Tomography

Tomography is traditionally associated with medical ‘CT’ scanners that have been in use for over 30 years now. This mathematical concept is now applied widely by scientists and engineers in a variety of measurements involving solids, fluid, gases and plasmas. Instrumentation based on X-rays, gammarays, lasers and acoustics have been used successfully in these applications. Inherent error in such measurements can be also be estimated thus making tomographic imaging a very powerful non-invasive technique for field measurements. Prabhat Munshi is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kanpur. His major areas of his interest are computerized tomography and nuclear reactor safety analysis.     

Bilirubin Interference in Serum Creatinine Estimation by Jaffe’s kinetic Method and Its Rectification in Three Different Kits

The negative interference by bilirubin in serum creatinine estimation by Jaffe’s kinetic method is well known. Several approaches have been suggested to overcome this interference. In this article three different creatinine kits (Jaffe’s kinetic method) have been tested for bilirubin interference and its rectification using two simple approaches. The performance of three kits (A, B and C) supplied by three different manufacturers was tested using IQC and EQAS sera and pooled serum with added bilirubin. To overcome the bilirubin interference two approaches viz. NaOH preincubation and TCA precipitation were used. Bilirubin did interfere in creatinine estimation after a certain level (2.3 mg/dl). However, both NaOH preincubation and TCA precipitation approach rectified this interference. The performance of kit A was better than kit B and C. All the three kits showed bilirubin interference upon increasing the bilirubin concentration but kit A performed better than kit B and C. However, NaOH incubation and TCA precipitation methods overcame this interference to a great extent.     

Studies on the management of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita-wilt fungus, Fusarium oxysporum disease complex of green gram, Vigna radiata cv ML-1108

INTRODUCTION Green gram (Vigna radiata) is an important short duration pulse crop. Due to its high nutritive value, it is grown throughout the tropical countries of South and Southeast Asia, particularly in India (Vavilov, 1951). Among various pests and diseases, nematodes-fungus disease complex particularly of Meloidogyne incognita and Fusarium oxysporum poses a great problem to the cultivation of pulse crops by inflicting severe yield losses (Perveen et al., 1999; De et al., 2000; …     

Studies on the management of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita -wilt fungus, Fusarium oxysporum disease complex of green gram, Vigna radiata cv ML-1108

Studies were conducted under pot conditions to determine the comparative efficacy of carbofuran at 1 mg a.i./kg soil, bavistin at 1 mg a.i./kg soil, neem (Azadirachta indica) seed powder at 50 mg/kg soil, green mould (Trichoderma harzianum) at 50.0 ml/kg soil, rhizobacteria (Pseudomonas fluorescens) at 50.0 ml/kg soil against root-knot nematode,Meloidogyne incognita-wilt fungus,Fusarium oxysporum disease complex on green gram,Vigna radiata cv ML-1108. All the treatments significantly improved the growth of the plants as compared to untreated inoculated plants. Analysis of data showed that carbofuran andA. indica seed powder increased plant growth and yield significantly more in comparison to bavistin andP. fluorescens. Carbofuran was highly effective against nematode, bavistin against fungus,A. indica seed powder against both the pathogens and both the bioagents were moderately effective against both the pathogens.