Reducing spray volumes and dosages on conventional airblast orchard sprayers using low volume nozzle systems

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Bound ◽  
M. J. Oakford ◽  
K. M. Jones

Summary.Low volume, fine-droplet hollow cone (HC) Delavan nozzles were fitted to a conventional airblast machine in an attempt to reduce both the volume of spray and the dosage of chemical to thin apples. Red ‘Delicious’ trees at the Grove Research Station in southern Tasmania were thinned with ethephon at full bloom and the post-bloom thinner 6-benzyladenine at 20 days after full bloom. An unthinned control was compared with a treatment hand-thinned at 20 days after full bloom and chemically thinned treatments. The chemical sprays were applied with an airblast sprayer at high volume using conventional nozzles or Delavan HC nozzles at 50, 100, 200, 400 or 800 L/ha at 50, 75 or 100% of the dosage used at high volume. Most chemical treatments had some effect on the parameters measured when compared with the unthinned control while some were as effective as the hand-thinned treatment. The most consistent treatments were at 200 L/ha at the 75 and 100% dosages. Higher or lower volumes tended to be less effective, however, this could have been caused by either spray drift or evaporation of the smaller droplets used at these volumes. Although reducing the dosage to 75% did not reduce thinning effects, reduction of dosage to 50% resulted in significantly less thinning. These results offer a breakthrough for many orchardists to convert to low volume spray application very economically using the Delavan HC nozzles which produce a better droplet size than traditional high volume hydraulic nozzles. It also offers possibilities to significantly lower chemical usage by reducing dosage of chemical applied per hectare. Even more important is the reduction of wastage and pollution.

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Oakford ◽  
SA Bound ◽  
KM Jones ◽  
L O'Rielly

An experiment at the Grove Research Station in southern Tasmania compared the efficacy of low spray volume (LV) treatments of NAA applied by an airshear sprayer with that of the industry standard, airblast sprayer, high volume (HV) application of 4000 L/ha at 10 mg NAA/L to thin Red Delicious apple trees. By adjusting the concentration of NAA, the LV treatments of 100, 200, 400, and 800 L/ha were each applied at 4 rates of NAA representing 25, 50, 75, and 100% of the HV rate of 40000 mg/ha. All treatments were applied at full bloom and 9 days after full bloom. All chemical rates except 25% reduced crop load significantly compared with the control. Fruit weight and size improved in most cases at the 100, 75, and 50% chemical rates. Fruit numbers and mean fruit weight were fitted to polynomial models. This work shows that airshear technology is effective at volumes as low as 100 L/ha, which represents a major saving in spraying time. It also indicates that with effective spraying systems, chemical application rates can be reduced to 50-75% of label rates. This should give the apple industry the confidence to reduce rates and still produce crops of high quality fruit.


1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 669 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Oakford ◽  
KM Jones ◽  
SA Bound ◽  
L O'Rielly

Red Delicious apple trees at Spreyton in northwest Tasmania were thinned with ethephon using an air-shear-electrostatic sprayer (low volume: 100 or 200 L/ha with or without electrostatics) or a commercial air-blast sprayer (high volume: 2000 or 4000 L/ha). Treatments were applied at 2 and 10 days after full bloom. Also included were an unsprayed control and a hand-thinned treatment (15-20 days after full bloom). Carbaryl + Thiram was also applied 3 times (20, 32 and 40 days after full bloom) using the same spray treatments. All dosage rates were equilibrated to apply the same amount of active ingredient/ha. The spray treatments thinned fruit more than the controls when compared for fruit number and all size variables measured except percentage of fruit >80 mm. There were significant differences for fruit number between the hand-thinned, 4000 L/ha high volume and 200 L/ha air-shear treatments, and all the remaining treatments. This applied to both total numbers of fruit set or numbers of fruit hand-thinned at 80-90 days after full bloom. This late hand-thinning had the effect of evening up the fruit size but the control still had significantly smaller fruit than all the other treatments due to the larger number of fruit carried through to hand-thinning.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 615
Author(s):  
Costas Michael ◽  
Emilio Gil ◽  
Montserrat Gallart ◽  
Menelaos C. Stavrinides

Leaf deposit and ground losses generated from spray application in mountain viticulture were evaluated. Four treatments were examined: A spray gun (1000 L ha−1, High-Volume Sprayer—HVS), a motorized knapsack sprayer (200 L ha−1, Low Volume Sprayer—LVS), and a conventional orchard mist blower calibrated at 500 L ha−1 (OS500) or 250 L ha−1 (OS250). The four treatments were assessed using the same tank concentration of tracer in two training systems: a trellis and a goblet. Sprayer treatment, vine side, and vine height significantly affected leaf deposit (p < 0.05). The absolute amount of leaf deposit increased with application volume, but when the amount of deposit was standardized to 1 kg ha−1, LVS resulted in the highest deposit, followed by HVS, OS250, and OS500. Deposition for the goblet system was ca. half that for the trellised vineyard. Ground losses standardized to 1 kg of tracer ha−1 were twice as high for HVS than for LVS, and four times as high for HVS than for OS250 and OS500, in both training systems. The current work suggests that low volume applications in vineyards are a viable and more environmentally friendly alternative than high volume treatments.


2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Wood ◽  
Sharona B. Ross ◽  
Ty A. Bowman ◽  
Amanda Smart ◽  
Carrie E. Ryan ◽  
...  

Since the Leapfrog Group established hospital volume criteria for pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), the importance of surgeon volume versus hospital volume in obtaining superior outcomes has been debated. This study was undertaken to determine whether low-volume surgeons attain the same outcomes after PD as high-volume surgeons at high-volume hospitals. PDs undertaken from 2010 to 2012 were obtained from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. High-volume hospitals were identified. Surgeon volumes within were determined; postoperative length of stay (LOS), in-hospital mortality, discharge status, and hospital charges were examined relative to surgeon volume. Six high-volume hospitals were identified. Each hospital had at least one surgeon undertaking ≥ 12 PDs per year and at least one surgeon undertaking < 12 PDs per year. Within these six hospitals, there were 10 “high-volume” surgeons undertaking 714 PDs over the three-year period (average of 24 PDs per surgeon per year), and 33 “low-volume” surgeons undertaking 225 PDs over the three-year period (average of two PDs per surgeon per year). For all surgeons, the frequency with which surgeons undertook PD did not predict LOS, in-hospital mortality, discharge status, or hospital charges. At the six high-volume hospitals examined from 2010 to 2012, low-volume surgeons undertaking PD did not have different patient outcomes from their high-volume counterparts with respect to patient LOS, in-hospital mortality, patient discharge status, or hospital charges. Although the discussion of volume for complex operations has shifted toward surgeon volume, hospital volume must remain part of the discussion as there seems to be a hospital “field effect.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Obel ◽  
Antonio Isidro Carrion Martin ◽  
Abdul Wasay Mullahzada ◽  
Ronald Kremer ◽  
Nanna Maaløe

Abstract Background Fragile and conflict-affected states contribute with more than 60% of the global burden of maternal mortality. There is an alarming need for research exploring maternal health service access and quality and adaptive responses during armed conflict. Taiz Houbane Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Yemen was established during the war as such adaptive response. However, as number of births vastly exceeded the facility’s pre-dimensioned capacity, a policy was implemented to restrict admissions. We here assess the restriction’s effects on the quality of intrapartum care and birth outcomes. Methods A retrospective before and after study was conducted of all women giving birth in a high-volume month pre-restriction (August 2017; n = 1034) and a low-volume month post-restriction (November 2017; n = 436). Birth outcomes were assessed for all births (mode of birth, stillbirths, intra-facility neonatal deaths, and Apgar score < 7). Quality of intrapartum care was assessed by a criterion-based audit of all caesarean sections (n = 108 and n = 82) and of 250 randomly selected vaginal births in each month. Results Background characteristics of women were comparable between the months. Rates of labour inductions and caesarean sections increased significantly in the low-volume month (14% vs. 22% (relative risk (RR) 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.45-0.87) and 11% vs. 19% (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.71)). No other care or birth outcome indicators were significantly different. Structural and human resources remained constant throughout, despite differences in patient volume. Conclusions Assumptions regarding quality of care in periods of high demand may be misguiding - resilience to maintain quality of care was strong. We recommend health actors to closely monitor changes in quality of care when implementing resource changes; to enable safe care during birth for as many women as possible.


Author(s):  
Miriam Lillo-Felipe ◽  
Rebecka Ahl Hulme ◽  
Maximilian Peter Forssten ◽  
Gary A. Bass ◽  
Yang Cao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The relationship between hospital surgical volume and outcome after colorectal cancer surgery has thoroughly been studied. However, few studies have assessed hospital surgical volume and failure-to-rescue (FTR) after colon and rectal cancer surgery. The aim of the current study is to evaluate FTR following colorectal cancer surgery between clinics based on procedure volume. Methods Patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery in Sweden from January 2015 to January 2020 were recruited through the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry. The primary endpoint was FTR, defined as the proportion of patients with 30-day mortality after severe postoperative complications in colorectal cancer surgery. Severe postoperative complications were defined as Clavien–Dindo ≥ 3. FTR incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated comparing center volume stratified in low-volume (≤ 200 cases/year) and high-volume centers (> 200 cases/year), as well as with an alternative stratification comparing low-volume (< 50 cases/year), medium-volume (50–150 cases/year) and high-volume centers (> 150 cases/year). Results A total of 23,351 patients were included in this study, of whom 2964 suffered severe postoperative complication(s). Adjusted IRR showed no significant differences between high- and low-volume centers with an IRR of 0.97 (0.75–1.26, p = 0.844) in high-volume centers in the first stratification and an IRR of 2.06 (0.80–5.31, p = 0.134) for high-volume centers and 2.15 (0.83–5.56, p = 0.116) for medium-volume centers in the second stratification. Conclusion This nationwide retrospectively analyzed cohort study fails to demonstrate a significant association between hospital surgical volume and FTR after colorectal cancer surgery. Future studies should explore alternative characteristics and their correlation with FTR to identify possible interventions for the improvement of quality of care after colorectal cancer surgery.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suleyman Utku Celik ◽  
Hasan Gorkem Cay ◽  
Ersin Bayrakdar ◽  
Aysima Ince ◽  
Esra Nur Ince ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates are low in the general population and among health care providers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the CRC screening practices of general surgeons who provide specialized diagnostic testing and CRC treatment and to examine the CRC screening behaviors of their first-degree family members. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among general surgeons who attended the 21st National Surgical Congress in Turkey held from April 11th to 15th, 2018. The survey included items on demographics, screening-related attitude, CRC screening options, barriers to CRC screening, and surgeons’ annual volumes of CRC cases. Results A total of 530 respondents completed the survey. Almost one-third of the responding surgeons (29.4%, n = 156) were aged over 50 years, among whom approximately half (47.1%, n = 74) reported having undergone CRC screening and preferring a colonoscopy as the screening modality (78.4%). Among general surgeons aged 50 years and older, high-volume surgeons (≥25 CRC cases per year) were more likely to undergo screening compared with low-volume surgeons (< 25 CRC cases per year). The respondents aged below 50 years reported that 56.1% (n = 210) of their first-degree relatives were up-to-date with CRC screening, mostly with colonoscopy. Compared to low-volume surgeons aged below 50 years, high-volume surgeons’ first-degree relatives were more likely to be up-to-date with CRC screening. Conclusion The survey results demonstrated that routine screening for CRC among surgeons and/or their first-degree relatives is currently not performed at the desired level. However, high-volume surgeons are more likely to participate in routine screening.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna B. Gillen ◽  
Martin J. Gibala

Growing research suggests that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a time-efficient exercise strategy to improve cardiorespiratory and metabolic health. “All out” HIIT models such as Wingate-type exercise are particularly effective, but this type of training may not be safe, tolerable or practical for many individuals. Recent studies, however, have revealed the potential for other models of HIIT, which may be more feasible but are still time-efficient, to stimulate adaptations similar to more demanding low-volume HIIT models and high-volume endurance-type training. As little as 3 HIIT sessions per week, involving ≤10 min of intense exercise within a time commitment of ≤30 min per session, including warm-up, recovery between intervals and cool down, has been shown to improve aerobic capacity, skeletal muscle oxidative capacity, exercise tolerance and markers of disease risk after only a few weeks in both healthy individuals and people with cardiometabolic disorders. Additional research is warranted, as studies conducted have been relatively short-term, with a limited number of measurements performed on small groups of subjects. However, given that “lack of time” remains one of the most commonly cited barriers to regular exercise participation, low-volume HIIT is a time-efficient exercise strategy that warrants consideration by health practitioners and fitness professionals.


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