Search

Inter-rater reliability (IRR), which is a prerequisite of high-quality ratings and assessments, may be affected by contextual variables, such as the rater's or ratee's gender, major, or experience. Identification of such heterogeneity sources in IRR is important for the implementation of policies with the potential to decrease measurement error and to increase IRR by focusing on the most relevant subgroups. In this study, we propose a flexible approach for assessing IRR in cases of heterogeneity due to covariates by directly modeling differences in variance components. We use Bayes factors (BFs) to select the best performing model, and we suggest using Bayesian model averaging as an alternative approach for obtaining IRR and variance component estimates, allowing us to account for model uncertainty. We use inclusion BFs considering the whole model space to provide evidence for or against differences in variance components due to covariates. The proposed method is compared with other Bayesian and frequentist approaches in a simulation study, and we demonstrate its superiority in some situations. Finally, we provide real data examples from grant proposal peer review, demonstrating the usefulness of this method and its flexibility in the generalization of more complex designs.

BACKGROUND: Biochars have become one of the most intensively and extensively investigated soil amendment materials in terms of their production, application and fate in the soil because of benefits such as increased soil quality and fertility. Biochar from woodchips and bone char from meat bone waste from a poultry slaughterhouse were prepared at 300 and 500 °C and then thoroughly mixed with two soils (cambisol and luvisol) that differed in their physicochemical parameters in ratios of 2% and 5% (w/w). RESULTS: The impact of bone and biochar amendments on nutrient availability was assessed during a one‐year model laboratory experiment. The feedstock origin and pyrolysis temperature affected the prepared materials' physical properties and nutrient (Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, P, S, Zn) availability. With increasing temperature, the structure of woodchip biochar changed from macroporous to microporous, and bone char changed from non‐porous to mesoporous. However, when mixed with soil, the biochar‐derived change in soil pH was revealed to be the most crucial parameter affecting soil nutrient mobility. Of all the tested elements, Only Cu, Fe and Zn were unaffected by biochar addition. Furthermore, temporal changes in element mobility during incubation were also elucidated. CONCLUSION: The changes over time in element mobility indicated that soil properties were more important than bone and biochar characteristics. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greywacke, i.e., a non- to anchi-metamorphosed immature sandstone that contains more than 15 % clay minerals, occurs in most orogenic belts, with depositional ages ranging from Precambrian to recent. Our study focuses on thermomechanical rock properties of greywacke sampled in Kobeřice quarry (Lower Carboniferous Culm Basin, Drahany Upland, Bohemian Massif). Both relatively fine-grained and coarse-grained (with higher abundance of lithic fragments and small pebbles) intact rock core samples were tested. The experiment was divided into two sets. The first set made of the coarse-grained greywacke gave insight into the changes of properties across the whole temperature range, up to 1,200°C. The second set of samples was used to study the behavior of the fine-grained greywacke in the lower temperature range, up to 400°C. The lower temperature analysis showed an unexpected phenomenon at 200°C to 300°C, manifested by decrease in the strength coupled with higher values of deformation characteristics. These trends reverted at 400°C. The described phenomenon may have been caused by changes in water content combined with clay minerals composition alternation. Alternatively, it could be also related to the rock "paleotemperature memory." On the wider temperature range, the greywacke holds relatively well to the lower temperatures, with the strengths decreasing slowly after 400°C and more rapidly after 800°C. At 1,200°C, partial melting at grain boundaries accompanied by formation of larger pores in the sample center was observed. Results of thermomechanical studies can be crucial during the design of underground constructions or for assessment of the fire damage on a rock-based constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundSeasons affect many social, economic, and biological outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings, and some studies suggest that birth season affects child growth.AimTo study a predictor of stunting that has received limited attention: birth season.Subjects and methodsThis study uses cross-sectional data collected during 2008 in a low-resource society of horticulturists-foragers in the Bolivian Amazon, Tsimane'. It estimates the associations between birth months and height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) for 562 girls and 546 boys separately, from birth until age 11 years or pre-puberty, which in this society occurs ∼13-14 years.ResultsChildren born during the rainy season (February-May) were shorter, while children born during the end of the dry season and the start of the rainy season (August-November) were taller, both compared with their age-sex peers born during the rest of the year. The correlations of birth season with HAZ were stronger for boys than for girls. Controlling for birth season, there is some evidence of eventual partial catch-up growth, with the HAZ of girls or boys worsening until ∼ age 4-5 years, but improving thereafter. By age 6 years, many girls and boys had ceased to be stunted, irrespective of birth season.ConclusionThe results suggest that redressing stunting will require attention to conditions in utero, infancy and late childhood.

Understanding of habitat favourability has wide relevance to the invasion biology of alien species. We studied the seasonal dynamics of the alien ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in monoculture Scots pine forest stands in south-west Slovakia, Central Europe, from April 2013 to March 2015. Adult H. axyridis were collected monthly across seven randomly selected pine stands of different ages and canopy closure, from the lower branches of pine trees, and larvae were recorded qualitatively. Adults were recorded all year round, most abundantly in November and least abundantly in February. The relationship between the abundance of H. axyridis and selected forest stand characteristics was modelled using the negative binomial Generalized Additive Model with penalized spline component in month (seasonality) effect, year, canopy closure and age effects and the random effect of forest stand (sample area effect). The abundance of H. axyridis was significantly influenced by the age of stand and seasonality (with month granularity) for both closed and open canopy stands, whereas the effects of canopy closure and sample area were not significant. The bimodal pattern of seasonal dynamics of H. axyridis on Scots pine was common for closed and open canopy stands, with two peaks reflecting the cyclic movement of the species from and to overwintering sites. Harmonia axyridis utilized certain pine stands preferably for foraging during the growing season and certain stands for refuge during winter. The ladybirds were found in highest numbers in the 15 year old closed canopy stand (overwintering site). The occurrence of both adults and larvae in most stands indicated a suitability of Scots pine forest for ladybird breeding. The model of year-round dynamics of H. axyridis has been presented for the first time within the invaded range of the ladybird in Europe.