Fertilizer deposition as a function of angular velocity and inclination of the helical dosing mechanism

ABSTRACT The establishment of grain crops in Brazil is an important industrial process in the agricultural chain, requiring the correct deposition of granular fertilizer over the sowing furrow and more efficient, precise, and sustainable assessments in the operation, which can be achieved with the statistical process control. This study aimed to assess the effect of the angular velocity on different inclinations of the helical metering mechanism on the granular fertilizer deposition. An automated electronic bench was used to assess the deposition quality of granular fertilizers considering different angular velocities (1.11, 1.94, and 2.77 m s-1) and longitudinal and transverse inclinations (+15, +7.5, 0, −7.5, and −15°), with the helical doser by overflow. Flow data were collected and submitted to descriptive statistics and statistical process control. The metering mechanism showed expected variations, with acceptable performance under process control. The values of the flow rates of the granular fertilizer increased as velocity increased, standing out longitudinal inclinations of +7.5 and +15°, providing higher fertilizer depositions.

Addressing Challenges When Applying GRADE to Public Health Guidelines: A Scoping Review Protocol and Pilot Analysis

This is a protocol for a scoping review that aims to determine how guideline authors using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach have addressed previously identified challenges related to public health. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews will be followed. We will search and screen titles of guidelines for all languages published in 2013–2021 in: the GIN library, BIGG database, Epistemonikos GRADE guidelines repository, GRADEpro Database, MAGICapp, NICE and WHO websites. Two reviewers will independently screen full texts of the documents identified. The following information will be extracted: methods used for identifying different stakeholders and incorporating their perspectives; methods for identification and prioritization of non-health outcomes; methods for determining thresholds for decision-making; methods for incorporating and grading evidence from non-randomized studies; methods for addressing concerns with conditional recommendations in public health; methods for reaching consensus; additional methodological concerns; and any modifications made to GRADE. A combination of directed content analysis and descriptive statistics will be used for data analysis, and the findings presented narratively in a tabular and graphical form. In this protocol, we present the pilot results from 13 identified eligible guidelines issued between January and August 2021. We will publish the full review results when they become available.

Design and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Educational Innovations in Primary and Pre-Primary Schools

The creation and implementation of innovation proposals in education can provide a new key towards sustainable development. We are aware that schools perform very different innovations but often, with very low levels of impact and dissemination in their community. There are not many studies that describe, put a value on, categorize or analyse the innovations. This study sought to gain insight into the ICT innovations produced in Spanish primary and pre-primary schools. A quantitative approach based on a questionnaire was used to collect the data, named MANEDUIN, completed by 86 teachers selected by stratified random sampling (public - private, rural - urban). The reliability and the construct-related validity was evaluated from the questionnaire and the validity of content decided by means of experts’ judgment. Our findings point to a good consistency in the questionnaire (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.848). The descriptive statistics and the analysis were made by factorial categories. The results of the factorial analysis confirm the dimensions proposed in the design of the questionnaire in the categories of the factors included in the innovation (social cohesion, interaction with the community, technologies, and success), the innovative schools and their characteristics, the topic and the type of innovation (on resources, direction, materials and time), as well as the obstacles to the innovation. This paper concludes that the questionnaire MANEDUIN is a valid and reliable tool to measure the management of schools’ innovations.

Perspectives and Reality of Young People in Slovakia in the Dimensions of Selected Subsystems of Social Policy

Young people are often exposed to various life situations that gradually come during their lives. The quality of life of young people in Slovakia is conditioned by several areas of social policy therefore, these issues are very important for research. The aim of the paper is to point out the analysis of selected factors (areas) that affect the life situations of young people in Slovakia. We pay attention to the areas of support and protection of the establishment of young families and preparation for parenthood, support of employment of young people and support of housing policy of young people. In this paper we work with the analysis of secondary data, which relate to selected monitored areas focused on young people in Slovakia. The data we use in the article are of a quantitative character. We will use the method of analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction to achieve the set goals. Another key method that we use in the paper is descriptive statistics (Rimarčík, 2007; Chajdiak, 2010; Marek, 2015). In Slovakia, the issue of young people often appears only as a political issue. In scientific discourses, the issue of young people is addressed in isolation, as evidenced by several contributions from the authors. The authors of this paper present the problems of selected factors (areas) influencing the perspectives and reality of young people in Slovakia in an integrated manner.

What Did We Miss? Analysis of Military Personnel Responses to an Open-Ended Question in a Post-Deployment Health Survey

ABSTRACT Introduction Post-deployment health surveys completed by military personnel ask about a range of deployment experiences. These surveys are conducted to determine if there are links between experiences and poor health. Responses to open-ended questions in these surveys can identify experiences that might otherwise go unreported. These responses may increase knowledge about a particular deployment and inform future surveys. This study documented deployment experiences described by Australian Defence Force personnel who were deployed to the Middle East. Materials and Methods A survey completed by 14,032 personnel examined health outcomes and over 100 experiences relating to their Middle East deployment. Responses to two open-ended questions captured additional experiences. Descriptive statistics reveal the characteristics of those who did and did not describe additional experiences, and a content analysis details the nature and frequency of the experiences reported. The study was approved by an Institutional Review Board. Results Five percentage (n = 692) of personnel who completed the survey described additional deployment experiences. The most frequently reported experiences were specific Navy experiences; experiences of poor leadership; administrative or organizational issues; the anthrax vaccine; and traumatic events/potentially morally injurious experiences. Conclusions The findings suggest that post-deployment health surveys should have questions about certain deployment experiences tailored by military service (i.e., Air Force, Army, and Navy). Researchers could consider including questions about personnel experiences of leadership for its impact on health and about potentially morally injurious experiences that may help explain adverse mental health. Clear wording of open-ended questions and participant instructions may improve response rates and reduce response biases.

Product Features and Customers Satisfaction of Patanjali Product: Evidence From Kathmandu, Nepal

The objectives of this study are to identify the features of Patanjali products and it focuses to identify the satisfaction level and purchasing decision of consumer by the features of Patanjali products. In this research, convenient sampling technique were used to get the sample, correlation and regression were used in order to get the result. Descriptive statistics is used to explain the respondents’ perception towards the features of Patanjali product. In this study, the data was collected through questionnaire from 300 respondents. This research used SPSS - 23 for analysis. This study has been done on four attributes or determinants of Patanjali product, they are price, quality, availability and healthy (organic) of product. The result of this study indicates that there is positive relationship between the features of Patanjali product and satisfaction. It can be said that the independents variables have effect on consumer satisfaction of Patanjali products. The producer and marketing managers are recommended to focus on the product features in order to obtain loyal satisfied customers.