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Orthogonal Fourier–Mellin (OFM) moments have better feature representation capabilities, and are more robust to image noise than the conventional Zernike moments and pseudo-Zernike moments. However, OFM moments have not been extensively used as feature descriptors since they do not possess scale invariance. This paper discusses the drawbacks of the existing methods of extracting OFM moments, and proposes an improved OFM moments. A part of the theory, which proves the improved OFM moments possesses invariance of rotation and scale, is given. The performance of the improved OFM moments is experimentally examined using trademark images, and the invariance of the improved OFM moments is shown to have been greatly improved over the current methods.

This paper introduces a family of rectangularity measures. The measures depend on two parameters which enable their flexibility, i.e. the possibility to adapt with respect to a concrete application. Several rectangularity measures exist in the literature, and they are designed to evaluate numerically how much the shape considered differs from a perfect rectangle. None of these measures distinguishes rectangles whose edge ratios differ, i.e. they assume that all rectangles (including squares) have the same shape. Such property can be a disadvantage in applications. In this paper, we consider differently elongated rectangles to have different shapes, and propose a family of new rectangularity measures which assigns different values to rectangles whose edge ratios differ. The new rectangularity measures are invariant with respect to translation, rotation and scaling transformations. They range over the interval ]0, 1] and attain the value 1 only for perfect rectangles with a desired edge ratio.

In this paper, we propose a simple, but efficient method to recognize two-dimensional shapes without regard to their translation, rotation, and scaling factors. In our scheme, we use all of the boundary points to calculate the first principal component, which is the first shape feature. Next, by dividing the boundary points into groups by projecting them onto the first principal component, each shape is partitioned into several blocks. These blocks are processed separately to produce the remaining shape features. In shape matching, we compare two shapes by calculating the difference between the two sets of features to see whether the two shapes are similar or not.

The amount of storage used to represent a shape in our method is fixed, unlike most other shape recognition schemes. The time complexity of our shape matching algorithm is also O(n), where n is the number of blocks. Therefore, the matching algorithm takes little computation time, and is independent of translation, rotation, and scaling of shapes.

INDIA – Plastic bricks could protect Indian homes from monsoon.

THE PHILIPPINES – Philippines aims for better basic sanitation practices.

SINGAPORE – A*STAR scientists discover gene critical for proper brain development.

AFRICA – Project to conserve indigenous crops launched in Kenya.

AFRICA – Cellphone voice and SMS tech developed to fight Ebola.

AFRICA – Scientists say Kenya’s GMO ban stalling biotech R&D.

AFRICA – Scientists unveil a plan to fight deadly banana disease.

AFRICA – Drug resistance to kill 10 million a year by 2050.

BANGLADESH – Aflatoxin threat in Nepal and Bangladesh.

BANGLADESH – Daily multivitamin improves pregnancy outcomes in South Asia.

EUROPE – New study describes, for the first time, a fundamental mechanism regulating a protein’s shape.

UNITED STATES – Cells identified that enhance tumor growth and suppress anti-cancer immune attack.

UNITED STATES – Scripps Research Institute scientists uncover new, fundamental mechanism for how resveratrol provides health benefits.

UNITED STATES – Canopus BioPharma Inc. achieves positive results from an in vitro live Ebola virus study.

This study characterizes left ventricular function in terms of passive and active elastances (E_p & E_a) and shape factor index. Both the active elastance and shape factor indices can be employed as contractility indices. The work also demonstrates how E_p and E_a can explain LV pressure dynamics in terms of LV volume dynamics.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the forces required to stabilize the lumbar spine in the standing posture may be affected by variation in its shape. A two-dimensional model of the lumbar spine in the sagittal plane was developed that included a simplified representation of the lumbar extensor muscles. The shape of the model was varied by changing both the magnitude and distribution of the lumbar curvature. The forces required to produce a resultant load traveling along a path as close to the vertebral body centroids as possible (a follower load) were determined. In general,the forces required to produce a follower load increased as the curvature became larger and more evenly distributed. The results suggest that the requirements of the lumbar muscles to maintain spinal stability in vivo will vary between individuals. This has implications for understanding the role of spinal curvature and muscle atrophy in back pain.

As jumping is an effective method of moving over rough terrain, there is much interest in building robots that can jump. Deformation of a soft robot's body is an effective method to induce jumping. Our aim was to develop a jumping robot by deformation of a circular shell made of spring steel to result in the highest jump. Higher jumping requires enlargement of the contact area between the robot body and the floor. We developed a jumping mechanism that utilized a dish shape to maximize contact area.

Starting with research on excavator using environment, analyze the morphological characteristics and the demand of function for excavators in the special application environment. Putting forward innovative design of excavator's body shape and the way of walking based on the urban construction environments, which provide a reference for special excavator design. At the same time, it is a good foundation for building the excavator characteristic statistic database with the basis of special application.