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The task group (TG) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) implementation in high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT)-Considerations from simulation to treatment, TG 303, was constituted by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine's (AAPM's) Science Council under the direction of the Therapy Physics Committee, the Brachytherapy Subcommittee, and the Working Group on Brachytherapy Clinical Applications. The TG was charged with developing recommendations for commissioning, clinical implementation, and on-going quality assurance (QA). Additionally, the TG was charged with describing HDR BT workflows and evaluating practical consideration that arise when implementing MR imaging. For brevity, the report is focused on the treatment of gynecologic and prostate cancer. The TG report provides an introduction and rationale for MRI implementation in BT, a review of previous publications on topics including available applicators, clinical trials, previously published BT-related TG reports, and new image-guided recommendations beyond CT-based practices. The report describes MRI protocols and methodologies, including recommendations for the clinical implementation and logical considerations for MR imaging for HDR BT. Given the evolution from prescriptive to risk-based QA, an example of a risk-based analysis using MRI-based, prostate HDR BT is presented. In summary, the TG report is intended to provide clear and comprehensive guidelines and recommendations for commissioning, clinical implementation, and QA for MRI-based HDR BT that may be utilized by the medical physics community to streamline this process. This report is endorsed by the American Brachytherapy Society., (© 2022 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Background: Observed co-morbidity among the mood and anxiety disorders has led to the development of increasingly sophisticated dimensional models to represent the common and unique features of these disorders. Patients often present to primary care settings with a complex mixture of anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms. However, relatively little is known about how somatic symptoms fit into existing dimensional models., Method: We examined the structure of 91 anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms in a sample of 5433 primary care patients drawn from 14 countries. One-, two- and three-factor lower-order models were considered; higher-order and hierarchical variants were studied for the best-fitting lower-order model., Results: A hierarchical, bifactor model with all symptoms loading simultaneously on a general factor, along with one of three specific anxiety, depression and somatic factors, was the best-fitting model. The general factor accounted for the bulk of symptom variance and was associated with psychosocial dysfunction. Specific depression and somatic symptom factors accounted for meaningful incremental variance in diagnosis and dysfunction, whereas anxiety variance was associated primarily with the general factor., Conclusions: The results (a) are consistent with previous studies showing the presence and importance of a broad internalizing or distress factor linking diverse emotional disorders, and (b) extend the bounds of internalizing to include somatic complaints with non-physical etiologies.

Purpose: In 2004, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) published its first physics education curriculum for residents, which was updated in 2007. A committee composed of physicists and physicians from various residency program teaching institutions was reconvened again to update the curriculum in 2009., Methods and Materials: Members of this committee have associations with ASTRO, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology, the American Board of Radiology (ABR), and the American College of Radiology. Members reviewed and updated assigned subjects from the last curriculum. The updated curriculum was carefully reviewed by a representative from the ABR and other physics and clinical experts., Results: The new curriculum resulted in a recommended 56-h course, excluding initial orientation. Learning objectives are provided for each subject area, and a detailed outline of material to be covered is given for each lecture hour. Some recent changes in the curriculum include the addition of Radiation Incidents and Bioterrorism Response Training as a subject and updates that reflect new treatment techniques and modalities in a number of core subjects. The new curriculum was approved by the ASTRO board in April 2010. We anticipate that physicists will use this curriculum for structuring their teaching programs, and subsequently the ABR will adopt this educational program for its written examination. Currently, the American College of Radiology uses the ASTRO curriculum for their training examination topics. In addition to the curriculum, the committee updated suggested references and the glossary., Conclusions: The ASTRO physics education curriculum for radiation oncology residents has been updated. To ensure continued commitment to a current and relevant curriculum, the subject matter will be updated again in 2 years., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)