Small carbohydrate reserves can catastrophically limit human performance in endurance running: Runners risk "hitting the wall" if they exhaust their leg muscle glycogen before finishing a race. Using a mathematical model of carbohydrate metabolism during endurance running, Benjamin Rapoport (10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000960) demonstrates a method of computing personalized estimates of distances at which runners exhaust their carbohydrate stores while racing at various intensities, providing a quantitative basis for safe pacing strategies, optimal midrace fueling plans, and estimations of performance limits in human endurance running. This artistic rendering shows a runner at different distances and stages of glycogen depletion, superimposed on a glycogen molecule.
Image Credit: Benjamin I. Rapoport; segment of glycogen molecule from image by Mikael Häggström via Wikimedia Commons, brick wall courtesy of Charles S. Bond.
Obituary
In Memoriam: Rolf Kötter (1961–2010)
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 28, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000965
Research Articles
Role of Lipids in Spheroidal High Density Lipoproteins
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 28, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000964
Informing Optimal Environmental Influenza Interventions: How the Host, Agent, and Environment Alter Dominant Routes of Transmission
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An Automated Phenotype-Driven Approach (GeneForce) for Refining Metabolic and Regulatory Models
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Endothelial Cell Capture of Heparin-Binding Growth Factors under Flow
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Numerical Analysis of Ca2+ Signaling in Rat Ventricular Myocytes with Realistic Transverse-Axial Tubular Geometry and Inhibited Sarcoplasmic Reticulum
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 28, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000972
Inherent High Correlation of Individual Motility Enhances Population Dispersal in a Heterotrophic, Planktonic Protist
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Individualization as Driving Force of Clustering Phenomena in Humans
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 21, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000959
Metabolic Factors Limiting Performance in Marathon Runners
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 21, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000960
Non-Bulk-Like Solvent Behavior in the Ribosome Exit Tunnel
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 21, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000963
Biosensor Approach to Psychopathology Classification
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 21, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000966
Non-Centered Spike-Triggered Covariance Analysis Reveals Neurotrophin-3 as a Developmental Regulator of Receptive Field Properties of ON-OFF Retinal Ganglion Cells
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 21, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000967
A Covering Method for Detecting Genetic Associations between Rare Variants and Common Phenotypes
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 14, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000954
Bistability in Apoptosis by Receptor Clustering
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Library of Disordered Patterns in 3D Protein Structures
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Evolution of a Signaling Nexus Constrained by Protein Interfaces and Conformational States
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 14, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000962
Critical Dynamics in the Evolution of Stochastic Strategies for the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 7, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000948
A Computational Framework for Influenza Antigenic Cartography
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 7, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000949
Selection upon Genome Architecture: Conservation of Functional Neighborhoods with Changing Genes
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 7, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000953
Genetic Signatures in the Envelope Glycoproteins of HIV-1 that Associate with Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
PLOS Computational Biology: published October 7, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000955