scholarly journals Development and Validation of a Masking System for Mitigation of Low-Frequency Audible Noise from Electrical Substations

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 7771
Author(s):  
Rogerio Regazzi ◽  
Brunno Cunha ◽  
Hugo Villela de Miranda ◽  
Juan José Gómez Acosta ◽  
Carlos Roberto Hall Barbosa ◽  
...  

Low-frequency audible noise generated by the magnetostriction effect inherent to the operation of power transformers has become a major drawback, especially in cases where the electrical substation is located in urban areas subject to strict environmental regulations that impose noise limits, differing for day and night periods. Such regulations apply a +5 dB penalty if a tonal component of noise is present, which is clearly the case of magnetostriction noise, typically concentrated at twice the industrial frequency (50 Hz or 60 Hz, depending on the country). The strategy used to eliminate the tonal characteristics, therefore contributing to establish compliance with the applicable regulation and to alleviate the discomfort it causes to the human ear, consisted in superimposing to the substation noise a masking sound synthesized from “sounds of nature” with suitable intensities, to flatten the noise spectrum while enhancing the soundscape. The masking system (heavy-duty speakers powered by a microprocessor platform) was validated at an already judicialized urban scenario. Measurement results confirmed that the masking solution was capable of flattening the tonal frequencies, whose beneficial effect yielded the cancellation of the public civil action filed by the neighbors. The proposed solution is ready to be replicated in other scenarios.

Author(s):  
Rogerio Dias Regazzi ◽  
Brunno Cunha ◽  
Hugo Villela de Miranda ◽  
Juan José Gómez Acosta ◽  
Carlos Roberto Hall Barbosa ◽  
...  

Low-frequency audible noise generated by the magnetostriction effect inherent to the operation of power transformers has become a major drawback, especially in cases where the electrical substation is located in urban areas subject to strict environmental regulations that imposes sound pressure limits, differing for day and night periods. Such regulations apply a +5 dB penalty if a tonal component of noise is present, which is clearly the case of magnetostriction noise, typically concentrated at twice the industrial frequency (50 Hz or 60 Hz, depending on the country). The strategy used to eliminate the tonal characteristics, therefore contributing to establish compliance with the applicable regulation and to alleviate the discomfort it causes to the human ear, consisted in superimposing to the substation noise a masking sound synthesized from “sounds of nature” with suitable intensities, to flatten the noise spectrum while enhancing the soundscape. The masking system (heavy-duty speakers powered by a microprocessor platform) was validated at an already judicialized urban scenario. Measurement results confirmed that the masking solution was capable of flattening the tonal frequencies, whose beneficial effect yielded the cancellation of the public civil action filed by the neighbors. The proposed solution is ready to be replicated to other scenarios.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-166
Author(s):  
Martin O. Archer

Abstract. The ultra-low frequency analogues of sound waves in Earth's magnetosphere play a crucial role in space weather; however, the public is largely unaware of this risk to our everyday lives and technology. As a way of potentially reaching new audiences, SSFX (Space Sound Effects) made 8 years of satellite wave recordings audible to the human ear with the aim of using it to create art. Partnering with film industry professionals, the standard processes of international film festivals were adopted by the project in order to challenge independent filmmakers to incorporate these sounds into short films in creative ways. Seven films covering a wide array of topics and genres (despite coming from the same sounds) were selected for screening at a special film festival out of 22 submissions. The works have subsequently been shown at numerous established film festivals and screenings internationally. These events have attracted diverse non-science audiences resulting in several unanticipated impacts on them, thereby demonstrating how working with the art world can open up dialogues with both artists and audiences who would not ordinarily engage with science.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Abd Rachim AF,

One of the environmental problems in urban areas is the pollution caused by garbage. The waste problem is caused by various factors such as population growth, living standards changes, lifestyles and behavior, as well as how the waste management system. This study aims to determine how the role of society to levy payments garbage in Samarinda. This research was descriptive; where the data is collected then compiled, described and analyzed used relative frequency analysis. The participation of the public to pay a "levy junk", which stated to pay 96.67%, for each month and the rates stated society cheap, moderate and fairly, respectively 46.08%, 21.21%, 21.04%. Base on the data , the role of the community to pay "levy junk" quite high.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan K. L. Chan ◽  
Colin K. C. Wong ◽  
Robin H. N. Lee ◽  
Mike W. H. Cho

The existing Kai Tak Nullah flows from Po Kong Village Road along Choi Hung Road and Tung Tau Estate into Kai Tak Development Area before discharging into the Victoria Harbour. Historically its upstream has been subject to flooding under storm conditions and this has had serious repercussions for the adjacent urban areas. A study has been commissioned by the Drainage Services Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), China to investigate the flood mechanisms and to provide flood alleviation measures by improving the capacity of the Kai Tak Nullah. In addition to flood alleviation, there is a strong public aspiration to rehabilitate the Kai Tak Nullah by a comparatively natural river design. Since the Kai Tak Nullah is located within a heavily urbanized area, traffic and environmental impacts are also highly concerned. The final flood alleviation scheme has thus had to strike a balance among the aforesaid factors with assistance from the hydraulic modelling utilizing InfoWorks Collection Systems (CS) software. This paper presents the public engagement exercise, design considerations, methodologies, and recommendations regarding the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Kai Tak Nullah.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Drake ◽  
Shelli Dubay ◽  
Maximilian L Allen

Abstract Coyotes are ubiquitous in habitats across North America, including in urban areas. Reviews of human–coyote encounters are limited in scope and analysis and predominantly document encounters that tend to be negative, such as human–wildlife conflict, rather than benign experiences. The objective of our study was to use citizen science reports of human–coyote interactions entered into iNaturalist to better understand the range of first person accounts of human–coyote encounters in Madison, WI. We report 398 citizen science accounts of human–coyote encounters in the Madison area between October 2015 and March 2018. Most human–coyote encounters occurred during coyote breeding season and half of all encounters occurred in moderate development land cover. Estimated level of coyote aggressiveness varied significantly, with 90% of citizen scientists scoring estimated coyote aggression as a 0 and 7% scoring estimated aggression as a 1 on a 0–5 scale (with 0 being calm and 5 being aggressive). Our best performing model explaining the estimated distance between the human observer and a coyote (our proxy for a human–coyote encounter) included the variables distance to nearest paved road, biological season of the year relative to coyote life history, and time of day/night. We demonstrate that human–coyote interactions are regularly more benign than negative, with almost all first-hand reported human–coyote encounters being benign. We encourage public outreach focusing on practices that can foster benign encounters when educating the public to facilitate human–coyote coexistence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-204
Author(s):  
Boga Thura Manatsha

There are rising public concerns about the acquisition of prime land by non-citizens/foreigners in Botswana, especially in the sprawling urban and peri-urban areas. Indians, Nigerians and Chinese, among others, are allegedly involved in such land transactions. There is a salient local resentment towards them and/or such transactions. Sensational media reports, emotive public statements by politicians, chiefs and government officials, and anger from ordinary citizens dominate the discourse. These emotive public debates about this issue warrant some academic comment. This article argues that the acquisition of land by foreigners in Botswana, in each land category—tribal, state and freehold—is legally allowed by the relevant laws. But this does not mean that citizens have no right to raise concerns and/or show their disapproval of some of these legal provisions. Aware of the public outcry, the government has since passed the Land Policy in 2015, revised in 2019, and amended the Tribal Land Act in 2018, not yet operational, to try and strictly regulate the acquisition of land by non-citizens. There is no readily available statistical data, indicating the ownership of land by foreigners in each land category. This issue is multifaceted and needs to be cautiously handled, lest it breeds xenophobia or the anti-foreigner sentiments.


Author(s):  
Minh-Tung Tran ◽  
◽  
Tien-Hau Phan ◽  
Ngoc-Huyen Chu ◽  
◽  
...  

Public spaces are designed and managed in many different ways. In Hanoi, after the Doi moi policy in 1986, the transfer of the public spaces creation at the neighborhood-level to the private sector has prospered na-ture of public and added a large amount of public space for the city, directly impacting on citizen's daily life, creating a new trend, new concept of public spaces. This article looks forward to understanding the public spaces-making and operating in KDTMs (Khu Do Thi Moi - new urban areas) in Hanoi to answer the question of whether ‘socialization’/privatization of these public spaces will put an end to the urban public or the new means of public-making trend. Based on the comparison and literature review of studies in the world on public spaces privatization with domestic studies to see the differences in the Vietnamese context leading to differences in definitions and roles and the concept of public spaces in KDTMs of Hanoi. Through adducing and analyzing practical cases, the article also mentions the trends, the issues, the ways and the technologies of public-making and public-spaces-making in KDTMs of Hanoi. Win/loss and the relationship of the three most important influential actors in this process (municipality, KDTM owners, inhabitants/citizens) is also considered to reconceptualize the public spaces of KDTMs in Hanoi.


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (5) ◽  
pp. R1922-R1933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry R. Dworkin ◽  
Xiaorui Tang ◽  
Alan J. Snyder ◽  
Susan Dworkin

To determine the relationship between blood pressure (BP) variability and the open-loop frequency domain transfer function (TF) of the baroreflexes, we measured the pre- and postsinoaortic denervation (SAD) spectra and the effects of periodic and step inputs to the aortic depressor nerve and isolated carotid sinus of central nervous system-intact, neuromuscular-blocked (NMB) rats. Similar to previous results in freely moving rats, SAD greatly increased very low frequency (VLF) (0.01–0.2 Hz) systolic blood pressure (SBP) noise power. Step response-frequency measurements for SBP; interbeat interval (IBI); venous pressure; mesenteric, femoral, and skin blood flow; and direct modulation analyses of SBP showed that only VLF variability could be substantially attenuated by an intact baroreflex. The −3-dB frequency for SBP is 0.035–0.056 Hz; femoral vascular conductance is similar to SBP, but mesenteric vascular conductance has a reliably lower and IBI has a reliably higher −3-dB point. The overall open-loop transportation lag, of which ≤0.1 s is neural, is ≈1.07 s. Constrained algebraic solution, over a range of frequencies, of the pre- and postSAD endogenous noise spectra and the independently determined relative frequency and absolute lag measurements was used to calculate the absolute gain for the open-loop TF. The average gain at 0.02 Hz, the frequency of maximum sensitivity, was 1.47 (95% confidence interval = ±0.48), which agrees well with estimates for the dog reversible sinus. We found that, in the NMB rat, the effects of SAD on the BP noise spectrum were accounted for by the open-loop properties of the baroreflex.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Tereza D. Paes-luchiari

Este artigo trás à reflexão os processos sócio-espaciais envolvidos nos atuais projetos de  refuncionalização urbana, destacando as estratégias de preservação do patrimônio histórico edificado e de reintegração de áreas urbanas abandonadas, sobretudo  nos Centros  Históricos consolidados pela industrialização. O gerenciamento político e empresarial dessas áreas tem subvertido o caráter público desses bens e fortalecido a imagem das cidades como mercadorias vendáveis no mercado global.AbstractThis  paper  aims  to  contribute  to  the  reflection  of  the socio-spatial processes  involved in the current projects of urban refuntionalization, enhancing  the strategies for preservation of  the built historical patrimony and the reintegration of  the abandoned urban areas, mainly  in the histoncal centers consolidated by  industries. The political and business management  have subverted  the public character of these goods, and strength the image of cities as goods to be sold in the global market.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Adang Nuryana

The problem of nutrition is still a public health problem in Indonesia. Malnutrition has not been resolved, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has begun to increase, especially in the middle and upper socioeconomic groups in urban areas. This is particularly troubling because it threatens the quality of Human Resources (HR) is indispensable in the future (Depkes RI, 2007). Changes in diet and physical activity resulted in the increasing number of people experiencing nutritional problems, such as overweight/obesity and malnutrition. Diet as the main factor nutritional problems, basically can be overcome by regulating the intake of good nutrition for consumption. But unfortunately, not many people know the setting of a good and proper diet. The Nutrition Plan was created as an expert system in determining balanced nutrition for adults based on body mass index and daily diet using forward chaining inference. This system will recommend what foods are suitable for every adult in accordance with the needs of calories per day in the hope of prevalence rates for the Indonesian people suffering from malnutrition and overweight can be reduced significantly. In addition to facilitating the public, especially normal adults to know the nutritional information in order to achieve a healthy lifestyle.


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