ABSTRACT
The extent to which pre-Columbian societies altered Amazonian landscapes is hotly debated. We performed a basin-wide analysis of pre-Columbian impacts on Amazonian forests by overlaying known archaeological sites in Amazonia with the distributions and abundances of 85 woody species domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples. Domesticated species are five times more likely than nondomesticated species to be hyperdominant. Across the basin, the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species increase in forests on and around archaeological sites. In southwestern and eastern Amazonia, distance to archaeological sites strongly influences the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species. Our analyses indicate that modern tree communities in Amazonia are structured to an important extent by a long history of plant domestication by Amazonian peoples.
Subject(s)
Domestication , Forests , Trees , Brazil , History, Ancient , HumansABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many scales have been proposed for the brief nutritional assessment of older persons, with the goal of increasing undernutrition detection and the detection of nutritional risk. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (Guigoz et al., 1994) has been increasingly used worldwide, but its efficacy has been assessed in few countries. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess, through complete clinical evaluation, anthropometric measurements and laboratorial tests, the nutritional state of older persons living in the community and compare the results with the score obtained by the application of the Mini Nutritional Assessment. DESIGN: Forty-two persons aged 60 years or older (55% women, mean age 70.9 years) were studied. All volunteers were submitted to a criterious clinical evaluation, anthropometric measures and laboratorial testing (serum albumin, hemoglobin, lymphocite count, iron and unsatured iron binding capacity). RESULTS: Twenty-seven volunteers (64%) were considered eutrophic, 12 volunteers were considered obese (28,6%) and three volunteers were considered undernourished. Thirteen volunteers were classified as in risk of undernutrition by the Mini-Nutritional Assessment score, 29 scored within the normal range and no volunteer was considered to be undernourished. The Mini Nutritional Assessment score was significantly associated with age and with the unsatured iron binding capacity. When compared to the final nutritional diagnosis, the questionnaire showed 100% sensibility and 74.3% specificity. CONCLUSION: This study detected a prevalence of undernutrition in the elderly living in the community similar to those described in developed countries. In this population, the Mini Nutritional Assessment showed to be specially efficient for the detection of nutritional risk.
