Reduced subjective sleep quality in people rating themselves as electro-hypersensitive: An observational study

BACKGROUND

Disturbed sleep is among the most frequent health complaints of people exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) used in mobile telecommunication, particularly in individuals who consider themselves as EMF hypersensitive (EHS). We aimed at investigating whether the EHS status per se is associated with sleep complaints. Because allelic variants of the gene encoding the L-type, voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.2 (CACNA1C) were previously associated with sleep complaints reminiscent of those reported by EHS individuals, we also explored whether self-rated EHS status and sleep quality associate with these gene variants.

METHODS

A total of 2'040 participants (1'381 females) aged 18-30 years completed online, validated questionnaires on EMF sensitivity, subjective sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, mentation during sleep, and diurnal preference. They also provided a saliva sample for genotyping three functional variants of CACNA1C (rs7304986, rs16929277 and rs2302729). Eligible participants endorsing the question "Are you electro-hypersensitive?" were considered as "EHS" (n = 105), those denying this question yet believing to develop detrimental health symptoms due to prevailing electromagnetic pollution as "attributers" (n = 254), and the remaining participants as "non-EHS" (n = 1'406). We combined the EHS and attributers into one group for binary analyses. In exploratory analyses, we then tested possible associations between EMF sensitivity, subjective sleep variables and CACNA1C variants using linear and logistic regression. We used age, sex, level of education, presence of sleep disorders and habitual mobile phone use as covariates and corrected with Benjamini-Hochberg False Discovery Rate for multiple comparisons.

RESULTS

The EHS/attributers consistently reported prolonged sleep latency, reduced sleep quality, higher sleepiness and more nocturnal mentation when compared to non-EHS. Habitual mobile phone use was not associated with self-rated sleep latency and sleep quality scores. While the T-allele of variant rs2302729 of CACNA1C was associated with both, self-reported EMF sensitivity and reduced subjective sleep quality, we found no evidence for the hypothesis that EHS mediates impaired sleep quality via this allelic variant.

CONCLUSIONS

Irrespective of reported RF-EMF exposure, self-rated EHS/attributers rated subjective sleep quality worse than non-EHS individuals.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Swiss National Clinical Trials Portal (SNCTP000002285) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03074617).

Dosimetric assessment in the brain for downlink EMF exposure in Korean mobile communication networks

Because the position and direction of the human body is not fixed in an actual environment, the incidence direction of the electromagnetic field (EMF) from mobile communication base stations, WiFi access points, broadcasting towers, and other far-field sources is arbitrary. To analyze the overall health effects of radio frequency EMF exposure, the dosimetric assessment for such environmental exposures created from an unspecified number of sources in daily life, along with exposures from specific EMF sources, must be quantified. This study is aimed at numerically evaluating the time-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) of the human brain for environmental EMF exposure in the frequency range of 50-5800 MHz. Whole-body exposure to EMFs that are evenly incident spatially is considered. By comparing the results of several incidence directions and the number of polarizations, an optimal calculation condition has been derived. Finally, based on the results measured in Seoul at the end of 2021, the SAR and daily specific energy absorption (SA) in the brains of both a child and an adult for downlink exposures from 3G to 5G base stations are reported. Comparison results of the daily brain SA for exposure to DL EMF in all 3G to 5G mobile networks and exposure to a 10-min voice call (uplink EMF) using a mobile phone connected to a 4G network show that the SA from the downlinks is much higher than that from the uplinks.

Assessment of the electromagnetic field exposure due to wireless communication technologies in two university campuses of medellin, Colombia

Exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) is considered an area of significant importance in the medical and scientific community. However, the availability of exposure data for indoor and outdoor locations in universities is limited and currently inconsiderate in Latin America. The aim of this work was to evaluate the electric field levels due to mobile telecommunication technologies and Wi-Fi to which students and faculty staff from two campuses of a higher education institution are exposed. Using a portable spectrum analyzer, we carried out 516 short-term measurements in the 800-3000 MHz frequency range at both indoor and outdoor locations. These locations were chosen to cover all areas of the assessed buildings. The electric field differences between floors and buildings are discussed. Finally, we compared the electric field levels with exposure limits. The highest electric field level measured was 13.97 V/m at the 850 MHz band. However, the average electric field values were below 2 V/m. The greatest contribution to the total electric field was due to sources using the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands (98%), while the contribution of the Wi-Fi network was low (1.0%). The results show that all the electric field levels measured were lower than the ICNIRP reference levels for radio-frequency exposure.

Playing remotely: The COVID-19 pandemic and mobile locative gaming in Northeast Brazil

Mobile locative games consist of a subset of mobile games that encourage players to go outside, by promoting outdoor activities and physical meetings. Because of this, their gameplay breaks the core of social distancing strategies implemented since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, developers implemented changes in their locative games supported by the mobile game revenue model, which enabled a strategy called "playing remotely" that encourages the players to spend their money with microtransactions. This study analyses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in mobile locative gaming, by examining the preferences and behavior of players from the Northeast Brazil, a region with socioeconomic inequalities and urban violence, among other issues that shape mobility practices. Accordingly, we pose a research question: how do players living in Northeast Brazil manage the mobile game revenue model for playing remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic? With this in mind, we have conducted an online survey among communities of players located in Northeast Brazil, by sharing a questionnaire with 21 questions. Seventy-four players from the region responded to our survey. The sample's age was from 16 to 58 years old, and they lived in seven of the nine states that form Northeast Brazil. We have found that players' preference is to invest their time in gathering resources by playing the game, instead of spending their money in microtransactions for playing remotely. Moreover, we have found that mobile communication plays a significant role in keeping players in touch during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing players to expand their networks to other cities and countries. We have concluded that playing remotely represents an important strategy to support the development of locative games and other location-based applications, which can help us to prepare for the next pandemic.

Improving the Quality and Intelligibility of Electrolaryngeal Speech during Mobile Communication with Landline Analogous Bandpass Filtering

The normal functioning of the larynx or voicebox gives humans the ability to converse with others effortlessly. However, if the larynx is permanently removed due to injury or illness, speech cannot be produced. The electrolarynx, a noninvasive device used to produce speech for such persons, has a motor-induced hum which hinders telephone-based communication among electrolaryngeal speakers. This adversely affects the morale of electrolarynx users, leading to abandonment of technology, psychological issues and decreased quality of life. This paper examines a technique based on bandpass filtering of electrolaryngeal speech which has the potential of increasing the quality and intelligibility of speech produced by means of an electrolarynx. Finite impulse response and infinite impulse response filtering with bandpass frequencies analogous to telephone landline and wideband filtering were investigated. Objective testing and subjective testing of quality and intelligibility of electrolaryngeal speech have been performed in each phase of the work. Statistical analysis based on one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been conducted after each round of subjective testing. Results indicate that the quality as well as intelligibility of electrolaryngeal speech can be improved with the help of bandpass filtering.

Digital Social Multitasking (DSMT), Friendship Quality, and Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction Among Adolescents: Perceptions as Mediators

Most existing research assumes "phone use during face-to-face interactions" to be psychosocially detrimental. Drawing on the digital social multitasking framework, this study explored not only the negative but also positive implications of the behavior. A sample of 517 adolescents (M_age = 14.83, S.D. = 1.93; 50% female) recruited through the Qualtrics panel completed an online survey. Results showed that adolescents' and their friend's digital social multitasking were both associated with (1) greater perceived efficiency, which, in turn, was associated with competence need satisfaction, and (2) greater perceived connection, which, in turn, was associated with better friendship quality, autonomy need satisfaction, and relatedness need satisfaction. Adolescents' own multitasking also had an indirect, negative relationship with friendship quality through perceived distraction, but friend's multitasking did not compromise friendship quality. The study provides a more balanced picture, showing that despite the potential harm of digital social multitasking, adolescents' phone use during face-to-face peer interactions also involves potential benefits for teens' psychosocial well-being.

Integrated community based human and animal syndromic surveillance in Adadle district of the Somali region of Ethiopia

The economy of Ethiopia largely depends on agriculture and roughly 80% of the households have direct contact with domestic animals which make the community vulnerable to zoonotic diseases, especially in pastoral areas like the Somali Regional State (SRS) of Ethiopia. However, in addition to low reporting rates, especially in livestock, there is also lack of coordination between public health and animal health surveillance and there is no linkage between public health system and animal health system and mechanism or structure for sharing information on zoonotic diseases in SRS. In view of these challenges, a small scale study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of mobile communication in the early detection of human and animal syndromes in remote pastoral areas including where there are no human and animal health facilities by engaging local communities in the diseases surveillance.

Method

A small scale study, testing a community based human and animal syndromic surveillance was conducted from August 2017 to February 2018 in 20 villages in four Kebeles of Adadle district in the SRS with an estimated 1390 households and 112,850 livestock. The selected community leaders were trained on disease surveillance and detection. The communication was done by direct calls. Two dollars per month were provided to the village leaders recruited for the surveillance.

Results

A total of 904 and 671 human and animal syndrome cases were reported in seven months of the study period. In addition to syndromes, suspected anthrax, sheep and goat pox (SGP), rabies, salmonellosis and mass abortion outbreaks were reported in animals. In humans, suspected cholera and chicken pox outbreaks were reported. Furthermore, tuberculosis and malaria cases were also confirmed in the study villages. In humans, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disorder was the most common syndrome observed, which constituted (42.8%) of all syndromes, followed by respiratory disorder (37.8%) and febrile illness (15.5%). In livestock, cattle contributed (40.8%) of all cases of illness, while sheep, goats and camels contributed 24.1%, 18% and 17% of the cases respectively. Responses were organized for emergency treatment and vaccination campaigns against certain suspected disease outbreaks and emergencies such as SGP and cholera.

Conclusion

This study suggests that engaging and empowering the village local leaders in disease surveillance in pastoral setting areas, including where there are no human and animal health facilities, coupled with mobile technologies (non-smart phone), would improve early detection and response to human and animal health events including zoonotic emergencies, and consequently improve the reporting rate at district, regional and national level. However, the collaboration between sectors (human health and animals health) and the capacity to respond to zoonotic diseases and etiological identification are crucial elements for effective integrated human and animals disease surveillance and response.

A novel quadband ultra miniaturized planar antenna with metallic vias and defected ground structure for portable devices

A novel heart-shaped monopole antenna used in wireless portable communication devices is proposed and discussed in this paper. The antenna has a radiant patch surface area of 28.504 mm², the physical size of 15 × 12.5 × 1 mm³, and electrical dimensions of 0.095λ₀ × 0.079λ₀ × 0.006λ₀, where λ₀ denotes the wavelength of the free space at 1.89 GHz. Its prototype is printed on FR4 HTG-175, having a permittivity of 4.2 and a loss tangent of 0.019 at 1 GHz. The partial ground plane and two metallic vias connecting two open-ended branches of the slitted radiating patch to a parasitic conductor element results in about 98% miniaturization of the active patch area, as compared to the conventional antenna. The proposed antenna exhibits nearly an omnidirectional pattern in the elevation plane with a maximum radiation efficiency of 82.78% at 3.99 GHz, while a peak gain of 4.7 dBi is obtained at 6.5 GHz. The measured -6 dB impedance bandwidths demonstrate that the proposed quadband antenna operates in all the frequency bands of mobile telecommunication standards (2G/3G/4G/5G) and other applications, including WLAN, WiMAX, ISM, meteorological services, IEEE 802.11y, and C-band satellite communications. This antenna is easy to manufacture and can be used in most portable devices as a compact internal antenna. After simulating the modeled antenna using HFSS, a prototype was experimentally tested, and the measured results were compared with the data obtained by simulation. The parameters analyzed are return loss, bandwidth, and gain on all frequency bands. The fabricated prototype guarantees a minimum -10 dB bandwidth of 110 MHz and a maximum return loss of -12.2 dB, despite its low radiation efficiency of 21.43 % in the lower band dedicated to GSM applications. Furthermore, the proposed antenna operates as a narrowband and wideband.

Technology acceptance and critical mass: Development of a consolidated model to explain the actual use of mobile health care communication tools

OBJECTIVE

Secure mobile communication technologies are being implemented at an increasing rate across health care organizations, though providers' use of these tools can remain limited by a perceived lack of other users to communicate with. Enabling acceptance and driving provider utilization of these tools throughout an organization requires attention to the interplay between perceived peer usage (i.e. perceived critical mass) and local user needs within the social context of the care team (e.g. inpatient nursing access to the mobile app). To explain these influences, we developed and tested a consolidated model that shows how mobile health care communication technology acceptance and utilization are influenced by the moderating effects of social context on perceptions about the technology.

METHODS

The theoretical model and questionnaire were derived from selected technology acceptance models and frameworks. Survey respondents (n = 1254) completed items measuring perceived critical mass, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, personal innovativeness in information technology, behavioral intent, and actual use of a recently implemented secure mobile communication tool. Actual use was additionally measured by logged usage data. Use group was defined as whether a hospital's nurses had access to the tool (expanded use group) or not (limited use group).

RESULTS

The model accounted for 61% and 72% of the variance in intent to use the communication tool in the limited and expanded use groups, respectively, which in turn accounted for 53% and 33% of actual use. The total effects coefficient of perceived critical mass on behavioral intent was 0.57 in the limited use group (95% CI 0.51-0.63) and 0.70 in the expanded use group (95% CI 0.61-0.80).

CONCLUSION

Our model fit the data well and explained the majority of variance in acceptance of the tool amongst participants. The overall influence of perceived critical mass on intent to use the tool was similarly large in both groups. However, the strength of multiple model pathways varied unexpectedly by use group, suggesting that combining sociotechnical moderators with traditional technology acceptance models may produce greater insights than traditional technology acceptance models alone. Practically, our results suggest that healthcare institutions can drive acceptance by promoting the recruitment of early adopters though liberal access policies and making these users and the technology highly visible to others.

Interaction through mobile technology in short-term university courses

Nowadays, online or distance learning postgraduate schools program the academic period in different sequentially developed modules. This article assesses the impact of the programming of short-term university courses (30–60 days) on the frequency and quality of interaction when communication takes place through mobile technologies. Frequency corresponded to the messages generated by actors in learning environments, and quality was quantified using a scale of interaction levels operated by assessing the content of the messages issued by the actors. Results revealed that there is no correlation between interaction and academic performance in short-term courses. Additionally, a downward trend was observed in the number of individuals involved and in the frequency and quality of interaction throughout the course.

Reading text messages at different stages of pedestrian circumvention affects strategies for collision avoidance in young and older adults

BACKGROUND

Reading text messages is associated with accidents while walking in community places.

RESEARCH QUESTION

To what extent does reading text messages at different stages of obstacle circumvention affect avoidance strategies while walking in young vs. older adults?

METHODS

Sixteen healthy young and 14 older adults were assessed while walking and viewing a virtual environment (VE) simulating a subway station with three virtual pedestrians positioned 7.5 m away from the participant in the centre (0°), left and right (±40°). As participants advanced 0.5 m towards a target in the far space, a virtual pedestrian randomly approached them. Text messages were delivered at onset of pedestrian movement (0.5 m; early message) or during obstacle circumvention (2.5 m; late message). A Vicon motion capture system captured trajectory displacement while walking.

RESULTS

In both age groups, accuracy of message report (AMR) was reduced for early compared to late messages (p < 0.001), although older adults showed larger deterioration (p < 0.001) compared to younger participants. Locomotor outcomes (obstacle clearance, onset time of avoidance and walking speed) showed no differences between young and older participants (p > 0.05). Early messages led to slower walking speed (p < 0.001) and more frequent collisions compared to late messages and the no-message condition. Late messages yielded faster walking speed (p < 0.001) and onset time of avoidance (p < 0.02) compared to the other conditions.

SIGNIFICANCE

Results indicate that the stage of an avoidance strategy at which text messages are received impacts on pedestrian circumvention, with early messages posing a greater challenge to collision avoidance. In older adults, the reduced AMR suggests larger dual-task interference and prioritization of the walking task. The lack of further walking speed reduction in older vs. young adults may put them at greater risk of collisions in crowded, unpredictable community environments.

Effects of Age on Obstacle Avoidance while Walking and Deciphering Text versus Audio Phone Messages

BACKGROUND

Widely popular among young, and more recently older adults, mobile phones are increasingly used while walking. Knowledge of the impact of phone message modality (e.g., text vs. audio) on the ability to avoid collisions with other pedestrians, however, remains limited.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the circumvention of an approaching pedestrian is affected by text versus audio phone messages in healthy young and older adults.

METHOD

Sixteen young (aged 24 ± 3 years) and 14 older adults (aged 68 ± 4.5 years) were tested while walking and viewing a virtual environment depicted as a subway station in a helmet-mounted display. As they walked, one of three virtual humans randomly approached from the center (0°), right (+40°), or left (+40°). Phone messages, when present, were delivered at obstacle displacement onset and presented either as text messages on a virtual phone or as audio messages delivered through earphones. Participants were instructed to avoid collisions with pedestrians and to fully report the message content at the end of trials.

RESULTS

Both groups showed decreased accuracy of message report (AMR), slower walking speed, and more collisions in response to text versus audio messages. Compared to young adults, older adults showed greater reduction in AMR, more collisions, and similar speed adaptation in the presence of text messages. In both age groups, no significant differences in walking speed emerged between the audio message and the no-message condition, but only older adults experienced collisions and reduced AMR with the audio messages. Obstacle clearance and the onset time of avoidance strategy were not affected by message condition.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that coping with text messages while walking leads to greater risk of collision and alters message deciphering accuracy, while audio messages stand out as a safer and more efficient alternative for on-the-go communication. In general, older adults experienced larger motor-cognitive interference than younger adults, resulting in reduced AMR and more collisions without further changes in gait adaptation. Consequently, older adults failed to prioritize their safety when attending to phone messages while walking.

Trends and patterns of broadband Internet access speed in a Nigerian university campus: A robust data exploration

Efficient broadband Internet access is required for optimal productivity in smart campuses. Besides access to broadband Internet, delivery of high speed and good Quality of Service (QoS) are pivotal to achieving a sustainable development in the area of education. In this data article, trends and patterns of the speed of broadband Internet provided in a Nigerian private university campus are largely explored. Data transmission speed and data reception speed were monitored and recorded on daily basis at Covenant University, Nigeria for a period of twelve months (January–December, 2017). The continuous data collection and logging were performed at the Network Operating Center (NOC) of the university using SolarWinds Orion software. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses, Probability Density Functions (PDFs), Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDFs), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test, and multiple comparison post-hoc test are performed using MATLAB 2016a. Extensive statistical visualizations of the results obtained are presented in tables, graphs, and plots. Availability of these data will help network administrators to determine optimal network latency towards efficient deployment of high-speed broadband communication networks in smart campuses.