The hazy dawn of brachytherapy.

The discovery of radium by Pierre and Marie Curie in December 1898 opened a new era in science and within a few years provided medicine with a new means of tumor treatment. Their personal contribution to the start and early development of clinical applications should not be overlooked. The Curies did not limit their support to providing radium sources to medical pioneers but took a deep interest in the horizons of radium therapy.

[From X-rays to radioactivity and radium. The discovery and works of Henri Becquerel (1851-1908)].

The discovery of radioactivity was the outcome of a methodical experimental study achieved by Becquerel. He continued his discovery with studies which give evidence of his scientific and experimentative mind. These studies explored the nature and properties of the emitted radiation and brought basic data to the disintegration theory.

Characterization of two sulfate-reducing bacteria from the gut of the soil-feeding termite, Cubitermes speciosus.

Two sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were isolated from a mixed culture enriched with benzoate obtained from gut homogenate of the soil-feeding higher termite, Cubitermes speciosus. The organisms were vibrioid rods, staining Gram-negative, which performed incomplete substrate oxidation. They differed in several features.