Determinants of noise annoyance in teachers from schools with different classroom reverberation times

A high proportion of school teachers report that they are disturbed by noise during teaching. The aim of the study was therefore to identify determinants of self-reported noise exposure and disturbance attributed to noise among secondary school teachers (n = 419) in 10 schools in Copenhagen, Denmark. The schools were selected to show contrasts in classroom reverberation times (RT), and were classified as “Short RT” (3 schools, mean RT 0.41–0.45 s), “Medium RT” (3 schools, mean RT 0.51–0.55 s) and “Long RT” (4 schools, mean RT 0.62–0.73 s). Significant determinants of self-reported noise exposure were a high number of children in the class, young age of the children, and low teacher seniority. “Long RT” classification was of borderline significance. Significant determinants of disturbance attributed to noise from children in the class were teacher seniority and “Long RT” acoustic classification of the school. The associations between work characteristics and noise disturbance measures were attenuated by low self-rated work capacity, suggesting that the consequences of noise and poor acoustics may not be limited to disturbance attributed to noise, but may have a wide negative impact on the perceived working environment.     

The impact of sensory learning modalities on children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in the perception of their school environment

Learning style models recognised that individuals differ in the sense learning modality of stimuli from which they best absorb, retain and process new information. The effect of sensory learning modalities on individual children’s sensitivity to sensory cues has so far been neglected. This paper reports on a study that sought to establish whether individual differences in children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in their perception of their school environmental features is influenced by their sensory learning modalities. Participants included Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils (N = 151) from four primary schools in South Gloucestershire, UK. The study used a child-friendly Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic questionnaire to establish children’s learning style modality. All children, independent of their learning style category, were exposed to three types of sensory cues, consisting of photo-safari, speech frequency and Global Positioning System. The analysis revealed that children’s sensitivity to sensory cues in their perception of school environmental features varied significantly between the three sensory learning modalities: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. The implications of these findings on research, policy and practice are discussed.     

Aircraft and road traffic noise exposure and children's mental health

There have been few studies examining noise and psychological disorders in children and the results are equivocal. The objective of this study was to examine exposure–effect relationships between aircraft and road traffic noise exposure and children's mental health. We conducted a cross-national, cross-sectional study assessing 2844 pupils, aged 9–10, from 89 schools around three major airports in the Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom matched within country for socio-economic position. We selected children on the basis of exposure to external aircraft and road traffic noise exposure. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) assessed child mental health, including emotional problems, conduct disorder, hyperactivity, peer problems and prosocial behaviour. Aircraft noise exposure was significantly associated with an increased score on the hyperactivity subscale (pooled B estimate 0.013 CI 0.007–0.019) after full adjustment. Road traffic noise was significantly associated with lower scores on the conduct problems subscale maintained after full adjustment (pooled B estimate 0.010 95%CI −0.020 to −0.001). There was no association between either aircraft or road traffic noise exposure and the SDQ total score. The hyperactivity results have been found in a previous UK study and may indicate that high aircraft noise exposure exacerbates hyperactivity symptoms in children although this finding requires further replication.     

初论加强地质环境保护及其对策

加强生态环境保护建设走可持续发展道路是21世纪人类生存与发展的必然要求与历史选择。它要求人与自然必须协调发展。作为生态环境基础的地质环境也必须进一步加强保护,依靠科技进步最大限度地保护地质、生态和大气环境,合理有效地利用自然资源以维护人类的生存环境,促进人类社会的进步。     

Theory of the physical environment: An introduction

This paper suggests a way of classifying human physical environment according to its location and function. Environmental science is viewed as a branch of ecology, and the concept of the complex ecosystem is introduced. By using differential equations, the author draws attention to four factors that must be considered when evaluating the effect of any environmental agent on a human subject: the agent's extensive quality of rate of flow, its intensive quality of concentration or intensity, duration of the subject's exposure, and the uniformity of agent's stress in space and time. The environmental agents, individually or in jointly acting groups, produce environmental stress, which acts on the subject to produce strain and its contingent symptoms. The microclimate in this setting can be classified according to the type of stress involved. The human physical environment may be evaluated in three ways: objectively, subjectively, and from the standpoint of regulations or standards. The benefit or advantage of using this equation in evaluating or measuring the human physical environment is discussed.     

基层环保部门辐射环境管理的问题及对策

辐射环境安全监督管理是国家安全的重要内容，基层环保部门是辐射环境安全监管的基本力量。本文简述了环保部门环境辐射监管中存在的问题，提出了提高市、县级基层环保部门辐射环境安全能力建设的对策。     

Assessment of outdoor school environments and physical activity in Ankara's primary schools

Outdoor school environments are sites for play and physical activity for many children, and shortcomings within these environments are considered significant factors that contribute to children's inactive lifestyles and high levels of childhood obesity. This study explores the associations between the physical characteristics of schoolyards and the physical activity of third and fourth year students in five Turkish primary schools. Data were collected through multiple methods, including behavior mapping of student activities during recess, physical assessments of schoolyards, and interviews with students, teachers and administrations. The findings show similarities in the landscape features and physical qualities of schoolyards, particularly in the types of play and activities in which students engage. Results indicated that active students who walk to and from schools have lower body mass index (BMI) values than passive students, and students in schools with larger yards have lower BMI values. Most of the students prefer spacious and vegetated yards. A major concern is the crowdedness of the yards during recess that limit children's activity. Schoolyards with advanced landscape features are preferred more, and this in turn affects students’ positive satisfaction. Outdoor school environments have a correlation to health outcomes and should be designed to promote more activity. Improving the physical and landscape qualities of the public schoolyards should be the primary concern of the designers in order to increase awareness of natural environment and more important, increase the health of children.     

Environmental Utilization Space Between Science and Politics

This paper addresses the issue of operationalizing, or quantifying, sustainable development as a practical guideline for day-to-day environmental policy-making. It criticizes attempts at quantifying some environmental utilization space and argues that the uncertainty of scientific knowledge about the unintended environmental repercussions of consumptive choices casts serious doubt about attempts to justify government intervention in non-sustainable lifestyles.     

浅谈室内环境污染及对健康危害

室内环境污染已经越来越多受到人们的关注,通过简要介绍室内环境污染源的主要污染源和危害,以及污染防治措施,值此引起人们对室内环境质量的进一步重视。     

工业发展与环境影响相互关系研究的进展

工业各行业的生产活动对环境质量的影响是不同的,要实现环境与经济的协调发展,建立合理的工业结构是前提。本文对工业结构与环境的关系进行了探讨,对目前已采用的线性规划分析、投入产出分析、友色系统分析、系统动力学分析、非线性一般均衡模型分析、GHG——2模型分析等几种定量分析方法进行了分析和对比,并对工业发展与环境保护研究前景提出了自己的见解。     

Environmental management systems and sustainable development

The idea of sustainable development was first brought to widespread attention as a global issue; however, it is increasingly being applied at more local levels down to that of individual companies. This raises the potential danger that sustainable development will come to be predominantly identified with the preservation of the organisation involved. A likely outcome is that management decision-making will tip the balance too far in favour of people-centred interests as against environmental interests. An initial step in preventing this is to make any bias in the balance of interests transparent to management. To do this, a model of sustainability is set up in terms that provide a context for the implementation of a quality based environmental management system such as that specified by the International Standard, ISO 14001. In response to inherent uncertainty, a precautionary approach is adopted. The implications of this model for the structuring of critical environmental management system elements are then discussed and a way to generate an indicator of bias proposed. The content of an audit, which would measure the extent to which an organisation has a management system competent to measure and monitor this bias, is also discussed and proposed as another useful indicator.     

大型电子系统显示控制台环境适应性设计

开展环境适应性设计是保证装备满足环境适应性要求的重要途径.本文对环境适应性设计流程、方法进行了总结,并介绍了大型电子系统显示控制台环境适应性设计技术.     

Environmental attitudes and behaviour of secondary school students in Hong Kong

Summary A postal survey of 992 secondary students in Hong Kong using the Weigel and Weigel environmental concern scale was conducted to investigate their environmental attitudes which were reflected in a readiness to engage in various pro-environmental behaviours including paper recycling at school and at home and the use of less tissues and plastic bags. The results indicated that students' expressed great concern about the environment and exhibited a strong willingness to participate in pro-environmental behaviour. However, students' overoptimism towards technological development and the perceived importance of the benefits of modern consumer goods were two major factors that contradicted their concern for environment. The Pearson correlation coefficient between environmental concern and comprehensive behavioural intention was strong and positive (0.52). Television and school were cited as major sources of environmental information. Mass media were more important than personal media in the dissemination of environmental information. Female students, older students and students living in private housing held more positive environmental attitudes and were more willing to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Factor analysis indicated that the environmental concern scale was composed of two factors, personal sacrifice and optimism/issue.Ms Kara K.W. Chan is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. She has previously worked in the advertising and public relations profession and as a statistician for the Hong Kong Government. She is actively involved in research on Hong Kong and China's mass communication and advertising industry, consumer behaviour and the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour.     

谈农药污染与环境保护

由于生产体制的变革和农药供销途径的多样化,大量的不合理的滥用农药而造成的环境污染问题已相当突出。基于此,通过对农药污染循环途径的综合分析,就农药污染对生态系统及人类的危害作用进行了阐述,提出了合理施用农药的方法及必要的环保措施。     

室内环境污染与人体健康

主要介绍了室内环境污染的来源及对人类健康的影响、污染物的监测方法，并针对我国的实际情况提出控制室内污染的措施。     

京津冀地区区域环境污染研究进展

近些年,京津冀城市群在中国的经济发展中起到了重要作用.然而,经济的繁荣也带来了环境质量的退化.京津冀地区在经济发展上表现出明显的地缘性差异,很大程度上导致环境污染问题呈现出明显的区域特征;同时,污染物超越行政区域的限制相互影响,使区域环境的研究更加复杂化.本文以京津冀地区的区域环境水体污染研究、大气污染为研究对象,对评价方法、模型应用、规律探索3方面的研究进展进行综述;总结了现有的研究成果,分析了目前研究的局限性,为以后的相关研究提供了参考.     

环境可持续发展的指标体系

探讨了传统发展指标体系存在的弊端 ,研究了可持续发展指标体系的基本框架和具体指标的组成、模式 ,以及我国对可持续发展指标体系的研究状况 ,为实现经济、社会和环境的可持续发展提供了依据。     

论公众参与的环境伦理观

公众参与(Public Participation)是环境影响评价(EIA)和战略影响评价(SEA)的重要内容,也是环境保护事业发展的基础.影响公众参与的因素有环境法律、环境经济、环境文化和环境伦理四个方面,其中环境伦理在公众参与和环境行为方面发挥巨大的作用.本文从伦理学角度论述了人类环境伦理观的形成,环境伦理对公众参与环境保护的影响以及可持续发展的环境道德原则.     

高空气象资料在大气环境保护中的应用

本文在简要介绍高空气象资料的基础上,着重说明高空气象资料在大气环境保护中的应用,阐明有效地利用高空气象资料,对于保护大气环境是十分重要的。     

对水泥企业生产环境负荷之浅析

基于生命周期理论,采用CNI环境影响评价方法对我国水泥生产的环境负荷进行了定量分析。结果表明：水泥生产的环境影响主要体现在温室效应、不可再生能源消耗和不可再生资源消耗,其环境负荷分别占对应环境影响类型世界总负荷的2.76％,2.34％和1.39％,2006年我国水泥生产的环境负荷约占世界总负荷的1.28％,其中,立窑生产工艺、湿法回转窑生产工艺和新型干法生产工艺的环境负荷分别为0.84％,0.12％和0.32％。通过行业结构调整,用新型干法生产工艺取代其他落后的生产工艺,可使我国水泥生产的环境负荷降至世界总负荷的1％左右。