Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate is important for high yield and good quality of potato tubers. In this dissertation, I seek to study the response of different potato cultivars under different N fertilizer rates and how that can impact tuber quality, examine the performance of active optical sensors in improving a potato yield prediction algorithm, and evaluate the ability of active optical sensors (GreenSeeker (GS) and Crop Circle (CC)) to optimize a N recommendation algorithm that can be used by potato growers in Maine. This research was conducted at 11 sites over a period of two years (2018–2019) in Aroostook County, Maine; all sites depended on a rainfed system. Three potato cultivars, Russet Burbank, Superior, and Shepody, were planted under six rates of N (0-280 kg ha-1), ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, and were applied in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. Active optical sensor readings (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were collected weekly after the fourth leaf stage began. The coefficient of determination (R2) between soil organic matter (OM) content and total tuber yield for all sites combined was 0.78**. Sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of soil OM produced higher total tuber yield, marketable yield, and tuber weight per plant (39.45%, 45.22%, and 54.94%, respectively) than sites with ≤ 30 g kg-1 of OM. Specific gravity increased by 0.18% in the sites with ≥ 30 g kg-1 of OM. The total tuber yield for the three cultivars was maximized at 168 kg N ha-1. Vegetation indices measurements obtained at stages of 16 or 20 fully expanded leaves were significantly correlated with tuber yield, which can be used in the yield prediction model. Sensor measurements obtained at the 20th leaf stage were significantly correlated with tuber yield, with the exponential model showing the best fit for the regression curve. The recommended N rate calculated based on in-season sensor readings was reduced by approximately 12–14% compared to the total N rate that growers currently apply based on the conventional approach.
The present work focuses on the experimental implementation of one of the fiber optical sensors, the optical glass fiber built on surface Plasmon resonance. A type of optical glass fiber was used in this work, single-mode no-core fiber with pre-tapering diameter: (125.1 μm) and (125.3 μm), respectively. The taper method can be tested by measuring the output power of the optical fiber before and after chemical etching to show the difference in cladding diameter due to the effect of hydrofluoric acid with increasing time for the taper process. The optical glass fiber sensor can be fabricated using the taper method to reduce the cladding diameter of the fibers to (83.12 µm, 64.37 µm, and 52.45 µm) for single-mode fibers using Hydrofluoric
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Two Prototypes of Transversely Excited at atmospheric pressure (TEA) Nitrogen laser systems (One Stage Blumlein Circuit and Two Stage Blumlein Circuit) were fabricated and operated. High voltage power supply with variable operating voltage (0-20 kv) and operating current (1-3A) was built and tested successfully. The gas flow rate of 15 L/ min and 10 L/ min for OSBC and TSBC was used. The performance of the fabricated systems was studied extensively reaching to the optimum operating conditions. The obtained laser output energy for the first system has linear relationship with the applied voltage. The maximum output energy was about (1.14 mJ) with (10.40) ns pulse duration and the half-wave divergence angle was about (0.1455 m rad). In the
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Active Magnetic Bearings (AMBs) are progressively being implemented in a wide variety of applications. Their exclusive appealing features make them suitable for solving traditional rotor-bearing problems using novel design approaches for rotating machinery. In this paper, a linearized uncertain model of AMBs is utilized to develop a nonlinear sliding mode controller based on Lyapunov function for the electromechanical system. The controller requires measurements of the rotor displacements and their derivatives. Since the control law is discontinuous, the proposed controller can achieve a finite time regulation but with the drawback of the chattering problem. To reduce the effect of this problem, the gain of the uni
... Show MoreAfter the democratic transformation in 2003 in Iraq, young people waited a lot to take their real opportunity to participate in politics, but most of the laws regulating political and electoral work have been unfair to young people, despite developments in laws and legislation, but opportunities did not allow young people to participate in politics, which was reflected It negatively affected their participation in voting and nomination, and even their assumption of public office and positions, which is why they complained about the ruling class and the political system through protests, or when they refused to vote, and this is reflected in the recent parliamentary elections and low participation rates
There are two main categories of force control schemes: hybrid position-force control and impedance control. However, the former does not take into account the dynamic interaction between the robot’s end effector and the environment. In contrast, impedance control includes regulation and stabilization of robot motion by creating a mathematical relationship between the interaction forces and the reference trajectories. It involves an energetic pair of a flow and an effort, instead of controlling a single position or a force. A mass-spring-damper impedance filter is generally used for safe interaction purposes. Tuning the parameters of the impedance filter is important and, if an unsuitable strategy is used, this can lead to unstabl
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Improving the quality of health services in the health sector is an important and necessary matter that must be taken care of and improved, and this study seeks to demonstrate the role of quality costs in improving the quality of health services and achieving a high level of quality to satisfy the beneficiaries and to provide health services of good quality, and the research concluded that the main point of service provision Good health is the costs of prevention and evaluation (costs of quality conformity) and attention to it, and that technical competition contributes greatly to the development of the level of quality, as well as the use of health and medical staff with competent expertise, and that the costs of internal failure and th
... Show MoreA field experiment was conducted during the agricultural season 2017-2018. In the research station of the Ministry of Agriculture AL Rasheed side, and within the activities and researches of the national program to develop wheat cultivation in Iraq, Two factors were experienced in the cultivation of wheat, The first factor is the method of cultivation of five treatments were used: : Treatment of the cultivation of wheat in the plots (B), Treatment of wheat crops on bed with 50 cm width (S1), 60cm (S2), 70cm (S3) and 80cm (S4), The second factor is irrigation levels depletion of 40, 60 and 80% of available water coded as W1, W2 and W3, respectively, The experiment was designed under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicat
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