Combining Points and Tangents into Parabolic Polygons

Image and geometry processing applications estimate the local geometry of objects using information localized at points. They usually consider information about the tangents as a side product of the points coordinates. This work proposes parabolic polygons as a model for discrete curves, which intrinsically combines points and tangents. This model is naturally affine invariant, which makes it particularly adapted to computer vision applications. As a direct application of this affine invariance, this paper introduces an affine curvature estimator that has a great potential to improve computer vision tasks such as matching and registering. As a proof-of-concept, this work also proposes an affine invariant curve reconstruction from point and tangent data.     

Dynamic analysis and drilling degrees of freedom

Finite element methods for dynamic analysis employing elements with drilling degrees of freedom are presented. The formulation is based on a variational principle in which displacements and rotations are interpolated independently. The issue of zero masses corresponding to rotational degrees of freedom is addressed and techniques for defining consistent and lumped rotational mass matrices are presented.     

Effects of plant community composition and exposure to wave action on invertebrate habitat use of Lake Huron coastal wetlands

Invertebrate communities from different coastal marsh‐plant communities were compared along wave‐exposure gradients using data from 1994, 1998 and 1999. Data were subjected to correspondence analyses to search for patterns in invertebrate communities in relation to plant‐community structure and wave exposure. In 1994, quantitative plant‐ and sediment‐invertebrate samples were taken from nine habitats: four from inland, subsurface‐connected marshes and five from littoral, emergent marshes. In 1998, sweep‐net samples were taken from 13 plant communities: six on the exposed and seven on the protected side of an island. In 1999, 2–3 plant communities/sites were sampled with sweep nets from four sites around the Bay so that intersite differences between inner, less‐exposed and outer, more‐exposed habitats could be examined. In all three studies, correspondence analyses separated inland, protected or inner sites from littoral, exposed or outer sites, suggesting differences in invertebrate‐community structure. For example, Hydracarina and Asellidae occurred in large numbers in inland sites, but were less common or absent from exposed, littoral sites. Littoral marshes also separated along an exposure gradient with Tanytarsini and Orthocladiinae collectors of organic particles occurring in very high numbers in outer, exposed areas where organic particles from the pelagic zone entered the marsh. Certain plant‐community types clustered together (e.g. wet meadow and Scirpus) while others, such as Typha, stands clustered according to exposure to waves suggesting the importance of both plant‐community structure and wave exposure in determining invertebrate‐community structure. We present a conceptual model that suggests that invertebrates in Great Lakes' marshes are distributed along gradients of decreased mixing of pelagic water and increases in sediment organic matter from outer to inner marsh and between littoral and adjacent inland marshes. Some invertebrates do best on one end of these gradients, while the majority are generalists found across habitat types.     

Behavioural research in telematics.

Discusses telematics, a new field of behavioral research in Canada that has grown with the technical developments in which computers and telecommunications have been combined. Three domains of behavioral research reflect relationships between humans and the technology and use the evidence and methods of different areas of psychology: (1) interface studies address perception and performance questions, (2) dialog studies focus on cognitive processes, and (3) impact studies investigate social relations and how institutions and individuals are affected by telematics. Studies conducted during the past 5 yrs by the Behavioural Research and Evaluation division of the Department of Communications, Government of Canada, are described in each of these 3 domains. Behavioral research in telematics is expected to be an increasingly important activity in which psychologists may play an active part as the technology disseminates. (French abstract) (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A modern hardware setup for real-time turbulence measurements in two-phase flows

A modern concept of cost-effective digital signal processing hardware for measuring and analysing data from experiments investigating turbulent two-phase flows is presented. Using an array processor together with an appropriate analog-to-digital converter, conventional turbulence characteristics such as turbulence spectra, correlation functions, turbulence intensities and — scales can be evaluated in real time.     

Investigation of amorphous Ni0.60Nb0.40 diffusion barriers

Interactions of Ni_0.60Nb_0.40 amorphous alloys with polycrystalline overlayers of gold and copper and single-crystal substrates of silicon. GaAs and GaP were observed with Auger depth profiling. The Ni-Nb layer was deposited by r.f. sputtering and was approximately 5000 Å thick. The overlayers were evaporated to a thickness of 1000 Å. The amorphous metal reacted with the gold overlayers and the GaAs and GaP substrates at temperatures well below the nominal crystallization temperature of 650 °C. The Cu/Ni-Nb/Si system, in contrast, was stable at 600 °C for at least 1 h. Samples were also measured that had been contaminated with approximately 5–10 at.% O. Complete separation of the niobium and nickel into distinct layers was seen. For the samples on silicon substrates this separation was accompanied by the formation of a nickel silicide layer.