This review examines the hypothesis that vitamin and mineral status in athletes is inadequate for optimal sports performance. The review is based on indicators determined from blood and on studies published since 1980. Most of the studies did not find micronutrient status in athletes to be different from untrained controls. The serum ferritin concentration in females was lower than in males (27 vs. 78 microgram.L-1), and the prevalence of low serum ferritin concentration was higher in female athletes than in untrained female controls (37 vs. 23%). Supplementation of water-soluble vitamins and iron was associated with an improvement in the corresponding indicators. Excluding a few studies with mildly anemic subjects, improvements in indicators of micronutrient status were not associated with enhanced athletic performance. Consequently, the levels of indicators of micronutrient status seen in athletes' blood were apparently compatible with optimal physical performance.

In an integrated, multidisciplinary study we compared ecological characteristics and productivity of commercial farms categorized as either organic (ORG) or conventional (CNV) based on their use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides or reliance on organic soil amendments and biological pest control. We measured belowground parameters: various soil chemical and biological properties and root disease severity; common agronomic indicators: biomass, fruit yield and insect pest damage; and community level indicators, including arthropod diversity and soil microbial activity and diversity. CNV and ORG production systems could not be distinguished based on agronomic criteria such as fruit yield and arthropod pest damage levels. However, differences were demonstrated in many soil, plant, disease, and diversity indicators suggesting that the ecological processes determining yields and pest levels in these two management systems are distinct. In particular, nitrogen mineralization potential and microbial and parasitoid abundance and diversity were higher in ORG farms. Differences between the agroecosystems were sufficiently robust to be distinguished from environmental variation and suggest that biological processes compensated for reductions in the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

This work presents the results of factorial examinations based on the analysis of 1920 indicators in 320 fattening pigs of two genotypes. A significant (P 0.01) influence of sex within weight groups on the quality of sides was established in fattening pigs cross-bred with Sweden Landrace - in 5 cases.

Based on the sample data on 140 family farms factor analysis of production conditions and results was made. It was applied the method of major factors with reduced correlation matrices in which the elements on the main diagonal were replaced by grades of communality. Starting from eight indicators of production conditions three communal factors were discriminated: area factor, animal supply and agricultural machinery equipment factor, and construction equipment factor. These three factors account for 90 variations of production conditions. Also, three communal factors were discriminated for the 11 indicators of production results: crop and animal production factor, fruit and viticulture production factor, and cost-effectiveness of agricultural production factor. Three communal factors explain by over 90 variations in production results.

Attempts to define the genetic basis of obesity in the present century probably began with the study of Davenport. A number of papers were published on the topic based on weight for height data prior to the 1970s. Bray has summarized these studies which quite consistently demonstrated that obese children had frequently obese parents. Following this period, the field of genetic epidemiology began to contribute new methods and research strategies in the efforts to define the genetic basis of quantitative multifactorial phenotypes. For the past 15 years or so, a good number of reports have been published regarding the heritability level and the segregation pattern of body mass for stature, and other indicators of obesity. These studies have been summarized recently. The focus of this report is on animal and human studies providing evidence for a role of specific genes in human variation for indicators of obesity.

On large carp fish farms water from larger surface streams is used, which have been affected by industrial and urban pollution, making the zoohygienic conditions bad for the culturing region. The quality of the culturing region directly affects the growth, condition and health of the fish. The aim of this work was to investigate the components of phytoplankton and the physico-chemical indicators of water quality on the occurrence of ectoparasites on the cyprinidae fish farms. Investigation were carried out from May to September 1992 on the fish farms Narta and Blatnica. The main stock of the farms were there year old carp fry. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytoplankton, as well as the basic physico-chemical indicators were carried out by methods used in limnology. The health examination of the fish was carried out in view of the general clinical, microscopic and path anatomic examination. In the components of phytoplankton the species which participated in the group s were: Cyanobacteria (Cyanophyta), Euglenophita, Phyrrophyta, Chryso- phita and Chlorophyta. Eventhough there were indicators of greater and lesser water pollution, the betamesosaprobic representative were dominant. The obtained values of physico-chemical indicators ranged in the limitis characteristic of the cyprinidae fish farms. An exception was in the concentration of disolved oxygen in the water, which was relatively lower that the optimal concentration for cyprinidae, amounting to 1.4 mg.l-1 (pond 9). Based on the health examination of the ectoparasite fish, determined were representatives of the families: Trichodina, Argulus, Dactylogorus and Gyrodactylus, ectopara sites which mainly occur when there is low water quality, bad zoohygienic conditions in the ponds and an increase in water temperature. A higher invasion of ectoparasites was determined in the fish from ponds 9 and 10.

Norwegian watercourses are becoming increasingly acidified. Small animals on the river bottom can be used to classify the biological damage caused by acidification, The report describes the classification systems developed by Raddum and by Engblom/Lingdell. Both systems are based on the presence or absence of indicators that give index values, depending on their tolerance to acidification. Experiments confirm the hypothesis that brief acidification episodes can cause serious reductions in a macroinvertebrate community. Standardised tests showed the macroinvertebrates' tolerance to acid water pH), acid water containing labile aluminium and acid water containing humus. In general, the mayfly species were most sensitive to acid water, followed by the stoneflies. The caddis flies were most tolerant. Aluminium had a favourable effect on the survival of the mayfly Baetis rhodani at low pH. Humus had a favourable effect on the survival of Baetis rhodani and the amphipod Gammarus lacustris in an acid environment. Based on Raddum's and Enghlom/Lingdell's systems, other Nordic publications and our own field and experimental data, NIVA proposes a set of indicators that will be valid for investigations of acidification in most Norwegian watercourses. The water quality is distributed between classes 1-4, where 1 expresses no acidification damage and 4 expresses a locality severely damaged by acidification. | Statens forurensningstilsyn (SFT) Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA)

Financial and economic profitability indicators of 58 monitored seines and 121 monitored gillnets operating in Guimaras Strait and adjacent waters were estimated, analyzed and compared using data generated from the small pelagic study by Padilla et al. (1990). Results showed that seines, which were mostly commercial, were more highly dependent on capital investment than were gillnets, which were municipal in nature. Financial and economic analyses, however, showed that seines performed better than gillnets. All financial indicators showed higher values for seines. Estimation of pure profits showed positive profits for a unit of seine while pure loss was arrived at for a unit of gillnets. Results also showed that purse seine, hulbot-hulbot and modified baby purse seine are lucrative types of fishing compared to other types. This is based on the high estimated values of their financial and economic profitability indicators. The gillnetters' situation needs to be immediately addressed by the government. Trainings and workshops to develop the non-fishing skills of gillnetters must be conducted. Alternative livelihood which does not require large capital investment must be introduced in the area. Lastly, efforts must be made to limit and regulate commercial fishing vessels to restore higher sustainability of the fish stock in the area. Commercial vessels must be barred from encroaching into municipal waters, lest the economic plight of the small-scale gillnetters worsens

This concept paper addresses those elements in the people-forest interface which we perceive as critical to sustainable forest management, based on our own training and experience, as well as two field tests of the conceptual framework (in Kalimantan and Côte d'Ivoire ). Initially, we define our use of important terms, like sustainability, well being/needs, and people; and make clear some of our assumptions. We briefly allude to four pertinent conceptual and policy issues, including the role of people in relation to the forest; the significance of maintaining cultural diversity; the relationships among cultural integrity, culture change, and stakeholder participation; and finally, policy issues pertaining to land use, population, and people's participation. The body of the paper discusses two principles, each with three associated criteria. An appendix lists principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers found useful in our field tests. We conclude briefly by describing future research plans, focused on refining our definitions of stakeholders, testing the importance of inter- generational access to resources and people's participation in sustainable forest management, and testing the applicability of such criteria and indicators for community forestry contexts.

Extending the approach of Bernanke and Blinder (1992), Strongin (1992), and Christiano, Eichenbaum, and Evans (1994a, 1994b), we develop and apply a VAR-based methodology for measuring the stance of monetary policy. More specifically, we develop a 'semi-structural' VAR approach, which extracts information about monetary policy from data on bank reserves and the federal funds rate but leaves the relationships among the macroeconomic variables in the system unrestricted. The methodology nests earlier VAR-based measures and can be used to compare and evaluate these indicators. It can also be used to construct measures of the stance of policy that optimally incorporate estimates of the Fed's operating procedure for any given period. Among existing approaches, we find that innovations to the federal funds rate (Bernanke-Blinder) are a good measure of policy innovations during the periods 1965-79 and 1988-94; for the period 1979-94 as a whole, innovations to the component of nonborrowed reserves that is orthogonal to total reserves (Strongin) seems to be the best choice. We develop a new measure of policy stance that conforms well to qualitative indicators of policy such as the Boschen- Mills (1991) index. Innovations to our measure lead to reasonable and precisely estimated dynamic responses by variables such as real GDP and the GDP deflator.