Significance: The steady increase of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in the environment, particularly the wireless signal, causes serious public concern over its potential negative impact on health. However, it is challenging to examine such impact on human subjects due to associated complex issues. In this study, we establish an experimental system for the investigation of EMR impact on mice. Using this system, we uncovered a causal relationship between 2.4-GHz EMR modulated by 100-Hz square pulses and increased wakefulness in mice. This result identifies sleep alteration as a potential consequence of exposure to excessive wireless signals.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and tic disorders (TDs) are closely related and considered to etiologically overlap. Both disorders are characterized by repetitive behaviors. TD and OCD often co-occur. The high comorbidity between OCD and TD individuals suggests that we also need to pay more attention to the homogeneity and heterogeneity between TS and OCD. To date, there has been no systematic nationwide epidemiological survey of the mental health (including tic disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder) of children and adolescents in China. Methods: A two-stage epidemiological study of psychiatric point prevalence was conducted. We used the multistage cluster stratified random sampling strategy to assess five provinces of China. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to identify behavioral problems among the enrolled students in the first stage. The results from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents and evaluations from two psychiatrists based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV were used to make a diagnosis. Point weighted prevalence for TD and OCD was estimated. We adjusted prevalence estimates with the product of sampling weights and poststratification weights. Standard error values and 95% confidential intervals were generated with Taylor series linearization. Rao–Scott adjusted chi-square (χ²) tests were employed to compare the prevalence estimates of different age and sex groups. Results: In the first stage, 73,992 participants aged 6–16 years old were selected. The prevalence rates of OCD and TDs were 1.37% (95% CI: 1.28–1.45) and 2.46% (95% CI: 2.35–2.57), respectively. The prevalence of OCD was found to be higher in girls (p < 0.001) and higher in boys with transient tic disorder (TTD) (p < 0.001) and Tourette’s syndrome (TS) (p < 0.001). The most common comorbidity of TS was OCD (40.73%), and for OCD, it was TS (11.36%). Conclusions: Our study is the first nationwide survey on the prevalence of TD (2.46%) and OCD (1.37%) in school students aged 6–16 years old in China. The high comorbidity between OCD and TD individuals suggested overlap based on the prevalence dimensions, which might be influenced by age and sex. This result suggested that we also need to pay more attention to the homogeneity and heterogeneity between TS and OCD.

Premature ovarian insufficiency,depression,anxiety,poor life quality,meta-analysis

Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in the environment, particularly in the microwave range, may constitute a public health concern. Exposure to 2.4 GHz EMR modulated by 100 Hz square pulses was recently reported to markedly increase wakefulness in mice. Here, we demonstrate that a similar wakefulness increase can be induced by the modulation frequency of 1,000 Hz, but not 10 Hz. In contrast to the carrier frequency of 2.4 GHz, 935 MHz EMR of the same power density has little impact on wakefulness irrespective of modulation frequency. Notably, the replacement of the 100 Hz square-pulsed modulation by sinusoidal-pulsed modulation of 2.4 GHz EMR still allows a marked increase of wakefulness. In contrast, continuous sinusoidal amplitude modulation of 100 Hz with the same time-averaged power output fails to trigger any detectable change of wakefulness. Therefore, alteration of sleep behavior by EMR depends upon not just carrier frequency but also frequency and mode of the modulation. These results implicate biological sensing mechanisms for specific EMR in animals.