Timing of the Brunhes-Matuyama transition constrained by U-series disequilibrium.

U-series disequilibrium measurements carried out on thermogenic travertine samples from a 12.6 m-long core and a 10 m-thick section from southeastern Morocco yielded finite ages ranging from 500 ka to the present-day, as well as two clusters determined to be older than 500 ka. The calculation of initial U/U activity ratios in all samples younger than 500 ka shows high, reasonably constant values, with an average of 5.

U-Th dated speleothem recorded geomagnetic excursions in the Lower Brunhes.

The study of geomagnetic excursions is key for understanding the behavior of the magnetic field of the Earth. In this paper, we present the geomagnetic record in a 2.29-m-long continuous core sampled in a flowstone in Liguria (Italy) and dated to the Lower Brunhes.

[Treatment of heterotopic ossification by extracorporeal shock wave: 26 patients].

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) on heterotopic ossification leading to functional limitations in the short and medium term.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with heterotopic ossification received sessions of ESTW (4000 shocks, 3/s), with an energy ranging from 0.54 to 1.

[Rhabdomyolysis caused by pravastatin and type 1 macrocreatine kinase].

The authors report a case of rhabdomyolysis which occurred in a 61 year old woman who was receiving pravastatin and who was also found to present with type 1 macrocreatine kinase. Drug induced rhabdomyolysis is common, particularly with HMG Coenzyme A reductase inhibitors. The authors describe the onset of an adverse effect of this type with pravastatin, a recently marketed drug, as has been previously described for lovastatin and simvastatin.

Naloxone-reversible analgesia induced by electrical stimulation of the habenula in the rat.

During a previous study of the nucleus parafascicularis (Pf), cells were recorded in the lateral habenula (HbL) which exhibited response patterns to peripheral noxious stimuli similar to those recorded in the Pf. In order to study the possible role of the habenular complex (Hb) in pain processing, we investigated the effect of electrical stimulation of the Hb on the tail-flick latency. For each series of experiments, the Hb of 15 female rats was implanted unilaterally, with bipolar electrodes, on either the right or left side.