Morphological shape generation through user-controlled group metamorphosis

Morphological shape design is interpreted in this paper as a search for new shapes from a particular application domain represented by a set of selected shape instances. This paper proposes a new foundation for morphological shape design and generation. In contrast to existing generative procedures, an approach based on a user-controlled metamorphosis between functionally based shape models is presented. A formulation of the pairwise metamorphosis is proposed with a variety of functions described for the stages of deformation, morphing and offsetting. This formulation is then extended to the metamorphosis between groups of shapes with user-defined, dynamically correlated and weighted feature elements. A practical system was implemented in the form of plugin to Maya and tested by an industrial designer on a group of representative shapes from a particular domain. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Morphological Shape Generation through User-Controlled Group Metamorphosis

Abstract Morphological shape design is interpreted in this paper as a search for new shapes from a particular application domain represented by a set of selected shape instances. This paper proposes a new foundation for morphological shape design and generation. In contrast to existing generative procedures, an approach based on a user-controlled metamorphosis between functionally based shape models is presented. A formulation of the pairwise metamorphosis is proposed with a variety of functions described for the stages of deformation, morphing and offsetting. This formulation is then extended to the metamorphosis between groups of shapes with user-defined, dynamically correlated and weighted feature elements. A practical system was implemented in the form of plugin to Maya and tested by an industrial designer on a group of representative shapes from a particular domain

Virtual sculpting and 3D printing for young people with disabilities

In this paper, we present the SHIVA project which was designed to provide virtual sculpting tools for young people with complex disabilities, to allow them to engage with artistic and creative activities that they might otherwise never be able to access. Modern 3D printing then allows us to physically build their creations. To achieve this, we combined our expertise in education, accessible technology, user interfaces and geometric modelling. We built a generic accessible graphical user interface (GUI) and a suitable geometric modelling system and used these to produce two prototype modelling exercises. These tools were deployed in a school for students with complex disabilities and are now being used for a variety of educational and developmental purposes. In this paper, we present the project's motivations, approach and implementation details together with initial results, including 3D printed objects designed by young people who have disabilties

Distance based heterogeneous volume modelling.

Natural objects, such as bones and watermelons, often have a heterogeneous composition and complex internal structures. Material properties inside the object can change abruptly or gradually, and representing such changes digitally can be problematic. Attribute functions represent physical properties distribution in the volumetric object. Modelling complex attributes within a volume is a complex task. There are several approaches to modelling attributes, but distance functions have gained popularity for heterogeneous object modelling because, in addition to their usefulness, they lead to predictability and intuitiveness. In this thesis, we consider a unified framework for heterogeneous volume modelling, specifically using distance fields. In particular, we tackle various issues associated with them such as the interpolation of volumetric attributes through time for shape transformation and intuitive and predictable interpolation of attributes inside a shape. To achieve these results, we rely on smooth approximate distance fields and interior distances. This thesis deals with outstanding issues in heterogeneous object modelling, and more specifically in modelling functionally graded materials and structures using different types of distances and approximation thereof. We demonstrate the benefits of heterogeneous volume modelling using smooth approximate distance fields with various applications, such as adaptive microstructures, morphological shape generation, shape driven interpolation of material properties through time and shape conforming interpolation of properties. Distance based modelling of attributes allows us to have a better parametrization of the object volume and design gradient properties across an object. This becomes more important nowadays with the growing interest in rapid prototyping and digital fabrication of heterogeneous objects and can find practical applications in different industries

Using model systems to investigate the effects of captivity on phenotypic variation: implications for captive breeding programmes

Captive breeding programmes (CBPs) offer a method for preventing the extinction of threatened species by assisting with species recovery, primarily by generating animals for reintroduction and supplementing wild populations. However, CBPs often have difficulty establishing self-sustaining populations, unable to maintain consistent reproduction and survivorship in captivity for reintroducing animals back into the wild. A contributing factor leading to this issue may be captive conditions producing phenotypes that differ from wild phenotypes. These phenotypic changes may lead to captive individuals having reduced survivorship, as well as reduced reproductive success, both in captivity and following reintroduction. Ultimately, a range of factors will determine the success of reintroductions; however, the phenotypic changes occurring in captivity, and how this may impact reintroduction success remains largely unknown. In this thesis, I outline how an animal’s phenotype may contribute to the success or failure of CBPs, and in turn, reintroduction success. I used a mammalian and an amphibian species as models to examine phenotypic changes in captivity and specifically looked at developmental, morphological and behavioural phenotypes

Branching Boogaloo: Botanical Adventures in Multi-Mediated Morphologies

FormaLeaf is a software interface for exploring leaf morphology using parallel string rewriting grammars called L-systems. Scanned images of dicotyledonous angiosperm leaves removed from plants around Bard’s campus are displayed on the left and analyzed using the computer vision library OpenCV. Morphometrical information and terminological labels are reported in a side-panel. “Slider mode” allows the user to control the structural template and growth parameters of the generated L-system leaf displayed on the right. “Vision mode” shows the input and generated leaves as the computer ‘sees’ them. “Search mode” attempts to automatically produce a formally defined graphical representation of the input by evaluating the visual similarity of a generated pool of candidate leaves. The system seeks to derive a possible internal structural configuration for venation based purely off a visual analysis of external shape. The iterations of the generated L-system leaves when viewed in succession appear as a hypothetical development sequence. FormaLeaf was written in Processing

SHIVA: Virtual sculpting and 3D printing for disabled children.

In this paper we present the SHIVA project which was designed to provide virtual sculpting tools for children with complex disabilities, to allow them to engage with artistic and creative activities that they might otherwise never be able to access. Modern 3D printing then allows us to physically build their creations. To achieve this, we combined our expertise in education, accessible technology, user interfaces and geometric modelling. We built a generic accessible graphical user interface (GUI), a suitable geometric modelling system and used these to produce two prototype modelling systems. These tools were deployed in a school for students with disabilities and are being used for a variety of educational purposes. In this paper, we present the project's motivations, approach and implementation details together with initial results, including 3D printed objects designed by children with disabilities

Genomic and Phenotypic Analyses of Polychaete Sibling Species <i>Platynereis dumerilii</i> and <i>Platynereis massiliensis</i> in Relation to Ocean Acidification

The increase of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and the subsequent uptake of CO2 by the sea, is leading to a decrease in the pH of the oceans, a process known as Ocean Acidification. One of the main challenges of the current research on climate change is to determine how marine species respond to low pH/elevated pCO2 conditions. This thesis has investigated the effects of natural OA on the polychaete species Platynereis dumerilii and its sibling P. massiliensis (Annelida, Nereididae) as driver of genetic differentiation and phenotype/genotype selection. Platynereis spp. populations were sampled in five geographical areas situated along a thermo-latitudinal gradient along the Italian coasts, characterized by different pH conditions (acid vs normal). A multidisciplinary approach, focused on different aspects of the target species biology, was chosen and the following analyses were performed: (a) morphological and morphometric analyses of different populations/genotypes; (b) laboratory rearing of different populations to study the reproductive biology and gamete morphology; (c) population genetics by the amplification of a mitochondrial DNA marker (COI); (d) population genomics by a next-generation sequencing approach (RAD-seq); (e) background analyses and a long term laboratory experiment on selected genotypes/populations to study physiological responses to different pH conditions. This work has confirmed that Platynereis dumerilii and P. massiliensis represent two complexes of sibling species characterized by contrasting life history traits, reproductive biology and gamete morphology. The overall Platynereis massiliensis predominance in the CO2 vent systems is not a direct consequence of elevated pCO2, but it seems to derive from a winning reproductive strategy (brooding habit) in low pH conditions. Unlike Platynereis dumerilii, P. massiliensis is potentially able to thrive in the CO2 vents thanks to the higher stability of its antioxidant defence systems over temporal scale and its greater responsiveness to extreme hypercapnia conditions

Block Inversion in the Irish Town

This work examines an emerging process of change in the relationship between street and street-block (hereafter ‘block’) as small Irish towns adjust to new user patterns. Recent surface car parks in the core of traditional blocks have induced change in the surrounding urban fabric, with evidence of significant urban metamorphosis. The work sets out first to examine the background history of block organisation up to the mid-twentieth century, when the typical urban plot was occupied by a house over shop. Here a previously-unsearched field is explored, finding evidence of advanced block design in many towns. The work then focuses on recent metamorphosis, where upper floor residence moves to the suburb leaving its redundant back garden to become a customer car park for the ground floor shop. In time the car park joins with others to form an extensive surface car park occupying the centre of the block. As this becomes the new location of user-entry to the town, shops on the perimeter of the block begin to turn their frontage to the car park, rejecting the street in the process. The central block-core space thus becomes a place of greater importance than the surrounding streets, leading to what might be described as block inversion. The work traces this metamorphosis finding that many established principles in the organisational structure of the town are challenged, including the fundamental difference between front and back in the readability of the town by its users. A sample of sixty-six towns forms the field of study, with a focus on six case-study blocks. The research methodology is organised around sequential triangulation, using map regression, planning-file scrutiny and interviews to trace and analyse the pattern of change as a chronological progression. In it, physical limitations are identified which have significant implications for the management of towns

Aquaculture Asia, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp.1-36, January - March 2006

*Table of Contents* Research & farming techniques Nursery rearing of Puntius goniotus: A preliminary trial K.N. Mohnta, J.K. Jena & S.N. Mohanty Artemia enrichment and biomass production for larval finfish and shellfish culture A.S. Ninawe Vembanad Lake: A potential spawner bank of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii on the southwest coast of India Paramaraj Balamurugan, Pitchaimuthu Mariappan & Chellam Balasundaram Seed production of mud crab Scylla serrata at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Aquaculture, Tamil Nadu, India Mohamed Shaji, Emilia T. Quinitio, Thampi Samraj, S. Kandan, K. Ganesh, Dinesh Kumar, S. Arulraj, S. Pandiarajan, Shajina Ismail and K. Dhandapan. Sustainable aquaculture Fish wastes in urban and suburban markets of Kolkata: Problems and potentials Kausik Mondal, Anilava Kaviraj & P.K. Mukhopadhyay People in aquaculture Peter Edwards writes on rural aquaculture: Farming carps in leased ponds by groups of poor women in Chandpur, Bangladesh Aquatic animal health Lymphocystis disease and diagnostic methods in China Jing Xing, Xiuzhen Sheng & Wenbin Zhan Asia-Pacific Marine Finfish Aquaculture Network Mesocosm technology advances grouper culture in northern Australia Elizabeth Cox, Peter Fry & Anjanette Johnsto