Slow down to stay alive

Using Strategy Improvement to Stay Alive

We design a novel algorithm for solving Mean-Payoff Games (MPGs). Besides solving anMPG in the usual sense, our algorithm computes more information about the game, information that is important with respect to applications. The weights of the edges of an MPG can be thought of as a gained/consumed energy – depending on the sign. For each vertex, our algorithm computes the minimum amount of initi...

Neurons eat glutamate to stay alive

Neurons are thought to primarily rely on glucose to fuel mitochondrial metabolism. In this issue, Divakaruni et al. (2017. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201612067) show that neurons are also happy to use glutamate. When neurons use this neurotransmitter, its concentration drops, thus protecting against glutamate-induced excitotoxic stress.

Stay dynamic to slow aging

n page 803, Gourlay et al. report the first evidence that the actin cytoskeleton can affect release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by mitochondria, and thus life span in yeast. Certain mutant Saccharo-myces cerevisiae strains with alleles that reduce actin dynamics possess defective mitochondria. The team O Cells with increased actin dynamics live longer. went on to show that such strains dis...

Books: Reasons to Stay Alive: Helping the Sad.

Can Raising Vitamin D Status Slow Down Covid-19 Waves?

Several mitigation and suppression policies, such as social distancing, city lockdowns, remote working, testing, providing personal protective equipment and health care resource availability have been implemented by the governments in response to Covid-19 pandemic. Until now (October 23, 2020), over 1.14 million deaths in the world including 31,650 just in Iran have been officially attributed t...