Predicting the influence of seam design on formability and strength of nonwoven structures using artificial neural network

Formability which is also known as drapability is defined as the ability of a planar textile structure to be directly deformed to fit a three-dimensional surface without the formation of wrinkling, kinks or tears. According to human’s desire for comfortable and high quality clothing, formability has a specific place in the textile industry so many studies have been conducted on understanding and predicting formability of textiles. Artificial neural network method is used in this study order to predict the influence of seam design on formability and tensile behavior of nonwoven structures. Our findings and analysis showed that seam design, seam allowance and weight of nonwoven layers are three main parameters significantly affecting the formability and overall tensile of nonwoven structure. Predicted values obtained from the ANN methodology were compared with the experimental data proving very good correlation between examined and predicted values.     

Centrosome loss in the evolution of planarians

The centrosome, a cytoplasmic organelle formed by cylinder-shaped centrioles surrounded by a microtubule-organizing matrix, is a hallmark of animal cells. The centrosome is conserved and essential for the development of all animal species described so far. Here, we show that planarians, and possibly other flatworms, lack centrosomes. In planarians, centrioles are only assembled in terminally differentiating ciliated cells through the acentriolar pathway to trigger the assembly of cilia. We identified a large set of conserved proteins required for centriole assembly in animals and note centrosome protein families that are missing from the planarian genome. Our study uncovers the molecular architecture and evolution of the animal centrosome and emphasizes the plasticity of animal cell biology and development.     

Optimum grape pomace proportion in feedlot cattle diets: ruminal fermentation,total tract nutrient digestibility,nitrogen utilization,and blood metabolites

Because of its high content of polyphenolic compounds, the dietary inclusion of grape pomace (GP) in ruminant diets can reduce reactive nitrogen (N) and methane emissions and enhance the shelf life and beneficial fatty acids (FAs) content of meat. However, the dietary inclusion of GP beyond a threshold that is still to be determined for feedlot cattle can also compromise nutrient supply and, thus, growth performance. This study investigated the optimum proportion of GP in finishing cattle diets. Nutrient intake and apparent total tract digestion, ruminal pH and fermentation, estimated microbial protein synthesis, route of N excretion, and blood metabolites were measured. Six ruminally fistulated crossbred beef heifers (mean initial body weight ± SD: 714 ± 50.7 kg) were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square with 21-d periods. Dietary treatments were 0%, 15%, and 30% of dietary dry matter (DM) as GP, with diets containing 84%, 69%, and 54% dry-rolled barley grain, respectively. There was a linear increase (P = 0.07) in DM intake and quadratic change (P ≤ 0.01) in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake. There was a quadratic change (P ≤ 0.04) in apparent total tract DM, NDF, and crude protein digestibility as dietary GP content increased. However, there were no treatment effects (P ≥ 0.18) on total ruminal short-chain FA concentration and duration and area pH < 6.2, 5.8, and 5.5. Although N intake did not differ (269, 262, 253 g/d; P = 0.33) across dietary treatments, feeding GP led to a tendency for a quadratic change (P ≤ 0.07) in ruminal ammonia-N and plasma urea-N concentrations. Total N excretion also changed (quadratic, P = 0.03) because of changes (quadratic, P = 0.02) in fecal N excretion as urinary excretion of N and urea-N did not differ (P ≥ 0.15) across treatments. Feeding GP led to quadratic changes (P ≤ 0.01) in fecal excretion of fiber-bound N. Microbial N flow and apparent N retention also changed (quadratic, P ≤ 0.04) as dietary GP proportion increased. In conclusion, responses to dietary GP proportion were mostly quadratic with indications that nutrient supply as reflected by changes in apparent total tract nutrient digestibility, microbial N supply, and apparent N retention could be compromised beyond a 15% dietary inclusion level.     

Occurrence of Neodolichodorus persiangulfus n. sp. (Nematoda: Dolichodoridae) in mangrove forests of southern Iran

An infestation of mangrove forests with Neodolichodorus persiangulfus n. sp. in southern Iran is reported. This paper is the first to report a representative species of the genus in the country. The new species was characterized by 2,120 (1795–2400) µm long females, and 1755 (1533–2019) µm long males, a continuous to slightly offset cephalic region separated from the rest of the body by a shallow depression, having 5–7 annuli and a distinct labial plate, a lateral field with four lines, the outer ones crenate, irregularly areolated in anterior and posterior body region, 79 (66–85) μm long female stylet, a didelphic‐amphidelphic female reproductive system with asymmetric sclerotized vaginae, phasmids 5–10 annuli behind the anus, female tail elongate conoid, suddenly narrowing at 5–12 annuli posterior to anus and males with trilobed bursa, 52.5 (47–58) μm long spicules and 21.5 (18–27) μm gubernaculum. With the elongate‐conoid female tail and c? >1.2, the new species is close to five known species of the genus: N. brevistylus, N. leiocephalus, N. paralongicaudatus, N. rageshi and N. sinensis, but is distinguished from them by the morphology of the female tail, areolation type of the lateral field, position of hemizonid and phasmid and morphometric data. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using sequences of the near full‐length fragment of the small and the D2‐D3 expansion segments of the large subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU and LSU rDNA D2‐D3) revealed the new species placed in a clade including one isolate of Neodolichodorus sp. and some species of Globodera, Heterodera and Rotylenchulus with 0.89 Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) in SSU phylogeny. The only available SSU sequence of the genus was the tentative closest relative to the new species in the inferred SSU tree. In the reconstructed LSU phylogenetic tree, N. persiangulfus n. sp. formed a poorly supported clade with Rotylenchulus spp. in Bayesian inference (BI), and the only other available D2‐D3 sequence of the genus occupied a distant placement to the new species.