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.
Acne scars are one of the most common problems following acne vulgaris. Despite the extensive list of available treatment modalities, their effectiveness depends upon the nature of the scar. Ablative lasers had been used to treat acne scars; one of them is the fractional CO2 laser. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of fractional CO2 laser in the treatment of acne scars. Methods: Since January 2010 to June 2013, using 10600 nm fractional CO2 laser beams, the acne scar of 400 patients, 188 males and 212 females, mean age of 34 years, have been treated and classified according to severity into four grades following Goodman and Baron classification. Each patient underwent 3-5 sessions once monthly. The mean laser exposure time
... Show MoreObjectives: to evaluate the role of conservative, decompression, spine fixation in management of closed spinal injury.
Methods: The study was conducted at Specialized Surgical hospital and Al-Kadhemayia Teaching Hospital, in the period between July 2003 and July 2005.The study included 61 patients categorized Into many groups according level of vertebral injury (cervical, cervicodorsal, dorsal, dorsolumbar, Lumbar and lumbosacral), type of injury (compressed fracture, burst fracture and fracture dislocation) And according the severity into three groups as G1( complete motor paralysis and sensory loss ) G2 ( complete motor paralysis and incomplete sensory loss) and G3 ( incomplete motor paralysis And incomplete sensory loss ).The metho
The study aims to measure life management (in its various approaches) among university academics and to identify the differences among life management strategies (in its various approaches) in regard of gender (male, female), field of education (scientific, humanitarian) and title (assistant lecturer, lecturer, assistant professor, and professor). The study sample consisted of (246) male and female academics from four colleges (Arts, Science, Science education, and Humanitarian Science Education). To achieve the goals of the study, the researchers used the Freund & Baltes (2002) life-management strategies scale after translating it and determining its parameters of reliability and validity. The statistical analysis of the
... Show MoreFor businesses that provide delivery services, the efficiency of the delivery process in terms of punctuality is very important. In addition to increasing customer trust, efficient route management, and selection are required to reduce vehicle fuel costs and expedite delivery. Some small and medium businesses still use conventional methods to manage delivery routes. Decisions to manage delivery schedules and routes do not use any specific methods to expedite the delivery settlement process. This process is inefficient, takes a long time, increases costs and is prone to errors. Therefore, the Dijkstra algorithm has been used to improve the delivery management process. A delivery management system was developed to help managers and drivers
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Worldwide, shipping documents are still primarily created and handled in the traditional paper manner. Processes taking place in shipping ports as a result are time-consuming and heavily dependent on paper. Shipping documents are particularly susceptible to paperwork fraud because they involve numerous parties with competing interests. With the aid of smart contracts, a distributed, shared, and append-only ledger provided by blockchain technology allows for the addition of new records. In order to increase maritime transport and port efficiency and promote economic development, this paper examines current maritime sector developments in Iraq and offers a paradigm to secure the management system based on a hyper-ledger fabric blockchain p
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The present research has investigated the effect of microwave energy on improving the flow properties of heavy crude oil. The fragmentation of crude oil molecules was carried out with and without using 1 and 10 wt. % concentration of various types of H-donors like tetralin, cyclohexane, and naphtha. Microwave power of 320, 385, and 540 W and radiation time 1-9 min, and temperature were studied. The kinematic viscosity and asphaltene content were measured for evaluation the improving of heavy crude oil.
Results show that viscosity of crude oil decreased with increase H-donor concentration, a maximum percentage of viscosity reduction was10.63 % for tetralin at 6 min radiation time, while 8.67%, and 7.34% for cycl
... Show MoreHealth service institutions suffer from challenges resulting from the great changes that our world is witnessing today. This has affected the value that these institutions add to the patient.
This research aims to identify the effect of integrating each of the techniques of QFD and value engineering for the health services provided to the patient to improve the value for him and thus obtain his satisfaction, which is reflected in the reputation of the surveyed hospitals. To achieve this, the descriptive analytical method was used, and a questionnaire was designed to collect the necessary data, which represents a measure of this research. The questionnaire was distri
... Show MoreThis paper presents a study of a syndrome coding scheme for different binary linear error correcting codes that refer to the code families such as BCH, BKLC, Golay, and Hamming. The study is implemented on Wyner’s wiretap channel model when the main channel is error-free and the eavesdropper channel is a binary symmetric channel with crossover error probability (0 < Pe ≤ 0.5) to show the security performance of error correcting codes while used in the single-staged syndrome coding scheme in terms of equivocation rate. Generally, these codes are not designed for secure information transmission, and they have low equivocation rates when they are used in the syndrome coding scheme. Therefore, to improve the transmiss
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The Moisture damage is considered as one of the main challenge for the experts in the field of asphalt pavement design. The aims of the present study is to modify moisture resistance of the asphalt concrete by utilizing ceramic fibers as a type of reinforcement incorporated with hydrated lime. For this purpose, a penetration grade of the asphalt cement (40-50) was utilized as a binder with an aggregate of the maximum nominal size of 12.5mm and mineral filler limestone dust. A series of specimens has been fabricated by utilizing 0.50, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 percentages of ceramic fibers. For each of these contents, another subsequent group of specimens with hydrated lime with 0.0, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 percentages were moulded. For the additi
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