The Native Population of Amazonia in 1492 Reconsidered

Since 1965 I have made several attempts to estimate the native population of Amazonia in 1492. My method was to determine rough habitat densities, which project to totals for Greater Amazonia of from 5.1 to 6.8 million. I now reject this method, given that the denser populations were mostly clustered rather than evenly dispersed. I nevertheless still believe that a total of at least 5 to 6 million is reasonable.Desde 1965 he realizado distintas estimaciones sobre la población nativa de la Amazonía en 1492. Mi método fue determinar la densidad de población aproximada, que suponía un total entre 5,1 y 6,8 millones para la Gran Amazonía. Actualmente cuestiono este método, dado que las comunidades que tenían mayor densidad de población, estaban concentradas en núcleos más densos, y no tan dispersos como antes pensaba. De todos modos, creo que manejar una cantidad de población entre 5 y 6 millones sigue siendo razonable

A Comparison of the Length of Two Distinct Rest Periods in Interval Training as Methods of Increasing Cardio-respiratory Efficiency

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of holding the work load constant and changing the rest periods between work intervals, upon the improvement of cardio respiratory efficiency of track men. During the spring semester of the 1965-66 school year, 27 freshmen students enrolled in the basic instruction program at South Dakota State University, who had indicated by questionnaire they had lettered in track in high school, volunteered for the program. The subjects were randomly placed into two experimental groups and one control group. After the completion of the testing period and statistical procedure employed, the study indicated the methods of training used in this experiment improved cardio-respiratory efficiency of the experimental groups significantly in comparison to the control group. The study also indicated that the unknown rest period group seems to be superior to the three minute rest period group in the recovery of the heart after exercise. (see more in text

MACHADOS DE PEDRA VERSUS MACHADOS DE METAL: A AMBIGUIDADE DA AGRICULTURA DE COIVARA NA AMAZÔNIA PRÉ-HISTÓRICA

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A descriptive study of Oregon schools/school districts to investigate how they planned to implement Oregon Administrative Rule 581-22-413

The purpose of this study was to investigate how schools/school districts plan to implement Oregon Administrative Rule 581-22-413, specifically: (1) How schools plan to integrate alcohol and drug abuse prevention into the Comprehensive Health Program. (2) How schools plan for age appropriate annual instruction at the senior high level. (3) How schools plan for the alcohol and drug abuse prevention education of the district's staff. An examination of the related literature revealed concerns about the proper type of planning schools/school districts would need to do to effectively satisfy this OAR. The literature further indicated School Health Programs were encouraged by the experts in the field, but few schools had achieved the entire concept. Staff education was an area that the literature indicated needed greater definition and implementation. A survey questionnaire was prepared with the help of a Delphi group to investigate the concerns. The questionnaire was sent to 180 randomly chosen administrators. The data were collected and descriptive analyses were performed. It was determined from this study that most of the Oregon schools administrators are concerned about OAR 581-22-413 and are attempting to meet these regulations. However, they are facing time and financial constraints which make it difficult to fit the new requirements into the curriculum. Staff in-service is becoming a reality for administrators and certified staff but other school personnel have been left out. There are indications that alcohol and drug abuse prevention education is being integrated into senior high school classes such as Science, Social Studies and Physical Education, in addition to comprehensive health courses. This approach can work providing the teachers of those subjects are well prepared to teach alcohol and drug prevention effectively. It was recommended that all college graduates seeking a teaching certificate be required to take a course in alcohol and drug abuse prevention in order to qualify

Long-distance staple transport in western Mesoamerica: Insights through quantitative modeling

Conceptualizations of pre-Hispanic staple transport remain underdeveloped. Conventional wisdom has long maintained that while prestige goods could demand long-distance transport, staple transport was short distance. A quantitative model reveals the fallacy of that argument and establishes the possibility of long-distance, overland staple transport in Mesoamerica by using maize tribute transport between Zempoala and Tenochtitlan as an example. This conclusion has implications for understanding Mesoamerican interregional exchange, ecology, and society

The rain forest is a human creation.

The Amazon rain forest was, before the Europeans came, as cultivated as forests anywhere else in the world. It was not 'virgin'. The native people still living within the forest are remnants descended from highly structured societies with suitably developed agriculture and food systems. A vast number of foods including guaraná, açaí and manioc (above) have been cultivated for thousands of years. This revolutionises understanding of the nature and value of Amazonia, the imperative need to protect and strengthen its own identity, and to learn yet again that in agro-ecology is the salvation of the planet

Is small-scale agriculture really the main driver of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon? Moving beyond the prevailing narrative

A key premise underlying discussion about deforestation in Amazonian Peru is that small-scale or so-called migratory agriculture is the main driver of deforestation. This premise has been expressed in government documents and public outreach events. How the Peruvian government understands drivers of deforestation in the Amazon has profound implications for how it will confront the problem. It is therefore important to critically revisit assumptions under-lying this narrative. We find that the narrative is based on remote sensing of deforestation patch sizes but not on field data, potentially conflating distinct drivers of deforestation under the umbrella of “migratory,” “small-scale,” or “subsistence” agriculture. In fact, small patches of deforested land may indicate any number of processes, including sustainable fallow management and agroforestry. Moreover, the data underlying the narrative tell us little about the actors driving these processes or their motivations. Different pro-cesses have distinct implications for environmental sustainability and require targeted policy responses. We unpack these diverse actors, geographies, and motivations of small-patch deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon and argue that differentiating among these drivers is necessary to develop appropriate policy responses. We call for researchers to revisit assumptions and critically assess the motivations of observed deforestation to appropriately target policy action

Interactive Radio: A New Platform for Calm Computing

Interactive radio is proposed as a platform for Weiser's calm computing vision. An evaluation of CereProc's MyMyRadio is presented as a case study to highlight the potential and challenges of an interactive radio approach: the difficulty of transitioning between passive and active modes of interaction, and the challenge of designing such services. The evaluation showed: 1) A higher workload for MyMyRadio for active tasks compared to default applications (e.g. Facebook app); 2) No significant difference in workload for passive tasks (e.g. listening to audio rendered RSS updates vs Browser app); 3) A higher workload when listening to music within MyMyRadio vs iTunes; and 4) A preference for RSS feed content compared to content from social media. We conclude by discussing the potential of interactive radio as a platform for pervasive eyes-free services

An improved methodology for the recovery of Zea mays and other large crop pollen, with implications for environmental archaeology in the Neotropics

We present a simple sieving methodology to aid the recovery of large cultigen pollen grains, such as maize (Zea mays L.), manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), among others, for the detection of food production using fossil pollen analysis of lake sediments in the tropical Americas. The new methodology was tested on three large study lakes located next to known and/or excavated pre-Columbian archaeological sites in South and Central America. Five paired samples, one treated by sieving, the other prepared using standard methodology, were compared for each of the three sites. Using the new methodology, chemically digested sediment samples were passed through a 53 µm sieve, and the residue was retained, mounted in silicone oil, and counted for large cultigen pollen grains. The filtrate was mounted and analysed for pollen according to standard palynological procedures. Zea mays (L.) was recovered from the sediments of all three study lakes using the sieving technique, where no cultigen pollen had been previously recorded using the standard methodology. Confidence intervals demonstrate there is no significant difference in pollen assemblages between the sieved versus unsieved samples. Equal numbers of exotic Lycopodium spores added to both the filtrate and residue of the sieved samples allow for direct comparison of cultigen pollen abundance with the standard terrestrial pollen count. Our technique enables the isolation and rapid scanning for maize and other cultigen pollen in lake sediments, which, in conjunction with charcoal and pollen records, is key to determining land-use patterns and the environmental impact of pre-Columbian societies