Palaeoenvironmental changes based on foraminifera during the late Holocene at the Beagle Channel, Argentina.

A foraminiferal faunal study was carried out in a Holocene marine section from Arroyo Baliza, located on the northwest coast of the Beagle Channel, to contribute to the knowledge of the palaeoenvironmental conditions during the marine Holocene event. Foraminiferal assemblage was represented by 32 species distributed among 21 genera. The assemblage was dominated by Elphidium macellum (Fichtel & Moll) Elphidium alvarezianum (d'Orbigny), Cribroelphidium excavatum (Terquem) and Buccella peruviana (d'Orbigny), accompanied by Cibicides fletcheri Galloway & Wissler and Cibicidoides dispars (d'Orbigny) in low proportion.

Ability and fitness to drive of Parkinson's disease patients.

The authors review reports in the literature on the fitness and ability to drive of neurosurgical patients and subjects afflicted by neurological disorders, before focusing on their own series of 204 idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The study sample comprised 173 men and 31 women (average age 70.6 and 74.

Long-Term Nicergoline Treatment of Mild to Moderate Senile Dementia : Results of a Multicentre, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

The efficacy and tolerability of nicergoline were evaluated in a long-term, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 108 patients, fulfilling DSM III-R criteria for mild to moderate senile dementia of degenerative, vascular or mixed origin, were selected from a pool of outpatients attending five Italian neurological centres and randomised to receive nicergoline 30mg twice daily (54 patients) or placebo (54 patients) for 12 months. Treatment efficacy on cognitive and behavioural performances was assessed by the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric scale (SCAG) and Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), at baseline and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of treatment.

Elective neurotraumatology and therapeutic strategies in early post-trauma.

The aim of elective neurotraumatology is to outline new and valid therapeutic strategies in early post-trauma in order to obtain a more favourable long-term outcome for cranial and spinal trauma patients than usually achieved with conventional intensive therapies. After a critical review of all drugs and measures currently used for the treatment of damage due to cerebral trauma and a brief mention of new agents still being studied, the results of a retrospective study of 128 patients with severe head injury are reported. For all patients a complete clinical and pharmacological history of their traumatic event, which had occurred from 5 to 14 years before the present evaluation, was available.