The transfer of 239+240Pu, 241Am, 137Cs and 90Sr to the tissues of horses.

Horses are important food sources in several countries however, data on their radionuclide uptake is less available than for many other farm animals. Information on the transfer of artificial radioisotopes from the environment to the food supply is necessary for internal dose assessment and assuring the safety of the population relying on this food source. This study provides data for a less studied farm animal and, in the case of 241Am and 239+240Pu, relatively poorly studied radionuclides with respect to transfer to animal products. The transfer parameters for 239+240Pu, 241Am, 137Cs and 90Sr to the organs of 1-year old fillies, 10-year old mares and through the placental barrier into foetuses were quantified after 60-days feeding with contaminated soil or diet contaminated by a leachate solution. The transfer of radionuclides from ingested soil to tissues was generally lower, by up to three orders of magnitude, than from a diet contaminated by a leachate solution. The ingestion of soil is a particularly important source of radionuclide intake to grazing animals in the Semipalatinsk Test Site. For 241Am there is a lack of available data, the two singular entries for mutton and beef in the IAEA handbook are higher than all values observed in the current study. The maximum observed transfer factor for 241Am was 72 ± 22*10-5 d kg-1 FW in the liver of the mare fed with leachate contaminated feed. For 239+240Pu the maximum transfer factor was 31.8 ± 8*10-5 d kg-1 FW observed also in the liver of the mare fed with leachate contaminated feed. The filly fed with leachate contaminated feed had the highest transfer parameter value for 137Cs, 35.3*10-3 d kg-1 FW. The highest 90Sr transfer factor was found in the ribs of the filly fed leachate contaminated feed, 720 ± 144 *10-3 d kg-1 FW. The results presented in this paper can be used to improve the current internal dose estimates from the ingestion of horse meat produced in the area, however they are based on a low sample size; future studies need to use a larger number of animals.

137Cs and 90Sr IN lizards of Semipalatinsk test site.

The paper provides research results of 137Cs and 90Sr radionuclides concentrations in bodies of Lacertidae family lizards, inhabiting different parts of Semipalatinsk Test Site, and the parameters of these radionuclides' transfer into lizards' bodies. It shows that high activity concentration of radionuclides in lizards' bodies can be noticed if they live directly at locally contaminated areas. Since the distance from contaminated spots exceeds home range of the studied animals, no increased values of radionuclides' activity were found in the animal bodies. At some individual radioactively contaminated spots, very high activity concentrations of 90Sr radionuclide up to 7.8 × 105 Bq kg-1 were found in lizards. So under certain conditions, lizards can significantly contribute to radionuclides redistribution in the natural environment. Mean concentration ratios (CR) of radionuclides were as follows: 137Cs-6.2 × 10-3, 90Sr-1.1 × 10-2.

[Characteristics of carbohydrate-protein metabolism in rats of different ages after administration of ulcerogenic doses of aspirin]. / Osobennosti v obmene uglevodno-belkovykh soedinenii u krys razlichnogo vozrasta pri deistvii ul'tserogennykh doz aspirina.

Distinct age differences in content of carbohydrate-protein substances were found in rat gastric and pre-gastric walls, liver tissue and blood during experimental ulcer caused by acetyl salicylic acid. These results may be applied to the procedures of aspirin administration depending on age as well as they should be considered during stomach impairments followed the drug treatment using the carbohydrate-protein patterns of blood.