Dairy cow production is an important livestock activity in the highlands of Madagascar and specifically in the Vakinankaratra region. Despite the increase of global milk production over the last decades, cow productivity remains low due to both quantity and quality feed constraints. Elephant grass and Italian ryegrass are the most cultivated forage grass, during the wet and warm season and the dry and cool season, respectively. An experiment under field conditions was carried out to evaluate the ability of the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to develop a tool for estimating biomass yields of Elephant grass and Italian ryegrass. Results showed moderate to strong but significant relationship between plant height and biomass yield (R² = 0.64 to 0.92), between NDVI and biomass yield (R² = 0.52 to 0.73) and between NDVI and plant height (R² = 0.61 to 0.74) of Elephant grass and Italian ryegrass, respectively. These results suggest that NDVI has potential to provide a tool for dynamic monitoring and management of pastureland forage production. (Résumé d'auteur)

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.

The aim of our study was to describe the histopathological and cytological characteristic of the cow endometrium on the seventh day of the oestrous cycle. In this study, 11 different breeds’ dairy cows (78.18 ± 37.46 months old, in 3.6 ± 2.17 lactation, the mean body condition score 3.4 ± 0.72 (5 points scale)) from Research and Study farm ‘Vecauce’ were selected. All cows were more than 210 days postpartum. Overall health and reproductive tract examination was performed, progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2) concentration in blood serum were established and the biopsy and cytology samples of endometrium were taken. Mean E2 concentration was 14.92 ± 7.92 pg mLE−1, mean P4 concentration was 13.64 ± 9.44 nmol LE−1. The mean percentage in the cytology slides was established: epithelial cells 89 ± 9%, polimorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) 6 ± 5%. Cytological subclinical endometritis (SE) was confirmed in 5 cows. Histopathological findings (out of 22 samples): endometrium stromal edema in 14, hemosiderin and hemosiderophages in 8, supranuclear vacuolization in 12, pseudodecidual reaction in 12 samples. No subnuclear vacuolization and mitosis in the glandular epithelium were detected. Histopathological examination did not reveal SE. Morphology between the uterine horns with and without corpus luteum (CL) and between cows with serum P4 level higher than 15 nmol LE−1 and lower than 15 nmol LE−1 were not statistically different (p is greater than 0.05). In conclusion, histopatological examination is more reliable diagnostic method for SE. Future investigation should be performed to establish cut-off values for the diagnosis of SE in cows more than 210 days postpartum.

Although the problem of ecosystem diversity loss is of a global nature, the measures to solve it must be implemented at the national level. As a member of the European Union, Lithuania needs to have a clear position regarding the application of proposed socio-economic measures. The problems of lake ecosystem utilisation analysed in the article are based on the scientific knowledge which complies with the specifics of regional natural environment. The aim of the article is to systematize scientific knowledge about modern lake ecosystem services by explaining the fundamental adaptation patterns of ecosystems and their components. The article provides a complex assessment of the services provided by lake ecosystems, reveals management problems related to optimization of the use of lake ecosystems, presents recommendations on the improvement of legislation related to lake ecosystem services, regulations for protected areas, management plans, etc.

This study is based on the authors’ research started in 2017 that resulted in the development of theoretical strategic and tactical models for the construction of a prototype for automated assessment of tourism economic impact in specific regions, including regions of national parks (NP), as well as for other studies. The aim of the research was testing the performance of the prototype in a research e-environment using the travellers’ survey data obtained in a study in 2019 on the national parks’ target groups (visitor behaviour) during the Gauja National Park (GNP) Travellers’ Days. The prototype was based on the open-source platform Drupal, MySQL used as a database management system (DMS). Drupal united with the Jupyter Notebook platform. The methodological substantiation of the test study is based on aspects of consumer behaviour. A quantitative study with details of qualitative research has been performed. Simple data sampling was used in the data acquisition, but in the analysis – induction, deduction approach, synthesis, data sorting and segmentation, determination of mean values and their expression in proportion; a comparative analysis was performed and conclusions characterizing the sample were made. After completing the prototype performance testing, the authors’ main findings indicate that the prototype’s performance efficiency in terms of time consumption is 23.3 times higher than equivalent work in MS Excel. The prototype has yielded quantitative results from the calculations, and that allows the formulation of the GNP’s Travellers’ Days visitor profile, which is characterized by a sample of the surveys.