Dry seeds of peas (Pisum sativum L.) have long been used as a staple food and feed globally, and its nutritional, health and ecological benefits comply with growing demand for novel vegan foods intended for health and sustainability conscious individuals. The aim of this study was to review research findings and latest information on field pea usage as a functional ingredient in vegan foods. Monographic method was used to analyse field pea Pisum sativum L. usage as a diverse and multifunctional ingredient in vegan foods, covering latest available information on chemical composition of field pea and main food ingredients made from field pea, focusing on the varieties from which yellow split pea is produced; their impact on ready product’s nutrition, sensory properties and application in food industry. Major types of novel vegan foods containing field peas available on market were named. Pea protein, starch and fibre have demonstrated functional properties in different food systems, including – emulsification, oil-in-water system stabilisation, texture modification, binding, gelation, foaming, and solubility. It is functionally possible and nutritionally and ecologically desirable to develop novel vegan foods intended as animal product alternatives with acceptable sensory properties.

Sustainable development is playing an increasingly important role in today’s society, and it is essential for companies seeking to meet the needs of the market to pay increasing attention to the application of sustainable development principles in their operations. The enterprise logistics system is one of the essential activities ensuring the company’s competitiveness, which ensures timely production and quality of customer service. However, in order to integrate the principles of sustainable development into the company’s logistics system, it is necessary to develop a model that identifies the impact of sustainability on each factor of the logistics system. The paper analyses the impact of sustainable development on distribution logistics to determine which activities in distribution logistics are most responsive to sustainable development and can help determine the level of corporate sustainability. The main purpose of the model, presented in the paper, is to help the business sector integrate sustainable development principles effectively in distribution logistics, taking into account the significance of on-going factors in the system for sustainability.

Soil and groundwater as the leachate may contaminate surrounding watersheds, thus different pollutants from closed dumps and landfills pose significant risks to human health and ecology. Pollution may lead to soil and water degradation however it might be diminished through sustainable dump site closure projects and processual management. Several decades of clays and clay minerals studies lead to modified clay composites concept that is one of the potential promising solutions for building the landfill covering material and serve as capping biocover layer at the same time. As humic substances are constituents of soil organic matter, pollutants can be sorbed on the surfaces of complex molecules. These kind of humic acid-clay mineral composite materials thus might become as low cost building material component − covering material. Construction of such layer is to be performed as a combination of clay-humic composites and landfill mined fine fraction of waste with small amendment of natural soil. Several hypotheses that are already proven has to be mentioned: a) Clay minerals produce composites with humic substances; 2) Clay-humic complexes reduce through sorption both organic and inorganic pollutants; 3) Low risk of toxic by-products from landfill mined waste fine fraction can be the problem; 4) Such composites mostly would trap toxic contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals) found in reworked fine fraction of waste. The aim of the work is to provide alternative solution for landfill closure by giving theoretical considerations from multidisciplinary knowledge of environmental engineering, chemistry and waste management.

A survey of 8985 records on all fires in Latvia in 2019 gathered by State Fire and Rescue Service was performed to find out if gathered data is suitable and complete for establishment of statistical database for fire protection engineering. The purpose of the survey is to assess suitability of provided content for further studies of the characteristic building fire occurrence probabilities in different building occupancy classes and to obtain solid background for calculations of national values of fire activation partial safety factors which could be implemented in National Annex of Eurocode 1 part 1–2. Study contains data about the total number of building fires with relevance to their occupancy types and review of recorded fire causes for residential buildings that provide overall insight on typical causes of fires in dwellings.

Small rivers are important in terms of water quantity and quality as these rivers collect and deliver water to medium and large rivers downstream. Due to low water flow and high connectivity to adjacent land, small rivers are highly vulnerable to changes caused by natural and anthropogenic factors. This paper aims to assess the chemical and ecological quality of two small rivers including the Slocene and Age as related to dominant land use cover in the contributing area of these water bodies. The effects of land-use patterns and concentrations of chemical substances TN, NO3**- -N, NH4**+ -N, TP and PO4**2- -P in river waters will be determined. The highest concentration of total nitrogen (TN) as measured in the Slocene River was 21 mg LE−1 in spring, while the lowest concentration of TN was 0.86 mg LE−1 in autumn. The highest concentration of total phosphorus (TP) in the Slocene River was 0.14 mg LE−1 in late summer, the lowest was 0.03 mg LE−1 in late autumn. Similarly, in the Age River, the highest concentration of TN was 4.90 mg LE−1 in spring, while TN the lowest concentration of TN was 0.51 mg LE−1 in late autumn. The highest concentration of TP in the Age River was 0.3 mg LE−1 in summer, while the lowest 0.05 mg LE−1 in autumn.

The objective of precision beekeeping is to minimize resource consumption and maximize productivity of bees. This is achieved by detecting and predicting beehive states by monitoring apiary and beehive related parameters like temperature, weight, humidity, noise, vibrations, air pollution, wind, precipitation, etc. These parameters are collected as a raw input data by use of multiple different sensory devices, and are often imperfect and require creation of correlation between time data series. Currently, most researches focus on monitoring and processing each parameter separately, whereas combination of multiple parameters produces information that is more sophisticated. Raw input data sets that complement one another could be pre-processed by applying data fusion methods to achieve understanding about global research subject. There are multiple data fusion methods and classification models, distinguished by raw input data type or device usage, whereas sensor related data fusion is called sensor fusion. This paper analyses existing data fusion methods and process in order to identify data fusion challenges and correlate them with precision beekeeping objectives. The research was conducted over a period of 5 months, starting from October, 2019 and was based on analysis and synthesis of scientific literature. The conclusion was made that requirement of data fusion appliance in precision beekeeping is determined by a global research objective, whereas input data introduces main challenges of data and sensor fusion, as its attributes correlate with potential result.

The aim of the study is to determine how successful the initial growth of naturally grown and planted pines is after performing the shelterwood cutting. The research includes tree count and height analysis in Myrtillosa and Hylocomiosa forest types with different regeneration methods in 2018. A total of 10 sites were arranged for the research, each site having 4 sample plots. All naturally regenerated and planted pine (2009, 2012 and 2013) heights were measured. Judging by the number of trees after shelterwood cutting, most sites should not be considered regenerated, additional planting or scarification of soil is required which can improve the efficiency of natural regeneration. In all the sites both in Myrtillosa and Hylocomiosa, after shelterwood cutting it was observed that the height of artificially regenerated trees is higher than the height of naturally regenerated trees, indicating the ability of planted pines to produce more rapid height increment in the first years of life, regardless of forest type. The basal area of the stand has a significant negative impact on the increment, and it indicates the need for the subsequent shelterwood cut to be performed. Although Hylocomiosa is a more fertile forest type than Myrtillosa, the height of the planted pine trees in Myrtillosa is higher than in Hylocomiosa, where, after shelterwood cutting, no sufficiently intensive agro-technical tending has been performed.

Plantation willows are commonly grown plants which are widely used for energetic purposes that does not correspond completely to its potential. To fully integrate this resource into biorefinery scheme, it is necessary to study optimal conditions of willow bark processing, aimed for separation of bark components, their comprehensive characterization and profitable practical application. Extraction of secondary metabolites is well known approach for bark processing. But the separation of the main cell wall components including lignin from the residual biomass is less studied. In this work plantation residual willow bark after extractives separation by two different solvents (acetone and ethanolwater) was used as a feedstock for Organosolv delignification. Effect of temperature and catalyst used on the yield and properties of lignin isolated from residual bark by ethanol-water treatment was studied. It was possible to obtain pure lignin with high yields (up to 41%) that has the potential to be used for bio-plastic producing. Insoluble residue after delignification was carbohydrate rich (up to 80%) feedstock allowing its practical use for bioethanol producing.

Free radicals can rapidly and irreversibly oxidize various structures, including unsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oils, which affect the sensory properties. Spectrophotometry is the most widely used method for the determination of free radical scavenging activity (RSA) using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Barrier to the further use of classical analytical methods to analyse biologically active compounds in foodstuffs is that equipment requires high cost and has limited mobility. One of solutions is to replace classical methods, such as spectroscopy, with smartphonebased colorimetry. Huawei P30 Lite smartphone was used for colorimetric detection. The free radical scavenging activity (RSA) in vegetable oil was detected using an application ‘Color Picker’, with image matching algorithm for red, green, and blue (RGB) model. RSA was expressed as percentage and measured by the DPPH method. The aim of the study was to determinate the total free radical scavenging activity with smartphone-based colorimetry. For the data comparison and accuracy spectrophotometer as analytical optical instrument was used. Eleven vegetable oils: sea buckthorn, sunflower, rice, macadamia nut, hemp, corn, grape, linseed, rapeseed, olive and milk thistle oils were selected for analysis. The best results with no significant differences (p is greater than 0.05) compared to smartphone-based colorimetry from spectrophotometry were determined using RG values. The poor results were detected by using B value (p is less than 0.05) and were not suitable for determination of RSA. Smartphone-based colorimetry can be used in the determination of the RSA in vegetable oils.

Smoked sprats (Sprattus sprattus balticus) from the Baltic Sea are one of the most popular processed fish products in Latvia. The amount of catching and demand is annually increasing. For producers, it is important to provide stable quality throughout the year, which sometimes is challenging due to many factors. Smoked fish quality depends not only on the seasonality, but also on the applied technologies. The aim of the current study was to review research findings about factors affecting the smoked fish quality. The databases of Science Direct, Web of Science, Wiley Online Journals and Google Scholar were searched. The first parameter that affects quality of fish till processing is raw material, its catching place and season, as well as whether it is fresh or frozen fish, that includes not only microbiological parameters, but also physical and chemical changes in fish depending on the storage conditions. The second parameter is the applied pre-treatment methods (using salt, acids) before processing, which can improve fish texture and make better result for smoked fish. The third parameter is the used technology for the fish processing, heat treatment methods use of wood chips or liquid smoke, or adjustment of smoking conditions. These all together make a lot of sensorial and textural changes in the final product. If any of these parameters is changed during processing, they can affect the smoked fish quality. Therefore, to ensure constant quality of smoked fish, in-depth knowledge of parameters is extremely important.