Journal ArticleDOI
Sources and effects of low-frequency noise.
TLDR
Evidence suggests that a number of adverse effects of noise in general arise from exposure to low-frequency noise: Loudness judgments and annoyance reactions are sometimes reported to be greater for low- frequency noise than other noises for equal sound-pressure level.Abstract:
The sources of human exposure to low-frequency noise and its effects are reviewed. Low-frequency noise is common as background noise in urban environments, and as an emission from many artificial sources: road vehicles, aircraft, industrial machinery, artillery and mining explosions, and air movement machinery including wind turbines, compressors, and ventilation or air-conditioning units. The effects of low-frequency noise are of particular concern because of its pervasiveness due to numerous sources, efficient propagation, and reduced efficacy of many structures (dwellings, walls, and hearing protection) in attenuating low-frequency noise compared with other noise. Intense low-frequency noise appears to produce clear symptoms including respiratory impairment and aural pain. Although the effects of lower intensities of low-frequency noise are difficult to establish for methodological reasons, evidence suggests that a number of adverse effects of noise in general arise from exposure to low-frequency noise: Loudness judgments and annoyance reactions are sometimes reported to be greater for low-frequency noise than other noises for equal sound-pressure level; annoyance is exacerbated by rattle or vibration induced by low-frequency noise; speech intelligibility may be reduced more by low-frequency noise than other noises except those in the frequency range of speech itself, because of the upward spread of masking. On the other hand, it is also possible that low-frequency noise provides some protection against the effects of simultaneous higher frequency noise on hearing. Research needs and policy decisions, based on what is currently known, are considered.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Computational Fluid Dynamics for urban physics: Importance, scales, possibilities, limitations and ten tips and tricks towards accurate and reliable simulations
TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of urban physics related to the grand societal challenges is described, after which the spatial and temporal scales in urban physics and the associated model categories are outlined.
Journal ArticleDOI
Occupant productivity and office indoor environment quality: A review of the literature
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a review of the existing literature to draw an understanding of the relationship between indoor environmental quality and occupant productivity in an office environment and propose a conceptual model of different factors affecting occupant productivity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Noise Pollution: A Modern Plague
Lisa Goines,Louis Hagler +1 more
TL;DR: Noise is defined as unwanted sound which produces direct and cumulative adverse effects that impair health and that degrade residential, social, working, and learning environments with corresponding real (economic) and intangible (well-being) losses.
Journal ArticleDOI
Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal.
Paul R. Epstein,Jonathan J. Buonocore,Kevin Eckerle,Michael Hendryx,Benjamin M. Stout,Richard Heinberg,Richard W. Clapp,Beverly May,Nancy L. Reinhart,Melissa M. Ahern,Samir Doshi,Leslie W. Glustrom +11 more
TL;DR: This work estimates that the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are costing the U.S. public a third to over one‐half of a trillion dollars annually, and conservatively doubles to triples the price of electricity from coal per kWh generated, making wind, solar, and other forms of nonfossil fuel power generation, along with investments in efficiency and electricity conservation methods, economically competitive.
Book ChapterDOI
The Perception of Speech Under Adverse Conditions
TL;DR: It is concluded that the purpose of redundancy in speech communication is to provide a basis for error correction and resistance to noise.
References
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Book
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Factors Governing the Intelligibility of Speech Sounds
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TL;DR: The authors discusses the factors which govern the intelligibility of speech sounds and presents relationships which have been developed for expressing quantitatively, in terms of the fundamental characteristics of speech and hearing, the capability of the ear in recognizing these sounds.
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Psychophysics: Introduction to Its Perceptual, Neural, and Social Prospects
Journal ArticleDOI
Loudness, its definition, measurement and calculation.
Harvey Fletcher,W. A. Munson +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, an empirical formula for calculating the loudness of any steady sound from an analysis of the intensity and frequency of its components is developed, based on fundamental properties of the hearing mechanism in such a way that a scale of loudness values results.