Cuidando do recém-nascido em UTIN: convivendo com a fragilidade do viver/sobreviver à luz da complexidade

Este estudo objetivou compreender o significado do ser e do fazer o cuidado para os enfermeiros em uma Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo Neonatal (UTIN) de um hospital geral do sul do Brasil, construindo um modelo teórico explicativo. Utilizou-se a Teoria Fundamentada nos Dados e o Paradigma da Complexidade na construção do Modelo Teórico: Cuidando do recém-nascido em UTIN: Convivendo com a fragilidade do viver/sobreviver à luz da complexidade. Participaram 11 sujeitos. Os dados foram coletados mediante entrevista aberta e organizados no software NVIVO. Identificou-se a categoria central: Convivendo com a fragilidade do viver/sobreviver: cuidado altamente complexo, sensível, singular e compartilhado. O cuidado em UTIN, valorizando as inter-relações cotidianas, busca atuar em todas as esferas do cuidado complexo em saúde, integrando e aplicando conhecimentos científicos. É necessário exercitar as potencialidades já inatas dos profissionais de enfermagem e caminhar rumo ao encontro de novas, um convite a novos modos de cuidar do neonato, sua família e os membros deste sistema complexo

The worldwide NORM production and a fully automated gamma-ray spectrometer for their characterization

Materials containing radionuclides of natural origin, which is modified by human made processes and being subject to regulation because of their radioactivity are known as NORM. We present a brief review of the main categories of non-nuclear industries together with the levels of activity concentration in feed raw materials, products and waste, including mechanisms of radioisotope enrichments. The global management of NORM shows a high level of complexity, mainly due to different degrees of radioactivity enhancement and the huge amount of worldwide waste production. The future tendency of guidelines concerning environmental protection will require both a systematic monitoring based on the ever-increasing sampling and high performance of gamma ray spectroscopy. On the ground of these requirements a new low background fully automated high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer MCA_Rad has been developed. The design of Pb and Cu shielding allowed to reach a background reduction of two order of magnitude with respect to laboratory radioactivity. A severe lowering of manpower cost is obtained through a fully automation system, which enables up to 24 samples to be measured without any human attendance. Two coupled HPGe detectors increase the detection efficiency, performing accurate measurements on sample volume (180 cc) with a reduction of sample transport cost of material. Details of the instrument calibration method are presented. MCA_Rad system can measure in less than one hour a typical NORM sample enriched in U and Th with some hundreds of Bq/kg, with an overall uncertainty less than 5%. Quality control of this method has been tested. Measurements of certified reference materials RGK-1, RGU-2 and RGTh-1 containing concentrations of K, U and Th comparable to NORM have been performed, resulting an overall relative discrepancy of 5% among central values within the reported uncertainty.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, 6 table

NORM from the monazite cycle and from the oil and gas industry: Problems and tentative solutions

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) associated with monazite had its origin before the 20th century. The volume and complexity of monazite NORM wastes increased as the industrial applications of monazite also increased. During and after the WWII the diversified uses of thorium turned monazite into an important commodity. At the end of the 20th century the production of oil and gas from offshore platforms in continental shelves increased remarkably. Hundreds of millions of m3 of produced water from the oil and gas industry, containing NORM wastes and other byproducts, are discharged into the oceans every year. E&P processes mobilize the natural occurring radio-nuclides extant in the oil and gas reservoirs. A wide range of concentrations of 238U and 232Th and their respective progenies, mainly 226Ra, 222Rn and 210Pb (from the 238U series), and 228Ra and 228Th (from the 232Th series) appear in tube scales and sludge. The radium isotopes in NORM wastes generated in the monazite cycle become more bio-available than those isotopes found in wastes from the oil and gas industry. This work discusses some of the problems arising from the existence of monazite cycle and oil and gas industry NORM wastes, and proposes a tentative solution

A simplified model to evaluate the radiological impact of an accident with a nuclear reactor submerged at the sea

There are various scenarios dealing with releases of radionuclides in a water body, for example, accidents in nuclear power plants located in coastal areas, on margins of rivers or lakes. Meager attention has been given, however, to potential accidents with nuclear reactors submerged at sea. The latter type of accidents may occur with partial or total loss of the nuclear reactor core to the adjacent waters. In addition to initial instantaneous releases, one may estimate delayed sources based on rates of leaching or dissolving solid materials which are part of the core. Transport equations were used to estimate concentrations of radionuclides in water. Time dependent functions of concentrations of radionuclides in the aquatic food chain reflect the absorption and elimination processes in the flora and fauna. However, to avoid the multi-parametric complexity which can be inserted in these processes, the model takes into proper consideration in a simplified way the transfer of radionuclides through trophic levels. The model avoids the need to analyze step-by-step the details of transfer factors used to determine radionuclide accumulation in fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and algae. This simplified model may help authorities in the case of an accident with a nuclear reactor submerged at sea

Elemental composition of airborne particulates in uranium mining and milling operations

Airborne particulates were collected through filters in occupational areas of the uranium mining and milling complex located in Pocos de Caldas, Brazil. The filters were analyzed by microPIXE (particle induced x-ray emission) combined with Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) of the incident protons. The results are discussed in the paper. 4 references, 6 figures, 1 table

Micropixe as a tool to search for uranium-bearing particles in lung tissues

A proton microbeam is proposed as a tool to search for uranium-bearing particles in lung tissues. Preliminary experiments have been undertaken by irradiating with protons lung tissues of dogs previously exposed to uranium ore. 7 references