Effects of advanced maternal age on pregnancy outcome

Background: Advanced maternal age, generally signify age after 35 years at the time of delivery. It is associated with decreased fertility and increased risk.Methods: This was a prospective study conducted in Kamla Raja Hospital, G.R. Medical College, Gwalior (M.P.) during the period of one year from July 2015 to June 2016.  Pregnant women aged 35 years and older at the time of delivery were selected and analyzed for maternal and perinatal outcome.Results: A total no. of 288 elderly pregnant patients were selected for the study. Most of the cases were in the age group 35 to 39 years (89.93%). Multi gravida (71.8%) and grand multi para (22.22%) constituted the largest group. Most of the cases belong to lower socio-economic status (90%). Percentage of unbooked cases was 82.98%. The causes of delay in pregnancy were preference for male child (23.95%) and unwareness of contraception (21.52%). The incidence of diabetes mellitus and chronic hypertension were increased. Overall cesarean rate was increased (35%). Incidence of abortions 28(9.72%), preterm delivery 18(6.25%), oligohydramnios 18(6.25%), APH 18(6.25%) and PROM 17(5.90%), low birth weight baby 30(13.19%), NICU admission 20 (6.94%), IUGR 11(3.81%) all were high. The preference for male child 69(23.95%) and lack of awareness 62(21.52%) were two major reason for continuing pregnancies and deliveries till late age.Conclusions: The present study showed that pregnancy at advanced age is a higher risk pregnancy in term of increased maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality

Study of primary caesarean section in multigravida patients

Background: Caesarean section is the most commonly performed major surgery among women. The aims and objective of this study was to know the incidence of primary Caesarean section in multigravidas, its indications and to know the maternal and foetal outcome among these patients.Methods: It was a prospective study of primary caesarean section in multigravida admitted at Kamla Raja Hospital, G.R. Medical College and J. A. Group of Hospitals, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh, India) during the period of 1 year from September 2014 to August 2015. Multigravida with pregnancy of >28 weeks gestation (gravida 2 and above), each of whom has had a previous vaginal delivery of > 20 weeks gestation were included. Women with previous abortions and previous section and Pregnancy with medical disorders were excluded.Results: During the study period of one year, total 8185 deliveries occurred, out of which 3061 (37.39%) underwent caesarean section and 386 (12.61%) were primary caesarean section in multigravida. Out of these multigravida patients who underwent primary caesarean section- most of the patients were unbooked (77.72%). Majority of the cases were direct admission in the hospital (61.13%). Maximum number of the patients were in the age group of 25-30 years (55.95%). Two third of the patients were literate (69.44%) Maximum number of patients were Gravida 2 (49.72%). Almost all of them (95.85%) underwent emergency caesarean section. The most common indication for primary LSCS in multigravida patients was Malpresentation 115 (29.79%) followed by Fetal distress in 71 (18.39%) patients, APH in 71 (18.39%), Obstructed labour in 33 (8.55%), Severe preeclampsia and Antepartum eclampsia in 39 (10.1%), Twin pregnancy in 21 (5.44%). Most common maternal complication was pyrexia 40 (10.36%). Postoperative morbidity was 21.24% among unbooked, 14.25% in Referred, 23.58% in those operated as an emergency, 12.43% in patients belonging to of low socioeconomic status and 3.88%, in patients with moderate to severe anemia. Birth asphyxia was found in 6.21% of neonates. Neonatal mortality was 2.33%. Neonatal mortality is more in Unbooked cases (90.47%).Conclusions: Many unforeseen complications occur in women who previously had a normal vaginal delivery. It is recommended that all antenatal patients must be booked and receive proper and regular antenatal care. Also 100% deliveries in multigravida should be institutional deliveries in order to reduce maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality

Development and integration of soil moisture sensor with drip system for precise irrigation scheduling through mobile phone

Soil moisture sensor is an instrument for quick measurements of soil moisture content in the crop root zone on real time basis. The main objective of this research was development and evaluation of an indigenous sensor for precise irrigation scheduling. The various parts of sensor developed were ceramic cup, acrylic pipe, level sensor, tee, reducer, gland, cork, and end cap. The designed system was successfully tested on okra crop and calibrated with frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) by three methods of irrigation, i.e. check basin, furrow and drip, respectively. The average depth of water depletion in modified tensiometer by these methods was 27 to 35 cm at 50% management allowable depletion (MAD) of field capacity. This depth was useful for the level sensor to be installed inside modified tensiometer for real time irrigation scheduling. The correlation coefficient (R2) between soil moisture content obtained from the developed sensor and FDR was 0.963. Sensor network was integrated with global system for mobile communication (GSM), short message service (SMS) and drip head work to develop an automated irrigation system. This would enable farmers to effectively monitor and control water application in the field by sending command through SMS and receiving pumping status through the mobile phone

Cost-effective baby corn (Zea mays) cultivation under drip fertigation

Field experiment was conducted during 2010-2011 at the research farm of Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India to study the economic viability of baby corn (Zea mays L.) cultivation round the year (October-February, April-July and August-November) under fertigation system. The present study consisted of nine treatments which includes three fertigation frequencies (biweekly, weekly and fortnightly) and three dripper 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 kg/cm2 system operating pressures. Yield attributes of baby corn were significantly (P<0.05) affected by fertigation frequencies. Highest yield of cob, corn and fodder were recorded in biweekly fertigation schedule with dripper discharge at system operating pressure of 1.0 kg/cm2 (132.5, 22.5, 633.3 q/ha) during 2nd season however, lowest yields of cob, corn and fodder (65.8, 11.2 and 454.6 q/ha) were recorded under fortnightly fertigation schedule with dripper discharge at system operating pressure of 1.5 kg/cm2 during 3rd season. High values of benefit cost ratio (3.63) under biweekly fertigation during 2nd season and low values of benefit cost ratio (1.47) were found under fortnightly fertigation during 3rd season

Controlling progression of bacterial biofilm by herbal eye care formulation

679-684Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus causing common eye-infection ‘keratitis’ develop resistance to antibiotics by forming biofilm. Present study evaluates anti-biofilm properties of three commercially available eye care herbal formulations against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Eye drop formulations were tested for total phenolic content and antimicrobial activity. Biofilm growth over glass in the presence of herbal formulation was examined under fluorescence microscope. The herbal formulations rich in phenolics, tested at 10% (v/v) concentration showed growth inhibitory effect on planktonic cells. During biofilm mode of growth, 10% of herbal formulation caused considerable decline in growth of biofilm, although did not inhibit it completely. The response to different herbal formulations varied markedly among the different bacterial strains tested. Herbal components can significantly affect the surface topology of biofilms, thereby restricting the attachment of the cell to the substratum

Irrigation application efficiency and uniformity of water distribution using multi-outlet pipe and resource conservation technologies

Irrigation experiments were conducted during November to April under wheat crop in the winter season of 2012-13 and 2013-14 in the farmer’s field at Galibkhedi village located in Karnal District, Haryana State, India. In the study, collapsible multi-outlet pipe (MOP) along with single outlets pipe (SOP) was tested in farmer’s field under wheat cultivation. Irrigation was carried out in five treatments including tillage (T) with SOP and MOP; zero-tillage (ZT) with SOP and MOP, and furrow irrigation with raised bed (FIRB). Iso-time profile of waterfront spreading and advance indicated that irrigation water distribution was uniform under the plot irrigated using MOP as compared to plot irrigated using SOP. In addition, water distribution was uniform under zero tilled plots as compared to tilled plot. Results implied that MOP has several advantages over SOP in terms of application efficiency (AE) and uniformity of water distribution. Average application efficiency for the first study year was found to be in the order of ZT-MOP (82.41%) &gt; FIRB (76.79%) &gt; ZT-SOP (75.25%) &gt; T-MOP (74.85%) &gt; T-SOP (69.79%). Average application efficiency for the second study year was found to be in the same order as first year with some deviation in values. In the second year values of mean application efficiencies were ZT-MOP (82.58%) &gt; FIRB (77.13%) &gt; ZT-SOP (73.04%) &gt; T-MOP (69.65%) &gt; T-SOP (66.13%). Overall, this study concludes that irrigation under wheat crop using collapsible multi-outlet pipe (MOP) with zero tillage practices is a suitable option for surface irrigation that accomplishes uniform distribution of water with higher application efficiency

Sensor network based irrigation system for real time irrigation scheduling in vegetable crops under different methods of irrigation

Soil moisture sensor based irrigation scheduling is relatively a new concept in India. A soil moisture sensor based wireless irrigation system was designed, developed and tested during the years 2013-15 in vegetable crops, i. e. okra, tomato, brinjal, broccoli, potato, and knol-khol on the research farm of the Precision Farming Development Centre, Water Technology Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. A network of sensors was integrated with a wireless system having modified tensiometer, level sensor, controller, GSM receiver, transmitter, solenoid valve, water meter, and pump for automated irrigation scheduling. The sensor network, global system for mobile communication (GSM) and short message service (SMS) carried the data from the sensors to the user through a mobile set. This system allows the user to effectively monitor and control water application in the field via sensors and/or through a mobile phone set by sending a command in the form of message and obtaining the moisture status in the field

Socio-economic upliftment of farmers through model irrigated village approach in East Champaran (Bihar), India: A case study

In India, the precious freshwater resources are becoming scarcer due to the climate change effect coupled with their inappropriate planning and management at the field level. Development of water resources and sensitization of farming community/irrigators towards effective utilization of these resources is need of the hour and it is one of the most important factors in conservation and preservation water resources for future requirements. This case study has highlighted the direct and indirect benefits derived by implementation of National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) scheme in Nawada, a village of the district East Champaran in Bihar state initiated by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Piprakothi, East Champaran under Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar. Two groups of farmers of the village was chosen to evaluate the benefits derived from this scheme. Under this scheme, tube-wells were developed to facilitate assured irrigation. This study revealed that the total savings of approximate Rs.10,000 ($140) per hectare to irrigate wheat crop three times in Rabi season was achieved over conventional irrigation system. This scheme has also resulted in other intangible benefits which included a reduction in pollution, an increase in the number of crops- rabi , kharif and zaid  seasons and adequate time to carryout out other farm operations

Simulation and Modeling of Moisture Distribution in Drip Irrigated Onion

The design of drip irrigation system requires the knowledge of water distribution in the soil, which may be described and predicted by solving the flow through porous media equations. The software HYDRUS-2D simulates the three dimensional axi-symmetric water flow; solute transport, root water and nutrient uptake based on finite-element numerical solutions of the flow equations. In a field study, conducted for 3 years (1999-2002), HYDRUS-2D was used for simulation of moisture distribution pattern in the root zone of onion crop grown in sandy loam soil. The performance of HYDRUS -2D was evaluated by comparing its simulated value with the observed soil moisture patterns through certain indicators such as average absolute error (AAE), average relative error (ARE) and root mean square error (RMSE). Range of AAE (-5.65 to -2.86), ARE (0.112 to 0.147) and RMSE (3.58 to 6.10) indicate good match between simulated and observed soil moisture patterns, and hence, HYDRUS-2D is recommended for use as a tool for simulation of soil moisture distribution in onion fields

Line Source of Water Application - An Appropriate Drip Irrigation System for Field Crops

Drip irrigation system is generally adopted in widely spaced row crops by providing point source(s) of water application to individual plants. Its adoption for closely spaced field crops requires drip laterals to serve as line sources of water application. Widths. Of wetted strips under laterals having emission rates of 8, I 0,12 and 16 Lph/m were observed under durations of operation of I, 2 and 3 hr, in a sandy loam soil. The wetted widths, in all the line sources were found increasing almost linearly with time as well as with increasing emission rates. A prediction equation (S = 6.914 + 6.70T + 2.786 q) was developed for determining the spacing between two adjacent laterals, S (em) for a known operation duration, T (up to 3 hr) and emission rate of the laterals, q (ranging between 8 to 16 Lph/m)