Mechanical interactions of cells with their immediately surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) is now known to be critical in pathophysiology. For example, during cancer progression, while uncontrollable cell division leads to tumor formation, the subsequent metastatic migration of cells from the primary tumor site to distant parts of the body causes most cancer-related deaths. The metastatic journey requires cells to be able to adopt different shapes and move persistently through the highly fibrous native ECM, thereby requiring significant spatiotemporal reorganization of the cell cytoskeleton. While numerous studies performed on flat 2-dimensional culture platforms and physiological 3D gels have elucidated cytoskeletal reorganization, our understanding on how cells adapt to natural fibrous microenvironments and regulate their behavior in response to specific ECM biophysical cues including fiber size, spacing, alignment and stiffness remains in infancy. Here, we utilize the non -electrospinning Spinneret tunable engineered parameters (STEP) technique to manufacture ECM mimicking suspended fibrous matrices with precisely controlled fiber diameters, network architecture, inter-fiber spacing and structural stiffness to advance our fundamental understanding of how external cues affect cytoskeleton-based cellular forces in 3-distinct morphological processes of the cell cycle starting from division to spreading and migration. Mechanobiological insights from these studies are implemented to deliver intracellular cargo inside cells using electrical fields. Holistically, we conclude that fibrous environments elicit multiple new cell behaviors never before reported. Specifically, our new findings include (i) design of fiber networks regulates actin networks and cell forces to sculpt nuclei in varying shapes: compressed ovals, tear drop, and invaginations, and drive the nuclear translocation of transcription factors like YAP/TAZ. In all these shapes, nuclei remain rupture-free, thus demonstrating the unique adaptability of cells to fibers, (ii) dense crosshatch networks are fertile environments for persistent 1D migration in 3D shapes of rounded nuclei and low density of actin networks, while sparse fiber networks induce 2D random migration in flattened shapes and well-defined actin stress fibers, (iii) actin retraction fiber-based stability regulates mitotic errors. Cells undergoing mitosis on single fibers exhibit significant 3D movement, and those attached to two fibers can have rotated mitotic machinery, both conditions contributing to erroneous division, and (iv) a bi-phasic force response to electroporation that coincides with actin cytoskeleton remodeling. Cells on suspended fibers can withstand higher electric field abuse, which opens opportunities to deliver cargo of varying sizes inside the cell. Taken altogether, our findings provide new mechanobiological understanding of cell-fiber interactions at high spatiotemporal resolution impacting cell migration, division and nuclear mechanics-key behaviors in the study of pathophysiology. / Doctor of Philosophy / Cancer, one of the major pathophysiological conditions, progresses within the living body through spreading of malignant cells from the primary tumor to distant secondary sites, ultimately leading to life-ending outcomes. Such spreading of cancer also known as cancer metastasis requires mechanical interactions of cells with their immediately surrounding microenvironment or the extracellular matrix (ECM). Cells utilize their cytoskeleton, a dynamic internal network of filamentous proteins, to adopt various morphologies, exert mechanical forces and physically remodel their local environment as they navigate through the highly fibrous native ECM. While previous research has elucidated how biochemical factors and bulk matrix properties regulate such cytoskeletal organization and single cell behavior, our understanding of how cells adapt to fibrous environments and respond to local biophysical cues like fiber diameter, spacing, alignment and stiffness remains in infancy. Here we use the non -electrospinning Spinneret tunable engineered parameters (STEP) to generate suspended nanofiber networks of tunable geometric and mechanical properties to mimic the native cellular environment. We discover that cells elongated within these ECM-mimicking environments utilize a unique cytoskeletal caging structure to regulate the shape and response of their nuclei in a fiber -diameter and organization-dependent manner. Additionally, we demonstrate that these elongated cell morphologies often observed during metastatic cancer cell movements, is achievable not only in aligned fibers but can also be induced by dense networks of fibers in a crossing organization. Specifically, such dense crosshatch networks allow cells to migrate persistently at high speeds while cells on sparsely spaced networks demonstrate slower and random movements. As cells elongated during interphase rounded up to undergo division, we find that the underlying fiber-geometry modulates mitotic dynamics through differential levels of actin retraction fiber-mediated stability, leading to significant alterations in orientation of mitotic machinery and mitotic spindle defects. Finally, we utilize these mechanobiological insights on cytoskeletal organization and cell shape control to optimize intracellular delivery of cargo using high-voltage electric fields. We demonstrate suspended cells are capable of withstanding higher electric fields and identify multistage cell contractility recovery dynamics, which correlate with cytoskeletal disruption and reassembly. Taken altogether, our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the fibrous ECM-mediated regulation of the cytoskeletal organization and its impact in cell migration, division and nuclear mechanics. Knowledge obtained from this study will improve our understanding of cancer metastasis and provide predictive data for in vivo cellular response, essential for cytoskeleton-targeting cancer therapies.

Soft-Hard Active-Passive Embedded Structures (SHAPES) are composites that respond to the environments in which they are embedded. This reaction can be a mechanical actuation, but also an intrinsic computation that yields an adaptation as a result. The actuation capabilities primarily depend on the stiffness combination of the involved materials. Stiffness includes both material parameters (depending on the chosen material model, e.g., the Young's modulus) and geometry parameters (depending on the type of structure, e.g., the beam height). The active properties can be included using the Stimulus Expansion Model, which is based on the analogy of the active reponse to thermal expansion. SHAPES can be designed according to three different behaviors, Case I constrained, Case II combined and Case III free. In the current work, these cases, the modelling and design background, and various examples are presented.

O cenário de metrópoles como Londres, Nova Iorque, Dubai, Shangai, Seul e outras exibe alguns tipos de edifícios com formas orgânicas e fluidas, que fazem parte de uma proposta que utiliza ferramentas informacionais e programação para a sua criação e materialização. Este trabalho investiga como viabilizar as superfícies consideradas complexas, desses edifícios, através do tema Projeto para a Produção, etapa que aprofunda o processo do fazer, posterior à criação. A complexidade é caracterizada pela utilização de um alto nível tecnológico para a elaboração dos sistemas, do componente em sua morfologia e, em relação ao módulo, material e geometria (PAOLETTI, 2006). Para o entendimento do problema, o texto contextualiza o momento contemporâneo e a participação dos instrumentos digitais no cotidiano, fazendo uma retrospectiva dos modos de produção e da automação da indústria, e faz um paralelo com a construção civil. Trata desde a 1a. Revolução Industrial até a 4a. Revolução Industrial, de acordo com Schwab (2016).Para discutir o Projeto para a Produção, verifica-se o estado da arte, posteriormente confrontando duas vertentes conceituais da atuação do papel do arquiteto no processo: uma que defende que os profissionais têm atuado mais próximos à fabricação digital, com arquivos enviados diretamente para a fábrica File to Factory (Arquivo-Fábrica) , e outra que entende que o processo é distribuído em etapas e equipes específicas e depende de habilidades e conhecimentos particulares para a produção do objeto. Este trabalho apresenta dois casos desenvolvidos na Itália: o primeiro projetado pelos arquitetos do escritório Norman Foster & Associates, o Pavilhão da União dos Emirados Árabes para a exposição internacional de Milão, que foi confeccionado com painéis de argamassa armada estampados com a textura das dunas do deserto, e o segundo, a torre corporativa do escritório Zaha Hadid Architects, do complexo CityLife Milano, que possui a superfície de vedação com painéis de vidro em formato de paralelogramas, que evidenciam a torção da torre em seu eixo vertical. Finalmente, o trabalho propõe um modelo de Projeto para a Produção de superfícies complexas a partir do aprofundamento dos estudos de caso, considerando que a proposta faz parte de uma etapa do projeto que é efetuada por equipes de profissionais habilitados para a elaboração dos detalhamentos, busca de soluções, pesquisa aprofundada a respeito dos materiais a serem utilizados e dos requisitos necessários para a realização dos trabalhos no local de implantação. / The scenery of big cities such as London, New York, Dubai, Shanghai and Seoul exhibits some types of buildings with organic and fluid shapes that are part of a proposal that uses information tools and programming for their creation and feasibility. This work in¬vestigates how feasible surfaces considered complex through the theme Design for Pro¬duction, a stage that deepens the process of making, after creation. The complexity is characterized as the use of a high technological level for the elaboration of the systems, of the component in its morphology and, in relation to the module, material and geom¬etry (PAOLETTI, 2006). For the understanding of the problem, the text contextualizes the contemporary moment and the participation of the digital instruments in the daily life, making a retrospective of the ways of production and the automation of the industry and parallels with the civil con¬struction. It deals from the 1st. Industrial Revolution until the 4th. Industrial Revolution, according to Schwab (2016). In order to discuss the Design for Production, the state of the art is verified, later confront¬ing two conceptual aspects of the role of the architect in the process, one that argues that the professionals have directly acted in the digital manufacture with files sent directly to the factory File to Factory and another that understands that the process is distribut¬ed in stages and specific teams and depends on particular skills and knowledge to the production of the object. It presents two cases developed in Italy: the first one designed by Norman Foster & As-sociates, the United Arab Emirates Pavilion for the Milan International Exbition, which was made with panels of Glass Fiber Reinforced Concret stamped with the texture of the desert dunes and the second one a corporate tower designed by Zaha Hadid Architects office for the CityLife Milano, which has a trapezoidal glass panel sealing surface that demonstrates the twisting of the tower on its vertical axis. Finally, the work proposes a model of a Design for Production of complex surfaces from the deepening of the case studies, considering that the proposal is part of a project stage carried out by teams of professionals qualified to perform the details, search for solutions, in-depth research regarding the materials to be used and the requirements necessary to carry out the works at the place of implantation.

Un médicament, ou tout autre petite molécule biologique, agit sur l’organisme via des interactions chimiques qui se produisent avec d’autres macromolécules telles que les protéines qui régissent le fonctionnement des cellules. La détermination de l’ensemble des cibles, c’est à dire de l’ensemble des macromolécules susceptibles de lier une même molécule, est essentielle pour mieux comprendre les mécanismes moléculaires à l’origine des effets d’un médicament. Cette connaissance permettrait en effet de guider la conception d’un composé pour éviter au mieux les effets secondaires indésirables, ou au contraire découvrir de nouvelles applications à des molécules connues. Les avancées de la biologie structurale nous permettent maintenant d’avoir accès à un très grand nombre de structures tridimensionnelles de protéines impliquées dans ces interactions, ce qui motive l’utilisation d’outils in silico (informatique) pour complémenter ou guider les expériences in vitro ou in vivo plus longues et plus chères.La thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une collaboration entre le laboratoire DAVID de l’Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin, et l’entreprise Bionext SA qui propose une suite logicielle permettant de visualiser et d’étudier les interactions chimiques. Les travaux de recherches ont pour objectif de développer un algorithme permettant, à partir des données structurales des protéines, de déterminer des cibles potentielles pour un composé donné. L’approche choisie consiste à utiliser la connaissance d’une première interaction entre un composé et une protéine afin de rechercher par similarité d’autres protéines pour lesquelles on peut inférer la capacité à se lier avec le même composé. Il s’agit plus précisément de rechercher une similarité locale entre un motif donné, qui est la région permettant à la cible connue de lier le composé, et un ensemble de protéines candidates.Un algorithme a été développé, BioBind, qui utilise un modèle des surfaces des macromolécules issu de la théorie des formes alpha afin de modéliser la surface accessible ainsi qu’une topologie sur cette surface permettant la définition de régions en surface. Afin de traiter le problème de la recherche d’un motif en surface, une heuristique est utilisée consistant à définir des motifs réguliers qui sont une approximation de disques géodésiques et permettant un échantillonnage exhaustif à la surface des macromolécules. Ces régions circulaires sont alors étendues à l’ensemble du motif recherché afin de déterminer une mesure de similarité.Le problème de la prédiction de cibles est ramené à un problème de classification binaire, où il s’agit pour un ensemble de protéines données de déterminer lesquelles sont susceptibles d’interagir avec le composé considéré, par similarité avec la première cible connue. Cette formalisation permet d’étudier les performances de notre approche, ainsi que de la comparer avec d’autres approches sur différents jeux de données. Nous utilisons pour cela deux jeux de données issus de la littérature ainsi qu’un troisième développé spécifiquement pour cette problématique afin d’être plus représentatif des molécules pertinentes du point de vue pharmacologique, c’est-à-dire ayant des propriétés proches des médicaments. Notre approche se compare favorablement sur ces trois jeux de données par rapport à une autre approche de prédiction par similarité, et plus généralement notre analyse confirme que les approches par docking (amarrage) sont moins performantes que les approches par similarité pour le problème de la prédiction de cibles. / The action of a drug, or another small biomolecule, is induced by chemical interactions with other macromolecules such as proteins regulating the cell functions. The determination of the set of targets, the macromolecules that could bind the same small molecule, is essential in order to understand molecular mechanisms responsible for the effects of a drug. Indeed, this knowledge could help the drug design process so as to avoid side effects or to find new applications for known drugs. The advances of structural biology provides us with three-dimensional representations of many proteins involved in these interactions, motivating the use of in silico tools to complement or guide further in vitro or in vivo experiments which are both more expansive and time consuming.This research is conducted as part of a collaboration between the DAVID laboratory of the Versailles-Saint-Quentin University, and Bionext SA which offers a software suite to visualize and analyze chemical interactions between biological molecules. The objective is to design an algorithm to predict these interactions for a given compound, using the structures of potential targets. More precisely, starting from a known interaction between a drug and a protein, a new interaction can be inferred with another sufficiently similar protein. This approach consists in the search of a given pattern, the known binding site, across a collection of macromolecules.An algorithm was implemented, BioBind, which rely on a topological representation of the surface of the macromolecules based on the alpha shapes theory. Our surface representation allows to define a concept of region of any shape on the surface. In order to tackle the search of a given pattern region, a heuristic has been developed, consisting in the definition of regular region which is an approximation of a geodesic disk. This circular shape allows for an exhaustive sampling and fast comparison, and any circular region can then be extended to the actual pattern to provide a similarity evaluation with the query binding site.The target prediction problem is formalized as a binary classification problem, where a set of macromolecules is being separated between those predicted to interact and the others, based on their local similarity with the known target. With this point of view, classic metrics can be used to assess performance, and compare our approach with others. Three datasets were used, two of which were extracted from the literature and the other one was designed specifically for our problem emphasizing the pharmacological relevance of the chosen molecules. Our algorithm proves to be more efficient than another state-of-the-art similarity based approach, and our analysis confirms that docking software are not relevant for our target prediction problem when a first target is known, according to our metric.

Les performances d’un système de reconnaissance de formes dépendent en bonne partie de la qualité de l’image segmentée. Malgré les progrès effectués, une segmentation complète (c’est-à-dire avec des contours entiers) ne peut pas être toujours atteinte. Dans un premier temps, nous nous plaçons dans le cas où seulement certaines parties de la forme entière sont disponibles. D’abord, afin d’assurer l’invariance des parties de formes aux transformations géométriques, nous développons une méthode d’optimisation de l’analyse procustéenne qui consiste à retrouver les points extrémités optimaux qui minimisent la distance de Procutse. Ensuite, nous proposons une approche de reconnaissance de parties de formes et une approche de reconnaissance de formes partielles. Ces deux approches, basées-contour, sont fondées sur un recalage robuste entre les parties de formes. La méthode de recalage proposée consiste à optimiser une mesure de similarité basée sur les géodésiques dans l’espace de formes. Ainsi, nous exploitons le résidu du recalage pour définir une nouvelle métrique pour la reconnaissance de parties de formes. Puis, nous décrivons une stratégie de combinaison avec cette même métrique pour la reconnaissance de formes partielles. Par la suite, nous proposons d’utiliser la distance géodésique proposée pour la reconnaissance des parties de formes dans la définition d’une métrique globale pour la reconnaissance de formes entières. Les tests de reconnaissance (classification et recherche) sont effectués sur des parties requêtes et des formes entières de la base d’images MPEG-7, puis sur des images réelles segmentées. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent la supériorité de nos méthodes par rapport aux autres méthodes de l’état de l’art. / The quality of the segmentation process directly affects the performance of the shape recognition. Despite the progress that has been made, it is often unreachable to segment the entire object (i.e. closed contour). In fact, only some parts/fragments of objects can be detected. We first develop a new alignment method based on Procrustes analysis in order to ensure invariance of shape parts to geometric transformations (translation, rotation and scale factor). The proposed method consists in finding optimal extremities which minimize the Procrustes distance. Then, we propose a shape part recognition approach and a partial shape recognition approach. These two contour-based approaches are based on matching between shape parts to compare. This matching process consists in establishing a robust registration between shape parts based on geodesics in the shape space. Thus, we exploit the registration residual to define a novel distance for shape part recognition. Later, for partial shape recognition, we describe a geodesics-based combining strategy with the same distance. As well, we propose to use the geodesics distance proposed for shape part recognition to define a global distance for entire shape recognition. Experiments are carried out on parts of shapes and entire shapes of theMPEG-7 database, then on parts issued from segmented real images. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed recognition schemes. The proposed approaches are shown to significantly outperform previous works for classification and retrieval applications.

A good image representation is vital for image comparision and classification; it may affect the classification accuracy and efficiency. The purpose of this thesis was to explore novel and appropriate image representations. Another aim was to investigate these representations for image classification. Finally, novel features were examined for improving image classification accuracy. Images of interest to this thesis were textile design images. The motivation of analysing textile design images is to help designers browse images, fuel their creativity, and improve their design efficiency. In recent years, bag-of-words model has been shown to be a good base for image representation, and there have been many attempts to go beyond this representation. Bag-of-words models have been used frequently in the classification of image data, due to good performance and simplicity. “Words” in images can have different definitions and are obtained through steps of feature detection, feature description, and codeword calculation. The model represents an image as an orderless collection of local features. However, discarding the spatial relationships of local features limits the power of this model. This thesis exploited novel image representations, bag of shapes and region label graphs models, which were based on bag-of-words model. In both models, an image was represented by a collection of segmented regions, and each region was described by shape descriptors. In the latter model, graphs were constructed to capture the spatial information between groups of segmented regions and graph features were calculated based on some graph theory. Novel elements include use of MRFs to extract printed designs and woven patterns from textile images, utilisation of the extractions to form bag of shapes models, and construction of region label graphs to capture the spatial information. The extraction of textile designs was formulated as a pixel labelling problem. Algorithms for MRF optimisation and re-estimation were described and evaluated. A method for quantitative evaluation was presented and used to compare the performance of MRFs optimised using alpha-expansion and iterated conditional modes (ICM), both with and without parameter re-estimation. The results were used in the formation of the bag of shapes and region label graphs models. Bag of shapes model was a collection of MRFs' segmented regions, and the shape of each region was described with generic Fourier descriptors. Each image was represented as a bag of shapes. A simple yet competitive classification scheme based on nearest neighbour class-based matching was used. Classification performance was compared to that obtained when using bags of SIFT features. To capture the spatial information, region label graphs were constructed to obtain graph features. Regions with the same label were treated as a group and each group was associated uniquely with a vertex in an undirected, weighted graph. Each region group was represented as a bag of shape descriptors. Edges in the graph denoted either the extent to which the groups' regions were spatially adjacent or the dissimilarity of their respective bags of shapes. Series of unweighted graphs were obtained by removing edges in order of weight. Finally, an image was represented using its shape descriptors along with features derived from the chromatic numbers or domination numbers of the unweighted graphs and their complements. Linear SVM classifiers were used for classification. Experiments were implemented on data from Liberty Art Fabrics, which consisted of more than 10,000 complicated images mainly of printed textile designs and woven patterns. Experimental data was classified into seven classes manually by assigning each image a text descriptor based on content or design type. The seven classes were floral, paisley, stripe, leaf, geometric, spot, and check. The result showed that reasonable and interesting regions were obtained from MRF segmentation in which alpha-expansion with parameter re-estimation performs better than alpha-expansion without parameter re-estimation or ICM. This result was not only promising for textile CAD (Computer-Aided Design) to redesign the textile image, but also for image representation. It was also found that bag of shapes model based on MRF segmentation can obtain comparable classification accuracy with bag of SIFT features in the framework of nearest neighbour class-based matching. Finally, the result indicated that incorporation of graph features extracted by constructing region label graphs can improve the classification accuracy compared to both bag of shapes model and bag of SIFT models.

Šiame darbe nagrinėjamas linijų tipų, brūkšniavimų ir formų kūrimo priemonių tyrimas ir realizacija AutoCAD sistemai. Šiuo metu vartotojų netenkina siūlomos priemonės - redaguojant failus susiduriama su sintaksės taisyklėmis, joms išsiaiškinti reikalingas papildomas laikas ir įgūdžiai. Šiuo metu nėra programos ar AutoCAD papildymo, kuris apimtų tris dalykus - linijų tipus, brūkšniavimus ir formų kūrimą. Šio darbo tikslas yra išanalizuoti ir suprojektuoti linijų tipų, brūkšniavimų ir formų kūrimo priemones ir suprojektuoti ir sukurti šiuolaikinę linijų tipų, brūkšniavimų ir formų kūrimo priemonę. / Analysis and realization of tools for creating linetypes, hatch patterns and shapes for AutoCAD system are considered in this paper. AutoCAD users are not satisfied of the tools suggested by AutoCAD. The specific knowledge of creating files of linetypes, hatch patterns and shapes is required and there is not any application or add-in for AutoCAD for creating these objects in visual manner in one. Purpose of this paper is to design and create an application what would create linetypes, hatch patterns and shapes for AutoCAD system in visual manner.

Lo studio approfondisce la questione dei rapporti tra la geografia e il cinema, in particolare il cinema contemporaneo. La “propensione geografica” del cinema, tipicamente individuata da molti studiosi, deve oggi confrontarsi con un problema fondamentale: quello di una riconsiderazione radicale dei limiti del discorso geografico, e della geografia intesa come scienza, come sapere e come progetto della modernità. In che modo un medium con un’antica vocazione geografica oggi interpreta, commenta, elabora la “crisi della ragione cartografica”? Le “forme cartografiche” del cinema, cioè le porzioni di testo filmico che riflettono sulla geograficità del medium, nel cinema recente non si limitano a dichiarare o a celebrare tale geograficità, ma la considerano come un problema. Se le forme cartografiche sono considerate in modo problematico nel cinema contemporaneo è perché il cinema stesso si è accorto, o si è convinto, che il proprio ruolo è cambiato, che non può più (forse non deve) guardare in un certo modo. Perché la crisi della ragione cartografica del cinema è un sinonimo della crisi strutturale della cinematograficità, di un modo di vedere il mondo, di un dispositivo, di una geometria che descriveva le posizioni di soggetti e oggetti, il loro valore e il loro significato. / This work explores the relationship between geography and cinema, especially contemporary cinema. The “cartographic penchant” of cinema, typically traced by many scholars, has to face a fundamental problem today: a radical reconsideration of the geographical discourse, and of geography intended as a science and an epistemic project of modernity. How does a medium with an ancient geographical vocation deal with the “crisis of cartographic reason”? The “cartographic shapes” of cinema, which are portions of filmic texts that mirror the “geographicity” of the medium, in contemporary cinema do not simply declare or celebrate that kind of geographicity, but they consider it as a problem. The reason the cartographic shapes are problematically represented by recent cinema is that cinema itself is aware, or became convinced, that its cultural role has changed, that it cannot understand the world in a certain way anymore. Because the crisis of cartographic reason of cinema is a synonym of a structural crisis of “cinematographicity”, of a way of looking at the world, of a dispositif, of a geometry that used to describe the positions of subjects and objects, their value and their meaning.

Aquesta tesi proposa una estructura de dades per emmagatzemar imatges tridimensionals. L'estructura da dades té forma d'arbre i codifica les components connexes dels conjunts de nivell de la imatge. Aquesta estructura és la eina bàsica per moltes aplicacions proposades: operadors morfològics tridimensionals, visualització d'imatges mèdiques, anàlisi d'histogrames de color, seguiment d'objectes en vídeo i detecció de vores. Motivada pel problema de la completació de vores, la tesi conté un estudi de com l'eliminació de soroll mitjançant variació total anisòtropa es pot fer servir per calcular conjunts de Cheeger en mètriques anisòtropes. Aquests conjunts de Cheeger anisòtrops es poden utilitzar per trobar òptims globals d'alguns funcionals per completar vores. També estan relacionats amb certs invariants afins que s'utilitzen en reconeixement d'objectes, i en la tesi s'explicita aquesta relació. / This thesis proposes a tree data structure to encode the connected components of level sets of 3D images. This data structure is applied as a main tool in several proposed applications: 3D morphological operators, medical image visualization, analysis of color histograms, object tracking in videos and edge detection. Motivated by the problem of edge linking, the thesis contains also an study of anisotropic total variation denoising as a tool for computing anisotropic Cheeger sets. These anisotropic Cheeger sets can be used to find global optima of a class of edge linking functionals. They are also related to some affine invariant descriptors which are used in object recognition, and this relationship is laid out explicitly.

Σκοπός της διπλωματικής αυτής εργασίας ήταν η μελέτη των ηλεκτρομαγνητικών δυνάμεων που δημιουργούνται μέσα σε μια ασύγχρονη ηλεκτρική μηχανή, ειδικότερα των ακτινικών δυνάμεων, καθώς και η μηχανική συμπεριφορά της μηχανής λόγω των δυνάμεων αυτών. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε ένας τριφασικός ασύγχρονος κινητήρας βραχυκυκλωμένου δρομέα, ισχύος 4 kW, συνδεσμολογίας τριγώνου. Η προσομοίωση και η μελέτη έγινε με τη χρήση του προγράμματος Opera 2-D της εταιρείας Vector Fields, το οποίο χρησιμοποιεί τη μέθοδο των πεπερασμένων στοιχείων για την επίλυση των μερικών διαφορικών εξισώσεων που περιγράφουν τη ηλεκτρομαγνητική λειτουργία της μηχανής. Πρώτα γίνεται η ηλεκτρομαγνητική ανάλυση των μοντέλων της μηχανής στη μόνιμη κατάσταση. Μετά χρησιμοποιώντας τα μοντέλα αυτά, υπολογίστηκαν οι ηλεκτρομαγνητικές πιέσεις που ασκούνται σε δόντια του δρομέα και του στάτη και η συνολική ακτινική και εφαπτομενική δύναμη που ασκείται πάνω στον δρομέα. Όταν οι ιδιοσυχνότητες ταλάντωσης της μηχανής είναι κοντά στις συχνότητες που υπάρχουν στο φάσμα συχνοτήτων της ακτινικής δύναμης, δημιουργείται συντονισμός και προκαλεί θορύβους και ταλαντώσεις στη μηχανή. Για να αποφευχθούν τέτοιου είδους θόρυβοι και ταλαντώσεις υπολογίζονται τα πλάτη και οι συχνότητες της ακτινικής δύναμης καθώς και οι ιδιοσυχνότητες της μηχανής. Οι ίδιες μετρήσεις έγιναν και σε μοντέλο μηχανής με μια σπασμένη μπάρα του κλωβού. Απεικονίσθηκαν οι ακτινικές δυνάμεις και συγκρίθηκαν με αυτές του υγιούς μοντέλου στο πεδίο του χώρου, του χρόνου και της συχνότητας. Επίσης παρουσιάζεται μια μέθοδος για την ανίχνευση «υπογραφών» ηλεκτρικών σφαλμάτων, μέσω ανάλυσης Fourier της ακτινικής ηλεκτρομαγνητικής δύναμης και πίεσης. Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν πως η ηλεκτρομαγνητική δύναμη είναι μια καλή παράμετρος με τη χρήση της οποίας μπορεί να ανιχνευτεί το σφάλμα της σπασμένης μπάρας. / The aim of this thesis was to study the electromagnetic forces generated in an asynchronous electric machine, especially the radial forces and the mechanical behavior of the machine due to these forces. A three-phase squirrel cage asynchronous motor, 4 kW power, was used. The simulation and the study was performed using the program Opera 2-D of Vector Fields, which uses the finite element method to solve partial differential equations describing the operation of the electromagnetic machine. First of all, the electromagnetic analysis of models of the machine in steady state was performed. Using these models, the electromagnetic pressure on teeth of the rotor and stator was calculated and the total radial and tangential force exerted on the rotor was estimated. When the natural frequencies of oscillation of the machine are close to the frequencies of the radial force, coordination is generated and causes noise and vibrations in the machine. To avoid such noises and vibrations, the amplitudes and frequencies of the radial force and the natural frequencies of the machine must be calculated. The same measurements were made on a model engine with a broken bar. The radial forces were plotted and compared with those of the healthy model, in the field of space, time and frequency. Also, a method for the detection of "signatures" electrical fault, through Fourier analysis of the radial electromagnetic force and pressure is disclosed. The results showed that the electromagnetic force is a good parameter to use for the detection of the broken bar fault.