A Double-Blind Comparative Study of burstDR Versus Tonic Epidural Motor Cortex Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Neuropathic Pain.

Background: Preliminary studies on epidural motor cortex stimulation (eMCS) for the treatment of drug-resistant neuropathic pain have supported the extension to novel stimulation waveforms, in particular burstDR. However, only a low level of evidence is available. The aim of this retrospective observational study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of burstDR versus tonic eMCS.

Tritium and radiocarbon levels in the Rhône river delta and along the French Mediterranean coastline.

The Rhône is characterised by a heavy concentration of nuclear-based industries including nuclear power stations and nuclear sites housing civilian and military facilities. Here, we report the results of a four-year survey (2010-2013) of tritium and radiocarbon levels in a variety of matrices within the Rhône delta and along the French Mediterranean coastline. The aim of the study is to create a spatial reference framework of environmental levels of these two radionuclides, which are the most prevalent in radioactive effluents from nuclear power stations.

Impact of the Fukushima accident on tritium, radiocarbon and radiocesium levels in seawater of the western North Pacific Ocean: A comparison with pre-Fukushima situation.

Tritium, radiocarbon and radiocesium concentrations in water column samples in coastal waters offshore Fukushima and in the western North Pacific Ocean collected in 2011-2012 during the Ka'imikai-o-Kanaloa (KoK) cruise are compared with other published results. The highest levels in surface seawater were observed for Cs and Cs in seawater samples collected offshore Fukushima (up to 1.1 Bq L), which represent an increase by about three orders of magnitude when compared with the pre-Fukushima concentration.

Measurement of the French national tritiated-water standard by helium-3 mass spectrometry.

The (3)He ingrowth technique is based on the detection of the tritium radioactive daughter, (3)He, by mass spectrometry. Over the last three decades it has been used extensively in oceanography and groundwater studies for measurements of very low to ultra-low levels of tritium. To compare it with the best available methods of radioactive counting, we applied this method to measure the massic activity of a tritiated-water primary standard prepared by the French Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNHB).

The distribution of tritium between water and suspended matter in a laboratory experiment exposing sediment to tritiated water.

Following recent suggestions regarding the strong affinity of tritiated water for organic matter in suspended particulates and sediments, two equilibration experiments between sediment organic matter (dry and fresh) and tritiated water were performed to look for potential tritium bio-concentration. The T/H ratios measured at the end of both experiments are lower in the sediment organic matter than in the water, indicating that only a fraction of the hydrogen pool (between 14% and 20%) within the sediment equilibrated with the tritiated water. These results are consistent with the widely used concept of exchangeable and non-exchangeable tritium pools in organic matter and show no sign of tritium bio-accumulation in the sediment relative to water.