Otoliths are an excellent tool for analysing the pattern of habitat use between adults and juveniles and connectivity between fish populations. Larimus breviceps is a species belonging to the family Sciaenidae, which has an important role in the marine food chain, as it is one of the most abundant and frequent species in the bycatch of coastal shrimp fisheries in Brazil. The present study aimed at comparing the otolith shape of specimens collected in three different Brazilian coastal areas: Sergipe (SE), northeastern region; São Paulo (SP), southeastern region; and Paraná (PR), southern region. In a laboratory, 88 otoliths were extracted, photographed, and the contour was analysed by the wavelet method (32 from SE, 28 from SP, and 28 from PR). The otolith contours varied between sampling sites. Linear discriminant analysis correctly reclassified 60.23% otoliths by the sampled sites, with the best reclassifications occurring in SE (62.5%), followed by PR (60.71%) and SP (57.14%). Multivariate analysis of variance also evidenced significant differences in contours among the sampling sites (F = 2.3; P < 0.005). Thus, two morphotypes of otoliths were found for L. breviceps: one from Sergipe (northeastern Brazil) and the second one from southeastern–southern Brazil, indicating connectivity between the populations off São Paulo and Paraná, to be confirmed by future genetic studies.

Aqueous suspensions of allophane show relatively high viscosity, presumably because of strong particle interaction between the unit particles. To test this hypothesis, we measured the particle weight and particle size of allophane during a dispersion using the light scattering method. The particle weight was more than several hundred times larger than that of the unit particle, and the size was 100–400 nm, whereas the Stokes’ diameter of the particles in the sample was less than 50 nm. Particle weight and size varied with the pH of the sample. Particle sizes were cross-checked by ultrafiltration through membrane filters. The experimental findings show that the unit particles of allophane within dilute dispersions appear to be associated like strings of beads, forming domains (primary floccules) about 100 nm in diameter. When these domains coagulate under certain conditions, they do not grow analogously but form clusters, such as secondary floccules, then precipitate. Formation of secondary flocculation of loose structure accounts for the maximum relative viscosity at the transition pH between dispersion and coagulation.

Otoliths are an excellent tool in studies on ecological connectivity of fish species populations. Opsanus beta is an invasive species introduced on the Brazilian coast, but not native from the Gulf of Mexico. The present study aimed to compare the otolith contours of specimens collected in Mexico (Celestún, CEL) and in two Brazilian estuaries (Santos Bay, STB, and Paranaguá Estuarine Complex, PEC). In the laboratory, 99 otoliths were extracted, photographed and compared using wavelet analysis. The otolith contours varied between sites (39 from CEL, 26 from STB and 34 from PEC). The linear discriminant analysis correctly reclassified 87.9% of otoliths by sites, with the best reclassifications in the CEL (97.36%), followed by PEC (88.23%) and SBT (73.07%). MANOVA showed significant differences in otolith contours between sites (F = 5.37; P < 0.005). The otolith contour from CEL was significantly different from those from the PEC and SBT. However, the otolith contour of the two Brazilian estuaries did not significantly differ among them (MANOVA, P > 0.005). Our results indicate O. beta populations on the Brazilian coast are connected, and probably isolated from the Mexican population.

Shapes are perceived unanalyzed, without rigid representation of their parts. They do not comply with standard symbolic knowledge representation criteria; they are treated and judged by appearance. Resolving the relationship of parts to parts and parts to wholes has a constructive role in perception and design. This paper presents a computational account of part–whole figuration in design. To this end, shape rules are used to show how a shape is seen, and shape decompositions having structures of topologies and Boolean algebras reveal alternative structures for parts. Four examples of shape computation are presented. Topologies demonstrate the relationships of wholes, parts, and subparts, in the computations enabling the comparison and relativization of structures, and lattice diagrams are used to present their order. Retrospectively, the topologies help to recall the generative history and establish computational continuity. When the parts are modified to recognize emergent squares locally, other emergent shapes are highlighted globally as the topology is re-adjusted. Two types of emergence are identified: local and global. Seeing the local parts modifies how we analyze the global whole, and thus, a local observation yields a global order.

The formal approach to shapes and their algebras, as it appears in shape grammar theory, has been reviewed. It starts with geometric elements and their partial algebras, continues to shapes, their algebras, and boundaries, as well as algebras that calculate with shapes and their boundaries. There is a number of new concepts introduced along the way. These include diagonal decompositions and their algebras which simplify calculations with shapes, b-paired diagonal decompositions which extend calculations with shapes and their boundaries from diagonal shapes only to all shapes, and m-order boundaries which extend the concept of shape boundaries and allow for calculations with multiple representations of shapes. It also shows that algebras of shapes are infinite direct sums of diagonal algebras.

Shape queries based on shape embedding under a given Euclidean, affine, or linear transformation are absent from current CAD systems. The only systems that have attempted to implement shape embedding are the shape grammar interpreters albeit with promising but inconclusive results. The work here identifies all possible 14 cases of shape embedding with respect to the number of available registration points, four for determinate cases and ten for indeterminate ones, and an approach is sketched to take on the complexities underlying the indeterminate cases. All visual calculations are done with shapes consisting of straight lines in the Euclidean plane within the algebra Uij for i = 1 the dimension of lines and j = 2 the dimension of space in which the lines are defined, transformed and combined. Aspects of interface design and integration to current work design workflows are deliberately left aside.

Many studies have substantiated the perceptual symbol system, which assumes a routine generation of perceptual information during language comprehension, but little is known about the processing format in which the perceptual information of different dimensions is conveyed simultaneously during sentence comprehension. The current study provides the first experimental evidence of how multidimensional perceptual information (color and shape) was processed during online sentence comprehension in Mandarin. We designed three consecutive sentence–picture verification tasks that only differed in the delay of the display of pictures preceded by declarative sentences. The processing was analyzed in three stages based on time intervals (i.e., 0ms, +750ms, +1500ms). The response accuracy and response time data were reported. The initial stage (i.e., ISI=0ms) attested the match effect of color and shape, but the simulated representation of color and shape did not interact. In the intermediate stage (i.e., ISI=750ms), the routinely simulated color and shape interacted, but the match facilitation was found only in cases where one perceptual information was in mismatch while the other was not. In the final stage (i.e., ISI=1500ms), the match facilitation of one particular perceptual property was influenced by a mismatch with the other perceptual property. These results suggested that multiple perceptual information presented simultaneously was processed in an additive manner to a large extent before entering into the final stage, where the simulated perceptual information was integrated in a multiplicative manner. The results also suggested that color and shape were comparable to object recognition when conjointly conveyed. In relation to other evidence from behavioral and event-related potential studies on sentence reading in the discussion, we subscribed to the idea that the full semantic integration became available over time.

Sagittal otolith morphology and otolith shape of two megrim species, Lepidorhombus boscii and Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis, were compared using descriptive morphological characters and Wavelet shape coefficients. Differences in otolith shape were examined by linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The first discriminant axis explained 66.6% of the variation between the groups, and the second axis 28.5%. Otolith classification based on LDA showed that in 79.5% of cases an otolith can be correctly classified based only on its shape. Relationships between otolith morphometric parameters (length and width) and fish size (total length) were described by fitting simple linear regression models. For L. boscii the highest positive correlation was found between right otolith width and total body length (R2 = 0.82), and for L. whiffiagonis between left otolith length and total body length (R2 = 0.39).

Food and energy intake can be effectively lowered by changing food properties, but little is known whether modifying food shape is sufficient to influence intake. This study investigated the influence of cracker shape and cheese viscosity on ad libitum intake of cracker–cheese combinations. Forty-four participants (thirteen males, 23 (sd 3) years, BMI 21 (sd 2) kg/m2) participated in four late afternoon snack sessions (2 × 2 randomised crossover design). Iso-energetic crackers were baked into flat squares and finger-shape cylindrical sticks and combined with a cheese dip varying in viscosity. Approximately eighty crackers and 500 g cheese dip were served in separate large bowls. Participants consumed crackers with cheese dip ad libitum while watching a movie of 30 min. Dipping behaviour and oral processing behaviour were measured simultaneously by hidden balances under the cheese bowls and video recordings. Cracker intake (28 (sem 1) crackers) of cracker–cheese combinations was not influenced by cracker shape. Cheese intake of cracker–cheese combinations was 15 % higher for flat-squared than finger-shape crackers (131 kJ, P = 0·016), as a larger amount of cheese was scooped with flat-squared crackers (2·9 (sem 0·2) v. 2·3 (sem 0·1) g cheese per dip, P < 0·001) and showed higher eating rate and energy intake rate (P < 0·001). Eating rate over snacking time decreased by reducing bite frequency (P < 0·001) while cheese dip size remained fairly constant (P = 0·12). Larger energy intake from condiments was facilitated by increased cracker surface, and this did not trigger earlier satiation. Changing food carrier surface may be a promising approach to moderate energy intake of often high energy dense condiments, sauces and toppings.

This research attempts to systematically establish shape descriptor states through elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA) using pili (Canarium ovatum Engl.) kernel as a model. Kernel images of 53 pili accessions from the National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory (NPGRL), University of the Philippines Los Baños were acquired using VideometerLab 3. Shape features, such as roundness, compactness and elongation, were extracted from the images. Shapes outlines were characterized using elliptic Fourier coefficients calculated from SHAPE version 1.3 software. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to elucidate clusters representing the shape descriptor states. The first principal component accounts for the variation in length to width ratio; whereas, the second and third principal components explain the variation in the location of the widest portion and the truncation of the apex and base of the kernel, respectively. Cluster analysis separated the different accessions into six distinct clusters at 0.04 Euclidian distance. Six descriptor states, narrowly elliptic, elliptic, widely elliptic, ovate, obovate and lance-ovate, were characterized from the shape outlines and visualized through R's shape on r package. The discrimination between clusters was validated through MANOVA and LDA with 95% correct classification. The Fourier coefficients were also able to represent the variation observed from the physical properties of shape. The method may be used in establishing shape descriptors of all plant parts of all crop species.

The aim of this study was to test the effective separation of shape indices of otoliths of three species belonging to the family Sciaenidae before and after in vitro digestion. We measured 328 sagittal otoliths and applied six shape indices. Before the experiment, the aspect ratio (otolith height/otolith length%), circularity, ellipticity and relative surface of the sulcus acusticus were suitable for differentiating the species of genera Paralonchurus and Stellifer. Among the species of Stellifer, the aspect ratio and rectangularity were suitable. Otoliths exposed to in vitro digestion showed no significant differences in their morphometry before and after the experiment. After in vitro digestion, the aspect ratio and circularity were effective in separating Paralonchurus and Stellifer. However, none of the indices used in the present study were efficient to separate otoliths of congeneric species after in vitro digestion.

We describe the parameter spaces of some families of quadrilaterals, such as parallelograms, rectangles, rhombuses, cyclic quadrilaterals and trapezoids. For this purpose, we prove that the closed $n$-disc $\mathbb{D}^{n}$ is the unique topological $n$-manifold (with boundary) whose boundary and interior are homeomorphic to $\mathbb{S}^{n-1}$ and $\mathbb{R}^{n}$, respectively. Roughly speaking, our main result states that the natural compactifications of the parameter spaces of cyclic quadrilaterals and of trapezoids, modulo similarity, are both homeomorphic to $\mathbb{D}^{3}$.

Open palates with large interpterygoid vacuities are a diagnostic characteristic of temnospondyl amphibians, the most species-rich group of early tetrapods. Aside from their functional roles, several other aspects of such vacuities, such as their variation and spatial relationships relative to the orbits, have received only scarce attention. The present work examines patterns of shape and size changes in the orbits and vacuities of temnospondyls using a time-calibrated phylogeny of 69 temnospondyl taxa and 13 additional early tetrapod ‘outgroups' (colosteids, an embolomere, ‘microsaurs' and nectrideans). Orbit and vacuity outlines are quantified in a comparative framework using standard eigenshape analyses. In addition, we employ a series of ratios of linear measurements of both orbits and vacuities, and subject them to a phylogenetic principal component analysis in order to evaluate their proportional changes relative to the skull and to one another. Finally, we examine rates of evolutionary change and their associated shifts for shape and size for both structures, and assess the strength and significance of the correlations between these two variables using phylogenetic generalised least squares analyses. Although orbits and vacuities have fairly simple outlines, they both reveal complex models of proportional change across the temnospondyl phylogeny. These changes exhibit strong phylogenetic signal, that is, trait covariance among taxa is predicted by tree topology. We discuss the hypothesis that, early in tetrapod evolution, the functional role of the vacuities was related to the accommodation of the anterior jaw muscles. Only later in evolution did such vacuities serve to accommodate the eye muscles only.

Grammars, with their generic approach and broad application potential in many planning fields, are accepted as adaptable and efficient tools for design and planning applications, bridging design rules and technical planning requirements. This paper provides a formal introduction of grammars for effective consolidation and application, including a rule-based notation and required specification information. Two proposed grammar evaluation methods – based on technical planning knowledge and using recent computational development – foster understanding of a grammar’s effects, often missing in other definitions. Knowledge gained enables efficient grammar rule application, e.g. in burgeoning planning software. This research focuses particularly on urban network design and road intersection grammars to validate proposed grammar evaluation methods. Results are specified in the proposed grammar notation with corresponding application specifications. Results generally show that network topology and intersection type choice both depend on transport mode characteristics and flow. Specifically, medium-dense gridiron networks are car-efficient in terms of travel costs and reliability at urban densities, when combined with high road and intersection capacities. Pedestrian networks ideally have higher intersection and road densities with lower capacities than car networks. Highly meshed networks improve overall travel cost efficiencies for all transport modes at various flow levels.