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Clinthorne, N., Brzezinski, K., Chesi, E., Cochran, E., Grkovski, M., Grosicar, B., et al. (2013). Silicon as an unconventional detector in positron emission tomography. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 699, 216–220.
Abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a widely used technique in medical imaging and in studying small animal models of human disease. In the conventional approach, the 511 keV annihilation photons emitted from a patient or small animal are detected by a ring of scintillators such as LYSO read out by arrays of photodetectors. Although this has been successful in achieving similar to 5 mm FWHM spatial resolution in human studies and similar to 1 mm resolution in dedicated small animal instruments, there is interest in significantly improving these figures. Silicon, although its stopping power is modest for 511 keV photons, offers a number of potential advantages over more conventional approaches including the potential for high intrinsic spatial resolution in 3D. To evaluate silicon in a variety of PET “magnifying glass” configurations, an instrument was constructed that consists of an outer partial-ring of PET scintillation detectors into which various arrangements of silicon detectors are inserted to emulate dual-ring or imaging probe geometries. Measurements using the test instrument demonstrated the capability of clearly resolving point sources of Na-22 having a 1.5 mm center-to-center spacing as well as the 1.2 mm rods of a F-18-filled resolution phantom. Although many challenges remain, silicon has potential to become the PET detector of choice when spatial resolution is the primary consideration. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Jordan, D., Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Domingo-Pardo, C., Gomez-Hornillos, M. B., et al. (2013). Measurement of the neutron background at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory LSC. Astropart Phys., 42, 1–6.
Abstract: The energy distribution of the neutron background was measured for the first time at Hall A of the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. For this purpose we used a novel approach based on the combination of the information obtained with six large high-pressure He-3 proportional counters embedded in individual polyethylene blocks of different size. In this way not only the integral value but also the flux distribution as a function of neutron energy was determined in the range from 1 eV to 10 MeV. This information is of importance because different underground experiments show different neutron background energy dependence. The high sensitivity of the setup allowed to measure a neutron flux level which is about four orders of magnitude smaller that the neutron background at sea level. The integral value obtained is Phi(Hall A) = (3.44 +/- 0.35) x 10(-6) cm(-2) s(-1).
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Vijande, J., Granero, D., Perez-Calatayud, J., & Ballester, F. (2013). Monte Carlo dosimetric study of the medium dose rate CSM40 source. Appl. Radiat. Isot., 82, 283–288.
Abstract: The Cs-137 medium dose rate (MDR) CSM40 source model (Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG, Germany) is in clinical use but no dosimetric dataset has been published. This study aims to obtain dosimetric data for the CSM40 source for its use in clinical practice as required by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). Penelope2008 and Geant4 Monte Carlo codes were used to characterize this source dosimetrically. It was located in an unbounded water phantom with composition and mass density as recommended by AAPM and ESTRO. Due to the low photon energies of Cs-137, absorbed dose was approximated by collisional kerma. Additional simulations were performed to obtain the air-kerma strength, sic. Mass-energy absorption coefficients in water and air were consistently derived and used to calculate collisional kerma. Results performed with both radiation transport codes showed agreement typically within 0.05%. Dose rate constant, radial dose function and anisotropy function are provided for the CSM40 and compared with published data for other commercially available Cs-137 sources. An uncertainty analysis has been performed. The data provided by this study can be used as input data and verification in the treatment planning systems. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Tortola, M. (2013). Status of three-neutrino oscillation parameters. Fortschritte Phys.-Prog. Phys., 61(4-5), 427–440.
Abstract: Here we review the current status of global fits to neutrino oscillation data within the three-flavour framework. In our analysis we include the most recent data from solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments as well as the latest results from the long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments and the recent measurements of reactor neutrino disappearance reported by Double Chooz, Daya Bay and RENO. We present updated determinations for the two neutrino mass splittings and the three mixing angles responsible for neutrino oscillations that, for the first time, have all been measured with 1 sigma accuracies ranging from 3 to 15%. A weak sensitivity for the CP violating phase is also reported from the global analysis.
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Takubo, Y., Hodgkinson, R. N., Ikematsu, K., Fujii, K., Okada, N., & Yamamoto, H. (2013). Measuring anomalous couplings in H -> WW* decays at the International Linear Collider. Phys. Rev. D, 88(1), 013010–9pp.
Abstract: The measurement of the Higgs coupling to W bosons is an important test of our understanding of the electroweak symmetry-breaking mechanism. We study the sensitivity of the International Linear Collider (ILC) to the presence of anomalous HW+W- couplings using ZH -> nu(nu) over bar WW* -> nu(nu) over bar 4j events. Using an effective Lagrangian approach, we calculate the differential decay rates of the Higgs boson including the effects of new dimension-five operators. We present a Monte Carlo simulation of events at the ILC, using a full detector simulation based on GEANT4 and a real event reconstruction chain. Expected constraints on the anomalous couplings are given.
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