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The paper presents the selected results of the international project called Nextprop, carried out in the framework of the European Defence Agency, which main goal was to examine elastic polymer propellers. The article includes the results of the comparative analysis in terms of the noise produced by two propellers: (1) the classical one made from Nickel Aluminium Bronze (NAB) and (2) the novel elastic counterpart manufactured from polyamide. The measurements were taken in the CTO cavitation tunnel in Gdańsk, Poland. The obtained results allow the following highlights to be formulated: the novel flexible propellers seem to be a promising solution for the new ships, especially in terms of energetic efficiency and produced noise, i.e. lower sound pressure level has been obtained for the new polymer propeller and larger advance speed for the same rotational speeds has been received for the new propeller compared to the classical metal counterpart. At the beginning, the introduction with the results of state-of-the-art analysis is presented. Then, the description of the measurement stand and examined propellers with seizing conditions is included. Next, the obtained results are illustrated and discussed. At the end, the conclusions with the draft of the future research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of our civilization and increasing noise pollution are strongly connected. In 2021, the Tatra National Park was visited by a record number of tourists - about 4 million 600 thousand. The previous record was broken in 2018 - then the Polish Tatra Mountains were visited by 3 million 800 thousand. people. The aim of the paper is the analysis of noise pollution and soundscape of the most popular national park in Poland - Tatra National Park. The Koscieliska Valley was selected for the study, because it is the second area in the park in terms of the number of tickets sold according to the statistics kept by the Tatra National Park. The paper presents the results of the analysis of acoustic measurements and ambisonic recordings made during four seasons using classical method and the soundscape method. In addition, psychoacoustic parameters and soundecology indicators such as: loudness, sharpness or roughness, ACI (acoustic complexity index), NDSI (normalized difference soundscape index), BIO (bioacoustic index), ADI (acoustic diversity index), AEI (acoustic evenness index) were calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Occupational stress-related factors among working municipal police officers in Poland have not been examined in the literature. The purpose of the paper was to evaluate the impact of selected work-related factors on occupational stress in active municipal police officers in Warsaw by using configural frequency analysis (CFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 578 participants, which accounted for 55.1% of all municipal police officers in Warsaw. The majority of study participants were men (72%) (mean age 43 years old). Two groups of workplace-related stress factors were analysed in the study: physical conditions and organisational working conditions causing stress. The study was carried out using the PAPI method (Paper-and-Pencil Interviewing), based on a proprietary questionnaire developed for the study. CFA searches for templates and patterns in contingency tables. RESULTS: Municipal police officers who claimed that stress did not affect health, took advantage of psychological/psychiatric advice less often than those who thought so (1.7% vs 10.1%; χ2 = 20.152, df = 2, P = 0.000). Those who declared that they often experienced stress at work were also more prone to claiming that one or two factors affected their level of stress: physical abuse, contact with infectious materials, working at uncomfortable temperatures or working in a noisy environment. In the opinion of the study population, there were some factors which contributed to the occurrence of stress at work, and these factors included: working in a hurry, lack of necessary resources, devices and materials at work, the need to be available at all times and the unpredictability of the work. The municipal police officers from the study population combined two or three methods to cope with stress, such as watching TV, surfing the Internet and talking with their families. CONCLUSION: Due to the specificity of a municipal police officer's occupation, special attention should be paid to the occupational stress risk factors characteristic for this group of professionals, and measures should be taken to reduce the number of stressors. It is important to organise training events devoted to effective methods of coping with stress. There is need to carry out more in-depth studies of occupational stress among municipal police officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the problem of rail noise pollution in cities in the context of legal amendments. This aspect is often neglected in the process of spatial planning. The authors were motivated to undertake this analysis both by legal changes permitting higher levels of acceptable noise thresholds, which were introduced and legalised in October 2012, and by the intensified levels of investment in areas neighbouring railways. On selected examples of residential areas in Warsaw, Poland (the city districts of Ursus, Białołęka and Ursynów), relevant land development sites were analysed against the course of isophones showing permissible noise levels. The analysis was based on data taken from acoustic maps for Warsaw from 2012 and 2017, planning studies, the Topographic Objects Database (BDOT10k) and the current state of land development. Using ArcGis software, 22 features, three study areas, and corresponding quantitative indicators were assessed. The authors presented the level of railway noise pollution set against the general spatial development. The analysis demonstrated that the changes in legislation have resulted in the "acoustic release" of land near railways; i.e., in these areas new, less-restrictive regulations on noise pollution have become permissible. In turn, the number of buildings that were considered at risk of noise pollution before 2012 has fallen. The aforementioned regulatory changes may unfavourably impact residential areas neighbouring railways and this has even provoked a wider discussion at the European Union level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased efficiency of production and improved quality have contributed to the development of ultrasonic technological applications, in which low frequency ultrasounds are generated to operate, accelerate as well as to facilitate technological processes. Technological ultrasonic devices (i.e. sources of ultrasonic noise in the work environment, e.g. ultrasonic washers, ultrasonic welding machines) have relatively high power and their nominal frequencies are in the range from 18 kHz to 40 kHz. In Poland, ultrasonic noise (defined as noise containing high audible and low ultrasonic frequencies from 10 kHz to 40 kHz) is included in the list of factors harmful to health in the work environment and therefore the admissible values of ultrasonic noise in the workplaces are established. The admissible values of ultrasonic noise and the new ultrasonic noise measurement method make it possible to perform the assessment of occupational risk related to ultrasonic noise. According to this method, the scope of the measurements includes the determination of the equivalent sound pressure levels in the 1/3 octave bands with the centre frequencies from 10 kHz to 40 kHz. This paper presents the description of both, i.e. the method for ultrasonic noise measurements and the method of the assessment of occupational risk related to ultrasonic noise. The examples of the results of the assessment of occupational risk related to exposure to ultrasonic noise are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reveals methodology of a research and the results of noise level measurements with respect to fluctuations of active power during EAF operation in one of the melt shops in Poland. In the current stage of experiment, the authors focused themselves on finding the optimum moment to start feeding of foaming material with the aim to obtain the most efficient slag foaming with the fastest coverage of electric arcs at the lowest losses of foaming material. Achieved results indicate that relation between the level of emitted noise and fluctuations of active power during melting can be utilised to define the moment to start feeding of slag foaming materials into the furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind turbines emit infrasound and low-frequency noise (ILFN), which can be annoying for people living near wind farms. To assess the acoustic impact of wind turbines on the environment, it is essential to model ILFN propagation during the forecasting stage. This study assesses the effectiveness of three commonly used sound propagation models (ISO 9613-2, CNOSSOS-EU for favourable propagation conditions, Nord2000) in predicting ILFN generated by wind turbines. The performance of these models in modelling ILFN is generally not validated or guaranteed. The analysis covers octave frequency bands ranging from 4 Hz to 250 Hz, and comparisons are made against measurements conducted at a wind farm in Poland. Non-parametric statistical tests were used with a significance level of α = 0.05 to determine significant differences between measured and predicted results. The results show that the Nord2000 method provides accurate calculations, while the ISO 9613-2 method can be used for simplified assessments of ILFN generated by wind turbines during the investment preparation phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:This article presents the Polish version of two standardized noise reaction questions for community noise surveys.An internationally comparable noise reaction measure for social surveys was published by Fields et al.as a result of work performed by the Community Response to Noise Team of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise.This measure consists of two recommended noise reaction questions:a 5-point verbal scale question and a 0 --10-point numeric scale question.Methods:The Polish words for a 5-point noise annoyance verbal scale were selected by respondents from a group of 21 potential adverbs following the method described by Fields et al.The same standardized empirical study protocol was used to select annoyance scale words (a 5-point verbal scale question)for the nine different languages.Results:The following words for a 5-point noise annoyance scale were obtained:not at all,a little,rather, substantially,extremely annoying.Conclusions:The Polish version of the scale described in this paper has international counterparts.It means that our data expand the world database on human reactions to noise in different communities and become more comparable with the data from other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

his paper is a summary of results of environmental analysis conducted by PGI-NRI, AGH-UST within the monitoring of natural gas prospecting in unconventional deposits. All elements of natural environment were analyzed and on this basis the qualitative and quantitative impact of drilling and hydraulic fracturing of shales could be assessed. Special attention was drawn to the analysis of the physicochemical condition of post-reaction fluids, soil gas in the well pad area and drilling fluids. The results of analysis reveal that prospecting works do not create a significant environmental hazard. Some indices connected, e.g. with the noise climate lightly exceeded permissible values. Nonetheless, if extensive prospecting and production of shale gas are involved, the environmental studies need to be broadened to supplement this report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale formations have been recently treated only as source rocks and sealing packages mainly of conventional deposits. At present shales, which have a considerable concentration of highly mature organic matter appearing in complexes of over 30 m thick are used as unconventional sources for natural gas production with the use of advanced drilling technologies. Natural gas production in such rock formations necessitates performing a horizontal section in the borehole and a big number of hydraulic fracturing jobs. The unconventional shale gas deposits have been prospected also in Poland for a couple of years. Exploration works mainly concentrate on a vast area passing from Pomerania through Mazowsze to the Lublin region in Poland. The analysis of the geologic analyses reveals that the most perspective are shales in the Lower Paleozoic at a depth of 2500 m in the eastern part to about 4000 m in the western part of the area. The paper is focused on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of environmental impact of natural gas exploration works from unconventional deposits. Special attention was paid to the hydraulic fracturing jobs in shales, which create particular hazard for water and soil environment. These hazards already appear at the stage of preliminary works, when big quantities of chemicals and water for frac jobs are stored in the rig area, and then, during realization of works, when the spent hydraulic fracturing fluid may penetrate the water-bearing horizons in the caprock. The composition of fracturing fluid used in Gapowo B-1A well are given along with the results of chemical analyses of a few parts of spent fracturing fluid samples pumped out from the borehole. The fluid turned out to be high in salt (high specific electrolyte conductance (SEC) and total dissolved substances (TDS) and a high toxicity for most of the living organisms). For this reason the spent fracturing fluid should not enter the environment without control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annual Set the Environment Protection / Rocznik Ochrona Środowiska is the property of Koszalin University of Technology 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.)

The populations at risk of adverse effects of noise include, in addition to adults, also children and juveniles, the two groups considered to be particularly vulnerable to noise-induced hearing loss and numerous other adverse systemic effects of exposure to noise. Major sources of noise exposure in children's and youth's environments include incubators at neonate intensive care wards, toys (such as e.g. rattles, squeeze toys, percussion cap toys, pistols), fireworks, pop and rock music concerts, aerobic courses and personal portable music players. This paper reports dB-A noise levels associated with those noise sources, and also combined dB-A levels of noise from external and internal sources prevailing at schools. The suggested preventive steps specified in the CE-HAPE (Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe) and PINCHE (Policy Interpretation Network on Children's Health and Environment) include legislative measures to limit the intensity and time of exposure to noise and classes/education actions for youths and parents.

Copyright of Materiały Budowlane is the property of Wydawnictwo SIGMA-NOT 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.)

Warning signals generated by sirens of authorized emergency vehicles should be audible and recognizable to all road users. Currently, there is no legislation in Poland defining sound pressure levels (SPLs) of audible warning signals generated by sirens of authorized emergency vehicles. Measured A-weighted SPLs of those signals range between 104 and 108 dB. While for road users, an audible warning signal is a source of important information and its A-weighted SPL is acceptable, it may be a source of annoying noise to an emergency vehicle crew. That is why, it is necessary to find a method of improving the acoustic comfort of the crew and, at the same time, maintaining the informational function of audible warning signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factors related to the working environment (e.g. inadequate lighting, excessive noise, poor condition of premises) contribute to neglect in the work of medical personnel, while also causing health effects in their body. This article presents the results of the assessment of working conditions in workplaces at selected medical facilities in Poland. This assessment was based on survey results. The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire among more than 300 physicians, nurses and diagnostic laboratory staff. The average grading of noise annoyance in workplaces on a scale from 0 to 10 was 2.77, and therefore noise was assessed as a slight inconvenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the actual impact of the noise indicators components on the L d e n uncertainty. Various sampling methods in order to correctly determine the L d e n uncertainty depending on the measurement sample size were also analysed. The analysis was conducted on the actual measurement data from three continuous noise monitoring stations in Gdańsk, Poland. The statistical inference was based on the results of t -test at significance level γ = 0. 05. The analysed data were comprehensive and differentiated and covered 3 years. The analysis indicated that the 95% intervals determined with the use of independent draw are narrower than the intervals calculated using dependent sampling. For small samples, n = 5 , the uncertainty evaluation method using independent draw without correlation has the highest coverage degree of actual value, and for samples n = { 10 , 15 } it is the method using dependent draw with correlation. This method has also the highest coverage regardless of the acoustic signal variability. • Confidence intervals widths obtained with ID and DD are statistically different. • Coverage degree of L den actual value changes proportionally to the sample size. • DDwithC has the highest coverage degree of L den regardless of the signal variability. • Method using DDwithC should be taken into account to L den calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise from means of transport is one of the main factors of environmental noise pollution and is one of the factors having an effect on human health. The article presents the problem of noise emitted by urban means of transport. The work focuses on analysis of the acoustic climate in the bus stop zone. In order to estimate the noise level, research was conducted in selected points in one of the Polish cities - Radom. The obtained results allowed assessment of the impact of transport on the noise level in the area of selected bus stops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Published reports suggest that some adverse health impact may be related to noise exposure, and motor vehicle traffic is considered to be the main source of environmental hazard of noise. The aim of this study has been to assess an association between occurrence of sleep and attention disorders with exposure to the noise generated by motor vehicle traffic in the case of a large group of children living in an urban environment.Material and Methods: The data was obtained using a cross sectional study design in Bytom (Silesia, Poland) from 2003-2007 for a selected group of 7-14 year olds (N = 5136). The geographic information system was used for assessing the exposure to noise generated by the motor vehicle traffic. The association between occurrences of sleep disturbances or attention disorders and exposure to the traffic noise was examined by means of multivariable logistic regression.Results: Sleep disturbances and attention disorders were found to be statistically significantly associated with exposure to the traffic noise. The multivariable logistic regression results suggest that sleep disturbances and attention disorders were more likely to occur in the case of children living in the area with higher traffic density, the odds ratio (OR) = 1.44 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-1.97) and 1.38 (95% CI: 1.03-1.86), respectively.Conclusions: The results of the study have confirmed that the exposure to the traffic noise could be a significant risk factor for sleep disturbances and attention disorders among children. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(3):511-520. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Spatial processing involves the ability to understand speech in a noisy environment which is directly related to the listener's ability to use binaural clues to differentiate sound source location from noise location. The spatial processing can be assessed by the Listening in Spatialized Noise Sentences (LISN-S) test, a binaural interaction test, applied by computer software using headphones, which produces a three-dimensional virtual auditory environment to evaluate spatial processing in individuals with complaints related to Central Auditory Processing Disorder. The main purpose of this study was to develop the LISN-S test (software and database in Portuguese), including normality criteria for the age group of 6 to 11 years. In addition, the results obtained in normal children will be analyzed and compared with those who had a history of otitis media in childhood. Design: The research will be developed in four steps: (1) Develop a soft- ware to assess spatial processing and speech material for the Portuguese database to be inserted into the software; (2) Determine the relative intelligibility of sentences to make adjustments to the recordings and obtain intelligibility equivalence between them; (3) Determine normality criteria for a age group of 6 to 11 years, and (4) Compare the results between children with and without a history of otitis media. Results: The research was approved by the Institution's Ethical Commitee, under No. 3,462,572. A software written in MATLAB was developed to allow the application of the equalization procedure. A graphical interface was produced with MATLAB App Designer and it allowed the examiner to start the equalization procedure and, for each sentence, to input the number of correct words repeated by the subject. The software used this information to adjust the sound pressure level of the coming sentence. In addition to the graphical interface, the software is also responsible for interfacing with the audio interface through the PLAYREC library. 188 phrases created by the researchers were recorded by a vocal actress in an anechoic chamber using an AKG C3000 microphone connected via an RME MADIface Pro audio interface to a laptop equipped with Audacity audio editing software. Two children's stories were selected and recorded by three vocal actresses using the same recording procedures. All audio files were edited to remove periods of silence and normalized in level. Children are being selected from a public school to develop steps 2 and 3. Conclusions: Research is ongoing and software and speech material are ready for application in the selected sample. It is hoped that the results obtained in this research may provide support for understanding the functioning of the central auditory nervous system structures involved in binaural interaction tasks, from the cochlear nucleus to the auditory cortex in Brazilian children. In addition, we hope to disclose the importance of studying spatial processing, especially in children with complaints related to hearing difficulties in noisy environments, to contribute for the diagnosis and help audiologists to plan a more fully and efficiently rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To compare speech reception thresholds (SRTs) in noise using matrix sentence tests in four languages: German, Spanish, Russian, Polish.Design:The four tests were composed of equivalent five-word sentences and were all designed and optimized using the same principles. Six stationary speech-shaped noises and three non-stationary noises were used as maskers.Study sample:Forty native listeners with normal hearing: 10 for each language.Results:SRTs were about 3 dB higher for the German and Spanish tests than for the Russian and Polish tests when stationary noise was used that matched the long-term frequency spectrum of the respective speech test materials. This general SRT difference was also observed for the other stationary noises. The within-test variability across noise conditions differed between languages. About 56% of the observed variance was predicted by the speech intelligibility index. The observed SRT benefit in fluctuating noise was similar for all tests, with a slightly smaller benefit for the Spanish test.Conclusions:Of the stationary noises employed, noise with the same spectrum as the speech yielded the best masking. SRT differences across languages and noises could be attributed in part to spectral differences. These findings provide the feasibility and limits of comparing audiological results across languages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The on-going growth in the use of motor vehicles leads to a number of traffic safety problems. Therefore, various traffic calming measures are applied to increase traffic safety in built-up areas. Lane narrowing is one of the techniques used to influence the perception of drivers and make them slow down. With this in mind, the authors conducted traffic volume and speed counts before and after installation of the lane narrowing treatment, covering 100 passing vehicles, at an intersection between an urban dual carriageway and an estate street where over a dozen fatal accidents occurred in the recent years. Traffic noise was also measured, both before and after lane narrowing. The traffic count data were analysed to show speed reduction by ca. 15 km/h, yet in all cases still above 50 km/h, which is the speed limit applicable to built-up areas in Poland. The analysis of the "before" and "after" noise maps showed only minor changes to the distribution of noise. The locations of these changes to the acoustic environment depended on the speed and volume of traffic and, much more importantly, on the topography of the surrounding area, the existing roadside layered landscape and the type of planted vegetation. The detailed analyses of the analysed parameters demonstrated that sustainable design of traffic calming measures on urban dual carriageways must consider not only the desired speed reduction but also the surrounding landscape and the local topography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inversion method was used to test vibroacoustic processes in large-size machines used in opencast mines of rock material. When this method is used, the tested machine is replaced with a set of substitute sources, whose acoustic parameters are determined on the basis of sound pressure levels and phase shift angles of acoustic signals, measured with an array of 24 microphones. This article presents test results of a combine unit comprising a crusher and a vibrating sieve, for which an acoustic model of 7 substitute sources was developed with the inversion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transport (16484142) is the property of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 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.)

This article presents the results of noise tests, measurements and proposals of solutions that have an impact for reducing noise at one of the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa S.A. mines. All units and workstations at the mechanical coal processing plant were tested. Coal enrichment, aimed at adjusting its quality parameters to the requirements of various customers, is considered as a stage of mineral resources management. The adaptation of the quality of commercial coal products to the needs of specific customers consists in removing useless components from the excavated material. The processes of coal processing are carried out on various machines, the power of which reaches several dozen kilowatts. The energy of these machines, in addition to the useful power, is converted into heat, friction and noise. From the energy point of view, noise is not important, but it is very harmful to employees. The issue of noise pollution, although very dangerous to employees' health, is often underestimated. Due to the subjective perception of noise, it is not possible to determine the risk without proper research. The aim of this study was to determine where the noise standards are exceeded. The next step was to propose specific solutions to reduce the impacts of noise on health and work comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]