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In recent years, the problem of noise pollution in urban areas has gained significant attention due to its detrimental impact on the health of residents. The present study aims to determine the current noise pollution scenario and direct and indirect association between the influencing factors on health issues of residents in an urban environment. The study utilized a partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to examine the hypotheses related to how individuals perceive noise pollution and its impact on their health. The research findings reveal that noise annoyance and noise sensitivity have a direct impact on noise induced health issues, while demographic characteristics and traffic noise have an indirect influence. Additionally, noise level monitoring was conducted during morning, afternoon, and evening hours to evaluate ambient noise levels and prepare noise maps. Analysis of the prepared noise maps revealed that many sampling locations show noise levels higher than, or close to, 70 dBA. The study aims to develop a decision-support tool that utilizes data on noise pollution levels and associated health issues to inform policy interventions for managing and controlling noise pollution in urban settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the interplay between platform information push, consumer emotions, and purchase behavior in Macau's cross-border e-commerce context using PLS-ANN analysis and piecewise linear regression. The findings reveal nuanced effects of information push on pleasure and annoyance, with distinct patterns emerging at different levels. These emotional responses significantly influence purchase intentions and actual behavior. Pleasure has a positive impact, while annoyance negatively affects outcomes. To optimize consumer sentiment and drive sales, e-commerce platforms should strategically manage information content, presentation, and timing. Harnessing positive emotions, balancing information sufficiency and overload prevention, and fostering long-term emotional connections are crucial. Adapting push strategies to diverse market preferences is vital for cross-border success. The study expands affect-as-information and emotional contagion theories, offering actionable suggestions for precision marketing. Future research should explore additional emotive dimensions, individual differences, and contextual moderators to enrich the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firefighters reside in inherently noisy environments with sirens and emergency alarms. This noise can negatively affect the performance of firefighters and further pose a safety risk. This study investigates the relationship between siren noise exposure and its mental health disorders. In doing so, the study focuses on cognitive function among firefighters, using a Bayesian network model for the first time. This case-control study involved 92 firefighters and was conducted in 2023. Participants were categorized into case and control groups based on their exposure levels to siren noise. Noise exposures were initially measured according to ISO 9612 standards. The questionnaires covered demographic information, scales of their depression, anxiety, and stress, the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire, and the cognitive failure questionnaire. GeNIe academic software version 2.3 was employed for Bayesian network analysis. The study results indicated a strong association that heightened siren noise exposure with a 100% probability increases depression (10%), stress (14%), anxiety (13%), and aggression (16%). In addition, each variable–noise exposure, depression, stress, anxiety, and aggression was linked to cognitive failure by 8%, 28%, 8%, and 13%, respectively. The combination of variables including noise exposure, depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders had a 57% increase in cognitive failure. The most influence values were observed between depression and cognitive failures (0.564). The results of this study demonstrated the effect of siren noise exposure and its mental health disorders on cognitive function among firefighters. The results further highlight proper implementation of measures to mitigate these effects, and further required investigation on their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Biting hematophagous dipterans are responsible for painful bites and blood spoliation; they induce behavioral modifications, anemia, and significant production losses in cattle. A feedlot of 100 feeder cattle would register a total loss of USD 16,000 within 5 months, which appears to be an unexpectedly huge loss caused by dipterans. Investing part of this money in fly control would probably be beneficial. In addition to blood pathogen transmission, insects of the order Diptera affect livestock through visual and contact harassment; blood-feeders are responsible for painful bites and blood despoliation, generating behavioral modifications, anemia, and production losses. Knowledge of their economic impact is a basis for cost-effective control. Here, we measured the global impact of diptera insects by comparing two batches of six feeder cattle, one in the open air and the other protected by a mosquito net. The analytical data were insect density in the open air and, for feeder cattle, tail flick counts, hematocrit values (Ht), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and live body weight gain (LBWG). Over a period of five months, the results showed significant losses in the LBWG of cattle exposed to insects, estimated at 8.0 ± 1.5 kg/month [2.7; 13.3], with a total loss reaching 40.0 ± 5.5 kg/head. Main diurnal insects were Stomoxys spp. and Musca crassirostris. There was a strong correlation between fly density and diurnal tail flicks. Night trapping and tail flicks showed a potentially important role of mosquitoes to be further explored. The Ht levels of exposed animals were 3–4% lower than those of controls. FCRs indicated that exposed animals needed 33% more dry matter intake/kg of LBWG. An economic assessment showed that dipterans were responsible for a 10–11% loss in LBWG during the main growing period of feeder cattle (10–15 months). A feedlot of 100 calves would register a total loss of USD 16,000 within 5 months, which appears to be an unexpectedly huge loss caused by dipterans. Investing part of this money into fly control would probably be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, noise pollution has become a considerable environmental concern, with extended exposure linked to numerous health problems, including sleep disturbances, elevated blood pressure, psychological health, and hormone levels. This research delves into the effects of road traffic noise on the cognitive growth of school-aged children, a group particularly sensitive to environmental stressors. The study measured ambient noise levels using two sound level meters and assessed students' performance in cognitive tasks in both prevailing and controlled quiet environments. Cognitive assessments were employed to determine the influence of noise on learning outcomes, and a survey was conducted to investigate both the direct and indirect effects of noise pollution on their health and mental well-being. Results indicate that the observed noise levels significantly surpassed the limit of 35 dB(A) (inside the classroom) set by the World Health Organization (WHO), highlighting a critical level of noise pollution exposure among students. A comparison of student performance showed marked improvements in a controlled, quiet environment compared to the prevailing conditions. Statistical analyses, including paired t-tests, confirmed these findings in most classes. Exposure condition changes significantly decreased by 8.5 dB(A) and 13.6 dB(A) in noise levels at schools A and B, respectively. Additionally, evaluation of cognitive scores pointed to a more pronounced effect of noise pollution on female students than male students. Perception surveys showed severe exposure to noise-induced annoyance and speech intelligibility in the classroom. The study emphasizes the urgent need for effective noise reduction measures in schools to protect children's health and enhance their cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Firefighters reside in inherently noisy environments with sirens and emergency alarms. This noise can negatively affect the performance of firefighters and further pose a safety risk. This study investigates the relationship between siren noise exposure and its mental health disorders. In doing so, the study focuses on cognitive function among firefighters, using a Bayesian network model for the first time. This case-control study involved 92 firefighters and was conducted in 2023. Participants were categorized into case and control groups based on their exposure levels to siren noise. Noise exposures were initially measured according to ISO 9612 standards. The questionnaires covered demographic information, scales of their depression, anxiety, and stress, the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire, and the cognitive failure questionnaire. GeNIe academic software version 2.3 was employed for Bayesian network analysis. The study results indicated a strong association that heightened siren noise exposure with a 100% probability increases depression (10%), stress (14%), anxiety (13%), and aggression (16%). In addition, each variable–noise exposure, depression, stress, anxiety, and aggression was linked to cognitive failure by 8%, 28%, 8%, and 13%, respectively. The combination of variables including noise exposure, depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders had a 57% increase in cognitive failure. The most influence values were observed between depression and cognitive failures (0.564). The results of this study demonstrated the effect of siren noise exposure and its mental health disorders on cognitive function among firefighters. The results further highlight proper implementation of measures to mitigate these effects, and further required investigation on their effectiveness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound global repercussions, leading to substantial fatalities and economic losses worldwide. However, amidst these adversities, the pandemic inadvertently offered a unique opportunity to assess the impact of reduced human activity on environmental noise levels. This study focuses on monitoring and mapping noise pollution levels at 101 locations managed by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, during three distinct periods: pre-COVID, during COVID-lockdown, and post-COVID. Using ArcGIS 10.2.1, noise data are spatially analysed across different zones designated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), namely Industrial, Commercial, Residential, and Silence Zones. The findings reveal a significant reduction in traffic noise during the COVID-19 lockdown period compared to both pre-COVID and post-COVID periods across all four zones. To assess the potential impact on human health, the study employs equations developed by Miedema and Vos (Acoust Soc Am 104:3432–3445, 1998, ) for calculating percentages of highly annoyed individuals and estimating sleeping disorders. Additionally, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is applied to explore associations between noise levels and health outcomes across different time periods. Despite the significant reduction in traffic noise observed during the COVID-19 lockdown, our analysis suggests that this decrease did not have a statistically significant effect on annoyance levels (p-value: 0.0542) or sleeping disorders (p-value: 0.121). This study provides valuable insights into the unintended consequences of urban lockdowns on environmental noise pollution and their potential implications for public health and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fast development of technology and transportation systems has resulted in a disturbing level of noise pollution over time that requires research and regulatory. Most existing research is deemed ineffective as it primarily focuses on conducting assessments of traffic noise without providing a structured framework for noise mitigation. This study focused on three main stages to monitor road traffic noise in Sungai Long area: (1) examination of traffic features, (2) derivation of noise indices, and (3) evaluation of the influence of traffic noise. Total of four roads were selected with four stations on each road in Bandar Sungai Long to assess the traffic noise impact. The sound level metre (SLM) was used to calculate the noise indices for each road. Besides, peak-hour sessions and off-peak sessions of traffic flow were measured in field measurement to compare the differences in noise conditions. Additionally, based on the measured noise indices, traffic noise index (TNI), noise pollution level (LNP), and expected community response were calculated to reveal the impact of traffic noise. Overall, this study's findings demonstrated that residential areas experiencing traffic noise disturbance, particularly on roads, namely Jalan Bp Satu and Jalan Persiaran SL 7, had exceeded the Malaysian environmental standard. In addition, two optimized methods are proposed which are prohibiting heavy vehicles and a simple noise barrier was designed on Jalan Bp Satu and Jalan Persiaran SL 7. The expected noise level between these two methods had been compared in the discussion part. In summary, prohibiting heavy vehicles on the road is more suitable if the aim is to save cost. However, if reducing traffic noise is a priority and a long-term solution is needed, constructing noise barrier may be a more effective solution.

The hospital soundscape is known for high noise levels and a perception of chaos, leading to concerns about its impact on patients, families, professionals, and other hospital staff. This study investigates the relationship between sound, Annoyance, and sleep quality in a multi-patient neurology ward. A mixed-methods approach was employed. Interviews were conducted with medical staff (n = 7) to understand their experiences with sound. Questionnaires and sleep tracking devices (n = 20) assessed patient sleep quality and Annoyance caused by sound events. In addition, listeners (n = 28) annotated 429 nighttime audio recordings to identify sound sources and rate Annoyance level, which we considered the key emotional descriptor for patients. Over 9,200 sound events were analysed. While snoring, a patient-generated sound dominated the nighttime soundscape and was highly rated for Annoyance, and staff-generated sounds such as speech and footsteps were found to contribute more to accumulated Annoyance due to their extended duration. This study suggests that patient sleep quality can be improved by focusing on design interventions that reduce the impact of specific sounds. These might include raising awareness among staff about activities that might produce annoying sounds and implementing strategies to mitigate their disruptive effects.

Copyright of Automobile Technology is the property of Automobile Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urban noise pollution poses significant challenges to public health and environmental sustainability, particularly in rapidly developing tourist destinations. Noise pollution and associated annoyance level in five major intersections of Cox's Bazar City, Bangladesh, was assessed in this study during the peak tourist season. Noise measurements were conducted using various indices (L10, Leq, and TNI) across morning, midday, and afternoon time slots. TNI scores were compared with Mean Dissatisfaction Score (MDS) standards to assess traffic-induced noise annoyance levels. Additionally, a survey of 675 respondents was conducted to assess their perceptions of noise pollution. Statistical analyses included linear regression for noise indices, multinomial logistic regression for TNI-related dissatisfaction, and ordinal logistic regression for respondents' perceived annoyances. Results revealed significant noise pollution issues, with Leq scores consistently exceeding national guidelines across all intersections and time periods, particularly on weekends during afternoon timeslots. TNI values frequently surpassed standard dissatisfaction regulations, with 19 out of 105 time slots exhibiting extreme dissatisfaction levels. Link Road and Kolatoli Circle intersections consistently showed higher noise levels and dissatisfaction. Over 95% of survey respondents perceived increased noise pollution during peak tourist seasons, with 87.11% describing it as ''extremely'' or ''very'' noisy. Longer exposure duration and awareness of health risks were significantly associated with reported perceived annoyance levels. Respondents reported various health impacts, including annoyance (84.44%), headaches (62.37%), and cognitive impairment (44.44%). This comprehensive study provides valuable insights for policymakers, city planners, and environmentalists to develop sustainable urban strategies that balance the acoustic environment with the well-being of residents and tourists alike.

This study investigates the interplay between platform information push, consumer emotions, and purchase behavior in Macau’s cross-border e-commerce context using PLS-ANN analysis and piecewise linear regression. The findings reveal nuanced effects of information push on pleasure and annoyance, with distinct patterns emerging at different levels. These emotional responses significantly influence purchase intentions and actual behavior. Pleasure has a positive impact, while annoyance negatively affects outcomes. To optimize consumer sentiment and drive sales, e-commerce platforms should strategically manage information content, presentation, and timing. Harnessing positive emotions, balancing information sufficiency and overload prevention, and fostering long-term emotional connections are crucial. Adapting push strategies to diverse market preferences is vital for cross-border success. The study expands affect-as-information and emotional contagion theories, offering actionable suggestions for precision marketing. Future research should explore additional emotive dimensions, individual differences, and contextual moderators to enrich the model.

Long-term exposure to aircraft noise has been linked to various negative health impacts, with annoyance playing a key role in mediating stress-related health effects. Fairness can be seen as a fundamental aspect potentially reducing annoyance reactions. This study delves into the concept of fairness within airport management, drawing on research from fields such as social and organizational psychology. It specifically examines the viewpoint of noise-affected residents, offering insights into their perception of fairness in regard to airport management. The research involved focus group discussions and in-depth interviews at three different European airports in Germany and France. These sessions were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Participants were surveyed based on their exposure to lower (≤55 dB Lden) and higher (>55 dB Lden) levels of aircraft noise. The findings indicate that distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal fairness are viewed as important elements for fostering a fair and neighborly relationship with the airport. Residents emphasized the importance of receiving adequate compensation for the disadvantages they incur due to their proximity to the airport, such as aircraft noise-related sleep disturbance. Additionally, residents expressed the need for earnest inclusion in the decision-making processes, as well as access transparent information. Additional focus group discussions were conducted to validate the results and to gather input from affected residents, aiming to establish a fair and neighborly relationship. Based on these insights, recommendations are formulated for airport managers from the perspective of the affected residents, emphasizing the aim of fostering a fair and neighborly relationship.

Copyright of Journal of Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory & Intelligent Informatics is the property of Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory & Intelligent Informatics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Currently, there are a wide range of approaches to deploying digital ads, with advanced technologies now being harnessed to craft advertising that is engaging and even tailored to personal interests and preferences, yet potentially distracting and irritating. This research seeks to evaluate contemporary digital advertising methods by assessing how annoying they are to users, particularly when they distract users from intended tasks or cause delays in regular online activities. To pursue this, an eye-tracking study was conducted, with 51 participants navigating a specially designed website featuring seven distinct types of advertisements without a specific content to avoid the effect of ad content on the collected data. Participants were asked to execute specific information-seeking tasks during the experiment and afterwards to report if they recalled seeing each ad and the degree of annoyance by each ad type. Ad effectiveness is assessed by eye-tracking metrics (time to first fixation, average fixation duration, dwell time, fixation count, and revisit count) depicting how appealing an ad is as a marketing stimulus. Findings indicated that pop-ups, ads with content reorganization, and non-skippable videos ranked as the most annoying forms of advertising. Conversely, in-content ads without content reorganization, banners, and right rail ads were indicated as less intrusive options, seeming to strike a balance between effectiveness and user acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobility and activity restrictions imposed in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant improvement in the urban noise pollution that could be objectively measured in those cities with acoustic sensor networks deployed. This significant change in the urban soundscapes was also perceived by citizens who positively appraised this new acoustic scenario. In this work, authors present a comparative analysis between different noise indices provided by 70 sound sensors deployed in Barcelona, both during and before the lockdown, and the results of a perceptual test conducted in the framework of the project Sons al Balcó during the lockdown, which received more than one hundred contributions in Barcelona alone. The analysis has been performed by clustering the objective and subjective data according to the predominant noise sources in the location of the sensors and differentiating road traffic in heavy, moderate and low-traffic areas. The study brings out strong alignments between a decline in noise indices, acoustic satisfaction improvement and changes in the predominant noise sources, supporting the idea that objective calibrated data can be useful to make a qualitative approximation to the subjective perception of urban soundscapes when further information is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing noise pollution, noise control has drawn more and more public attention. Different from traditional methods to reduce noise energy such as active and passive noise control, suppressing noise annoyance through adding sounds is another choice. In previous studies, water sounds are usually used to adjust the annoyance of traffic noise, but the suppression effect of the water sounds varies from person to person. Low-frequency tonal noise is one kind of typical and common mechanical noise, i.e., substation noise, whose annoyance is caused by tonal perception and higher energy in low frequency is difficult to suppress even though adding sounds. In this study, different controllable sounds (water sounds and narrow-band color noises) with different masker-to-noise ratios (MNRs) were added to low-frequency tonal noise to investigate the annoyance suppression effect through listening tests. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the quantitative suppression effect, the standard sample method (SSM) was applied in the listening tests to convert the annoyance difference into the difference of equivalent sound pressure level of 1 kHz and 70 dB pure tone ( Δ S P L 1 k H z , 70 d B ). Results show that different kinds of water sounds and narrow-band color noises effectively reduce noise annoyance. The optimal result comes from adding one kind of water sound, which reduces the annoyance of substation noise by 27.24%, equivalent to reducing Δ S P L 1 k H z , 70 d B by 6.5 dB. Finally, the annoyance prediction model of combined noises is established to choose controllable sounds and predict the suppression effect of annoyance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study assessed residents' risk perceptions and associated factors in three rural areas by administering a face-to-face questionnaire to 282 subjects. The association between the perception of risk related to wind turbines and related factors such as noise and annoyance was analysed. Outdoor A-weighted sound pressure levels were measured for all. According to regression analysis, age (B: -0.008, 95% CI: -0.015/-0.002), education (B: 0.415, 95% CI: 0.148/-0.682), noise level day (B: -0.040, 95% CI: -0.068/-0. 013), noise annoyance indoors (B: 0.504, 95% CI: 0.227/0.781) and distance (B: 0.000, 95% CI: 0.000/0.000) had a significant effect on high risk perception (p < 0.05). This demonstrates that, in addition to noise, non-acoustic factors also influence risk perception. Ensuring community participation and considering distance before installation could prevent negative risk perceptions and annoyance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Noise pollution is a serious issue in hospitals, especially in emergency departments where high noise levels from emergency patients and treatments can negatively affect medical personnel and patients. This study aimed to measure noise levels during day and night shifts in three major hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Imam Khomeini, Shariati, and Sina hospitals) and investigate the level of annoyance experienced by medical staff. Methods: In this cross-sectional studyTES-1351B sound level meter was used to measure sound pressure levels and the measurement stations were determined according to ISO 9612 standard. A general questionnaire was used to determine demographic characteristics. Also, by a valid self-reporting questionnaire, the feeling about environmental noise intensity and noise annoyance was measured. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS software using ANOVA and t-test. Results: The average sound pressure level in the emergency departments of the studied hospitals was 67.940±7.70 dB. Significant differences were found between morning and evening shift noise levels. (p-value=0.001). The highest average sound pressure level occurred during the evening shift with an average of 72.382±4.35 db. Also, there was a significant difference between the feeling about environmental noise intensity and noise annoyance in Imam Khomeini and Sinai hospitals respectively, (p-value=0.037) (p-value=0.011). Conclusion: The study concludes that noise pollution in the emergency departments of these hospitals needs attention. Implementing administrative and technical-engineering measures to reduce noise pollution is essential to enhance the well-being of medical staff and patients and ensure a more satisfactory healthcare environment.

In addition to blood pathogen transmission, insects of the order Diptera affect livestock through visual and contact harassment; blood-feeders are responsible for painful bites and blood despoliation, generating behavioral modifications, anemia, and production losses. Knowledge of their economic impact is a basis for cost-effective control. Here, we measured the global impact of diptera insects by comparing two batches of six feeder cattle, one in the open air and the other protected by a mosquito net. The analytical data were insect density in the open air and, for feeder cattle, tail flick counts, hematocrit values (Ht), feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and live body weight gain (LBWG). Over a period of five months, the results showed significant losses in the LBWG of cattle exposed to insects, estimated at 8.0 ± 1.5 kg/month [2.7; 13.3], with a total loss reaching 40.0 ± 5.5 kg/head. Main diurnal insects were Stomoxys spp. and Musca crassirostris. There was a strong correlation between fly density and diurnal tail flicks. Night trapping and tail flicks showed a potentially important role of mosquitoes to be further explored. The Ht levels of exposed animals were 3–4% lower than those of controls. FCRs indicated that exposed animals needed 33% more dry matter intake/kg of LBWG. An economic assessment showed that dipterans were responsible for a 10–11% loss in LBWG during the main growing period of feeder cattle (10–15 months). A feedlot of 100 calves would register a total loss of USD 16,000 within 5 months, which appears to be an unexpectedly huge loss caused by dipterans. Investing part of this money into fly control would probably be beneficial.

Designed and implemented by public servants and NGO workers, local inclusion programmes in Barcelona result in the exclusion of illegalized migrants. Access to city provisions is gained by means of a 'work plan' applied by the local authorities. Bureaucratic processes divide potential clients between those who 'deserve' to access rights and those who do not. Much of the legal framework provides leeway to practitioners to decide the fate of those left 'here, but nowhere' (Fieldwork 2019). Bureaucrats, acting as 'gatekeepers', often become 'annoyed' with their 'users'. This annoyance has the potential to illustrate how banal but resourceful emotions end up playing a key part in the exclusion of migrants from the city, strengthening institutional cohesion and a moral order. Focusing on bureaucratic processes and street-level interventions, this article tries to shed light on how borders inside the city are created not only by municipal regulations, but also by bureaucrats´ emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are exposed to environmental noise each day. It may be annoying, cause stress, induce hormonal changes, and negatively affect long-term health. This study aimed to determine the effects of environmental noise on annoyance, perceived stress, stress symptoms, and urine cortisol in people living in a selected area. This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to October 2022 on 142 participants. Urine samples were collected to determine cortisol levels, and perceived stress, stress symptoms, and environmental noise annoyance were evaluated using questionnaires. Stress symptoms correlated with traffic, industrial, and community noise, but not aircraft noise. Community noise correlated most strongly with all stress symptoms. Only community noise exposure was correlated with perceived stress. People reported that industrial and community noise affected their health and daily activities. Cortisol correlated with only traffic noise annoyance. Environmental noise was associated with stress symptoms and stress hormones. In brief, sound level is not the only indicator of stress or health impacts, but annoyance and concern over the effects of noise may negatively affect stress and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lockdown in Spain due to COVID-19 caused a strong decrease in the urban noise levels observed in most cities, clearly followed in the case that these cities had acoustic sensor networks deployed. This fact had an impact on people's lives, who, at that time, were mainly locked at home due to health reasons. In this paper, we present a qualitative analysis of the subjective vision of the citizens participating in a data-collecting campaign during the COVID-19 lockdown in Girona, a Catalan city, named 'Sons al Balcó'. The alignment of the subjective data gathered was too scarce to conduct final conclusions, but already giving a bias of the results indicates that the objective L A e q measurements, which showed a clear decrease in noise in the streets during the lockdown, were supported by the fact that new sounds found during the lockdown were not very annoying. Former existing noise sources, such as road traffic noise or leisure noise, are depicted as annoying but their decrease during the lockdown improved the soundscape of many homes. This paper's goal is to show the possibility of gathering both objective and calibrated data with perceptive approximation for the first time in 'Sons al Balcó', and how this supports our conclusions, in survey with a limited number of participants conducted during the 2020 lockdown period in Catalonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospital noise has remained a low priority problem in India. An area of not less than 100 meters around a hospital is considered a silence zone, with guidelines restricting noise levels at 50dBA during daytime and 40dBA during the night. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines also stipulate an average of 30dBA and a maximum of 40dbA. Annoyance is a known effect of noise exposure. However, very few studies have attempted to explore the hospital soundscape and the annoyance among staff related to it. Noise data was collected from 30 sites, using a Digital Integrating Sound Level Meter, LutronSL-4035SD (ISO-9001,CE,IEC1010) meeting IEC61672 standards. Stratified random sampling of staff was done on basis of noise exposure. A pre-designed, semi-structured questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic and work profile. Annoyance was defined as a stress reaction to environmental noise and was measured using standardized general purpose noise reaction questionnaire (ISO-TS/15666). Data was analyzed in SPSS. The mean LAeq 24 h across all the sites was 69.5dBA (SD ±5.8dBA) for the weekdays and 66.2dBA (SD ±4.6dBA) for the weekends. Noise levels were higher during the day than during the night, and higher during the weekdays as compared to the weekends. 332(73.8%) study participants were found to be annoyed due to hospital noise. Annoyance among study participants was significantly associated with LAeq 24 h > 80 dBA during the weekdays [aOR = 5.08 (1.17-22.06)] and LAeq 24 h of 65-80 dBA during the weekends [aOR = 2.71 (1.46-5.01)]. Noise levels in the hospital far exceeded WHO and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines recommended for indoor hospital noise, as well as the national guidelines for sensitive zones. Almost three-fourth of the study participants were annoyed due to hospital noise. Significant association was found between annoyance among staff and higher noise levels of their workplace. Similar studies need to be conducted in hospitals across India to generate evidence on the current situtation and identify solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moving shadows caused by wind turbines, referred to as “shadow flicker” (“SF”), are known to generate annoyance in a subset of the exposed population. However, the relationship between the level of modeled SF exposure and the population's perceived SF and SF annoyance is poorly understood. Improved understanding of SF exposure impacts could provide a basis for exposure thresholds and, in turn, potentially improve community acceptance of and experience with wind power projects. This study modeled SF exposure at nearly 35,000 residences across 61 wind projects in the United States, 747 of which were also survey respondents. Using these results, we analyzed the factors that led to perceived SF and self-reported SF annoyance. We found that perceived SF is primarily an objective response to SF exposure, distance to the closest turbine, and whether the respondent moved in after the wind project was built. Conversely, SF annoyance was not significantly correlated with SF exposure. Rather, SF annoyance is primarily a subjective response to wind turbine aesthetics, annoyance to other anthropogenic sounds, level of education, and age of the respondent. We also examined regulations governing SF in the sample project areas and compared them to SF exposure in the surrounding population. Additionally, we found that noise limits could serve as a proxy for SF exposure, as 90% of those exposed to wind turbine sound of no more than 45 dBA L1h had SF exposure of less than 8 h per year (a prototypical EU regulatory threshold).

Noise pollution in the mining industry has become a serious concern in recent years and has aroused extensive health complaints for the mine workers. Despite the increasing knowledge of the association between noise exposure and health effects, only a few studies have investigated the adverse health effects due to noise pollution in the mining industry. The present study aims to determine the interrelationship of mining noise (MN), demographic characteristics (DC), noise sensitivity and noise annoyance (NA) with subjective health complaints (SHC). A PLS-SEM approach has been used to assess the direct and indirect relationship between the influencing factors on the SHC of 272 people in the mines. Field measurements were made using a sound level meter to evaluate the ambient noise levels for 1 h duration during day and night hour shifts in Dhansar and Bastacolla mining areas of the Jharia coalfield. The noise maps revealed that most of the locations have noise levels higher than 70 dB(A). The statistical model suggests that NA is the most important predictor of SHC. Besides, DC and MN induce only indirect effect on SHC. The study shall facilitate in developing a decision support tool for the assessment of noise levels, induced annoyance, SHC, and suitable policy interventions for controlling noise exposure among mine workers in the coalfield.

Noise and whole-body vibrations (WBV) inside commercial vehicles can lead to annoyance and reduced comfort. As a result, negative effects on the driver can occur even below the legal exposure limits. In order to understand the annoyance perception and the interaction between noise and WBV, two perception experiments were conducted. For both experiments, recorded signals inside different commercial vehicles were used. Sound pressure and acceleration levels varied. In addition, the frequency content of the recorded vertical seat vibrations was reproduced in different modified variants. The varied parameters (sound pressure level, acceleration level and vibration frequency) were investigated within a three-factorial experimental design. It was found that noise and vibration levels, as well as the vibration spectrum, had a significant effect on total annoyance. Furthermore, an interaction between noise and vibration levels in both experiments could be observed. The results show that for the highest noise level, changing vibration exposure influences annoyance ratings less than the lowest noise level. The results also show that despite the same Wk-weighted RMS level of the WBV according to ISO 2631-1, vibration spectra with sinusoidal components or narrowband vibrations below

This study investigated factors associated with road traffic noise and residents’ annoyance from three distinct types of roads (major arterial, minor arterial, and collector roads). Nine sampling locations in Thailand’s Nakorn Pathom Province were chosen for the measurement of noise levels and three contributing characteristics: traffic volume, vehicle speed, and the proportion of heavy to total vehicles. Along with a housing survey, face to face interviews with a total of 387 roadside dwellers recorded their sociodemographic data, activity-based locations, and noise impacts experienced. A statistical analysis based on Spearman correlation revealed a positive relationship between traffic volume and traffic noise level on major arterial (r=0.607) and collector roads (r=0.885). Residents around collector roads were more sensitive than those along the main arterial road, in spite of having lower noise levels and less intense traffic patterns. Longer housing setbacks appeared to be a key factor in reducing noise annoyance from all road types, according to an exact logistic regression analysis (OR=0.11, 95% CI: 0.003, 0.73 for the major arterial road; OR=0.29, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.78 for the minor arterial road; and OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.84 for collector roads). However, performing activities in closed areas (OR=0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.17 for the minor arterial road; OR=0.22, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.90 for collector roads) and living in soundproof structures (OR=0.05, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.31 for collector roads) played additional roles to reduce the annoyance of residents along the roads with shorter setback lines.

The relationship between transport noise and health outcomes is complex, in part because of the large number of factors involved as well as the range of health impacts, both direct and indirect. To enable the reader to come to grips with the complexity, we have divided the health outcomes into groups: those that are more directly linked to transport noise exposure and those that are more indirectly linked. Four health outcomes, namely annoyance, cognitive disruption, sleep problems, and noise-induced hearing loss, can be directly attributable to transport noise exposure. Less direct outcomes are stress, mental health, metabolic health, cardiovascular health, and overall health-related quality of life. Stress may occur as a direct response to noise, or may occur in response to the aforementioned direct effects. The stress response is a survival mechanism in the short term, but in the long term, stress may lead to systemic health conditions, namely metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes, and to mental health conditions. Finally, a global health outcome that incorporates all of the more direct outcomes is health-related quality of life. Other exposures associated with transport noise that may explain parts of the health outcomes need to be acknowledged, including exposure to social inequities, air pollution, and vibration. These may all be more likely to be experienced by people who are exposed to transport noise in the community and may thus influence the outcomes. Finally, transport noise appears to have more impact on health in those who are noise sensitive, thus noise sensitivity is a key moderator of all the effects observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soundscape study of an eastern Indian coastal city (Puri) has been investigated. Acoustic data were collected at 36 sampling locations during two time intervals in and around Puri. A number of noise indices, namely, Lmin, Lmax, and Leq, were calculated to demonstrate the noise level of this city. Noise maps are generated using ARC-GIS to investigate the impact of road traffic noise on the soundscape of the city. The response of the public was appraised by a questionnaire. Due to variable traffic features, the equivalent noise level (Leq) as well as peak (L10) and background noise (L90) levels varied with location and time of the day. It was found that socio-demographic characteristics have no bearing on the amount of annoyance. However, a link was observed between age, hearing condition, and noise perception, as well as between gender and impacts of noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amplitude modulated noise from a single wind turbine is considered. The time-varying modulation depth D_m and the short time-average sound level L_Aeq,τ (with τ = 20 s) are measured at the reference distance d_*. Due to amplitude modulation, a penalty has to be added to L_Aeq,τ. The paper shows how to calculate the corrected long-term time-average sound level L ̂_AeqT (with T >> 20 s), which accounts for amplitude modulation, at any distance d ≠ d_* from the wind turbine. The proposed methodology needs to be tested by research

The Environmental Noise Directive (END), published in 2002, was transposed into Romanian local law in 2005, and it was the starting point for the first urban noise mapping exercises, initially conducted in nine Romanian cities. This paper presents the main evolutionary aspects of the noise assessment process, the development of strategic noise maps, and action plans, dealing with both the legislative side and the practical approach and results obtained. The study considers the specific regulations established by the European Commission regarding environmental noise assessment and deals with the global context at the country level, in which they have been implemented and applied.

Currently, there are a wide range of approaches to deploying digital ads, with advanced technologies now being harnessed to craft advertising that is engaging and even tailored to personal interests and preferences, yet potentially distracting and irritating. This research seeks to evaluate contemporary digital advertising methods by assessing how annoying they are to users, particularly when they distract users from intended tasks or cause delays in regular online activities. To pursue this, an eye-tracking study was conducted, with 51 participants navigating a specially designed website featuring seven distinct types of advertisements without a specific content to avoid the effect of ad content on the collected data. Participants were asked to execute specific information-seeking tasks during the experiment and afterwards to report if they recalled seeing each ad and the degree of annoyance by each ad type. Ad effectiveness is assessed by eye-tracking metrics (time to first fixation, average fixation duration, dwell time, fixation count, and revisit count) depicting how appealing an ad is as a marketing stimulus. Findings indicated that pop-ups, ads with content reorganization, and non-skippable videos ranked as the most annoying forms of advertising. Conversely, in-content ads without content reorganization, banners, and right rail ads were indicated as less intrusive options, seeming to strike a balance between effectiveness and user acceptance.

The mobility and activity restrictions imposed in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant improvement in the urban noise pollution that could be objectively measured in those cities with acoustic sensor networks deployed. This significant change in the urban soundscapes was also perceived by citizens who positively appraised this new acoustic scenario. In this work, authors present a comparative analysis between different noise indices provided by 70 sound sensors deployed in Barcelona, both during and before the lockdown, and the results of a perceptual test conducted in the framework of the project Sons al Balcó during the lockdown, which received more than one hundred contributions in Barcelona alone. The analysis has been performed by clustering the objective and subjective data according to the predominant noise sources in the location of the sensors and differentiating road traffic in heavy, moderate and low-traffic areas. The study brings out strong alignments between a decline in noise indices, acoustic satisfaction improvement and changes in the predominant noise sources, supporting the idea that objective calibrated data can be useful to make a qualitative approximation to the subjective perception of urban soundscapes when further information is not available.

Due to rapid urbanization and exponential growth in transportation; traffic noise has become a major area of concern. Noise not only disturbs our day-to-day life but also have severe adverse health effects over humans which further may lead to mortality. This paper focuses on the behavior of noise levels of Lucknow city over a decade and establishes its correlation with impact on human health in terms of annoyance and sleep disturbance. Apart from Leq, different noise parameters like L10, L50, L90, Traffic Noise Index (TNI), Noise Pollution Index (NPI), and Noise Climate (NC) have also been analyzed to understand the variation of noise. At all the locations, the noise level has been found exceeding their prescribed standards during day time and night time except at Amausi. Out of nine locations, TNI was found to be exceeding at three locations during day time and NPI exceeding at one location. However, during night time both values of TNI and NPL were observed within the limit at all the locations. From the noise map of the city during day time and night time, among all sampling locations, Charbagh has been found to be worst affected by noise pollution. A strong positive correlation has been observed among the total population, vehicular count, and day and night time noise data, which directly contribute to a higher percentage of sleep disturbance and annoyance among residents. Due to the increase in noise levels over a period of time, almost four times the population get affected by high annoyance and almost double the population get affected by sleep disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Noise pollution from various internal and external sources affects people's behaviors and job performance. The current study investigated the effects of noise pollution on annoyance, aggression, and cognitive failures. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in 2020-2021 recruiting 400 employees of Tejarat Bank in Tehran. First, questionnaires of cognitive failures, noise annoyance, sensitivity, aggression, and demographic information were completed by the study staff. Next, association between the variables were determined. Finally, using Bayesian models, the association between variables were modeled and important factors were identified using sensitivity analysis. Results: Based on the results, the mean scores of noise exposure, annoyance, sensitivity, aggression and cognitive failures were 62.86 ± 6.66, 57.74 ± 23.47, 68.26 ± 17.94, 71.19 ±12.68, and 46.83 ± 12.00, respectively. Of all the variables, only annoyance and noise sensitivity had significant effect on aggression. The factors of accuracy, precision, and recall of the Bayesian model were 0.8, 0.89, and 0.96, respectively, which indicates the appropriate diagnostic performance of the model. Conclusion: Based on our findings, it can be concluded that noise annoyance increases the likelihood of cognitive failures, so that the highest probability of cognitive failures occurs when people are annoyed. In addition, because people with higher noise exposure and higher education experience more annoyance, it can be concluded that the variables of education and noise exposure cause cognitive failures through annoyance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Hospital noise can adversely impact nurses’ health, their cognitive function and emotion and in turn, influence the quality of patient care and patient safety. Thus, the aim of this study was to predict the contributing roles of exposure to hospital noise, staff noise-sensitivity and annoyance, on the quality of patient care. Methods This descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out among nurses in an Iranian hospital. To determine nurses’ noise exposure level, the noise was measured in 1510 locations across the hospital in accordance with ISO 9612 standards using KIMO DB 300/2 sound level meter and analyzer. An online survey was used to collect nurses’ individual data. Study questionnaires included demographics, Weinstein noise sensitivity scale, noise annoyance scale, and quality of patient care scale. Finally, to analyze the data, Bayesian Networks (BNs), as probabilistic and graphical models, were used. Results For the high noise exposure state, high noise sensitivity, and high annoyance, with the probability of 100%, the probability of delivering a desirable quality of patient care decreased by 21, 14, and 23%, respectively. Moreover, at the concurrently high noise exposure and high noise sensitivity with the probability of 100%, the desirable quality of patient care decreased by 26%. The Bayesian most influence value was related to the association of noise exposure and annoyance (0.636). Moreover, annoyance had the highest association with the physical aspect of quality of care (0.400) and sensitivity had the greatest association with the communication aspect (0.283). Conclusion Annoyance induced from environmental noise and personal sensitivity affected the quality of patient care adversely. Moreover, noise and sensitivity had a separate direct adverse effect upon the quality of patient care, and their co-occurrence reduced the potential for delivering quality patient care.

The first aim of this paper was to determine the variability in the signal characteristics and psychoacoustic data of canister-type vacuum cleaners. Fifteen vacuum cleaners with different sound power levels, provided by the manufacturers, were selected as test units to calculate their acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters. The selection of the devices was based on an even distribution of the reported sound power levels. The investigated variability in the acoustic and psychoacoustic parameters on different vacuum cleaners was discussed to derive the common characteristics of canister-type vacuum cleaner noise. The derived common characteristics were compared with the those in the available literature on the noise generation mechanisms of vacuum cleaners. Based on these characteristics, prototypical vacuum cleaner noise was defined. The second aim of this paper was to understand the annoyance perception of vacuum cleaner noise. Annoyance assessments were obtained from two sets of listening experiments. The first listening experiment was conducted to find the correlates of annoyance evaluations. Loudness, sharpness and tonal components at lower and higher frequencies were found to be dominant correlates of vacuum cleaner noise annoyance estimations. In the second listening experiment, a possible interaction between loudness and sharpness was investigated in different listening test methods. The selected loudness and sharpness values for this experiment were consistent with the observed ranges in the first part. No significant interaction between loudness and sharpness was observed, although each separately correlated significantly positively with annoyance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constant growth of energy demand, as well as the accompanying increase in environmental pollution resulting from the prevailing use of fossil fuels, has led to a rising use of energy from renewable sources. The use of wind turbines to generate electricity has many obvious advantages, such as lack of fuel costs during operation and lack of harmful pollutants, including carbon dioxide. Despite advantages, the use of wind turbines constantly raises questions concerning the impact of wind farms on humans. This impact includes many factors related to the operation of wind farms, and in particular noise emitted by these farms. The wind turbine noise impact on humans has been studied by the Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute. A test bench to conduct noise annoyance tests of different types of wind turbine noise in laboratory conditions have been developed. During exposures to 6 different virtual acoustic environments, representing different wind turbine noise, 40 participants assessed wind turbine noise annoyance. The paper describes the results of the studies concerning the assessment of wind turbine noise annoyance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Noise pollution is one of Ghana's environmental risks and it has become the norm in metropolitan areas to the point where residents in these locations experience noise nuisance and may be at risk of hearing loss. Most developed and developing countries have established traffic noise standards as a control mechanism to reduce traffic noise exposure emissions. This study aims to investigate current practices of traffic noise regulations and policy. Various agencies responsible for the control of noise pollution and the urban road sector were interviewed about traffic noise standards and practices, and it was observed that these agencies' noise practices were based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established guidelines, which did not include transportation noise regulation. Except for a Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), regulation that allows a certain vehicle horning system for specific vehicle users, this study discovered that this policy is not fully implemented. A preliminary survey was conducted to collect traffic field data and inhabitants' perceptions of traffic noise. Of the 30 respondents, 26 respondents (86.7%) affirmed that they experience traffic noise pollution at various locations, while 23 respondents (76.7%) reported various health effects due to exposure to traffic noise. This can be related to the observed noise levels which exceeded the dissatisfaction score of 5 (89 dB(A)), and also Leq value (109.1 dB(A)) was greater than the environmental permissible limit of the EPA standard of 70 dB(A). This indicates that roadside residents suffer from noise annoyance. It is recommended that transport, and environmental-related agencies work unanimously to ensure that effective control of traffic noise pollution is developed, enforced, and implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Environmental Noise Directive (END), published in 2002, was transposed into Romanian local law in 2005, and it was the starting point for the first urban noise mapping exercises, initially conducted in nine Romanian cities. This paper presents the main evolutionary aspects of the noise assessment process, the development of strategic noise maps, and action plans, dealing with both the legislative side and the practical approach and results obtained. The study considers the specific regulations established by the European Commission regarding environmental noise assessment and deals with the global context at the country level, in which they have been implemented and applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]