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Challenges in cancer management and opportunities

Cancer Care is a heavily invested and researched area in present context of development of medical science. As the burden of disease is increasing and treatment options are limited, especially in economically deprived regions, this is demanding more viable, modern and cost effective methods for diagnosis and treatment. This is driving to the need of more locally conducted research, more technical collaboration with advanced institutes and of course publishing of high quality data. We are gradually adapting new technology like Liquid based biopsy in diagnostics, targeted/ Immunotherapy in treatment and artificial intelligence in some therapies. These have proven effective and useful but at the huge cost of financial burden. New therapeutic modalities like BMT are emerging and gained importance in recent years.
 Cancer etiogenesis has heterogeneous components and this disease has very unpredictable biological behavior. Understanding of molecular biology, genetics, gene sequencing has given us tremendous amount of information for prognostics and prediction of treatment methods. Proper explanation and interpretation of so much so of information is very crucial. Clinicians and scientists should be learning and there should be provision for molecular tumor board as well. Slowly but gradually, the new generation care givers of the field of oncology should keep them at the edge of technology and should be able to understand the recent developments to give individualized care to patient and optimal use of available technology to tackle the disease.
 Writing and publishing in more standard formats is another important issue to be learned so as to communicate with the peers world wide. So we encourage the young oncologists to learn in this regard as well.

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A New Global Array of Optical Telescopes: The Falcon Telescope Network

We present a new global array of small aperture optical telescopes designed to study artificial satellites and the nearby universe: the Falcon Telescope Network (FTN). Developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), the FTN is composed of 12 observatories in the United States, Chile, Germany, and Australia, with a potential site in South Africa. The observatory sites were strategically selected with the main objective that once in operation, the telescopes will be capable of working together to perform simultaneous and/or continuous observations of a single object in the sky. This capability allows the observation of artificial satellites from different baselines in a wide range of orbits, continuous data acquisition of variable astronomical sources, and rapid response observations of transient phenomena that require almost immediate follow-up (gamma-ray bursts, novae, or supernovae, etc.). Consisting of commercially available equipment, each observatory is equipped with a 0.5 m primary mirror telescope, a CCD camera, photometric filters, including a special filter to detect exoplanets, and a diffraction grating. The FTN is designed for remote and robotic operation with a host of automation software and services housed on the site computers and at USAFA. FTN partners will have access to a web-based interface where both the observation application as well as the raw data obtained by any of the Falcon nodes will be available. The FTN is a collaborative effort between the USAFA and educational or research institutions on four continents, demonstrating that, through the cooperation of multiple institutions of different levels and capabilities, high-level scientific and educational programs can be carried out, regardless of the geographic location of the various network members.

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Is knowledge translation without patient or community engagement flawed?

The engagement of patients/individuals and/or communities has become increasingly important in all aspects of the research process. The aim of this manuscript is to begin the discussion about the use and implementation of authentic engagement in the development of presentations and manuscripts which evolve from research that has engaged patients/individuals and/or communities. Community-Based Participatory Research; Transformative Action Research. In Canada, the framework for engaging patients/individuals and/or communities is clearly outlined in Chapter 9 of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans which indicates that when research projects involving First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, the peoples in these communities are to have a role in shaping/co-creating the research that affects them. It is increasingly important that presentations and manuscripts that evolve from results/findings which have engaged patients/individuals and/or communities be co-presented/co-published. Presentations are often done without patients/individuals and/or communities and manuscripts published with only academic authors. Frequently, grants submitted and subsequently funded do not consider this aspect of the process in the budget which makes integrated and outcome knowledge translation, dissemination and distribution by and with patients/individuals and/or communities difficult to facilitate. This manuscript was designed to begin the discussion at various levels related to authentic engagement in the development of presentations and manuscripts which evolve from research that has engaged patients/individuals and/or communities. How will you include patients/individuals and/or communities in your presentations and publications?

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Engaging with communities, engaging with patients: amendment to the NAPCRG 1998 Policy Statement on Responsible Research With Communities.

In 1998, the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) adopted a groundbreaking Policy Statement endorsing responsible participatory research (PR) with communities. Since that time, PR gained prominence in primary care research. To reconsider the original 1998 Policy Statement in light of increased uptake of PR, and suggest future directions and applications for PR in primary care. This work contributed to an updated Policy Statement endorsed by NAPCRG in 2015. 32 university and 30 community NAPCRG-affiliated research partners, convened a workshop to document lessons learned about implementing processes and principles of PR. This document emerged from that session and reflection and discussion regarding the original Policy Statement, the emerging PR literature, and our own experiences. The foundational principles articulated in the 1998 Policy Statement remain relevant to the current PR environment. Lessons learned since its publication include that the maturation of partnerships is facilitated by participatory processes that support increased community responsibility for research projects, and benefits generated through PR extend beyond research outcomes. Future directions that will move forward the field of PR in primary care include: (i) improve assessment of PR processes to better delineate the links between how PR teams work together and diverse PR outcomes, (ii) increase the number of models incorporating PR into translational research from project inception to dissemination, and (iii) increase application of PR approaches that support patient engagement in clinical settings to patient-provider relationship and practice change research. PR has markedly altered the manner in which primary care research is undertaken in partnership with communities and its principles and philosophies continue to offer means to assure that research results and processes improve the health of all communities.

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Researching together: a CTSA partnership of academicians and communities for translation.

The Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) aims to translate discovery into clinical practice. The Partnership of Academicians and Communities for Translation (PACT) represents a robust campus-community partnership. The CCTSI collected data on all PACT activities including meeting notes, staff activity logs, stakeholder surveys and interviews, and several key component in-depth evaluations. Data analysis by Evaluation and Community Engagement Core and PACT Council members identified critical shifts that changed the trajectory of community engagement efforts. Ten "critical shifts" in six broad rubrics created change in the PACT. Critical shifts were decision points in the development of the PACT that represented quantitative and qualitative changes in the work and trajectory. Critical shifts occurred in PACT management and leadership, financial control and resource allocation, and membership and voice. The development of a campus-community partnership is not a smooth linear path. Incremental changes lead to major decision points that represent an opportunity for critical shifts in developmental trajectory. We provide an enlightening, yet cautionary, tale to others considering a campus-community partnership so they may prepare for crucial decisions and critical shifts. The PACT serves as a genuine foundational platform for dynamic research efforts aimed at eliminating health disparities.

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