A silica bricks is a refractory material which is used mainly in coke industry, glass industry and metallurgy. This material constitute of the quartz modifications. Compact silica is an irreplaceable part of the coke battery and its compactness and robustness is important for quality and long endurance. Very important for large compactness is a grain curve of work matter. This thesis deals with influence of different grain of work matter.

Aluminosilicate refractory grog are being manufactured by firing refractory clays, claystone and shale. Firing takes place mainly in rotary or blast furnaces. However, when adjusting the raw material before firing in blast furnaces, the formation of the fine clay particles takes place. It is not possible to fire the fine particles in blast furnaces the usual way, which leads to the generation of waste. There is a possibility, however, to form briquettes of these particles, which can be fired in blast furnaces. This solution also brings the possibility of adjusting the mixture by using correction raw materials or other types of clay. Using this method, it is possible to produce a special refractory grog with specific properties.

Abstract Climate change causes range expansions, but neither the population parameters nor the ecological mechanisms behind range expansions are well known. I studied population dynamics and demography of the great tit (Parus major) in northern Finland, close to the northern range margin of the species’ distribution. I further examined winter conditions, such as temperature, as limiting factors on winter site fidelity and survival of human-fed great tits. Temporal variation in the population growth rate was large, but indicated an overall increasing population size, which fits the current large scale increase in the north. Importantly, the study population was a sink (or pseudo-sink) in almost all years because of low adult survival and low local recruitment. Immigration formed 39–43% of the annual population growth rate indicating that the population is demographically dependent on immigration. The demography differs most from other great tit populations in terms of adult survival which is lower than estimates from more southern Europe. This difference may reflect the impact of more difficult winters. Results from the wintering population support this line of reasoning. Within-winter movement was lower during mid-winter (January to February) and decreased during cold periods. This pattern is probably linked to energy saving and predator escaping strategies during these demanding periods when energy expenditure is high and birds have limited daylight hours to forage. Site fidelity was lower for juveniles than adults within a winter, but not between winters. In addition, survival showed strong links to winter weather. There was temporal variation within winters, particularly when the winter was colder than usual. Survival of juveniles showed a stronger response to cold temperatures. When mean daily minimum temperatures declined below –15 C° degrees, survival started to decline. Low winter temperatures thus provide one explanation for the lower annual adult survival and the sink nature of the population. The results suggest that great tits suffer from the cold conditions of the north: higher mortality increases turnover allowing for strong immigration. Great tits should benefit from warming winters caused by climate change. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassani tutkin talitiaisen (Parus major) populaatiodynamiikkaa, talviaikaista paikkauskollisuutta ja säilyvyyttä levinneisyysalueen pohjoisreunan läheisessä populaatiossa Oulussa. Aikuissäilyvyys oli vuosittain hieman alhaisempi kuin lajin ydinalueella Länsi-Euroopassa. Tutkimusalueella syntyneistä poikasista vain pieni osa jäi pesimään tutkimusalueelle, mikä heijastaa voimistunutta lähtömuuttoa huonolaatuiselta alueelta. Ajallinen vaihtelu populaation kasvukertoimessa oli suurta, mutta keskiarvo osoittaa nykyisen populaation kasvavan. Havaitsemani populaation kasvu ei selity kasvulla aikuissäilyvyydessä tai paikallisessa rekrytoinnissa. Oletan, että populaatio on ollut tulomuuton ylläpitämä nielu (tai valenielu) lähes kaikkina tutkimusvuosina. Niinpä populaatio on demografisesti ja geneettisesti riippuvainen ydinalueesta, josta tuleva geenivirta aiheuttaa ongelmia paikallisiin olosuhteisiin sopeutumisessa. Tutkin sekä talvensisäistä että talvien välistä paikkauskollisuutta suhteessa ikään, sukupuoleen, vuodenaikaan, lämpötilaan ja päivän pituuteen. Talvensisäinen liikkuvuus oli vähäisintä keskitalvella erityisesti kylmien jaksojen aikana. Tämä ilmiö on luultavasti yhteydessä energiansäästöön ja saalistajien välttelyyn näiden vaativien jaksojen aikana, jolloin energiankulutus on suurta ja valoisa ruokailuaika on lyhyt. Nuorten talvensisäinen paikkauskollisuus oli huonompi kuin aikuisten, mutta sukupuolten välillä tässä ei ollut eroa. Sen sijaan talvien välisessä paikkauskollisuudessa ei ollut ryhmien välisiä eroja, mikä viittaa paikkauskollisuudesta olevan yhtäläiset hyödyt kaikille. Nuoret luultavasti keräävät tietoa resursseista ensimmäisenä talvenaan ja täten hankkivat samat edut kuin aikuiset palatessaan alueelle seuraavana talvena. Tutkin, onko talvella lintujen ruokintapaikkoja hyödyntävien talitiaisten säilyvyydessä ympäristötekijöistä, kuten lämpötilasta, johtuvaa vaihtelua. Talvisäilyvyys vaihteli paljon etenkin tavallista kylmempänä talvena. Nuoret kärsivät eniten kylmistä lämpötiloista. Kun keskilämpötila laski –15 C°:seen tai sen alapuolelle, säilyvyys alkoi heikentyä. Verrattuna kylmään talveen säilyvyys oli 1,5 kertaa todennäköisempää lauhan talven aikana. Talitiaiset näyttävät kärsivän pohjoisen kylmistä olosuhteista: korkea kuolleisuus lisää vaihtuvuutta ja geenivirtaa, kun alueelle kohdistuu voimakasta tulomuuttoa.

Twenty-four early to midlactation Holstein cows were allocated to one of three treatments. Treatments consisted of: 1) basal ration plus 60 g wheat bran per day per head (control); 2) basal ration plus 57 g yeast culture per day per head; 3) basal ration plus 57 g yeast culture plus 3 g Aspergillus oryzae per day per head. Feed intake and milk yield were recoreded daily and milk composition and body weights were recorded weekly. Feed and fecal samples were recorded weekly. Feed and fecal samples were collected to determine apparent nutrient digestibility. No statistical difference was observed in milk yield among treatments. Percent fat, protein, and solid non fat of milk samples for the control fed group was significantly higher than the other treatment groups. Apparent crude protein, acid detergent fiber, and neutral detergent fiber digestibilities for cows fed the fungal culture treatments were significantly higher. Six rumen-fistulated Holstein cows were randomly assigned to one of three treatments in a 3x3 replicated Latin square design. Rumen pH was significantly lower for cows fed treatment two. Total volatile fatty acid and ammonia nitrogen concentration were higher for cows fed treatment two. Three rumen-fistulated Holstein cows were assigned one of three treatments in a 3x3 Latin square design for an in situ study. Approximately 15 g of grass hay, low quality alfalfa, and high quality alfalfa were sealed in nylon bags and put into the rumen. Samples were analyzed for dry matter, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and crude protein. Regardless of substrate used, dry matter disappearance was lower for control. Regardless of treatment ration fed, high quality alfalfa as a substrate was significantly higher in dry matter disappearance.

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The American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the International Water Association (IWA) have designated the volume of water not registered by water meters as a form of "apparent loss" in a distribution system. The term apparent is given because this volume is not technically a water loss, as is the case of wasted water from real leaks in the distribution system. Large volumes of apparent losses hurt the revenue of utilities that rely on water metering to bill their customers. This is critical to utilities given that billed consumption is often the main source of income to provide adequate service. This form of apparent losses is a challenge to water management, particularly, in the case of significant drought because of the uncertainty about the real volume of water consumed. Although the impact of apparent losses from a single residential service connection is not as significant compared to an industrial meter with low accuracy, the cumulative effect of apparent losses across residential users can be very significant. Until the early 2000's water utilities in the U.S. relied on mechanical water meters to measure residential water use. Since then, electronic meters with higher accuracy at low flow rates have been developed. Data collection from meters has also evolved as well, from the manual reading by an operator, to drive-by systems and most recently to remote readings using a network of transmitters/receivers (i.e., advanced metering infrastructure or AMI). An expectation of this dissertation is that it will help water utilities to have a better idea of the volume of apparent losses due to metering inaccuracy (i.e., registration error) and provide insights into the effects of installing AMI systems to residential metered water (MW). To achieve this goal, two main objectives are fulfilled 1) to expand on the knowledge of registration error (RE) in mechanical nutating-disc (ND) meters used to monitor residential consumption, and 2) to evaluate the impact of metering infrastructure upgrades on the volume of metered water (MW) from residential service connections. This dissertation follows the manuscript format with three journal articles constituting the main chapters after a general introduction characterizing the issues in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is an experimental study that evaluates the influence of service time (ST) and volumetric throughput (TP) on the accuracy of ND meters within the recommended flow rates set by the U.S. water industry for meters with an internal diameter of ⅝-in. (15-mm). Over 300 meters removed from service were tested for accuracy. Key findings of this study are 1) ND meters that have been in service over 25 years have a greater likelihood of poor accuracy at the minimum recommended flow rate (Q^min) of 0.25 gallons per minute (gpm) (57 liters per hour (L/h)) and 0.5 gpm (114 L/h) independent of TP, and 2) comparison with data from accelerated laboratory testing showed that simulated use may not necessarily reflect the actual performance of ND meters in service, particularly, at 0.25 and 0.5 gpm. Chapter 3 is an experimental study that investigates REs of ND meters below the minimum recommended flow rate (Q^min = 0.25 gpm), particularly, at ½, ¼ and ⅛ of Q^min. Over 100 meters removed from service were tested in this study. Key findings of this study are 1) confirmed how performance decreases with reducing flow rate below Q^min, 2) of the variables considered, TP was found to be a better indicator of RE at Q_(1/8)^min up to an approximate meter reading of 0.66 MG (2.5 ML) compared to ST for 10 ≤ ST ≤ 24 years, with minimal influence at Q_(1/4)^min and none at Q_(1/2)^min, and 3) a strong linear relationship was found between RE at Q_(1/2)^min and RE at Q^min independent of TP or ST. Chapter 4 is a study that evaluates the extent to which the implementation of a new AMI system combined with a system-wide installation of new ND meters impacted the volume of MW from residential service connections of a 22,000-person municipality in southwest Virginia. Time-series analysis techniques were employed to evaluate changes in the trend of bimonthly MW and median daily MW over a six-year period. Key findings of this study are 1) the AMI system improved the accountability of MW for the utility, 2) despite an ongoing downward annual trend in MW, average bimonthly MW mildly increased after the AMI system was fully operational, and 3) annual MW increased by 2.2% in the 12-month period immediately following the metering infrastructure upgrade. / Doctor of Philosophy / An expectation of this dissertation is that it will help water utilities to have a better idea of the volume of water not being measured by residential water meters in their system (i.e., registration error) and provide insights into the effects of replacing water meters and installing automatic data collections systems (i.e., metering infrastructure upgrades) to improve accounting of water and revenue. To achieve these goals three studies were conducted. In the first two studies, over 400 nutating-disc (ND) water meters, a type of mechanical meter used to measure water, were removed from service and tested to evaluate the percent of water not measured at different ranges of flow (volume per time), and to determine if metering errors changed depending on the service time (ST) of the meter or total volume of water that had gone through (TP) it while in service. The third study consisted in the review of water consumption data from a municipality in southwest Virginia that underwent a metering infrastructure upgrade consisting of replacing all their water meters and installing an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system (i.e., automatic meter reading). Key findings discussed in this dissertation are 1) confirmed how performance of ND meters decreases with reducing flow rate below 0.25 gallons per minute (gpm). This is the minimum flow rate (Q^min) recommended by the U.S. water industry for accuracy testing of mechanical meters. 2) ND meters that have been in service over 25 years have a greater likelihood of poor accuracy at Q^min and 0.5 gpm independent of TP. 3) The relative influence of TP and ST on accuracy varied with the test flow rate. 4) Comparison with data from accelerated laboratory testing showed that simulated use may not necessarily reflect the actual performance of ND meters in service, particularly, at 0.25 and 0.5 gpm. 5) The AMI system improved the accountability of water for the utility. 6) Despite an ongoing downward annual trend in metered water (MW), average bimonthly MW mildly increased after the AMI system was fully operational. And 7) annual MW increased by 2.2% in the 12-month period immediately following the metering infrastructure upgrade.

Digital soil mapping (DSM) provides a cost-effective approach for characterizing the spatial variation in soil properties which contributes to inconsistent productivity. This study utilized Random Forest (RF) models to facilitate DSM of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa), estimated cation exchange capacity (CEC), and soil organic matter (SOM) in agricultural fields across the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The RF models were trained and tested using in situ collected ECa, CEC, and SOM data, paired with a bare soil composite of Landsat 9 imagery. Field data and imagery were collected during the study period of 2019 through 2023. Models ranged from fair to moderate in accuracy (R2 from 0.27 to 0.68). The contrasting performance between CEC/SOM and ECa models is likely due to the dynamic nature of soil properties. Accordingly, models could have benefitted from covariates such as soil moisture, topography, and climatic factors, or higher spectral resolution imagery, such as hyperspectral.