Because of its high content of polyphenolic compounds, 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 content of meat. However, 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 BW ± 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...

This research work is an atomic theory of fracture and quantization of Kic Fracture toughness. Especially in ceramics. It shows the atomic level aspects of fracture process from the stress intensity factor or fracture toughness, KIc. The crystalline structure, the atomic positions and lattice points, and how nanomaterials show atomic level fracture process as well as nanoceramics exhibit Quantization of fracture toughness and other nanomaterials show higher stress intensity factor, KIc than microsize equivalents of those nanomaterials. This is a deep treatment of the fracture process with a survey of present status of fracture, the application of the fundamentals of fracture toughness for the atomic theory of fracture, the data evidence for confirmation of the theory and some extension for its applications in biomaterials, electronic materials and cutting tools for manufacturing. This is a rigorous and clear treatment of the atomic theory of fracture.

In this paper, the state-of-the-art progress in research on novel mechanical properties of nanocrystalline materials and carbon nanotubes is reviewed. There is evidence that the relation between the strength of nanocrystalline materials and grain size does not observe the classic Hall-Petch plot. Lowtemperature and high-strain rate superplasticity have been found in some nanocrystalline materials. Theoretical prediction and experimental data indicate

The recent observation of the reverse Hall-Petch relation in nanocrystalline ceramics offers a possible pathway to achieve enhanced ductility for traditional brittle ceramics via the nanosize effect, just as nanocrystalline metals and alloys. However, the underlying deformation mechanisms of nanocrystalline ceramics have not been well established. Here we combine reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations and experimental transmission electron microscopy to determine the atomic level deformation mechanisms of nanocrystalline boron carbide (B_{4}C). We performed large-scale (up to ∼3 700 000 atoms) ReaxFF RMD simulations on finite shear deformation of three models of grain boundaries with grain sizes from 4.84 (135 050 atoms) to 14.64 nm (3 702 861 atoms). We found a reverse Hall-Petch relationship in nanocrystalline B_{4}C in which the deformation mechanism is dominated by the grain boundary (GB) sliding. This GB sliding leads to the amorphous band formation at predistorted icos...