TITF-1 gene mutations should be considered in paediatric and adult patients with unexplained (combinations of) chorea, mental retardation, primary hypothyroidism, and chronic lung disease. Introduction of a name for the disorder, e.g. Brain-Thyroid-Lung syndrome, would probably facilitate further recognition. Whether the TITF-1 gene mutation in this patient predisposed to the development of lung cancer remains speculative.

Transfer reaction cross sections for the systems ' r' Ti+ 'Pb at E, =243 MeV have been measured with single mass and charge resolution using a magnetic spectrograph and a gas-611ed focal-plane detector. The angle and excitation energy ranges studied in this experiment covered both quasi-elastic and deep-inelastic processes. The total reaction cross sections are dominated by transfer reactions with neutron transfer being the strongest transfer mode. Wilczynski plots for individual reaction channels have been generated showing a gradual transition from quasi-elastic reactions to deep-inelastic processes. While macroscopic models cannot explain the element distributions observed in this experiment, a simple model based on a random walk in the N-Z plane gives good agreement for the reaction strength and the measured energy spectra.

Calcium-41 has been suggested as a new tool for radiometric dating in the range of 10(5) to 10(6) years. The concentration of cosmogenic calcium-41 in natural samples of terrestrial origin has now been determined by high-sensitivity accelerator mass spectrometry after pre-enrichment in calcium-41 with an isotope separator. Ratios of calcium-41 to total calcium between 2 x 10(-14) and 3 x 10(-15) were measured for samples of contemporary bovine bone and from limestone deposits. Some prospects for the use of calcium-41 for dating Middle and Late Pleistocene bone and for other geophysical applications are discussed.

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