Evaluation of Individual and Environmental Sound Pressure Level and Drawing Noise-Isosonic Maps Using Surfer V.14 and Noise at Work V.5.0

Noise pollution is one of the common physical harmful factors in many work environments.The current study aimed to assess personal and environmental sound pressure level and project the sound-Isosonic map in one of the Razavi Khorasan Paste manufacture using Surfer V.14 and Noise at work V.5.0.This cross-sectional,descrip-tive study is analytical that was conducted in 2018 in the Paste factory that contains Canister,production and Brewing unit.Following ISO 9612:2009,Casella Cel-320 was used to measure personal sound pressure level,while CEL-450 sound level meter(manufactured by Casella-Cel,the UK)was employed to assess environmental sound pressure level.Statistical analyzes was done using SPSS V.18 and Linear Regression test.The sound-isosonic maps were projected using Surfer V.14 and Noise at work V.5.0.The results of assessing personal sound pressure level indicated that the highest received dose(172.21%)and personal equivalent sound level(87.36 dBA)were recorded for workers in the Canister unit.According to results of measuring of the environmental sound pressure level,out of 16 measurement stations in this unit,overall 87.5%were regarded as danger and caution areas.The lowest and highest sound pressure levels in this units were 61 dBA and 92 dBA that belong to Brewing and Canister units respectively.Results indicate Over 75%of the Canister and production units had a sound pressure level greater than 85 dBA and these two units were regarded as the most dangerous area in terms of noise pollution.It is there-fore necessary to implement noise control measures,apply hearing protection program and auditory tests among workers in these units.

Presenting a Signal to Noise Ratio Model Based on the Combined Effect ofSound Pressure Level/frequency, Exposure Time and Oral Potassium:Experimental Study in Rats

Exposure to noise can lead to anatomical,nonauditory,and auditory impacts.The auditory influence of noise exposure is manifested in the form of Noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL).The current study aimed at present a signal to noise ratio model of otoacoustic emission of rats’ears in the light of the combined effect of sound pressure level,sound frequency,exposure time,and potassium concentration of the used water.In total,36 adult male rates,whose age varied from 3 to 4 months and had a weight of 200±50 g,were randomly divided into 12 groups,with each group consisting of 3 rats.The rats in both groups(case and control groups)were exposed to SPLs of 85,95,and 105 dB,emitted from sources that generated white noise.A distortion product otoacoustic emission(DPOAE)machine(4000 I/O manufactured by Homoth of Germany)was utilized to gauge the signal to noise ratio(SNR)of otoacoustic emissions of rats’ears at various frequencies in an acoustic room.The inclusion criterion was SNR≥6 dB.The collected data were fed into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS)version 18,followed by conducting descriptive and inferential data analysis procedures.The results of SNR analysis indicated that over 82%of all data had SNRs that were equal to or greater than 6 dB.These data were considered as acceptable response.Furthermore,SPL and sound frequency had significant associations with SNR(P<0.0001).Exposure time also significantly correlated with SNR(P=0.008).However,the potassium concentration of the used water had no significant correlation with SNR(P=0.97).High sound pressure levels result in lower DPOAE.Furthermore,higher frequency leads to higher SNR.On the contrary,longer exposure time reduces SNR.Finally,the potassium concentration of the used water has no effect on SNR.

Evaluation of Environmental Sound Pressure Level,Drawing of Noise-Isosonic Map Using Surfer V.19,and Prioritization of Engineering Noise Control Methods Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP):A Field Study in CGS Stations

Noise pollution is one of the most significant harmful physical factors in the industrial and occupational environments.Due to the high costs of exposure to excessive noise;continuous sound evaluation,propose and implement noise control plans in occupational environments is necessary.Thus,the present study aimed to review environmental sound measurements,drawing of noise maps,and prioritizing the engineering noise control methods using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP).This study was a descriptive-analytical study that aimed to assess occupational noises and present a control plan in the City Gas Stations(CGSs)of Kerman,Iran in 2021.The present study was done in two phases.In the first phase,six CGSs were investigated to measure and evaluate the noise.In addition,the noise map of a CGS was drawn using the Surfer software.Finally,the AHP was used in the second phase of the research to prioritize the control measures.In this phase,four criteria and ten alternatives were identified.According to first phase results,the sound pressure level(SPL)of the stations varied from 76 to 98 dBA.Besides,the majority of the studied stations had a sound level higher than 85 dBA(danger zone).The second phase of the study showed that out of the four evaluated criteria,the executability criterion had the highest impact and the cost criterion had the lowest impact on the selection of control measures with a weight of 0.587 and 0.052,respectively.Based on the results of prioritization of the alternatives,using a silenced regulator(weight of 0.223)and increasing the thickness of the tube(weight of 0.023)had the highest and lowest priorities among the alternatives,respectively.The use of engineering noise control methods such as using silenced regulators was the best way to control the noises of CGSs.Additionally;it is noteworthy that AHP is a practical method for prioritizing alternatives to achieve the most accurate decision-making.The results of AHP can be of great help to health and safety experts and managers in choosing the sound engineering control measures more precisely.

Effects of the self-management training program on self-management behavior and blood pressure levels among elderly people with hypertension

Objective:To determine the effects of the Self-Management Training Program on self-management behavior and blood pressure(BP)levels among elderly people with hypertension(HT).Methods:This study was based on a quasi-experimental design using sampling groups composed of elderly residents of Pathum Thani Province with HT.Simple random sampling was applied to two sampling groups,an experimental group and a control group.However,the experimental group had been on the Self-Management Training Program based on the Creer concept.The Program’s contents included small-group health-education sessions and the patients’manual,Self-Management Training Skills for Self-Management Behavior.Small group discussions were held for self-reflection,to stimulate follow-up for self-management behavior training during home visits.The Self-Management Training Program was compared with programs involving the more usual care.Data were collected using the Self-Management Behavior for Hypertension Control Questionnaire and BP assessment tests.Data were analyzed using a descriptive statistic,chi-square test,pair t-test,repeated-measures Analysis of Variance(ANOVA),and repeated-measures Analysis Covariance(ANCOVA).Results:It was found that at 13 weeks after entering the program,the experimental group demonstrated a significantly lower systolic and diastolic BP with a baseline statistical significance(P<0.005),and that at the 4th week and the 13th week,there was a decrease in BP in the experimental group.The experimental group also had above-baseline self-management behavior scores that were higher than in the control group(P<0.01).Conclusions:Results from this study show that the Self-Management Program was useful for BP control and promoted sustainable self-management behavior.

CAVITATION INCEPTION WITNESSED BY SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL IN MODEL TEST AND PROTOTYPE OBSERVATION

The paper concerns with the relationship between cavitation inception andSound Pressure Level (SPL). A case study for the Xiaolangdi Hydro-project was taken as a typicalexample, which demonstrated the standard criterion of SPL indicating cavitation inception.Cavitation inception of an orifice plate used for energy dissipation in a tunnel spillway waswitnessed and verified both in model test and prototype observation. A design criterion was proposedfor a cavitation-free hydraulic structure which can be served as a reference for designers as wellas researchers. Consequently, scale effects were discussed with an aim at suggesting an appropriatefactor of safety in design.

New Guidelines Lower Blood Pressure Levels

选注者言:没有人死于高血压,但死于心脏病、中风及肾病者,其背后的元凶则是高血压。现在美国发布了新的关于高血压的界定标准。新标准认为:当血压达到115/75时,心脏病的危险即已经开始,此前,血压达到140/90时,医生才开始担心。本文对高血压的用药也发表了意见。

Variational assimilation in combination with a regularization method for sea level pressure retrieval from QuikSCAT scatterometer data Ⅱ:simulation experiment and actual case study

The sea level pressure field can be computed from sea surface winds retrieved from satellite microwave scatterometer measurements, based on variational assimilation in combination with a regularization method given in part I of this paper. First, the validity of the new method is proved with a simulation experiment. Then, a new processing procedure for the sea level pressure retrieval is built by combining the geostrophic wind, which is computed from the scatterometer 10-meter wind using the University of Washington planetary boundary layer model using this method. Finally, the feasibility of the method is proved using an actual case study.

Variational assimilation in combination with the regularization method for sea level pressure retrieval from QuikSCAT scatterometer data I:Theoretical frame construction

A new method of constructing a sea level pressure field from satellite microwave scatterometer measurements is presented. It is based on variational assimilation in combination with a regularization method using geostrophic vorticity to construct a sea level pressure field from scatterometer data that are given in this paper, which offers a new idea for the application of scatterometer measurements. Firstly, the geostrophic vorticity from the scatterometer data is computed to construct the observation field, and the vorticity field in an area and the sea level pressure on the borders are assimilated. Secondly, the gradient of sea level pressure （semi-norm） is used as the stable functional to educe the adjoint system, the adjoint boundary condition and the gradient of the cost functional in which a weight parameter is introduced for the harmony of the system and the Tikhonov regularization techniques in inverse problem are used to overcome the ill-posedness of the assimilation. Finally, the iteration method of the sea level pressure field is developed.

Influence of Sea Level Pressure on Inter-Annual Rainfall Variability in Northern Senegal in the Context of Climate Change

This study examines the inter-annual variability of rainfall and Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) over west Africa based on analysis of the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis respectively. An interconnection is found in this region, between Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) anomaly (over Azores and St. Helena High) and monthly mean precipitation during summer (June to September: JJAS). We also found that over northern Senegal (15°N - 17°N;17°W - 13°W) the SLP to the north is strong;the wind converges at 200 hPa corresponding to the position of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) the rotational wind 700 hPa (corresponding to the position of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) coming from the north-east is negative. In this region, the precipitation is related to the SLP to the north with the opposite sign. The Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) of SLP is also presented, including the mean spectrum of precipitation and pressures to the north (15°N - 40°N and 50°W - 25°W) and south (40°S - 10°S and 40°W - 0°E). The dominant EOF of Sea Level Pressures north and south of the Atlantic Ocean for GPCP represents about 62.2% and 69.4% of the variance, respectively. The second and third EOFs of the pressure to the north account for 24.0% and 6.5% respectively. The second and third EOFs of the pressure to the south represent 12.5% and 8.9% respectively. Wet years in the north of Senegal were associated with anomalous low-pressure areas over the north Atlantic Ocean as opposed to the dry years which exhibited an anomalous high-pressure area in the same region. On the other hand, over the South Atlantic, an opposition is noted. The wavelet analysis method is applied to the SLP showings to the north, south and precipitation in our study area. The indices prove to be very consistent, especially during intervals of high variance.

Causes of seasonal sea level anomalies in the coastal region of the East China Sea

Based on the analysis of sea level, air temperature, sea surface temperature（SST）, air pressure and wind data during 1980-2013, the causes of seasonal sea level anomalies in the coastal region of the East China Sea（ECS） are investigated. The research results show：（1） sea level along the coastal region of the ECS takes on strong seasonal variation. The annual range is 30-45 cm, larger in the north than in the south. From north to south, the phase of sea level changes from 140° to 231°, with a difference of nearly 3 months.（2） Monthly mean sea level（MSL）anomalies often occur from August to next February along the coast region of the ECS. The number of sea level anomalies is at most from January to February and from August to October, showing a growing trend in recent years.（3） Anomalous wind field is an important factor to affect the sea level variation in the coastal region of the ECS. Monthly MSL anomaly is closely related to wind field anomaly and air pressure field anomaly. Wind-driven current is essentially consistent with sea surface height. In August 2012, the sea surface heights at the coastal stations driven by wind field have contributed 50%-80% of MSL anomalies.（4） The annual variations for sea level,SST and air temperature along the coastal region of the ECS are mainly caused by solar radiation with a period of12 months. But the correlation coefficients of sea level anomalies with SST anomalies and air temperature anomalies are all less than 0.1.（5） Seasonal sea level variations contain the long-term trends and all kinds of periodic changes. Sea level oscillations vary in different seasons in the coastal region of the ECS. In winter and spring, the oscillation of 4-7 a related to El Ni？o is stronger and its amplitude exceeds 2 cm. In summer and autumn, the oscillations of 2-3 a and quasi 9 a are most significant, and their amplitudes also exceed 2 cm. The height of sea level is lifted up when the different oscillations superposed. On the other hand, the height of sea level is fallen down.

Characteristics and possible causes of the seasonal sea level anomaly along the South China Sea coast

Based on sea level, air temperature, sea surface temperature（SST）, air pressure and wind data during 1980–2014,this paper uses Morlet wavelet transform, Estuarine Coastal Ocean Model（ECOM） and so on to investigate the characteristics and possible causes of seasonal sea level anomalies along the South China Sea（SCS） coast. The research results show that：（1） Seasonal sea level anomalies often occur from January to February and from June to October. The frequency of sea level anomalies is the most in August, showing a growing trend in recent years. In addition, the occurring frequency of negative sea level anomaly accounts for 50% of the total abnormal number.（2） The seasonal sea level anomalies are closely related to ENSO events. The negative anomalies always occurred during the El Ni？o events, while the positive anomalies occurred during the La Ni？a（late El Ni？o） events. In addition, the seasonal sea level oscillation periods of 4–7 a associated with ENSO are the strongest in winter, with the amplitude over 2 cm.（3） Abnormal wind is an important factor to affect the seasonal sea level anomalies in the coastal region of the SCS. Wind-driven sea level height（SSH） is basically consistent with the seasonal sea level anomalies. Moreover, the influence of the tropical cyclone in the coastal region of the SCS is concentrated in summer and autumn, contributing to the seasonal sea level anomalies.（4） Seasonal variations of sea level, SST and air temperature are basically consistent along the coast of the SCS, but the seasonal sea level anomalies have no much correlation with the SST and air temperature.

Analysis of the relationship between water level fluctuation and seismicity in the Three Gorges Reservoir(China)

The Three Gorges Reservoir is a good site for the further researches on reservoir induced seismicity due to decades＇ seismic monitoring. After the first water impounding in 2003, seismic activity becomes more frequent than that before water impoundment. In order to quantitatively study, the relationship between the water level fluctuation and earthquakes in TGR, we introduced statistical methods to attain the goal. First of all, we relocated the earthquakes in TGR region with double difference method and divided the earthquakes into 5 clusters with clustering analysis method. Secondly, to examine the impacts of water level fluctuation in different water filling stages on the seismic activity in the 5 clusters, a series of statistical analyses are applied. Pearson correlation results show that only the 175 m water level fluc- tuation has significantly positive impacts on the seismic activity in clusters I, II, III and V with correlation coefficients of 0.44, 0.38, 0.66 and 0.63. Cross-correlation analysis demonstrates that 0, ], 0 and 0 month time delay separately for the clusters I, II, III and V exists. It illustrated the influences of the water loading and pore pressure diffusion on induced earthquakes. Cointegration tests and impulse response analysis denoted that the 175 m water level only had long term and significant effects just on the seismic events in the intersection region of the Fairy Mount Fault and Nine-brook Fault. One standard deviation shock to 175 m water level increased the seismic activity in cluster V for the first 3 months, and then the negative influence was shown. After 7 months, the negative impulse response becomes stable. The long-term effect of the 175 m water impoundment also proved the important role of pore pressure diffusion in RIS with time.

Assessment of Atmospheric Reanalysis Data Based on Buoy Observations over the Tropical Western Indian Ocean in 2019

Atmospheric reanalysis data are an important data source for studying weather and climate systems.The sea surface wind and sea level pressure observations measured from a real-time buoy system deployed in Kenya’s offshore area in 2019 conducted jointly by Chinese and Kenyan scientists were used to evaluate the performance of the major high-frequency atmospheric reanalysis products in the western Indian Ocean region.Compared with observations,the sea level pressure field could be accurately simulated using the atmospheric reanalysis data.However,significant discrepancies existed between the surface wind reanalysis data,especially between meridional wind and the observational data.Most of the data provide a complete understanding of sea level pressure,except for the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis data,which hold a significant system bias.The Modern-Era Reanalysis for Research and Applications,Version-2,provides an improved description of all datasets.All the reanalysis datasets for zonal wind underestimate the strength during the study period.Among reanalysis data,NCEP-DOE Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project reanalysis data presents an inaccurate description due to the worst correlation with the observations.For meridional wind,most reanalysis datasets underestimate the variance,while the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Atmospheric Composition Reanalysis 4 has a larger variance than the observations.In addition to the original data comparison,the diurnal variability of sea level pressure and surface wind are also assessed,and the result indicates that the diurnal variations have a significant gap between observation and reanalysis data.This study indicates that the current high-frequency reanalysis data still have disadvantages when describing the atmospheric parameters in the Western Indian Ocean region.

Characteristics of extratropical cyclone variability in the Northern Hemisphere and their response to rapid changes in Arctic sea ice

Extratropical cyclones are critical weather systems that affect large-scale weather and climate changes at mid-high latitudes.However,prior research shows that there are still great difficulties in predicting extratropical cyclones for occurrence,frequency,and position.In this study,mean sea level pressure(MSLP)data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF)reanalysis(ERA5)are used to calculate the variance statistics of the MSLP to reveal extratropical cyclone activity(ECA).Based on the analysis of the change characteristics of ECA in the Northern Hemisphere,the intrinsic link between ECA in the Northern Hemisphere and Arctic sea ice is explored.The results show that the maximum ECA mainly occurs in winter over the mid-high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.The maximum ECA changes in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic,which are the largest variations in the Northern Hemisphere,are independent of each other,and their mechanisms may be different.Furthermore,MSLP is a significant physical variable that affects ECA.The North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO)and North Pacific Index(NPI)are significant indices that impact ECA in the North Atlantic and North Pacific,respectively.The innovation of this paper is to explore the relationship between the activity of extratropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere and the abnormal changes in Arctic sea ice for the first time.The mechanism is that the abnormal changes in summer-autumn and winter Arctic sea ice lead to the phase transition of the NPI and NAO,respectively,and then cause the occurrence of ECA in the North Pacific and North Atlantic,respectively.Arctic sea ice plays a crucial role in the ECA in the Northern Hemisphere by influencing the polar vortex and westerly jets.This is the first exploration of ECAs in the Northern Hemisphere using Arctic sea ice,which can provide some references for the in-depth study and prediction of ECAs in the Northern Hemisphere.

Case Study of Coastal Fog Events in Senegal Using LIDAR Ceilometer

This study aims to examine the atmospheric conditions characterising fog phenomena on the Senegalese coast focusing on two specific instances that occurred on April 3 and April 30,2023.These events were detected by the LIDAR Ceilometer installed at LPAOSF/ESP/UCAD and confirmed on the METARs of the meteorological stations at Dakar and Diass airports.The LIDAR’s backscatter signal showed that the fog of April 3 started around midnight with a vertical extension at 100 m altitude and dissipated around 10 a.m.The April 30 event characterized by a good vertical extension from the surface up to 300 m above sea level,was triggered just after 2 a.m.and lasted around 3 hours.The results showed that a decrease in temperature,accompanied by an increase in humidity and light wind,is favorable for the triggering and persistence of fog.Sea Level Pressure(SLP)anomaly fields show two distinct configurations.The April 3 event was characterized by a zonal dipole of SLP anomalies between the Sahara and the northern Senegalese coast,while the April 30 event was characterized by a meridional dipole between the Sahara and the Gulf of Guinea area as far as the equatorial Atlantic.A weakening of the pressure around the study area was observed in both cases,allowing moisture advection to favor the onset of fog.The hovmoller diagrams of relative humidity and wind show that a good vertical extension of humidity associated with a westerly wind in the lower layers plays an important role in the formation and persistence of fog.The presence of dry air associated with a weak easterly wind in the middle layers could explain the low vertical extension of the fog on April 3.A strong wind in the lower layers would be responsible for the premature dissipation of the April 30 fog.

Active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure consisting of flexible structure

The active control of structural sound radiation in an acoustic enclosure is studied by using distributed point force actuators as the secondary control force, and the control mechanisms for the radiated noise in the cavity are analyzed. A rectangular enclosure involving two simply supported flexible plates is created for this investigation. The characteristics of the primary and secondary sound field and the structural-acoustic coupled system are analyzed, and the optimal control objective for reducing the sound pressure level （SPL） in the cavity is derived. The response of the SPL in the cavity is analyzed and compared when the secondary point force actuators with different locations and parameters are applied to the two flexible plates. The results indicate that the noise in the cavity can be better controlled when some point force actuators are applied to two flexible plates for cooperative control rather than the point force actuators being only applied to the excited flexible plate.

Longitudinal type-line optimization of high-speed train for low aerodynamic noise

The basic head shape of high-speed train is determined by its longitudinal type-line(LTL),so it is crucial to optimize its aerodynamic performance.Based on the parametric modeling of LTL constructed by non-uniform relational B-spline(NURBS)and the fluctuation pressure obtained by large eddy simulation(LES),the Kriging surrogate model(KSM)of LTL was constructed for low aerodynamic noise,and the accuracy of the KSM was improved gradually by adding the sample point with maximum expected improvement(EI)and the optimal point from optimization.The optimal objective was searched with genetic algorithm(GA).The results show that the total fluctuation pressure level(FPL)of the optimal LTL can be 8.7 dB less than that of original one,and the shape optimization method is feasible for low aerodynamic noise design.

Hydrodynamic and Hydroacoustic Computational Prediction of Conventional and Highly Skewed Marine Propellers Operating in Non-uniform Ship Wake

Despite their high manufacturing cost and structural deficiencies especially in tip regions,highly skewed propellers are preferred in the marine industry,where underwater noise is a significant design criterion.However,hydrodynamic performances should also be considered before a decision to use these propellers is made.This study investigates the trade-off between hydrodynamic and hydroacoustic performances by comparing conventional and highly skewed Seiun Maru marine propellers for a noncavitating case.Many papers in the literature focus solely on hydroacoustic calculations for the open-water case.However,propulsive characteristics are significantly different when propeller-hull interactions take place.Changes in propulsion performance also reflect on the hydroacoustic performances of the propeller.In this study,propeller-hull interactions were considered to calculate the noise spectra.Rather than solving the full case,which is computationally demanding,an indirect approach was adopted;axial velocities from the nominal ship wake were introduced as the inlet condition of the numerical approach.A hybrid method based on the acoustic analogy was used in coupling computational fluid dynamics techniques with acoustic propagation methods,implementing the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings(FW-H)equation.The hydrodynamic performances of both propellers were presented as a preliminary study.Propeller-hull interactions were included in calculations after observing good accordance between our results,experiments,and quasi-continuous method for the open-water case.With the use of the time-dependent flow field data of the propeller behind a nonuniform ship wake as an input,simulation results were used to solve the FW-H equation to extract acoustic pressure and sound pressure levels for several hydrophones located in the near field.Noise spectra results confirm that the highest values of the sound pressure levels are in the low-frequency range and the first harmonics calculated by the present method are in good accordance with the theoretical values.Results also show that a highly skewed propeller generates less noise even in noncavitating cases despite a small reduction in hydrodynamic efficiency.

Airborne Acoustic Transmission and Terrain Topography at SAINTGITS Amphitheatre:An Analysis of Outdoor Auditory Perception and Comparison of Contour Plots

The arrangement of natural and physical features on the earth’s surface are a few among the countless items that govern the airborne acoustic transmission at boundary layers.In particular,if the acoustic waves are attributes of live concerts at open-air theatres,without losing the sheen and quality,the audience should certainly receive the unbroken depth of the performance.Hence,at all times,it is advisable to analyse the auditory receptiveness,particularly in all intended recreational spaces.The current pandemic circumstances and the mandated COVID-19 prevention protocols encourage gatherings in naturally ventilated outdoor regions than confined indoors.This work predicts and quantifies the acoustic experience at the naturally carved amphitheatre at SAINTGITS,an autonomous institution at the down South-West of the Indian Subcontinent.The entire recreational space at SAINTGITS AMPHI was separately modelled as a Base case and Advanced case,and were analysed using the acoustic modelling module of EASE Focus,a renowned simulation freeware,which is in strict adherence with the International standards.The variation in loudness received at the nearest and farthest ends of the amphitheatre was between 67 to 80 dB.Though the Zero frequency SPL(Z-weighting)exhibited the loudness in the range of 81 to 85 dB and could maintain a safer auditory level for any human ear,it was confined to a hemispherical region near the sound source.A vertical beam angle of−4.0°was found to be effective throughout.The procedures and analyses will certainly help the future organizers and stakeholders to effectively plan the resources to reap rich acoustic experience at terrain-centric locales.The surface topography and contours were plotted with another set of freeware,the CADMAPPER and the QUIKGRID,to compare terrain gradient with the known data.Furthermore,this interdisciplinary research exhibits the extensive simulation capability of both EASE Focus and QUIKGRID and demonstrates the modelling versatility and deliverable potential of these freeware to benefit the budding architects and researchers.

Assessment of Indoor and Outdoor Noise Pollution at a University Hospital Based on Acoustic Measurements and Noise Mapping

This paper describes an analysis of the sound pressure levels at the exterior fa&ccedil;ade and inside the Hospital de Clínicas of the Federal University of Paraná. Measurements were taken at a total of 45 points, 24 at the exterior facade and 21 points inside the hospital on all the floors of the main building and in the maternity building. These 45 measurements were used to calculate the acoustic map of the hospital, which is located on General Carneiro Street, in the city of Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil. A comparison of the measured outdoor sound pressure levels against those established by Curitiba Municipal Law No. 10625 revealed that they all exceeded the daytime limit of 55 dB(A) permitted for areas around hospitals. The indoor sound pressure measurements and the noise levels for acoustic comfort established by the Brazilian technical standard ABNT NBR 10152 were compared, indicating that all the measured points, including those in the neonatal intensive care unit, exceeded the established limit of 35 dB(A) to 45 dB(A).