I understood the part about the food...

I got the following e-mail from the mailing list for people who plan on majoring in math here at the U.

"Mathematics Undergraduate Colloquium
Wednesday, Sept. 3
12:55
LCB 225

Mark Zajac will present "Depolymerization Can Drive Cell Migration"

Abstract: Cell migration promotes wound healing yet allows cancer tospread. I will present a two-phase model for the solid cytoskeleton andfluid cytosol inside a crawling nematode spermatozoon. This modeldemonstrates that disassembly of the cytoskeletal polymer network canprovide most of the force that drives a cell forward. The drag forceexerted by cytosolic fluid also plays a significant role.

The model also shows that cytoskeletal anisotropy is required. The model uses level set methods to provide an implicit representation ofthe cell surface. Testing the model requires image processing, which can becast as a minimization problem, leading to a differential equation.Tracking cytoskeletal features makes use of correlations.

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There will be pizza and discussion after the talk."