FØJOII-29: Nature Quality in Organic Farming. Midterm Status Report 2003

The work is organised in five work packages (WP 1-5, Table A1). Since the start in July 2001 the following work has been accomplished: WP 1. Starting up seminar and the annual seminars have served as a successful platform for project planning and cross-cutting activities. The general project co-ordination and planning of field work and selection of case study areas has been stimulated both at these meetings and in separate meetings with the WP responsibles. The first cross-cutting (CC4) has been accomplished in close co-operation with WP 5 and all project scientists. A homepage for the project is now available. WP 2. Eleven case areas with high concentration of organic farmers have been selected and 347 farmers have been interviewed. A database holding this information has been constructed. Organic farms show a regional specialisation similar to conventional farms. At the regional level organic farms are concentrated in counties with a higher share of dairy farms. Within counties however, there are important local differences with other factors involved. A GIS-based method for case-area delimitation in the PhD landscape study has been developed. WP 3. Inventory data from 24 organic farms in two case areas with information on vegetation composition and arthropods has been analysed. New species for Denmark was found and arthropod indicators showed a good correlation to nature quality. Colonisation experiments showed that moss diversity is favoured by grazing and reduced by fertilisation. There was significantly higher plant diversity in hedges and field boundaries on organic farms than on traditional farms. This effect is evident after only 3-4 years of Organic Farming Period and further increased after 7 years WP 4. Data from the same 24 organic farms and experimental fields of Foulum and Flakkebjerg has been collected in 2002 and 2003. Soil fauna diversity is influenced by soil type, tillage intensity and fertiliser use as well as crop and grazing history. In the experimental plots soil fauna and surface arthropods only showed little response to fertiliser use and catch crops. A 10x10-km landscape has been digitised in the ALMASS landscape model and appropriate scenarios and crop rotations are under construction. WP 5. Results from the first project workshop (CC4) in 2002 on indicators for esthetical qualities show that a more professional use of the esthetical experience is difficult for many natural scientist. Serious illness has postponed work in 2003 but the final outcome of the work package is expected to be achieved

Enhanced Operational Semantics in Systems Biology

We are faced with a great challenge: the cross-fertilization between the fields of formal methods for concurrency, in the computer science domain, and systems biology in the biological realm

A survey and tutorial of electromagnetic radiation and reduction in mobile communication systems

This paper provides a survey and tutorial of electromagnetic (EM) radiation exposure and reduction in mobile communication systems. EM radiation exposure has received a fair share of interest in the literature; however, this work is one of the first to compile the most interesting results and ideas related to EM exposure in mobile communication systems and present possible ways of reducing it. We provide a comprehensive survey of existing literature and also offer a tutorial on the dosimetry, metrics, international projects as well as guidelines and limits on the exposure from EM radiation in mobile communication systems. Based on this survey and given that EM radiation exposure is closely linked with specific absorption rate (SAR) and transmit power usage, we propose possible techniques for reducing EM radiation exposure in mobile communication systems by exploring known concepts related to SAR and transmit power reduction in mobile systems. Thus, this paper serves as an introductory guide to EM radiation exposure in mobile communication systems and provides insights toward the design of future low-EM exposure mobile communication networks

Do TETRA (Airwave) base station signals have a short-term impact on health and well-being? A randomized double-blind provocation study

Background: "Airwave" is the new communication system currently being rolled out across the United Kingdom for the police and emergency services, based on the Terrestrial Trunked Radio Telecommunications System (TETRA). Some police officers have complained about skin rashes, nausea, headaches, and depression as a consequence of using their Airwave handsets. In addition, a small subgroup in the population self-report being sensitive to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in general. Objectives: We conducted a randomized double-blind provocation study to establish whether short-term exposure to a TETRA base station signal has an impact on the health and well-being of individuals with self-reported "electrosensitivity" and of participants who served as controls.Methods: Fifty-one individuals with self-reported electrosensitivity and 132 age and sex-matched controls participated in an open provocation test; 48 sensitive and 132 control participants went on to complete double-blind tests in a fully screened semianechoic chamber. Heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure readings provided objective indices of short-term physiological response. Visual analog scales and symptom scales provided subjective indices of well-being.Results: We found no differences on any measure between TETRA and sham (no signal) under double-blind conditions for either controls or electrosensitive participants, and neither group could detect the presence of a TETRA signal at rates greater than chance (50%). When conditions were not double blind, however, the self-reported electrosensitive individuals did report feeling worse and experienced more severe symptoms during TETRA compared with sham.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the adverse symptoms experienced by electrosensitive individuals are due to the belief of harm from TETRA base stations rather than to the low-level EMF exposure itself