This report outlines research into the impact of subdivision on agriculture, and agricultural land resources, and its regional socio-economic importance. The research was centred on three NSW Local Government Areas(LGAs), two in the western peri-urban fringe of Sydney (Hawkesbury City and Wollondilly Shire), and one in Central Western NSW (Mudgee Shire), where small farms development during the 1970s resulted in considerable subdivision in some Shire areas. Determination of current agricultural land use was central to the research, and was accomplished by a combination of Landsat TM satellite image interpretation for each shire using FarmImage software, validated by extensive ground analysis. 1996 land use was mapped for each LGA in a Geographical Information System(GIS)(MapInfo),and area of each land use category calculated by export of resultant MapInfo files to a spreadsheet (MSExcel).The implications of the research for the future of Agriculture in each LGA are discussed in the context of recent changes in State government policy, urban encroachment and specific industry outlook. / Master of Science (Hons)

Engineering design often requires the optimisation of multiple objectives, and becomes significantly more difficult and time consuming when the response surfaces are multimodal, rather than unimodal. A surrogate model, also known as a metamodel, can be used to replace expensive computer simulations, accelerating single and multi-objective optimisation and the exploration of new design concepts. The main research focus of this work is to investigate the use of a neural network surrogate model to improve optimisation of multimodal surfaces. Several significant contributions derive from evaluating the Cascade Correlation neural network as the basis of a surrogate model. The contributions to the neural network community ultimately outnumber those to the optimisation community. The effects of training this surrogate on multimodal test functions are explored. The Cascade Correlation neural network is shown to map poorly such response surfaces. A hypothesis for this weakness is formulated and tested. A new subdivision technique is created that addresses this problem; however, this new technique requires excessively large datasets upon which to train. The primary conclusion of this work is that Cascade Correlation neural networks form an unreliable basis for a surrogate model, despite successes reported in the literature. A further contribution of this work is the enhancement of an open source optimisation toolkit, achieved by the first integration of a truly multi-objective optimisation algorithm.

This paper is about the current state of gated subdivisions in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. It provides a list, map, and relevant census data of the gated subdivisions in each of the three cities in the parish in which they are found—Baton Rouge, Central, and Zachary—and the unincorporated areas of the parish. It also examines comprehensive plan elements that relate to gated subdivisions, and whether actual gated developments adhere to the plan’s principles. It is important to examine gated developments in East Baton Rouge Parish because they have an effect on the social, fiscal, and public health of their inhabitants and the surrounding communities. The population of East Baton Rouge Parish is growing, which means that new housing units will be built in the near future, many in new subdivisions. The characteristics and placement of housing are major components of an area’s quality of life, and the governments in East Baton Rouge Parish have the opportunity and the responsibility to influence future quality of life by carefully and thoroughly considering their residential developments. An understanding of gated neighborhoods in the area will add to citizens’ and governments’ ability to thoroughly consider future residential development. No comprehensive list or map of gated subdivisions exists for any part of the parish. By mapping them now, and providing a “state of the parish” report, interested citizens and planners at all levels of government can track the increase or decrease of gated communities. Showing that there is sometimes a difference between a comprehensive plan’s stated objective and the reality of gated communities may encourage closer scrutiny before future gated developments are approved. / text

Crowd simulations are attracting increasing attention from both academia and the industry field and are implemented across a vast range of applications, from scientific demonstrations to video games and films. As such, the demand for greater realism in their aesthetics and the amount of agents involved is always growing. A successful crowd simulation must simulate large numbers of pedestrians' behaviours as realistically as possible in real-time. The thesis looks at two important aspects of crowd simulation and real-time animation. First, this thesis introduces a new data structure called Extended Oriented Bounding Box (EOBB) and related methods for fast collision detection and obstacle avoidance in the simulation of crowd motion in virtual environments. The EOBB is extended to contain a region whose size is defined based on the instantaneous velocity vector, thus allowing a bounding volume representation of both geometry and motion. Such a representation is also found to be highly effective in motion planning using the location of vertices of bounding boxes in the immediate neighbourhood of the current crowd member. Second, we present a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of spatial subdivision data structures, specifically for large-scale crowd simulation. For large-scale crowd simulation, computational time for collision detection is huge, and many studies use spatial partitioning data structure to reduce the computational time, depicting their strengths and weaknesses, but few compare multiple methods in an effort to present the best solution. This thesis attempts to address this by implementing and comparing four popular spatial partitioning data structures with the EOBB.

This thesis presents a new technique for the reconstruction of a smooth surface from a set of 3D data points. The reconstructed surface is represented by an everywhere -continuous subdivision surface which interpolates all the given data points. And the topological structure of the reconstructed surface is exactly the same as that of the data points. The new technique consists of two major steps. First, use an efficient surface reconstruction method to produce a polyhedral approximation to the given data points. Second, construct a Doo-Sabin subdivision surface that smoothly passes through all the data points in the given data set. A new technique is presented for the second step in this thesis. The new technique iteratively modifies the vertices of the polyhedral approximation 1CM until a new control meshM, whose Doo-Sabin subdivision surface interpolatesM, is reached. It is proved that, for any mesh M with any size and any topology, the iterative process is always convergent with Doo-Sabin subdivision scheme. The new technique has the advantages of both a local method and a global method, and the surface reconstruction process can reproduce special features such as edges and corners faithfully.

Padalinimo paviršiai – greitas ir efektyvus glodžių paviršių konstravimas trimatėje erdvėje, naudojamas animacijoje. Nestacionarios padalinimo schemos, kitaip nei klasikinės (Catmull – Clark, Loop, Doo-Sabin), kiekviename padalinimo žingsnyje leidžia keisti padalinimo taisyklę, todėl galima išgauti žymiai platesnę paviršių aibę. Parašėme programinę įrangą, kuri pagal įvedamą tempimo parametrą γ konstruoja nestacionarias kaukes su trigonometrinėmis funkcijomis ir jas pritaiko paviršiams, turi galimybę pavaizduoti paviršiaus tinklelį 3D erdvėje ir gali jį eksportuoti į VRML formato failą. Nestacionarių padalinimo schemų ir sukimo paviršių pagalba, gavome plačią paviršių aibę į kurią įeina ir klasikinės CAD figūros. / Variational subdivision schemes as distinct from classical (Catmull – Clark, Loop, Doo-Sabin) in every subdivision step allows to change the subdivision rule. Therefore we are able to get wider set of smooth surfaces. We made a software that using the entered parameter γ constructs variational subdivision mask with trigonometric functions and applies it to surfaces. Software is able to show surface in 3D space with move, rotate and zoom abilities. Software also can export surfaces to VRML file format. Subdividing surfaces by our software we faced with border and extraordinary vertex problems. We suggested and realized two solving methods for both problems. Our software is able to control the surface's smoothness and sharpness in all subdivision steps. Using variational subdivision schemes and rotation methods, we can generate a wide set of surfaces witch also includes classical CAD figures (sphere, cylinder).

Padalinimo paviršiai – greitas ir efektyvus glodžių paviršių konstravimas trimatėje erdvėje, naudojamas animacijoje. Nestacionarios padalinimo schemos, kitaip nei klasikinės (Catmull – Clark, Loop, Doo-Sabin), kiekviename padalinimo žingsnyje leidžia keisti padalinimo taisyklę, todėl galima išgauti žymiai platesnę paviršių aibę. Parašėme programinę įrangą, kuri pagal įvedamą tempimo parametrą γ konstruoja nestacionarias kaukes su trigonometrinėmis funkcijomis ir jas pritaiko paviršiams, turi galimybę pavaizduoti paviršiaus tinklelį 3D erdvėje ir gali jį eksportuoti į VRML formato failą. Nestacionarių padalinimo schemų ir sukimo paviršių pagalba, gavome plačią paviršių aibę į kurią įeina ir klasikinės CAD figūros. / Variational subdivision schemes as distinct from classical (Catmull – Clark, Loop, Doo-Sabin) in every subdivision step allows to change the subdivision rule. Therefore we are able to get wider set of smooth surfaces. We made a software that using the entered parameter γ constructs variational subdivision mask with trigonometric functions and applies it to surfaces. Software is able to show surface in 3D space with move, rotate and zoom abilities. Software also can export surfaces to VRML file format. Subdividing surfaces by our software we faced with border and extraordinary vertex problems. We suggested and realized two solving methods for both problems. Our software is able to control the surface's smoothness and sharpness in all subdivision steps. Using variational subdivision schemes and rotation methods, we can generate a wide set of surfaces witch also includes classical CAD figures (sphere, cylinder).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-04-16Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:27:12Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 passarella_sm_me_rcla.pdf: 2231329 bytes, checksum: 94a34c54b2b1b9b74a9385228b260637 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A região de Cássia, no sudoeste do estado de Minas Gerais, assim como a maior parte do sudeste brasileiro encontra-se fortemente afetada por processos intensos de denudação associados ao soerguimento de arcos e altos, deposição de sedimentos em bacias marginais e formação de bacias continentais. Onde os atributos que a tornam interessante para este trabalho seriam relacionados à diversidade de sua constituição geológica e geomorfológica que abrange tanto aos terrenos cristalinos pré-cambrianos quanto as rochas e sedimentos da borda leste da Bacia Sedimentar do Paraná. Estas rochas estão configuradas em um quadro evolutivo de embasamento précambriano, com desenvolvimento de grande bacia de sedimentação, com diferentes ciclos desde o Permiano até o final do Cretáceo, que podem ser notados pela presença de relevo residual com testemunhos da superfície de aplainamento, a partir da qual se instalou o sistema de drenagem atual, com a influência de processos exógenos e endógenos. Portanto neste trabalho foi possível caracterizar três diferentes tipos de compartimentos geomorfológicos determinados através da compartimentação das unidades de relevo com as estruturas geológicas, de forma a realçar feições de relevo, padrões e anomalias de drenagens, que são típicas de diferentes estruturas do substrato rochoso, sendo eles: Compartimento “Planaltos Residuais Cuestiformes”, “Patamares da Canastra” e “Planalto de Varginha”. No compartimento “Planaltos Residuais Cuestiformes” as feições ostentam um padrão de acamamento que varia de sub-horizontal a horizontal e que por isso passam a refletir um relevo fortemente assimétrico, marcado pela homogeneidade de feições escarpadas e alinhadas. Para o compartimento “Patamares da Canastra”, o relevo possui um acamamento associado a camadas inclinadas, e por isso gera um padrão de relevo que varia... / The region of Cassia, in the southwestern state of Minas Gerais, and most of southeastern Brazil is strongly affected by processes of denudation associated with intense soerguimento of arches and high, deposition of sediments in marginal basins and formation of continental basins . Where the attributes that make it interesting for this work would be related to the diversity of its geomorphological and geological formation that includes both the land pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks and sediments on the eastern edge of the Paraná Sedimentary Basin. These stones are set in an evolutionary framework of pre-Cambrian basement, with development of large sedimentation basin, with different cycles from the Permian to the end of the Cretaceous, which may be noticed by the presence of residual relief with examples of the planing surface, from which it installed the current drainage system, with the influence of exogenous and endogenous processes. So this work has been possible to characterize three different types of geomorphologic compartments determined by the subdivision of units relevant to the geological structures in order to highlight features of topography, drainage patterns and anomalies of which are typical of different structures of the rocky substrate, and them: Compartment Waste Cuestiformes Plateau, levels of Canastra and Plateau of Varginha. In compartment Plateau Waste Cuestiformes bearing the features of a standard lodging that ranges from sub-horizontal to horizontal and therefore will reflect an emphasis strongly asymmetric, marked by the homogeneity of craggy features and aligned. For the compartment levels of Canastra, the relief has a lodging associated with inclined layers, and therefore generates a pattern of relief that varies from moderate to slightly asymmetric, given by crests aligned supported by quartzites. And the compartment Plateau de Varginha... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-07-01Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:44:49Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 grehs_ra_dr_arafo.pdf: 1198034 bytes, checksum: 2be2545e38cb4c3436e2561d7816c44b (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta pesquisa de natureza prospectiva foi realizada com base numa amostra não casualizada constituída de 23 indivíduos portadores de má oclusão Classe II, 1ª Divisão, Subdivisão na fase da dentadura mista. O propósito do estudo foi avaliar um novo procedimento para o tratamento precoce da Classe II Subdivisão com envolvimento mandibular, método proposto por Sakima 85 em 2003. A amostra foi dividida em: Grupo 1 - Portadores de má oclusão Classe II Subdivisão com mordida cruzada posterior unilateral (D) ou (E) e Grupo 2 - Portadores de má oclusão Classe II Subdivisão sem cruzamento. Todos os indivíduos foram submetidos a tratamento ortodôntico de interceptação para correção da subdivisão, sendo que o Grupo 1 teve procedimento prévio para descruzamento da mordida cruzada posterior unilateral (MCPU). A avaliação dos resultados foi realizada mediante tomada de radiografias extra-orais Submento-vertex, os cefalogramas foram traçados e os dados compilados para análise em computador. Os traçados cefalométricos obtidos das imagens radiográficas da Submento-vertex (SMV) foram digitalizados no programa Radiocef. Os dados analisados, submetidos à metodologia estatística e os resultados discutidos. O método estatístico empregado, além da utilização da média e desvio padrão, contou com o Teste t de Student, Teste F de Snedecor e probabilidade p, utilizou-se também o teste não paramétrico de Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon, os dados estatísticos foram utilizados para avaliar os resultados do tratamento ortodôntico realizado. Após a discussão dos resultados, concluiu-se que: 1)Houve presença de rotação mandibular significante para ambos os grupos estudados quando relacionada maxila e mandíbula; 2) A evolução dos grupos estudados foi semelhante tanto clínica como cefalométrica; 3) Os movimentos dentários constatados melhoram o... . / The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new approach to the early orthodontic treatment of Class II, division 1, subdivision, in the mixed dentition and determined the utility of approach. The sample consisted of 23 subjects divided in two groups (group 1 and group 2). The average was 9.3 years considered in both groups. Measurements were obtained with the use of Submento-vertex Cephalometric Radiographs. The Submento-vertex Radiographs symmetry was assessed by measuring the differences in the spatial positions of dental and Skeletal landmarks between right and left side, determined asymmetric (A) and normal (N) sides. The Angle's 2 Class II subdivision was evaluated in the mixed dentition. Statistic method was based on the skewness statistics, the distributions were normal, allowing means and standard deviations to be used to describe central tendencies and dispersion. We also used the Student t test, the Snedecor p test and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests were used to statistically comparation.The results showed lower jaw replacement and dento-alveolar displacement in order to correct this malocclusion. The conclusions about the present study were: 1) There was significant mandibular rotation from the asymmetric side to the symmetric side in the two groups when maxilar and mandibular relation was investigated; 2) The two groups evolution was clinical and cephalometrical similar; 3) The teeth movements provide evidence to better relation of the occlusion; 4) The midline line of the teeth has a clinically consistent to normalization and this can better investigated with other evaluation methods.

abstract: The introduction of livestock to the vast majority of public lands may be used to simulate the conditions provided by herbivorous grazers in the past, however little data has been collected on the effects of livestock grazing in Sonoran desert habitats. Vegetative species that are characteristic of the Arizona Upland subdivision of the Sonoran desert did not evolve with extensive grazing by large ungulate populations, and therefore the response to livestock grazing is of particular interest. Four historic Parker 3-step clusters in south-central Arizona were sampled in three cohorts between 1953 and 2016 to interpret changes in rangeland health using soil coverage data, species richness and frequency, and long-term photo point comparisons. Cattle grazing was active across the allotment until 1984, allowing approximately 30 years of rest before the third and final cohort was measured. Over the entirety of this study, there was a 66.67% increase in perennial basal hits, a 56.29% increase in rock, and a 44.55% increase of forage basal hits. Decreases were seen in litter (-57.69%) and bare soil hits (-8.76%). Cluster 3 consistently had a lower percent of cover across all classes of vegetation in the 2014 cohort (-81.61%), however the average percent of cover increased by 63.16% (40 hits) across the allotment. Available species richness data from 1971 and 2014 cohorts indicates a 112% increase in unique species; however, species richness increases in the 2014 cohort are largely based on recruitment of non-palatable species (71%). Although the status of some species were undetermined, all individuals identified to species in the invader class (non-palatable) were determined to be native to the study site. Perennial grass frequency became less abundant over the duration of this study, while growth was predominantly observed in shrubs. Increases in species frequency was detected on two of the four clusters measured in the 2014 cohort; the growth was primarily observed in jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), oak (Quercus spp.), and catclaw acacia (Senegalia greggii) in C4, and hopseed bush (Dodonaea viscosa) in C2. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Applied Biological Sciences 2018