Biochemical Changes in Adult Male Gamers During Prolonged Gaming: Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Gaming has become an integrated part of life for children and adults worldwide. Previous studies on the impact of gaming on biochemical parameters have primarily addressed the acute effects of gaming. The literature is limited, and the study designs are very diverse. The parameters that have been investigated most thoroughly are blood glucose and cortisol. OBJECTIVE: This exploratory study is the first to investigate the effects of long gaming sessions on the biochemical parameters of healthy male adults. The extensive testing allowed us to observe short-term changes (within 6 hours), long-term changes during the duration of the gaming sessions, and follow-up after 1 week to determine whether any changes were longer lasting. METHODS: In total, 9 experienced gamers completed 2 back-to-back 18-hour gaming sessions interspersed with a 6-hour rest period. All participants adhered to a structured sleep pattern due to daytime employment or attending university. Blood, saliva, and urine samples were collected from the participants every 6 hours. Linear mixed-effect models were used to analyze the repeated-measures data accumulated during the study. A total of 51 biochemical parameters were investigated. RESULTS: In total, 12 of the 51 biochemical parameters significantly changed during the study: alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, chloride, creatinine, glucose, hemoglobin, immature reticulocyte fraction, lactate, methemoglobin, sodium, and thrombocytes. All changes were within the normal range. The mean glucose level of the participants was 4.39 (SD 0.07) mmol/L at baseline, which increased significantly by 0.24 (SD 0.07) mmol/L per 6 hours during the first period and by 0.38 (SD 0.07) mmol/L per 6 hours in the second period (P<.001). The glucose levels during the second session increased even though the participants had little energy intake. Cortisol levels did not change significantly, although the cortisol pattern deviated from the typical circadian rhythm. During both gaming sessions, we observed increasing cortisol levels from 6 AM until noon. The participants were relatively dehydrated at the start of the study. The patients were asked to fast before the first blood sampling. Within the first 6 hours of the study, the participants rehydrated, followed by relative dehydration during the remainder of the study. This pattern was identified using the following parameters: albumin, creatinine, hemoglobin, erythrocytes, potassium, and platelets. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first of its kind, and many of the analyses in the study yielded novel results. The study was designed to emulate the behavior of gamers during the weekend and other long gaming sessions. At this point, we are not able to determine the difference between the effects of gaming and behavior during gaming. Regardless, the results of this study suggest that healthy gamers can partake in long gaming sessions, with ample amounts of unhealthy foods and little rest, without acute impacts on health.

An Interface Setup Optimization Method Using a Throughput Estimation Model for Concurrently Communicating Access Points in a Wireless Local Area Network.

The IEEE 802.11 wireless local-area network (WLAN) has been deployed around the globe as a major Internet access medium due to its low cost and high flexibility and capacity. Unfortunately, dense wireless networks can suffer from poor performance due to high levels of radio interference resulting from adjoining access points (APs). To address this problem, we studied the AP transmission power optimization method, which selects the maximum or minimum power supplied to each AP so that the average signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) among the concurrently communicating APs is maximized.However, this method requires measurements of receiving signal strength (RSS) under all the possible combinations of powers. It may need intolerable loads and time as the number of APs increases. It also only considers the use of channel bonding (CB), although non-CB sometimes achieves higher performance under high levels of interference. In this paper, we present an AP interface setup optimization method using the throughput estimation model for concurrently communicating APs. The proposed method selects CB or non-CB in addition to the maximum or minimum power for each AP. This model approach avoids expensive costs of RSS measurements under a number of combinations. To estimate the RSS at an AP from another AP or a host, the model needs the distance and the obstacles between them, such as walls. Then, by calculating the estimated RSS with the model and calculating the SIR from them, the AP interface setups for a lot of APs in a large-scale wireless network can be optimized on a computer in a very short time. For evaluation, we conducted extensive experiments using Raspberry Pi for APs and Linux PCs for hosts under 12 network topologies in three buildings at Okayama University, Japan, and Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Bangladesh. The results confirm that the proposed method selects the best AP interface setup with the highest total throughput in any topology.

Detection of Management-Frames-Based Denial-of-Service Attack in Wireless LAN Network Using Artificial Neural Network.

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have become an increasingly popular mode of communication and networking, with a wide range of applications in various fields. However, the increasing popularity of WLANs has also led to an increase in security threats, including denial of service (DoS) attacks. In this study, management-frames-based DoS attacks, in which the attacker floods the network with management frames, are particularly concerning as they can cause widespread disruptions in the network. Attacks known as denial of service (DoS) can target wireless LANs. None of the wireless security mechanisms in use today contemplate defence against them. At the MAC layer, there are multiple vulnerabilities that can be exploited to launch DoS attacks. This paper focuses on designing and developing an artificial neural network (NN) scheme for detecting management-frames-based DoS attacks. The proposed scheme aims to effectively detect fake de-authentication/disassociation frames and improve network performance by avoiding communication interruption caused by such attacks. The proposed NN scheme leverages machine learning techniques to analyse patterns and features in the management frames exchanged between wireless devices. By training the NN, the system can learn to accurately detect potential DoS attacks. This approach offers a more sophisticated and effective solution to the problem of DoS attacks in wireless LANs and has the potential to significantly enhance the security and reliability of these networks. According to the experimental results, the proposed technique exhibits higher effectiveness in detection compared to existing methods, as evidenced by a significantly increased true positive rate and a decreased false positive rate.

A Double-Layer Patch Antenna for 5-6 GHz Wireless Communication.

This paper proposes a compact double-layer microstrip patch antenna with a wide bandwidth of 4.83-6.1 GHz and a gain reaching 4.7 dBi. By folding its mirror image through the electric field symmetry principle of the microstrip antenna, its electrical properties are maintained, and the physical size is halved to the compact size of only 25 × 40 mm2. The proposed antenna has the radiation characteristics of a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA), which can generate the first resonant frequency and realize omnidirectional radiation characteristics. By coupling and feeding the upper patch, the second resonant frequency of the proposed antenna is produced and the directional radiation characteristics of the microstrip patch antenna can be achieved. The consistency of the results between the simulation and test indicates that the proposed antenna design is an ideal potential choice for home wireless local area network (WLAN) communication.

Novel Record Replacement Algorithm and Architecture for QoS Management over Local Area Networks.

An effective System-on-Chip (SoC) for smart Quality-of-Service (QoS) management over a virtual local area network (LAN) is presented in this study. The SoC is implemented by field programmable gate array (FPGA) for accelerating the delivery quality prediction for a service. The quality prediction is carried out by the general regression neural network (GRNN) algorithm based on a time-varying profile consisting of the past delivery records of the service. A novel record replacement algorithm is presented to update the profile, so that the bandwidth usage of the service can be effectively tracked by GRNN. Experimental results show that the SoC provides self-aware QoS management with low computation costs for applications over virtual LAN.

[Research on Visualized Traceability Supervision System of Medical Equipment Based on Wireless Local Area Network Real-time Positioning System].

Aiming at the shortcomings of traditional medical device tracking and supervision mode, such as delayed feedback of medical device positioning information, poor visual tracking effect of medical device, and missing early warning of medical device working state supervision, a medical device visual tracking and supervision system based on wireless Local Area Network (LAN) real-time positioning system is developed. Introduction of wireless LAN real-time positioning system, using standard coding algorithm generating device object ID tags, with the only attribute based on RFID read-write terminal complete physical mapping of medical equipment and material ID label, we realize a real-time positioning and traceability of medical equipment, with the help of active warning algorithm based on depth of learning medical equipment working state supervision for early warning, with the help of indoor map generation and trajectory playback medical equipment to realize visualization back regulation. Choose equipment of hospital of Linyi Central Hospital for performance evaluation of the carrier, the evaluation model of engineering practice and clinical statistical analysis, the results show that the system has a complete real-time positioning, visible trace, abnormal warning function. In medical equipment real-time positioning information visual tracing feedback, abnormal state warning etc, medical equipment has obvious advantages.

Remote Reporting During a Pandemic Using Digital Pathology Solution: Experience from a Tertiary Care Cancer Center.

BACKGROUND: Remote reporting in anatomic pathology is an important advantage of digital pathology that has not been much explored. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity to explore this important application of digital pathology system in a tertiary care cancer center to ensure patient care and staff safety. Regulatory guidelines have been described for remote reporting following the pandemic. Herein, we describe our experience of validation of digital pathology workflow for remote reporting to encourage pathologists to utilize this facility which opens door for multiple, multidisciplinary collaborations. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the validation and the operational feasibility of remote reporting using a digital pathology system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our retrospective validation included whole-slide images (WSIs) of 60 cases of histopathology and 20 cases each of frozen sections and a digital image-based breast algorithm after a washout period of 3 months. Three pathologists with different models of consumer-grade laptops reviewed the cases remotely to assess the diagnostic concordance and operational feasibility of the modified workflow. The slides were digitized on a USFDA-approved Philips UFS 300 scanner at ×40 resolution (0.25 µm/pixel) and viewed on the Image Management System through a web browser. All the essential parameters were reported for each case. After successful validation, 886 cases were reported remotely from March 29, 2020, to June 30, 2020, prospectively. Light microscopy formed the gold standard reference in remote reporting. RESULTS: 100% major diagnostic concordance was observed in the validation of remote reporting in the retrospective and prospective studies using consumer-grade laptops. The deferral rate was 0.34%. 97.6% of histopathology and 100% of frozen sections were signed out within the turnaround time. Network speed and a lack of virtual private network did not significantly affect the study. CONCLUSION: This study of validation and reporting of complete pathology cases remotely, including their operational feasibility during a public health emergency, proves that remote sign-out using a digital pathology system is not inferior to WSIs on medical-grade monitors and light microscopy. Such studies on remote reporting open the door for the use of digital pathology for interinstitutional consultation and collaboration: Its main intended use.

Rediseño de la infraestructura de red local del Centro de Investigaciones Médico Quirúrgicas (CIMEQ). Cuba / Redesign Local Network Infrastructure of CIMEQ. Cuba

El empleo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en el sector de la salud mejoran considerablemente el funcionamiento de los procesos asistenciales y de gestión médico-administrativa, todo lo cual contribuye a una mayor eficiencia hospitalaria y desempeño competitivo de las instituciones. La presente investigación aborda la problemática existente con el diseño de la infraestructura de red del Centro de Investigaciones Médico Quirúrgicas (CIMEQ), la cual afecta los procesos sustantivos de la institución, como la gestión de pacientes y la trasmisión de imágenes médicas. El objetivo de la investigación es rediseñar la infraestructura de red del CIMEQ, lo que permitirá elevar su rendimiento y seguridad. La investigación tiene un enfoque cuantitativo, con alcance descriptivo, de tipo retrospectivo y diseño experimental, de corte longitudinal. Se emplearon los métodos científicos de modelación y análisis documental. Como resultado se rediseñó la infraestructura de red de área local del CIMEQ, a través de métodos de segmentación que permitieron crear grupos de trabajo de manera dinámica, aprovechar las bondades de los equipos gestionables instalados y la implementación de nuevos cortafuegos. La propuesta de segmentación obtenida, por medio de redes de área local virtual, aplicación de medidas de seguridad a nivel de capa 2 y capa 3 del modelo OSI y la administración del ancho de banda mediante la implementación de calidad de servicio QoS para las aplicaciones que requieran prioridad en el tráfico de la red, mejoró el rendimiento y seguridad de la infraestructura de red del CIMEQ, lo cual impacta en un mayor desempeño competitivo y eficiencia hospitalaria desde el empleo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación(AU)

Using of information and communication technologies In the health sector improve considerably the functioning of healthcare processes and medical-administrative management, all of which it contributes to greater hospital efficiency and competitive performance of the institutions. This research addresses the existing problem with the design of the network infrastructure of the Medical Surgical Research Center (CIMEQ), which affects the substantive processes of the institution, such as patient management and the transmission of medical images. The objective of the research is to redesign the CIMEQ network infrastructure, which allows increase its performance and security. The research has a quantitative approach, with a descriptive scope, of a retrospective type and an experimental design, of longitudinal cut. Scientific methods of modeling and documentary analysis were used. As a result, the CIMEQ local area network infrastructure was redesigned, through segmentation methods that allowed dynamic workgroups to be created, take advantage of the benefits of installed manageable equipment and the implementation of new firewalls. The segmentation proposal obtained, through virtual local area networks, application of security measures in the layer 2 and layer 3 of the OSI model and bandwidth management through the implementation of quality of service for applications that require priority in network traffic, improved the performance and security of the CIMEQ network infrastructure, which impacts in a greater competitive performance and hospital efficiency(AU)

Research on Visualized Traceability Supervision System of Medical Equipment Based on Wireless Local Area Network Real-time Positioning System / 中国医疗器械杂志

Aiming at the shortcomings of traditional medical device tracking and supervision mode, such as delayed feedback of medical device positioning information, poor visual tracking effect of medical device, and missing early warning of medical device working state supervision, a medical device visual tracking and supervision system based on wireless Local Area Network (LAN) real-time positioning system is developed. Introduction of wireless LAN real-time positioning system, using standard coding algorithm generating device object ID tags, with the only attribute based on RFID read-write terminal complete physical mapping of medical equipment and material ID label, we realize a real-time positioning and traceability of medical equipment, with the help of active warning algorithm based on depth of learning medical equipment working state supervision for early warning, with the help of indoor map generation and trajectory playback medical equipment to realize visualization back regulation. Choose equipment of hospital of Linyi Central Hospital for performance evaluation of the carrier, the evaluation model of engineering practice and clinical statistical analysis, the results show that the system has a complete real-time positioning, visible trace, abnormal warning function. In medical equipment real-time positioning information visual tracing feedback, abnormal state warning etc, medical equipment has obvious advantages.

Time-Domain Investigation of Switchable Filter Wide-Band Antenna for Microwave Breast Imaging.

This paper investigates the time-domain performance of a switchable filter impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) antenna for microwave breast imaging applications. A miniaturized CPW-fed integrated filter antenna with switchable performance in the range of the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) bands could operate well within a 3.0 to 11 GHz frequency range. The time-domain performance of the filter antenna was investigated in comparison to that of the designed reference wideband antenna. By comparing both antennas' time-domain characteristics, it was seen that the switchable filter antenna had good time-domain resolution along with the frequency-domain operation. Additionally, the time-domain investigation revealed that the switchable filter wide-band antenna performed similarly to the reference wide band antenna. This antenna was also utilized for a tumor detection application, and it was seen that the switchable filter wide-band antenna could detect a miniaturized irregularly shaped tumor easily, which is quite promising. Such an antenna with a good time-domain resolution and tumor detection capability will be a good candidate and will find potential applications in microwave breast imaging.

Battery Draining Attack and Defense against Power Saving Wireless LAN Devices.

Wi-Fi technology connects sensor-based things that operate with small batteries, and allows them to access the Internet from anywhere at any time and perform networking. It has become a critical element in many areas of daily life and industry, including smart homes, smart factories, smart grids, and smart cities. The Wi-Fi-based Internet of things is gradually expanding its range of uses from new industries to areas that are intimately connected to people's lives, safety, and property. Wi-Fi technology has undergone a 20-year standardization process and continues to evolve to improve transmission speeds and service quality. Simultaneously, it has also been strengthening power-saving technology and security technology to improve energy efficiency and security while maintaining backward compatibility with past standards. This study analyzed the security vulnerabilities of the Wi-Fi power-saving mechanism used in smart devices and experimentally proved the feasibility of a battery draining attack (BDA) on commercial smartphones. The results of the experiment showed that when a battery draining attack was performed on power-saving Wi-Fi, 14 times the amount of energy was consumed compared with when a battery draining attack was not performed. This study analyzed the security vulnerabilities of the power-saving mechanism and discusses countermeasures.

CA-CWA: Channel-Aware Contention Window Adaption in IEEE 802.11ah for Soft Real-Time Industrial Applications.

In 2016, the IEEE task group ah (TGah) released a new standard called IEEE 802.11ah, and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) is one of its typical use cases. The restricted access window (RAW) is one of the core MAC mechanisms of IEEE 802.11ah, which aims to address the collision problem in the dense wireless networks. However, in each RAW period, stations still need to contend for the channel by Distributed Coordination Function and Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (DCF/EDCA), which cannot meet the real-time requirements of most industrial applications. In this paper, we propose a channel-aware contention window adaption (CA-CWA) algorithm. The algorithm dynamically adapts the contention window based on the channel status with an external interference discrimination ability, and improves the real-time performance of the IEEE 802.11ah. To validate the real-time performance of CA-CWA, we compared CA-CWA with two other backoff algorithms with an NS-3 simulator. The results illustrate that CA-CWA has better performance than the other two algorithms in terms of packet loss rate and average delay. Compared with the other two algorithms, CA-CWA is able to support industrial applications with higher deadline constraints under the same channel conditions in IEEE 802.11ah.

An Improved Compressive Sensing and Received Signal Strength-Based Target Localization Algorithm with Unknown Target Population for Wireless Local Area Networks.

In this paper a two-phase compressive sensing (CS) and received signal strength (RSS)-based target localization approach is proposed to improve position accuracy by dealing with the unknown target population and the effect of grid dimensions on position error. In the coarse localization phase, by formulating target localization as a sparse signal recovery problem, grids with recovery vector components greater than a threshold are chosen as the candidate target grids. In the fine localization phase, by partitioning each candidate grid, the target position in a grid is iteratively refined by using the minimum residual error rule and the least-squares technique. When all the candidate target grids are iteratively partitioned and the measurement matrix is updated, the recovery vector is re-estimated. Threshold-based detection is employed again to determine the target grids and hence the target population. As a consequence, both the target population and the position estimation accuracy can be significantly improved. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves the best accuracy among all the algorithms compared.

Compact Planar Ultrawideband Antennas with 3.5/5.2/5.8 GHz Triple Band-Notched Characteristics for Internet of Things Applications.

Ultrawideband (UWB) antennas, as core devices in high-speed wireless communication, are widely applied to mobile handsets, wireless sensor networks, and Internet of Things (IoT). A compact printed monopole antenna for UWB applications with triple band-notched characteristics is proposed in this paper. The antenna has a very compact size of 10 x 16 mm2 and is composed of a square slotted radiation patch and a narrow rectangular ground plane on the back of the substrate. First, by etching a pair of inverted T-shaped slots at the bottom of the radiation patch, one notched band at 5-6 GHz for rejecting the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is generated. Then, by cutting a comb-shaped slot on the top of the radiation patch, a second notched band for rejecting 3.5 GHz Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is obtained. Further, by cutting a pair of rectangular slots and a C-shaped slot as well as adding a pair of small square parasitic patches at the center of the radiating patch, two separate notched bands for rejecting 5.2 GHz lower WLAN and 5.8 GHz upper WLAN are realized, respectively. Additionally, by integrating the slotted radiation patch with the narrow rectangular ground plane, an enhanced impedance bandwidth can be achieved, especially at the higher band. The antenna consists of linear symmetrical sections only and is easy for fabrication and fine-tuning. The measured results show that the designed antenna provides a wide impedance bandwidth of 150% from 2.12 to 14.80 GHz for VSWR < 2, except for three notched bands of 3.36-4.16, 4.92-5.36, and 5.68-6.0 GHz. Additionally, the antenna exhibits nearly omnidirectional radiation characteristics, low gain at the stopbands, and flat group delay over the whole UWB except at the stopbands. Simulated and experimental results show that the proposed antenna can provide good frequency-domain and time-domain performances at desired UWB frequencies and be an attractive candidate for portable IoT applications.

The Solution to the Mobile Infusion System of the Hospital / 医学信息学杂志

The paper analyzes the potential safety hazards of infusion work of the hospital,introduces the hardware environment,business process and topological structure of the mobile infusion system,puts forward the solution to the mobile infusion system based on intelligent terminal PDA,Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and barcode recognition,and optimizes the system according to the utilization condition,in order to improve the operating efficiency in the meantime of eliminating the potential safety hazards of infusion.

The Network Optimization Schemes for M-health / 医学信息学杂志

Taking Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Southwest University as an example,the paper states the deployment of m-health network,and puts forward several wireless network optimization schemes such as wireless environment optimization,channel capacity improvement,code efficiency increase and user access restriction through clinical business traffic monitoring and data analysis.Through the result,this scheme can improve the performance of the wireless network effectively.

Electroencephalographic findings in schizophreniform and affective disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Pathological findings in electroencephalography (EEG) are discussed as a possible marker of organic mental disorders and a therapeutic response to anticonvulsive medication under these conditions. METHODS: We compared the prevalence of EEG abnormalities in 100 patients with schizophrenia, 100 patients with schizoaffective disorder, 51 patients with acute polymorphic psychotic disorder, 100 patients with bipolar disorder, 100 patients with unipolar major depression and 76 healthy control subjects with the findings of a previous study using well-diagnosed, large control samples (13,658 pilots and aircrew personnel). RESULTS: We detected an increased number of pathological EEG findings with intermittent rhythmic delta or theta activity in 7% of patients with schizophrenia, 7% of patients with schizoaffective disorder, 5.9% of patients with acute polymorphic psychosis, 6% of patients with bipolar disorder, 4% of unipolar depressed patients and 3.9% of the own control group, compared to 1% of strictly controlled healthy subjects. One-sided logistic regression revealed an association between pathological EEGs and the diagnosis of schizophrenia (Wald W = 3.466, p = 0.0315), schizoaffective disorder (W = 3.466, p = 0.0315) and bipolar disorder (W = 2.862, p = 0.0455). CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the previously developed local area network inhibition model for a potential paraepileptic pathomechanism can explain the relevance of such findings in different psychiatric disorders.

Increased Prevalence of Intermittent Rhythmic Delta or Theta Activity (IRDA/IRTA) in the Electroencephalograms (EEGs) of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder.

INTRODUCTION: An increased prevalence of pathological electroencephalography (EEG) signals has been reported in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). In an elaborative case description of such a patient with intermittent rhythmic delta and theta activity (IRDA/IRTA), the BPD symptoms where linked to the frequency of the IRDAs/IRTAs and vanished with the IRDAs/IRTAs following anticonvulsive therapy. This observation raised a question regarding the prevalence of such EEG abnormalities in BPD patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to identify the frequency of EEG abnormalities in a carefully analyzed psychiatric collective. Following earlier reports, we hypothesized an increased prevalence of EEG abnormalities in BPD patients. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We recruited 96 consecutive patients with BPD from the archive of a university clinic for psychiatry and psychotherapy, and compared the prevalence of EEG abnormalities to those of 76 healthy controls subjects. The EEGs were rated by three different blinded clinicians, including a consultant specializing in epilepsy from the local epilepsy center. RESULTS: We found a significant increase in the prevalence of IRDAs and IRTAs in BPD patients (14.6%) compared to the control subjects (3.9%; p = 0.020). DISCUSSION: In this blinded retrospective case-control study, we were able to confirm an increased prevalence of pathological EEG findings (IRDAs/IRTAs only) in BPD patients. The major limitation of this study is that the control group was not matched on age and gender. Therefore, the results should be regarded as preliminary findings of an open uncontrolled, retrospective study. Future research performing prospective, controlled studies is needed to verify our findings and answer the question of whether such EEG findings might predict a positive response to anticonvulsive pharmacological treatment.

Analysis on the structure of wireless transmission of medical image archiving and communication system / 中国医学装备

Objective:To image workstations in the necessity of desktop computer and data lines are connected and fixed in the desktop computer of defects, design a set of wireless transmission of picture archiving and communication system.Methods: Notebook computer with a wireless network using a wireless router, switch and set up a set of wireless image text transmission equipment.Results:The wireless transmission of honeycomb like structure covered with 802.11n standard data rates up to 600Mbps, frequency of 5Hz, multiple security protection by the hospital image filing requirements, which makes medical information resources to achieve full sharing. Conclusion: In 802.11n Wireless LAN PACS system architecture, the basic realization of the wireless transmission and real-time image display, image data for clinicians can within the hospital patients with real time view and its important role in the future development of hospital.

Spatial and temporal RF electromagnetic field exposure of children and adults in indoor micro environments in Belgium and Greece.

Personal radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure, or exposimetry, is gaining importance in the bioelectromagnetics community but only limited data on personal exposure is available in indoor areas, namely schools, crèches, homes, and offices. Most studies are focused on adult exposure, whereas indoor microenvironments, where children are exposed, are usually not considered. A method to assess spatial and temporal indoor exposure of children and adults is proposed without involving the subjects themselves. Moreover, maximal possible daily exposure is estimated by combining instantaneous spatial and temporal exposure. In Belgium and Greece, the exposure is measured at 153 positions spread over 55 indoor microenvironments with spectral equipment. In addition, personal exposimeters (measuring EMFs of people during their daily activities) captured the temporal exposure variations during several days up to one week at 98 positions. The data were analyzed using the robust regression on order statistics (ROS) method to account for data below the detection limit. All instantaneous and maximal exposures satisfied international exposure limits and were of the same order of magnitude in Greece and Belgium. Mobile telecommunications and radio broadcasting (FM) were most present. In Belgium, digital cordless phone (DECT) exposure was present for at least 75% in the indoor microenvironments except for schools. Temporal variations of the exposure were mainly due to variations of mobile telecommunication signals. The exposure was higher during daytime than at night due to the increased voice and data traffic on the networks. Total exposure varied the most in Belgian crèches (39.3%) and Greek homes (58.2%).