Many sports biomechanics research studies follow a traditional task analysis concept that there is only one best possible movement pattern and thus focus on the examination of kinematics and kinetics of movement without considering the influence of constraints that are imposed on it. This study developed an interdisciplinary approach by utilizing the principles of ecological task analysis and movement coordination from areas of motor leaning and biomechanics to examine the skill of placement hitting in slo-pitch softball. The choice of evaluating this slo-pitch batting skill to assess movement patterns is pragmatic because of its popularity of the sport and uniqueness of the batting movement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of two task constraints (stride technique and designated field location) and an environmental constraint (pitched ball location) on the participants batting performances, kinematics, and movement patterns. A three-way ANOVA of 2 fields (same and opposite) x 2 locations of pitch (inside and outside) x 3 strides (open, parallel and closed) repeated measure study was conducted in this study. The results showed that participants were more successful in placing the ball to the same field instead of the opposite field. The pitched ball location and stride techniques did not have a consistent impact on the results across the different hitting conditions. To achieve these batting performance results, participants demonstrated different joint movements and different coordination patterns. Hence, this study supports the rationale of ecological task analysis but not traditional task analysis. Further, to understand the generalizability of the findings, a Euclidean distance analysis was conducted to evaluate the degree of dissimilarity between the individual and group mean results. The results indicated that participants generally showed a low degree of dissimilarity, so they were quite homogeneous as a group. Hence, the results from this study not only enable us to evaluate a human movement skill under the influence of different constraints but educators may apply the findings to other players. A similar interdisciplinary approach is warranted for future research studies in order to better understand the mechanics of human motion.

Control of water erosion of soil at mine sites requires an ability to predict the effects of different management practices on soil loss. Using soil loss models such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) requires calibration of the model for materials and situations that are not defined in the model’s handbook or software. The outer slopes of bauxite residue disposal areas are potentially highly erodible surfaces, and a recent evaluation of previous rehabilitation practices at Worsley Alumina, Collie, Western Australia, identified areas on the bauxite residue disposal areas where vegetation establishment and management of long term soil loss could be improved. Field experiments commencing in April 2000 at Worsley Alumina’s bauxite refinery, Collie, and laboratory tilting flume experiments run at the University of Queensland, were designed to quantify the effectiveness of different surface treatments on reducing short-term soil loss, and to model long-term erosion risks. Crushed ferricrete caprock – rock-pitch – and different types of mulches, seed mixes and fertiliser rates were applied to the compacted clay batter slopes used to contain bauxite residue, with runoff, soil loss and vegetation establishment monitored periodically over 27 months. Laboratory tilting flume results were related to the field data using the soil erosion models MINErosion, the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) and RUSLE to predict event-based and annual soil loss for different treatments. Turbo-mulch, a blocky, coarse pine bark, was the most effective surface treatment for promoting vegetation establishment, reducing rill formation and reducing soil loss, a result supported in both the field and laboratory results. Turbo-mulch and vegetation did not reduce runoff, but resulted in decreased soil loss. This shows the importance of protecting soil from raindrop impact and of the soil holding capacity of vegetation. Increased seed and fertiliser rates did not significantly affect native plant numbers or foliage cover on topsoil without turbo-mulch. Rock-pitch was found to be resistant to erosion and mass movement along a rock-pitch/compacted clay interface. Field erosion measurements ranged from 0.87 t/ha/yr for turbo-mulched treatments to 7.41 t/ha/yr for a treatment with a different seed mix, lacking turbo-mulch and lacking underlying rock-pitch. RUSLE soil loss predictions based on soil properties and soil loss estimates from the MINErosion model ranged from 0.27 to 60.0 t/ha/yr. RUSLE predictions based on tilting flume data ranged from 0.14 to 81.1 t/ha/yr. RUSLE overpredicted soil loss for treatments without turbo-mulch, and underestimated soil loss for turbo-mulched treatments, necessitating calibration based on the unique materials trialed in this study. The relative soil loss measured in the field was best represented by RUSLE predictions based on tilting flume data rather than the MINErosion model. MINErosion did not adequately describe the effect of bulk density and infiltration on soil loss of compacted/consolidated materials. MUSLE and RUSLE are adequate models for the Western Australian conditions of this study, but further research is required to calibrate the C factor for turbo-mulched surfaces and calibrate the P factor for rock-pitch.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 250-253). Also available via World Wide Web.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographic references (leaves [53]-56).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 508-528).

Thesis (M. S.)--Music, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Chordia, Parag; Committee Member: Freeman, Jason; Committee Member: Weinberg, Gil.

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 235-248.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-175).

In this thesis I will be concerned with linking the observed speechsignal to the configuration of articulators.Due to the potentially rapid motion of the articulators, the speechsignal can be highly non-stationary. The typical linear analysistechniques that assume quasi-stationarity may not have sufficienttime-frequency resolution to determine the place of articulation.I argue that the traditional low and high-level primitives of speechprocessing, frequency and phonemes, are inadequate and should bereplaced by a representation with three layers: 1. short pitch periodresonances and other spatio-temporal patterns 2. articulatorconfiguration trajectories 3. syllables. The patterns indicatearticulator configuration trajectories (how the tongue, jaws, etc. aremoving), which are interpreted as syllables and words.My patterns are an alternative to frequency. I use shorttime-domain features of the sound waveform, which can be extractedfrom each vowel pitch period pattern, to identify the positions of thearticulators with high reliability. These features are importantbecause by capitalizing on detailed measurements within a single pitchperiod, the rapid articulator movements can be tracked. No linearsignal processing approach can achieve the combination of sensitivityto short term changes and measurement accuracy resulting from thesenonlinear techniques.The measurements I use are neurophysiologically plausible: theauditory system could be using similar methods.I have demonstrated this approach by constructing a robust techniquefor categorizing the English voiced stops as the consonants B, D, or Gbased on the vocalic portions of their releases. The classificationrecognizes 93.5%, 81.8% and 86.1% of the b, d and gto ae transitions with false positive rates 2.9%, 8.7% and2.6% respectively.