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The protective shielding design of a mammography facility requires the knowledge of the scattered radiation by the patient and image receptor components. The shape and intensity of secondary x-ray beams depend on the kVp applied to the x-ray tube, target/filter combination, primary x-ray field size, and scattering angle. Currently, shielding calculations for mammography facilities are performed based on scatter fraction data for Mo/Mo target/filter, even though modern mammography equipment is designed with different anode/filter combinations. In this work we present scatter fraction data evaluated based on the x-ray spectra produced by a Mo/Mo, Mo/Rh and W/Rh target/filter, for 25, 30 and 35 kV tube voltages and scattering angles between 30 and 165 degrees. Three mammography phantoms were irradiated and the scattered radiation was measured with a CdZnTe detector. The primary x-ray spectra were computed with a semiempirical model based on the air kerma and HVL measured with an ionization chamber. The results point out that the scatter fraction values are higher for W/Rh than for Mo/Mo and Mo/Rh, although the primary and scattered air kerma are lower for W/Rh than for Mo/Mo and Mo/Rh target/filter combinations. The scatter fractions computed in this work were applied in a shielding design calculation in order to evaluate shielding requirements for each of these target/filter combinations. Besides, shielding requirements have been evaluated converting the scattered air kerma from mGy/week to mSv/week adopting initially a conversion coefficient from air kerma to effective dose as 1 Sv/Gy and then a mean conversion coefficient specific for the x-ray beam considered. Results show that the thickest barrier should be provided for Mo/Mo target/filter combination. They also point out that the use of the conversion coefficient from air kerma to effective dose as 1 Sv/Gy is conservatively high in the mammography energy range and overestimate the barrier thickness.

As estrelas Be compreendem uma grande faixa de massas e temperaturas. Por definição, são objetos de tipo B com classe de luminosidade entre V e III que apresentam, ou apresentaram alguma vez, linhas de Balmer em emissão (eventualmente metais uma vez ionizados) e/ou linhas com padrões de absorção shell, possivelmente formadas em um envelope circunstelar. Embora se saiba há muito tempo que esses objetos são rodadores rápidos e que giram pelo menos 1,5 a 2 vezes mais rápido do que as estrelas B normais, ainda é incerto se esses objetos são ou não em média rodadores crticos, não obstante as recentes observações interferométricas de HD 10144 (Achernar) (uma estrela Be tpica) indicarem se tratar de um rodador crtico. Devido às suas altas taxas de rotação, as quais originam distorções geométricas e distribuições não uniformes de temperatura dependentes da latitude estelar, os valores de velocidade de rotação derivados por métodos clássicos são sistematicamente subestimados. Além disso, os efeitos da rotação, aliados à presença do envelope circunstelar, mascaram as condições fsicas desses objetos, resultando em diferenças significativas em seus estágios evolutivos na seqüência principal. Neste trabalho apresentamos os resultados do estudo espectroscópico de estrelas Be em duas vertentes. Na primeira tratamos o tema da formação e estrutura do envelope circunstelar de estrelas Be, através das análises de duas estrelas, HD 127972 ( Cen) e HD 10144 (Achernar). Nesse estudo identificamos e caracterizamos seus modos de pulsação, os quais se constituem em um possvel mecanismo de perda de massa e formação do envelope. Além disso, estudamos a estrutura de seus envelopes circunstelares através da modelagem de perfis de Balmer em emissão. Na segunda vertente quantificamos as condições fsicas de 141 estrelas de campo, onde 114 são de tipo Be e 27 estrelas são B normais. Nesse estudo, comparamos os estágios evolutivos desses objetos obtidos através de métodos clássicos com os estágios evolutivos corrigidos dos efeitos da rotação elevada. Concluimos que o \"fenômeno Be\" pode ocorrer em todas as fases da evolução estelar na seqüência principal. Be stars encompass a large mass and temperature range. By definition, they are B-type objects with luminosity classes V to III that have, or have shown at least once, Balmer lines in emission (eventually single-ionized metals) and/or lines with shell absorption patterns possibly formed in a circumstellar envelope. Though it has long been known that these objects are fast rotators and that they rotate at least 1.5 to 2 times faster than normal B stars, it is still uncertain whether or not these objects are in average critical rotators, although recent interferometric observations on Achernar (a typical Be star) pointed it out to be a critical rotator. Due to their high rotation rates which originate geometrical distortions and non-uniform temperature distributions dependent on the stellar latitude, the rotation velocity values derived from classical methods are systematically underestimated. Moreover, the rotation effects allied to the continuum emission due to the presence of a circumstellar envelope disguise the physical conditions of these objects, resulting in significative differences of their main-sequence evolutionary stages. In this work we present the results of the spectroscopic study of Be stars in two approaches. In the first one we treat the subject of formation and structure of the circumstellar envelope of Be stars through the analyses of two stars, HD 127972 ( Cen) and HD 10144 (Achernar). In this study we identify and characterize their pulsation modes, which constitute in a possible mechanism of mass loss and envelope formation. Moreover we study the structure of their circumstellar envelopes through the modeling of Balmer profiles in emission. In the second approach we quantify the physical conditions of 141 field stars, where 114 are Be-type stars and 27 stars are normal B stars. In this study, we compared the evolutionary stages of these objects obtained through classical methods with evolutionary stages corrected for high rotation effects. We conclude that the \"Be phenomenon\" can occur at whatever stage of the stellar evolution on the main sequence.

A espectrocopia de estrelas Be realizada com alta resolução e alta relação sinal/ruído permite investigar variações temporais rápidas nos perfis de linhas de absorção, usualmente atribuidas às pulsações não radiais, entre outros mecanismos. O fenômeno Be é transitorio para esse tipo de estrelas. Com efeito, seus espectros podem apresentar as características de uma estrela B normal, ou então de uma estrela com envelope circunstelar "frio" (presença de linhas finas de emissão e absorção no espectro visível). Essas estrelas se caracterizam por apresentarem altas velocidades de rotação, entretanto insuficientes para explicar as altas taxas de perda de massa, cujos mecanismos permanecem ainda incompreendicos. Neste trabalho, adotamos o modelo de pulsações não radiais (PNR) para tentar explicar as variações temporais presentes nos perfis de linha centrados em Hel λ 667.8nm. Para este fim, foi utilizado o método CLEANEST para efetuar a determinação de periodicidades, após alguns testes de comparação prévios entre o desempenho desse método e o CLEAN. Ambos os métodos possuem grande eficiência em análises temporais, entre tanto na média o método CLEANEST se sobressaiu tanto na determinação de freqüências como de amplitudes. Além disso, foram estudados outros tipos de variabilidades também presentes nesses perfis, como as variabilidades nas intensidades relativas das asas da linha e a variabilidade na posição de um pico central em quase emissão. Os dados espectroscópicos analisados constituem quatro conjuntos de espectros obtidos nos anos 1995, 1996, 1997 e 1998 no MCT/LNA. Há ainda um conjunto de dados fotométricos proveniente do satélite HIPPARCOS relativo aos anos de 1990, 1991 e 1992. As análises dos dados espectroscópicos e fotométricos forneceram resultados que concordam com outros trabalhos sobre η Centauri. The spectroscopy of Be stars carried out with high resolution and signal to noise relation allows to investigate quick time variations in line absorption profiles, usually due to non radial pulsations, among other mechanisms. The Be phenomenon is transitory for such stars. Indeed, their spectra may show characteristics of a normal B star, or a star with a "cold" circumstellar envelope (presence of sharp emission and absorption lines in visible spectrum). These stars are characterized by high speed rotation, however insufficient to explain high mass loss rates, whose mechanisms still remains misunderstood. In this work, we adopted the non-radial pulsation model (NRP) in order to explain the observed time series variations present in line profiles centered in HeI λ 667.8 nm. For this sake, it was used the CLEANEST method to carry out periodicity determinations, after some previous comparative tests of performance between this method and CLEAN. Both of them possess great efficiency in time analysis, however in average the CLEANEST method stood out both in determining frequencies and amplitudes. Besides, it were studied also other kinds of variability also present in these profiles, such as relative intensity variations in the wings of the profile and the variability in position of the central quasi-emission peak. The analyzed spectroscopic data constitute four sets of spectra obtained in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 at the MCT/LNA. There is still one photometric data set coming from HIPPARCOS satellite spanning from 1990 to 1992. The spectroscopic and photometric data analysis have furnished results that agree with other works on η Centauri

Optical long baseline interferometry was recently established as a technique capable of resolving stars and their circumstellar environments at the milliarcsecond (mas) resolution level. This high-resolution opens an entire new window to the study of astrophysical systems, providing information inaccessible by other techniques. Astrophysical disks are observed in a wide variety of systems, from galaxies up to planetary rings, commonly sharing similar physical processes. Two particular disk like systems are studied in the thesis: (i) B He-rich stars that exhibits magnetic fields in order of kG and that trap their winds in structures called magnetospheres; and (ii) Be stars, fast rotating stars that create circumstellar viscous disks. This study uses the interferometric technique to investigate both the photosphere proper and the circumstellar environment of these stars. The objective is to combine interferometry with other observational techniques (such as spectroscopy and polarimetry) to perform a complete and well-constrained physical description of these systems. This description is accompanied by radiative transfer models performed by the HDUST code. Keywords: stars: individual (Achernar), stars: fundamental parameters, techniques: interferometric, circumstellar matter, stars: emission-line, Be, stars: magnetic field, Comment: 235* pages, PhD Thesis, Universidade de S\~ao Paulo and Universit\'e Nice Sophia-Antipolis