Design and preliminary evaluation of an onion harvester hand tractor implement

Onions are manually harvested in the Philippines due to the unavailability of mechanical harvesters that are adaptable to local field conditions. Further, imported onion harvester is not only expensive, but it is beyond the reach of local farmers. Hence, this study design and preliminary evaluation of onion harvester hand tractor implement conceptualized to adapt the local field conditions and increase profitability in onion production. The design combines digging, cleaning, and collecting onion bulbs simultaneously in one operation. The main assemblies of the implement include the frame, digger blade, soil-onion separation device, power transmission, and discharge cart. The implement has a total weight of 68 kg; an overall dimension of 1 230 mm x 570 mm x 500 mm (l x w x h); and a power requirement of 2.08 hp. The machine was fabricated by a local manufacturer using available standard materials. The treatments were the rotary speed of the soil-onion separation device; 100 rpm, 208 rpm, and 333 rpm. The data were analyzed using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference (THSD) to further test the level of significance. Results revealed that the actual field capacity, harvesting capacity, harvesting efficiency were 0.027 ha/hr, 299.05kg/hr, and 70.93%, respectively. Hence, this study paved a way for mechanizing onion harvesting at a lower cost and further use of the machine to other root crops can be explored.&nbsp

Tratamiento del desbalance en problemas con múltiples clases con ECOC

El problema del desbalance de clases puede producir un deterioro importante en la efectividad del clasificador, en particular con los patrones de las clases menos representadas. El desbalance en el conjunto de entrenamiento (CE) significa que una clase es representada por una gran cantidad de patrones mientras que otra es representada por muy pocos. Los estudios existentes se encuentran orientados principalmente a tratar problemas de dos clases, no obstante, un importante número de problemas reales se encuentran representados por múltiples clases, donde resulta más difícil su discriminación para el clasificador. El éxito de la Mezcla de Expertos (ME) se basa en el criterio de divide y vencerás. En su funcionamiento general, el problema es dividido en fragmentos más pequeños que serán estudiados por separado. De este modo, el modelo general es poco influenciado por las dificultades individuales de sus componentes. La idea principal del estudio aquí mostrado, es construir una Mezcla de expertos cuyos miembros serán entrenados en una parte del problema general y de este modo, mejorar el rendimiento del clasificador en el contexto de múltiples clases. Para este fin, se hace uso de los métodos conocidos como Error-correcting output codes (ECOC), que permiten realizar una codificación en parejas de clases el problema de estudio. Resultados experimentales sobre conjuntos de datos reales, muestran la viabilidad de la estrategia aquí propuesta

Gestión administrativa y el desempeño laboral de los trabajadores de la Municipalidad de Los Olivos; Lima; año 2021

Ante la necesidad de una reforma del estado que satisfaga las expectativas y necesidades de la ciudadanía, actualmente las políticas públicas se enfocan en analizar y optimizar la gestión administrativa, ya que esta es la vía por la cual se recaudan los recursos económicos y se transforman en servicios y bienes públicos que la población recibe por derecho a fin de mejorar su calidad de vida. En esta investigación se busca determinar si existe una relación entre las variables: gestión administrativa y el desempeño laboral de los trabajadores de la Municipalidad de Los Olivos. En este sentido, para la verificación se empleó la estimación del coeficiente de correlación de Spearman mediante el programa estadístico IBM SPSS, el cual fue aplicado a una muestra de 40 funcionarios públicos de la Municipalidad de Los Olivos en el año 2021. A partir de lo cual se concluye que existe una relación significativa entre las variables: gestión administrativa y el desempeño laboral. Asimismo, se evidencia una relación significativa entre las dimensiones “dirección” y “eficacia”. Finalmente, la presente investigación concluye que en la entidad pública mencionada no se logra hallar una relación entre las dimensiones “planeación” y “actitud”; y entre las dimensiones “organización” y “evaluación”.Given the need for a state reform that meets the expectations and needs of citizens, public policies are currently focused on analyzing and optimizing administrative management, since this is the way in which economic resources are collected and transformed into services and public goods that the population receives by right in order to improve their quality of life. This research seeks to determine if there is a relationship between the variables: administrative management and labor performance of the workers of the Municipality of Los Olivos. In this sense, the estimation of Spearman's correlation coefficient was used for verification by means of the IBM SPSS statistical program, which was applied to a sample of 40 civil servants of the Municipality of Los Olivos in the year 2021. From which it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between the variables: administrative management and job performance. Likewise, there is evidence of a significant relationship between the dimensions "management" and "effectiveness". Finally, this research concludes that in the mentioned public entity, it is not possible to find a relationship between the dimensions "planning" and "attitude"; and between the dimensions "organization" and "evaluation"

Acceptability Assessment of a Locally Developed Onion Harvester Hand Tractor in La Union, Philippines

Onion farmers’ attitude toward a locally developed onion harvester in the Philippines has been unstudied due to the unavailability of the machine. Based on a respondent of 26 onion farmers, an acceptability assessment of the onion harvester was implemented. Data were gathered using questionnaires at two activities of actual hands-on operation and lectures and analyzed using fisher’s exact test. The ease of operation, cleaning and maintenance, safety of operation, ease of transport, technical field performance, adaptability, and investment viability were relevant attributes used in the acceptability of the onion harvester. The majority of the respondents positively accept the onion harvester. The user operation, cleaning and maintenance, ease of transport, adaptability, and investment viability are correlated positively to the willingness to buy or rent the machine. Conversely, user safety, technical performance, and aesthetics are not correlated with adoption. Since 38.5% of the farmers have no hand tractor, the preferred acquisition is renting the onion harvester

Acceptability Assessment of a Locally Developed Onion Harvester Hand Tractor in La Union, Philippines

Onion farmers’ attitude toward a locally developed onion harvester in the Philippines has been unstudied due to the unavailability of the machine. Based on a respondent of 26 onion farmers, an acceptability assessment of the onion harvester was implemented. Data were gathered using questionnaires at two activities of actual hands-on operation and lectures and analyzed using fisher’s exact test. The ease of operation, cleaning and maintenance, safety of operation, ease of transport, technical field performance, adaptability, and investment viability were relevant attributes used in the acceptability of the onion harvester. The majority of the respondents positively accept the onion harvester. The user operation, cleaning and maintenance, ease of transport, adaptability, and investment viability are correlated positively to the willingness to buy or rent the machine. Conversely, user safety, technical performance, and aesthetics are not correlated with adoption. Since 38.5% of the farmers have no hand tractor, the preferred acquisition is renting the onion harvester

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background: Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods: The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18-49, 50-69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results: NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion: As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population