ABSTRACT
The paper presents an overview of the 50-year long bioanthropological research of the Hvar islanders and depicts the maternal and paternal genetic landscape of the Hvar population (mtDNA and NRY lineages) in more detail. MtDNA haplogroups were determined in 169 and NRY haplogroups in 407 autochthonous individuals from the Hvar Island. The relatively high level of diversity of mtDNA and NRY lineages has been observed, however with interesting deviations from both the maternal (F1b1 lineage) and paternal (Q2a1a lineage) perspective. Additionally, population substructuring revealed differences between Hvar communities (east-west substructuring), in line with the ethnohistoric background and observed migration patterns on the island. Genetic analysis of the Hvar islanders presents a highlight of the 50-year long anthropological research on this island and offers insight into the current genetic structure of Dalmatia, Croatia, shaped by dynamic and diverse population movements throughout history.
Subject(s)
Anthropology , DNA, Mitochondrial , Croatia , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Genetic Variation/genetics , Genetics, Population , Haplotypes/genetics , HumansABSTRACT
Branched-chained amino acids (BCAA) are essential dietary components for humans and can act as potential biomarkers for diabetes development. To efficiently estimate dietary intake, we developed a BCAA database for 1331 food items found in the French Centre d'Information sur la Qualité des Aliments (CIQUAL) food table by compiling BCAA content from international tables, published measurements, or by food similarity as well as by calculating 267 items from Greek, Turkish, Romanian, and Moroccan mixed dishes. The database embedded in MEDIPAD software capable of registering 24 h of dietary recalls (24HDR) with clinical and genetic data was evaluated based on archived 24HDR of the Saint Pierre Institute (France) from 2957 subjects, which indicated a BCAA content up to 4.2 g/100 g of food and differences among normal weight and obese subjects across BCAA quartiles. We also evaluated the database of 119 interviews of Romanians, Turkish and Albanians in Greece (27â»65 years) during the MEDIGENE program, which indicated mean BCAA intake of 13.84 and 12.91 g/day in males and females, respectively, comparable to other studies. The MEDIPAD is user-friendly, multilingual, and secure software and with the BCAA database is suitable for conducting nutritional assessment in the Mediterranean area with particular facilities for food administration.
Subject(s)
Amino Acids, Branched-Chain/analysis , Databases, Factual/statistics & numerical data , Food Analysis/methods , Nutrition Assessment , Software , Adult , Aged , Female , France , Greece , Humans , Male , Mediterranean Region , Middle Aged , Nutrition SurveysABSTRACT
The paper presents overview of nutrition in rural areas in Croatia in the period from the middle of the 19th to the middle of 20th century collected from scientific papers, ethnographic collections of "Zbornik za narodni zivot i obicaje juznih Slavena" and popular scientific papers. Paper offers critical overview of the published papers on this topic and description of everyday dishes and ingredients with local names used in each Croatian region. Paper focuses on everyday diet of peasants in Croatia in the past, concentrating on time, content and frequency of the meals during the day, differences in diet between seasons, differences in diet regarding the amount of physical labor of the peasant and differences in diet regarding economic possibilities of households.
