Distribuição e dispersão dos níveis radiométricos do setor técnico de medicina nuclear do hospital das clínicas da faculdade de medicina de botucatu

Nuclear medicine uses non-sealed sources for exams and treatments, because the movement of these sources, source of patients injected or not, involve a wide range of environmental radiometric levels. To better control of these levels this study was aimed at monitoring points strategically distributed in all environments Sector Technical Nuclear Medicine, Hospital of the Botucatu Medical School, performing two measurements at random times daily for a period of three months, sampling the normal routine of the sector. The detector Geiger-Muller was used for the acquisition of exposure rates of the points, efficiency and reprodutibility test have shown good performance of this equipment for this purpose. The results allowed to make a projection of annual dose for each environment indicating higher risks for Occupationally Exposed Individuals as well as Public Individuals compared with the limits established by the National Commission of Nuclear Energy. Was developed a spatial map of dose that can be used as a visual warning to the regions with the highest exposure to ionizing radiation, enabling reduced risk of a potential exposure

Chemical transfer of warning information in non-injured fish

In this study we describe pacus, Piaractus mesopotamicus, detecting the presence of a predator by conspecific alerting pheromone. Moreover, we investigate whether this chemical information indicates the presence of a specific predator, or whether it indicates general disturbance. We exposed groups of pacus to the view of a predator fish (trahira, Hoplias malabaricus), a non-predator fish (piracanjuba, Brycon orbignyanus) or an aquarium without any fish (control), and then we transferred their water to isolated conspecifics. We set up six trials of each condition in which we analysed the dispersion and the distance from the visual stimulus in water-donor fish and the distance from the chemical stimulus in water-receiver pacus. This study showed that pacus visually identified the presence of another fish and recognised it as predator or non-predator. This is interpreted as an innate response. Such heterospecific detection affects the behaviour of pacus, which release chemicals that induce conspecifics to adopt a similar behavioural response. At least two chemicals might be involved, one of them possibly an alerting pheromone.