A Hybrid Filter for Image Enhancement

Image filtering processes are applied on images to remove the different types of noise that are either present in the image during capturing or introduced into the image during transmission. The salt & pepper (impulse) noise is the one type of noise which is occurred during transmission of the images or due to bit errors or dead pixels in the image contents. The images are blurred due to object movement or camera displacement when we capture the image. This pepper deals with removing the impulse noise and blurredness simultaneously from the images. The hybrid filter is a combination of wiener filter and median filter

Absenteeism among female pluckers in a tea plantation in south India

Background: The tea industry which is one of the world’s oldest agro-based industry provides direct employment to more than a million workers, of which most are women. Two of the main causes for decreased tea production in India is due to shortage of pluckers and their absenteeism which impacts tea productivity. So, this study was undertaken to study absenteeism rates and the causes of absenteeism among female pluckers in a tea plantation in South India. Methodology: This was a cross section study undertaken in tea estates located in Anamalais, Tamilnadu. All female pluckers working in the estates were eligible to part of the study. The study population consisted of 256 female tea pluckers who were selected at random and an interview schedule was used to collect the following information – socio-demographic status, nature of the job, job satisfaction and reasons for absenteeism. Results: The study population consisted of 80.9% permanent workers and 19.1% temporary workers, with an average work experience of 21.6years.The main cause of absenteeism was health related (47.8%), followed by visit to native place (29.3%), then illness among family members (15.7%) and either lazy of bored to report to work (7.2%).There was an association between absenteeism and hospitalization in the past one year, increasing number of children in the family and the number of years of work experience. Conclusion: Majority of the pluckers were in the age group of 40-45 years. Women in this age group are more vulnerable to health issues such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, work related musculoskeletal disorders and also probably time taken off to take care of dependents apart from house old chores. Increasing age, illness of self or family member were the most important factors which contributed to increase absenteeism. &nbsp

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Not AvailableRice–wheat rotation is the most important cropping system of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and is responsible for the food security of the region. The effect of different integrated nutrient management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and its fractions, SOC sequestration potential as well as the sustainability of the rice–wheat system were evaluated in long term experiments at different agroclimatic zones of IGP. Application of NPK either through inorganic fertilizers or through combination of inorganic fertilizer and organics such as farm yard manure (FYM) or crop residue or green manure improved the SOC, particulate organic carbon (POC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) concentration and their sequestration rate. Application of 50% NPK + 50% N through FYM in rice and 100% NPK in wheat, sequestered 0.39, 0.50, 0.51 and 0.62 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 over control (no N–P–K fertilizers or organics), respectively at Ludhiana, Kanpur, Sabour and Kalyani using the mass of SOC in the control treatment as reference point. Soil carbon sequestration with response to application of fertilizer partially substituted (50% on N basis) with organics were higher in Kalyani and Sabour lying in humid climate than Ludhiana and Kanpur lying in semiarid climate. The rice yield recorded a significant declining trend in Ludhiana and Kanpur where as the yield trend was stable at Sabour and Kalyani under unfertilized control. The system productivity in N–P–K fertilized plots and NPK along with organics showed either an increasing trend or remained stable at all locations during last two and half decades of the experiment.Not Availabl