Harmonic Shape Research Articles

Pressure loading, end- shortening and through- thickness shearing effects on geometrically nonlinear response of composite laminated plates using higher order finite strip method

A semi-analytical finite strip method is developed for analyzing the post-buckling behavior of rectangular composite laminated plates of arbitrary lay-up subjected to progressive end-shortening in their plane and to normal pressure loading. In this method, all the displacements are postulated by the appropriate harmonic shape functions in the longitudinal direction and polynomial interpolation functions in the transverse direction. Thin or thick plates are assumed and correspondingly the Classical Plate Theory (CPT) or Higher Order Plate Theory (HOPT) is applied. The in-plane transverse deflection is allowed at the loaded ends of the plate, whilst the same deflection at the unloaded edges is either allowed to occur or completely restrained. Geometric non-linearity is introduced in the strain–displacement equations in the manner of the von-Karman assumptions. The formulations of the finite strip methods are based on the concept of the principle of the minimum potential energy. The Newton–Raphson method is used to solve the non-linear equilibrium equations. A number of applications involving isotropic plates, symmetric and unsymmetric cross-ply laminates are described to investigate the through-thickness shearing effects as well as the effect of pressure loading, end-shortening and boundary conditions. The study of the results has revealed that the response of the composite laminated plates is particularly influenced by the application of the Higher Order Plate Theory (HOPT) and normal pressure loading. In the relatively thick plates, the HOPT results have more accuracy than CPT.

Automated 3D morphometric difference biomarker for abnormal ventricular morphology

Background Left-ventricular (LV) shape remodeling has known association with cardiac pathophysiology and dysfunction. While a prolate spheroid shape is vital for optimal cardiac function, LV dilatation and high sphericity is characteristic of cardiomyopathy. Early quantification of abnormal LV morphology may potentially guide clinical decisions to check disease progression. However a quantitative biomarker of 3D LV morphometry is found wanting in routine clinical practice as an upgrade to the rudimentary sphericity index. Methods Spherical harmonics (SPHARM) shape descriptors were sought to quantify patient-specific LV shape. Morphometric variation from a normal LV shape was studied with application to diagnostic identification of cardiomyopathy. Cardiac MR (CMR) was employed for anatomical examination and end-diastolic LV endocardial surface models were segmented from short-axis SSFP cine scans of 11 pediatric subjects between the ages 2 and 17. Surface models were individually registered by rigid transformation and scaling to match the LV base diameter of a reference 17

Detecting Drug Promiscuity Using Gaussian Ensemble Screening

Polypharmacology describes the binding of a ligand to multiple protein targets (a promiscuous ligand) or multiple diverse ligands binding to a given target (a promiscuous target). Pharmaceutical companies are discovering increasing numbers of both promiscuous drugs and drug targets. Hence, polypharmacology is now recognized as an important aspect of drug design. Here, we describe a new and fast way to predict polypharmacological relationships between drug classes quantitatively, which we call Gaussian Ensemble Screening (GES). This approach represents a cluster of molecules with similar spherical harmonic surface shapes as a Gaussian distribution with respect to a selected center molecule. Calculating the Gaussian overlap between pairs of such clusters allows the similarity between drug classes to be calculated analytically without requiring thousands of bootstrap comparisons, as in current promiscuity prediction approaches. We find that such cluster similarity scores also follow a Gaussian distribution. Hence, a cluster similarity score may be transformed into a probability value, or "p-value", in order to quantify the relationships between drug classes. We present results obtained when using the GES approach to predict relationships between drug classes in a subset of the MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR) database. Our results indicate that GES is a useful way to study polypharmacology relationships, and it could provide a novel way to propose new targets for drug repositioning.

Summer activity patterns among teenage girls: harmonic shape invariant modeling to estimate circadian cycles.

BackgroundPhysical activity as measured by activity counts over short time intervals across a 24 h period are often used to assess circadian variation. We are interested in characterizing circadian patterns in activity among adolescents and examining how these patterns vary by obesity status. New statistical approaches are needed to examine how factors affect different features of the circadian pattern and to make appropriate covariate adjustments when the outcomes are longitudinal count data.MethodsWe develop a statistical model for longitudinal or repeated activity count data that is used to examine differences in the overall activity level, amplitude (defined as the difference between the lowest and highest activity level over a 24 hour period), and phase shift. Using seven days of continuous activity monitoring, we characterize the circadian patterns and compare them between obese and non-obese adolescent girls.ResultsWe find a statistically significant phase delay in adolescent girls who were obese compared with their non-obese counterparts. After the appropriate adjustment for measured potential confounders, we did not find differences in mean activity level between the two groups.ConclusionNew statistical methodology was developed to identify a phase delay in obese compared with non-obese adolescents. This new approach for analyzing longitudinal circadian rhythm count data provides a useful statistical technique to add to the repertoire for those analyzing circadian rhythm data.

Size and shape of the caudate nucleus in individuals with bipolar affective disorder.

The caudate nucleus (CN) is a crucial component of the ventral striatum, which is part of a prefrontal-striatal-thalamic circuit that is modulated by limbic structures to subserve emotional processing. Bipolar disorder is thought to be underpinned by dysfunctional anterior limbic networks, although MRI studies examining the CN have shown equivocal results. As gross volumetric analyses may not detect subtle regional change, we aimed to clarify the role of the CN in bipolar disorder by undertaking shape analysis to detect regional reductions. The CN was manually traced on MRI scans from 27 patients with bipolar-I disorder and 24 matched controls. A non-parametric spherical harmonic shape analysis was undertaken using the SPHARM toolkit. Whilst the left CN volume was consistently larger in the sample, there was no effect of group or gender or significant interactions between these variables. Volume did not correlate with illness duration or lithium dosage, but was larger in those with a history of psychosis at trend level. However, left caudate shape differed significantly between groups, with deflation in an area along the ventromedial surface (connecting to dorsolateral prefrontal regions) in bipolar patients. Psychotic patients showed increases in the dorsal head and body at trend level overall, in regions connecting to medial and orbitofrontal regions. These findings suggest that subtle rather than gross structural changes occur in the CN, which may not be detectable by volumetric analysis alone, and reflect alterations in specific frontostriatal circuitry in the disorder.

Reduced-Order Modeling for Nonlinear Analysis of Cracked Mistuned Multistage Bladed-Disk Systems

with small blade-to-blade mistuning and a cracked blade is proposed. The modeling strategy is based on an efficient stagewise reduced-order modeling method based on cyclic symmetry analysis and component mode synthesis. Reduced-order modelsareconstructed forindividual stagesandassembledbyprojecting themotionof theinterface of the neighboring stages onto a set of harmonic shape functions. The analysis procedure allows the stages to have different numbers of blades and mismatched computational grids on the interfaces of the neighboring stages. Furthermore, the modeling framework is independent of the modeling method for each stage, which enables the use of various existing modeling methods of single stages. Moreover, nonlinearity can also be included in the multistage computations, as long as the nonlinearity can be modeled for a single stage. To demonstrate the capability of the modelingprocedure,thenonlineareffectofcrackopeningandclosingisconsidered,inconjunctionwiththeeffectsof small mistuning. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methods are discussed.

Hippocampal Shape Deformation in Female Patients with Unremitting Major Depressive Disorder

The hippocampal atrophy of MDD has been known, but the region shape contractions of the hippocampus in MDD were inconsistent. Spheric harmonic shape analysis was applied to the hippocampus in female patients with unremitting MDD to evaluate morphometric changes of the hippocampus. Shape analysis was performed by using T1-weighted MR imaging in 21 female patients with MDD and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Manually segmented hippocampi were parameterized, and the point-to-point-based group difference was compared by using the Hotelling T-squared test. The partial correlation analyses were tested between clinical variables and shape changes. Both hippocampal volumes were small in patients with MDD compared with healthy controls, and the right hippocampal volume was negatively correlated with the number of episodes at marginal significance. Regional shape contractions were found in the ambient gyrus, basal hippocampal head, posterior subiculum, and dorsal hippocampus of the left hemisphere. The right hippocampus showed a similar pattern but was less atrophic compared with the left hippocampus. A negative correlation was found between the HDRS and shape deformation in the CA3, ambient gyrus, posterior subiculum, and gyrus fasciolaris of the left hippocampus. We showed atrophy and regional shape contractions in the hippocampi of patients with MDD, which were more dominant on the left side. The causes of hippocampal damage could be the hypersecretion of glucocorticoids contributing to neuronal death or the failing of adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus.

Shape analysis of the neostriatum in subtypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration: Neuroanatomically significant regional morphologic change

Frontostriatal circuit mediated cognitive dysfunction has been implicated in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and may differ across subtypes of FTLD. We manually segmented the neostriatum (caudate nucleus and putamen) in FTLD subtypes: behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, FTD, n = 12; semantic dementia, SD, n = 13; and progressive non-fluent aphasia, PNFA, n = 9); in comparison with controls ( n = 27). Diagnoses were based on international consensus criteria. Manual bilateral segmentation of the caudate nucleus and putamen was conducted blind to diagnosis by a single analyst, on MRI scans using a standardized protocol. Intracranial volume was calculated via a stereological point counting technique and was used for normalizing the shape analysis. Segmented binaries were analyzed using the Spherical Harmonic (SPHARM) Shape Analysis tools (University of North Carolina) to perform comparisons between FTLD subtypes and controls for global shape difference, local significance maps and mean magnitude maps of shape displacement. Shape analysis revealed that there was significant shape difference between FTLD subtypes and controls, consistent with the predicted frontostriatal dysfunction and of significant magnitude, as measured by displacement maps. These differences were not significant for SD compared to controls; lesser for PNFA compared to controls; whilst FTD showed a more specific pattern in regions relaying fronto- and corticostriatal circuits. Shape analysis shows regional specificity of atrophy, manifest as shape deflation, with a differential between FTLD subtypes, compared to controls.

Scattering of plane guided waves obliquely incident on a straight feature with uniform cross-section

A frequency-domain finite element (FE) method is presented for modeling the scattering of plane guided waves incident on an infinitely-long, straight feature with uniform cross-section in a planar host waveguide. The method utilizes a mesh of 2-dimensional finite elements with harmonic shape functions in the perpendicular direction. The model domain comprises a cross-section through the feature and short lengths of the adjoining host waveguide. A spatial frequency equal to the wavenumber of the desired incident mode multiplied by the sine of the desired incidence angle is prescribed for the element shape functions. An integral representation of the incident mode is used to determine a suitable system of harmonic forces to uniquely excite that mode. These are applied at nodes through the thickness of the host waveguide on one side of the feature. The displacement field is measured at nodes through the thickness of the host waveguide on either side of the feature and decomposed into reflected and transmitted modes. The cases of guided wave transmission in a featureless waveguide and the reflection of guided waves from a free-edge are examined as validation cases. Finally, the results for transmission at an adhesively-bonded stiffener are presented and compared with experimental measurements.

Dirichlet Harmonic Shape Compression with Feature Preservation for Parameterized Surfaces

AbstractWith the rapid advancement of 3D scanning devices, large and complicated 3D shapes are becoming ubiquitous, and require large amount of resources to store and transmit them efficiently. This makes shape compression a demanding technique in order for the user to reduce the data transmission latency. Existing shape compression methods could achieve very low bit‐rates by sacrificing shape quality. But none of them guarantees the preservation of salient feature lines that users care. In addition, many 3D shapes come with parametric information for texture mapping purposes. In this paper we describe a spectral method to compress the geometric shapes equipped with arbitrary valid parametric information. It guarantees to preserve user‐specified feature lines while achieving a high compression ratio. By applying the spectral shape analysis – Dirichlet Manifold Harmonics, in the 2D parametric domain, this method provides a progressive compression mechanism to trade‐off between bit‐rate and shape quality. Experiments show that this method provides very low bit‐rate with high shape‐quality and still guarantees the preservation of user‐specified feature lines.

A Novel Wavelet Based Multi-Scale Statistical Shape Model-Analysis for the Liver Application: Segmentation and Classification

Several methods have been proposed to construct Statistical Shape Model (SSM) to aim image analysis using computer in field Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS), and other medical applications by providing a prior knowledge. The major challenge for liver shape model is a high variation in geometry such as size, shape and volume between livers. In this paper, we have presented a new technique for the automatic Multi-Scale Statistical Shape Model (MS-SSM) of three-dimensional (3-D) liver from volumetric segmented images data. The procedure included both building of Spherical Harmonics shape description and the Wavelet transform. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to corresponding landmarks on the tanning shapes for performing leave-one-out test. Validation metrics, for comparing performances of the MS-SSM method against SSM, were the Hausdorff distance measure and statistical parameter of Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). We evaluated the performance of our proposed method against to traditional method. The results confirmed that the proposed MS-SSM technique was successful, and more accurate for liver domain. We also examined robustness of the method in liver classification. In this research classification was performed on feature vector obtained from PCA using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) classifiers. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by leave-one-out cross-validation method and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis for each observer. The results showed that our proposed method to be more accurate and robust for liver discrimination. Keywords: Statistical shape modeling, liver, wavelet transform, shape-base classification, PCA

Statistical construction of a Japanese male liver phantom for internal radionuclide dosimetry

A computational framework is presented, based on statistical shape modelling, for construction of race-specific organ models for internal radionuclide dosimetry and other nuclear-medicine applications. This approach was applied to the construction of a Japanese liver phantom, using the liver of the digital Zubal phantom as the template and 35 liver computed tomography (CT) scans of male Japanese individuals as a training set. The first step was the automated object-space registration (to align all the liver surfaces in one orientation), using a coherent-point-drift maximum-likelihood alignment algorithm, of each CT scan-derived manually contoured liver surface and the template Zubal liver phantom. Six landmark points, corresponding to the intersection of the contours of the maximum-area sagittal, transaxial and coronal liver sections were employed to perform the above task. To find correspondence points in livers (i.e. 2000 points for each liver), each liver surface was transformed into a mesh, was mapped for the parameter space of a sphere (parameterisation), yielding spherical harmonics (SPHARMs) shape descriptors. The resulting spherical transforms were then registered by minimising the root-mean-square distance among the SPHARMs coefficients. A mean shape (i.e. liver) and its dispersion (i.e. covariance matrix) were next calculated and analysed by principal components. Leave-one-out-tests using 5-35 principal components (or modes) demonstrated the fidelity of the foregoing statistical analysis. Finally, a voxelisation algorithm and a point-based registration is utilised to convert the SPHARM surfaces into its corresponding voxelised and adjusted the Zubal phantom data, respectively. The proposed technique used to create the race-specific statistical phantom maintains anatomic realism and provides the statistical parameters for application to radionuclide dosimetry.

A Comparison of the Higher Order Harmonic Components Derived from Large-Amplitude Fourier Transformed ac Voltammetry of Myoglobin and Heme in DDAB Films at a Pyrolytic Graphite Electrode

A debate as to whether heme remains bound or is released in myoglobin molecules incorporated into a didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) film adhered to a pyrolytic graphite electrode has prompted a comparison of their electrochemistry by the highly sensitive large-amplitude Fourier transformed ac voltammetric method. The accessibility of third, fourth, and higher harmonic components that are devoid of background current and the enhanced resolution relative to that available in dc voltammetry have allowed a detailed comparison of the Fe(III)/Fe(II) and Fe(II)/Fe(I) redox processes of myoglobin and heme molecules to be undertaken as a function of buffer composition and pH and in the presence and absence of NaBr in the buffer and/or film. Under most conditions examined, only very subtle differences, in the Fe(III)/Fe(II) process were found, implying this process cannot be used to indicate the intactness or otherwise of myoglobin in myoglobin-DDAB films. In contrast, higher order ac harmonics obtained from myoglobin-DDAB and heme-DDAB films reveal pH dependent differences with respect to the Fe(II)/Fe(I) couple. Analysis of the ac harmonics, and with the hypothesis that the Fe(II)/Fe(I) process reflects the myoglobin state, suggests that the majority of the iron heme is released from myoglobin-DDAB (pH 5.0, no NaBr) films in contact with pH 5.0 (0.1 M sodium acetate) buffer solution devoid of or containing NaBr. However, myoglobin films prepared with pH 5.0 buffer containing NaBr shows significant difference in the higher harmonic shapes and midpoint potentials in the Fe(II)/Fe(I) process relative to the case when heme molecules are used, although as noted in other studies, a significant fraction of the Mb is rendered electroinactive in the presence of NaBr. The voltammetric responses of myoglobin and heme-DDAB (pH 5.0) films in contact with pH 7.0 (0.1 M) phosphate buffer solution also exhibit significant differences in the Fe(II)/Fe(I) redox couple in the higher harmonics in contrast to a report [de Groot, M.T.; Merkx, M.; Koper, M. T. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 16224] that claimed identical midpoint potentials apply to both films under conditions of dc cyclic voltammetry. The FT-ac voltammetric data therefore suggest that a substantial fraction of myoglobin in myoglobin-DDAB (pH 5.0) films in contact with pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution remains intact. No evidence of a catalytic effect that enhanced the released of heme from myoglobin was found at the pyrolytic graphite electrode surface. In summary, higher harmonic ac voltammetric data indicate that the Fe(II)/Fe(I) process but not the Fe(III)/Fe(II) reflects the state of myoglobin in DDAB films. On this basis, films prepared at pH 5.0 should include NaBr, or else films should be prepared at neutral pH to achieve films with myoglobin remains in its intact near native state when a myoglobin-DDAB film is confined to a graphite electrode surface. Otherwise, the release of heme in myoglobin molecules incorporated into a DDAB film is likely to be a dominant reaction pathway.

Relation of high harmonic spectra to electronic structure in N 2

High harmonics of N 2 exhibit a number of features that are related to the electronic structure and sub-femtosecond dynamics of the molecule. Through measurements and simulations, we show how the harmonic spectral shape, spectral phase, alignment angle dependence, and intensity dependence can be related to the strong-field ionization and recombination dynamics of the HOMO and HOMO-1 electron orbitals. A field-free static model of the molecule is insufficient to explain the observations.

Buckling Analysis of Laminated Composite Plates Using Higher Order Semi—Analytical Finite Strip Method

Rectangular plates made of laminated composite material because of the advantageously high strength and stiffness to weight ratio are used frequently as structural component in various branches of engineering, chief of which are aerospace and marine engineering. Design concepts of these plates that lead to the increase in the buckling load can directly lower the structural cost and/or weight. The finite strip method is one of a number of procedures which can be used to solve the buckling problem of plate structures. In the present work the main concern is with the buckling behavior of plates with simply supported ends subjected to uni-axial pure compression loads. The solution is sought by implementing the higher order semi-analytical finite strip method which incorporates additional degrees of freedom for each nodal line by using Reddy’s higher order plate theory. Therefore the current method is more universal in dealing with different plate thicknesses. In addition, in this semi-analytical finite strip method, all the displacements are postulated by the appropriate harmonic shape functions in the longitudinal direction and polynomial interpolation functions in the transverse direction. The solution is based on the concept of principle of minimum potential energy and an eigen-value analysis is subsequently carried out. From the presented results it can be concluded that the higher order semi-analytical finite strip method is very reliable for the preliminary design of composite plates especially in the case of buckling analysis of relatively thick plates.

Effect of Nuclear Motion on Molecular High-Order Harmonics and on Generation of Attosecond Pulses in Intense Laser Pulses

We calculate harmonic spectra and shapes of attosecond-pulse trains using numerical solutions of Non-Born-Oppenheimer time-dependent Shrödinger equation for 1D H2 molecules in an intense laser pulse. A very strong signature of nuclear motion is seen in the time profiles of high-order harmonics. In general the nuclear motion shortens the part of the attosecond-pulse train originating from the first electron contribution, but it may enhance the second electron contribution for longer pulses. The shape of time profiles of harmonics can thus be used for monitoring the nuclear motion.

One- and two-dimensional standing pressure waves and one-dimensional travelling pulses using the US-NRC nuclear systems analysis code TRACE

A variety of nuclear system transients can lead to rapid and large local pressure changes that propagate along the hydraulic system at the speed of sound, both in single phase and in two-phase fluids. Because of the relevance for safety issues, nuclear system codes like TRACE need to be assessed with respect to their capabilities to predict pressure wave behaviour. Therefore, we have analyzed the propagation of pressure waves in one-dimensional and two-dimensional configurations, i.e. a pipe and a slab, filled with liquid water. The pressure waves are driven by one-sided pressure boundary conditions, in the one-dimensional case of harmonic or Gaussian shape and in the two-dimensional case also of harmonic shape. The selected harmonic pressure boundary conditions lead to standing pressure waves, while using the Gaussian shape boundary conditions one-dimensional pressure pulses are injected and propagate through the pipe. The agreement of the TRACE results with the analytical solutions are, in general very good to good for the one-dimensional cases with respect to the pressure maxima and a small difference is only obtained in the wave speed. At the resonance frequencies of the one-dimensional standing waves, the code is tested to the extreme and shows that enforcing small time step sizes is crucial for the performance of the code. Non-linear effects are observed in the code results for the large amplitudes encountered at the closest neighborhood of the resonances, where the analytical linear standing wave solution diverges and the linear approximation is outside of its validity range. Also for these non-linear standing waves TRACE yields qualitatively physically correct behaviour as the pressure amplitudes are limited and a plateau is reached. For the one-dimensional pressure pulse of Gaussian shape the change of pulse amplitude and shape was analyzed in a longer system. The maximum amplitude of the pulse is slightly reduced as the pulse travels along the pipe. The effect of numerical diffusion on leading and trailing fronts is slightly asymmetric due to the donor-cell approach used in the numerical integration scheme of TRACE. The accuracy of the code is not negatively influenced by the reflections of the pulse at the boundaries of the pipe. As for the standing waves, the accuracy of the travelling pulse solution calculated by TRACE is negatively affected when the time steps are too large, while the effects of the spatial discretization are rather minor. For the case of two-dimensional standing waves in a slab, a lowest spatial harmonic generated with one wave node in the direction parallel to the pressure driving boundary is considered. TRACE results show an overall good agreement with the linear analytical solution. This good agreement includes for low to medium excitation frequencies the damping properties of the skin effect perpendicular to the pressure boundary, which does not exist in one-dimensional pressure wave propagation, the transition to a harmonic shape of the wave also perpendicular to the pressure boundary and the frequency dependence of the resonance spectrum for further increased frequencies with the rapid changes of the wavelengths encountered. Effects of the model set-up and code limitations with respect to the two-dimensional TRACE model set-up using a TRACE VESSEL component in connection with pressure boundary conditions are discussed, in particular with respect to the underestimation of the damping in the skin effect frequency range and the numerical damping for higher frequencies. All in all, the TRACE code is able to calculate one- and two-dimensional pressure wave propagation in liquid water, when an appropriate spatio-temporal numerical discretization is chosen.

Bright-matter solitons in a uniformly feeded Bose–Einstein condensate with expulsive harmonic potential

The Gross–Pitaevskii equation, which describes the dynamics of a one-dimensional uniformly feeded attractive Bose–Einstein condensate in an expulsive potential of arbitrary harmonic shape −a2x2+a1x, is solved analytically following the inverse scattering transform method. Within this approach, bright-matter waves are obtained as exact envelope-soliton solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a complex harmonic potential. The envelope shapes mimic double-lump pulses of unequal amplitudes symmetric with respect to the potential maximum, moving simultaneously at nonconstant accelerations with amplitudes that vary in time.

High dynamics control under voltage/current and harmonic constraints: SM-PMSM application for AC railways

The main objective of the proposed work is to perform stator flux and torque high dynamics response related to specific railway requirements such as anti-slid re-adhesion control. Moreover, this type of application takes into account DC bus voltage and current limitations. In addition, systems controlled by pulse width modulation (PWM) line side converters, injects harmonic current into the feeding overhead line. Therefore, it is necessary to consider an additional harmonic constraint (harmonic shape) as an entire part of the global control system in order not to interfere with signaling systems. Consequently, the high dynamics control objectives must be considered together with the PWM constraint and voltage/current limitations, as a single control task. Real-time simulation as well as experimental results for a specific railway test bench will be presented to highlight the performances of such control algorithm.

Hippocampus Shape Analysis and Late-Life Depression

Major depression in the elderly is associated with brain structural changes and vascular lesions. Changes in the subcortical regions of the limbic system have also been noted. Studies examining hippocampus volumetric differences in depression have shown variable results, possibly due to any volume differences being secondary to local shape changes rather than differences in the overall volume. Shape analysis offers the potential to detect such changes. The present study applied spherical harmonic (SPHARM) shape analysis to the left and right hippocampi of 61 elderly subjects with major depression and 43 non-depressed elderly subjects. Statistical models controlling for age, sex, and total cerebral volume showed a significant reduction in depressed compared with control subjects in the left hippocampus (F1,103 = 5.26; p = 0.0240) but not right hippocampus volume (F1,103 = 0.41; p = 0.5213). Shape analysis showed significant differences in the mid-body of the left (but not the right) hippocampus between depressed and controls. When the depressed group was dichotomized into those whose depression was remitted at time of imaging and those who were unremitted, the shape comparison showed remitted subjects to be indistinguishable from controls (both sides) while the unremitted subjects differed in the midbody and the lateral side near the head. Hippocampal volume showed no difference between controls and remitted subjects but nonremitted subjects had significantly smaller left hippocampal volumes with no significant group differences in the right hippocampus. These findings may provide support to other reports of neurogenic effects of antidepressants and their relation to successful treatment for depressive symptoms.