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Minimum Estimate (minimum + estimate)
Selected AbstractsUnderstanding pressures on fishery resources through trade statistics: a pilot study of four products in the Chinese dried seafood marketFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 1 2004Shelley Clarke Abstract This study investigates the dried seafood trade, centred in Chinese markets, in order to better understand the pressures its demand exerts on global marine resource stocks. Using Hong Kong, the region's largest entrepôt, as a focal point, the trade in shark fins, abalone, bęche-de-mer and dried fish is characterized in terms of product history, volume, source fisheries and species composition. Trends identified in the Hong Kong market are interpreted in the context of the larger Chinese market. Shark fin imports grew 6% per year between 1991 and 2000, most likely because of market expansion in Mainland China, posing increasingly greater pressures on global shark resources. In contrast, the quantities of dried abalone traded through Hong Kong remained steady, but inferences based on this trend are discouraged by suggestions of increasing preferences for fresh product forms and growing domestic production in Mainland China. Hong Kong's imports of dried bęche-de-mer (sea cucumber) have decreased, while the percentage of imports re-exported has remained steady, suggesting that Hong Kong continues as an entrepôt for Mainland China despite declining domestic consumption. Few conclusions can be drawn regarding dried fish products, including whole fish and fish maws, because of a lack of product differentiation in customs data, but a market survey was conducted to provide information on species composition. Comparison of Hong Kong dried seafood trade statistics to those of other key trading partners indicates that, in general, Hong Kong's duty-free status appears to encourage more accurate reporting of traded quantities. Under-reporting biases ranged from 24 to 49% for shark fin and bęche-de-mer, respectively. Comparison to United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) databases indicates additional under-reporting for shark fin such that an alternative minimum estimate of world trade is at least twice the FAO estimates in 1998,2000. The results of a survey of Hong Kong traders provide insight into their attitudes toward harvest, economic and regulatory factors, and suggest that conservation efforts are unlikely to emerge from, or be actively supported by, dried seafood trade organizations. The market's apparent sensitivity to economic sentiment, however, reveals an opportunity for consumer education to play a role in shaping future market growth and resource conservation. Recommendations are provided for improving trade statistics and for developing better analytical techniques to complement traditional methods for monitoring the exploitation and management of fisheries resources. [source] Predation by seals on salmonids in two Scottish estuariesFISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2001T. J. Carter Detailed observations of the behaviour of harbour seals, Phoca vitulina L., at sites within the estuaries of the Rivers Dee and Don, in north-eastern Scotland, were made over two full years between 1993 and 1996. Small numbers of grey seals, Halichoerus grypus Fab., were also present. The presence of seals within the estuaries was strongly related to season, with maximum numbers observed in winter and early spring; seals were virtually absent in June and July. The River Don was used largely as a haul-out site, while the River Dee was used predominantly as a foraging site, although it was not possible to determine whether the same seals were using the two estuaries. More seals were hauled-out on the River Don during twilight and dark than in daylight. The seals were observed to eat mostly salmonids, Salmo salar L. and S. trutta L., unidentified roundfish and flounder, Pleuronectes flesus L. The otoliths identified in scats collected at the mouth of the River Don belonged to marine species indicating that the seals were also feeding outside the estuaries. A minimum estimate is given of the numbers of large salmonids eaten in each river during the course of the year. Although no information was available on the numbers of salmonids using the rivers or the reproductive status of the fish eaten by the seals, as a cause of mortality, seal predation on large salmonids in estuaries is apparently an order of magnitude less important than mortality caused by angling within the river. [source] Tubers as fallback foods and their impact on Hadza hunter-gatherersAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Frank W. Marlowe Abstract The Hadza are hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. Their diet can be conveniently categorized into five main categories: tubers, berries, meat, baobab, and honey. We showed the Hadza photos of these foods and asked them to rank them in order of preference. Honey was ranked the highest. Tubers, as expected from their low caloric value, were ranked lowest. Given that tubers are least preferred, we used kilograms of tubers arriving in camp across the year as a minimum estimate of their availability. Tubers fit the definition of fallback foods because they are the most continuously available but least preferred foods. Tubers are more often taken when berries are least available. We examined the impact of all foods by assessing variation in adult body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (%BF) in relation to amount of foods arriving in camp. We found, controlling for region and season, women of reproductive age had a higher %BF in camps where more meat was acquired and a lower %BF where more tubers were taken. We discuss the implications of these results for the Hadza. We also discuss the importance of tubers in human evolution. Am J Phys Anthropol, 140:751,758, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Seven-Year Survival of Perennial Herbaceous Transplants in Temperate Woodland RestorationRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Larissa M. Mottl Abstract Little is known about restoring the perennial herbaceous understory of Midwestern deciduous woodlands, despite the significant and widespread degradation of remnants due to human activities. Because many woodland understory species have reproductive characters that make reestablishment from seed slow or difficult, we investigated transplanting as a strategy for introducing 24 species to a degraded early-successional woodland in central Iowa, U.S.A. Plants were planted in single-species groups of generally four individuals, and then monitored for survival five times over a 7-year period, and for flowering during the first year. After 7 years, persistence of these groups was 57% averaged across species. Survival in years 5,7 does not reflect individuals that spread beyond the original planting units by self-sowing or vegetative spread and is therefore a minimum estimate of the abundance of many species at the site. Mean percent flowering was 72% across single-species groups for 15 species monitored. We consider these survival and flowering rates acceptable indicators of establishment success, especially given drought conditions at our site in the first few years and lack of weed control beyond the first year, and evidence that transplanted species were establishing outside the original planting locations. Additional work is needed to investigate regional differences in transplant success, and methods for sustainable production of species are not suitable for introduction by seed. We caution that our results do not necessarily apply to the restoration of rare species. [source] Frequency of constitutional MSH6 mutations in a consecutive series of families with clinical suspicion of HNPCCCLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 3 2007B Roncari A large majority of constitutional mutations in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) are because of the MHL1 or MSH2 genes. In a lower fraction of cases, another gene of the mismatch repair (MMR) machinery, MSH6, may be responsible. Families with MSH6 mutations are difficult to recognize, as microsatellite instability (MSI) may not be detectable and immunohistochemistry (IHC) may give ambiguous results. In the present study, we proposed (i) to determine the frequency of MSH6 mutations in a selected population of colorectal cancer patients obtained from a tumor registry, (ii) to assess whether IHC is a suitable tool for selecting and identifying MSH6 mutation carriers. One hundred neoplasms of the large bowel from suspected HNPCC families were analyzed for MSI (BAT25 and BAT26 markers) and immunohistochemical expression of the MSH6 protein. We found on 12 tumors (from different families) showing instability or lack of MSH6 expression. Among these, four potentially pathogenic MSH6 mutations were detected (del A at 2984; del TT at 3119; del AGG cod 385; and del CGT cod 1242) by direct gene sequencing. These represented 12.9% of all families with constitutional mutations of the DNA MMR genes. Thus, some 5% of all HNPCC families are featured by constitutional mutation of the MSH6 gene. This appears, however, as a minimum estimate; routine use of IHC and the study of large numbers of individuals and families with little or no evidence of Lynch syndrome might reveal that mutation of this gene account for a large fraction of HNPCC. [source] At-sea distributions and abundance of tropicbirds in the eastern PacificIBIS, Issue 2 2005LARRY B. SPEAR During spring and autumn 1980,95, we surveyed Red-tailed Phaethon rubricauda, White-tailed P. lepturus and Red-billed Tropicbirds P. aethereus at sea in the Pacific between the coast of the Americas and 176°W. For the Pacific, we had complete coverage of the range of aethereus, but only partial coverage of that of rubricauda and lepturus. Six areas of higher density were indicated: three of rubricauda, two of lepturus and one of aethereus. After pooling data across years, the ,abundance' (total number including subadults and adults) estimate for rubricauda was 81 700 (boreal spring) and 86 500 (boreal autumn) birds. Abundance of each of the three rubricauda subpopulations differed between seasons by about 50% despite seasonal consistency when populations were grouped. Furthermore, high densities of rubricauda occurred at the edge of our study area, indicating that neither of the seasonal estimates for this species could be considered as total numbers. Abundance estimates of lepturus during the non-breeding season (when these birds had dispersed from colonies) were 11 000 and 41 500 birds for northern and southern populations, respectively. Estimated abundance of aethereus during the boreal spring was 26 700 birds, and 33 400 during the boreal autumn. Because tropicbirds are attracted to survey vessels, we also estimated the abundance after excluding those recorded as flying in a steady direction, or having been attracted to the ship. Considering only stationary birds (i.e. those that could not have been attracted), our minimum estimates were 41 000 rubricauda, 15 750 aethereus, 28 000 southern lepturus and 6400 northern lepturus. [source] Thermal evolution of the orogenic lower crust during exhumation within a thickened Moldanubian root of the Variscan belt of Central EuropeJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2006L. TAJ, MANOVá Abstract At the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif (Variscan belt of Central Europe), large bodies of felsic granulite preserve mineral assemblages and structures developed during the early stages of exhumation of the orogenic lower continental crust within the Moldanubian orogenic root. The development of an early steep fabric is associated with east,west-oriented compression and vertical extrusion of the high-grade rocks into higher crustal levels. The high-pressure mineral assemblage Grt-Ky-Kfs-Pl-Qtz-Liq corresponds to metamorphic pressures of ,18 kbar at ,850 °C, which are minimum estimates, whereas crystallization of biotite occurred at 13 kbar and ,790 °C during decompression with slight cooling. The late stages of the granulite exhumation were associated with lateral spreading of associated high-grade rocks over a middle crustal unit at ,4 kbar and ,700 °C, as estimated from accompanying cordierite-bearing gneisses. The internal structure of a contemporaneously intruded syenite is coherent with late structures developed in felsic granulites and surrounding gneisses, and the magma only locally explored the early subvertical fabric of the felsic granulite during emplacement. Consequently, the emplacement age of the syenite provides an independent constraint on the timing of the final stages of exhumation and allows calculation of exhumation and cooling rates, which for this part of the Variscan orogenic root are 2.9,3.5 mm yr,1 and 7,9.4 °C Myr,1, respectively. The final part of the temperature evolution shows very rapid cooling, which is interpreted as the result of juxtaposition of hot high-grade rocks with a cold upper-crustal lid. [source] Hospital system costs of artificial infant feeding: estimates for the Australian Capital TerritoryAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2002Julie P. Smith Objective: To estimate the attributable ACT hospital system costs of treating selected infant and childhood illnesses having known associations with early weaning from human milk. Method: We identified relative risks of infant and childhood morbidity associated with exposure to artificial feeding in the early months of life vs breastfeeding from cohort studies cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1997 as establishing the protective effect of breastfeeding. Data for ACT breastfeeding prevalence is assessed from a 1997 prospective population-based cohort study of 1,295 women. ACT Hospital Morbidity Data and DRG treatment costs were used to estimate the attributable fraction of costs of hospitalisation for gastrointestinal illness, respiratory illness and otitis media, eczema, and necrotising enterocolitis. Results: Although initiation rates were high (92%), less than one in 10 ACT infants are exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months, mainly due to supplementation or weaning on to formula within the first three months and the early introduction of solids by breastfeeding mothers. This study suggests the attributable hospitalisation costs of early weaning in the ACT are about $1 -2 million a year for the five illnesses. Conclusions and implications: Early weaning from breast milk is associated with significant hospital costs for treatment of gastrointestinal illness, respiratory illness and otitis media, eczema, and necrotising enterocolitis These costs are minimum estimates of the cost of early weaning as they exclude numerous other chronic or common illnesses and out-of-hospital health care costs. Higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding would reduce these costs. Interventions to protect and support breastfeeding are likely to be cost-effective for the public health system. 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