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Oliver, S., Vijande, J., Tejedor-Aguilar, N., Miro, R., Rovira-Escutia, J. J., Ballester, F., et al. (2023). Monte Carlo flattening filter design to high energy intraoperative electron beam homogenization. Radiat. Phys. Chem., 212, 111102–6pp.
Abstract: Intraoperative radiotherapy using mobile linear accelerators is used for a wide variety of malignancies. However, when large fields are used in combination with high energies, a deterioration of the flatness dose profile is measured with respect to smaller fields and lower energies. Indeed, for the LIAC HWL of Sordina, this deterioration is observed for the 12 MeV beam combined with 10 cm (or larger) diameter applicator. Aimed to solve this problem, a flattening filter has been designed and validated evaluating the feasibility of its usage at the upper part of the applicator. The design of the filter was based on Monte Carlo simulations because of its accuracy in modeling components of clinical devices, among other purposes. The LIAC 10 cm diameter applicator was modeled and simulated independently by two different research groups using two different MC codes, reproducing the heterogeneity of the 12 MeV energy beam. Then, an iterative process of filter design was carried out. Finally, the MC designed conical filter with the optimal size and height to obtain the desired flattened beam was built in-house using a 3D printer. During the experimental validation of the applicator-filter, percentage depth dose, beam profiles, absolute and peripheral dose measurements were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the filter addition in the applicator. These measurements conclude that the beam has been flattened, from 5.9% with the standard configuration to 1.6% for the configuration with the filter, without significant increase of the peripheral dose. Consequently, the new filter-applicator LIAC configuration can be used also in a conventional surgery room. A reduction of 16% of the output dose and a reduction of 1.1 mm in the D50 of the percentage depth dose was measured with respect to the original configuration. This work is a proof-of-concept that demonstrates that it is possible to add a filter able to flatten the beam delivered by the Sordina LIAC HWL. Future studies will focus on more refined technical solutions fully compatible with the integrity of the applicator, including its sterilization, to be safely introduced in the clinical practice.
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Barrientos, L., Borja-Lloret, M., Casana, J. V., Hueso-Gonzalez, F., Ros, A., Roser, J., et al. (2023). System characterization and performance studies with MACACO III Compton camera. Radiat. Phys. Chem., 208, 110922–13pp.
Abstract: The IRIS group of IFIC-Valencia has developed a Compton camera prototype. The system detectors are made of Lanthanum (III) bromide scintillator crystals coupled to silicon photomultipliers. Two models of silicon photomultipliers arrays with different micro pixel pitch (25 and 50 μm) have been chosen as possible candidates to improve the response of the new system. Characterization studies with a 22Na point-like source have indicated that the 25 μm photodetector provided better performance in terms of energy resolution (5.2% FWHM at 511 keV) and angular resolution (6.9 degrees FWHM at 1275 keV), and more stability with temperature variations. In addition, MACACO III imaging capabilities have been assessed using a structure composed of thirty-seven 22Na point-like sources. Furthermore, in order to evaluate possible ways of improving the system performance, several studies have been carried out by means of simulations both in realistic and performance improved conditions. In this work, the system performance is evaluated for its future application in different areas.
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Viegas, R., Roser, J., Barrientos, L., Borja-Lloret, M., Casaña, J. V., Lopez, J. G., et al. (2023). Characterization of a Compton camera based on the TOFPET2 ASIC. Radiat. Phys. Chem., 202, 110507–11pp.
Abstract: The use of Compton cameras for medical imaging and its interest as a hadron therapy treatment monitoring has increased in the last decade with the development of silicon photomultipliers. MACACOp is a Compton camera prototype designed and assembled at the IRIS group of IFIC-Valencia. This Compton camera is based on monolithic Lanthanum (III) Bromide crystals and silicon photomultipliers, and employs the novel TOFPET2 ASIC as readout electronics. This system emerged as an alternative to MACACO II prototype, with the aim of improving its limited time resolution. To test the performance of the ASIC in a Compton camera setup, the prototype was characterized, both in laboratory and in-beam. A time resolution of 1.5 ns was obtained after time corrections, which improves greatly the performance of the MACACO II. Moreover, the results obtained at high photon energies demonstrate the ability of the system to obtain 1 mm displacements of the reconstructed spots. The results reinforce the potential of the system as a monitoring device for hadron therapy.
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Perez-Calatayud, J., Ballester, F., Tedgren, C., DeWerd, L. A., Papagiannis, P., Rivard, M. J., et al. (2022). GEC-ESTRO ACROP recommendations on calibration and traceability of HE HDR-PDR photon-emitting brachytherapy sources at the hospital level. Radiother. Oncol., 176, 108–117.
Abstract: The vast majority of radiotherapy departments in Europe using brachytherapy (BT) perform temporary implants of high-or pulsed-dose rate (HDR-PDR) sources with photon energies higher than 50 keV. Such techniques are successfully applied to diverse pathologies and clinical scenarios. These recommen-dations are the result of Working Package 21 (WP-21) initiated within the BRAchytherapy PHYsics Quality Assurance System (BRAPHYQS) GEC-ESTRO working group with a focus on HDR-PDR source cal-ibration. They provide guidance on the calibration of such sources, including practical aspects and issues not specifically accounted for in well-accepted societal recommendations, complementing the BRAPHYQS WP-18 Report dedicated to low energy BT photon emitting sources (seeds). The aim of this report is to provide a European-wide standard in HDR-PDR BT source calibration at the hospital level to maintain high quality patient treatments.
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Jungclaus, A., Doornenbal, P., Acosta, J., Vaquero, V., Browne, F., Cortes, M. L., et al. (2024). Position of the single-particle 3/2- state in 135Sn and the N = 90 subshell closure. Phys. Lett. B, 851, 138561–5pp.
Abstract: The decay of excited states of the nucleus Sn-135, with three neutrons outside the doubly-magic Sn-132 core, was studied in an experiment performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory at RIKEN. Several gamma rays emitted from excited Sn-135 ions were observed following one-neutron and one-neutron-one-proton removal from Sn-136 and Sb-137 beams, respectively, on a beryllium target at relativistic energies. Based on the analogy to 133Sn populated via one-neutron removal from Sn-134, an excitation energy of 695(15) keV is assigned to the 3/2(-) state with strongest single-particle character in 135Sn. This result provides the first direct information about the evolution of the neutron shell structure beyond N = 82 and thus allows for a crucial test of shellmodel calculations in this region. The experimental findings are in full agreement with calculations performed employing microscopic effective two-body interactions derived from CD-Bonn and N3LO nucleon-nucleon potentials, which do not predict a pronounced subshell gap at neutron number N=90. The occurrence of such a gap in Sn-140, i.e., when the 1f(7/2) orbital is completely filled, had been proposed in the past, in analogy to the magicity of Ca-48, featuring a completely filled 0f(7/2) orbital one harmonic oscillator shell below.
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Yue, Z. et al, Algora, A., & Nacher, E. (2024). Magnetic moments of thallium isotopes in the vicinity of magic N=126. Phys. Lett. B, 849, 138452–7pp.
Abstract: The magnetic dipole moments (mu) of Tl-209(g)(N =128) and Tl-207(m)(N = 126) have been measured for the first time using the in -source laser resonance -ionization spectroscopy technique with the Laser Ion Source and Trap (LIST) at ISOLDE (CERN). The application of the LIST suppresses the usually overwhelming background of the isobaric francium isotopes and allows access to heavy thallium isotopes with >207. The self -consistent theory of finite Fermi systems based on the energy density functional by Fayans et al. well describes the N dependence of μfor 1/2(+) thallium ground states, as well as μfor the 11/2(-) isomeric states in europium, gold and thallium isotopes. The inclusion of particle-vibration coupling leads to a better agreement between the theory and experiment for mu(Tl-g , I-pi = 1/2(+)). It is shown that beyond mean-field contributions tocannot be neglected at least for thallium isotopes with I-pi = 1/2(+).
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2024). Observation of Wγγ triboson production in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 848, 138400–24pp.
Abstract: This letter reports the observation of () production in proton-proton collisions. This measurement uses the full Run 2 sample of events recorded at a center-of-mass energy of root= 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb-1. Events with a leptonically-decaying boson and at least two photons are considered. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with an observed and expected significance of 5.6 standard deviations. The inclusive fiducial production cross section of () and () events is measured to be fid = 13.8 +/- 1.1(stat)+2.1-2.0(syst) +/- 0.1(lumi) fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.
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Illana, A. et al, & Perez-Vidal, R. M. (2024). Octupole correlations in the N = Z+2=56 110Xe nucleus. Phys. Lett. B, 848, 138371–7pp.
Abstract: This letter reports on the first observation of an octupole band in the neutron-deficient (N = Z + 2) nucleus Xe-110. The Xe-110 nuclei were produced via the Fe-54(Ni-58,2n) fusion-evaporation reaction. The emitted gamma rays were detected using the jurogam 3 gamma-ray spectrometer, while the fusion-evaporation residues were separated with the MARA separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyv & auml;skyl & auml;, Finland. The experimental observation of the low-lying 3(-) and 5(-) states and inter-band E1 transitions between the ground-state band and the octupole band proves the importance of octupole correlations in this region. These new experimental data combined with theoretical calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing method, based on a Gogny energy density functional, have been interpreted as an evidence of enhanced octupole correlations in neutron-deficient xenon isotopes.
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Pasqualato, G. et al, Gadea, A., & Jurado, M. (2023). An alternative viewpoint on the nuclear structure towards 100Sn: Lifetime measurements in 105Sn. Phys. Lett. B, 845, 138148–7pp.
Abstract: This work aims at presenting an alternative approach to the long standing problem of the B(E2) values in Sn isotopes in the vicinity of the N=Z double-magic nucleus Sn-100, until now predominantly measured with relativistic and intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation reactions. The direct measurement of the lifetime of low-lying excited states in odd-even Sn isotopes provides a new and precise guidance for the theoretical description of the nuclear structure in this region. Lifetime measurements have been performed in Sn-105 for the first time with the coincidence Recoil Distance Doppler Shift technique. The lifetime results for the 7/2(1)(+) first excited state and the 11/2(1)(+) state, 2(+)(Sn-104) circle times nu 1g(7/2) multiplet member, are discussed in comparison with state-of-the-art shell model and mean field calculations, highlighting the crucial contribution of proton excitation across the core of Sn-100. The reduced transition probability B(E2) of the 11/2(1)(+) core-coupled state points out an enhanced staggering with respect to the B(E2; 2(1)(+) -> 0(1)(+)) in the even-mass Sn-104 and Sn-106 isotopes.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., et al. (2023). Search for pair-production of vector-like quarks in pp collision events at root s=13 TeV with at least one leptonically decaying Z boson and a third-generation quark with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 843, 138019–25pp.
Abstract: A search for the pair-production of vector-like quarks optimized for decays into a Z boson and a third-generation Standard Model quark is presented, using the full Run 2 dataset corresponding to 139 fb-1 of pp collisions at & RADIC;s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015-2018 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The targeted final state is characterized by the presence of a Z boson with high transverse momentum, reconstructed from a pair of same-flavour leptons with opposite-sign charges, as well as by the presence of b-tagged jets and high-transverse-momentum large-radius jets reconstructed from calibrated smaller-radius jets. Events with exactly two or at least three leptons are used, which are further categorized by the presence of boosted W, Z, and Higgs bosons and top quarks. The categorization is performed using a neural-network-based boosted object tagger to enhance the sensitivity to signal relative to the background. No significant excess above the background expectation is observed and exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on the masses of the vector-like partners T and B of the top and bottom quarks, respectively. The limits depend on the branching ratio configurations and, in the case of 100% branching ratio for T-+ Zt and 100% branching ratio for B-+ Zb, this search sets the most stringent limits to date, allowing mT > 1.60 TeV and mB > 1.42 TeV, respectively.
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