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Gerbera has gained popularity in the past few years in many countries of the world and it is in great demand in the floral industry as cut flower as well as potted plant due to its beauty, colour, long vase life, and ability to rehydrate after long transportation. The most commercial cultivars are propagated through vegetative means by multiplication through divisions of clumps; however, the multiplication by this method is too slow to be commercially viable. To commercialize this crop and to meet the growing demand for planting material, tissue and organ culture techniques are being used as alternative methods for propagation in many countries. Most of the work has been carried on plant regeneration by adventitious organogenesis from capitulum, shoot tip, leaf, petiole and other parts of the plant. Attention should be paid to improve the technology to achieve 100% success in all species/cultivars to meet growing demands of the growers globally. From the literature, it is evident that gerberas are highly amenable to in vitro studies, as various explants were found to favourably respond to different culture media with different types and concentrations of growth regulators.

Dark discolorations of the vascular vessels of 3-year-old potted plants of Asturian grapevine cultivar (Northern Spain), were observed during pruning. These symptoms can be associated to fungal trunk diseases that, in the last decades, are affecting young vineyards all over the world. Cross sections from root, trunk and canes of 19 young grapevine plants were analyzed for the presence of pathogenic fungi associated with these diseases. Non-pathogenic fungi were isolated from both asymptomatic and symptomatic samples, showing that dark discolorations, in some cases, were a consequence of abiotic causes. Regarding pathogenic fungi, Cylindrocarpon spp. colonies were the most frequent, isolated mainly from roots and from asymptomatic tissue. Botryosphaeria spp. colonies were mostly isolated from trunk and from sections with dark discolorations generated by pruning. Phaeoacremonium spp. was isolated from all the organs (roots, trunk and canes). Only one colony of Libertella spp. was isolated. These results suggest the need of a standard protocol, combining treatments and management activities, to be performed in nurseries to limit the spread of these diseases.

A few individuals of Grayish oak have been observed in the Low Murgia Plateau, Puglia Region. This is the first time that Quercus pedunculiflora C. Koch has been found in Italy. The territory is dominated by olive trees, where spontaneous vegetation occurs only in residual patches in particular along an important old dry erosion stream, Lama Lamasinata. Individuals of Grayish oak are located along a rural road and in a closed abandoned park which is in the vicinity of Lama Lamasinata, near Balsignano, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Low Murgia Plateau. In the area other deciduous oaks such as Italian pubescent oak, the most common spontaneous oak in the western district of the Murgia Plateau, and Hungarian oak, which is very rare in the Low Murgia Plateau, have been observed.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for the determination of silicon in beer samples from the Czech market and in brewing raw materials and semiproducts. The content of silicon in barley malt depended on the barley variety and growing region. The goal was to establish silicon concentration in Czech beer and to find out which processes are the most significant in terms of silicon concentration in beer. The silicon concentration in Czech beer ranged from 16 mg/l to 113 mg/l depending especially on two factors. Firstly, the silicon content in beer increased as the original wort concentration and increased secondly, during decoction mashing, silicon from malt was leached to a much greater extent than in the case of infusion mashing.

This study attempts to use the analytical hierarchy process to choose the most appropriate earthwork machine for slope classes of 30-50% and 50-70%. Required data were collected by pairwise comparison as questionnaires filled by experts of forest engineering. Results showed that cross-sections and grade line (Technical criteria), soil excavation and displacement (Environmental criteria), production rate and multi-application (Operational criteria), production cost (Economic criteria) with the respective weights of 0.345, 0.345, 0.136, 0.058, 0.058 and 0.058 were the most important criteria for choosing the earthwork machines in the slope class of 30-50%. These coefficients for the slope class of 50-70% were 0.329, 0.329, 0.174, 0.056, 0.056 and 0.056, respectively. Overall priority of bulldozer in slope classes of 30-50% and 50-70% was 0.51 and 0.48, respectively. Therefore, in slope class of 30-50% bulldozer and in slope class of 50-70% hydraulic excavator must be selected for earthwork operation.

Although a positive correlation between aneuploidy and maternal age was first reported almost a century ago, the underlying mechanisms remain mostly unknown. Different hypotheses regarding age-related aneuploidy rise have been presented, but so far none of them can explain its full mechanism. Age-related aneuploidy is more likely to result from complex events taking place during the entire period of germ cell development, than from the failure of one particular mechanism. Recent findings confirm that the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) does not control and correct kinetochore-microtubule attachments in oocytes, enabling further propagation of aneuploidy, which has occurred in the earlier phases of oogenesis. In this review we will discuss the following hypotheses: the "limited oocyte pool" hypothesis, the "two hits" hypothesis, weakened centromeric cohesion and cohesin loss, different functions of the spindle assembly checkpoint and finally, changes in global gene expression.

Most of the vegetable crops are known to depend upon arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AM) symbiosis for growth and development, since AM fungi provide nutrients and water in exchange for photosynthates. The influences of AM fungi (Glomus intraradices (G) and Acaulospora laevis (A)) with Trichoderma viride (T) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (P) alone and in combinations on growth, mycorrhization, chlorophyll content, nutrient uptakes, and yield of broccoli plants were studied in pot culture under glasshouse conditions. The obtained results demonstrated that the single inoculation of broccoli plants with T. viride significantly increased the above ground fresh weight, root length, chlorophyll b, head diameter, root phosphorus, and shoot nitrogen in comparison to uninoculated control plants. On the other hand, consortium of G+A+T+P significantly increased plant height, above ground dry weight, root fresh weight, chlorophyll a, head fresh weight, and root nitrogen content. Similarly, G+T showed maximum leaf area, and P alone showed maximum uptake of shoot phosphorus. Whereas when P was supplied along with T, early flowering was recorded. AM fungal colonisation was negligible and only root tips were found infected in G or A treated plants which confirms low dependency of broccoli on AM fungi.

In this case report, a diagnosis of pericardial mesothelioma in a four year old male German shepherd dog is described. The dog, which had anorexia, bloody diarrhoea, dehydration and depression and, died on day 10 of therapy, was systematically necropsied. At necropsy, approximately 1.5 litres of cloudy and bloody exudate were detected in the thoracic cavity. The parietal lamina of the pericardium was covered with multilobular nodular masses related with each other, 1 to 5 cm in diameter and grey-yellow in colour. There were proliferations characterised with grey-yellow colour and approximately 1 to 5 mm in length on visceral pleura. The presence of abscess foci with liquefied-centrum was observed when examining a section surface of the lung. The appearance of the oesophageal serosa, thoracic aorta and the thoracic section of the diaphragm were similar to pleura. A thickening was microscopically determined in the parietal lamina of the pleura and pericardium due to papillary proliferations consisting of cells similar to cubic or cylindrical epithelium. Severe lymphocyte and plasma cell infiltrations were observed in the pleural sections next to the lung. Neoplastic cells had nuclei with large eosinophilic granular cytoplasms and large vesicular and single nucleoli. Some neoplastic cells were determined to include intracytoplasmic vacuoles. The neoplastic cells contained some mitotic figures. It was observed that some tumour cells contributed to giant cell formation through integration. In periodic acid Schiff-haematoxylin (PAS-H) examinations it was determined that the pleural basal membrane maintained its integrity. Immunohistochemically, the tumour gave a weak positive reaction with anti-pancytokeratin staining while giving intense reaction with anti-vimentin staining.

The upper values of the extractability of trace elements (As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in 2 mol/L HNO₃ and 0.025 mol/L ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (compared with their pseudototal content in aqua regia) for determination of prevailing anthropogenic and geogenic soil load were proposed and compared with the results of the other 30 Fluvisol samples collected from the Labe fluvial zone. The increased geogenic load of Fluvisols was confirmed in the case of Be and As in some localities where low extractability with increased pseudototal contents were detected as opposed to the other elements when their increased pseudototal contents were followed by their increased extractability. The maps of probability of increased geogenic soil load in the area of the Czech Republic based on the comparison of geological substrates and trace element load were constructed. The combination of proposed elements extractability values for geogenic load together with developed maps is a suitable tool for the definition of prevailing Fluvisol or sediment load on some localities in the whole area of the Czech Republic. The results can be also a useful tool in the decision making processes regarding dredged sediment application on agricultural soil (support tool for legislative norms, Direction No. 257/2009 Sb.).

Influence of CULTAN system (controlled uptake long term ammonium nutrition) on the nitrogen uptake by spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was observed at 5-year small-plot field experiments under conditions of the Czech Republic (central Europe). Nitrogen uptake by CULTAN-fertilized plants was more even during vegetation period probably due to delayed term of fertilizer application. Nitrogen concentration in the aboveground biomass at BBCH 51 and in straw had no effect on grain yield. Post-heading nitrogen uptake as well as contribution of nitrogen translocation to total nitrogen in grain did not differ among both nitrogen fertilization treatments. Increase in grain size of spring barley by the CULTAN system can be explained by tendency to lower number of ears per area rather than by prolonged nitrogen uptake from soil. Lower protein content in grain of CULTAN-fertilized spring barley can be caused by increase in grain retained on a 2.5 mm sieve and also decrease in total nitrogen concentration in above-ground biomass at BBCH 51. No significant effect of CULTAN treatment on nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency was recorded. Significantly higher nitrogen utilization efficiency at CULTAN treatment could be explained by lower grain protein content compared to conventional treatment.

Experiments were done on Morama beans (Tylosema esculentum) using macadamia nut crackers. Results and subsequent design work done thereafter showed that the cracking of the beans, their alignment during cracking and separation of kernels from shells presented peculiar challenges unresolvable by conventional processes.

The feasibility of metabolomic fingerprinting approach based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOFMS) was studied to assess its ability to discriminate between maize varieties, and to show the associations between them on the metabolomic level. The non-targeted metabolomic analysis was applied to assess the variability within two varieties grown under different environmental conditions and to characterise the association within a sample set comprising both conventional and transgenic (MON-ØØ81Ø-6) maize varieties cultivated under the same environmental conditions (locality). Typical metabolomic fingerprints were established for individual plants. The plants representing two varieties formed well separated clusters. Metabolomic fingerprints of the second sample set enabled their unambiguous discrimination. The differences in metabolomic fingerprints between maize varieties were identified and documented by grouping in PCA and/or CA. The results indicate a similar genetic basis of transgenic maize varieties as they descend from a MON 810 event. The results explicitly showed that the variability of the metabolites in MON 810 did not exceed the ranges measured within the conventional varieties, thus supporting the concept of substantial equivalence.

Avian tuberculosis (ATBC) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in birds in zoos and breeding establishments. The primary sources of Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium (MAA) of serotypes 1, 2 and 3 are infected animals (esp. birds), who shed MAA in different ways and thus contaminate the environment. The first aim of this work was to compare the efficiency of the diagnostic methods that are routinely used for the diagnosis of ATBC (skin test, serology and culture of faeces and eggs) in naturally infected hens with different levels of infection. The second aim was to determine the excretion rate of MAA in faeces and eggs. The tuberculin skin test gave a positive result in nine (42.9%) infected hens of which four (57.1%) and one (14.3%) were heavily and slightly infected hens, respectively. A positive serological response to MAA-b antigen (water bird isolate of serotype 1) was observed in five (23.8%) and to MAA-p antigen (pig isolate serotype 2) in seven (33.3%) hens. No correlation between serological and skin-test data was found. The results show that both techniques, serological and skin-test data are inadequate for the diagnosis of ATBC. In consecutively euthanized hens, with heavy infection and tuberculous lesions, serological positivity was significant (P < 0.05) in comparison with slightly infected hens lacking tuberculous lesions. Faecal culture detected MAA in 50 (29.8%) of 168 samples collected for eight days before euthanasia. MAA excretion in faeces was intermittent, but significantly (P < 0.01) higher in heavily infected hens. No mycobacteria were detected in any of the 43 examined eggs, which implies that the shedding of MAAand/or transmission of ATBC through eggs may not be frequent events.

Mulberry (Morus L.) is an economically important tree being cultivated for its leaves to rear the silkworm Bombyx mori. Rearing of silkworm is an art and science popularly known as sericulture; an agrobased cottage industry provides employment to millions in China, India, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Mulberry is a perennial tree that maintains high heterozygosity due to the outbreeding reproductive system. It is recalcitrant to most of the conventional breeding methods, yet considerable improvement has been made in leaf yield and leaf quality. Conventional breeding in mulberry is a tedious, labour intensive and time taking process, which needs to be complemented with modern biotechnological methods to speed up the process. This article enumerates the problems, challenges, constraints and achievements in mulberry breeding along with recent advances in biotechnology and molecular biology to enable mulberry breeders to tackle specific problems more systematically and effectively.

We used the random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) technique to discriminate the major emerging poultry pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), in broiler and chukar partridge cases referred to the veterinary medicine teaching hospital. Amazingly, the chickens and partridges random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) patterns were similar. This suggests the risk of a common source for the strains isolated from the different animals and illustrates the necessity of novel and improved control programs to prevent and restrict this significant disease which is prevalent among poultry species.

To investigate the environmental advantages of using grass-clover binary mixtures over pure stands as winter cover crops, a serial of five field experiments (each designed as randomized complete blocks with four replicates) was carried out in eastern Slovenia. Trifolium incarnatum L. and Lolium multiflorum Lam. were sown in late summer as pure stands and binary mixtures. Pooled data calculated from all the experiments revealed that the soil mineral N in spring and accumulation of N by plants decreased with decreasing proportion of T. incarnatum in the binary mixtures, while the C:N ratio of cover crop organic matter increased. C accumulation was the highest when the seeding ratio of the binary mixture of T. incarnatum and L. multiflorum was 50:50. In the C and N environmentally sustainable management efficiency coefficients, three important traits of winter cover crops for environmental pro-tection were given equal importance (low soil mineral N content in spring, high C accumulation in plants, and high N accumulation in plants). The coefficient was higher for binary mixtures of T. incarnatum and L. multiflorum than for pure stands of these crops, proving the complex environmental advantages of binary mixtures over pure stands.

A field experiment was conducted in 2008-2010 at the Experimental Station of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in Zamość (50°42'N, 23°16'E), University of Life Sciences in Lublin. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of cropping method and weed control methods on the content of Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in maize and on their uptake. Two cropping methods were studied - sole cropping and strip cropping (common bean, dent maize and spring barley in adjacent strips) and two weed control methods - mechanical and chemical. Strip cropping reduced Mn content in maize, did not significantly affect Zn content, and increased accumulation of Cu and Fe. The content and uptake of the elements by maize depended on the position of the row in the strip and on the adjacent plant species. Placement next to beans resulted in higher Fe and Zn content, while placement next to barley increased Cu content. The highest Mn content was noted in maize from the centre row. In general, micronutrient uptake by maize was lowest in the middle row. These results indicate that strip cropping can be an effective agricultural practise for plant biofortification.

To investigate the effect of low soil pH caused by fertilization on soil available zinc in calcareous soil, this study was conducted based on a long-term experiment consisting of: (a) no fertilization (CT); (b) mineral fertilizer application coupled with 7500 kg/ha of wheat straw (WS-NPK); (c) mineral fertilizer application coupled with 3750 kg/ha of wheat straw (1/2WS-NPK); (d) mineral fertilizer application alone (NPK). Long-term fertilization results in a significant increase in soil DTPA-extractable zinc. However, the increased soil DTPA-extractable zinc is unavailable to crops and mainly confined to 0.25 mm > and 0.25 mm to 1 mm aggregates. Compared to CT, soil DTPA-extractable zinc under fertilization is more than 9.67% and 122.36% higher in 0.25 mm > and 0.25 mm to 1 mm aggregates, respectively. Furthermore, plant-available zinc in the 0-15 cm soil layer and wheat grain zinc are both significantly positive related to soil DTPA-extractable zinc in > 2 mm aggregates. Therefore, plant-available zinc in the 0-15 cm layer is closely associated with DTPA-extractable zinc in > 2 mm aggregates, and the low soil pH caused by long-term fertilization could not enhance plant-available zinc in the surface soil layer nor elevate wheat grain zinc concentration because of the occlusive effect of soil aggregates.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is the most important crop in the group of leafy vegetables. It is characterized by considerable morphological and genetic variation. The crop comprises seven main groups of cultivars (including oilseed lettuce) differing phenotypically; they are usually described as morphotypes. Lettuce breeding is primarilly focused on various morphological features and resistance against diseases and pests. The accurate description of lettuce germplasm provides basic information useful for lettuce breeders. The construction of a lettuce descriptor list has been stimulated by the international genebank community. This list consists of 55 descriptors with 15 elucidated by figures. It provides a tool for detailed characterization of and discrimination within the intraspecific variation of L. sativa, verification of old varieties, and identification of putative duplicates and gaps in germplasm collections. These descriptors, along with descriptors of wild Lactuca species, provide an efficient analytical tool for studying the complex morphological variability of this genus and relationships among the species.

Wood splitting, manual as well as mechanized one is a heavy work. It follows from the fact that usually the wood of the least quality, knot wood with scroll fibres, directed for less valuable assortments from the point of view of the price. Present technique on the contrary is relatively price demanding, requesting besides 2-4 members of operating personnel also adequate concentration of wood mass for the reason of the complete process economic efficiency. We submit in this paper technology analysis of the splitter WS 800 performance with the original concept for the wood manipulation and splitting process as well. Essential advantages of the mentioned splitter comparing with the stationary equipments are operational and interoperational wood manipulation, physical effort and operating personnel elimination, while the efficiency and work safety is increasing.

Effects of thermostable lipolytic enzymes Pseudomonas fluorescens 66 ZB in pasteurized milk on concentration of free fatty acids (VMK) in milk were studied in selected milk samples. Identical bulk milk samples were analysed by the method specified in previous papers (Vyletělová et al. 1999a, b, 2000). Reference milk samples (without bacterial strains) and the experimental ones (containing Ps. fl. 150 th. CFU/ml and 2800 th. CFU/ml, resp.) were stored at 6.5°C and 14°C and analysed at regular time intervals (24 h) - Table 1. An extractive-titric method (Kadlec et al. 1996; Table 2 and Fig. 2) was used for monitoring of fatty acid (MK) liberation. Precise analyses of MK and VMK were made by the chromatographic method (Figs. 1, 3 and 4). Medium-chain fatty acids (C12-C16) are liberated first of all; short-chain acids (C6-C10) were found sporadically or in very small quantities (Table 2). Dissociation constant of the specific fatty acid liberated from milk fat affects principally relationships between pH and free fatty acid concentration. The predominating proportion of long-chain acids in liberated fatty acid formation is associated with lower reduction of pH as compared to the predomination of fatty acids with shorter chains associated with more substantial reduction of pH. In our study, a rapid decrease of pH was noted before 168 h (Table 24); this corresponds to low concentrations of short-chain free fatty acids. Vyletělová et al. (2000) found significant relations between pH and contents of VMK (measured by the extractive-titric method); in some samples, correlation coefficients amounted to r = -0.93*** (P ≤ 0.001). The extractive-titric method analysing VMK concentrations (mmol/kg milk fat) provides results characterized by a systematic rise (e.g., 32.0 mmol/kg instead of 13.0 mmol/kg in raw milk). According to Kratochvíl (1992) 20 mmol VMK/kg milk fat signalized the starting point characterizing flavour degradation of milk caused by activities of fatty acids C12-C14 above all; the transformed value (respecting specifics of the extractive-titric method) amounts to 49 mmol/kg. In case of higher storage temperature a significant break is found after 144 h; in case of lower temperature this break is after 192 h (Table 2). Limits determining potential lipolytic modifications of milk flavour (RLZCHV) as related to specific samples and temperatures at VMK levels amounting to 49 mmol/kg or 20 mmol/kg are outlined in Fig. 2. Milk samples No. 5 and No. 6 stored at higher temperature surpassed this risk limit at 56 h and 64 h, respectively (Table 2, Fig. 2). On the contrary, milk samples stored temperatures corresponding to the standard storage temperature (storage of raw milk, transport, storage of pasteurized milk) surpass the mentioned risk level after 90 h and 140.5 h. Obtained results document the predominant role of storage temperature in the whole complex (production and processing of milk as a raw material or an intermediate product); evident differences in contamination rates (105 an 106) can be characterized as secondary effects in this case (Table 2). As related to practical conditions, the mentioned facts imply immediate processing of raw milk and pasteurized milk. This postulate must be respected namely by da

The aim was to evaluate the effect of polymorphisms in the promoter and in the coding region of the DGAT1 gene on the estimated breeding values (EBV) of Czech Simmental sires. The K232A polymorphism (n = 191) in the coding region was genotyped by PCR/RFLP, and the KU and SA polymorphisms in the promoter (n = 203) were identified in an automatic sequencer. In the K232A polymorphism, the frequency of the genotype AA (Alanine) was greater than that of the genotype KA, the homozygous genotype KK (Lysine) was not found. Similarly, the allele A predominated over the K allele (0.945 and 0.055). The EBV for milk performance have been assigned to the genotypes, and the associations quantified. For the AA genotype and A allele, positive association with EBV of milk yield and protein yield was found, and negative association with the breeding values of fat percentage and yield, and protein percentage, but only the value of fat content was found to be significant. The positive non-significant association of the A variant with the protein yield was caused by the high milk yield. In the KU polymorphism, the CC genotype was associated significantly with lower EBV for the fat percentage, both the C allele and the CC genotype were associated with higher EBV for milk yield, so both the fat and the protein yield were non-significantly increased. For the diplotypes K232A/KU, there was a significant association with the fat percentage. The AACC combination seemed to have some breeding potential. The K232A polymorphism explained maximum of 6.2% of EBV variability, the KU polymorphism of 4.4%, and the SA polymorphism of 4.2%. The diplotypes K232A/KU explained maximum of 7.4% of variability. The highest proportion of variability was explained for fat percentage. The results confirmed the important role of the BTA14 region in controlling milk performance.

The core objectives for rural development support for the period 2007-2013 are: (1) improving the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry, (2) improving the environment and the countryside, and (3) improving the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging the diversification of economic activity. The Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005 includes an unambiguous targeting of smaller and micro-enterprises to sustain job opportunity in rural areas. For this scheduled period, a minimum funding of 10% of the total EU contribution has been withheld by the Council Regulation for the measures connected with the quality of life and diversification of the rural economy outside agriculture and forestry. In spite of this, the EU Court of Auditors has concluded that rural development policy in Europe is ineffective because it continues to allow member states to adopt a predominantly sectoral approach with the primary focus on the agricultural sector (Special Report No. 17/2006). This paper deals with the possible impact of one RDP measure - the reduction of LFA payments according to farm size. Taking into account the variety of regions in Europe and the different situations at national level, it is difficult to provide a single guideline to solve the problem. Implementation without a deep analysis could lead to undesirable consequences. A specific adjustment to the situation of the given country will be advisable.

There is a sufficient global potential to produce the food required to feed the world population on the global level. Despite this, the number of hungry people worldwide was 925 million in 2010. Developing countries account for 98% of the world undernourished people and have a prevalence of undernourishment of 16%. Food security increasingly depends on non-agricultural factors like energy, trade and finance. The negative economic and social impacts of food, energy and the global economic and financial crises showed the vulnerability to poverty. High and rising food prices further undermined the food security and threatened the livelihoods of the most vulnerable by decreasing their already limited purchasing power. The main step in reducing poverty and hunger in developing countries is to invest in agriculture and rural development. Scaled-up investments in social protection that focus on nutrition and health are also crucial for improving the lives of the poorest people.

The Pinus mugo complex (P. mugo Turra sensu lato, and/or species aggregate or group - P. mugo agg., including its internal as well as external aggregate hybrids) is an important fragment of European dendroflora. For its high variability this complicated group has not been solved in taxonomical terms satisfactorily yet. Most problems are mainly caused by a large amount of taxa of uncertain value described in the past, which often more or less overlap or are based on insufficiently researched and unsuitably interpreted characters. Such facts coincidently cause further problems in applied disciplines. Specialized European literature already contains a large amount of information referring to individual taxa of this complex. Much information is listed under various, often commonly not known or not used scientific names. In order to make the information available and useful, it was necessary to collect the most frequent names used in the past and to assort them in a tabular manner into a convenient synoptic schedule respecting the present concepts of the complex and assign them with the present most commonly used names.

In present days composite materials are the indispensable part of many branches. They make a foray into the branch of agricultural production, where they are getting to intensive development of systems utilized e.g. at soil processing. Composites can be defined as materials which synergically combine properties of matrix and filler. One of possibilities of polymeric particle composites preparation is the application of suitable filler together with some types of epoxy resins. This application extends the usable properties of resins. For the exact definition of these materials use it is necessary to map their behaviour. In the paper the problems are described, which concern the composite hardness changes as a consequence of the filler particle sedimentation in the course of the resin curing. The composite matrix was the two-component epoxy resin and the filler were chips of materials cutting process. The use of waste filler suggests itself the ecological possibility of recycling, which should be preferred in consideration to the environment friendliness.

Many chemical changes in beer aroma occur during storage (aging), and monitoring these changes could give guidelines to the brewers how to manage and control the brewing process to obtain the final product with a high stability in flavour after packaging. In this regard, our laboratory aimed at a research into the application of an electronic nose in order to get the fingerprint of the change of non alcoholic beer aroma during aging. Th discriminatory power of the sensor array of this system was evaluated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) techniques were used for this purpose. The results obtained can direct us to performing other parts of our project. Considering the discriminatory power of the sensor array used, we can develop the application of a specific electronic nose system by picking up the most effective sensors or ignoring the redundant sensors.

The Bruks mobile chipper was tested for chipping extracted non-merchantable stemwood at the roadside in Pine plantation in Victoria. The elemental time study method was used to evaluate the system productivity. The productivity, cost, biomass yield, remaining slash, chip quality (size classification and energy content), and fuel and energy consumption were analysed. Chipping extracted small logs at the roadside yielded a productivity of 43.88 GMt.PMH₀^-1 (19.4 BDT.PMH₀^-1). The average cost was about 16.96 USD.GMt^-1 (38.36 USD.BDT^-1).