Cost analysis of manual bund shaping in paddy fields: Economical and physiological

Bund shaping is one of the essential operations in preparing a paddy transplanting field. This operation is undertaken manually by spades in a traditional way as this has not been mechanised thus far. Therefore, this study was conducted to expose this operation by evaluating the economic, as well as physiological, cost involved in the bund shaping. For the economic cost, the study was conducted in nine different districts of Assam (India). The bund length for the estimated area was measured and estimated for one ha of land. The average rate of manual bund shaping was also measured to calculate the cost involved in this operation. Moreover, for the physiological cost, ten experienced subjects were calibrated and measured for their maximum aerobic capacity by sub-maximal exercise in laboratory condition. Furthermore, the heart rate was measured during the manual bund shaping and was then correlated with the calibrated data. It was found that the average required bund shaping length per ha was 3 669 m which was associated with a cost of 2 062.8 rupees. It was found that the bund shaping consumed 76.96% of the maximum volume of the oxygen consumption capacity of the subjects; however, the energy expenditure rate with respect to time and bund length were 7.37 kcal·min^–1 and 4.33 kcal·m^–1, respectively. Hence, bund shaping in a paddy field comes under a severe workload category which emphasises the need of mechanisation for the bund shaping operation.

Ergonomical Assessment on Hand Operated Chaff Cutter by Rural Women Workers

A study was conducted to ease the fodder cutting operations a commercially available hand chaff cutter (Sokhiya Agricultural Industries, Jaipur, India) during 2019–20 in the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering at College of Agricultural Engineering, Sangareddy, Telangana, India. The assessment was done using with 3 different age group female workers who regularly feed to the animals to assess its suitability for workers of the southern region of India. The parameters used for the Ergonomical evaluation include machine operation at different forces are heart rate, pulse rate, oxygen consumption rate, and energy expenditure rate. The average heart rate for female subjects of P1, P2 and P3 was recorded before the operation is 79, 76 and 81 beats min-1 and after the operation is 109, 108 and 113 beats min-1 for various fodders. The average pulse rate for female subjects of P1, P2, and P3 was recorded before the operation is 62, 68, and 63 beats min-1 and after the operation is 80, 80, and 82 beats min-1 for various fodders. The average oxygen consumption rate and energy expenditure rate of female subjects of P1, P2 and P3 were found to be 0.61, 0.59 and 0.66 liter min-1, and 12.68, 12.36 and 13.74 KJ min-1 respectively after operation of chaff cutter. The physiological parameters are heart rate, pulse rate, oxygen consumption rate, and energy consumption rate increased more rapidly for all age group female workers after operation of chaff cutter with 3 various fodders.

Ergonomic Evaluation of Women Farm Workers Using Different Manual Weeding Tools in Maize Crop of Udaipur District

Women play a major and crucial role in doing the agricultural operations. The women workers in Udaipur district mostly uses sickle and kudali for doing weeding operations. This study was conducted in 2019-20 at instructional Farm, CTAE, Udaipur with women farm workers during the manual weeding operation by using different traditional tools like hand hoe (kudali) along with technically and ergonomically designed wheel hand hoe. The main objective of the study was to investigate the most drudgery prone tool and to recommend the proper tool for doing weeding operations in maize crop. Use of proper tools not only reduce the drudgery but also improves the operating efficiency along with the comfort, besides improving the productivity of the women farm workers in doing the operation. In view of this, an effort has been made to assess the physical and physiological parameters of women farm workers who are using traditional farm tools along with the improved tools for doing weeding operation in maize crop. The whole study was conducted on ten female farm workers identified from the population of workers in the age group of 18 to 45 years. During the experiment, physiological workload i.e., heart rate, oxygen consumption rate, energy expenditure rate and physical workload i.e., overall discomfort rate, rate of perceived exertion and Musculo-skeletal problems were measured. The Pratap wheel hand hoe saves nearly 36% of the cardiac cost of the worker per unit of output and wheel hand hoe saves nearly 38% of the cardiac cost of the worker per unit of output which is nothing but reduction in drudgery by 36% and 38% by both the weeding tools over kudali. Area covered with Pratap wheel hand hoe and wheel hand hoe were 1.70 and 1.69 times more over kudali.

The Model of Per-Capita Expenditure Figures in Sumatera Selatan uses a Geographically Weighted Panel Regression

The Geographically Weighted Panel Regression (GWPR) is a development of a global regression model where the basic idea is taken from a combination of panel data and GWR. The GWPR model is built from the point approach method, which is based on the position of the coordinates of latitude and longitude. The parameters for the regression model at each location will produce different values. GWPR can accommodate spatial effects, so that it can better explain the relationship between response variables and predictors. The purpose of this study is to compare the GWPR model with the Fixed Gaussian and Adaptive Bisquare weighting functions based on the AIC value. The data used in this study is secondary data taken from the website of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in the form of Per-Capita Expenditure Figures in South Sumatra in 2013-2019. This research results that in the case of the Per-Capita Expenditure Rate (AP), it is better to use the GWPR method with a fixed gaussian weighting function in the modeling, where the resulting coefficient of determination is 95.81% rather than adaptive bisquare with a determination coefficient of 93.3%. The factors that influence the Per-Capita Expenditure Rate (AP) in South Sumatra on the fixed gaussian weighting are divided into 6 groups, while the adaptive bisquare is divided into 2 groups.

Thyroid Function and Obesity: From Mechanisms to the Benefits of Levothyroxine in Obese Patient

Background: Thyroid disease and obesity are very common clinical conditions in the general population. They can occur together in the same subject, but their relationship does not seem to be exclusively stochastic. Aim: We critically reviewed the evidence of the literature in the attempt to provide explanation for this association, in order to understand the possible benefits of levothyroxine therapy in euthyroid obese patients. Results: A low energy expenditure rate can lead to obesity. Maintaining Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the main cause of energy expenditure for the body, which is regulated by thermogenesis. Thyroid hormone receptors (TR) play different roles in the induction of thermogenetic mechanisms: TRα is fundamental to induce thermogenesis, TRβ triggers the expression of uncoupling protein 1(UCP1). Despite such mechanisms, there is not currently evidence to treat subjects suffering from obesity with thyroid hormones. Conclusion: Replacement therapy should be reserved to patients with obvious signs of subclinical or clinical hypothyroidism. Definitions: Basal metabolic rate (BMR) or basal energy expenditure (BEE): measurement obtained under total inactivity and controlled research conditions; resting energy expenditure (REE): measurement obtained when an individual is sitting quietly (is mildly higher than BMR/BEE).

The Causes of the Greek Debt Problem

In Greece, special interest groups were the main drivers of pressure to increase public spending and, by extension, to increase public debt to cover the expenditure by blocking any effort of prudent governance. They were so greedy, that when the funds of public vaults were not sufficient to meet their expectations, they exerted pressures or even extorted the state to engage in public borrowing so as to accrue even greater funds, disregarding the short- and long-term cost of such actions for the state and society. As a result, a vicious circle led to Greek public over-indebtedness in order to support public overspending. It is indicative that the Greek state's primary expenditure rate increased between 2000 and 2009 by 135%. In other words, the citizens were obliged to pay taxes that would support two states: the expenses' level the state had until 2000 and the costs of one more state after 2000-2009.

Catastrophic Household Expenditure for Healthcare in Turkey: Clustering Analysis of Categorical Data

The amount of health expenditure at the household level is one of the most basic indicators of development in countries. In many countries, health expenditure increases relative to national income. If out-of-pocket health spending is higher than the income or too high, this indicates an economical alarm that causes a lower life standard, called catastrophic health expenditure. Catastrophic expenditure may be affected by many factors such as household type, property status, smoking and drinking alcohol habits, being active in sports, and having private health insurance. The study aims to investigate households with respect to catastrophic health expenditure by the clustering method. Clustering enables one to see the main similarity and difference between the groups. The results show that there are significant and interesting differences between the five groups. C4 households earn more but spend less money on health problems by the rate of 3.10% because people who do physical exercises regularly have fewer health problems. A household with a family with one adult, landlord and three people in total (mother or father and two children) in the cluster C5 earns much money and spends large amounts for health expenses than other clusters. C1 households with elementary families with three children, and who do not pay rent although they are not landlords have the highest catastrophic health expenditure. Households in C3 have a rate of 3.83% health expenditure rate on average, which is higher than other clusters. Households in the cluster C2 make the most catastrophic health expenditure.

Model Pertumbuhan Utang Luar Negeri Indonesia

The Government of Indonesia do external debt because government expenditure is greater than his revenue. External debt of Indonesia increas every year. To see its growth, it can be done with make a model of Indonesia’s external debt. This research is literature study. The model of the growth of Indonesia’s external debt in form of linear differential equations of first order that the solution can be determined. From the analysis results, Indonesia’s external debt affected by the interest rate, the expenditure rate, the tax revenue rate and non-tax revenue rate.