Reliability assessment is of primary importance in designing and planning distribution systems that operate in an economic manner with minimal interruption of customer loads. With the advances in renewable energy sources, Distributed Generation (DG), is forecasted to increase in distribution networks. The study of reliability evaluation of such networks is a relatively new area. This research presents a new methodology that can be used to analyze the reliability of such distribution systems and can be applied in preliminary planning studies for such systems. The method uses a sequential Monte Carlo simulation of the distribution system’s stochastic model to generate the operating behavior and combines that with a path augmenting Max flow algorithm to evaluate the load status for each state change of operation in the system. Overall system and load point reliability indices such as hourly loss of load, frequency of loss of load and expected energy unserved can be computed using this technique. On addition of DG in standby mode of operation at specific locations in the network, the reliability indices can be compared for different scenarios and strategies for placement of DG and their capacities can be determined using this methodology.

The rising desire for individualized medical physics models has sparked a transition from the use of tangible phantoms toward the employment of computational software for medical physics applications. One such computational software for radiation transport modeling is the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code. However, no comprehensive document has been written to introduce the use of the MCNP code for simulating medical physics applications. This document, a primer, addresses this need by leading the medical physics user through the basic use of MCNP and its particular application to the medical physics field. This primer is designed to teach by example, with the aim that each example will illustrate a practical use of particular features in MCNP that are useful in medical physics applications. These examples along with the instructions for reproducing them are the results of this thesis research. These results include simulations of: dose from Tc-99m diagnostic therapy, calculation of Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) specific absorbed fraction (SAF) values using the ORNL MIRD phantom, x-ray phototherapy effectiveness, prostate brachytherapy lifetime dose calculations, and a radiograph of the head using the Zubal head phantom. Also included are a set of appendices that include useful reference data, code syntax, and a database of input decks including the examples in the primer. The sections in conjunction with the appendices should provide a foundation of knowledge regarding the MCNP commands and their uses as well as enable users to utilize the MCNP manual effectively for situations not specifically addressed by the primer.

Current brachytherapy treatment planning systems are unable to accurately calculate dose distributions in the vicinity of brachytherapy sources having active lengths much greater than 5 mm. While low dose-rate ¹³⁷Cs sources are dosimetrically characterized using antiquated along-away tables with simple linear-linear interpolation errors in dose calculation exceeding 30% occur due to algorithm inadequacy. The method presented in this thesis permits dosimetric characterization of elongated brachytherapy sources with active lengths 0 < L < 10 cm for implementation on an FDA-approved clinical TPS. Low- and high-energy photon-emitting sources of Pd-103 and Ir-192, respectively, were examined.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-54). Also available online.

Thèse de doctorat : PHYSIQUE : Metz : 1999. / 1999METZ039S. 190 ref.

Thèse doctorat : Informatique : Rennes 1 : 2005. Thèse doctorat : Computer science and engineering : Czech technical university (Prague) : 2005. / Thèse soutenue en co-tutelle. Thèse en anglais avec un résumé en français. Le titre de la couv. est en français. Bibliogr. p. 103-114.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Informatique : Paris 8 : 2007. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 113-117.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Physique : Lyon 1 : 2006. / Titre provenant de l'écran titre. 200 réf. bibliogr.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [87]-89).