Comparative effects of saline water on yield and quality of potato under drip and furrow irrigation

A field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of the Precision Farming Development Centre, PAU, Ludhiana in the Rabi season of the year 2015–2016. The potato variety Kufri Pukhraj, was sown by following drip and furrow methods of irrigation. Five irrigation treatments with good quality water (electrical conductivity, EC-0) and four with saline water treatments of 2,000 mmho/cm (EC-2), 4,000 mmho/cm (EC-4), 6,000 mmho/cm (EC-6) and 8,000 mmho/cm (EC-8) under split plot design along with three replications was followed. The results revealed that, plant height decreased with increasing salinity. Nevertheless, plant height under drip irrigation was greater than plant height under furrow irrigation at all levels of salinity. Number of tubers per plant, weight of tubers and tuber yield decreased with increasing salinity of irrigation water. However, the values of these parameters were more under drip irrigation than furrow irrigation and effects were pronounced at higher level of water salinities. Regarding tuber quality, there was a significant decrease in dry matter and starch content and increase in sugar content with increasing salinity of irrigation water. These quality parameters were observed to be better under drip irrigation over furrow irrigation method. Number of Grade A and B tubers were found to be higher in drip irrigation at levels of water salinity. On the contrary, Grade D tubers were predominant under furrow irrigation. It is concluded that, drip irrigation is superior over furrow method producing higher tuber yield with better quality having more proportion of marketable tubers even at high salinity

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis as a warning signal for double positive crescentic glomerulonephritis in a young male with complete renal recovery

Double positive crescentic glomerulonephritis is relatively rare in young population and has variable outcomes. Although increased incidence of deep venous thrombosis in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis has been reported, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is very rare. We present a young male who presented with CVT followed by rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis and with appropriate therapeutic modalities he had complete renal and partial neurological recovery

Co-amorphous system of Bifonazole for improved in-vitro permeation and antifungal activity

Bifonazole (BF), belonging to the newer class of antifungal drugs, is being widely explored for topical administration for fungal infections. It has proven to have better efficiency than other older drugs. However, it's low solubility poses a challenge in the formulation and, therefore, in the drug product's efficacy. Intending to harness the benefits of the drug, the objective of the current study was to prepare a supersaturated system of the drug with a coformer. A co-amorphous system (CAS) of BF and citric acid (CA) was prepared using solvent evaporation to achieve better permeation and antimicrobial efficacy after topical application. The prepared system was evaluated for its solid-state properties by DSC, XRD, and FTIR. The theoretical values of the glass transition temperature, as calculated by the Gordon-Taylor equation, correlated well with the observations of the thermal analysis. The prepared system was dispersed in propylene glycol to perform in-vitro permeation studies wherein enhanced permeation properties were noted. The CAS showed better antifungal properties against A. niger owing to better release and solubility of the drug. Thus, It was concluded that a co-amorphous system of BF is a promising formulation strategy for topical drug delivery