Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) are a species of conservation concern in the rangelands of western North America due to their dramatic decline over the last half century. Effective conservation and management of sensitive species requires an understanding of how species respond to management actions. We examined two aspects of the reproductive phases of sage-grouse: nest predation, and habitat selection by female sage-grouse with chicks. In Chapter 1, we developed resource selection functions to assess the influence of mechanical treatments of mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata vaseyana) on habitat selection by greater sage-grouse with chicks. Post-treatment sage-grouse showed stronger selection for treatments and treatment edges than did pre-treatment sage-grouse. This altered pattern of selection by sage-grouse with broods suggests mechanical treatments may be a suitable way to increase use of mountain big sagebrush during the brooding period. In Chapter 2, we assessed the effect of habitat edges on nest predation of sage-grouse. The "edge effect" hypothesis states that habitat edges are associated with reduced nest success for birds. We tested the edge effect hypothesis using 155 nest locations from 114 sage-grouse. We derived edge metrics for 11 habitat cover types to determine which variables may have affected nest predation. We found support for the edge effect hypothesis in that nest predation increased with increasing edge density of paved roads. We provide evidence that the edge effect hypothesis may apply to greater sage-grouse and their habitats. Based on our results, we recommend minimizing disturbances that fragment critical nesting habitat of greater sage-grouse.

<p>Cellulosans tillgänglighet och reaktivitet är nyckelparametrar vid framställning av regenererad cellulosa och cellulosaderivat. Det är välkänt att på grund av cellulosans kristallina struktur är tillgängligheten begränsad för lösningsmedel och olika reagens. Till exempel kan en inhomogen substitution av hydroxylgrupperna i cellulosakedjan resultera i cellulosaderivat av sämre kvalitet. Baserat på detta har en del av arbetet i denna studie fokuserat på att förbättra cellulosans tillgänglighet och reaktivitet genom att studera effekten av olika enzymatiska behandlingar med monokomponent endoglukanaser. Resultaten visar att närvaron av en cellulosabindande domän fyller en viktig funktion för att öka cellulosans reaktivitet, men strukturen för den katalytiska domänen visade sig ha den största inverkan på cellulosans tillgänglighet. I kompletterande studier har även effekten av en mekanisk förbehandling i kombination med enzymatisk behandling utvärderats. Kombinationen av förbehandlingarna resulterade i en positiv effekt, cellulosans reaktivitet kunde ökas i större omfattning.</p><p>I dag används huvudsakligen dissolvingmassor som råvara vid framställning av cellulosaregenerat och cellulosaderivat. Kraven för dessa s.k. specialmassor är högt cellulosainnehåll samt lågt hemicellulosa- respektive lignininnehåll. På grund av dessa specifika krav är produktionskostnaderna för dessa massor högre än konventionella sulfatmassor. Den andra delen av studien har därför fokuserat på möjligheten att använda dessa sulfatmassor som dissolvingmassa. Det har visats att kombinationen av enzymatiska behandlingar med monokomponent endoglukanas och xylanas följt av ett alkaliskt steg kan resultera i massor där kraven uppfylls med avseende på cellulosans reaktivitet, och cellulosa- respektive hemicellulosainnehåll.</p> / <p>The accessibility and reactivity of cellulose are key parameters on the manufacturing of cellulose derivatives and regenerated cellulose. It is well known that, due to the crystalline structure of cellulose, the accessibility of solvents and reagents is limited. For instance, an inhomogeneous substitution of the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose chain might lead to the production of derivatives of low quality. As a consequence, part of this work has focused on improving the accessibility and reactivity on cellulose by studying the effect of different monocomponent endoglucanases. It has been demonstrated that the presence of the cellulose-binding domain plays an important role on the enhancement of cellulose reactivity; however, the structure of the catalytic domain has been showed to have the highest influence on this parameter. Furthermore, the influence of mechanical treatment prior to enzymatic treatment has been examined. The combination of pretreatments showed a positive effect enhancing to a larger extent the cellulose reactivity.</p><p>Currently, dissolving-grade pulps are commonly used for the production of cellulose derivatives and regenerated cellulose. The requirements for these so-called “special pulps” are a high cellulose content and a low hemicelluloses and lignin content. As a result of these specific demands, the production costs of these pulps are higher than those of common kraft pulps. The second part of this work, therefore, has been focused on the study on the viability of converting kraft pulps into dissolving pulps. It has been demonstrated that the combination of enzymatic treatments using a monocomponent endoglucanase and a xylanase together with the addition of an alkaline step could fulfil the requirements of a commercial dissolving pulp in terms of cellulose reactivity and cellulose and hemicellulose content.</p>

The press hardening belongs to state-of-the-art technology at sheet metal forming to gain high strength and crash resistant parts in automotive industry. This process could establish due to its cost- and esourceefficiency. According to ongoing developments on direct press hardening processes it is necessary to describe and understand the thermo-mechanical treatment of 22MnB5. Therefore the flow behavior and phase transformation during cooling with simultaneous forming is investigated. The experimental process considers industrial parameters in order to get industry-oriented results. In deep drawing processes the sheet metal is roped into the draw die and bended around the die edge. Thereby sheets perform different stages of compressive and tensile strain at the die oriented side and the punch oriented side of the sheet. There are different stages and values of stress and strain according to several layers of the sheet over its cross-section. The values of stress, strain and forming rate were FEcalculated for industry-relevant bending radii and sheet thicknesses of manganese-boron steel 22MnB5. According to the calculations different cooling and forming strategies were performed by dilatometric tests. The forming behavior is described by the microstructural development with regard to the cooling rate and temperature. Beside the influence of austenite forming on the phase transformation and mechanical properties is considered. A prospective view is given to illustrate ongoing examinations under compressive and combined tensional and compressive forces.

Cellulosans tillgänglighet och reaktivitet är nyckelparametrar vid framställning av regenererad cellulosa och cellulosaderivat. Det är välkänt att på grund av cellulosans kristallina struktur är tillgängligheten begränsad för lösningsmedel och olika reagens. Till exempel kan en inhomogen substitution av hydroxylgrupperna i cellulosakedjan resultera i cellulosaderivat av sämre kvalitet. Baserat på detta har en del av arbetet i denna studie fokuserat på att förbättra cellulosans tillgänglighet och reaktivitet genom att studera effekten av olika enzymatiska behandlingar med monokomponent endoglukanaser. Resultaten visar att närvaron av en cellulosabindande domän fyller en viktig funktion för att öka cellulosans reaktivitet, men strukturen för den katalytiska domänen visade sig ha den största inverkan på cellulosans tillgänglighet. I kompletterande studier har även effekten av en mekanisk förbehandling i kombination med enzymatisk behandling utvärderats. Kombinationen av förbehandlingarna resulterade i en positiv effekt, cellulosans reaktivitet kunde ökas i större omfattning. I dag används huvudsakligen dissolvingmassor som råvara vid framställning av cellulosaregenerat och cellulosaderivat. Kraven för dessa s.k. specialmassor är högt cellulosainnehåll samt lågt hemicellulosa- respektive lignininnehåll. På grund av dessa specifika krav är produktionskostnaderna för dessa massor högre än konventionella sulfatmassor. Den andra delen av studien har därför fokuserat på möjligheten att använda dessa sulfatmassor som dissolvingmassa. Det har visats att kombinationen av enzymatiska behandlingar med monokomponent endoglukanas och xylanas följt av ett alkaliskt steg kan resultera i massor där kraven uppfylls med avseende på cellulosans reaktivitet, och cellulosa- respektive hemicellulosainnehåll. / The accessibility and reactivity of cellulose are key parameters on the manufacturing of cellulose derivatives and regenerated cellulose. It is well known that, due to the crystalline structure of cellulose, the accessibility of solvents and reagents is limited. For instance, an inhomogeneous substitution of the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose chain might lead to the production of derivatives of low quality. As a consequence, part of this work has focused on improving the accessibility and reactivity on cellulose by studying the effect of different monocomponent endoglucanases. It has been demonstrated that the presence of the cellulose-binding domain plays an important role on the enhancement of cellulose reactivity; however, the structure of the catalytic domain has been showed to have the highest influence on this parameter. Furthermore, the influence of mechanical treatment prior to enzymatic treatment has been examined. The combination of pretreatments showed a positive effect enhancing to a larger extent the cellulose reactivity. Currently, dissolving-grade pulps are commonly used for the production of cellulose derivatives and regenerated cellulose. The requirements for these so-called “special pulps” are a high cellulose content and a low hemicelluloses and lignin content. As a result of these specific demands, the production costs of these pulps are higher than those of common kraft pulps. The second part of this work, therefore, has been focused on the study on the viability of converting kraft pulps into dissolving pulps. It has been demonstrated that the combination of enzymatic treatments using a monocomponent endoglucanase and a xylanase together with the addition of an alkaline step could fulfil the requirements of a commercial dissolving pulp in terms of cellulose reactivity and cellulose and hemicellulose content. / QC 20101117

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is commonly used for determining how fast biological organisms use up oxygen in a body of water. It is one of the essential methods used in water quality management and assessment. BOD could be considered as a quality level indicator of biologically treated water. This process is very time-dependent but most common period of incubation is five days - BOD(5). In this thesis different periods of incubation are compared - for BOD(5) with five days incubation period and BOD(2+5) with five days incubation period but also placed for two days to lowered temperature environment. These comparative tests were made for different types of water (surface water, waste water - water from mechanical level and biological level of treatment) For all kinds of determination of BOD the dilution method was used (ČSN EN 1899).

The press hardening belongs to state-of-the-art technology at sheet metal forming to gain high strength and crash resistant parts in automotive industry. This process could establish due to its cost- and esourceefficiency. According to ongoing developments on direct press hardening processes it is necessary to describe and understand the thermo-mechanical treatment of 22MnB5. Therefore the flow behavior and phase transformation during cooling with simultaneous forming is investigated. The experimental process considers industrial parameters in order to get industry-oriented results. In deep drawing processes the sheet metal is roped into the draw die and bended around the die edge. Thereby sheets perform different stages of compressive and tensile strain at the die oriented side and the punch oriented side of the sheet. There are different stages and values of stress and strain according to several layers of the sheet over its cross-section. The values of stress, strain and forming rate were FEcalculated for industry-relevant bending radii and sheet thicknesses of manganese-boron steel 22MnB5. According to the calculations different cooling and forming strategies were performed by dilatometric tests. The forming behavior is described by the microstructural development with regard to the cooling rate and temperature. Beside the influence of austenite forming on the phase transformation and mechanical properties is considered. A prospective view is given to illustrate ongoing examinations under compressive and combined tensional and compressive forces.

No / Methods of recycling unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) window frame waste were investigated. The quality of untreated granular waste was compared to that of waste treated by a range of contaminant removal processes including melt filtration and dissolution. Processability of each recyclate was evaluated by using a highly instrumented single screw extruder that enabled melt viscosity and process variation to be monitored in real time. Product quality measurements such as mechanical properties and surface defects were made on extruded strip, and the nature of the stabilizers present was determined. The mechanical properties of recyclates were found to be comparable to or better than those of virgin material in all cases and conformed to industry standards for window profile. Contaminant removal stages significantly reduced the amount of large surface defects detected in extrudate. Processability was comparable to that of virgin compounds, but melt viscosity varied among different batches of recyclate, depending on the source and composition of the original PVC formulation.

Des travaux scientifiques récents ont ouvert de nouveaux champs d’application aux traitements mécaniques tels que le grenaillage. Il a été montré que de tels traitements, réalisés avant un traitement de nitruration à la surface d’alliage ferreux, permettaient d’abaisser les températures de traitement et d’augmenter significativement les cinétiques de diffusion. Nous avons entrepris de tester les performances de cette combinaison de traitements mécanique et thermochimique sur des aciers inoxydables et des alliages à base nickel austénitiques. Des essais ont été réalisés à partir d’une technique de grenaillage mécanique appelée « Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment » (SMAT). Des billes en métal ou en céramique sont introduites dans l’enceinte et mises en mouvement par la sonotrode. Les billes percutent et introduisent donc une déformation plastique à la surface des échantillons. Après cette étape, les échantillons subissent un traitement thermochimique de nitruration assisté plasma. La comparaison des résultats obtenus après nitruration sur des échantillons traités mécaniquement avec ceux n’ayant pas été pré-traités mécaniquement a permis de quantifier les effets des traitements combinés. Les analyses par diffraction des rayons X, les mesures de microdureté, les observations au microscope optique/électronique à balayage/électronique en transmission, les analyses de texture par EBSD (Electron BackScatered Diffraction) et la mesure des profils de concentration en azote par SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) et SDL (Spectroscopie à Décharge Luminescente) ont montré l’importance de la nature de la couche transformée mécaniquement sur la diffusion de l’azote / Recent scientific work has opened new fields of application to mechanical treatments such as shot blasting or peening. Indeed, it has been shown that this treatment, performed before a nitriding treatment on the surface of ferrous alloy, lowers processing temperatures and significantly increases the diffusion kinetics. We undertook to test this combination of mechanical and thermochemical treatments on stainless steels and nickel-based alloys. The mechanical treatments were done by Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment (SMAT). This method is implemented in a box where metal or ceramic balls were introduced and set in motion by an ultrasound system in order to impact the surface of the pieces. The treated samples were then nitrided at low temperature by using a remote plasma. The comparison of the results obtained after nitriding treatments on mechanically treated samples and those not mechanically treated allows quantifying the effects of the combined treatments. Analyses by X-ray diffraction, microhardness measurement, observations by optical and scanning and transmission electron microscopy, texture analysis by EBSD (Electron Diffraction BackScatered) and measurement of nitrogen concentration profiles by SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) show the importance of the nature of the deformed layer