Development of a reliable and low-cost system for the study of EMF biological effects.
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The effect of a high-frequency signal on the FitzHugh-Nagumo excitable model is analyzed. We show that the firing rate is diminished as the ratio of the high-frequency amplitude to its frequency is increased. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the excitable character of the system, and consequently the firing activity, is suppressed for ratios above a given threshold value. In addition, we show that the vibrational resonance phenomenon turns up for sufficiently large noise strength values.
Distribution of millimeter wavelength electromagnetic energy absorption in surface layers of biological tissue models was studied using methods of Infrared Thermography. 0.1 mm thin-layer phantoms were irradiated in the near field using different types of horn antennas in the 37-78 GHz frequency range. Heating patterns were recorded during microwave irradiation, and surface SAR distributions were calculated. The temperature resolution was better than 0.05 K. It was found that horn antennas produced nonuniform heating patterns in irradiated objects. These nonuniform patterns were due to a geometrical resonance resulting from a secondary wave-mode interaction between an irradiated object and the corresponding critical cross-section of the horn antenna. Local SAR values in hot spots exceeded the spatially averaged values by over 10 times, and the widths of these hot spots at 5 times the average SAR were often 1 mm or less. The location, quantity, number and size of the local field absorption maxima of irradiated objects strongly depended on the frequency of electromagnetic irradiation, with equivalent Q-factors of 500 or more. These findings provide an explanation for a number of frequency-dependent effects of millimeter wave electromagnetic irradiation.
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One important aspect of photomedicine is the use of nonionizing electromagnetic radiation with and without exogenous photosensitizers to treat diseases. Phototoxicity (cell injury by photons) is a likely mechanism for phototherapy and photochemotherapy of several skin diseases. The mechanism of action for phototherapy of hyperbilirubinemia and of uremic pruritus appears to be photochemical alteration of extracellular metabolites. Psoriasis is an example of a disease benefitted by several forms of phototherapy and photochemotherapy with varying relative effectiveness and safety. Two successful forms of treatment are oral psoralen photochemotherapy and UVB plus topical adjunctive agents. New information about UVB therapy of psoriasis includes data about the therapeutic action spectrum and about the relative roles of various topical agents such as coal tar, mineral oil, "lubricants" and steroids. Although there are many surface similarities, phototherapy and psoralen photochemotherapy have fundamental differences which may alter longterm risks in quantitative and qualitative ways.
Modern man is constantly exposed to many forms of electromagnetic radiation, both ionizing and non-ionizing. Although many uses of electromagnetic radiation artfully administered serve man well, injudicious exposure carries a potential for harm. Various types of electromagnetic radiation and possible hazards from them are discussed.
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The quantitative aspects of equine cancellous bone graft incorporation and the possibility of influencing graft incorporation by daily exposure to a pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) was studied in eight yearling ponies. In order to be able to quantify formative aspects of graft remodelling, a double and treble tetracycline intravital labelling technique was used. Intravital radiographs were obtained at regular intervals throughout the trial, but were found to be of little assistance in assessing any differences between stimulated and non-stimulated grafts. The ponies were humanely destroyed at regular intervals between nine and 241 days after installation of the graft. Light microscopy and fluorescent light microscopy were used to evaluate quantitative aspects of graft incorporation and to compare PEMF-stimulated grafts with control grafts. There was a small but statistically significant effect of PEMF-stimulation on cancellous bone graft incorporation. In view of this, these observations can only be considered as indicative of a possible trend, but should encourage further studies using different signal modalities.
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There is increasing attention to prevention as a means to reduce cancer incidence. Prevention interventions or therapies in turn rely on risk assessment programs to identify those women most likely to benefit from education and lifestyle changes. These programs are usually based either on interviews to identify ethnic, genetic, and lifestyle factors contributing to risk or on physical examination of the breast. For the latter it has been shown that the parenchymal density pattern observed in X-ray mammography can be used to assess an individual's risk. Extensive areas of dense, glandular tissue that are relatively radio-opaque are associated with higher breast cancer risk, with an odds ratio of 4 to 6 compared with women in whom the breast density is low owing to an abundance of adipose tissue. Near-infrared optical transillumination spectroscopy has been used previously to investigate the physiological properties of breast tissue. In this study, women were recruited who underwent recently X-ray mammography. The tissue density was assessed by a radiologist. The women then underwent optical transillumination spectroscopy, for which an instrument was developed that delivered visible and near-infrared light to the breast. After being transmitted through the breast craniocaudally in one of four quadrants, the spectrum from 625 to 1050 nm was measured. The spectra were used as input to a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) that used the corresponding mammographic density as the reference standard. The study group consisted of 92 women aged 39 to 72 years. Without further stratification for age, menopausal status, or measurement position, the PCA numerical model predicted the radiological assessment of tissue density in the mid 80% to low 90%.
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The interspecific variability in the sensitivity of marine bacterial isolates to UV-B (295- to 320-nm) radiation and their ability to recover from previous UV-B stress were examined. Isolates originating from different microenvironments of the northern Adriatic Sea were transferred to aged seawater and exposed to artificial UV-B radiation for 4 h and subsequently to different radiation regimens excluding UV-B to determine the recovery from UV-B stress. Bacterial activity was assessed by thymidine and leucine incorporation measurements prior to and immediately after the exposure to UV-B and after the subsequent exposure to the different radiation regimens. Large interspecific differences among the 11 bacterial isolates were found in the sensitivity to UV-B, ranging from 21 to 92% inhibition of leucine incorporation compared to the bacterial activity measured in dark controls and from 14 to 84% for thymidine incorporation. Interspecific differences in the recovery from the UV stress were also large. An inverse relation was detectable between the ability to recover under dark conditions and the recovery under photosynthetic active radiation (400 to 700 nm). The observed large interspecific differences in the sensitivity to UV-B radiation and even more so in the subsequent recovery from UV-B stress are not related to the prevailing radiation conditions of the microhabitats from which the bacterial isolates originate. Based on our investigations on the 11 marine isolates, we conclude that there are large interspecific differences in the sensitivity to UV-B radiation and even larger differences in the mechanisms of recovery from previous UV stress. This might lead to UV-mediated shifts in the bacterioplankton community composition in marine surface waters.
Nine cases of hertzian radiation cataracts are reported among personnel working in operational aviation environments, where they were irradiated repeatedly at subliminal non-thermal field intensities. The resultant ocular pathology evolved insidiously and slowly over a period of years in a similar way to other forms of radiational injury. By the time of consultation examination, all had progressed to a relatively late state, exhibiting not only capsular cataract but also vesiculation and opacification of the proximal subcapsular lens substance. In addition to the ocular dangers of chronic exposure to nonionising radiation reference is made to the nonthermal effect or the radiation effect per se, as this could relate to general health--for example, as a possible previously unsuspected aetiological or contributory factor in many other disease processes.
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