Immunomodulatory Effect of Electromagnetic Field in the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury

A review was performed utilizing PubMed and GoogleScholar to highlight the future directions of EMF research in the setting of brain pathology, specifically in ischemic and traumatic brain injury. Additionally, a critical review of the current state-of-the art of EMF use in treating brain pathology has been conducted. The authors have added to this large body of research their own experimental studies, including a description of the on-going studies. The field of EMF utilization in the diagnosis and treatment of brain injury is highly promising and warrant careful studies in clinically relevant experimental models followed by human trials in TBI.

The Effect of 12 Hz Extremely Low-frequency Electromagnetic Field on Visual Memory of Male Macaque Monkeys

Introduction

Today, humans live in a world surrounded by electromagnetic fields. Numerous studies have been conducted to discover the biological, physiological, and behavioral effects of electromagnetic fields on humans and animals. Given the biological similarities between monkeys and humans, The present research aimed to examine Visual Memory (VM), hormonal, genomic, and anatomic changes, in the male rhesus macaques exposed to an Extremely Low-Frequency Magnetic Field (ELF-MF).

Methods

Four male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were used. For the behavioral tests, the animals should be fasting for 17 hours. For the tests such as visual memory, the animal's cooperation was necessary. Using the radiation protocol, we exposed two monkeys to a 12-Hz electromagnetic field with a magnitude of 0.7 μT (electromagnetic radiation) four hours a day for a month. Before and after the exposure, a visual memory test was conducted using a coated device (visible reward) on a movable stand. Ten milliliters of blood was obtained from the femoral artery of each monkey, and half of it was used to examine cortisol serum levels using the MyBioSource kit (made in the USA). The other half of the blood was used to extract lymphocytes for assaying expressions of Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) genes before and after radiation using the PCR method. Anatomic studies of the amygdala were carried out based on pre- and post-radiation Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Results

Research results indicated that visual memory in male primates increased significantly after exposure to the 12-Hz frequency. Hormonal analysis at the 12-Hz frequency showed a decrease in cortisol serum levels. However, visual memory and serum cortisol levels did not change considerably in male primates in the control group. There was no considerable amygdala volumetric difference after exposure to the 12-Hz frequency. The expression of the GR genes decreased in the 12-Hz group compared to the control group.

Conclusion

In short, these results indicated that ELF might benefit memory enhancement because exposure to the 12-HZ ELF can enhance visual memory. This outcome may be due to a decrease in plasma cortisol and or expression of GR genes. Moreover, direct amygdala involvement in this regard cannot be recommended.

Highlights

The effects of Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (ELF-EMF) of 12 Hz on monkeys were studied.The results showed a reduction in the serum cortisol levels and the expression of GR genes.The amygdala anatomical area changes were not significant in the experimental group.In the experimental group, visual memory (delay of 30- and 60-s evaluation) improved after exposure to a frequency of 12 Hz.

Plain Language Summary

Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields are among the most important factors affecting humans. This study aimed to determine the fields of 12-Hz frequency on the visual memory changes of male monkeys. The importance of research is due to the cognitive similarity of monkeys to humans. The findings of the research can be attributed to humans. Behavioral, hormonal, genetic, and anatomical studies indicated improvement in visual memory (test monkeys versus control monkeys). This study demonstrates the effect of the 12-Hz frequency on the monkey's visual memory. Researchers can study 12-Hz frequency in other cognitive indices.

Comparison of applied torque and energy conversion efficiency between rotational triboelectric nanogenerator and electromagnetic generator

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is regarded as an equally important mechanical energy harvesting technology as electromagnetic generator (EMG). Here, the input mechanical torques and energy conversion efficiencies of the rotating EMG and TENG are systematically measured, respectively. At constant rotation rates, the input mechanical torque of EMG is balanced by the friction resisting torque and electromagnetic resisting torque, which increases with the increasing rotation rate due to Ampere force. While the input mechanical torque of TENG is balanced by the friction resisting torque and electrostatic resisting torque, which is nearly constant at different rotation rates. The energy conversion efficiency of EMG increases with the increasing input mechanical power, while that of the TENG remains nearly constant. Compared with the EMG, the TENG has a higher conversion efficiency at a low input mechanical power, which demonstrates a remarkable merit of the TENG for efficiently harvesting weak ambient mechanical energy.

•

The applied torque of the rotating EMG and TENG are systematically measured

•

The energy conversion efficiencies of both generators are quantified and compared

•

This work has demonstrated a remarkable merit of the TENG under a gentle-triggering

Recent Progress in Hybridized Nanogenerators for Energy Scavenging

As the world's demand for alternative energy increases, the development of green energy harvesters becomes ever more important. As a result, the creation of triboelectric (TENG), piezoelectric (PENG), and pyroelectric nanogenerators, electromagnetic generators (EMG), solar cells, and electrochemical cells is attracting interest in an effort to convert mechanical, thermal, magnetic, solar, and chemical energy into electricity. In order to take advantage of the ambient energies from our surrounding environment, the design of hybridized generator units that can simultaneously scavenge energy in a variety of forms continues to develop. These systems are being considered to satisfy the energy needs of a range of electronic devices and adapt to a variety of working environments. This review demonstrates the latest progress in hybridized nanogenerators in accordance with their structure, operating principle, and applications. These studies demonstrate new approaches to developing hybrid techniques and novel assemblies for efficiently harvesting environmental energy from a number of sources.

Low-power Density Radiations Emitted from Common Wi-Fi Routers Influence Sperm Concentration and Sperm Histomorphometric Parameters: A New Horizon on Male Infertility Treatment

Background:

Male infertility is defined as an inability to impregnate a fertile female; it is a widespread problem which is usually caused by some male factors such as low quantity and quality of sperm, specifically oligospermia and azoospermia.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the bio-positive effects of low power density Wi-Fi radiation on the reproductive system of infertile and healthy mice.

Materials and Methods:

In this experimental study, thirty adult male Balb/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups. Groups oligospermic-sham (OS), oligospermic-exposure 1 (OE1) and oligospermic-exposure 2 (OE2) received Busulfan, 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally, but the control-sham (CS) and control-exposure (CE) groups left without Busulfan therapy. Groups CE, OE1 and OE2 were exposed to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radiation while, the CS and OS were sham exposed to Wi-Fi radiation without energizing the Wi-Fi router. The right and left testes and right epididymis were dissected out and histopathological, histomorphologic changes and the quality of the sperms were analyzed.

Results:

Low power density Wi-Fi radiation significantly increased sperm concentration in the CE group compared to that in CS, while enhancement of spermatid cells was not significant. Sperm concentration in OE2 was more than that in OE1 as the spermatid cells enhanced.

Conclusion:

Findings revealed that radiation hormesis induced by low power density Wi-Fi radiation have biological beneficial effects on mouse sperm concentration and sperm histomorphometric parameters.

Matching the Directions of Electric Fields from Triboelectric and Ferroelectric Charges in Nanogenerator Devices for Boosted Performance

Embedding additional ferroelectric dipoles in contacting polymer layers is known to enhance the performance of triboelectricnanogenerator (TENG) devices. However, the influence of dipoles formed between the triboelectric surface charges on two contacting ferroelectric films has been ignored in all relevant studies. We demonstrate that proper attention to the alignment of the distinct dipoles present between two contacting surfaces and in composite polymer/BaTiO₃ ferroelectric films can lead to up to four times higher energy and power density output compared with cases when dipole arrangement is mismatched. For example, TENG device based on PVAc/BaTiO₃ shows energy density increase from 32.4 μJ m^-2 to 132.9 μJ m^-2 when comparing devices with matched and mismatched dipoles. The presented strategy and understanding of resulting stronger electrostatic induction in the contacting layers enable the development of TENG devices with greatly enhanced properties.

Influence of Electromagnetic Fields on Lead Toxicity: A Study of Conformational Changes in Human Blood Proteins

Background

Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are associated with oxidative stress, which is in turn associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS), anemia, and hypoxia.

Objectives

This study focused on the synergistic effects of lead ions and EMF on oxidative modifications in hemoglobin (Hb) and plasma proteins.

Patients and Methods

In this experimental study, the blood samples were obtained from age- and sex-matched healthy subjects at Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran. The collected bloods were prepared as 55 samples and then divided into different groups for incubating with 0 to 100 uM of lead ions in 2 mT and 50 Hz of EMF for 120 minutes. The carbonyl group was determined to be an oxidative biomarker in plasma proteins. The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) was considered to be an antioxidant power of human plasma. The conformational changes in hemoglobin, met-Hb, and hemichrome were considered to be oxidative markers in red blood cells. To predict the factors affecting the oxyHb, the artificial neural network (MLP: 11,2,2,1) in SPSS software was applied.

Results

The test subjects showed increased concentrations of metHb (1.8 ± 0.19 vs. 1.36 ± 0.25) and hemichrome (6.01 ± 0.57) in relation to the control subjects. The decreased absorbance at 340 nm (0.88 ± 0.09 vs. 1.07 ± 0.08) demonstrated the reduced interaction between the globin chain and the heme ring. The decreased absorbance at 420 nm (Soret band) (2.96 ± 0.13) and the increased absorbance at 630 nm (0.07 ± 0.002 vs. 0.064 ± 0.005) indicated the conversion of oxyHb to metHb, which confirmed the oxidative damage to the erythrocytes. The linear regression analysis showed significant positive correlations between lead concentration and the percentage of plasma carbonyl content (R2 = 0.96), the relation of plasma carbonyl content to Hb absorbance at 630 nm (R2 = 0.97), and the relation of plasma carbonyl content to metHb concentration (R2 = 0.95) after 120 minutes incubation with lead ions in 20 millitesla and 50 hertz EMF. The artificial neural network analysis showed the significant importance of hemichrome, PCO, metHb, and lead concentration to the oxyHb content of erythrocytes.

Conclusions

Lead contamination in the presence of an EMF exacerbates the oxidative damage to plasma proteins as well as the conformational changes in Hb. An artificial neural network can be used as a predictive tool for the oxidative danger posed to workers in industrial fields, battery manufacturing companies, and power plants.