University of Canterbury

About: University of Canterbury is a education organization based out in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 11100 authors who have published 29846 publications receiving 893232 citations. The organization is also known as: Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha & Canterbury College.

Intelligent Augmented Reality Training for Motherboard Assembly

Abstract: We investigate the combination of Augmented Reality (AR) with Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) to assist with training for manual assembly tasks Our approach combines AR graphics with adaptive guidance from the ITS to provide a more effective learning experience We have developed a modular software framework for intelligent AR training systems, and a prototype based on this framework that teaches novice users how to assemble a computer motherboard An evaluation found that our intelligent AR system improved test scores by 25 % and that task performance was 30 % faster compared to the same AR training system without intelligent support We conclude that using an intelligent AR tutor can significantly improve learning compared to more traditional AR training

Assessing the benefits of frugivory for seed germination: the importance of the deinhibition effect

Abstract: Summary 1Many studies have examined the effects of frugivores on the germination of seeds of fleshy fruited plants. However, three key issues are rarely addressed: the need to measure germination of seeds in intact fruits; the effect of germination conditions on results; and the distinction between dead vs dormant seeds. 2A literature review including 51 plant species from 28 families found that the often-measured scarification effect (germination of bird-defecated vs hand-cleaned seeds) is significantly smaller than the rarely-measured deinhibition effect (germination of hand-cleaned seeds vs those in intact fruits). 3Both the literature review and new experimental data show that germination conditions affect germination. In particular, seeds in intact fruits have much lower germination percentages in Petri dishes than in the field. Poor germination from intact fruits in Petri dishes may be an artefact. 4A field experiment with three New Zealand species showed variable effects of non-removal of the fruit pericarp. The retention of the pericarp had no effect on germination in Nestegis cunninghamii; increased the proportion of seeds entering dormancy in Melicytus lanceolatus; and greatly increased seed mortality in Pennantia corymbosa. 5Germination experiments must be designed carefully to evaluate accurately the risks for plants of frugivory mutualism failures.

The New Zealand Active Faults Database

Abstract: The New Zealand Active Faults Database (NZAFD) is a national geospatial database of active faults – including their locations, names and degrees of activity – that have deformed the ground surface of New Zealand within the last 125,000 years. The NZAFD is used for geological research, hazard modelling and infrastructure planning and is an underlying dataset for other nationally significant hazard applications such as the National Seismic Hazard Model. Recent refinements to the data structure have improved the accuracy of active fault locations and characteristics. A subset of active fault information from the NZAFD, generalised for portrayal and use at a scale of 1:250,000 (and referred to as NZAFD250), is freely available online and can be downloaded in several different formats to suit the needs of a range of users including scientists, governmental authorities and the general public. To achieve a uniform spatial scale of 1:250,000 a simplification of detailed fault locational data was required ...

Impact of fathers on daughters' age at menarche: a genetically and environmentally controlled sibling study.

Abstract: Girls growing up in homes without their biological fathers tend to go through puberty earlier than their peers. Whereas evolutionary theories of socialization propose that this relation is causal, it could arise from environmental or genetic confounds. To distinguish between these competing explanations, the authors used a genetically and environmentally controlled sibling comparison design to examine the effects of differential exposure to family disruption/father absence in a community sample of sister pairs. As specified by evolutionary causal theories, younger sisters had earlier menarche than their older sisters in biologically disrupted families (n = 68) but not biologically intact families (n = 93). This effect was superseded, however, by a large moderating effect of paternal dysfunction. Younger sisters from disrupted families who were exposed to serious paternal dysfunction in early childhood attained menarche 11 months earlier than either their older sisters or other younger sisters from disrupted families who were not exposed to such dysfunction. These data suggest that early exposure to disordered paternal behavior, followed by family disruption and residential separation from the father, can lead to substantially earlier menarche.

The effect of fragment shape and Species' Sensitivity to Habitat Edges on Animal Population Size

Abstract: Habitat fragmentation causes extinction of local animal populations by decreasing the amount of viable "core" habitat area and increasing edge effects. It is widely accepted that larger fragments make better nature reserves because core-dwelling species have a larger amount of suitable habitat. Nevertheless, fragments in real landscapes have complex, irregular shapes. We modeled the population sizes of species that have a representative range of preferences for or aversions to habitat edges at five spatial scales (within 10, 32, 100, 320, and 1000 m of an edge) in a nation-wide analysis of forest remnants in New Zealand. We hypothesized that the irregular shapes of fragments in real landscapes should generate statistically significant correlations between population density and fragment area, purely as a "geometric" effect of varying species responses to the distribution of edge habitat. Irregularly shaped fragments consistently reduced the population size of core-dwelling species by 10-100%, depending on the scale over which species responded to habitat edges. Moreover, core populations within individual fragments were spatially discontinuous, containing multiple, disjunct populations that inhabited small spatial areas and had reduced population size. The geometric effect was highly nonlinear and depended on the range of fragment sizes sampled and the scale at which species responded to habitat edges. Fragment shape played a strong role in determining population size in fragmented landscapes; thus, habitat restoration efforts may be more effective if they focus on connecting disjunct cores rather than isolated fragments.