An awareness of the protective roll of n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids against development of cardiovascular disease has prompted the promotion of fish consumption. It is assumed that those fish rich in polyunsaturated fat and particularly those having high ratios of n‐3 to n‐6 polyunsaturated fatty acids would confer the most benefit. The total fat and fatty acid compositional data are reported herein for 41 different species of fish that are mostly found in the coastal waters of the Eastern United States.

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Under the direction of the US Global AIDS Coordinator's Office, Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC Global AIDS programme helps resource-constrained countries to address the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Activities include laboratory capacity and laboratory infrastructure development in 25 resource-constrained countries. Medical practitioners and public health programme leaders in industrialized countries rely on the use of quality laboratory data for evidence-based medical decision-making to determine policy for the implementation of disease control measures, to monitor disease to determine the impact of control programmes, and to support surveillance activities. In these countries, laboratory data to support decision-making processes have a level of quality attributable to laws, regulations and guidelines developed over many years. However, resource-constrained countries have not had similar experiences. Few countries have developed laws, regulations or guidelines, nor is there a data-use culture (e.g. evidence-based medicine) for those in the decision-making environment in resource-constrained countries. The strengthening of laboratory capability and capacity in resource-constrained countries is an important goal to improve accurate and reliable data for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of disease.A process for the implementation of a quality systems approach for a laboratory is presented: (i) acknowledgement of the need to improve the laboratory programme in the country at the Ministry of Health and at all decision-making levels within the provinces/states of the country; (ii) assessment of capabilities, capacities, infrastructure, and training needs; (iii) implementation of a national meeting of laboratorians; (iv) designation of a national Quality Assurance Office and leadership within that office; (v) the development and provision of technical training.

Context.-Congress enacted the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) to promote uniform quality and standards among all testing sites in the United States. The performance indicators specified in the legislation are proficiency testing (PT) performance and periodic inspections. Objective.-To evaluate variation in PT performance by type of testing facility during the first year of compulsory participation under CLIA. Design.-All 1994 PT score data electronically reported to the Health Care Financing Administration as a component of compliance with the CLIA regulations were obtained. Over 1.2 million PT event scores from 17 058 unique testing sites were sorted into 2 groups based on the type of testing facility: hospitals and independent laboratories (HI) and all other testing sites (AOT). Main Outcome Measures.-Satisfactory and unsatisfactory performance rates for HI and AOT for each analyte and/or test, according to the criteria specified by the CLIA regulations. Results.-The aggregate rates of satisfactory event performance for all regulated analytes, tests, and specialties were 97% and 91% for the HI and AOT groups, respectively. The aggregate odds ratio for unsatisfactory PT event performance for the AOT group compared with the HI group was 2.89, with a range of 2.19 to 7.51 for the individual analytes. Conclusion.-There was a consistent difference in PT performance during the first full year of compulsory PT under the CLIA regulations based on the type of testing facility performing the analysis. Traditional testing sites achieved higher rates of satisfactory performance than newly regulated, alternative testing sites.