Primer on disability: Why accessibility is important for all medical physicists.

Disability and accessibility remain under-addressed topics despite the increasing prevalence of disabled people in the workforce. In the field of medical physics, there is growing evidence that the proportion of people with one or more disabilities mirrors that of the US population. Addressing disability and accessibility is a crucial facet of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine's 2018 strategic goal to "champion equity, diversity, and inclusion in the field of medical physics.

Dosimetric evaluation and treatment planning considerations for GammaTile permanent brain implants - a pilot, institutional experience.

Purpose: GammaTile® (GT) is a brachytherapy platform that received Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval as brain tumor therapy in late 2018. Here, we reviewed our institutional experience with GT as treatment for recurrent glioblastomas and characterized dosimetric parameter and associated clinical outcome.

Methods And Materials: A total of 20 consecutive patients with 21 (n = 21) diagnosis of recurrent glioblastoma underwent resection followed by intraoperative GT implant between 01/2019 and 12/2020.

A Patient-Specific correspondence model to track tumor location in thorax during radiation therapy.

Purpose: We present a patient-specific model to estimate tumor location in the thorax during radiation therapy using chest surface displacement as the surrogate signal.

Methods: Two types of data are used for model construction: Four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) images of the patient and the displacement of two points on the patient's skin on the thoracic area. Principal component analysis is used to fit the correspondence model.

A linear optimization model for high dose rate brachytherapy using a novel distance metric.

We propose a linear network-based optimization model (LNBM) for high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) that uses a novel distance metric to measure the discrepancy between the dose delivered and the prescription. Unlike models in the literature, LNBM takes advantage of the adjacency structure of the patients' voxels by formalizing them into a network.We apply LNBM to a set of 7 cervical cancer cases treated with HDR-BT.

Medical physics practice guideline 4.b: Development, implementation, use and maintenance of safety checklists.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education, and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the US. The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the US.

Perceptions of Attractiveness in Dorsal Aesthetic Lines of the Nose: A Crowd Sourcing Analysis.

Some surgeons have recently advocated for a fusiform pattern with a flare around the keystone area over the more traditional straight/curvilinear shape for the ideal shape of the nasal dorsal aesthetic lines (DALs). To compare the lay persons judgment of what constitutes an ideal nasal dorsum outline. An observational crowdsourcing survey-based study was designed and conducted by the authors to determine how the public viewed these two nasal dorsum aesthetic configurations.

Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Palate: A Rare Case in an Adolescent With Cleft lip and Palate.

Benign salivary gland tumors are rarely found in children and adolescents compared with adults. Pleomorphic adenomas (PAs), the most common benign salivary gland tumor, account for only 1% of all head and neck lesions and fewer than 5% of all salivary gland tumors in individuals under the age of 16 years. The data on palatal PA in the first 2 decades of life is confined to published case reports and case series.

VEXAS syndrome (vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, autoinflammatory, somatic) for the dermatologist.

In 2020, Beck et al described a novel adult autoinflammatory syndrome entitled VEXAS (Vacuoles, E1 enzyme, X-linked, Autoinflammatory, Somatic), a newly-discovered disorder that connected previously unrelated inflammatory syndromes and a prototype for a new class of hematoinflammatory diseases. Eighty-nine percent of published cases have documented skin involvement, but despite the high incidence and diagnostic accessibility of skin manifestations, there has been little focus on the dermatological features of VEXAS syndrome thus far. A PubMed search of all published case reports of VEXAS syndrome to date was performed, with inclusion of all cases confirmed by genetic sequencing, and this review summarizes the reported dermatological signs.

Rapid Interval Recurrence of Glioblastoma Following Gross Total Resection: A Possible Indication for GammaTileⓇ Brachytherapy.

Glioblastoma recurrence between initial resection and standard-of-care adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a negative prognostic factor in an already highly aggressive disease. Re-resection with GammaTileⓇ(GT Medical Technologies Inc., Tempe, AZ) placement affords expedited adjuvant radiation to mitigate the likelihood of such growth.

Pediatric Odontogenic and Maxillofacial Bone Pathology: A Global Analysis.

Background: Although pathology in the maxillary and mandibular bones is rare in young patients, the differential diagnosis is broad. The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its classification of maxillofacial bone pathology in 2017. Using these updated guidelines, a systematic review of common maxillofacial bone lesions in the pediatric population was performed.

First clinical implementation of GammaTile permanent brain implants after FDA clearance.

Purpose: GammaTile cesium-131 (Cs) permanent brain implant has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance as a promising treatment for certain brain tumors. Our center was the first institution in the United States after FDA clearance to offer the clinical use of GammaTile brachytherapy outside of a clinical trial. The purpose of this work is to aid the medical physicist and radiation oncologist in implementing this collagen carrier tile brachytherapy (CTBT) program in their practice.

Cartilage Grafting Outcomes in Intermediate and Definitive Cleft Rhinoplasty.

Objective: To compare cartilage grafting outcomes in intermediate versus definitive cleft rhinoplasty.

Design: A retrospective chart review was conducted. The χ and Fisher exact tests were used for statistical analyses.

3D printed copper-plastic composite material for use as a radiotherapy bolus.

The purpose of this work is to evaluate a commercially available copper-plastic composite material for use as a custom fit 3D printed bolus. Superficial dose under copper-plastic composite bolus was assessed for 0.4 mm, 0.

Dissemination of Evidence-Based School Asthma Management Programs: Piloting Asthma 411 in an Urban Texas School District.

Background: The dissemination and implementation (D&I) of evidence-based initiative (EBIs) is critical to improved public health. The Asthma 411 EBI was piloted in Texas from 2013 to 2015. The pilot's evaluation assessed its effectiveness and identified approaches to support D&I of school-health EBIs.

Happiness in Plastic Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 595 Practicing Plastic Surgeons, Fellows, Residents, and Medical Students.

Background: Despite a heightened appreciation for wellness in medicine, there exists little information specific to plastic surgery. The purpose of this research was to assess happiness within the field of plastic surgery.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in July of 2017 by distributing an American Society of Plastic Surgeons sponsored survey to a random cohort of current practicing American Society of Plastic Surgeons members, residents and fellows.

Correction: Discovery and validation of a prognostic proteomic signature for tuberculosis progression: A prospective cohort study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.

Using machine learning to examine the relationship between asthma and absenteeism.

In this study, we found that machine learning was able to effectively estimate student learning outcomes geo-spatially across all the campuses in a large, urban, independent school district. The machine learning showed that key factors in estimating the student learning outcomes included the number of days students were absent from school. In turn, one of the most important factors in estimating the number of days a student was absent was whether or not the student had asthma.

Discovery and validation of a prognostic proteomic signature for tuberculosis progression: A prospective cohort study.

Background: A nonsputum blood test capable of predicting progression of healthy individuals to active tuberculosis (TB) before clinical symptoms manifest would allow targeted treatment to curb transmission. We aimed to develop a proteomic biomarker of risk of TB progression for ultimate translation into a point-of-care diagnostic.

Methods And Findings: Proteomic TB risk signatures were discovered in a longitudinal cohort of 6,363 Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected, HIV-negative South African adolescents aged 12-18 years (68% female) who participated in the Adolescent Cohort Study (ACS) between July 6, 2005 and April 23, 2007, through either active (every 6 months) or passive follow-up over 2 years.

Dose calibration of Gafchromic EBT3 film for Ir-192 brachytherapy source using 3D-printed PLA and ABS plastics.

3D printing technology has allowed the creation of custom applicators for high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, especially for complex anatomy. With conformal therapy comes the need for advanced dosimetric verification. It is important to demonstrate how dose to 3D printed materials can be related to dose to water.

The "Warm Zone" Cases: Environmental Monitoring Immediately Outside the Fire Incident Response Arena by Firefighters.

Hazardous work zones (i.e., , , and ) are typically established by emergency response teams during hazardous materials (HAZMAT) calls but less consistently for fire responses to segment personnel and response activities in the immediate geographic area around the fire.

Workload implications for clinic workflow with implementation of three-dimensional printed customized bolus for radiation therapy: A pilot study.

Bolus is commonly used in radiation therapy to improve radiation dose distribution to the target volume, but commercially available products do not always conform well to the patient surface. Tumor control may be compromised, particularly for superficial tumors, if bolus does not conform well and air gaps exist between the patient surface and the bolus. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology allows the creation of highly detailed, variable shaped objects, making it an attractive and affordable option for customized, patient-specific bolus creation.

Sequential inflammatory processes define human progression from M. tuberculosis infection to tuberculosis disease.

Unlabelled: Our understanding of mechanisms underlying progression from Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection to pulmonary tuberculosis disease in humans remains limited. To define such mechanisms, we followed M. tuberculosis-infected adolescents longitudinally.