Development of expressed sequence tags-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) for Musa and their applicability in authentication of a Musa breeding population

Maintaining identity of clones is essential in breeding programs. New EST-SSR markers have been developed for banana and used to screen a diploid population for clonal identity. A total of 410 primer pairs were designed from an EST database, validated using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and a subset was optimized for accurate genotyping on a capillary genetic analyzer. Combining PAGE and capillary electrophoresis, about 44% of the designed primers were informative in the diploid population. The majority of markers produced two alleles as expected in a diploid population. However, some showed three to four alleles, possibly indicating closely-related members of gene families. Screening of field samples using SSR markers revealed genotype identity issues in the target population. The present study demonstrates the applicability of SSRs in the  establishment of parentage and relatedness between accessions. The newly-developed SSRs will be valuable tools in the understanding of Musa genetics, in marker-trait associations, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of breeding programs.Key words: EST, SSRs, markers, Musa, breeding

Cancer treatment data available in European cancer registries: Where are we and where are we going?

Population-based cancer registries are responsible for collecting incidence and survival data on all reportable neoplasms within a defined geographical area. During the last decades, the role of cancer registries has evolved beyond monitoring epidemiological indicators, as they are expanding their activities to studies on cancer aetiology, prevention, and quality of care. This expansion relies also on the collection of additional clinical data, such as stage at diagnosis and cancer treatment. While the collection of data on stage, according to international reference classification, is consolidated almost everywhere, data collection on treatment is still very heterogeneous in Europe. This article combines data from a literature review and conference proceedings together with data from 125 European cancer registries contributing to the 2015 ENCR-JRC data call to provide an overview of the status of using and reporting treatment data in population-based cancer registries. The literature review shows that there is an increase in published data on cancer treatment by population-based cancer registries over the years. In addition, the review indicates that treatment data are most often collected for breast cancer, the most frequent cancer in women in Europe, followed by colorectal, prostate and lung cancers, which are also more common. Treatment data are increasingly being reported by cancer registries, though further improvements are required to ensure their complete and harmonised collection. Sufficient financial and human resources are needed to collect and analyse treatment data. Clear registration guidelines are to be made available to increase the availability of real-world treatment data in a harmonised way across Europe

COVID-19 vaccine-induced immunity : head-to-head comparison of mRNA (BNT162b2) versus inactivated (CoronaVac) vaccines

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Strengthening pre-service training of healthcare workers on immunisation and effective vaccine management : the experience of Kenya Medical Training College

Pre-service health training institutions have a key role in training qualified medical and nursing staff deployable in immunisation programmes, making them capable of addressing complex situations, sustaining routine immunisation and introducing new vaccines and technologies. The incorporation of immunisation-related content into nursing and midwifery education is essential to improve and strengthen immunisation service delivery, disease surveillance, logistics, communication and management practices. Clinical and public health training incorporating learning objectives on immunisation that are specific to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), will enable students to develop a firm basis of core knowledge and skills in immunisation. To assist health training institutions in the African Region and to facilitate the systematic revision of EPI curricula, two prototype curricula, one for medical and one for nursing/midwifery schools, were developed by WHO/AFRO, NESI/University of Antwerp and other partners in 2006 and revised in 2015. Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) has been at the forefront in revising and updating their institutional EPI curriculum for the pre-service Kenyan Registered Community Health Nursing programme based on the EPI prototype curriculum. Building on the successful strengthening of the EPI curriculum, KMTC will now embark on improving education and training for effective vaccine and cold chain management for selected training programmes. The different steps taken by KMTC to strengthen EPI teaching and learning can support other health training institutions who are willing to integrate the content of the EPI prototype curriculum in their own institutional curricula by adapting them to the local context