We present a method for object class detection in images based on global shape. A distance measure for elastic shape matching is derived, which is invariant to scale and rotation, and robust against non-parametric deformations. Starting from an over-segmentation of the image, the space of potential object boundaries is explored to find boundaries, which have high similarity with the shape templ...

We illustrate the convenience of a long-lasting microgravity environment to study flows of granular materials with and without gas interaction. We consider collisional granular flows of nearly elastic identical spheres in an axisymmetric Couette channel featuring two cylindrical moving bumpy boundaries and two flat walls. We review governing equations for these flows, illustrate their solutions...

A phenomenological description of martensitic transformation is proposed on the basis of such parameters as: a degree of lattice coherency between austenite and martensite phases, mobility of interphase boundaries, elastic energy stored during martensitic transformation and degree of its relaxation. Son),: experimental results confirming the proposed ideas are presented.

We present a fully automatic scheme for the registration of MR images. The registration is carried out as a combination of an affine and an elastic transformation. The affine part is generated by means of an affine Principal Components Analysis (PCA), which is an extension of the standard rigid PCA. We use the affine PCA as a preparatory step to guarantee maximum spatial similarity for the subs...

We investigate a mathematical model describing the flow of a liquid in a microchannel. The model incorporates immersed objects in the fluid as well as fixed obstacles and boundaries of the microchannel. Objects can have different elastic properties, including solid objects and deformable objects. The flow description accounts for all types of mechanical interactions: fluid-object, object-object...

The regulation of the cytoskeleton is essential for the proper organization and function of eukaryotic cells. For instance, radial arrays of microtubules (MTs), called asters, determine the intracellular localization of organelles. Asters can be generated through either MT organizing center (MTOC)-dependent regulation or self-organization processes. In vivo, this occurs within the cell boundari...

Grain boundaries (GBs) represent one of the most important types of defects in solids and their instability leads to catastrophic failures in materials. Grain boundaries are challenging for theoretical studies because of their distorted atomic structure. Fortunately, quantum-mechanical methods can reliably compute their properties. We calculate and analyze (tensorial) anisotropic elastic proper...

Actomyosin stress fibers impinge on the nucleus and can exert compressive forces on it. These compressive forces have been proposed to elongate nuclei in fibroblasts, and lead to abnormally shaped nuclei in cancer cells. In these models, the elongated or flattened nuclear shape is proposed to store elastic energy. However, we found that deformed shapes of nuclei are unchanged even after removal...

Our previous results indicated that the plasma membrane of cultured normal rat kidney fibroblastic cell is compartmentalized for diffusion of receptor molecules, and that long-range diffusion is the result of successive intercompartmental jumps (Sako, Y. and Kusumi, A. 1994. J. Cell Biol. 125:1251-1264). In the present study, we characterized the properties of intercompartmental boundaries by t...