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Evaluation of genetic diversity is the basis of any breeding programs in all plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate and investigate the morphological, ecophysiological and photosynthetic diversity of some Pistacia species which can be used in breeding programs. A total of 42 genotypes belonging to Pistacia atlantica Desf., P. mutica Fischer & C. A. Meyer, Pistacia vera L., Pistacia terebinthus L. and P. khinjuk Stocks species were studied. The results showed that the P. terebinthus species is more efficient than other species in terms of leaf weight, chlorophyll a and b and total chlorophyll, as well as chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthesis efficiency index. Among the varieties of pistachio belonged to P. vera, ‘Siirt’ and ‘Uzun’ cultivars had the highest levels of chlorophyll a, b, and total, photosynthesis rate and transpiration. In addition, P. mutica species had the highest leaf phenol content and stomatal conduction. For most traits measured, the lowest value was observed in P. atlantica species. Moreover, the results showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between morphological and photosynthetic traits as well as morphological and ecophysiological ones so that, the leaf length had a positive and significant correlation with the quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) (r = 0.87), the efficiency index of photosynthesis (pi) (r = 0.76), total chlorophyll (r = 0.92), and carotenoid (r = 0.91). Cluster analysis divided the genotypes into three distinct groups. The first group consisted of P. vera species and its genotypes plus P. khinjuk species. The second group included the species of P. mutica and P. atlantica, and the third one just consisted of the species of P. terebinthus. In general, the results of this study showed that P. terebinthus specie, as well as ‘Akbari’ and ‘Siirt’ cultivars from P. vera can be used as parents in breeding programs to improve the rootstocks and cultivars resistant to environmental conditions.

Banebaghi is considered a natural hybrid in Pistacia genus that can be used as rootstock for pistachio. In order to study the effects of salinity stress on growth indices, physiological parameters and element concentration in Banebaghi, an experiment was arranged as a factorial in completely randomized design (CRD). Factors were salinity of irrigation water (0, 60 and 120 mM of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, respectively), growth type (mutica growth type and pistachio growth type) and stem height (stem height lower half of the plant and stem height upper half of the plant) with four replications. Our results showed that salinity reduced vegetative parameters, SPAD index, leaf relative water content (RWC) and water use efficiency (WUE). Shoot dry weight of seedlings in both heights, decreased at the salinity level of 120 mM, at about 60% compared with control. At the highest level of salinity (120 mM), seedlings with a height lower half of the plant had lower reduction in th...

In order to study the effects of salinity, rootstock, and position of sampling on macronutrient concentration of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cv. “Gabri,” a factorial experiment was conducted based on completely randomized design with 0 and 70 mM sodium chloride and calcium chloride (1:1), three graft combinations (Gabri non-grafted as a control, Gabri/Tab-o-larz, and Gabri/Malas-e-yazdi), and two positions of sampling (lower half and upper half shoot), with three replications. The results showed that mineral concentration of sodium, chloride, calcium, and potassium in shoot and root increased while that of magnesium decreased with salt treatment. The graft combination of Gabri on Tab-o-Larz rootstock had the lowest of sodium and chloride levels in the lower half shoot. Also, calcium concentration in the lower half shoot and potassium concentration in the upper half shoot were higher in the graft combination of Gabri on Tab-o-Larz rootstock. These results imply that Tab-o-Larz rootstock restri...

Editorial - Since the official registration of the word “Mechatronics” as a trademark by Yaskawa Electric Corporation in 1971, explosive growth has been observed in mechatronics research and product development activities. Nowadays, mechatronics and mechatronic design methodologies play increasingly important roles in computer, communication, control, and consumer product (4C) technologies. As such, it is fair to agree that mechatronics technology has profoundly affected almost all aspects of human life, particularly, of engineering realities ranging from rehabilitation devices to ground and underwater robots, and from unmanned aerial vehicles to intelligent manufacturing facilities, constituting a rapidly progressing frontline.

Pistachio hull is a horticultural waste product obtained during dehulling process of pistachio nuts. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of pistachio hull and rice husk compost, as culture medium, on vegetative and physiological characteristics of pothos (Scindapsus aureus) plants. Rooted cuttings were used as plant materials and cultured in pots (40 × 30cm) filled with the following media: S1 = 100% peat (control), S2 = 100% rice husk, S3 = 70% rice husk + 30% pistachio hull, S4 = 50% rice husk + 50% pistachio hull, S5 = 30% rice husk + 70% pistachio hull and S6 = 100% pistachio hull. The vegetative parameters were affected by media type, so that no plants survived in 100% pistachio hull. The application of 50% pistachio hull and 50% rice husk (S4), increased shoot fresh weight, and potassium (K) concentration of shoot and root compared to control. Fresh and dry root weight and phosphorus (P) concentration of shoot was increased with S2 treatment (100% rice husk).

This paper presents the work in the area of sensing, using smart materials, more specific dielectric electro active polymers (DEAPs). Sensing is one of the main trio-characteristics of DEAPs; the trio-formations as applicable uses are actuator, transducer, and finally sensor. It is noted that one of the main value propositions whenever DEAP material is used, is the dual characteristics as the sensing/actuating capability. In the following work, the DEAP membrane will be modeled and the relation among the key variables (pressure and capacitance) will be determined. Hence, such a relation depends on the geometrical shape of the used membrane. The development process is carried out to propose alternative solutions for the sensor design using the DEAP and the laminate material. Test methodology, pressure-based test rig, prototypes, and software are developed afterwards to evaluate the prototypes test pieces. In general, the DEAP material has proven to be a very good sensor for pressure taking the advantage of flexibility, wide range of operation, and finally the sensitivity. The theoretical model is benchmarked against the acquired data from the tests, whereby high correlation within an approximate range of 0-23 mmHg (1.7% mean error) has been observed showing a promising application for the DEAP material in pressure sensing in general, and demonstrating the feasibility for the conceptualization of the blood pressure sensing system based on DEAP material.

This paper deals with a convex optimization approach to the problem of robust network-based H∞ control for linear systems connected over a common digital communication network with static quantizers. Both the polytopic and the norm-bounded uncertainties are taken into consideration separately. First, the effect of both the output quantization levels and the network conditions under static quantizers is investigated. Second, by introducing a descriptor technique, using a Lyapunov—Krasovskii functional and a suitable change of variables, new required sufficient conditions are established in terms of delay-range-dependent linear matrix inequalities for the existence of the desired network-based quantized controllers with simultaneous consideration of network-induced delays and measurement quantization. The explicit expression of the controllers is derived to satisfy both asymptotic stability and a prescribed level of disturbance attenuation for all admissible norm-bounded uncertainties. Two examples are utilized to illustrate the design procedure proposed in this paper.

This paper considers the problem of robust multi-objective

The problem of delay-dependent parameter-dependent H∞ filtering for state estimation of a class of LPV systems with multiple constant time delays in the state vector is investigated. With the help of polynomially parameter-dependent quadratic (PPDQ) functions and a suitable change of variables, the required sufficient conditions with high precision are established in terms of delay-dependent parameter-independent linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) for the existence of the desired H∞ filters. The explicit expression of the delay-dependent parameter-dependent H∞ filters is derived to satisfy both asymptotic stability and a prescribed level of disturbance attenuation. Accordingly, the designed filter will have the ability to track the plant states in the presence of external disturbances. Two numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed design approach.

A mixed H2/ H∞ output-feedback control design methodology for vibration reduction of base-isolated building structures modelled in the form of second-order linear systems is presented. Sufficient conditions for the design of a desired control are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities. A controller that guarantees asymptotic stability and a mixed H2/ H∞ performance for the closed-loop system of the structure is developed, based on a Lyapunov function. The performance of the controller is evaluated by means of simulations in MATLAB/Simulink.

A theoretical analysis of a model of plain-weft-knitted fabric subjected to uniaxial loading in either direction is presented. Castigliano's theorem has been used as the principal method of attack to predict the initial modulus properties of the fabric. Yarn properties such as compression, extension and bending rigidity are taken into account in addition to fabric characteristics such as stitch length, tightness factor, course and wale spacing, etc. Finally, calculated initial moduli that are given for a range of fabric tightness values are compared with experimental data. It is concluded that this analysis has sufficient capacity to enable the uniaxial extension behaviour of the fabric to be estimated with considerable accuracy.

This paper presents a new technique to design a parameter-dependent adaptive H∞ control for a class of linear parameter-varying (LPV) systems. It is assumed that the statespace matrices affinely depend on parameters that are not measurable in real-time for the control process. By introducing a Hamiltonian-Jacobi-Isaac (HJI) function and using the vector projection method, a sufficient condition is first established for the stability analysis problem in terms of a parameter-dependent linear matrix inequality (LMI). Then, by means of the polynomially parameter-dependent quadratic (PPDQ) functions, a parameter-independent LMI-based condition is derived, which enables an explicit expression to be found of the parameter-dependent adaptive H∞ control that guarantees both robust asymptotic stability and a prescribed level of disturbance attenuation for the system. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the applicability of the proposed design approach.

This paper deals with the modeling and robust control of bounce and pitch vibration for the engine–body vibration structure using Haar wavelets. The authors’ attention is focused on the development of the Haar wavelet-based robust optimal control for vibration reduction of the engine–body system computationally that guarantees desired L2 gain performance. The properties of Haar wavelet are introduced and utilized to find the trajectories and robust optimal control approximately, by solving only algebraic equations instead of solving the Riccati differential equation. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the advantage of the approach.

This paper presents a delay-dependent approach to robust filtering for linear parameter-varying (LPV) systems with discrete and distributed time-invariant delays in the states and outputs. It is assumed that the state-space matrices affinely depend on parameters that are measurable in real-time. Some new parameter-dependent delay-dependent stability conditions are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) such that the filtering process remains asymptotically stable and satisfies a prescribed H ∞ performance level. Using polynomially parameter-dependent quadratic (PPDQ) functions and some Lagrange multiplier matrices, we establish the parameter-independent delay-dependent conditions with high precision under which the desired robust H ∞ filters exist and derive the explicit expression of these filters. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed design approach.

This paper deals with the modelling of engine-body vibration structure to robust control of bounce and pitch vibrations using Haar wavelets. The authors' attention is focused on development of the Haar wavelet-based robust optimal control for vibration reduction of the engine-body system computationally that guarantee desired L 2 gain performance. The Haar wavelet properties are introduced and utilized to find the approximate solutions of trajectories and robust optimal control by solving only algebraic equations instead of solving the Riccati differential equation. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the advantage of the approach.

This paper deals with the robust delay-dependent H ⋡ filtering problem for a class of LPV systems with multiple constant time-delays in the state vector. It is shown that, by using the Hamiltonian-Jacoby-Isaac (HJI) function and the polynomially parameter-dependent quadratic functions and a suitable change of variables, the required sufficient conditions with high precision are established in terms of parameter-independent linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) for the existence of the desired H ⋡ filters. However, the explicit expression of the robust delay-dependent H ⋡ filters is derived to satisfy both asymptotic stability and H ⋡ performance. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed design approach.

In this paper, a Haar wavelet-based method for optimal control of the second-order linear systems with respect to a quadratic cost function for any length of time is proposed. A Haar wavelet integral operational matrix and properties of the Kronecker product are used in finding the approximate solutions of optimal trajectories and optimal control by solving only two algebraic equations instead of solving the Riccati differential equation. Numerical results of a typical example are presented to illustrate the advantage of the approach.

In this article, a computational method based on Haar wavelet in time-domain for solving the problem of optimal control of the linear time invariant systems for any finite time interval is proposed. Haar wavelet integral operational matrix and the properties of Kronecker product are utilized to find the approximated optimal trajectory and optimal control law of the linear systems with respect to a quadratic cost function by solving only the linear algebraic equations. It is shown that parameter estimation of linear system can be done easily using the idea proposed. On the basis of Haar function properties, the results of the article, which include the time information, are illustrated in two examples.