ERGOBOSS: Ergonomic Optimization of Body-Supporting Surfaces.

Humans routinely sit or lean against supporting surfaces and it is important to shape these surfaces to be comfortable and ergonomic. We give a method to design the geometric shape of rigid supporting surfaces to maximize the ergonomics of physically based contact between the surface and a deformable human. We model the soft deformable human using a layer of FEM deformable tissue surrounding a rigid core, with measured realistic elastic material properties, and large-deformation nonlinear analysis.

Fundamental to achieving fast separations with high efficiency: A review of chromatography with superficially porous particles.

Types of particles have been fundamental to LC separation technology for many years. Originally, LC columns were packed with large-diameter (>100 μm) calcium carbonate, silica gel, or alumina particles that prohibited fast mobile-phase speeds because of the slow diffusion of sample molecules inside deep pores. During the birth of HPLC in the 1960s, superficially porous particles (SPP, ≥30 μm) were developed as the first high-speed stationary-phase support structures commercialized, which permitted faster mobile-phase flowrates due to the fast movement of sample molecules in/out of the thin shells.

Scene-Aware Audio Rendering via Deep Acoustic Analysis.

We present a new method to capture the acoustic characteristics of real-world rooms using commodity devices, and use the captured characteristics to generate similar sounding sources with virtual models. Given the captured audio and an approximate geometric model of a real-world room, we present a novel learning-based method to estimate its acoustic material properties. Our approach is based on deep neural networks that estimate the reverberation time and equalization of the room from recorded audio.

Fish assemblages associated with natural and anthropogenically-modified habitats in a marine embayment: comparison of baited videos and opera-house traps.

Marine embayments and estuaries play an important role in the ecology and life history of many fish species. Cockburn Sound is one of a relative paucity of marine embayments on the west coast of Australia. Its sheltered waters and close proximity to a capital city have resulted in anthropogenic intrusion and extensive seascape modification.

Similarities between line fishing and baited stereo-video estimations of length-frequency: novel application of Kernel Density Estimates.

Age structure data is essential for single species stock assessments but length-frequency data can provide complementary information. In south-western Australia, the majority of these data for exploited species are derived from line caught fish. However, baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (stereo-BRUVS) surveys have also been found to provide accurate length measurements.

Protein identification using receptor arrays and mass spectrometry.

Mass spectrometry is one of the main tools for protein identification in complex mixtures. When the sequence of the protein is known, we can check to see if the known mass distribution of peptides for a given protein is present in the recorded mass distribution of the mixture being analyzed. Unfortunately, this general approach suffers from high false-positive rates, since in a complex mixture, the likelihood that we will observe any particular mass distribution is high, whether or not the protein of interest is in the mixture.

Cascading effects of fishing can alter carbon flow through a temperate coastal ecosystem.

Mounting evidence suggests that fishing can trigger trophic cascades and alter food web dynamics, yet its effects on ecosystem function remain largely unknown. We used the large-scale experimental framework of four marine reserves, spanning an oceanographic gradient in northeastern New Zealand, to test the extent to which the exploitation of reef predators can alter kelp carbon flux and secondary production. We provide evidence that the reduction of predatory snapper (Pagrus auratus) and lobster (Jasus edwardsii) can lead to an increase in sea urchins (Evechinus chloroticus) and indirect declines in kelp biomass in some locations but not others.

Marine reserves demonstrate trophic interactions across habitats.

Several infaunal bivalve taxa show patterns of decreased biomass in areas with higher densities of adjacent reef-associated predators (the snapper, Pagrus auratus and rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii). A caging experiment was used to test the hypothesis that patterns observed were caused by predation, using plots seeded with a known initial density of the bivalve Dosinia subrosea to estimate survivorship. The caging experiment was replicated at several sites inside and outside two highly protected marine reserves: predators are significantly more abundant inside these reserves.