Guest editorial

Citation

Antunes, C.F.R.L. (2015), "Guest editorial", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 34 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/COMPEL-05-2015-0196

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: COMPEL: The International Journal for Computation and Mathematics in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Volume 34, Issue 4

Preface

It is my great pleasure to introduce this Special Issue of COMPEL with selected papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Electromagnetic Fields, Health and Environment –EHE 2014, held in Porto, Portugal, from 24 to 25 April 2014.

The Conference was organized by the APDEE –Portuguese Association for the Promotion and Development of Electrical Engineering and is now in its fifth edition after successful previous conferences held in Funchal, Portugal (2006); Wroclaw, Poland (2007); São Paulo, Brazil (2009); Coimbra, Portugal (2011) and in Porto, Portugal in 2014.

This international conference, like its predecessors, is a world forum for a multi-discipline audience with backgrounds as researchers, physicians, engineers, ecologists, consultants, decision and opinion makers, public authorities, to present, review and discuss the new developments and trends on electromagnetic field (EMF) analysis, simulation and application with significance to the human health, as well as increase the public’s awareness of this strategic area for the modern world.

The human organism does not function solely on the basis of biological or biochemical cellular reactions, but also on the basis of EMFs. Humans are indeed “electromagnetic beings”. The term “electromagnetic fields” covers all the fields emitted by natural and man-made sources, hence the distinction between static and alternating fields. In the latter, a differentiation should be made between extremely low frequency (so-called ELF) fields, such as those due to domestic and industrial electricity, and high-frequency (so-called RF) fields due to mobile telecommunication technologies, Wi-Fi, WLAN, etc.

It has been established that EMF operating at various frequencies can have useful and beneficial effects in clinical medicine, either for diagnosis or treatment. For example, and to mention a few of the best of non-ionizing frequency band applications: the therapeutic benefits of electrotherapy; the clinical effects of direct currents (electrolysis); the clinical effects of external electric impulses on the cardiac muscle (pacemaker, defibrillators); clinical effects of micro measurements generated by pulse magnetic fields to improve healing in tissue repair and bone fractures. However, because very weak electrical currents are part of our human physiology (i.e. at the level of communication between cells), the question of the possible disruptive effects on the human body and eventual consequences they might have for health, may legitimately be raised, especially in children.

The levels of the EMF in the environment as a consequence of our modern life and way of living are increasing every day and as a result public exposure to EMF is also increasing. There is growing public concern and awareness of the potential health effects due to these radiations. The findings of scientific research are inconclusive; there is not unanimity of opinion and debate continues.

The EHE 2014 Conference contributions concern the areas of: EMF modelling, measurement and simulation; bio-effects of EMF; environmental safety policy issues; and international standards.

The Conference’s official language was English and this was the only accepted working language used for all printed material, presentations and discussions.

The international scientific committee was composed of 47 distinguished personalities from 19 countries, with world-recognized competence in the topics and subtopics covered in the Conference. The committee reviewed and selected circa 50 high-quality papers that were presented at this Conference in six oral sessions and one poster session.

The authors of the accepted papers came from 27 countries, which definitely had a special meaning for the organizers regarding the worldwide interest about this conference and this certainly will increase the ambition to push it forward to a larger environment and audience. Three plenary invited keynote lectures were given by world-renowned specialists in the conference topics.

I hope that the selection of eight peer-reviewed papers presented within this issue will provide interesting and novel information on this exciting area to the wider research community.

Professor Carlos F.R. Lemos Antunes, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal and Research and Development, Rianda Research, Coimbra, Portugal