NextGEM: Next-Generation Integrated Sensing and Analytical System for Monitoring and Assessing Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and Health.

The evolution of emerging technologies that use Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) has increased the interest of the scientific community and society regarding the possible adverse effects on human health and the environment. This article provides NextGEM's vision to assure safety for EU citizens when employing existing and future EMF-based telecommunication technologies. This is accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that ascertains appropriate prevention and control/actuation actions regarding RF-EMF exposure in residential, public, and occupational settings. Fulfilling this vision, NextGEM commits to the need for a healthy living and working environment under safe RF-EMF exposure conditions that can be trusted by people and be in line with the regulations and laws developed by public authorities. NextGEM provides a framework for generating health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new scenarios of exposure to RF-EMF in multiple frequency bands and developing and validating tools for evidence-based risk assessment. Finally, NextGEM's Innovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) will offer a standardized way for European regulatory authorities and the scientific community to store and assess project outcomes and provide access to findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data.

The influence of population aging and size on the number of CT examinations in The Netherlands.

Exposures to ionizing radiation from medical examinations are on the rise. An important cause for this has been the advent and ever-increasing use of computed tomography (CT) scans for diagnostic purposes. It is often implied that population aging contributes significantly to this rise. Here, the trends in population statistics are compared to the trend in the number of CT scans in the Netherlands for the period 2002-2010. It is concluded that population growth and population aging cannot explain the observed rise in CT examinations. In fact, these factors contribute only 17% to this rise, indicating that there must be other factors that are far more important.