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Over the last two decades, breast cancer remains the main cause of cancer deaths in women. To treat this type of cancer, radiation therapy (RT) has proved to be efficient. RT for breast cancer is, however, challenged by intrafractional motion caused by respiration. The problem is more severe for the left-sided breast cancer due to the proximity to the heart as an organ-at-risk. While particle therapy results in superior dose characteristics than conventional RT, due to the physics of particle interactions in the body, particle therapy is more sensitive to target motion.

A correlation measuring tool for an endogenous pulsed neutron source experiment is developed in this work. Paroxysmal pulses generated by a bursts of neutron chains are detected by a 10-kbit embedded shift register with a time resolution of 100 ns. The system is implemented on a single reprogrammable device making it a compact, cost-effective instrument, easily adaptable for any case study. The system was verified experimentally in the Esfahan heavy-water zero power reactor (EHWZPR). The results obtained by the measuring tool are validated by the Feynman-α experiment, and a good agreement is seen within the boundaries of statistical uncertainties. The theory of the methods is briefly initiated in the text. Also, the system structure is described, the experimental results and their uncertainties are discussed, and neutron statistics in EHWZPR is examined experimentally.

To develop and validate a versatile Monte Carlo (MC)-based dose calculation engine to support MC-based dose verification of treatment planning systems (TPSs) and quality assurance (QA) workflows in proton therapy. The GATE MC toolkit was used to simulate a fixed horizontal active scan-based proton beam delivery (SIEMENS IONTRIS). Within the nozzle, two primary and secondary dose monitors have been designed to enable the comparison of the accuracy of dose estimation from MC simulations with respect to physical QA measurements. The developed beam model was validated against a series of commissioning measurements using pinpoint chambers and 2D array ionization chambers (IC) in terms of lateral profiles and depth dose distributions. Furthermore, beam delivery module and treatment planning has been validated against the literature deploying various clinical test cases of the AAPM TG‐119 (c-shape phantom) and a prostate patient. MC simulations showed excellent agreement with measurements in the lateral depth-dose parameters and spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) characteristics within a maximum relative error of 0.95 mm in range, 1.83% in entrance to peak ratio, 0.27% in mean point-to-point dose difference, and 0.32% in peak location. The mean relative absolute difference between MC simulations and measurements in terms of absorbed dose in the SOBP region was 0.93% ± 0.88%. Clinical phantom studies showed a good agreement compared to research TPS (relative error for TG-119 planning target volume PTV-D 95 ∼ 1.8%; and for prostate PTV-D 95 ∼ −0.6%). We successfully developed a MC model for the pencil beam scanning system, which appears reliable for dose verification of the TPS in combination with QA information, prior to patient treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An embedded time interval data acquisition system (DAS) is developed for zero power reactor (ZPR) noise experiments. The system is capable of measuring the correlation or probability distribution of a random process. The design is totally implemented on a single Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The architecture is tested on different FPGA platforms with different speed grades and hardware resources. Generic experimental values for time resolution and inter-event dead time of the system are 2.22 ns and 6.67 ns respectively. The DAS can record around 48-bit x 790 kS/s utilizing its built-in fast memory. The system can measure very long time intervals due to its 48-bit timing structure design. As the architecture can work on a typical FPGA, this is a low cost experimental tool and needs little time to be established. In addition, revisions are easily possible through its reprogramming capability. The performance of the system is checked and verified experimentally.

Lack of energy is a major crisis of our century; the irregular increase of fossil fuel costs has forced us to search for novel, cheaper, and safer sources of energy. Pebble bed reactors - an advanced new generation of reactors with specific advantages in safety and cost - might turn out to be the desired candidate for the role. The calculation of the critical height of a pebble bed reactor at room temperature, while using the MCNP-4C computer code, is the main goal of this paper. In order to reduce the MCNP computing time compared to the previously proposed schemes, we have devised a new simulation scheme. Different arrangements of kernels in fuel pebble simulations were investigated and the best arrangement to decrease the MCNP execution time (while keeping the accuracy of the results), chosen. The neutron flux distribution and control rods worth, as well as their shadowing effects, have also been considered in this paper. All calculations done for the HTR-10 reactor core are in good agreement with experimental results.

The objective of this paper is to introduce a new direct method for neutronic calculations. This method, called direct discrete method, is simpler than the application of the neutron transport equation and more compatible with the physical meanings of the problem. The method, based on the physics of the problem, initially runs through meshing of the desired geometry. Next, the balance equation for each mesh interval is written. Considering the connection between the mesh intervals, the final discrete equation series are directly obtained without the need to pass through the set up of the neutron transport differential equation first. In this paper, one and multigroup neutron transport discrete equation has been produced for a cylindrical shape fuel element with and without the associated clad and the coolant regions each with two different external boundary conditions. The validity of the results from this new method is tested against the results obtained by the MCNP-4B and the ANISN codes.

In this study, after discretization of the neutron diffusion equation and adjoint with high-order nodal expansion method in two dimensions and two energy groups, calculations with Momentum and Galerkin weighting functions for rectangular geometry (BIBLIS-2D) and hexagonal geometry (IAEA-2D) reactors are performed. The mean of relative power error for Momentum and Galerkin weighting functions was calculated in BIBLIS-2D reactor 0.42% and 0.62%, respectively, and for IAEA-2D reactor 4.96% and 3.52%, respectively. Regarding the results, it was concluded that in order to increase accuracy with the acceptable time of computing (4 Seconds for rectangular geometry and 28 seconds for hexagonal geometry with Intelr CoreTM i7-4510U Processor), the Momentum weighting function for rectangular geometry and the Galerkin weighting function for hexagonal geometry can be used to discretize equations without reducing the node size. Therefore, to increase the accuracy while maintaining the speed of calculations, without reducing the size of nodes, the appropriate weighting function can be used in discretization, which can be very useful in performing calculations of different transients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an interleaved nonisolated dc–dc converter with high-voltage gain and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) performance. Both coupled inductor and voltage multiplier cell techniques are used to increase the voltage gain. The ZVS circuit is composed of an active clamp which is in series with the output filter capacitors. This will give rise to further extension of the voltage gain. Applying the interleaving technique at the input of the converter, the ripple of the input current is reduced. Due to the leakage inductances of coupled inductors, the diodes are turned-off under zero-current switching condition. Hence, the reverse current recovery problem is alleviated. The steady-state analysis of the proposed converter is also presented. Finally, a 900-V to 415-W laboratory prototype is implemented to validate the performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]