Bayesian inference for multidimensional NMR image reconstruction

Reconstruction of an image from a set of projections has been adapted to generate multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra, which have discrete features that are relatively sparsely distributed in space. For this reason, a reliable reconstruction can be made from a small number of projections. This new concept is called Projection Reconstruction NMR (PR-NMR). In this paper, multidimensional NMR spectra are reconstructed by Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC). This statistical method generates samples under the assumption that each peak consists of a small number of parameters: position of peak centres, peak amplitude, and peak width. In order to find the number of peaks and shape, RJMCMC has several moves: birth, death, merge, split, and invariant updating. The reconstruction schemes are tested on a set of six projections derived from the three-dimensional 700 MHz HNCO spectrum of a protein HasA.

Caspase-3-dependent phagocyte death during systemic Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection of mice.

Growth of Salmonella enterica in mammalian tissues results from continuous spread of bacteria to new host cells. Our previous work indicated that infective S. enterica are liberated from host cells via stochastic necrotic burst independently of intracellular bacterial numbers. Here we report that liver phagocytes can undergo apoptotic caspase-3-mediated cell death in vivo, with apoptosis being a rare event, more prevalent in heavily infected cells. The density-dependent apoptotic cell death is likely to constitute an alternative mechanism of bacterial spread as part of a bet-hedging strategy, ensuring an ongoing protective intracellular environment in which some bacteria can grow and persist.

Quasi-static three-point bending of carbon fiber sandwich beams with square honeycomb cores

Sandwich beams comprising identical face sheets and a square honeycomb core were manufactured from carbon fiber composite sheets. Analytical expressions were derived for four competing collapse mechanisms of simply supported and clamped sandwich beams in three-point bending: core shear, face microbuckling, face wrinkling, and indentation. Selected geometries of sandwich beams were tested to illustrate these collapse modes, with good agreement between analytic predictions and measurements of the failure load. Finite element (FE) simulations of the three-point bending responses of these beams were also conducted by constructing a FE model by laying up unidirectional plies in appropriate orientations. The initiation and growth of damage in the laminates were included in the FE calculations. With this embellishment, the FE model was able to predict the measured load versus displacement response and the failure sequence in each of the composite beams. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Damage development in an armor ceramic under quasi-static indentation

The objective of the present study is to assess the capabilities of a recently developed mechanism-based model for inelastic deformation and damage in structural ceramics. In addition to conventional lattice plasticity, the model accounts for microcrack growth and coalescence as well as granular flow following comminution. The assessment is made through a coupled experimental/computational study of the indentation response of a commercial armor ceramic. The experiments include examinations of subsurface damage zones along with measurements of residual surface profiles and residual near-surface stresses. Extensive finite element computations are conducted in parallel. Comparisons between experiment and simulation indicate that the most discriminating metric in the assessment is the spatial extent of subsurface damage following indentation. Residual stresses provide additional validation. In contrast, surface profiles of indents are dictated largely by lattice plasticity and thus provide minimal additional insight into the inelastic deformation resulting from microcracking or granular flow. A satisfactory level of correlation is obtained using property values that are either measured directly or estimated from physically based arguments, without undue reliance on adjustable (nonphysical) parameters. © 2011 The American Ceramic Society.