life-history stage or strategy. Using observational data spanning up to 19 years for some individuals, we demonstrate that multiple types of social behaviour are repeatable over the long term in wild chimpanzees, a long-lived species with complex fission–fusion societies. We controlled for temporal, ecological and demographic changes, limiting pseudo-repeatability. We conclude that chimpanzees living in natural ecological settings have relatively stable long-term social phenotypes over years that may be independent of life-history or reproductive strategies. Our results add to the growing body of the literature suggesting consistent individual differences in social tendencies are more likely the rule rather than the exception in group-living animals. Publisher PDF

Territorial social species, including humans, compete between groups over key resources. This between-group competition has evolutionary implications on adaptations like in-group cooperation even with non-kin. An emergent property of between-group competition is group dominance. Mechanisms of group dominance in wild animal populations are difficult to study, as they require long-term data on several groups within a population. Here, using long-term data on four neighbouring groups of wild western chimpanzees, we test the hypothesis that group dominance impacts the costs and benefits of between-group competition, measured by territory size and the pressure exerted by neighbouring groups. Larger groups had larger territories and suffered less neighbour pressure compared with smaller groups. Within-group increase in the number of males led to territory increase, suggesting the role of males in territory acquisition. However, variation in territory sizes and neighbour pressure was better explained by group size. This suggests that the bisexually-bonded social system of western chimpanzees, where females participate in territorial behaviour, confers a competitive advantage to larger groups and that group dominance acts through group size in this population. Considering variation in social systems offers new insights on how group dominance acts in territorial species and its evolutionary implications on within-group cooperation.

In this paper the results of noise maps counted for cars and trams, in 10 areas in the city of Poznan, are analyzed in the context of possible action plans. These results are compared with the information from surveys, involving 794 participants, performed at the same 10 areas. The general results showed that basing solely on the values of noise indicators, i.e. information from the noise maps, is not sufficient for reliable planning of noise action plans, particularly those created in response to multiple noise sources. The exceedance of a noise limit for a given sound source does not necessarily mean that this source is the most annoying for inhabitants. To find a solution to this problem, we propose conducting dedicated noise surveys in the specific areas in each city (in which the noise maps are calculated) where we know a priori that more than one noise source will occur at the same time and could be potentially annoying. In the proposed survey we suggest using two specified questions: whether a given sound source is annoying or not, and which sound source should be the first one to be eliminated, if this is possible. This new survey proposal is the result of an analysis of the survey performed within this study. Some methodological changes are proposed with regard to the survey that was actually used. This new approach could improve decisions about action plans and provide more complex information about peoples’ assessment of noise annoyance evoked by different sound sources.

Animals living in social groups navigate challenges when competing and cooperating with other group members. Changes in demographics, dominance hierarchies or ecological factors, such as food availability or disease prevalence, are expected to influence decision-making processes regarding social interactions. Therefore, it could be expected individuals show flexibility in social behaviour over time to maximise the fitness benefits of social living. To date, research across species has shown that stable inter-individual differences in social behaviour exist, but mostly over relatively short data collection time periods. Using data spanning over 20 years, we demonstrate that multiple social behaviours are repeatable over the long-term in wild chimpanzees, a long-lived species occupying a complex fission-fusion society. We controlled for temporal, ecological and demographic changes, limiting pseudo-repeatability. We conclude that chimpanzees living in natural ecological settings have relatively stable long-term social phenotypes over years that may be independent of life history stage or strategies. Our results add to the growing body of literature suggesting consistent individual differences in social tendencies are more likely the rule rather than the exception in group-living animals.

Summary Between-group competition in social animals appears to be a prominent selective pressure shaping the evolution of territoriality and cooperation [1, 2, 3, 4]. Evidence for an effect of between-group competition on fitness in territorial species, however, is mostly lacking because of difficulty in measuring between-group competition and its long-term impact [5]. Between-group competition corresponds to a complex set of interactions between neighboring groups, and its intensity seems to depend on the competitive abilities of each interacting group [6, 7]. We tested whether the competitive ability of groups and the pressure exerted by neighboring groups affected the reproductive success of wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Using long-term data on four neighboring groups in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire, collected over the course of 54 observation years, we measured the competitive ability of habituated groups using the number of mature males and the pressure exerted by non-habituated neighbors with an index of neighbor pressure that combined the frequency of neighboring encounters and related spatial information. Importantly, we found that experiencing low neighbor pressure provides fitness benefits through increased offspring survival and shorter inter-birth intervals. Also, many males in a group are associated with shorter inter-birth intervals. We conclude that high between-group competition hampers fast reproduction and offspring survival when exposure is during the prenatal period. Our findings suggest that having many males in a group results in fitness benefits and that between-group competition should be considered as a potential selective pressure that shaped key social adaptations in the hominoid lineage., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • High neighbor pressure during pregnancy affects chimpanzees’ offspring survival • Female chimpanzees reproduce slower when neighbor pressure is high • Reproductive rates are shorter when many males are present in a group • Within-group competition makes female reproduction slower, Lemoine et al. use long-term data on four neighboring groups of wild chimpanzees and show that between-group competition, expressed by a novel index of neighbor pressure and a group’s competitive ability, reduces female reproductive success. This suggests that between-group competition represents a relevant selective pressure in territorial species.

Compared with most mammals, postnatal development in great apes is protracted, presenting both an extended period of phenotypic plasticity to environmental conditions and the potential for sustained mother-offspring and/or sibling conflict over resources. Comparisons of cortisol levels during ontogeny can reveal physiological plasticity to species or population specific socioecological factors and in turn how these factors might ameliorate or exaggerate mother-offspring and sibling conflict. Here, we examine developmental patterns of cortisol levels in two wild chimpanzee populations (Budongo and Taï), with two and three communities each, and one wild bonobo population (LuiKotale), with two communities. Both species have similar juvenile life histories. Nonetheless, we predicted that key differences in socioecological factors, such as feeding competition, would lead to interspecific variation in mother-offspring and sibling conflict and thus variation in ontogenetic cortisol patterns. We measured urinary cortisol levels in 1394 samples collected from 37 bonobos and 100 chimpanzees aged up to 12 years. The significant differences in age-related variation in cortisol levels appeared population specific rather than species specific. Both bonobos and Taï chimpanzees had comparatively stable and gradually increasing cortisol levels throughout development; Budongo chimpanzees experienced declining cortisol levels before increases in later ontogeny. These age-related population differences in cortisol patterns were not explained by mother-offspring or sibling conflict specifically; instead, the comparatively stable cortisol patterns of bonobos and Taï chimpanzees likely reflect a consistency in experience of competition and the social environment compared with Budongo chimpanzees, where mothers may adopt more variable strategies related to infanticide risk and resource availability. The clear population-level differences within chimpanzees highlight potential intraspecific flexibility in developmental processes in apes, suggesting the flexibility and diversity in rearing strategies seen in humans may have a deep evolutionary history. Publisher PDF

Core funding for the Taï Chimpanzee Project is provided by the Max Planck Society since 1997. This study was also funded by the Minerva Foundation, Leakey Foundation, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 679787). In-group cohesion is an essential component of successful intergroup competition in both human and nonhuman animals, likely facilitating group members access to potential benefits. However, when benefits are equally shared among group members, group defense becomes a collective action problem, which might subvert cohesive participation during intergroup competition. There is a lack of consensus across studies and species with regard to the link between in-group cohesion and intergroup competition, likely as a result of species differences in managing the collective action problem. Here, we examine this link in a species with a striking example of collective action during intergroup competition, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Using two years of focal-follow data on males and females in two groups at the Taï Forest, Côte d’Ivoire, we investigated the immediate and long-term effects of intergroup competition (border patrols and intergroup encounters) on measures of in-group cohesion, namely modularity, party size, and intergroup aggression. We found that groups’ association patterns were less modular (more cohesive) in months in which they engaged in more border patrols and intergroup encounters. We found that current and greater prior engagement in intergroup competition predicted larger party sizes. Furthermore, current, but not prior engagement in intergroup competition, predicted reduced intragroup aggression by males but not by females. Increased in-group cohesion in chimpanzees likely reduces potential costs of intergroup competition engagement, by facilitating joint participation in current and future intergroup conflicts, overcoming the collective action problem. Publisher PDF

Annoyance ratings for artificially created noises, resembling the main characteristics of temporal wind turbine noise, were studied by means of a listening experiment involving 21 participants with normal hearing. Three types of stimuli were examined: broadband noise (−4 dB/octave), noise generated by moving cars, and narrowband noise. All stimuli had the sound level fluctuations typical for wind turbine noise. The magnitude of the sound level fluctuations was measured in a quantitative way, by using the characteristics of amplitude modulated sound: modulation rate and modulation depth. Our aim was to examine how the modulation rate and the modulation depth influence the noise annoyance assessment of broadband and narrowband amplitude modulated noises. Three different modulation rates, 1, 2 and 4 Hz, and sound level fluctuations (a measure of the modulation depth), 3, 6, 9 dB, were applied to each type of stimuli (with exception of noise generated by the moving cars) and investigated. The participants in the listening experiment were presented with sound stimuli in laboratory conditions and asked to rate their annoyance on a numerical scale. The results have shown a significant difference between the investigated conditions. The effect was particularly strong between the annoyance judgments of different types of noise (narrow and broadband), and modulated versus unmodulated noises. Temporal fluctuations occurring in wind turbine noise are very pertinent to the perception of annoyance and could be responsible for its being a relatively annoying noise source. The obtained results were discussed and compared to the typical modulation rates and level changes that occur in recordings of real wind turbine noise.

Why share when access to benefits is uncertain is crucial to our understanding of the evolution of humans' extensive cooperation. Here, we investigated some of the different human sharing hypotheses and potential neuroendocrine mechanisms, in one of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees. The strongest predictor of sharing across food types was the presence of enduring and mutually preferred grooming partners, more than harassment, direct signalling, or trade. Moreover, urinary oxytocin levels were higher after the sharing of both individually and jointly acquired resources compared with controls. We conclude that the emotional connection inherent in social bonds was a key factor determining sharing patterns, with the oxytocinergic system potentially facilitating long-term cooperative exchanges. Testing for the role of social bonds in increasing predictability of sharing behaviour, a feature frequently overlooked, may help us to identify the evolutionary drivers of resource sharing and mechanisms that sustain delayed reciprocity between non-kin.

Cooperative hunting and meat sharing are hypothesized as fundamental to human life history adaptations and biological success. Wild chimpanzees also hunt in groups, and despite the potential of inferring ancestral hominid adaptations, it remains unclear whether chimpanzee hunting is a cooperative act. Here we show support for cooperative acquisition in wild chimpanzees since hunters are more likely to receive meat than bystanders, independent of begging effort. Engagement in prey searches and higher hunt participation independently increase hunting success, suggesting that coordination may improve motivation in joint tasks. We also find higher levels of urinary oxytocin after hunts and prey searches compared with controls. We conclude that chimpanzee hunting is cooperative, likely facilitated by behavioral and neuroendocrine mechanisms of coordination and reward. If group hunting has shaped humans’ life history traits, perhaps similar pressures acted upon life history patterns in the last common ancestor of human and chimpanzee. Liran Samuni et al. examined meat sharing behavior and oxytocin in wild chimpanzees, elucidating the mechanism facilitating cooperation. They find that hunters are more likely to receive food independent of begging, suggesting that prosocial behaviors are rewarded in primates, likely facilitated by oxytocin.

Currently research into the psychological evaluation of noise in daily life is carried out without taking into account the sense of sight. The human senses interact with each other; thus some information coming from one sense can be skipped or ignored in favor of information coming from another sense, leading to completely different reactions or behavior. The aim of this paper is to verify, on the basis of psychophysical experiments, how a human being processes audio-visual information coming from the different environmental noises which can be encountered in daily life. The experiment was divided into three parts: auditory, visual, and audio-visual. In each part of the experiment, the ICBEN scale (0-10) was used to rate the presented stimuli. In the first part only audio stimuli were presented, and subjects were asked to rate their annoyance with the sound. In the second part of the experiment, the participants were asked to rate how pleasant the presented video clips were. Finally, in the last part of the experiment, participants were presented with a compatible and incompatible mix of audio and visual stimuli and asked to rate their annoyance. We found that several audio stimuli were assessed differently, to a significant extent, by listeners after video clips were added to them.

Demographic factors can strongly influence patterns of behavioral variation in animal societies. Traditionally, these factors are measured using longitudinal observation of habituated social groups, particularly in social animals like primates. Alternatively, noninvasive biomonitoring methods such as camera trapping can allow researchers to assess species occupancy, estimate population abundance, and study rare behaviors. However, measures of fine-scale demographic variation, such as those related to age and sex structure or subgrouping patterns, pose a greater challenge. Here, we compare demographic data collected from a community of habituated chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Tai Forest using two methods: camera trap videos and observational data from long-term records. By matching data on party size, seasonal variation in party size, measures of demographic composition, and changes over the study period from both sources, we compared the accuracy of camera trap records and long-term data to assess whether camera trap data could be used to assess such variables in populations of unhabituated chimpanzees. When compared to observational data, camera trap data tended to underestimate measures of party size, but revealed similar patterns of seasonal variation as well as similar community demographic composition (age/sex proportions) and dynamics (particularly emigration and deaths) during the study period. Our findings highlight the potential and limitations of camera trap surveys for estimating fine-scale demographic composition and variation in primates. Continuing development of field and statistical methods will further improve the usability of camera traps for demographic studies.

Many animals living in social groups have evolved behaviors to resolve conflicts between group members, behaviors thought crucial for maintaining stable group life. Several hypotheses, based mainly on observational data, aim to explain how post-conflict (PC) affiliations, such as reconciliation and consolation, resolve conflicts by restoring relationships and/or alleviating anxiety. To examine a potential endocrinological mechanism of PC affiliations, we used an experimental-like procedure to investigate whether the oxytocinergic system is activated during naturally observed reconciliations, receiving bystander PC affiliations and aggressions not followed by PC affiliations in wild male chimpanzees. We compared urinary oxytocin (uOT) levels after reconciliations, receiving bystander PC affiliations or aggressions without affiliations with two control conditions: affiliations without previous aggression and after time periods without social interactions. We furthermore tested the 'valuable relationship' hypothesis of reconciliation, as well as the influence of relationship quality between individuals engaged in each of the three behavioral conditions involving aggression on uOT levels. We found that the probability to reconcile a conflict increased with increasing relationship quality between opponents, thus our results support the 'valuable relationship' hypothesis. However, relationship quality did not influence uOT levels, while behavioral condition had a significant effect on uOT levels. uOT levels after reconciliations, receiving bystander PC affiliations and affiliations not related to conflicts were higher than after aggressions alone and time periods without social interactions. Overall, our results indicate that the oxytocinergic system is activated during affiliative interactions, whether occurring as reconciliation, bystander PC affiliation or affiliation alone. We conclude that the oxytocinergic system, in addition to building and maintaining social relationships, also takes part in repairing them.

The present study consisted of two experiments. The goal of the first experiment was to establish the just noticeable differences for the fundamental frequency of the vowel /u/ by using the 2AFC method. We obtained the threshold value for 27 cents. This value is larger than the motor reaction values which had been observed in previous experiments (e.g. 9 or 19 cents). The second experiment was intended to provide neurophysiological confirmation of the detection of shifts in a frequency, using event-related potentials (ERPs). We concentrated on the mismatch negativity (MMN) - the component elicited by the change in the pattern of stimuli. Its occurrence is correlated with the discrimination threshold. In our study, MMN was observed for changes greater than 27 cents - shifts of ±50 and 100 cents (effect size - Cohen’s d = 2.259). MMN did not appear for changes of ±10 and 20 cents. The results showed that the values for which motor responses can be observed are indeed lower than those for perceptual thresholds.

When thinking about noise annoyance, the tendency is to imagine a person's rest being disturbed by noise. Although this idea is not formulated explicitly, the majority of traditional experiments implicitly assume that absence of activity during rest represents the typical situation in which noise annoyance should be studied. We propose that research should be extended to different kinds of activities. This study focuses on one kind of activity: verbal communication. Our hypothesis is that the assessment of difficulty with speech comprehension can be replaced by a speech intelligibility measure, which could assess annoyance experienced during communicative activities. Finally, we would like to find out how noise annoyance disturbs communicative activity, and to compare this with annoyance experienced during rest. To test our hypothesis, two psychoacoustic experiments were performed. In Experiment I, speech intelligibility was measured for eight environmental noises at seven signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). For these SNR values, the participants assessed their difficulty with speech comprehension. This established the relationships between the intelligibility functions and the difficultly in speech comprehension for all the investigated noises. The results of Experiment I show that the potential noise annoyance rating could be predicted on the basis of the speech intelligibility scores, as they give much smaller inter-individual differences between participants than an annoyance assessment test. In Experiment II, the standard �resting� method of noise annoyance assessment was applied to the same eight noises. A comparison of the results indicated a correlation between the annoyance ratings obtained in both the experiments. Some limitations of this approach are also discussed in the paper.

Intergroup conflict is evident throughout the history of our species, ubiquitous across human societies, and considered crucial for the evolution of humans' large-scale cooperative nature. Like humans, chimpanzee societies exhibit intragroup coordination and coalitionary support during violent intergroup conflicts. In both species, cooperation among group members is essential for individuals to gain access to benefits from engaging in intergroup conflict. Studies suggest that a contributive mechanism regulating in-group cooperation during intergroup conflicts in humans involves the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin, known to influence trust, coordination, and social cognition, although evidence from natural settings is lacking. Here, applying a noninvasive method, we investigate oxytocinergic system involvement during natural intergroup conflicts in wild chimpanzees. We found that chimpanzees of both sexes had significantly higher urinary oxytocin levels immediately before and during intergroup conflict compared with controls. Also, elevated hormone levels were linked with greater cohesion during intergroup conflicts, rather than with the level of potential threat posed by rival groups, intragroup affiliative social interactions, or coordinated behavior alone. Thus, the oxytocinergic system, potentially engendering cohesion and cooperation when facing an out-group threat, may not be uniquely human but rather a mechanism with evolutionary roots shared by our last common ancestor with chimpanzees, likely expediting fitness gains during intergroup conflict.

Objective: The need for validated measures enabling clinicians to classify tinnitus patients according to the severity of tinnitus and screen the progress of therapies in our country led us to translate into Polish and to validate two tinnitus questionnaires, namely the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI). Design: The original English versions of the questionnaires were translated into Polish and translated back to English by three independent translators. These versions were then finalized by the authors into a Polish THI (THI-Pl) and a Polish TFI (TFI-Pl). Participants from three laryngological centers in Poland anonymously answered the THIPl (N = 98) and the TFI-Pl (N = 108) in addition to the Polish versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale as a measure of self-perceived level of depression, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale to assess self-perceived quality of life. Both were used to determine discriminant validity. Two Visual Analog Scales were used to measure tinnitus annoyance and tinnitus loudness in order to determine convergent validity. Results: Similar to the original version of the THI, the THI-Pl showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.93). The exploratory factor analysis revealed that the questionnaire has a three-factorial structure that does not correspond to the original division for functional, catastrophic, and emotional subscales. Convergent and discriminant validities were confirmed. The TFI-Pl showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.96) with the reliability ranging from 0.82 to 0.95 for its different subscales. Factor analysis confirmed an eight-factorial structure with factors assigning all items to appropriate subscales reported in the original version of the questionnaire. Discriminant and convergent validities were also confirmed for the TFI-Pl. Conclusion: We translated and validated the Polish versions of the THI and the TFI to make them suitable for clinical use in Poland. publishedVersion

Acute annoyance due to noise from trams and buses was ascertained and compared in two experimental studies. First, 22 healthy young persons (19–22 years) using a standardised scale, rated their annoyance caused by noise from trams, buses and trucks, which were each presented at seven sound levels. The noise of a tram was judged to be equally annoying as the noise of a bus with a 3 dB lower level, which corresponds to the calculated loudness difference. The noises of a tram and of a bus were superimposed onto a 2-h realistic road traffic scenario in the second study. This study was conducted with 60 healthy young persons (18–31 years). Twenty participants were each exposed either to the scenario with the tram or the bus (LAeqT=55 dBA) or to a control condition (LAeqT=43.6 dBA) while working on different mental tasks. Performance data did not differentiate between the noise conditions, but the participants were again less annoyed by the scenario with the tram, suggesting a possible bonus for the tram. This assumption has to be verified in future studies. The fact that calculated loudness could predict annoyance in the psychoacoustic tests and this annoyance due to the same noises presented in complex scenarios might indicate the possibility of a more economical approach, at least to noises between which loudness differs greatly.

WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines focus on the WHO European Region and provide guidance to its Member States that is compatible with the noise indicators used in the EU Environmental Noise Directive. The Guidelines aim to serve as a reference for several target audiences, such as decision makers and technical experts, health impact assessment and environmental impact assessment practitioners and researchers, national and local authorities and non-governmental organizations responsible for risk communication and general awareness raising. The implementation of the guideline recommendations will require coordinated effort from ministries, public and private sectors, NGOs and potentially input from international development programmes and finance organizations. The Guidelines can be useful by providing exposure-response relationships and health-based exposure limits that provide insight into the expected health effects at observed or expected noise exposure levels. They allow comparison amongst different policy options with regard to the associated health effects and can be valuable information to use in cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses of various policies for noise abatement. In this respect, the guideline recommendations can be an integral part of the policy process for noise reduction by various institutions, and are of greatest value in order to communicate the health risks and potential cost-effective solutions to reduce noise

WHO Regional Office for Europe is currently coordinating the systematic review of all pertinent literature in order to provide recommendations for the protection of public health as part of the upcoming WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (the Guidelines). The entire process is transparent and evidence-based and is conducted according to established WHO procedures for guideline development. Whereas the scientific evidence on health effects of environmental noise is growing, the recognition of noise as an environmental health issue is insufficient. There is uneven attention given to environmental noise among Member States, with varying degree of policy development, exposure monitoring and use of health risk assessment practices for informing public health policy. The development of these Guidelines is motivated by the Commitment to Act of European Ministers of Environment and Health included in the Parma Declaration from 2010, which urged WHO to develop suitable guidelines on noise. Further, some of the guideline recommendations are expected to be directly embedded in the revised Annex III of the EU Environmental Noise Directive on "assessment methods for harmful effects", which has recently been initiated

The Guidelines will include recommendations on transportation noise (air, road, rail), leisure noise and wind turbine noise, focusing on the exposure-response functions for the assessment of health impacts, and/or noise exposure levels above which there is an increased risk of adverse health effects. They will also include a recommendation of measures to be implemented by policy makers in order to reduce adverse effects of exposure to environmental noise in the population. General considerations and best practice statements that apply to the implementation of all specific recommendations will also be provided. WHO has adopted internationally recognized standards and methods for guideline development to ensure that guidelines are free from biases and meet public health needs. Building on the GRADE approach, a specific decision making framework has been developed to assess the quality of evidence of the relationship between source-specific environmental noise and health outcomes. The approach is also used to agree on factors influencing the recommendations, namely certainty about harms and benefits, values and preferences, as well as feasibility and resource implications. Based on these dimensions, the strength of the recommendation is set as either "strong" or "conditional".

Previously it has been found through a series of psychoacoustical experiments that the arithmetic average of sound pressure level calculated in octave bands is a good estimator of loudness for various kinds of environmental noise. Remarkably, the arithmetic average of sound pressure level in octave bands from 63 Hz to 4 kHz, Lm,1/1(63–4k), strongly correlates with the loudness level specified in ISO 532B, LL(Z), as well as with loudness assessment. To investigate this relationship further, a numerical study has been carried out based on Zwicker’s loudness model. As a result, practical expressions to estimate the loudness levels of general environmental noises from the sound pressure levels in octave bands from 63 Hz or 125 Hz to 4 kHz are proposed.

Porous road surfaces reduce road traffic noise. A new method of noise reduction assessment is proposed. The noise generated by a few vehicles was measured two times: on an old surface with the dense asphalt and on a new surface with the porous asphalt. Subjective assessments of drive-by noise suggest that the sound exposure and the road surface coefficient can be used as the acoustical characteristics of a road surface. Their average values, with the average number of vehicles passing the receiver during a day or night, makes it possible to predict the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level for the new road surface. This is the main objective of this paper.

The aim of the study was to examine how visual and audio information influences audio-visual environment assessment. Original audio-visual recordings were made at seven different places in the city of Poznan. Participants of the psychophysical experiments were asked to rate, on a numerical standardized scale, the degree of comfort they would feel if they were in such an environment. The assessments of audio-visual comfort were carried out in a laboratory in four different conditions: (a) audio samples only, (b) original audio-visual samples, (c) video samples only, and (d) mixed audio-visual samples. The general results of this experiment showed a significant difference between the investigated conditions, but not for all the investigated samples. There was a significant improvement in comfort assessment when visual information was added (in only three out of 7 cases), when conditions (a) and (b) were compared. On the other hand, the results show that the comfort assessment of audio-visual samples could be changed by manipulating the audio rather than the video part of the audio-visual sample. Finally, it seems, that people could differentiate audio-visual representations of a given place in the environment based rather of on the sound sources' compositions than on the sound level. Object identification is responsible for both landscape and soundscape grouping.

The paper examines how well standard sources of impact sounds(bang-machine, A-ball, NF-ball, new rubber ball)imitate real impact sounds(human jumping and hopping).The compared sounds were described from psychoacoustic point of view.At the same time similarities between the impact sounds were judged in the psychoacoustic experiment.Results were compared with the existing standards expressed in F- and S-maximum sound levels:LA max, F, LA max, S and sound exposure level LAE.

There is a paucity of theory pertaining to social surveys of annoyance and community noise. A new psychophysical model addresses data concerning resident annoyance in sites exposed to various maximum noise levels and different numbers of noise events. The best fits of this model point to the relevance of response variance for understanding the results obtained with category response scales. The argument identifies a number of psychological and physical variables that may influence annoyance reactions to community noise. Most importantly, the model suggests that the truncation inherent in category scales biases the responses, and that response variability may be critical in determining the detailed shape of the dose-response function. Regulatory decisions concerning annoyance and community noise should be more valid when based on a deeper understanding of the theoretical basis of the empirical data.

The primary male androgen testosterone (T) is often used as an endocrinological marker to investigate androgen-behaviour interactions in males. In chimpanzees and bonobos, studies investigating the relationship between T levels and dominance rank or aggressive behaviour have revealed contradictory results. The immunoassays used in these studies were originally developed for the measurement of steroids in serum. Their application to non-invasively collected samples, however, can lead to methodological problems due to cross-reacting metabolites, which might occur in urine or faeces but not in blood. The overall aim of this study, therefore, is to clarify whether a T enzyme immunoassay (EIA) is an applicable method to monitor testicular function in adult male chimpanzees. To estimate the impact of cross-reacting androgens on the used T EIA, we compared the results of an EIA measurement with a set of androgen metabolite levels measured by LC-MS. In urine from male chimpanzees, cross-reactivities appear to exist mainly with T and its exclusive metabolites, 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT) and 5α-androstanediol (androstanediol). Both urinary and serum T levels of male chimpanzees were significantly higher than female T levels when measured with the T EIA, indicating a reliable measurement of testicular androgens and their exclusive metabolites with the used EIA. In urine from female chimpanzees, the comparison between LC-MS and T EIA results indicated a higher impact of cross-reactions with adrenal androgen metabolites. Therefore, the investigation of urinary T levels in female chimpanzees with a T EIA seems to be problematic. Overall our results show that a T EIA can be a reliable method to monitor testicular function in male chimpanzee urine and that LC-MS is a valuable tool for the validation of immunoassays.

The aim of the study was to investigate how the time structure of a road-traffic affects the noise annoyance judgment. In a psychoacoustic experiment, the listeners judged noise annoyance of four road-traffic noise scenarios with identical numbers of vehicles and LAeq,T value but different time structure of a road traffic. The traffic structure varied from even to highly clustered across different scenarios. The scenarios were created in the laboratory from a large set of a single vehicle pass-by recordings. The scenarios were additionally filtered with filters corresponding to a typical window transfer function to simulate the situation inside the building. The experimental results showed that there is a significant difference in annoyance judgment for different traffic structures with the same LAeq,T value. The highest annoyance ratings were obtained for even traffic distribution and the most clustered distribution resulted in the lowest annoyance rating. These results correlated well with the averaged loudness, whereas the percentile loudness (N5) and level (L5) predict the opposite results.

Testosterone regulates a wide variety of behavioral and physiological traits in male vertebrates. It influences reproductive and aggressive behaviors and is used as a marker of gonadal activity. While testosterone is the primary biologically active male gonadal steroid in the blood, it is metabolized into a variety of related steroids when excreted via urine and feces. To monitor endocrinological profiles studies on wild-living animals primarily rely on non-invasively collected samples such as urine or feces. Since a number of androgen metabolites that are found in high concentrations in these matrices do not stem exclusively from gonadal production, but are also produced by the adrenal cortex, the metabolism and excretion pattern of testosterone and its characteristic metabolites have to be investigated. Here, we compare the levels of 11 androgens and their metabolites in serum and urine (after hydrolytic/solvolytic cleavage of conjugates) from female, and intact and castrated male chimpanzees to investigate whether they were of testicular or adrenal origin. For serum, significant differences in concentrations were found only for native testosterone. For urine, testosterone concentrations showed the largest differences between intact and castrated males, and intact males and females, while no differences were seen between females and castrated males. Epitestosterone levels revealed the same pattern. These differences in urinary concentrations could also be seen for 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (androstanediol), and less clearly for 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT), etiocholanolone, and androsterone. In urine of males, significant correlations were found between the levels of testosterone and 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol, as well as between testosterone and epitestosterone. Therefore, the clearest urinary markers of gonadal activity in male chimpanzees seems to be testosterone itself.