Compendex

Intensive agricultural practices increase agrochemical pollution, particularly nitrogen (N) based fertilizers, which present an environmental risk. This study aims to evaluate long-term (2009–2020) data on soil water regime and nitrate dynamics at an agricultural experimental site on fine-textured soils and to better understand the implications of N management in relation to groundwater pollution. The field site is located in the Biđ field (eastern Croatia), in the proximity of the Sava river. Zero-tension lysimeters were installed at six selected locations. Lysimeters were used to monitor the water regime, i.e., outflows in which nitrate concentration was measured, while additional soil-water samples were collected via 4 and 15-meter-deep monitoring wells. Soil hydraulic parameters were estimated by combining the laboratory measurements, and estimation in RETC software. Water regime and nitrate leaching in lysimeters were simulated using HYDRUS-1D for each year to allow crop rotation and to evaluate their effects individually. The HYDRUS-1D model successfully reproduced lysimeter outflows and nitrate dynamics, which was confirmed with high R2 values (water: 93% above 0.7, and nitrate: 73% above 0.7) indicating the good performance of the model simulating nitrification chain reactions. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the relationships among all soil properties and environmental characteristics. The results showed the complex interaction of soil hydraulic properties, precipitation patterns, plant uptake, and N application. All locations have a decreasing trend of nitrate leaching over the investigation period. Most of the lysimeter outflows and elevated nitrate concentrations were connected to the wet period of the year when the soil was saturated, and evapotranspiration was low. The results of this study show that it is important to optimize N fertilizer applications for each particular environmental condition to reduce nitrate loss. The study indicates the importance of long-term field studies, key for agro-hydrological modeling and the improvement of agricultural practices.

Every organization wants to create unique products and services, but not all organizations achieve this. Those that successfully offer exceptional products and services thanks to better execution processes can be called innovative organizations. However, the desire to be an innovative organization alone is not enough, organizations need to develop new processes in order to be successful and to properly manage the knowledge of the organization. This article analyzes the impact of knowledge management on organizational innovation, and presents the research conducted in Lithuania. Many researchers see a positive impact on organizational innovation, as knowledge management practices that prioritize the generation of new knowledge and learning at the organizational level are important for achieving positive results in innovation. Thus, knowledge generation has a positive correlation with organizational innovation creation, but some researchers, e.g. Donate and de Pablo (2015) consider this relationship to be indirect. The results of a study by Lee, Leon, Hew, and Ooi (2013) revealed that knowledge acquisition is not strongly related to an organization’s technology innovation process. Capon, Farley, Lehmann, and Hulbert (1992) argue that the acquisition of knowledge does not affect an organization’s ability to innovate. However, there are other studies, e.g. Darroc and McNaughton (2002) and Tan and Nasurdin (2011) argue that knowledge acquisition strongly influences the process of technological innovation. The aim of this article is to determine whether this impact is direct or indirect, not only to limit technological innovations, and to determine which trends are typical for Lithuanian organizations.

The work performed is unique in its kind, since it represents the development of instrumental methods for studying an urgent problem – the increase in competitiveness and ensuring sustainable development of industrial enterprises. The purpose of the study is to develop a system for assessing the impact of institutional factors on the competitiveness and innovation activity of an industrial enterprise. The analytical toolkit is simulation modeling diagrammatically represented by graphical notations illustrating system dynamics model. Based on the available world research, four main components of industrial enterprise competitiveness are identified - the competitiveness of products; strategic positioning; innovation activity of both - the enterprise and the institutional environment; and resource efficiency. Based on the identified components, a methodology for their calculation and for computation of a multiplicative composite indicator describing competitiveness has been developed. The influence of the intra-firm and institutional factors on the enterprise innovation activity is discussed as a separate segment of this method. It is shown that the institutional environment to a greater extent affects the company competitiveness through its innovation activity. The intra-firm factors (such as the enterprise’s material, scientific and technical resources, organizational and corporate culture, strategic management) expand the influence of the industrial market institutional environment. Thus, all enterprises located in the same industrial market have equal conditions for their innovative activities. Based on the elaborated system, a simulation model of industrial enterprise competitiveness is developed, which shows it as a set of cause-and-effect relationships and feedback loops. The designed simulation model may be adapted to any manufacturing company and allows simple simulation experiments.

Urban brownfields are found in all parts of the world. They suffer from a negative image and are generally being viewed as problem areas. However, urban brownfields also offer potentials for new uses and for the ecological regeneration of cities. Strategic decision-making has a long term impact on the quality of life, ecological balance and urban structure. Therefore, the paper is aimed at providing a methodology for selecting the optimal scenario for urban brownfields regard-ing criteria for urban development and focuses on three possible scenarios representing sustainable urban development in the city. The results of the research are provided as a priority list for each scenario in the context of every neighbour-hood of Vilnius city. The obtained results show the scenario optimal for each neighbourhood having the highest priority to implementing solutions in real life. Economic, social, physical (urbanistic) and environmental criteria are considered. Geographic information system (GIS) tools are employed for collecting spatial information, obtaining the initial set of criteria and deriving statistical data. Different MCDA methods, including TOPSIS, EDAS, COPRAS and SAW are used in the research. The correlation between the values of the sets pairs of cumulative criteria for the applied MCDA methods ap-peared to be satisfactory for the conducted re-search. The developed framework will support the decision-making process in brownfield land redevelopment aiding sustainable urban planning.

This study presents a series of oil spill indexes for the characterization of physical and biological sensitivity in unsheltered coastal environments. The case study extends over 237 kmof Lithuanian-Russian coastal areas subjected to multiple oil spill threats. Results show that 180 km of shoreline have environmental sensitivity index (ESI) of score 3. Natural clean-up processes depending on (a) shoreline sinuosity, (b) orientation and (c) wave exposure are favourable on 72 km of shoreline. Vulnerability analysis from pre-existing Kravtsovskoye D6 platformoil spill scenarios indicates that 15.1 km of the Curonian Spit have high impact probability. The highest seafloor sensitivity within the 20 m isobath is at the Vistula Spit and Curonian Spit, whereas biological sensitivity is moderate over the entire study area. The paper concludeswith the importance of harmonized datasets andmethodologies for transboundary oil spill impact assessment.

Radial basis function domain-type collocation method is applied for an elliptic partial differential equation with nonlocal multipoint boundary condition. A geometrically flexible meshless framework is suitable for imposing nonclassical boundary conditions which relate the values of unknown function on the boundary to its values at a discrete set of interior points. Some properties of the method are investigated by a numerical study of a test problem with the manufactured solution. Attention is mainly focused on the influence of nonlocal boundary condition. The standard collocation and least squares approaches are compared. In addition to its geometrical flexibility, the examined method seems to be less restrictive with respect to parameters of nonlocal conditions than, for example, methods based on finite differences.

The paper focuses on the impact of the electricity market regulation on generating technologies, including renewable in Lithuanian and Poland. The paper aims to identify how the regulatory and non-regulatory factors have influenced investors′ choices. A country case studies approach were applied to analyse and address define the main factors that have influenced investors′ choice of technology mix in electricity market in transition. The major findings of the analysis entail: the main driving forces behind the rationale for reform; electricity reform characteristics; the impact of electricity market reform on electricity prices and electricity market reform and non-reform related factors that have influenced investor′s choice for a specific generation technology or a technology mix.

Forgery of personal identity documents is an integral part of organized crime, the precondition of international smuggling drugs, weapons and other goods, illegal immigration, human trafficking, terrorism, mobility, fraud, money laundering. These sides of organized crime puts the greatest threat to internal security of the EU, while the harm to made to the economy, including distortions of the domestic market, can reach hundreds of billions of euros. Therefore, expeditious inspection of personal identity documents continues to remain a very important issue for law enforcement bodies (officers of migration, police, State Border Guard Service). This research deals with the authenticity inspection of personal identity document – passport data page – which is based on non-destructive testing – holographic interferometry methods and the analysis of thermal behaviour impact on the MPR data page surface deformation. Original and forged passports were investigated, thermal load parameters on the data page and its fixation conditions in a special holder were determined. The analysis of the obtained holographic interferograms allowed confirming the hypothesis claims that the character of surface deformation of forged MPR data page significantly differs from the character of original MPR data. Computational model of MPR data page thermal behaviour was developed. Simulation of the process of data page surface deformation with the applied thermal loading was carried out. Theoretical and experimental results confirming the application possibility of non-destructive testing methodology for determining authenticity of the passports were obtained.

This paper presents new research and new cost calculations for carbon dioxide (CO2) disposal in Cuba and Lithuania, as well as lessons from the comparative assessment of CO2 and high-level Radioactive Waste (RW) disposal costs in several countries. Nuclear power and Co2 Capture and Disposal (CCD) are key greenhouse gas mitigation options, both entailing the long-term, geological disposal of wastes. This paper presents the related economic calculations and draws lessons from their inter-comparison. The paper compares the costs of geological disposal of CO2 and RW in several countries by applying the same unit: US cent/Kilowatt Hour (kWh). CO2 disposal costs were estimated for Lithuania and Cuba, while RW disposal costs were assessed and compared for Lithuania, Switzerland, India and the Republic of Korea. In both cases, costs vary across a wide range in the countries analysed, but the variations are consistent with published estimates for other countries with similar geological and economic conditions.

In recent years, when rapid growth of the number of people crossing state borders is observed it is very important to identify the authenticity of identity documents. Therefore it is becoming very important the impact of both the human factor and the role of application of appropriate technical measures and new methods on the possibility to detect partial changes in the document or forged in whole documents at the stage of primary inspection. This research is dedicated to the identity document - passport data page authenticity tests which are based on non-destructive testing - holographic interferometry methods and the determination of passport data page thermal expansion effect on the surface deformation. Tests were performed with original and forged passports, the data page fixing conditions in a special holder, and thermal load parameters were determined. The obtained results in the form of holographic interferograms confirmed the hypothesis claims that surface deformation of the data page in counterfeit passport is clearly different from the original passport's data page. The obtained experimental results confirm the possibility to apply the selected non-destructive testing methodology for determining authenticity of the passports.