Evaluating the softness of animal fibers

Softness is an important property of textile fibers, and animal fibers in particular. At present, there is no reliable method for objectively evaluating fiber softness. This paper examines a simple technique of such evaluations by pulling a bundle of parallel fibers through a series of pins. Softer fibers with lower bending rigidities and smoother surfaces should have lower pulling forces. Alpaca and wool fibers are used in this study to validate this technique, and the results suggest that pulling force measurements can reflect differences in fiber softness

Resistance to compression behavior of alpaca and wool

This study compares the resistance to compression behavior of wool and alpaca fibers. It shows that alpaca fibers have a much lower resistance to compression than wool, and there is little correlation between the resistance to compression and the curvature for alpaca fibers. Yet for wool fibers, the correlation between resistance to compression and curvature is very strong and positive. The differences in fiber curvature and scale profiles of alpaca and wool, together with the test method for resistance to compression, may explain their different resistances to compression

Diagnosis of early stage knee osteoarthritis based on early clinical course: data from the CHECK cohort

Background Early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis (OA) is important in managing this disease, but such an early diagnostic tool is still lacking in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to develop diagnostic models for early stage knee OA based on the first 2-year clinical course after the patient's initial presentation in primary care and to identify whether these course factors had additive discriminative value over baseline factors. Methods We extracted eligible patients' clinical and radiographic data from the CHECK cohort and formed the first 2-year course factors according to the factors' changes over the 2 years. Clinical expert consensus-based diagnosis, which was made via evaluating patients' 5- to 10-year follow-up data, was used as the outcome factor. Four models were developed: model 1, included clinical course factors only; model 2, included clinical and radiographic course factors; model 3, clinical baseline factors + clinical course factors; and model 4, clinical and radiographic baseline factors + clinical and radiographic course factors. All the models were built by a generalized estimating equation with a backward selection method. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for assessing model discrimination. Delong's method compared AUCs. Results Seven hundred sixty-one patients with 1185 symptomatic knees were included in this study. Thirty-seven percent knees were diagnosed as OA at follow-up. Model 1 contained 6 clinical course factors; model 2: 6 clinical and 3 radiographic course factors; model 3: 6 baseline clinical factors combined with 5 clinical course factors; and model 4: 4 clinical and 1 radiographic baseline factors combined with 5 clinical and 3 radiographic course factors. Model discriminations are as follows: model 1, AUC 0.70 (95% CI 0.67-0.74); model 2, 0.74 (95% CI 0.71-0.77); model 3, 0.77 (95% CI 0.74-0.80); and model 4, 0.80 (95% CI 0.77-0.82). AUCs of model 3 and model 4 were slightly but significantly higher than corresponding baseline-factor models (model 3 0.77 vs 0.75, p = 0.031; model 4 0.80 vs 0.76, p = 0.003). Conclusions Four diagnostic models were developed with "fair" to "good" discriminations. First 2-year course factors had additive discriminative value over baseline factors.Clinical epidemiolog

Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of American College of Rheumatology, EULAR, and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence criteria against clinically relevant knee osteoarthritis: data from the CHECK cohort

ObjectiveOur objective was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the EULAR, American College of Rheumatology (ACR), and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria by using clinical experts' diagnosis of clinically relevant knee osteoarthritis (OA) as the outcome of interest.MethodsIn a previous study, we recruited clinical experts to evaluate longitudinal (5-, 8-, and 10-year follow-up) clinical and radiographic data of symptomatic knees from the Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) study for the presence or absence of clinically relevant OA. In the current study, ACR, EULAR, and NICE criteria were applied to the same 5-, 8-, and 10-year follow-up data; then a knee was diagnosed with OA if fulfilling the criteria at one of the three time points (F1), two of the time points (F2), or at all three time points (F3). Using clinically relevant OA as the reference standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the three criteria were assessed.ResultsA total of 539 participants for a total of 833 examined knees were included. Thirty-six percent of knees were diagnosed with clinically relevant OA by experts. Sixty-seven percent to 74% of the knees received the same diagnosis (OA or non-OA) by the three criteria sets for the different definitions (F1 to F3). EULAR consistently (F1 through F3) had the highest specificity, and NICE consistently had the highest sensitivity.ConclusionThe diagnoses only moderately overlapped among the three criteria sets. The EULAR criteria seemed to be more suitable for study enrollment (when aimed at recruiting clinically relevant OA knees), given the highest specificities. The NICE criteria, given the highest sensitivities, could be more useful for an initial diagnosis in clinical practice.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

The added value of radiographs in diagnosing knee osteoarthritis is similar for general practitioners and secondary care physicians: data from the CHECK early osteoarthritis cohort

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the added value of radiographs for diagnosing knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by general practitioners (GPs) and secondary care physicians (SPs). Methods: Seventeen GPs and nineteen SPs were recruited to evaluate 1185 knees from the CHECK cohort (presenters with knee pain in primary care) for the presence of clinically relevant osteoarthritis (OA) during follow-up. Experts were required to make diagnoses independently, first based on clinical data only and then on clinical plus radiographic data, and to provide certainty scores (ranging from 1 to 100, where 1 was "certainly no OA" and 100 was "certainly OA"). Next, experts held consensus meetings to agree on the final diagnosis. With the final diagnosis as gold standard, diagnostic indicators were calculated (sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive value, accuracy and positive/negative likelihood ratio) for all knees, as well as for clinically "certain" and "uncertain" knees, respectively. Student paired t-tests compared certainty scores. Results: Most diagnoses of GPs (86%) and SPs (82%) were "consistent" after assessment of radiographic data. Diagnostic indicators improved similarly for GPs and SPs after evaluating the radiographic data, but only improved relevantly in clinically "uncertain" knees. Radiographs added some certainty to "consistent" OA knees (GP 69 vs. 72, p < 0.001; SP 70 vs. 77, p < 0.001), but not to the consistent no OA knees (GP 21 vs. 22, p = 0.16; SP 20 vs. 21, p = 0.04). Conclusions: The added value of radiographs is similar for GP and SP, in terms of diagnostic accuracy and certainty. Radiographs appear to be redundant when clinicians are certain of their clinical diagnosis.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

ZC4H2, an XLID gene, is required for the generation of a specific subset of CNS interneurons

Miles-Carpenter syndrome (MCS) was described in 1991 as an XLID syndrome with fingertip arches and contractures and mapped to proximal Xq. Patients had microcephaly, short stature, mild spasticity, thoracic scoliosis, hyperextendable MCP joints, rocker-bottom feet, hyperextended elbows and knees. A mutation, p.L66H, in ZC4H2, was identified in a XLID resequencing project. Additional screening of linked families and next generation sequencing of XLID families identified three ZC4H2 mutations: p.R18K, p.R213W and p.V75in15aa. The families shared some relevant clinical features. In silico modeling of the mutant proteins indicated all alterations would destabilize the protein. Knockout mutations in zc4h2 were created in zebrafish and homozygous mutant larvae exhibited abnormal swimming, increased twitching, defective eye movement and pectoral fin contractures. Because several of the behavioral defects were consistent with hyperactivity, we examined the underlying neuronal defects and found that sensory neurons and motoneurons appeared normal. However, we observed a striking reduction in GABAergic interneurons. Analysis of cell-type-specificmarkers showed a specific loss of V2 interneurons in the brain and spinal cord, likely arising from mis-specification of neural progenitors. Injected human wt ZC4H2 rescued the mutant phenotype. Mutant zebrafish injectedwith human p.L66H or p.R213W mRNA failed to be rescued, while the p.R18K mRNA was able to rescue the interneuron defect. Our findings clearly support ZC4H2 as a novel XLID gene with a required function in interneuron development. Loss of function of ZC4H2 thus likely results in altered connectivity ofmany brain and spinal circuits

Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

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Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

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Search for heavy resonances decaying into a vector boson and a Higgs boson in final states with charged leptons, neutrinos, and b quarks

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