The combined tensile and torsional behavior of irregular fibers

Most fibers are irregular, and they are often subjected to combined loading conditions during processing and end-use. In this paper, polyester and wool fibers under the combined tensile and torsional loads have been studied for the first time, using the finite element method (FEM). The dimensional irregularities of these fibers are simulated with sine waves of different magnitude and frequency. The breaking load and breaking extension of the fibers at different twist or torsion levels are then calculated from the finite element model. The results indicate that twist and level of fiber irregularity have a major impact on the mechanical properties of the fiber and the effect of the frequency of irregularity is relatively small.<br /

Comparison of biopsy under-sampling and annual progression using hidden markov models to learn from prostate cancer active surveillance studies

This study aimed to estimate the rates of biopsy undersampling and progression for four prostate cancer (PCa) active surveillance (AS) cohorts within the Movember Foundation's Global Action Plan Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance (GAP3) consortium. We used a hidden Markov model (HMM) to estimate factors that define PCa dynamics for men on AS including biopsy under-sampling and progression that are implied by longitudinal data in four large cohorts included in the GAP3 database. The HMM was subsequently used as the basis for a simulation model to evaluate the biopsy strategies previously proposed for each of these cohor

Palmitoleate Induces Hepatic Steatosis but Suppresses Liver Inflammatory Response in Mice

The interaction between fat deposition and inflammation during obesity contributes to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The present study examined the effects of palmitoleate, a monounsaturated fatty acid (16∶1n7), on liver metabolic and inflammatory responses, and investigated the mechanisms by which palmitoleate increases hepatocyte fatty acid synthase (FAS) expression. Male wild-type C57BL/6J mice were supplemented with palmitoleate and subjected to the assays to analyze hepatic steatosis and liver inflammatory response. Additionally, mouse primary hepatocytes were treated with palmitoleate and used to analyze fat deposition, the inflammatory response, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1c) activation. Compared with controls, palmitoleate supplementation increased the circulating levels of palmitoleate and improved systemic insulin sensitivity. Locally, hepatic fat deposition and SREBP1c and FAS expression were significantly increased in palmitoleate-supplemented mice. These pro-lipogenic events were accompanied by improvement of liver insulin signaling. In addition, palmitoleate supplementation reduced the numbers of macrophages/Kupffer cells in livers of the treated mice. Consistently, supplementation of palmitoleate decreased the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB, p65) and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. These results were recapitulated in primary mouse hepatocytes. In terms of regulating FAS expression, treatment of palmitoleate increased the transcription activity of SREBP1c and enhanced the binding of SREBP1c to FAS promoter. Palmitoleate also decreased the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in cultured macrophages. Together, these results suggest that palmitoleate acts through dissociating liver inflammatory response from hepatic steatosis to play a unique role in NAFLD

The third international hackathon for applying insights into large-scale genomic composition to use cases in a wide range of organisms

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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data