Relationship between loudness and annoyance for ten community sounds

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the relationship between perceived annoyance and perceived loudness for complex community sounds. The two perceptual attributes were scaled by the method of magnitude estimation. In all, forty subjects scaled ten different tape recorded sounds presented at two different Zwicker loudness values. The results show that for physically loud sounds only the perceived annoyance may be exchanged for perceived loudness, while for physically soft sounds, the perceived annoyance deviates greatly from perceived loudness. Thus, for physically soft sounds, more attention is paid to other aspects of the sound, such as the perceptual counterpart of the physical parameter sharpness, than to the loudness-related sound pressure level. This means that the physically determined Zwicker loudness is inappropriate to use for predicting the perceived annoyance of complex sounds.     

Just space or spatial justice? Difference,discourse, and environmental justice

Amidst recent moves to rethink environmental justice, this article cautions against retention of distributive conceptions of injustice. Instead, analysis of production and normalisation of difference is explored as a way to shift the lens of environmental justice scholarship away from distributional explanations of injustice and towards critical engagement with the politics of meaning that structure environmental practice. I argue that such a shift would offer an alternative to the liberal spatial frameworks that articulate understandings of environmental justice and environment society relations, facilitating instead relational conceptions of space and engagement with space as a representational media and medium of power. I also propose that methodologically such a shift would require discursive analysis of practices of difference making. Examples from research into the management of nuclear fuel waste in Canada are used to illustrate the arguments.     

Managing climate change vulnerabilities: formal institutions and knowledge use as determinants of adaptive capacity at the local level in Sweden

Though managing vulnerabilities posed by climate change calls for effective strategies and measures, its challenges have hitherto not been fully understood. In Sweden, municipalities have recently started incorporating vulnerability management into their political and administrative agendas. This study discusses such experiences and explores how institutional determinants may influence adaptive capacity within a local case study area, to illustrate emerging challenges and opportunities for Swedish municipalities in managing climate vulnerabilities. Specifically, formal institutional structure and the use of knowledge are analysed, concluding that vulnerability management often is focused on technical and reactive fixes, due to limited co-operation between local sector organisations, lack of local co-ordination, and an absence of methods and traditions to build institutional knowledge. Even so, opportunities, such as a high capacity to examine risks to technical systems and important establishments which in turn facilitates protection of technical infrastructure exposed to climate variability and change, also exist.     

Occupational Exposure to Harmful Chemical Substances While Processing Phenol-Formaldehyde Resins

Air pollutants emitted while processing phenol-formaldehyde resins have been investigated. Gas chromatography-mass-selective detection was used to separate and identify chemical compounds. It was determined that workers were exposed to formaldehyde in all workplaces. Besides, phenol, acetaldehyde, acrylaldehyde, 2-furaldehyde, xylene, ethylbenzene, toluene, tetrachlorethene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate were found during the production of frictional materials; and 2-furaldehyde, phenol, naphthalene, 2-furan-methanol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during the production of abrasive materials. Quantitative analyses were performed with gas chromatogra-phy and high performance liquid chromatography. Assessment of occupational exposure indicated that chemical compounds emitted during the investigated processes might be dangerous for human health, mainly because of suspected carcinogenic compounds: formaldehyde and PAHs.     

Ensuring Cleanliness in Operating Theatres

High cleanliness of a hospital environment is necessary to ensure safe working conditions for the medical staff, a correct process of hospitalization and to protect hospital visitors, an aspect rarely mentioned. A supply of air cleaned in highly-effective air filters to hospital wards with air conditioning systems and exhaust of infected air will help in maintaining the required standards of cleanliness. This article presents information on recommended classes of air and surface cleanliness, with special focus on operating theatres and suites.     

A Study of Annoyance Caused by Low-Frequency Noise During Mental Work

This article presents the results of an analysis of annoyance caused by low-frequency noise (including infrasonic noise) that occurs at work stations located in offices. The tests covered measurements of acoustic parameters specific for this type of noise and a survey conducted in the working environment and in laboratory conditions at a model of a work station.