with all the talk here about rope,cord and knots i thought this post from a science Blog would be worth a look.
it's about knot strength based on the number of loops in the line.
http://phys.org/news/2015-09-required-simple.html

yeah, very vague, not really about knot strength from what I can tell

Kinky! Interesting, and I'll bet this work will lead to significant improvement. In the meantime, I will still employ the traditional bowline, figure eight, and all the rest. I'll bet theory will sustain their effectiveness.

The last time I experienced surgery, no stitches were used to close the incision.....so much for that knotty problem.

The article implies a tighter knot is a more secure knot. So, the article makes more sense if you consider they're mainly talking about binders, stoppers, and fishing knots.

In contrast, most loops, bends, and hitches don't need to be that tight for them to be completely secure. Great knots like the Bowline, Butterfly, Carrick, Zeppelin, Sheet Bend, and many others are not that relevant to the article.

From what I remember of the last times somebody had to have stitches, the doc used something a lot like a "Ligature tie".

http://www.animatedknots.com/ligatureins...imatedknots.com

As for the rest: Yosemite bowline w/double OH backup, double sheet bend, truckers hitch w/alpine butterfly loop, figure 8 (bend, loop, and stopper), single and double fishermans bend (snell), and the incoil bloodknot make up almost all of my utility work. I don't know about th theory, but personal experience has born out their effectiveness.

That looks to be topologically the same as the Surgeon's Knot. Surgical Ligature appears just a way to tie it.