ERRATUM:Perception of Landscape Based on Auditory Processing (Examining the Role of Phonetics in Landscape Reading)Authors: Farnaz Razani, Ali SharghiArticle Information: This article was previously published in MANZAR, Year: 2025, Volume 17, Issue 71, Pages 34-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22034/manzar.2025.481255.2315Erratum Text: In the above article, the affiliation of the author Ali Sharghi was incorrectly listed as:“Assistant Professor, Architecture Department, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran”The correct affiliation should read:“Associate Professor, Architecture Department, School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran”Erratum Publication Date: 2025/09/26 AbstractHumans communicate with their environment through their senses, which leads to sensory Perception. Researchers have focused more on the process of visual Perception of the landscape and have paid less attention to concepts such as Sound landscape and Sound Perception. Sound and Sound landscape as sensory stimuli affect people’s behavior, space selection, and landscape Perception. Today, the increasing diversity of Sound sources in cities, which often creates an unpleasant Sound landscape, causes confusing auditory Perception in people, which shows the importance of addressing the Sound landscape and the role of the sense of hearing in the landscape. This research attempts to present an organized view of the role and results of the sense of hearing in interacting with elements of the Sound landscape by identifying and paying attention to the process of landscape Perception. This research is qualitative, applied in purpose, and qualitative content analysis in the research method. Data was collected using a library method by reviewing texts, critiquing the written works, and analyzing their qualitative content. It examined the role of the sense of hearing in the Perception of landscapes through the interaction of the senses of sight and hearing, using a deductive and inferential approach.The results obtained indicate that the characteristics of Sound and human hearing along with the elements and factors of the acoustic landscape play an effective role in the formation of the acoustic Perception of the landscape. In addition to these factors, visual elements also affect the Perception of the landscape in interaction with the acoustic elements and can change the individual’s Perception and cognition of the landscape. Also, natural Sound sources play an effective role in the pleasantness of the space and, along with natural visual factors, increase the user’s presence in the landscape and role creation and dynamism.

Highlights-The pleasantness of a Soundscape to a place depends largely on context.-Decreasing Sound levels may not result in a high-quality acoustic environment.-The environmental characteristics of the spaces and the activities they may enable influence directly on the pleasantness of the Soundscape.- The frequency of people's exposure to the Soundscape also affects their Perception of the Soundscape pleasantness and imageability. IntroductionUrban open spaces play an important role in improving the quality of urban life. In the past, urban designers mainly focused on the visual esthetics and physical aspects of urban spaces, but neglected acoustic elements. Ignoring the role of Sound in urban planning has led to an increase in environmentally disturbing Sounds, which ultimately leads to an unclear human Perception of Sounds. To avoid these issues, acoustic research to create high-quality spaces has become one of the current aims of urban planners and environmental designers.MethodologyThis study investigated the Soundscape quality of the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis in Isfahan, one of the most valuable historical-cultural urban spaces in Iran. The study aimed to answer the following questions:1. What are the Sound components that affect the pleasantness of the Soundscape of the area?2. How is the overall quality of the Soundscape on the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis?3. What are the Sound imageability components in the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis?To determine the dominant Sound sources in the space, non-interventional observation and audio recording were used. To clarify the Perception of different people of the pedestrian Axis Soundscape, a questionnaire was distributed. To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha test was used. The obtained rate was equal to 0.731, which shows the adequate reliability of the questionnaire. The statistical population of the research is all people present on the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis. For this purpose, 384 questionnaires were randomly distributed among the people. To analyze the results of the questionnaire, SPSS software and the analytical method of correlation coefficient and step-by-step regression were used.Results and discussionThe findings of this research showed that simply reducing negative Sounds in the environment does not lead to the formation of a positive Sound environment. Physical background Sound levels are also important factors in the Sound assessment of public spaces in cities. Other findings showed that some groups of people did not consider some Sounds to be undesirable. This depends on people’s habits regarding the current state of the environment Soundscape and the low intensity of hearing these Sounds in the space. The findings also showed that the frequency of people’s presence in urban spaces is among the factors affecting how people perceive and the quality of the urban Soundscapes. In fact, in this research, it was found that the higher the exposure to the Soundscape, the less pleasant it is. Therefore, merchants, due to long-term exposure to the Soundscape during the day, perceived the Soundscape of the pedestrian Axis as less satisfactory compared to others, while tourists due to short exposure to the Soundscape of the area, found the Soundscape more pleasant. Furthermore, it was found that the duration of people’s exposure to the Soundscape is also effective in assessing the Sound imageability of the area so that citizens and merchants can better identify Sound imageability components in the area due to the longer exposure to Sounds.ConclusionThe results of the questionnaire suggest that exposure to Sounds in the short or long term can affect people’s Perception of the Sound imageability of a space. Overall, merchants and citizens in this space, due to their longer exposure to Sound sources, have a better recognition of the components of Sound imageability than tourists. For example, the Sounds that merchants and citizens of Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis mentioned as characteristics of this area are largely similar. This also applies to the identification of Sound signals in the space, such that merchants in this area and citizens at the next level have better performance in detecting loud and close Sounds in the space due to their frequent visits to the space compared to tourists. A significant point in people’s answers regarding the identification of background Sounds is that the length of time people are exposed to the Soundscape of the pedestrian Axis does not have much effect on the correct identification of background Sounds. This is because background Sounds are the combination of several individual Sound sources that are attenuated due to distance, making it difficult to distinguish them from other Sounds.

Highlights-The pleasantness of a Soundscape to a place depends largely on context.-Decreasing Sound levels may not result in a high-quality acoustic environment.-The environmental characteristics of the spaces and the activities they may enable influence directly on the pleasantness of the Soundscape.- The frequency of people's exposure to the Soundscape also affects their Perception of the Soundscape pleasantness and imageability. IntroductionUrban open spaces play an important role in improving the quality of urban life. In the past, urban designers mainly focused on the visual esthetics and physical aspects of urban spaces, but neglected acoustic elements. Ignoring the role of Sound in urban planning has led to an increase in environmentally disturbing Sounds, which ultimately leads to an unclear human Perception of Sounds. To avoid these issues, acoustic research to create high-quality spaces has become one of the current aims of urban planners and environmental designers.MethodologyThis study investigated the Soundscape quality of the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis in Isfahan, one of the most valuable historical-cultural urban spaces in Iran. The study aimed to answer the following questions:1. What are the Sound components that affect the pleasantness of the Soundscape of the area?2. How is the overall quality of the Soundscape on the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis?3. What are the Sound imageability components in the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis?To determine the dominant Sound sources in the space, non-interventional observation and audio recording were used. To clarify the Perception of different people of the pedestrian Axis Soundscape, a questionnaire was distributed. To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha test was used. The obtained rate was equal to 0.731, which shows the adequate reliability of the questionnaire. The statistical population of the research is all people present on the Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis. For this purpose, 384 questionnaires were randomly distributed among the people. To analyze the results of the questionnaire, SPSS software and the analytical method of correlation coefficient and step-by-step regression were used.Results and discussionThe findings of this research showed that simply reducing negative Sounds in the environment does not lead to the formation of a positive Sound environment. Physical background Sound levels are also important factors in the Sound assessment of public spaces in cities. Other findings showed that some groups of people did not consider some Sounds to be undesirable. This depends on people’s habits regarding the current state of the environment Soundscape and the low intensity of hearing these Sounds in the space. The findings also showed that the frequency of people’s presence in urban spaces is among the factors affecting how people perceive and the quality of the urban Soundscapes. In fact, in this research, it was found that the higher the exposure to the Soundscape, the less pleasant it is. Therefore, merchants, due to long-term exposure to the Soundscape during the day, perceived the Soundscape of the pedestrian Axis as less satisfactory compared to others, while tourists due to short exposure to the Soundscape of the area, found the Soundscape more pleasant. Furthermore, it was found that the duration of people’s exposure to the Soundscape is also effective in assessing the Sound imageability of the area so that citizens and merchants can better identify Sound imageability components in the area due to the longer exposure to Sounds.ConclusionThe results of the questionnaire suggest that exposure to Sounds in the short or long term can affect people’s Perception of the Sound imageability of a space. Overall, merchants and citizens in this space, due to their longer exposure to Sound sources, have a better recognition of the components of Sound imageability than tourists. For example, the Sounds that merchants and citizens of Chahar Bagh Abbasi pedestrian Axis mentioned as characteristics of this area are largely similar. This also applies to the identification of Sound signals in the space, such that merchants in this area and citizens at the next level have better performance in detecting loud and close Sounds in the space due to their frequent visits to the space compared to tourists. A significant point in people’s answers regarding the identification of background Sounds is that the length of time people are exposed to the Soundscape of the pedestrian Axis does not have much effect on the correct identification of background Sounds. This is because background Sounds are the combination of several individual Sound sources that are attenuated due to distance, making it difficult to distinguish them from other Sounds.

The fragility of the historical gardens, as well as the importance of "intangible cultural heritage" with an approach toward qualitative and aesthetic aspects for the users motivate us to document the atmosphere of these gardens. There are much studies about morphology and formal structure of Persian gardens included on UNESCO's World Heritage List on 2011. The Persian gardens are also introduced as mysterious and poetic spaces in the literature and descriptive texts, without enough necessary scientific studies on their atmosphere and user's Perception. In fact, the historical gardens consist of many elements that play their roles to constitute the space, including water. Water is not only a vital element for maintaining the garden life, in particular where it is known to be scarce, but also it is the constituent element of the ambience with its sensory capacities like visual, auditory and others sensory modalities. With the developments of modern sciences and the notion of environmental sustainability, it seems that water has been turned into mere H2O as a material for use which tends to lose its sensory quality. We follow the hypothesis that despite of its rarity in the arid context of the typical Persian garden and inevitably the minimal use of water in gardens space, this element has its perceptive role for the users/perceiver, and particularly in the domain of auditory Perception that will be studied in this paper. To examine the sensory relationships of this resource, among several typical gardens, two gardens are selected in the desert area of Iran: Fin garden situated in Kashan, and Shazdeh [Shahzadeh] garden near Kerman possess the indicators for developing the methodologies of the research. The methods used to evaluate the impact of water on the auditory Perception in the two gardens consists of three phases: first, the observations of spaces and uses in situ to identify the objective dimensions of the presence of water. In this phase, the Sound of water is also recorded in the gardens by digital recorder. Second, performing some surveys concerning sensorial memory, based on the memories and narratives of the visitors allows us to formulate an initial interpretation of the memories of ambiance in connection water. Finally and in the third phase, we collect verbal comments in situ of Perception of motion from some visitors who participated and expressed Sound effects of water in the gardens. The result of the above studies are analyzed and collected inductively in a list of the Sound effects that are categorized in three types: spatial, temporal and semantic in accordance with the reference "Répertoire des effets sonores” (Sonic experiences: a guide for everyday Sound). The effects derived from this study are anticipation, Sound attraction, reverberation, resonance and filtering as the spatial effects; also rhythm, cross-fade and staccato, as temporal effects; and finally the semantic effects are listed as synecdoche, erasure, remanence, mask and immersion with regard to presence of water in the two Persian gardens. These Sound effects can be used as the potentials of water in landscape domain to create a water Soundscape.

We conducted this study in the Agogo Traditional Area of the Ashanti region of Ghana where there are numerous cases of conflicts between crop and animal farmers as a result of insufficient pasture for livestock, especially during the dry seasons. This has drawn the attention of various stakeholders in agriculture to the need for supplement feed through pasture establishment. The study examines farmers’ Perception and the financial viability of pasture establishment for small ruminant production. The specific objectives of the study are as follow: to identify the cost and returns for the establishment of an acre of pasture, to assess the financial viability of pasture establishment on ‘cut and sell’ basis, to investigate farmers’ Perception of pasture establishment for cattle production, to conduct a SWOT analysis of the establishment of pasture in Agogo. The study purports to analyze in detail, farmers' Perceptions about the nature of the proposed 'Fodder Bank' policy and its likely effect on crop and livestock production, and whether the proposed policy could generate adequate monetary returns to induce its adoption at the farm level. The study seeks to provide evidence in support of SDG goals 2 (Zero hunger) and 12 (Responsible consumption and production) of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. To the authors' best of knowledge, this is envisage to provide valuable information to support policy initiatives intended to tackle the root cause of farmer-herder conflicts. The Asante Akim North Municipal is one of the 27 administrative Districts in the Ashanti Region. Its capital is Konongo- Odumasi. The population for this study comprises livestock and crop farmers in Agogo. Asante Akim North Municipal was purposively selected for the study because it is noted for its agrarian abilities and massive production of food in the Ashanti region. The multi stage sampling was employed in this study. At the first stage, Asante Agogo traditional area was selected purposively due to the fact that majority of the inhabitants engage in agricultural activities (GSS 2010). At the second stage, three communities in Agogo namely, Hwidiem, Ananekrom and Bebuso were selected purposively. At the third stage, quota sampling was used to obtain a specific number of farmers from each of the three communities to sum up to 150 respondents as shown in table. Simple random sampling technique was then used to engage the selected farmers in these communities. A sample size of 150 respondents were obtained using the Slovin’s formulae which is a scientific method of obtaining the sample size for a given population. Structured questionnaires consisting of open and close ended questions were used to gather primary data from respondents through face-to-face interviews. Interviews were conducted using the local dialect mostly to enhance communication and to clear all language barriers but English was used where the respondents could give accurate answers in English Language. Data per the questionnaires from respondents were concerning their Perception of pasture establishment and the assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of pasture establishment. Secondary data was sought from books, journals, dissertations and the internet. Useful and relevant information on the appropriate materials and their costs for establishing pasture was also obtained from the Agogo MoFA office, and the KNUST Department of Animal Science. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, tables and means were used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of respondents. It was revealed in the study that majority of crop farmers have had their crops destroyed by ruminants especially cattle at least once. Additionally, the study showed that pasture establishment is one way through which crop farms destruction by livestock can be prevented as about 99% of farmers responded in the affirmative. The results for the financial viability of the venture under the assumptions used gave relevant results with BCR of 1.18 and NPV of GHC 3,160. The Internal Rate Return of the venture is estimated at 40.1% and a Pay Back period of 2.61 years. Therefore, it will be economically prudent for investors to commit resources towards establishing pasture. The Perception index for commercial, economic and financial concerns of pasture establishment was 3.7 which is skewed toward agree. The statement that had the highest positive Perception index was about the fact that pasture establishment will increase the quality of meat. This implies that respondents perceive that the commercial, economic and financial results of pasture establishment will be positive. The Perception index for the social category was 3.66. The statement with the highest positive assertion by respondents is the fact that pasture establishment will help control the movement of animals. The Perception index of 3.66 which is skewed towards agree means that pasture establishment will attract the support from the community and also bring more benefits to the society. In the category of technical concerns of pasture establishment, the overall Perception index for this category is 3.15, which means that the respondents perceive they have a fair technical know- how concerning pasture establishment even though the venture requires technical know-how. In the category of institutional concerns, support and involvement in pasture establishment, the statement with the highest Perception index is that MoFA will support farmers with the necessary resources in its capacity. With reference to the chi-square test, the study can conclude that there is a significant relationship between the type of farmer and the Perception that support can be drawn from farmer-based associations, and the Perception that pasture establishment will increase livestock production as well as the general sales of farmers. Lastly, the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between the educational background of the farmer and the Perception that it is not difficult to select planting materials for pasture establishment. Farmers in Asante Akim Agogo should adopt the establishment of pasture since it is financially viable. The establishment of pasture in Asante Akim Agogo should be encouraged since it has the potency to reduce the farmer - herder conflicts and ensure food security. For successful pasture establishment, technical know-how is essential.

Background and Aim: Caffeine intake enhances concentration through affecting brain functions. It also improves attention to the signal which is believed to be associated with increased noise tolerance and improved speech Perception. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of caffeine intake on simultaneous speech and Sound Perception in people with normal hearing. Methods: This double-blind study was conducted on 90 people aged 18-34 years (45 males and 45 females), randomly assigned to two intervention groups (receiving 3 and 5 mg/kg caffeine) and a control group (receiving placebo). The acceptable noise level (ANL) test was conducted before and five hours after intervention. Results: Comparison of ANL scores before and after intervention showed a significant difference in the 3 mg/kg caffeine group (p=0. 002), but not in the placebo (p=0. 497) and 5 mg/kg caffeine (p=0. 146) groups. Between-group analysis showed a significant difference between the placebo and 3 mg/kg caffeine groups in the ANL five hours after (p=0. 005), while the difference was not significant between the placebo and the 5 mg/kg caffeine groups (p=0. 139). Moreover, there was no significant difference in the ANL between the 3 and 5 mg/ kg caffeine groups (p=0. 148). Conclusion: Caffeine intake affects noise tolerance, depending on the dose of caffeine. The ANL and speech tolerance improve five hours after consuming 3 mg/kg of caffeine.

Transtympanic Promontory Stimulation Test (TPST) has been suggested to be a useful tool in predicting the effectiveness of cochlear implant surgery. This test is helpful for patients with poor auditory neuron functioning and individuals with a long auditory deprivation. It can provide a way to find a correlation between the dynamic range of the auditory nerve with the electrical dynamic range of the cochlear implant and estimate Sound Perception. In this study, an electrical stimulation device is designed and constructed that can produce stimulation with specific features. The device has two parts, hardware, and software. Software is designed as a user interface which installed on PC and helps the user to do a lot of operations for creating a desired electrical stimulation easily utilizing software menus. The data are transferred via serial port and network to hardware and finally, the stimulation is done through an active electrode that located in auditory canal and a passive electrode that can be placed on the mastoid or forehead. To ensure the proper functioning of the device, electrical tests have been done in different conditions. The results are shown that currently generated in a constant load resistance is linear and independent of load resistance.