Modulated microwave effects on individuals with depressive disorder

This study was aimed to evaluate differences in the effect of microwave exposure on patients with depressive disorder and healthy subjects. Our experiments were carried out on a group of depressive patients (women, 18 subjects) and comparison group of healthy volunteers (women, 18 subjects) exposed during 30 min to 450 MHz microwave radiation modulated at 1,000 Hz frequency. The field power density at the scalp was 0.9 mW/cm². As a subjective criteria of microwave effect, the Brief Affect Scale (BAS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before and after each exposure procedure were used. The analysis of EEG was performed and ratio of the EEG beta and theta power was selected as a measure for evaluation of the microwave effect. The BAS and VAS revealed rather improvement in subjective mood score after exposure for majority of depressive subjects (11) and no changes for others (7). The EEG analysis detected differences between calculated parameters for exposed and sham recordings in depression as well as healthy group. Statistically significant changes were introduced by microwave for five patients with depressive disorder and for one healthy subject. The rate of subjects affected by microwave in depression group (28%) was five times higher compared to that rate in healthy group (5.6%).     

Geochemical speciation of trace metals in sediments of the northern Nile Delta Lake by sequential extraction technique

ABSTRACT

The present study was performed to investigate surface sediment samples from Lake Edku of the Nile Delta Lagoons, Egypt. The Lake is important for fishing in the region. The importance of research is to understand the mobility and bioavailability of each studied metal. The study was carried out on 10 sampling sites during 2017. The sediments were subjected to the technique of sequential extraction to examine the chemical forms of some trace metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni). Five stage extractions were done as the following order: soluble and exchangeable, carbonate, iron and manganese oxides, organic matter fraction and residual fraction. Attained results from the five fractions showed variations in the concentrations of metal contents of different sites under study. The overall metal concentrations (%) in the initial four extractable fractions (exchangeable, carbonate, oxides and organic matter fractions) were assessed to configure the mobility of each studied metal. The risk assessment code (RAC) represents the summation of exchangeable and carbonate fractions, it was between low and medium risk for aquatic environment. The range percentage of RAC for the metals was in the following order: 1.8–13, 4–23.5, 15–26, 5.7–19.5, 9–25 and 4.8–18.2 for Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni, respectively. Approximately 30% of the total copper was associated to the organic fraction, which may represent a high mobility of copper in these sediments. The highest mobility of metals in the sediments could be confirmed by its bioavailability factor (BF), which was within the ranges of 0.32–0.61, 0.36–0.59, 0.64–0.83, 0.36–0.72, 0.37–0.62 and 0.52–0.78 for Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni, respectively. The BF exhibited the following order: Zn > Ni > Cu > Pb ≈ Mn?>?Fe. The high levels of BF for the studied metals may represent the potentiality for toxic metals to be easily released into the aquatic environment.     

Kosovo-Konflikt: ?kologische Auswirkungen

Zusammenfassung  Der WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Initiator und Tr?ger des Donau-Karpaten-Programms, besch?ftigt sich seit Beginn des Kosovo-Konfliktes mit den Auswirkungen der kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen auf Natur und Mensch und versucht, die Welt?ffentiichkeit entsprechend zu informieren. Ende Juli 1999 hat der WWF International eine Mission, bestehend aus unabh?ngigen Toxikologinnen und ?lexperten, an die Donau entsandt. Unter der Leitung von Philip Weller, dem Direktor des WWF Donau-Karpaten-Programms, wurden drei Tag lang Industriekomplexe besichtigt und Gespr?che mit Betroffenen geführt. Die Reise führte das Team nach Panćevo und Novi Sad, und damit zu den Schwerpunkten der zerst?rten Chemie- und Petrochemischen Komplexe. In den betroffenen Werken, HIP AZOTARA, Panćevo und NIS ?lraffinerie, Novi Sad wurde das Team von den jeweiligen Werkleitern geführt. Gespr?che fanden statt mit dem Bürgermeister von Panćevo und Vertretern des Gesundheitsamtes in Belgrad. Es war dem Team m?glich, Boden- und Wasserproben zu nehmen und zu analysieren. Damit liegen den Autoren unabh?ngige Analysenergebnisse vor, die es gestatten, eine erste, orientierende Einsch?tzung der Kontaminationen vorzunehmen.      

Effect of modulated microwave radiation on human EEG asymmetry

This study is aimed to investigation of the effect of modulated 450 MHz microwave radiation on the EEG inter-hemispheric asymmetry. Ten cycles of the microwave exposure (1 min off and 1 min on) at fixed modulation frequency were applied on two groups of healthy volunteers. The first group of 13 subjects was exposed to microwave radiation modulated at 14 Hz and the second group of 15 subjects at 40 Hz frequency. The peak specific absorption rate (SAR) average over 1 g was 0.303 W/kg. Differences in SAR between hemispheres were up to 20 dB. Rod antenna was located from the left side of the head. Differences of relative changes in EEG energy between symmetric channels FP1–FP2, T3–T4, P3–P4 and O1–O2 in exposed and sham conditions were analysed. The results showed increase in EEG energy from the left side caused by microwave exposure. Statistical analysis done for the whole group of subjects didn’t reveal significant differences in inter-hemispheres asymmetry between exposed and sham conditions. However, statistical analysis performed for individual subjects detected significant differences in asymmetry caused by exposure for 15–35% of individuals.     

Changes in the quality of chromophoric dissolved organic matter leached from senescent leaf litter during the early decomposition

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) leached from leaf litter is a major source of humus in mineral soil of forest ecosystems. While their functions and refractoriness depend on the physicochemical structure, there is little information on the quality of CDOM, especially for that leached in the very early stages of litter decomposition when a large amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is leached. This study aimed to better understand the variations/changes in the composition of CDOM leached from senescent leaf litter from two tree species during the early stage of decomposition. Leaf litter from a conifer tree (Japanese cedar, D. Don) and a deciduous broad-leaved tree (Konara oak, Thunb.) were incubated in columns using simulated rainfall events periodically for a total of 300 d at 20°C. The quality of CDOM was investigated based on the fluorescence properties by using a combination of excitation-emission matrix fluorescence (EEM) and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). In addition, the phenolic composition of DOM was investigated at a molecular level by thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (THM-GC-MS) in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The EEM was statistically decomposed into eight fluorescence components (two tannin/peptide-like peaks, one protein-like peak, and five humic-like peaks). A significant contribution of tannin/peptide-like peaks was observed at the beginning of incubation, but these peaks decreased quickly and humic-like peaks increased within 1 mo of incubation. The composition of humic-like peaks was different between tree species and changed over the incubation period. Since tannin-derived phenolic compounds were detected in the DOM collected after 254 d of incubation on THM-GC-MS, it was suggested that tannins partially changed its structure, forming various humic-like peaks during the early decomposition.     

Contributions of humic substances to the dissolved organic carbon pool in wetlands from different climates

Wetlands are an important source of DOM. However, the quantity and quality of wetlands' DOM from various climatic regions have not been studied comprehensively. The relationship between the concentrations of DOM (DOC), humic substances (HS) and non-humic substances (NHS) in wetland associated sloughs, streams and rivers, in cool temperate (Hokkaido, Japan), sub-tropical (Florida, USA), and tropical (Sarawak, Malaysia) regions was investigated. The DOC ranged from 1.0 to 15.6 mg CL(-1) in Hokkaido, 6.0-24.4 mg CL(-1) in Florida, and 18.9-75.3 mg CL(-1) in Sarawak, respectively. The relationship between DOC and HS concentrations for the whole sample set was regressed to a primary function with y-intercept of zero (P<0.005) and a slope value of 0.841. A similar correlation was observed between DOC and NHS concentrations, with a smaller slope value of 0.159. However, the correlation coefficient of the latter was much larger when the data was regressed to a logarithmic curve. These observations suggest the presence of a general tendency that the increased DOC in the river waters was mainly due to the increased supply of HS from wetland soils, whereas the rate of the increase in the NHS supply has an upper limit which may be controlled by primary productivity.