Infiltration is defined by the expression of the hydraulic conductivity of the soil, which we decided to monitor on an experimental field applying a modern system of land management (control traffic farming). The present study compared two different methods of monitoring the hydraulic conductivity of soil on a selected 16 ha plot of land in the suburbs of the village Kolíňany (Slovak Republic). During the growing seasons, crops such as oilseed rape, winter wheat, spring barley, winter barley, spring peas, and maize alternated in individual years. In addition to the study of hydraulic conductivity, a long-term experiment is underway to investigate the influence of technogenic factors on soil degradation using a system of controlled movement of machines in the field. A mini disk infiltrometer (method one) was used to evaluate the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil, and a double ring infiltrometer (method two) was used to measure the saturated hydraulic conductivity. Monitoring changes in soil infiltration capacity within the compacted and uncompacted lines required 26 monitoring points (20 for method one and 6 for method two). The first longitudinal line was compacted by an agricultural machinery chassis, and the second line remained uncompressed. The research also created transverse compacted lines at eight monitoring points (six for method one and two for method two). The results did not show a statistically significant difference when examining the effect of soil infiltration monitoring (compacted p = 0.123; uncompacted p = 0.99). When evaluating the statistical dependence on the compression caused by machinery in the track line, the hypothesis of significance was not confirmed (p = 0.12, at the level of 0.05). However, the results showed variability in the value of the difference factor between the two methods, ranging from 0 to 0.24. On average, it can be concluded that the results achieved using the double ring infiltrometer were 4.16 times higher than those measured with the mini disk infiltrometer. The variability of hydraulic conductivity was demonstrated not only in the compacted but also in the non-compacted part of the plot. In some places, the phenomenon of water repellency appeared, which could be caused by the drier location of the targeted plot.

Goal of this study was to investigate and evaluate an impact of two alternative fuels on smoke emissions in comparison to diesel fuel. This study observes three different combustion engine fuels: biodiesel produced by Meroco, Inc. Company (Alternative fuel I); biodiesel produced in factory situated in Sereď (Alternative fuel II); and conventional diesel fuel (Diesel fuel) from Slovnaft, Inc. Company service station. All measurements were repeated three times. Measurements were conducted by free acceleration test at different engine loads. A statistically significant difference ( P 0.05). Tested engine has met the requirements of the EURO 3 emission limit values in relation to the measurement results of particulate matter emissions.

The study aimed to investigate cholesterol content in chicken breast and thigh muscles by the influence of feed supplements of various content of essential oils. The experiment was carried out under practical conditions in a poultry farm with broiler chickens of the Cobb 500 hybrid combination according to the feed supplement used thyme essential oil, cinnamon essential oil, commercial citrus fruit essential oil, and their combination. The control group was without the use of experimental feed supplements and commercial coccidiostats were used in their feed mixtures. The experiment lasted 40 days in welfare conditions. Broiler chickens were used for sample preparation of breast and thigh muscles with the skin and their analysis for dry matter, fat and cholesterol contents. Samples were analyzed using a Nicolet 6700 FT-IR Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The results were processed by the SAS system program, version 8.2. The results, which were evaluated, indicated a tendency to reduce the cholesterol content in chicken breast muscle due to cinnamon essential oil and the combination of cinnamon essential oil with citrus fruit essential oil as well as thyme essential oil with citrus fruit essential. In the achieved results of dry matter, fat, and cholesterol content in breast and thigh muscles, the difference between the effects of the used feed supplements based on essential oils and concerning the control group were not statistically significant p >0.05. The correlation was a statistically significant strong linear relation only between dry matter content and fat content due to thyme and cinnamon essential oils. In conclusion, it was stated that the investigation of the feed supplement effect based on essential oils is an open question concerning the production of safe food of animal origin.

When cultivating a selected field crop (alfalfa), we aimed to examine its positive effects on the variability of soil infiltration capacity. A total of 21 monitoring points were proposed for investigating soil hydraulic conductivity on the targeted plot with a total area of 47.64 ha, divided between the irrigated and non-irrigated areas. The plot is located outside the village of Oponice (Slovak Republic) and is managed by VPP Kolíňany. The study of hydraulic conductivity has been ongoing on the selected plot for several years. The presented results come from a two-year experiment, during which work operations related to the cultivation of alfalfa were carried out on the plot. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil was assessed several times a year using a Mini Disk Infiltrometer, while soil moisture at monitoring points and the dependence of the measurement date (work operations, weather conditions) were also monitored. The average soil moisture content in the pilot measurements reached 18.77% vol. (CV = 1.44%), in the secondary measurements 17.21% vol. (CV 20.49%), in tertiary measurements 15.27% vol. (CV = 10.38%), and in the last measurements 15.26% vol. (CV = 10%), which ultimately represents a positive result of soil moisture balance. To test the significance of the differences between measurements taken across the entire surveyed plot, a one-factor ANOVA analysis was used to compare the measurement dates. The results showed a statistically significant difference when examining the effect of the time period of soil infiltration capacity monitoring between all measurements (p = 0.004). The mutual combinations of individual measurement dates were mostly significant (p = 0.03 for IDM1, IDM2; p = 0.003 for IDM2, IDM3), except for one case without a significant difference (IDM3, IDM4; p = 0.52). The second hypothesis was confirmed only at some monitoring points, and it can be stated that the irrigated area had a more significant effect on the soil infiltration capacity. The results obtained by the Shapiro–Wilk test and Welch’s test in irrigated and non-irrigated areas at individual dates showed statistically insignificant differences in three cases (IDM1, p = 0.123; IDM3, p = 0.382; IDM4, p = 0.445) and statistically significant in one case (IDM2, p = 0.0175). Based on the hypotheses and the results obtained, it can be said that the work tasks performed have a decisive influence on the infiltration capacity of the soil. The phenomenon of “water resistance” did not manifest itself in our research on soil infiltration capacity. The results were also evaluated using ArcGIS software 10.0 to display the spatial variability of soil hydraulic conductivity. The last application used to evaluate the results was Orange software 3.40.0, using clustering maps and hierarchical clustering. The results also pointed to variability depending on the dates of monitoring.

The study aimed to examine, compare, and statistically evaluate the quality of the beef thigh and roast beef muscle in terms of the profile of fatty acids in relation to human health. Musculus semimembranosus and m. quadriceps femoris of the thigh and m. longissimus dorsi of the roast beef were used for analysis to evaluate the fatty acid profile. Chemical analysis of the thigh and roast beef muscle samples was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The measured data were statistically processed according to descriptive characteristics, analysis of variance, and differences were tested using Scheffe´s test at a = 0.05. The SAS program package, version 8.2, was used to evaluate the results statistically. A statistically significant difference (p ≤0.05) was recorded in the dry matter proportion between m. quadriceps femoris and m. longissimus dorsi. A statistically significant difference was found in the intramuscular fat proportion, polyunsaturated fatty acid proportion, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids, as well as between m. semimembranosus and m. longissimus dorsi and between m. quadriceps femoris and m. longissimus dorsi. Strong, statistically significant (p ≤0.01, p ≤0.001) correlations were found mainly between intramuscular fat and polyunsaturated fatty acids, between intramuscular fat and the ratio of the polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids, between intramuscular fat and the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to monounsaturated fatty acids. In conclusion, it was stated that the muscles of the thigh and roast beef of the young cattle are characterized by statistically significant differences in the proportion of fatty acids. The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids meets the recommended values concerning maintaining the health of the food consumer. Still, the ratio of the n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids poses a risk concerning cardiovascular diseases.