Biochemical Composition and Nutritional Value of the Muscle Tissue of Yellowback Seabream, Evynnis Tumifrons, from the East China Sea

Biochemical composition and nutritional value of muscle tissue of wild-caught yellowback seabream （Evynnis tumifrons） from the East China Sea were determined. The yellowback seabream muscle contained 18.30% crude protein and 0.47% crude lipid. The contents of biochemical, moisture, crude protein, crude lipid, and ash were analyzed using AOAC standard methods. The compositions and contents of amino-acid and fatty-acid were determined by Amino Acid 20 Analyzer and Agilent 6890 Gas Chromatograph. The total essential amino acids （EAA; those required by humans） accounts for 46.96% of the total amino acids in E. tumifrons, higher than FAO/WHO standard but lower than whole-egg protein standard. In E. tumifrons, the first limiting amino acids were threonine （Thr）, based on amino acid score （AAS）, and methionine （Met） and cysteine （Cys）, based on chemical score （CS）. A total of 19 fatty acids were identified; together, eicosapentaenoic acid （EPA） and docosahexaenoic acid （DHA） contributed 22.65% of the total fatty-acid content, with 17.25% from DHA. The nutritional-requirement characteristics of this fish, which tumifrons mariculture. composition data provided useful information on the food quality and may facilitate the development of appropriate feed formulation in E.

Development of a group support system to support collaborative works in value management workshops

Value Management (VM) is a rigorous and systematic approach to improve the value and optimise the overall cost of a facility. It identifies opportunities to remove unnecessary costs while assuring that quality, reliability, performance, and other critical factors will meet or exceed the customers’ expectations. It has been widely used in the construction industry in a number of countries. A recent survey, however, revealed several problems that hinder the wider use of this methodology in the industry. To overcome these problems, a feasibility study has been conducted to investigate whether or not a Group Support System (GSS) can support collaborative works in VM workshops. This paper introduces the development and structure of a prototype GSS which is designed to support the collaborative works of stakeholders in VM workshops. It begins with an introduction to the conceptual GSS framework and job plan, illustrating what GSS supports can be provided to VM workshops. This is followed by a detailed description of the GSS prototype system to demonstrate how these supports can be performed as an integrated computer system. The testing of the system is also discussed. The research findings provide strong evidence in supporting the notion of using GSS to improve VM implementation. The information support of GSS has been ranked to be the most useful GSS functions and most of the practitioners interviewed are highly interested in applying GSS to support VM workshops in the future.

Economic Valuation of Health Impact of PM_(10) Pollution in Beijing from 2001 to 2006

In light of the practical need for research to inform policy in Beijing,this study evaluates the economic cost of the impact of PM 10 pollution in Beijing from 2001 to 2006,taking health as the main impact,and mortality as the main outcome.Based on the literature review,this study adopts relatively conservative parameters as the basis for calculating the health impacts.It concludes that nearly 30%of mortality among registered residents above age 30 in Beijing can be attributed to PM 10 pollution,and that the economic cost equals 0.8%-1.2%of the city's GDP over the same period.This is lower than the results of previous studies,but still high enough to warrant a commitment to solve the city's air pollution problem.

The Economic Importance and Social Values of Traditional Aquaculture in Rural Sierra Leone

The economic viability and social value of traditional aquaculture in rural Sierra Leone were evaluated. The hypothesis tested was that traditional methods of farming fish in ponds were not economically viable, so farmers were investing their time/labour in less risky and more profitable livelihoods activities. The assumption in this assessment was that fish farming is an economic activity, and that for farmers to adopt or choose it over other livelihoods, the benefit-cost ratio of fish farming must be higher than that of alternative livelihoods. The main objective of the study was to assess why local farmers failed to adopt modem market oriented aquaculture production systems introduced by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources in rural Sierra Leone. Two hundred farmers owning fishponds on family lands were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires and farmers＇ responses were analyzed using statistical tools （SPSS 16.0）. The mean contributions of different livelihoods to total annual incomes of farmers and the social values they attached to these livelihoods were compared. Results of the study suggested that traditional fish fanning was economically viable across the range of pond sizes sampled; but the medium-sized ponds were more profitable than the smallest and largest ponds, and labour accounted for 70% of total annual production costs in the systems assessed. The average benefit-cost ratio of 2.3 for fish fanning was favorable compared with that of 0.83 for rice farming, which was ranked as most popular livelihood activity by farmers. The payback period for traditional aquaculture investments was less than five years using informal investment loans （without interest）, and was favorably compared with that for tree crops fanning, which was also popular among farmers. Additional benefits of fish fanning included social capital and maintenance of kinship relationships.