Protein quality changes of vegan day menus with different plant protein source compositions

To underline the importance of protein quality in plant-based diets, we estimated the protein quality of different exclusively plant-protein-based day menus that are based on the “planetary health diet” developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission. PDCAAS and DIAAS were used to estimate the protein quality (PQ) and fulfilling of the amino acid recommendation for adults in vegan daily menus based on the planetary health diet: 2 days with only low-quality (LQ) protein sources and 2 days with low + high-quality (HQ) protein sources. The protein quality of Day 1LQ (DIAAS 76, PDCAAS 88) was increased by the addition of high-quality protein sources (HQPS): Day 1HQ (DIAAS 94, PDCAAS 98). Day 2LQ had a low PQ (DIAAS 71, PDCAAS 74), but when HQPS were used (Day 2HQ), the PQ increased (DIAAS 83, PDCAAS 88). Scenarios (day 1HQ, day 1LQ, and day 2 HQ) were classified as of good PQ. However, day 1LQ had a low protein quality. Consuming HQPS in a vegan diet can help to fulfil the recommendation of essential amino acids. This work served to understand and apply methods to estimate protein quality that can be applied to optimize protein mixtures to fulfil amino acid requirements in the future

There’s a SNARC in the Size Congruity Task

The size congruity effect involves interference between numerical magnitude and physical size of visually presented numbers: congruent numbers (either both small or both large in numerical magnitude and physical size) are responded to faster than incongruent ones (small numerical magnitude/large physical size or vice versa). Besides, numerical magnitude is associated with lateralized response codes, leading to the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect: small numerical magnitudes are preferably responded to on the left side and large ones on the right side. Whereas size congruity effects are ascribed to interference between stimulus dimensions in the decision stage, SNARC effects are understood as (in)compatibilities in stimulus-response combinations. Accordingly, size congruity and SNARC effects were previously found to be independent in parity and in physical size judgment tasks. We investigated their dependency in numerical magnitude judgment tasks. We obtained independent size congruity and SNARC effects in these tasks and replicated this observation for the parity judgment task. The results confirm and extend the notion that size congruity and SNARC effects operate in different representational spaces. We discuss possible implications for number representation

Archaeological sites as Distributed Long-term Observing Networks of the Past (DONOP)

The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation, specifically the Arctic Social Sciences Program, and RANNIS (The Icelandic Center for Research).Archaeological records provide a unique source of direct data on long-term human-environment interactions and samples of ecosystems affected by differing degrees of human impact. Distributed long-term datasets from archaeological sites provide a significant contribution to establish local, regional, and continental-scale environmental baselines and can be used to understand the implications of human decision-making and its impacts on the environment and the resources it provides for human use. Deeper temporal environmental baselines are essential for resource and environmental managers to restore biodiversity and build resilience in depleted ecosystems. Human actions are likely to have impacts that reorganize ecosystem structures by reducing diversity through processes such as niche construction. This makes data from archaeological sites key assets for the management of contemporary and future climate change scenarios because they combine information about human behavior, environmental baselines, and biological systems. Sites of this kind collectively form Distributed Long-term Observing Networks of the Past (DONOP), allowing human behavior and environmental impacts to be assessed over space and time. Behavioral perspectives are gained from direct evidence of human actions in response to environmental opportunities and change. Baseline perspectives are gained from data on species, landforms, and ecology over timescales that long predate our typically recent datasets that only record systems already disturbed by people. And biological perspectives can provide essential data for modern managers wanting to understand and utilize past diversity (i.e., trophic and/or genetic) as a way of revealing, and potentially correcting, weaknesses in our contemporary wild and domestic animal populations.PostprintPeer reviewe

DNA conformations and their sequence preferences

The geometry of the phosphodiester backbone was analyzed for 7739 dinucleotides from 447 selected crystal structures of naked and complexed DNA. Ten torsion angles of a near-dinucleotide unit have been studied by combining Fourier averaging and clustering. Besides the known variants of the A-, B- and Z-DNA forms, we have also identified combined A + B backbone-deformed conformers, e.g. with α/γ switches, and a few conformers with a syn orientation of bases occurring e.g. in G-quadruplex structures. A plethora of A- and B-like conformers show a close relationship between the A- and B-form double helices. A comparison of the populations of the conformers occurring in naked and complexed DNA has revealed a significant broadening of the DNA conformational space in the complexes, but the conformers still remain within the limits defined by the A- and B- forms. Possible sequence preferences, important for sequence-dependent recognition, have been assessed for the main A and B conformers by means of statistical goodness-of-fit tests. The structural properties of the backbone in quadruplexes, junctions and histone-core particles are discussed in further detail

There's a SNARC in the Size Congruity Task

The size congruity effect involves interference between numerical magnitude and physical size of visually presented numbers: congruent numbers (either both small or both large in numerical magnitude and physical size) are responded to faster than incongruent ones (small numerical magnitude/large physical size or vice versa). Besides, numerical magnitude is associated with lateralized response codes, leading to the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect: small numerical magnitudes are preferably responded to on the left side and large ones on the right side. Whereas size congruity effects are ascribed to interference between stimulus dimensions in the decision stage, SNARC effects are understood as (in)compatibilities in stimulus-response combinations. Accordingly, size congruity and SNARC effects were previously found to be independent in parity and in physical size judgment tasks. We investigated their dependency in numerical magnitude judgment tasks. We obtained independent size congruity and SNARC effects in these tasks and replicated this observation for the parity judgment task. The results confirm and extend the notion that size congruity and SNARC effects operate in different representational spaces. We discuss possible implications for number representation

There's a SNARC in the Size Congruity Task

The size congruity effect involves interference between numerical magnitude and physical size of visually presented numbers: congruent numbers (either both small or both large in numerical magnitude and physical size) are responded to faster than incongruent ones (small numerical magnitude/large physical size or vice versa). Besides, numerical magnitude is associated with lateralized response codes, leading to the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect: small numerical magnitudes are preferably responded to on the left side and large ones on the right side. Whereas size congruity effects are ascribed to interference between stimulus dimensions in the decision stage, SNARC effects are understood as (in)compatibilities in stimulus-response combinations. Accordingly, size congruity and SNARC effects were previously found to be independent in parity and in physical size judgment tasks. We investigated their dependency in numerical magnitude judgment tasks. We obtained independent size congruity and SNARC effects in these tasks and replicated this observation for the parity judgment task. The results confirm and extend the notion that size congruity and SNARC effects operate in different representational spaces. We discuss possible implications for number representation.status: publishe

There's a SNARC in the Size Congruity Task

The size congruity effect involves interference between numerical magnitude and physical size of visually presented numbers: congruent numbers (either both small or both large in numerical magnitude and physical size) are responded to faster than incongruent ones (small numerical magnitude/large physical size or vice versa). Besides, numerical magnitude is associated with lateralized response codes, leading to the Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect: small numerical magnitudes are preferably responded to on the left side and large ones on the right side. Whereas size congruity effects are ascribed to interference between stimulus dimensions in the decision stage, SNARC effects are understood as (in)compatibilities in stimulus-response combinations. Accordingly, size congruity and SNARC effects were previously found to be independent in parity and in physical size judgment tasks. We investigated their dependency in numerical magnitude judgment tasks. We obtained independent size congruity and SNARC effects in these tasks and replicated this observation for the parity judgment task. The results confirm and extend the notion that size congruity and SNARC effects operate in different representational spaces. We discuss possible implications for number representation

Protein Quality Changes of Vegan Day Menus with Different Plant Protein Source Compositions

To underline the importance of protein quality in plant-based diets, we estimated the protein quality of different exclusively plant-protein-based day menus that are based on the “planetary health diet” developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission. PDCAAS and DIAAS were used to estimate the protein quality (PQ) and fulfilling of the amino acid recommendation for adults in vegan daily menus based on the planetary health diet: 2 days with only low-quality (LQ) protein sources and 2 days with low + high-quality (HQ) protein sources. The protein quality of Day 1LQ (DIAAS 76, PDCAAS 88) was increased by the addition of high-quality protein sources (HQPS): Day 1HQ (DIAAS 94, PDCAAS 98). Day 2LQ had a low PQ (DIAAS 71, PDCAAS 74), but when HQPS were used (Day 2HQ), the PQ increased (DIAAS 83, PDCAAS 88). Scenarios (day 1HQ, day 1LQ, and day 2 HQ) were classified as of good PQ. However, day 1LQ had a low protein quality. Consuming HQPS in a vegan diet can help to fulfil the recommendation of essential amino acids. This work served to understand and apply methods to estimate protein quality that can be applied to optimize protein mixtures to fulfil amino acid requirements in the future

Factoring in the spatial effects of symbolic number representation

Spatial constituents of adult symbolic number representation produce effects of size-value congruity, Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC), and numerical distance. According to behavioral experiments, these effects belong to distinct processing stages. Yet, these effects evoke overlapping responses in both early and late Event Related Potentials (ERPs). To probe whether these overlaps indicate sharing of resources, all relevant stimulus and response conditions were factorially combined in a numerical value comparison task. To secure ERP validity, same numbers were compared against variable reference values. This design resulted in previously unobserved interactions in behavior but inhibited late ERP effects. All effects arose early in the P1 component (around 100 ms) and most showed hemispheric specificity. Independency of congruity and SNARC effects was observed, whereas SNARC and numerical distance were closely intertwined. Differences in hemispheric specificity, rather than stage-wise separation, were key to independence.status: publishe