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Granero, D., Candela-Juan, C., Vijande, J., Ballester, F., Perez-Calatayud, J., Jacob, D., et al. (2016). Technical Note: Dosimetry of Leipzig and Valencia applicators without the plastic cap. Med. Phys., 43(5), 2087–4pp.
Abstract: Purpose: High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy for treatment of small skin lesions using the Leipzig and Valencia applicators is a widely used technique. These applicators are equipped with an attachable plastic cap to be placed during fraction delivery to ensure electronic equilibrium and to prevent secondary electrons from reaching the skin surface. The purpose of this study is to report on the dosimetric impact of the cap being absent during HDR fraction delivery, which has not been explored previously in the literature. Methods: GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations (version 10.0) have been performed for the Leipzig and Valencia applicators with and without the plastic cap. In order to validate the Monte Carlo simulations, experimental measurements using radiochromic films have been done. Results: Dose absorbed within 1 mm of the skin surface increases by a factor of 1500% for the Leipzig applicators and of 180% for the Valencia applicators. Deeper than 1 mm, the overdosage flattens up to a 10% increase. Conclusions: Differences of treating with or without the plastic cap are significant. Users must check always that the plastic cap is in place before any treatment in order to avoid overdosage of the skin. Prior to skin HDR fraction delivery, the timeout checklist should include verification of the cap placement. (C) 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.
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Richard, J. M., Valcarce, A., & Vijande, J. (2020). Hall-Post inequalities: Review and application to molecules and tetraquarks. Ann. Phys., 412, 168009–32pp.
Abstract: A review is presented of the Hall-Post inequalities that give lower-bounds to the ground-state energy of quantum systems in terms of energies of smaller systems. New applications are given for systems experiencing both a static source and inner interactions, as well as for hydrogen-like molecules and for tetraquarks in some quark models. In the latter case, the Hall-Post inequalities constrain the possibility of deeply-bound exotic mesons below the threshold for dissociation into two quark-antiquark mesons. We also emphasize the usefulness of the Hall-Post bounds in terms of 3-body energies when some 2-body subsystems are ill defined or do not support any bound state.
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