Blind estimation of reverberation time in classrooms and hospital wards

This paper investigates blind Reverberation Time (RT) estimation in occupied classrooms and hospital wards. Measurements are usually made while these spaces are unoccupied for logistical reasons. However, occupancy can have a significant impact on the rate of reverberant decay. Recent work has developed a Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) method which utilises only passively recorded speech and music signals, this enables measurements to be made while the room is in use. In this paper the MLE method is applied to recordings made in classrooms during lessons. Classroom occupancy levels differ for each lesson, therefore a model is developed using blind estimates to predict the RT for any occupancy level to within ±0.07s for the mid-frequency octave bands. The model is also able to predict the effective room and per person absorption area. Ambient sound recordings were also carried out in a number of rooms in two hospitals for a week. Hospital measurements are more challenging as the occurrence of free reverberant decay is rarer than in schools and the acoustic conditions may be non-stationary. However, by gaining recordings over a period of a week, estimates can be gained within ±0.07 s. These estimates are representative of the times when the room contains the highest acoustic absorption. In other words when curtains are drawn, there are many visitors or perhaps a window may be open

The impact of classroom noise on reading comprehension of secondary school pupils

It has been known for many years that poor acoustic conditions in classrooms leading to high noise levels and poor speech intelligibility cause annoyance to pupils and teachers and affect the academic performance of pupils. Much of the previous research concerning the impact of noise and poor acoustics on pupils has involved children in primary schools, with fewer studies related to pupils of secondary school age. Furthermore, the majority of previous studies in schools have examined the impact of environmental noise, particularly aircraft noise, on children. The aim of the study described here was to examine the effects of typical levels of classroom noise on secondary school pupils, and to attempt to identify the threshold level at which adverse impacts might occur. A survey of acoustic conditions in secondary schools in England1 was accompanied by questionnaire surveys of pupils to ascertain levels of annoyance caused by noise, and their perceptions of its interference with their ability to hear and understand their teachers2 . In addition, students were tested in numeracy, mathematical reasoning, memory and reading comprehension in different levels of classroom noise. This paper describes the results of reading comprehension tests undertaken by nearly 1000 pupils aged between 11 and 16 years while they were exposed to typical classroom noise at different levels

Characterizing Hospital Workers' Willingness to Respond to a Radiological Event

Terrorist use of a radiological dispersal device (RDD, or "dirty bomb"), which combines a conventional explosive device with radiological materials, is among the National Planning Scenarios of the United States government. Understanding employee willingness to respond is critical for planning experts. Previous research has demonstrated that perception of threat and efficacy is key in the assessing willingness to respond to a RDD event.An anonymous online survey was used to evaluate the willingness of hospital employees to respond to a RDD event. Agreement with a series of belief statements was assessed, following a methodology validated in previous work. The survey was available online to all 18,612 employees of the Johns Hopkins Hospital from January to March 2009.Surveys were completed by 3426 employees (18.4%), whose demographic distribution was similar to overall hospital staff. 39% of hospital workers were not willing to respond to a RDD scenario if asked but not required to do so. Only 11% more were willing if required. Workers who were hesitant to agree to work additional hours when required were 20 times less likely to report during a RDD emergency. Respondents who perceived their peers as likely to report to work in a RDD emergency were 17 times more likely to respond during a RDD event if asked. Only 27.9% of the hospital employees with a perception of low efficacy declared willingness to respond to a severe RDD event. Perception of threat had little impact on willingness to respond among hospital workers.Radiological scenarios such as RDDs are among the most dreaded emergency events yet studied. Several attitudinal indicators can help to identify hospital employees unlikely to respond. These risk-perception modifiers must then be addressed through training to enable effective hospital response to a RDD event