Tan spot is an economically important disease of wheat in Latvia, but there is still insufficient information about its causal agent’s Pyrenophora tritici-repentis diversity in Latvia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the disease phenotype in the field and the possible presence of necrotrophic effectors Ptr ToxA, Ptr ToxB and Ptr ToxC in the P. tritici-repentis population in Latvia. Typical differential wheat lines ‘Glenlea’, ‘6B662’, ‘6B365’ and ‘Salamouni’ were evaluated under the field conditions in 2023 in the central part of Latvia. The highest tan spot severity was observed during the flowering stage with no significant difference between wheat genotypes. During the experiment, the typical disease phenotypes corresponding to all three known effectors were noted. Additionally, typical tan spot symptoms were determined on the resistant cultivar ‘Salamouni’, confirming the presence of new, currently uncharacterised effectors that are not compatible with the existing race model. Future studies should focus on searching for new effectors and further characterising known necrotrophic effectors, as knowledge about P. tritici-repentis and wheat interaction is still incomplete.

Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) is a minor but prospective fruit crop due to the value of fruits and suitability for processing. Research aimed to clarify the incidence of quince leaf and fruit diseases depending on the year and plantation and determine the critical periods of diseases. The study was conducted from 2017 to 2019 in eight commercial Japanese quince plantations across different regions of Latvia. The incidence (%) of leaf and fruit spots and fruit rot was assessed several times during vegetation period. Considerable rot development was observed in only the first year of the study. The incidence of fruit rot in the middle of 2017 ranged from 0.7 to 11.7% depending on the plantation, while in 2018–2019 did not exceed 2% in any of the plantations. The critical period of fruit rot development was determined in the middle of fruit development and time closer to ripeness. Development of fruit spots increased closer to ripeness. In 2017, the incidence of fruit spots fluctuated from 0.7 to 44.0%, in 2018 – 7.7 to 46.0%, and in 2019 – 0.7 to 24.0%, depending on the plantation. The incidence of leaf spots reached high levels at the end of the vegetation periods (21–100% depending on year and plantation). The most critical periods of leaf spot development were the end of fruit development and full ripening of fruits. Determination of the critical periods of quince disease development could be used to create an effective and environmentally friendly disease control system.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is an aromatic herb with a multitude of uses. It is both a seasoning in various dishes, and a natural remedy for several diseases mainly due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. Plus, it is also used in cosmetic industry and for improving agriculture practices and helping the environment, since it may be a natural antimicrobial. It is worth noting that this plant is also grown and commercialized in Uzbekistan, thus, if added value is given to rosemary’s products, it has potential for improving living conditions and helping in the economy of local farmers and entrepreneurs. In this work, we discuss a technique for obtaining rosemary essential oil, rich in terpenes, by vacuum assisted hydrodistillation. This is a solventless environmentally friendly and safe technique that allows the obtention of an added value rosemary product where terpenes, compounds responsible for most of rosemary’s properties, are the most abundant. Two samples of locally acquired rosemary were sourced, essential oil was extracted, and characterization was then performed by Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) and Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). As a comparison, a direct injection of a dilution of one of the essential oil samples was also performed. It was concluded that samples of essential oil obtained from both sources were entirely composed of terpenes or terpene derivatives. Besides, SPME was a superior method when compared to direct injection, since a larger number of volatiles was able to be identified.

Galactomannans, composed of galactose and mannose, may form gels and are considered safe because of their non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible nature. As a result, they are widely utilized in the food industry as stabilizers and thickeners. Among galactomannan producing species, guar gum and locust bean gum are particularly important due to their economical relevance. Guar gum and locust bean gum are often adulterated with cellulose gums like xanthan gum and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Adulteration of galactomannans with other gums may introduce uncertainties regarding functionality and complicate quality control, posing a potential problem for the food industry. Among the different techniques which have been used for determining and characterizing galactomannans, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy stands out. Especially when coupled to Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR), analyses are performed rapidly, with a minimum sample preparation, and without the need for solvent or previous extraction mechanisms. However, food is a very complex matrix that contains a high number of components which generate a multitude of spectral information and large data sets. Consequently, additional data processing tools such as chemometrics are needed to be able to draw useful information from spectra. Our goal in this work is to show how to optimize conditions for instrumental analysis by infrared spectroscopy of galactomannans and its constituent monomers and create a chemometric model where galactomannans could be differentiated as a single group. We successfully optimized the PCA model obtained after chemometric processing of infrared data through reducing dimensions by loadings selection.

Melon seeds have been recognized as a nutritional powerhouse, offering a range of essential vitamins and fatty acids that play a critical role in maintaining and enhancing our health. This study aims to analyse the fatty acid profile and water-soluble vitamins in melon seeds in order to highlight the importance of incorporating melon seeds into our diets, not only as a source of nutrients but also as a means of promoting overall health and well-being. It delves into the rich nutritional profile of melon seeds, underscoring their valuable contribution to a balanced diet. Water soluble vitamins C, PP and B1 were detected in melon seeds in this study. Regarding fatty acid profile, PUFA C18:2 was the most abundant (35.31%), followed by MUFA C18:1 (25.83%), although other unsaturated and saturated fatty acids were also determined. This comprehensive analysis of melon seeds’ nutritional benefits encourages further exploration of their potential in enhancing diet quality and supporting long-term health objectives.

Private pension plans envisage a voluntary choice of a person to make additional savings for the retirement by joining a private pension plan and making contributions. In 2023, six open private pension funds offered twenty pension plans. Private pension funds provide three types of investment strategies: conservative, balanced and active ones. The research aim is to assess the performance of the private pension plans in Latvia. The research is based on the analysis of the statistical data on the return of assets and other performance indicators of private pension plans as well as it employs the correlation and regression analyses. The data analysis shows a steady increase (annually 6.24% on average) in the population participation in private pension plans. Active plan participants account for 51.42% on average, while the proportion of deferred participants is also large, i.e. 30.40% on average. Short-term returns of private pension plans are very fluctuating with expressive increases and decreases where the active pension plans demonstrated the most unstable return trends. The sharpest return decline was observed in 2022, when the arithmetic total average return of all private pension plans was – 14.63%. The basic reasons mentioned are the changes in investment portfolio, global downturn of stock markets and sharp growth of inflation. Long-term returns show a positive growth through the entire period analysed, i.e. 4.16% on average. This means that a short-term decline of returns does not signal of future decrease in the amount of pension, since contributions to pension plans are considered to be a long-term investment.

Recent developments in politics and economy has created additional challenges for medical institutions with lack of medical personnel, transportation from rural areas to medical institutions. Very often, there is a difference between medical services in urban and rural areas. In research is often mentioned that male and female persons have different evaluations on their health situation. The aim of the paper is to prepare research based recommendations for possible steps for public administrators to support availability of medical services in urban and rural areas. Tasks of the current research: analysis of theoretical findings reflected in scientific publications and discussion of research results, analysis of tendencies of self-perceived health status of population in Latvia, analysis on possible differences between gender as in scientific publications is often mentioned that female and male persons have different evaluations, analysis of health self-evaluations between inhabitants in rural and urban territories and possible differences in evaluations for persons with different employment status. Representative data from EUSILC, different statistical analysis methods and statistical indicators are used: indicators of descriptive statistics, crosstabulations, testing of statistical hypotheses with t-test and analysis of variance – ANOVA, chi-square test, as well as correlation analysis. Research results confirm that self-perceived health status in Latvia are higher in rural areas and higher health self-esteem evaluations were made by female persons.

Employment is a crucial indicator of economic development and growth, making employment policy a key component of national and regional socio-economic strategies. Self-employment is a significant form of employment widely practiced in Latvia and other EU Member States as a means to initiate businesses and integrate into the labour market. As of 2022, about 27.66 million self-employed individuals, constituting roughly 14% of the EU workforce, contribute to the European economy. Modern work dynamics allow individuals to earn income as employees or self-employed, with flexible employment forms, including self-employment, gaining popularity due to several advantages. These advantages include increased flexibility, personal independence, opportunities to join or stay in the labour market, and the potential to earn additional income alongside a primary job. However, self-employment also has its drawbacks. It can be exploited to evade taxes and bypass labour laws, leading to ʻfalse self-employmentʼ. While this may appear advantageous for the self-employed, it primarily benefits employers by reducing their costs. This practice can severely limit the self-employedʼs access to social protection and adversely impact their quality of life and financial stability in situations of social risk, such as illness, disability, or retirement. Self-employment involves various economic, psychological, sociological, and managerial dimensions and entails considerable risk. Global trends indicate that individuals in lower-income countries are more likely to be self-employed, whereas those in higher-income countries tend to have paid employment.

In the world, hydrological models are often used in the modelling of ecological components. In the context of the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal, it is necessary to develop GHG emission modelling capabilities. The development and refinement of the conceptual model METQ is necessary not only for the quantitative analysis of flow, but in addition to its refinement, it is possible to conduct interdisciplinary research in the subfield of ecohydrology, which studies the interaction of water and ecosystems, and in environmental engineering, which addresses the issues of reducing diffuse pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, technology implementation issues, where water content in the soil and groundwater fluctuations play one of the main roles, for example, in the processes of the formation of nitrous oxide emissions. This paper examines potential GHG emission calculation algorithms used to successfully model GHG emissions from soils, with a particular focus on agricultural soils, which contribute one of the largest amounts of GHG emissions in national emission reports for the agricultural sector. Available algorithms for nitrous oxide nitrification calculations are reviewed and possible algorithms that can be used for modelling emissions from soils and integrated into the conceptual hydrological model METQ are discussed. The developed conceptual solutions for modelling GHG emissions from soils will develop a modelling tool that will be used to estimate the volumes of GHG emissions and evaluate the effectiveness of various GHG emission reduction measures, as well as to perform a complex assessment of the soil GHG balance.

Sustainability, green growth and the European Green Deal principles are the cornerstones that should and will affect our lives. The aim of the paper is to provide possible improvements to higher education programmes to promote the implementation of the European Green Deal as a factor for changes in business. The research is based on investigations into the entrepreneurship students’ knowledge of the European Green Deal. A theoretical analysis of literature and policy documents were investigated to develop an appropriate questionnaire for the survey of Latvian university students. The research methods involve measures of central tendency and location, T-test, ANOVA and correlation analysis. The research results indicate that business curricula involve courses on Sustainable Development and universitiesʼ role in teaching the Green Deal because the students who hold experience in entrepreneurship report similar results if compared with students without experience in entrepreneurship. Students’ knowledge of the European Green Deal should be improved since there are a number of aspects where the answers were not correct. This, in turn, prompts the need to strengthen and diversify education, so that business transformation towards the Green Deal is successful. The curricula should be further improved, as it allows students to better understand EU and global trends in saving the planet and put the knowledge into practice in their companies.