Esterase, total protein and seed storage protein diversity in Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench)

Twenty-two accessions of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), maintained at the Plant Genetic Resources Centre, Bunso, Ghana, were assayed for diversity in esterases, and total and storage proteins. A total of 34 reproducible and easily scorable bands were exposed with the number of bands per accession ranging from one to 21. All but nine of the bands were polymorphic. Storage proteins were the most diverse while esterases revealed the least diversity. Similarity matrices were calculated using the Jaccard coefficient, and input into cluster analysis. The phenogram produced by the UPGMA of the Jaccard similarity matrix from the pooled data of the esterases, and total and storage proteins revealed three major clusters at the 55% level of similarity. Accession 5 collected from Nyinguto was relatively distant from the other main clusters and separated at the 42% level of similarity. The second and third clusters comprised 11 and 10 accessions, respectively. It was observed that 18 out of the 22 accessions were distinct accessions. Similarity indices ranged from 29% to 100%. The wide range of similarity indices, coupled with the clustering of accessions, suggests useful variability in the collection for genetic conservationists and plant breeders

Access to artesunate-amodiaquine, quinine and other anti-malarials: policy and markets in Burundi

BACKGROUND: Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in post-conflict Burundi. To counter the increasing challenge of anti-malarial drug resistance and improve highly effective treatment Burundi adopted artesunate-amodiaquine (AS-AQ) as first-line treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria and oral quinine as second-line treatment in its national treatment policy in 2003. Uptake of this policy in the public, private and non-governmental (NGO) retail market sectors of Burundi is relatively unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate access to national policy recommended anti-malarials. METHODS: Adapting a standardized methodology developed by Health Action International/World Health Organization (HAI/WHO), a cross-sectional survey of 70 (24 public, 36 private, and 10 NGO) medicine outlets was conducted in three regions of Burundi, representing different levels of transmission of malaria. The availability on day of the survey, the median prices, and affordability (in terms of number of days' wages to purchase treatment) of AS-AQ, quinine and other anti-malarials were calculated. RESULTS: Anti-malarials were stocked in all outlets surveyed. AS-AQ was available in 87.5%, 33.3%, and 90% of public, private, and NGO retail outlets, respectively. Quinine was the most common anti-malarial found in all outlet types. Non-policy recommended anti-malarials were mainly found in the private outlets (38.9%) compared to public (4.2%) and NGO (0%) outlets. The median price of a course of AS-AQ was US$0.16 (200 Burundi Francs, FBu) for the public and NGO markets, and 3.5-fold higher in the private sector (US$0.56 or 700 FBu). Quinine tablets were similarly priced in the public (US$1.53 or 1,892.50 FBu), private and NGO sectors (both US$1.61 or 2,000 FBu). Non-policy anti-malarials were priced 50-fold higher than the price of AS-AQ in the public sector. A course of AS-AQ was affordable at 0.4 of a day's wage in the public and NGO sectors, whereas, it was equivalent to 1.5 days worth of wages in the private sector. CONCLUSIONS: AS-AQ was widely available and affordable in the public and NGO markets of hard-to-reach post-conflict communities in Burundi. However greater accessibility and affordability of policy recommended anti-malarials in the private market sector is needed to improve country-wide policy uptake

Breeding for stress tolerance: Drought as a case study

Drought is an important climatic phenomenon which after soil infertility ranks as the second most severe limitation in the production of crops under rainfed, low input agriculture. Breeding of genotypes with greater drought tolerance is the best strategy for maintaining and/or increasing crop production in such systems. This paper reviews the concept of drought tolerance and discusses approaches that may be adapted to breed varieties of crops with tolerance to drought. What remains to be done is for breeders to use the available genetic variability with respect to mechanisms that aid the plant in adapting to drought in their breeding programmes. It is concluded that biotechnologies will prove quick and stable markers for identifying genes that confer drought resistance. Ghana Jnl agric Sci. Vol.32(2) 1999: 229-23

Effect of time of harvest, stage of fruit ripening, and post-harvest ripening on seed yield and germinability of local garden egg (Solanum gilo Radii)

Two cultivars of garden egg (Solanum gilo), Legon 1 and Nyaduahene, were used in the study. The first harvest was done 4 weeks after 50 per cent fruit set, followed by a second harvest, 4 weeks later. Seeds from three fruit maturity stages, mature white, yellow ripe and red ripe, were investigated. Seeds were extracted from half of the fruits harvested from each stage immediately after harvest while the other halves were stored at room temperature to ripen to the soft-red stage before seed extraction. Fruit weight in both cultivars decreased with plant age. Fruits harvested at the yellow-ripe stage produced the highest number of seeds per fruit. Fruits harvested at the mature white stage had the lowest seed yield. Seed yield was higher in the second harvest than in the first. Cultivar differences were observed in 1000-seed weight, but seed weight in both cultivars increased with fruit maturity. Post-harvest ripening to the soft-red stage increased the number of seeds extracted in fruits harvested at the mature-white stage as well as the 1000-seed weight in fruits harvested at the mature-white or yellow stages. Post-harvest ripening also improved the total percentage germination of seeds extracted from fruits harvested at the white or yellow stages, but decreased the percentage germination in seeds from fruits harvested at the red-ripe stage. Ghana Jnl agric Sci. Vol.32(2) 1999: 159-16

Influence of sett size and spacing on yield and multiplication ratio of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.)

Four sett sizes (1, 2, 5, and 10 g) of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) and three spacings 12 cm W12 cm, 15 cm W 15 cm, and 15 cm W 23 cm) were studied for their effect on sprouting, vegetative growth, yield, and multiplication ratio. Percent sprouting in moist sawdust under greenhouse conditions was highest for the 10 g sett class and decreased with reduction in sett size. The largest and the smallest sett sizes had 100 and 75 per cent sprouting, respectively. There was a direct relationship between sett size planted and both vegetative growth and rhizome yield. The contrary was observed in sett size to rhizome ratio (multiplication ratio). The smallest sett size yielded a multiplication ratio of 9.85 compared to 4.78 for the largest sett size. Of the three spacing regimens investigated, the wider spacings produced higher vegetative growth as well as rhizome yield per plant. However, rhizome yield/ha was adversely affected by wider spacing. The highest yield of 29.69 t/ha was produced from the largest sett size (10 g) planted at the closest spacing of 12 cm W 12 cm. The combination of smallest sett size and widest spacing produced the lowest rhizome yield of 3.37 t/ha. Ghana Jnl agric. Sci. Vol.31(2) 1998: 175-18

Morphological and agronomic characterization of some tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) germplasm in Ghana

In a study of morphological and agronomic characteristics of eight tomato accessions, a high variability was detected in plant height at flowering, fruit set, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, number of locules per fruit, and yield. The variation in percent total soluble solids (3.9-5.0) and pH (3.9-4.4) was very small. The pH of the fruits in most of the accessions was close to 4.0 which is suitable for canning; however, the total soluble solids was below the 8 per cent required for canning. All of the accessions were highly sensitive to the high temperatures (28.6-32.2 oC) which prevailed during the period, resulting in low percentage fruit set (21.9-63.7). The overall correlations between number of fruits per plant, number of fruits per truss, fruit weight and yield were positive but very low (0.12-0.26). Some individual accessions, however, showed very high positive correlations between number of fruits per plant and yield (0.76-0.86) and number of fruits per truss and yield (r=0.63-0.89). The cultivar Wosowoso had a high negative correlation (-0.67) between number of fruits per truss and yield. Ghana Jnl agric Sci. Vol.32(2) 1999: 169-17

SELNET clinical practice guidelines for bone sarcoma

Bone sarcoma are infrequent diseases, representing < 0.2% of all adult neoplasms. A multidisciplinary management within reference centers for sarcoma, with discussion of the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies within an expert multidisciplinary tumour board, is essential for these patients, given its heterogeneity and low frequency. This approach leads to an improvement in patient's outcome, as demonstrated in several studies. The Sarcoma European Latin-American Network (SELNET), aims to improve clinical outcome in sarcoma care, with a special focus in Latin-American countries. These Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) have been developed and agreed by a multidisciplinary expert group (including medical and radiation oncologist, surgical oncologist, orthopaedic surgeons, radiologist, pathologist, molecular biologist and representatives of patients advocacy groups) of the SELNET consortium, and are conceived to provide the standard approach to diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of bone sarcoma patients in the Latin-American context. © 2022 The Author

Controversies in the management of patients with soft tissue sarcoma: Recommendations of the Conference on State of Science in Sarcoma 2022

Background: Owing to the rarity and heterogeneity in biology and presentation, there are multiple areas in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of soft tissue sarcoma (STS), with no, low-level or conflicting evidence. Methods: During the first Consensus Conference on the State of Science in Sarcoma (CSSS), we used a modified Delphi process to identify areas of controversy in the field of sarcoma, to name topics with limited evidence-based data in which a scientific and knowledge gap may remain and a consensus statement will help to guide patient management. We determined scientific questions which need to be addressed in the future in order to generate evidence and to inform physicians and caregivers in daily clinical practice in order to improve the outcomes of patients with sarcoma. We conducted a vote on STS key questions and controversies prior to the CSSS meeting, which took place in May 2022. Results: Sixty-two European sarcoma experts participated in the survey. Sixteen strong consensus (≥95%) items were identified by the experts, as well as 30 items with a ≥75% consensus on diagnostic and therapeutic questions. Ultimately, many controversy topics remained without consensus. Conclusions: In this manuscript, we summarise the voting results and the discussion during the CSSS meeting. Future scientific questions, priorities for clinical trials, registries, quality assurance, and action by stakeholders are proposed. Platforms and partnerships can support innovative approaches to improve management and clinical research in STS. Keywords: Consensus; Diagnosis; Imaging; Multimodal treatment; Peri-operative management; Policy; Soft tissue sarcoma; Surveillance; Treatment of advanced diseas