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The practice of surgical castration of piglets and its alternatives is still under debate. Production of boars may impair meat quality due to boar taint and reduced tenderness compared to meat from surgically castrated male pigs, while immunocastration reduces boar taint and may improve meat quality but seems to be less accepted by the pig chain. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the consumer's sensory appreciation of meat from barrows (BAs), immunocastrates (ICs) and boars (BOs) in six European countries, taking into account the selection of tainted carcass and consumers’ appreciation of boar taint. Loin chops of 30 BAs, 30 ICs and 30 BOs were evaluated by 752 consumers in six countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Consumers rated odour, flavour, tenderness, juiciness, overall liking and willingness to buy and sensitivity to and liking of androstenone (AND) and liking of skatole (SKA) was also tested. In each of the six countries, consumers liked the odour of the BO samples less than that of BA, and IC intermediate. For flavour, tenderness, juiciness, overall liking and willingness to buy, liking scores given by the Czech, Polish and Portuguese consumers significantly differed between the BA, BO and IC. Willingness to buy was highest for BA by Czech and Polish consumers and for BA and IC by Portuguese consumers. The frequency of the negative check all terms that apply terms also differed, with a higher frequency of disgusting for BO compared to BA and IC and of off-flavour, irritating, manure, sweat, disappointing compared to BA, and intermediate for IC. 31% of the consumers disliked the odour of AND (NEGAND), and 36% of them were not sensitive; in contrast, 77% of the consumers disliked SKA (NEGSKA). The decrease in flavour liking score for BO compared to BA and IC was more outspoken by the NEGAND consumer, while NEGSKA consumers gave an overall lower liking score independent of the type of male pig. The results of this study in

Underwater pipelines have become a vital part of modern civilisation. Transport by pipeline is relatively inflexible compared to other means of transport, however it consumes less energy. Most offshore pipelines carry oil or gas, but they can also transport water or other fluids. More and more oil and gas is produced from offshore fields. The product has to be carried onshore and that is usually done by pipeline. Pipelines can be laid uncovered on the seabed, or can be embedded in the seafloor when stabilisation or protection is required. Pipelines are primarily covered when they are located in shallow waters. The material used to refill an excavated trench is called backfill. The typical material used as artificial backfill is coarse granular soil (rock, gravel, or coarse sand). When there is no suitable backfill material available close to the pipeline route, then material has to be transported from another location. A subsea pipeline should remain stable during its entire lifetime. Normal engineering practice focuses on the operational phase, while the installation phase is almost neglected. However, this study focuses on the installation phase and particularly on dredge-based backfilling. Dredge-based backfilling means using the suction pipe of a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) as discharge pipe. It is not always clear if a particular soil can be used as backfill material. In the past this lack of knowledge resulted a few times in pipeline floatation during the installation phase. This lack of knowledge can also result in the disposal of perfectly suitable backfill material. A pipeline can be lifted up from the bottom of the trench if the weight of the pipeline is lower than the weight of the liquefied backfill. Pipeline floatation occurs if a soil-water mixture remains liquefied over a too large distance. In general, coarse granular soils remain liquefied for only a short period of time. If the backfill is composed of fine material, it will take a relati, Geo-engineering, Geoscience & Engineering, Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Underwater pipelines have become a vital part of modern civilisation. Transport by pipeline is relatively inflexible compared to other means of transport, however it consumes less energy. Most offshore pipelines carry oil or gas, but they can also transport water or other fluids. More and more oil and gas is produced from offshore fields. The product has to be carried onshore and that is usually done by pipeline. Pipelines can be laid uncovered on the seabed, or can be embedded in the seafloor when stabilisation or protection is required. Pipelines are primarily covered when they are located in shallow waters. The material used to refill an excavated trench is called backfill. The typical material used as artificial backfill is coarse granular soil (rock, gravel, or coarse sand). When there is no suitable backfill material available close to the pipeline route, then material has to be transported from another location. A subsea pipeline should remain stable during its entire lifetime. Normal engineering practice focuses on the operational phase, while the installation phase is almost neglected. However, this study focuses on the installation phase and particularly on dredge-based backfilling. Dredge-based backfilling means using the suction pipe of a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) as discharge pipe. It is not always clear if a particular soil can be used as backfill material. In the past this lack of knowledge resulted a few times in pipeline floatation during the installation phase. This lack of knowledge can also result in the disposal of perfectly suitable backfill material. A pipeline can be lifted up from the bottom of the trench if the weight of the pipeline is lower than the weight of the liquefied backfill. Pipeline floatation occurs if a soil-water mixture remains liquefied over a too large distance. In general, coarse granular soils remain liquefied for only a short period of time. If the backfill is composed of fine material, it will take a relati, Geo-engineering, Geoscience & Engineering, Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Despite the significant growth of organic farms and organically managed land in Central and Eastern European new member states of the European Union (CEE NMS) the consumption of organic food in these countries remains at the very low level. The main barriers to organic food consumption growth are low availability of organic food in the sale channels where contemporary CEE NMS consumers prefer to buy food, high prices for organic products, related, inter alia, to high distribution costs and high gross margins that reflect the undeveloped nature of organic markets in CEE NMS. Further development of the organic sector in CEE NMS will contribute to the growth of organic food consumption by overcoming the supply-related barriers. Nevertheless, to increase the consumption of organic food, many efforts needed to communicate the benefits of organic food and farming to target potential consumers.

Despite the significant growth of organic farms and organically managed land in Central and Eastern European new member states of the European Union (CEE NMS) the consumption of organic food in these countries remains at the very low level. The main barriers to organic food consumption growth are low availability of organic food in the sale channels where contemporary CEE NMS consumers prefer to buy food, high prices for organic products, related, inter alia, to high distribution costs and high gross margins that reflect the undeveloped nature of organic markets in CEE NMS. Further development of the organic sector in CEE NMS will contribute to the growth of organic food consumption by overcoming the supply-related barriers. Nevertheless, to increase the consumption of organic food, many efforts needed to communicate the benefits of organic food and farming to target potential consumers.