Cell Phones

We studied the association between use of mobile and cordless phones and malignant brain tumours. Pooled analysis was performed of two case-control studies on patients with malignant brain tumours diagnosed during 1997-2003 and matched controls alive at the time of study inclusion and one case-control study on deceased patients and controls diagnosed during the same time period. Cases and controls or relatives to deceased subjects were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Replies were obtained for 1,251 (85%) cases and 2,438 (84%) controls. The risk increased with latency period and cumulative use in hours for both mobile and cordless phones. Highest risk was found for the most common type of glioma, astrocytoma, yielding in the >10 year latency group for mobile phone use odds ratio (OR) = 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.9-3.7 and cordless phone use OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.2-2.9. In a separate analysis, these phone types were independent risk factors for glioma. The risk for astrocytoma was highest in the group with first use of a wireless phone before the age of 20; mobile phone use OR = 4.9, 95% CI = 2.2-11, cordless phone use OR = 3.9, 95% CI = 1.7-8.7. In conclusion, an increased risk was found for glioma and use of mobile or cordless phone. The risk increased with latency time and cumulative use in hours and was highest in subjects with first use before the age of 20.

We develop an unsupervised approach to condition monitoring of cellular networks using competitive neural algorithms. Training is carried out with state vectors representing the normal functioning of a simulated CDMA2000 network. Once training is completed, global and local normality profiles (NPs) are built from the distribution of quantization errors of the training state vectors and their components, respectively. The global NP is used to evaluate the overall condition of the cellular system. If abnormal behavior is detected, local NPs are used in a component-wise fashion to find abnormal state variables. Anomaly detection tests are performed via percentile-based confidence intervals computed over the global and local NPs. We compared the performance of four competitive algorithms (WTA, FSCL, SOM and Neural-Gas) and the results suggest that the joint use of global and local NPs is more efficient and more robust than current single-threshold methods. and Wideband CDMA, respectively, which are 3G technologies capable of providing speeds of up to 2Mbits/sec. 2 CDMA2000, also called 1xRTT (single carrier radio transmission technology), is a 3G wireless technology based on the CDMA platform which has the capability of providing speeds of up to 144 Kbps.

Excessive cellphone use impacts attention and learning in classrooms. Given that attention declines over time, we investigated when during lecture cellphones might impair learning. Across two experiments, participants watched a 20-min lecture under different cellphone conditions (keep or remove). Groups who kept their cellphones received distracting text messages during the lecture. Participants were quizzed on the lecture. Quiz questions were divided into four segments depending on when the material was presented. Lastly, participants' nomophobiadthe fear of being without access to one's cellpho-nedwas assessed. Participants who kept their cellphone performed worse on the quiz for material presented in the 3rd quarter of the lecture than those without cellphones. Distracted participants performed worse on the test for the same material than those who were not distracted. Participants higher in nomophobia, especially on subscales having to do with losing connectedness and giving up convenience , performed worse on the quiz for material that occurred in the 3rd quarter of the lecture. Findings indicate that having cellphones in a short lecture has its largest impact on attention and learning 10 e15 min into the lecture. This study provides novel insights into the interactions between technology and learning to help educators and students optimize learning.

Wireless technologies are ubiquitous today and the mobile phones are one of the prodigious output of this technology. Although the familiarization and dependency of mobile phones is growing at an alarming pace, the biological effects due to the exposure of radiations have become a subject of intense debate. The present evidence on mobile phone radiation exposure is based on scientific research and public policy initiative to give an overview of what is known of biological effects that occur at radiofrequency (RF)/ electromagnetic fields (EMFs) exposure. The conflict in conclusions is mainly because of difficulty in controlling the affecting parameters. Biological effects are dependent not only on the distance and size of the object (with respect to the object) but also on the environmental parameters. Health endpoints reported to be associated with RF include childhood leukemia, brain tumors, genotoxic effects, neurological effects and neurodegenerative diseases, immune system dereg...

Background:The Bluetooth wireless headset has been promoted as a ‘hands-free’ device with a low emission of electromagnetic radiation.Objective:To evaluate potential changes in hearing function as a consequence of using Bluetooth devices, by assessing changes in pure tone audiography and distortion production otoacoustic emissions.Design:Prospective study.Materials and methods:Thirty adult volunteers were exposed to a Bluetooth headset device (1) on ‘standby’ setting for 6 hours and (2) at full power for 10 minutes. Post-exposure hearing was evaluated using pure tone audiography and distortion production otoacoustic emission testing.Results:There were no statistically significant changes in hearing, as measured above, following either exposure type.Conclusion:Exposure to the electromagnetic field emitted by a Bluetooth headset, as described above, did not decrease hearing thresholds or alter distortion product otoacoustic emissions.

As part of the Mobile Radiofrequency Phone Exposed Users' Study (MoRPhEUS), a cross-sectional epidemiological study examined cognitive function in secondary school students. We recruited 317, 7th grade students (144 boys, 173 girls, median age 13 years) from 20 schools around Melbourne, Australia. Participants completed an exposure questionnaire based on the Interphone study, a computerised cognitive test battery, and the Stroop colour-word test. The principal exposure metric was the total number of reported mobile phone voice calls per week. Linear regression models were fitted to cognitive test response times and accuracies. Age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status and handedness were fitted as covariates and standard errors were adjusted for clustering by school. The accuracy of working memory was poorer, reaction time for a simple learning task shorter, associative learning response time shorter and accuracy poorer in children reporting more mobile phone voice calls. There were no significant relationships between exposure and signal detection, movement monitoring or estimation. The completion time for Stroop word naming tasks was longer for those reporting more mobile phone voice calls. The findings were similar for total short message service (SMS, also known as text) messages per week, suggesting these cognitive changes were unlikely due to radiofrequency (RF) exposure. Overall, mobile phone use was associated with faster and less accurate responding to higher level cognitive tasks. These behaviours may have been learned through frequent use of a mobile phone.

Despite their importance for urban planning [1], traffic forecasting [2], and the spread of biological [3, 4, 5] and mobile viruses [6], our understanding of the basic laws governing human motion remains limited thanks to the lack of tools to monitor the time resolved location of individuals. Here we study the trajectory of 100, 000 anonymized mobile phone users whose position is tracked for a six month period. We find that in contrast with the random trajectories predicted by the prevailing Lévy flight and random walk models [7], human trajectories show a high degree of temporal and spatial regularity, each individual being characterized by a time independent characteristic length scale and a significant probability to return to a few highly frequented locations. After correcting for differences in travel distances and the inherent anisotropy of each trajectory, the individual travel patterns collapse into a single spatial probability distribution, indicating that despite the diversity of their travel history, humans follow simple reproducible patterns. This inherent similarity in travel patterns could impact all phenomena driven by human mobility, from epidemic prevention to emergency response, urban planning and agent based modeling. Given the many unknown factors that influence a population's mobility patterns, ranging from means of transportation to job and family imposed restrictions and priorities, human trajectories are often approximated with various random walk or diffusion models [7, 8]. Indeed, early measurements on albatrosses, bumblebees, deer and monkeys [9, 10] and more recent ones on marine predators [11] suggested that animal trajectory is approximated by a Lévy flight [12, 13], a random walk whose step size ∆r follows a power-law distribution P (∆r) ∼ ∆r −(1+β) with β < 2. While the Lévy statistics for some animals require further study [14], Brockmann et al. [7] generalized this finding to humans, documenting that the distribution of distances between consecutive sight

This study compared the potential for interference to medical devices from radio frequency (RF) fields radiated by GSM 900/1800-MHz, general packet radio service (GPRS) 900/1800-MHz, and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) 1900-MHz handsets. The study used a balanced half-wave dipole antenna, which was energized with a signal at the standard power level for each technology, and then brought towards the medical device while noting the distance at which interference became apparent. Additional testing was performed with signals that comply with the requirements of the international immunity standard to RF fields, IEC 61000-4-3. The testing provides a sense of the overall interference impact that GPRS and WCDMA (frequency division duplex) may have, relative to current mobile technologies, and to the internationally recognized standard for radiated RF immunity. Ten medical devices were tested: two pulse oximeters, a blood pressure monitor, a patient monitor, a humidifier, three models of cardiac defibrillator, and two models of infusion pump. Our conclusion from this and a related study on consumer devices is that WCDMA handsets are unlikely to be a significant interference threat to medical electronics at typical separation distances.

Rising concern over the poor level of blood-pressure (BP) control among hypertensive patients has prompted searches for novel ways of managing hypertension. The objectives of this study were to develop and pilot-test a home BP tele-management system that actively engages patients in the process of care.Phase 1 involved a series of focus-group meetings with patients and primary care providers to guide the system’s development. In Phase 2, 33 diabetic patients with uncontrolled ambulatory hypertension were enrolled in a 4-month pilot study, using a before-and-after design to assess its effectiveness in lowering BP, its acceptability to users, and the reliability of home BP measurements.The system, developed using commodity hardware, comprised a Bluetooth-enabled home BP monitor, a mobile phone to receive and transmit data, a central server for data processing, a fax-back system to send physicians’ reports, and a BP alerting system. In the pilot study, 24-h ambulatory BP fell by 11/5 (±13/7 SD) mm Hg (both P < .001), and BP control improved significantly. Substantially more home readings were received by the server than expected, based on the preset monitoring schedule. Of 42 BP alerts sent to patients, almost half (n = 20) were due to low BP. Physicians received no critical BP alerts. Patients perceived the system as acceptable and effective.The encouraging results of this study provide a strong rationale for a long-term, randomized, clinical trial to determine whether this home BP tele-management system improves BP control in the community among patients with uncontrolled hypertension.

The current study investigated forms of technology (phone calls, texts, email and Facebook) for maintaining contact with homeless youth over baseline, 1-week, 6-week, and 3-month follow-up interviews. The study combined quantitative tracking of youths’ response patterns and open-ended interviews regarding youths’ preferred methods of communication. Results indicate that maintaining communication with homeless youth requires persistence, including frequent contact attempts over several days. Cell phone contacts (calls or texts) were most successful in communicating with youth, with e-mail and Facebook messaging useful when phones were lost or stolen. Youth who maintained contact were strikingly similar to youth who discontinued contact.

Objective: Pharmacologic treatment for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) is critical to prevent adverse clinical outcomes. In a randomized controlled trial, we compared antiplatelet and statin adherence among patients with CHD who received: (1) text messages (TM) for medication reminders and education, (2) educational TM only, or (3) No TM. Methods: A mobile health intervention delivered customized TM for 30 days. We assessed and analyzed medication adherence with electronic monitoring devices [Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS)] by one-way ANOVA and Welch tests, two-way TM response rates by t-tests, and self-reported adherence (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale) by Repeated Measures ANOVA. Results: Among 90 patients (76% male, mean age 59.2 years), MEMS revealed patients who received TM for antiplatelets had a higher percentage of correct doses taken (p = 0.02), percentage number of doses taken (p = 0.01), and percentage of prescribed doses taken on schedule (p = 0.01). TM response rates were higher for antiplatelets than statins (p = 0.005). Self-reported adherence revealed no significant differences among groups. Conclusion: TM increased adherence to antiplatelet therapy demonstrated by MEMS and TM responses. Practice implications: Feasibility and high satisfaction were established. Mobile health interventions show promise in promoting medication adherence.

Objective: This research aims to identify the impact of text messaging on simulated driving performance. Background: In the past decade, a number of on-road, epidemiological, and simulator-based studies reported the negative impact of talking on a cell phone on driving behavior. However, the impact of text messaging on simulated driving performance is still not fully understood. Method: Forty participants engaged in both a single task (driving) and a dual task (driving and text messaging) in a high-fidelity driving simulator. Results: Analysis of driving performance revealed that participants in the dual-task condition responded more slowly to the onset of braking lights and showed impairments in forward and lateral control compared with a driving-only condition. Moreover, text-messaging drivers were involved in more crashes than drivers not engaged in text messaging. Conclusion: Text messaging while driving has a negative impact on simulated driving performance. This negative impac...

There is a large and ever increasing number of mobile phone health, wellness, and medical applications on the market. However, there is little guidance or quality assurance available for consumers. This paper provides a health consumer focused framework for considering a range of issues associated with selecting and using mobile phone applications downloaded from the Internet.

and by Generalitat Valenciana, Redes de Excelencia ISIC (ISIC/2012/012). Conflicts of interest None declared 'What's already known about this topic?'  The use of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) and Real time Data Capture (RTDC) in the field of chronic pain is a very useful tool for clinicians and researchers because it makes possible to gather more accurate and complete ratings of relevant variables. What does this study add?  The findings of this study contribute with data supporting the use of smartphones for RTDC in a sample of fibromyalgia patients with an important proportion of participants with low educational levels and low familiarity with technology

Mobile phones have been shown effective in several public health domains. However, there are few evaluations of the effectiveness of mobile health in health promotion. Also, although many studies have referenced behavioral theory, none appears to have explicitly tested theoretical assumptions or demonstrated mechanisms of change. More robust evaluation models that incorporate theory and measurement of behavioral mediators are needed. As in all public health programs, mobile health operates within a social ecological context. For example, organizational- and individual-level programs seek to influence health and health care practices and individual health behaviors. New programs such as Text4baby demonstrate how theory and explicit testing of mediators can be incorporated in evaluations. There are challenges and opportunities facing mHealth evaluations given the nature of the mobile channel. Mobile communication is ubiquitous, available at all times and places, and thus experimental control is often difficult. Natural experiments using variation in dosage of mHealth and place- or location-based designs may increase experimental control. Text4baby is a text messaging program that provides prenatal care messages to pregnant women and new mothers. It uses a partnership model with health care facilities often serving as local implementation partners. The authors review a case example of the evaluation of Text4baby at Madigan Army Medical Center. Participants were randomized to usual prenatal care plus text messaging or usual care alone. The evaluation has a theoretical model of behavior change and measures mediators as well as behavioral outcomes. Results will inform how behavioral theory works within mobile health programs.

I n part 1, we introduced a software environment for augmented reality (AR) on mobile phones, discussed development and debugging strategies, and showed how to execute several tasks of a common AR system in parallel on a mobile device. Here, we discuss how to overcome the most severe limitations, such as memory, rendering speed, and computational power. We analyze in detail where an optimized mobile phone AR application spends most of its processing time and give an outlook on what to expect in the next few years.

Objective: This pilot study tested the feasibility and impact of using mobile media devices to present peer health messages to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients. Subjects and Methods: A convenience sample of 30 adult patients from an outpatient HIV clinic serving a mostly rural catchment area in central Virginia volunteered for the study. Participants viewed short videos of people discussing HIV health topics on an Apple (Cupertino, CA) iPod Ò touch Ò mobile device. Pre-and post-intervention surveys assessed attitudes related to engagement in care and disease disclosure. Results: Participants found delivery of health information by the mobile device acceptable in a clinic setting. They used the technology without difficulty. Participants reported satisfaction with and future interest in viewing such videos after using the mobile devices. The majority of participants used the device to access more videos than requested, and many reported the videos ''hit home.'' There were no significant changes in participant perceptions about engagement in care or HIV disclosure after the intervention. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of using mobile media technology to deliver peer health messages. Future research should explore how to best use mobile media to improve engagement in care and reduce perceptions of stigma.

Mobile phones work by transmitting and receiving radio frequency microwave radiation. The radio frequency (RF) emitted by mobile phones is stronger than FM radio signal which are known to cause cancer. Though research and evidence available on the risk of cancer by mobile phones does not provide a clear and direct support that mobile phones cause cancers. Evidence does not also support an association between exposure to radio frequency and microwave radiation from mobile phones and direct effects on health. It is however clear that lack of available evidence of cancer as regards the use of mobile phone should not be interpreted as proof of absence of cancer risk, so that excessive use of mobile phones should be taken very seriously and with caution to prevent cancer.

Objective: Our research examined the effects of practice on cell-phone-related driver distraction. Background: The driving literature is ambiguous as to whether practice can reduce driver distraction from concurrent cell phone conversation. Methods: Drivers reporting either high or low real-world cell phone usage were selected to participate in four 90-min simulated driving sessions on successive days. The research consisted of two phases: a practice phase and a novel transfer phase. Results: Dualtask performance deficits persisted through practice and transfer driving conditions. Moreover, groups reporting high and low real-world experience exhibited similar driving impairments when conversing on a hands-free cell phone. Conclusions: These data indicate that practice is unlikely to eliminate the disruptive effects of concurrent cell phone use on driving. Application: Multiple regulatory agencies have considered, or are currently considering, legislation to restrict in-vehicle cell phone use. Findings reported herein may be useful to inform these public policy decisions.

Mobile health applications offer unique opportunities for monitoring patient progress, providing education materials to patients and family members, receiving personalized prompts and support, collecting ecologically valid data, and using self-management interventions when and where they are needed. Mobile health application services to mental illness have evidenced success in Western countries. However, they are still in the initial stage of development in China. The purpose of this paper is to identify needs for mobile health in China, present major mobile health products and technology in China, introduce mobile and digital psychiatric services, and discuss ethical issues and challenges in mobile health development in a country with the largest population in the world.

The trajectory from alcohol use to alcohol use disorders in adolescence is yet to be understood. Momentary sampling may assist in capturing &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;real-time&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; data on young people&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s alcohol use and associated motivational factors. This paper aims to review the feasibility and usefulness of a mobile phone momentary sampling program to capture data about alcohol use and related behaviours. Two studies were conducted: a school-based study with 18 Year 9 and 11 students and a clinical study with eight high-risk adolescent drinkers. Participants answered questions about their daily activities, alcohol use, stressors and negative mood four times a day for 1 week using a mobile phone momentary sampling program. In the school-based study, 61% of participants reported drinking alcohol. On drinking days participants spent less time studying (14% vs. 26%), more time sleeping or resting (35% vs. 12%) and more time hanging out (21% vs. 11%) than on non-drinking days. In the high-risk sample, 88% of participants reported drinking alcohol. On drinking days, these participants spent a greater proportion of their waking time with their boyfriend or girlfriend (19.2% vs. 6%) and generally had higher negative mood than on non-drinking days. The current mobiletype program was well suited to capturing data on alcohol use in younger, school-attending adolescents. However, to capture alcohol use in older adolescents who lead less routine lives, it is necessary to make some amendments including targeting particular behaviours and symptoms. Recommendations for future studies are proposed.

This paper examines the effects of systematic and random errors in recall and of selection bias in case-control studies of mobile phone use and cancer. These sensitivity analyses are based on Monte-Carlo computer simulations and were carried out within the INTERPHONE Study, an international collaborative case-control study in 13 countries. Recall error scenarios simulated plausible values of random and systematic, non-differential and differential recall errors in amount of mobile phone use reported by study subjects. Plausible values for the recall error were obtained from validation studies. Selection bias scenarios assumed varying selection probabilities for cases and controls, mobile phone users, and non-users. Where possible these selection probabilities were based on existing information from non-respondents in INTERPHONE. Simulations used exposure distributions based on existing INTERPHONE data and assumed varying levels of the true risk of brain cancer related to mobile phone use. Results suggest that random recall errors of plausible levels can lead to a large underestimation in the risk of brain cancer associated with mobile phone use. Random errors were found to have larger impact than plausible systematic errors. Differential errors in recall had very little additional impact in the presence of large random errors. Selection bias resulting from underselection of unexposed controls led to J-shaped exposure-response patterns, with risk apparently decreasing at low to moderate exposure levels. The present results, in conjunction with those of the validation studies conducted within the INTERPHONE study, will play an important role in the interpretation of existing and future case-control studies of mobile phone use and cancer risk, including the INTERPHONE study.

Smartphone and tablet applications (apps) have become an integral part of clinical practice, research, and education for many physicians. Studies have demonstrated that 85 percent of attending surgeons, fellows, and residents in the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) training programs own a smartphone, and more than 50 percent of them use a variety of apps in clinical practice. 1 From a surgical standpoint, the $27 billion mobile app market has generated apps that can do everything from surgical simulation, to procedure illustration, to provision of instantaneous access to libraries of information. 2 Searching for "surgery" on the iTunes App Store brings up more than 900 related apps; the same search on Google Play delivers approximately 500 results. Navigating this veritable jungle of apps can be a time-consuming and confusing process.

Background: The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence of microbiological contamination of mobile phones that belong to clinicians in intensive care units (ICUs), pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), and neonatal care units (NCUs) in all public secondary care hospitals in Kuwait. The study also aimed to describe mobile phones disinfection practices as well as factors associated with mobile phone contamination. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included all clinicians with mobile phones in ICUs, PICUs, and NCUs in all secondary care hospitals in Kuwait. Samples for culture were collected from mobile phones and transported for microbiological identification using standard laboratory methods. Self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data on mobile phones disinfection practices. Results: Out of 213 mobile phones, 157 (73.7 %, 95 % CI [67.2-79.5 %]) were colonized. Coagulase-negative staphylococci followed by Micrococcus were predominantly isolated from the mobile phones; 62.9 % and 28.6 % of all mobile phones, respectively. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Gram-negative bacteria were identified in 1.4 % and 7.0 % of the mobile phones, respectively. Sixty-eight clinicians (33.5 %) reported that they disinfected their mobile phones, with the majority disinfecting their mobile phones only when they get dirty. The only factor that was significantly associated with mobile phone contamination was whether a clinician has ever disinfected his/her mobile phone; adjusted odds ratio 2.42 (95 % CI [1.08-5.41], p-value = 0.031). Conclusion: The prevalence of mobile phone contamination is high in ICUs, PICUs, and NCUs in public secondary care hospitals in Kuwait. Although some of the isolated organisms can be considered non-pathogenic, various reports described their potential harm particularly among patients in ICU and NCU settings. Isolation of MRSA and Gram-negative bacteria from mobile phones of clinicians treating patients in high-risk healthcare settings is of a major concern, and calls for efforts to consider guidelines for mobile phone disinfection.

As use of handheld multimedia devices has exploded globally, safety experts have begun to consider the impact of distraction while talking, text-messaging, or listening to music on traffic safety. This study was designed to test how talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music may influence pedestrian safety. 138 college students crossed an interactive, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian street. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: crossing while talking on the phone, crossing while texting, crossing while listening to a personal music device, or crossing while undistracted. Participants distracted by music or texting were more likely to be hit by a vehicle in the virtual pedestrian environment than were undistracted participants. Participants in all three distracted groups were more likely to look away from the street environment (and look toward other places, such as their telephone or music device) than were undistracted participants. Findings were maintained after controlling for demographics, walking frequency, and media use frequency. Distraction from multimedia devices has a small but meaningful impact on college students’ pedestrian safety. Future research should consider the cognitive demands of pedestrian safety, and how those processes may be impacted by distraction. Policymakers might consider ways to protect distracted pedestrians from harm and to reduce the number of individuals crossing streets while distracted.► Talking, texting, or listening to music may impact college student pedestrian safety. ► 138 students randomly assigned to cross a virtual street undistracted or distracted. ► Music or texting distraction caused greater likelihood of collision with vehicles. ► All distracted individuals looked away from the street environment more often. ► Multimedia device distraction has small but meaningful impact on pedestrian safety.

Near field communication is a method for sending and receiving small amounts of data across very short distances wirelessly. This technology is already available in a number of mobile devices and has many possible uses, including electronic payment, access control, and information exchange. This article will explain the basic principles of near field communication, discuss some of the ways it can be used in libraries, and explore some possible concerns with the technology. A list of resources for additional information is also included.

A versatile eccentric-spheres model of the human head is used in this paper to investigate radio-wave absorption. Numerical results, obtained by use of an exact analytical solution, are presented for the total, percentage, and gram-specific absorption. Interest is mainly in the brain and in the eyes of an adult or an infant head. Our model comprises a host sphere and several spherical inclusions, all concentrically stratified with respect to their own center. Any number of inclusions and any number of concentric layers for the host sphere and each one of the inclusions can be considered. Excitation is provided either by a plane-wave or by a nearby electric dipole. The analytical solution is obtained by use of the indirect-mode matching method. The theory of this paper and the accompanying computer code constitute a versatile tool for analytical studies of cellular-phone interactions with the human head. Specific absorption rate maps in a horizontal cross section of the head model manifest the existence of hot spots in the eyes and near the center of the brain.

Utilizing information technology, such as Internet and cellphones, holds great promise in enhancing diabetic care. Yet few studies have examined the impact of cellphone technology on type 2 diabetics' self-care. The primary aim of the study is to examine the feasibility of utilizing this technology to assist with diabetes selfcare in a clinic population as well as its impact on clinical outcomes. Methods Thirty patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at two Community Health Centers were randomized to intervention or control. Intervention patients participated in a brief intervention and received tailored daily messages via cellphone prompting them to enhance their diabetic self-care behaviour. Patients at the control site continued with their standard diabetes self-management. Results A mean improvement in HbA1c levels was apparent ( − 0.1, SD = 0.3%; P = 0.1534) in the intervention group, compared with a mean deterioration in the control (0.3, SD = 1.0%; P = 0.3813), yet without statistical significance. Self-efficacy scores improved significantly in the intervention group ( − 0.5, SD = 0.6; P = 0.0080) compared with no improvement in the control (0.0, SD = 1.0; P = 0.9060). Participants encountered numerous technological barriers when attempting to adhere to the intervention protocol.

This paper presents a comparison between printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones. Since printed circuits boards are becoming more complex and smaller, the amount of materials is constantly changing. The main objective of this work was to characterize spent printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones applying mineral processing technique to separate the metal, ceramic, and polymer fractions. The processing was performed by comminution in a hammer mill, followed by particle size analysis, and by magnetic and electrostatic separation. Aqua regia leaching, loss-on-ignition and chemical analysis (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy -ICP-OES) were carried out to determine the composition of printed circuit boards and the metal rich fraction. The composition of the studied mobile phones printed circuit boards (PCB-MP) was 63 wt.% metals; 24 wt.% ceramics and 13 wt.% polymers; and of the printed circuit boards from studied personal computers (PCB-PC) was 45 wt.% metals; 27 wt.% polymers and ceramics 28 wt.% ceramics. The chemical analysis showed that copper concentration in printed circuit boards from personal computers was 20 wt.% and in printed circuit boards from mobile phones was 34.5 wt.%. According to the characteristics of each type of printed circuit board, the recovery of precious metals may be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from personal computers and the recovery of copper should be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from mobile phones. Hence, these printed circuit boards would not be mixed prior treatment. The results of this paper show that copper concentration is increasing in mobile phones and remaining constant in personal computers.

The aim of this study was to retest the hypotheses of by conducting a similar randomized controlled trial in an orthodontic clinic in the Netherlands. It was hypothesized that a reminder would reduce the failed attendance rate and that the form of the reminder would be irrelevant. Methods: All patients with appointments in the orthodontic clinic at the Academic Centre of Dentistry Amsterdam during a 3-week period were divided into 4 groups. Three groups received a reminder 1 day before the appointment, either by telephone, mail, or short message service (SMS, a service used to send and receive short text messages to and from cell phones). A control group did not receive a reminder. In a follow-up study, random subsamples in each group were interviewed by telephone. Subjects were asked how they felt about receiving a reminder and which reminder they preferred. Results: The hypothesis that a reminder would reduce the failed attendance rate was not confirmed. Also, no differences were found between the 4 conditions, indicating that the form of the reminder is irrelevant. However, most of the interviewed participants felt positive or very positive about receiving a reminder. There was a significant preference for a reminder by mail (56.3%), followed by a telephone reminder (26.0%) and a reminder by SMS (17.7%). No less than 20% of the interviewed participants felt negative or very negative about the reminders and considered them to be a waste of time and money. Conclusions: The hypothesis that reminders are useful in the prevention of failed appointments was not confirmed. This study underlines the importance of replication studies. It demonstrates that every research result, whether it is generated by evidence-based or tradition-based research, should be interpreted with care and should be replicated in other studies before the results can be generalized. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2005;127:355-7)

In this study, we investigated subjective and objective effects of mobile phones using a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA)-like system on human sleep. Subjects were 19 volunteers. Real or sham electromagnetic field (EMF) exposures for 3 h were performed before their usual sleep time on 3 consecutive days. They were exposed to real EMF on the second or third experimental day in a double-blind design. Sleepiness and sleep insufficiency were evaluated the next morning. Polysomnograms were recorded for analyses of the sleep variables and power spectra of electroencephalograms (EEG). No significant differences were observed between the two conditions in subjective feelings. Sleep parameters including sleep stage percentages and EEG power spectra did not differ significantly between real and sham exposures. We conclude that continuous wave EMF exposure for 3 h from a W-CDMA-like system has no detectable effects on human sleep. Bioelectromagnetics 9999:1-10, 2013.

L’article porte sur une rumeur, apparue au Nigeria en 2004 et largement diffusée en Afrique et en Asie, selon laquelle certains numéros de téléphone portable provoqueraient la mort subite de ceux qui répondent à l’appel. Après avoir retracé la diffusion internationale de la rumeur, l’article montre que cette histoire de numéros tueurs exploite une inquiétude inhérente à la communication téléphonique : la menace des appels anonymes. Alors que les numéros tueurs font leur apparition en Afrique comme une forme inédite de sorcellerie, en Asie, cette version sorcellaire cède la place à une nouvelle variante : un virus téléphonique serait à l’origine du phénomène. L’article propose en définitive une épidémiologie culturelle de la rumeur attentive aux circonstances locales qui permettent de rendre compte de ses variantes régionales, mais aussi aux facteurs plus généraux qui expliquent sa diffusion et sa stabilité relative à l’échelle internationale.