American Legacy Foundation. Legacy First Look Report 2. What Youth Think About Smoking: Results from the 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey

This report explores attitudinal and normative factors that may influence adolescent intent to use or not use tobacco, as well as how these factors vary by grade, gender, and race/ethnicity. It describes developmental increases in the social appeal and acceptance of tobacco during the course of adolescence that deserve attention in efforts at tobacco prevention and control

Results of a Multi-Disciplinary and Multi-Institutional Pilot Creating High-Yield Physics Educational Content (Hi-Phy)

Purpose: The quality of medical physics education is heterogenous across training programs, despite its importance in radiation oncology (RO) residency training. We present the results of a pilot series of free high-yield physics educational videos covering 4 topics chosen from the American Society for Radiation Oncology core curriculum. Methods and materials: Scripting and storyboarding of videos were iterative processes performed by 2 ROs and 6 medical physicists, with animations created by a university broadcasting specialist. Current RO residents and those who had graduated after 2018 were recruited through social media and e-mail with an aim of 60 participants. Two validated surveys were adapted for use and were completed after each video as well as a final overall assessment. Content was released sequentially after completion of the survey instruments for each prior video. All videos were created and released within 1 year of project initiation with a duration of 9 to 11 minutes. Results: There were 169 enrollees for the pilot from across the world, 211% of the targeted cohort size. Of these, 154 met eligibility criteria and received the first video. One hundred eight enrollees initiated the series and 85 completed the pilot, resulting in a 78% completion rate. Participants reported improved understanding and confidence applying the knowledge learned in the videos (median score 4 out of 5). All participants reported that the use of graphic animation improved understanding across all videos. Ninety-three percent agreed with a need for additional resources geared specifically toward RO residents and 100% would recommend these videos to other residents. Use metrics revealed the average watch time was 7 minutes (range, 6:17-7:15). Conclusions: The high-yield educational physics video pilot series was successful in developing videos that were effective in teaching RO physics concepts

EF5 Binding and Clinical Outcome in Human Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Purpose: To study the 2-nitroimidazole agent EF5 as a surrogate for measuring hypoxia in a series of patients with soft tissue sarcomas, and to determine whether hypoxia measured with this technique was associated with patient outcome. Methods and Materials: Patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the head and neck, extremity, trunk, or retroperitoneum for whom surgical excision was the initial treatment of choice, were given 21 mg/kg EF5 24–48 hours before surgery. Biopsy specimens were stained for EF5 binding with fluorescence-labeled monoclonal antibodies, and the images were analyzed quantitatively. Endpoints included the relationship between EF5 binding, clinically important prognostic factors, and patient outcome. Results: Two patients with recurrent and 14 patients with de novo sarcomas were studied. There were seven low-grade, one intermediate-grade, and eight high-grade tumors. No relationship was found between EF5 binding and patient age, sex, hemoglobin level, or tumor size. In de novo tumors, the presence of mitoses and histologic grade were positively correlated with hypoxia. High-grade and -stage de novo tumors had higher levels of EF5 binding compared with low-grade and -stage tumors. Patients with de novo tumors containing moderate to severe hypoxia (≥20% EF5 binding), high grade, or ≥7% mitoses were more likely to develop metastases. Conclusions: Further studies in a larger cohort of patients are necessary to determine whether hypoxia, as measured by EF5 binding, is an independent prognostic factor for outcome in high-grade sarcomas. Such data should be useful to identify high-risk patients for clinical trials to determine whether early chemotherapy will influence the occurrence of metastasis