The Precautionary Principle and Risk Perception: Experimental Studies in the EMF Area

Possible adverse health effects due to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from cellular phones and base stations present a major public health issue across Europe. Because scientists cannot exclude that EMFs may cause health problems, the application of the precautionary principle is debated heavily. By considering precautionary measures, political decision makers hope to cope with public fears about EMFs. We present results from two experimental studies that indicate that precautionary measures may trigger concerns, amplify EMF-related risk perceptions, and lower trust in public health protection. Such impacts, questioning common expectations, should be considered in decisions about precautionary measures

Framing effects on risk perception of nanotechnology

How do people judge nanotechnology risks that are completely unfamiliar to them? Drawing on results of previous studies on framing and risk perception, two hypotheses about potential influences on nanotechnology risk perception were examined in an experimental study: 1) Risk perception of nanotechnology is influenced by its benefit perception. 2) Risk perception of nanotechnology is influenced by the context in which nanotechnology is embedded, specifically by the characteristics of the enterprises that profit from nanotechnology: large multinational enterprises versus small and medium-sized enterprises. In contrast to findings for other new technologies, e.g. biotechnology, the different types of benefit did not affect risk perceptions in our study. However, we found that characterizing the enterprises as large multinational versus small or medium-sized leads to differences in risk perception. One can speculate that when personal knowledge about a technology is lacking, people use more familiar aspects from the social context as cues for their risk evaluation

Erzählte Wirklichkeit: zur Theorie und Auswertung narrativer Interviews

Dieses Buch beschäftigt sich mit dem narrativen Interview: Die Bedeutung der Erzählung als einer Möglichkeit des qualitativen Datengewinns wird erörtert, eine psycho-logische Theorie des Erzählens wird entwickelt und Ansätze zur Auswertung narrativer Daten werden vorgestellt. Ausgehend von der These Politzers (1929), daß eine konkrete Psychologie eine Psychologie von den menschlichen Dramen ist, wird gezeigt, wie sich in Erzählungen dramatische Erfahrungen widerspiegeln. Dabei werden linguistische, kognitionspsychologische und phänomenologische Erkenntnisse integriert. So entsteht eine Theorie dss Erzählens, die ausweist, wie Erzählform, Erzählinhalt und Erzählsituation zusammenwirken. Im zweiten Teil des Buches werden Auswertungs- und Interpretationsverfahren für narrative Interviews aufgezeigt und illustriert sowie deren kognitionspsychologische Grundlagen diskutiert. Der Autor stellt neben einer Strategie zur umfassenden Rekonstruktion biographischer Darstellungen Ansätze einer regelgeleiteten qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse vor: die Typenanalyse, die Strukturanalyse und Verfahren zur Analyse von latenten Sinnzusammerihängen. Das Buch schließt mit einer Übersicht der Ablauforganisation bei der Auswertung narrativer Interviews und einer Diskussion der Entwicklung gegenstandsgebundener Theorien auf der Grundlage narrativer Daten

Biographieforschung und Klinische Psychologie

In der biographischen Forschung lassen sich drei Zielsetzungen unterscheiden: (1) die Deskription von einzelnen Lebensläufen oder biographischen Themen und Problembereichen, (2) die Bildung, Anregung oder Präzisierung gegenstandsgebundener Hypothesen, Modelle und Theorien sowie (3) die Bildung, Anregung oder Präzisierung formaler Theorien. Ergebnisse der Biographieforschung, die für die Klinische Psychologie interessant sein können, betreffen die folgenden Themen: (1) Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung von psychischen und psychosomatischen Störungen sowie deren psychische und soziale Kontexte; (2) Herausbildung subjektiver Vorstellungen über psychische und psychosomatische Störungen und Krankheiten; (3) den Bereich der Normalpathologie und korrespondierende Bereiche der Sozialisationsforschung; (4) Lebenslauf und Lebenswelt; (5) psychische und soziale Ressourcen zur Bewältigung von Krankheit, Leid und Konflikt. Fortschritte erwartet die Klinische Psychologie von der Biographieforschung hinsichtlich der konstruktgeleiteten Erfassung von Biographien, der Analyse der biographischen Entwicklung von einzelnen Sinnstrukturen und Deutungsmustern sowie der Analyse der Biographie als individuelle Konstruktionsleistung. (ICE2

Exposure perception as a key indicator of risk perception and acceptance of sources of radio frequency electromagnetic fields

The presented survey was conducted in six European countries as an online study. A total of 2454 subjects participated. Two main research questions were investigated: firstly, how does the cognitive, moral, and affective framing of radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) exposure perception influence RF EMF risk perception? Secondly, can the deployment of mobile phone base stations have greater acceptance with RF EMF exposure reduction? The findings with respect to the first question clearly indicated that the cognitive framed exposure perception is the main determinant of RF EMF risk perception. The concomitant sensitivity to exposure strength offers an opportunity to improve the acceptance of base stations by exposure reduction. A linear regression analysis supported this assumption: in a fictional test situation, exposure reduction improved the acceptance of base stations, operationalized as the requested distance of the base station from one's own home. Furthermore, subjects with high RF EMF risk perception were most sensitive to exposure reduction. On average, a 70% exposure reduction reduced the requested distance from about 2000 meters to 1000 meters. The consequences for risk communication are discussed

Regional lung aeration and ventilation during pressure support and biphasic positive airway pressure ventilation in experimental lung injury

INTRODUCTION: There is an increasing interest in biphasic positive airway pressure with spontaneous breathing (BIPAP+SBmean), which is a combination of time-cycled controlled breaths at two levels of continuous positive airway pressure (BIPAP+SBcontrolled) and non-assisted spontaneous breathing (BIPAP+SBspont), in the early phase of acute lung injury (ALI). However, pressure support ventilation (PSV) remains the most commonly used mode of assisted ventilation. To date, the effects of BIPAP+SBmean and PSV on regional lung aeration and ventilation during ALI are only poorly defined. METHODS: In 10 anesthetized juvenile pigs, ALI was induced by surfactant depletion. BIPAP+SBmean and PSV were performed in a random sequence (1 h each) at comparable mean airway pressures and minute volumes. Gas exchange, hemodynamics, and inspiratory effort were determined and dynamic computed tomography scans obtained. Aeration and ventilation were calculated in four zones along the ventral-dorsal axis at lung apex, hilum and base. RESULTS: Compared to PSV, BIPAP+SBmean resulted in: 1) lower mean tidal volume, comparable oxygenation and hemodynamics, and increased PaCO2 and inspiratory effort; 2) less nonaerated areas at end-expiration; 3) decreased tidal hyperaeration and re-aeration; 4) similar distributions of ventilation. During BIPAP+SBmean: i) BIPAP+SBspont had lower tidal volumes and higher rates than BIPAP+SBcontrolled; ii) BIPAP+SBspont and BIPAP+SBcontrolled had similar distributions of ventilation and aeration; iii) BIPAP+SBcontrolled resulted in increased tidal re-aeration and hyperareation, compared to PSV. BIPAP+SBspont showed an opposite pattern. CONCLUSIONS: In this model of ALI, the reduction of tidal re-aeration and hyperaeration during BIPAP+SBmean compared to PSV is not due to decreased nonaerated areas at end-expiration or different distribution of ventilation, but to lower tidal volumes during BIPAP+SBspont. The ratio between spontaneous to controlled breaths seems to play a pivotal role in reducing tidal re-aeration and hyperaeration during BIPAP+SBmean

Wireless networks and EMF-paving the way for low-EMF networks of the future: the LEXNET project

While, according to the World Health Organization, no adverse health effects of radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been established to date, EMF exposure from wireless communication networks is nonetheless often cited as a major cause of public concern and is frequently given considerable media coverage. This article presents the results of a new survey on RF-EMF exposure risk perception together with a comprehensive overview of the EMF footprint of existing and emerging networks. On the basis of these findings, we then put forward the rationale for EMF-aware networking. Subsequently, we highlight the gaps in existing systems, which impede EMF-aware networking, and outline the key concepts of the recently launched European Union (EU) Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) Integrated Project Low-EMF Exposure Future Networks (LEXNET): a new, all-encompassing, population-based metric of exposure and ways it can be used for low-EMF, quality of service (QoS)-aware network optimization.This paper reports work undertaken in the context of the project LEXNET. LEXNET is a project supported by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme (GA n°318273). For further information, please visit www.lexnet-project.e

Comparison of Jet Quenching Formalisms for a Quark-Gluon Plasma "Brick"

We review the currently available formalisms for radiative energy loss of a high-momentum parton in a dense strongly interacting medium. The underlying theoretical framework of the four commonly used formalisms is discussed and the differences and commonalities between the formalisms are highlighted. A quantitative comparison of the single gluon emission spectra as well as the energy loss distributions is given for a model system consisting of a uniform medium with a fixed length of L=2 fm and L=5 fm (the `Brick'). Sizable quantitative differences are found. The largest differences can be attributed to specific approximations that are made in the calculation of the radiation spectrum.Comment: 30 pages, 24 figures update version2: added curves with large x to Figure 14, Higher Twist curves to Figs 19, 20, plus some changes in the text (introduction/summary, discussion of Fig 14 and HT section