Perceived annoyance and asthmatic symptoms in relation to vehicle exhaust levels outside home: a cross-sectional study

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Exhaust emissions from vehicles is a well known problem with both epidemiological and experimental studies showing increasing adverse health effects with elevating levels. Many of the studies concerning vehicle exhausts and health are focused on health outcomes where the proportion attributed to exhaust is low, while there is less information on early and more frequent subjective indicators of adverse effects. Methods: The primary aim of this study was to study perceived annoyance in relation to vehicle exhaust concentrations using modelled levels of nitrogen dioxide outside the home as an indicator with high spatial resolution. Almost 2800 persons in a random sample from three Swedish cities (Umea, Uppsala and Gothenburg) responded to our questionnaire. Questions were asked to determine the degree of annoyance related to vehicle exhausts and also the prevalence of irritating and asthmatic symptoms. Exposure was described for each participants home address by meteorological dispersion models with a 50 meter resolution. Results: We found a significant increase of peoples ' self-assessed annoyance with rising levels of NO2. The odds of being very annoyed by vehicle exhausts increased by 14 % per 1 µg/m3 increas

Toolbox from the EC FP7 HOSANNA project for the reduction of road and rail traffic noise in the outdoor environment

yesThis paper offers a brief overview of innovative methods for road and rail traffic noise reduction between source and receiver. These include using new barrier designs, planting of trees, treatments of ground and road surfaces and greening of building façades and roofs using natural materials, like vegetation, soil and other substrates in combination with recycled materials and artificial elements. The abatements are assessed in terms of numerically predicted sound level reductions, perceptual effects and cost–benefit analysis. Useful reductions of noise from urban roads and tramways are predicted for 1-m-high urban noise barriers and these are increased by adding inter-lane barriers. A 3 m wide 0.3 m high lattice ground treatment, a carefully planted 15-m-wide tree belt and replacing 50 m of paved areas by grassland are predicted to give similar reductions. Tree belts are shown to be very cost-effective and combining tall barriers with a row of trees reduces the negative impact of wind. Green roofs may significantly reduce the noise at the quiet side of buildings

Developing a good practice guide on the evaluation of human response to vibration from railways in residential environments

The adverse effects that noise and vibration from railway systems in residential environments can have on people are key obstacles for the development of new rail systems and the operation of existing lines. Recent years have seen an increase in public sensitivity towards noise and vibration from rail systems and the success of legislation to control noise levels around railway lines has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints about railway-induced vibration. Costly mitigation measures coupled with unclear or non-existent assessment methods mean that there is a need in industry and consultancy for clear guidance on the assessment of groundborne vibration from rail systems with respect to human response. The current EU FP7 project CargoVibes is to publish a good practice guide on the assessment of the human response to railway induced vibration in residential environments. The aim of the guidance will be to provide end users with a set of practical tools to assess the human impact of "steady state" railway vibration primarily in terms of annoyance and sleep disturbance. Encompassing the current state of knowledge regarding the human response to vibration in residential environments alongside the practical outputs of the CargoVibes project, this document is intended to promote policy and standard development in this field. The current paper will present the preliminary contents of the guidance, which have been shaped by a workshop held at the University of Salford. This paper is intended to promote debate and enable contributions from the IWRN community to ensure that the guidance is relevant to the current needs of legislators, rail and infrastructure operators, consultants, and local authorities

Conformational analysis of 1,4-disilabutane and 1,5-disilapentane by combined application of gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations and the crystal structure of 1,5-disilapentane at low temperatures

Mitzel NW, Smart BA, Blake AJ, Robertson HE, Rankin DWH. Conformational analysis of 1,4-disilabutane and 1,5-disilapentane by combined application of gas-phase electron diffraction and ab initio calculations and the crystal structure of 1,5-disilapentane at low temperatures. JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. 1996;100(22):9339-9347.The gas-phase structures of the conformers of 1,4-disilabutane and 1,5-disilapentane have been analyzed from electron-diffraction data augmented by flexible restraints derived from ab initio calculations. This allowed the simultaneous refinement of 22 and 29 parameters for 1,4-disilabutane and 1,5-disilapentane, respectively. 1,4-Disilabutane has been found to be present in the vapour predominantly in the anti (A) form (76(2)% from the experiment, 83% predicted by theory). Consistency in the geometries is found between theoretical predictions and experimental findings, except for the torsion angle angle(SiCCSi) of the gauche (G) conformer [exptl 78.5(21)degrees, theor 68.0 degrees]. The AA conformer of 1,5-disilapentane was always found to be the lowest energy structure, while some doubt still remains about the ordering of the AG and G(+)G(-) conformers. The AA conformer is found to be the sole form present in the crystal [C2/c, a = 15.585(8), b = 4.704(3), c = 9.895(6) Angstrom, beta = 95.77(4)degrees, Z = 4]. Good agreement is found for geometrical parameters determined experimentally in the gas phase and solid state and calculated by nb initio methods. The following values represent the most important distances (r(g)/Angstrom) and angles (angle(g)/deg) found for the gas phase and crystal structures. 1,4-Disilabutane GED (A/G, esd's correspond to 1 sigma): r(CSi) 1.882(1)/1.885(1), r(CC) 1.563(5)/1.563(5), r(SiH) both 1.499(3), angle(CCSi) 110.7(2)/114.4(5), angle(SiCCSi) 180.0/78.5(21). 1,5-Disilapentane GED [AA/G(+)G(-)]: r(CSi) 1.886(1)/1.888(1), r(CC) 1.537(2)/1.539(2), r(SiH) both 1.487(4), angle(CCC)114.8(7)/118.8(7), angle(CCSi)114.1(4)/116.8(7), angle(SiCCC) 180.0/60.9(10); X [%, AA/AG/G(+)G(-)] 28(4)/40(5)/26(6). 1,5-Disilapentane XRD: r(CSi) 1.868(2), r(CC) 1.527(2), angle(CCC) 113.8(2), angle(CCSi) 115.2(1), angle(siCCC) 180.0(1)