sodium and calcium ion channels (Figure 1B,C). This discovery has widespread implications for the ways neurons integrate the many thousands of synaptic inputs they receive. Theoretical studies pioneered by Rall [2] laid the foundations for the way neuroscientists think about synaptic integration. He suggested that dendrites behave like electrical filters, reducing the amplitude of synaptic pote...

The acetic acid analogues of thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine, namely tetraiodothyroacetic acid [4-(4'hydroxy-3':5'-di-iodophenoxy)3:5diiodophenylacetic acid] and tri-iodothyroacetic acid [4-(4'hydroxy-3'-iodophenoxy) 3:5 di iodophenylacetic acid] have been synthesized (Harington & PittRivers, 1952; Pitt-Rivers, 1953) and shown to possess considerable biological activity when assayed by the goit...

Of note in this volume is the fact that it is dedicated to the memory of Alfred Gilman. He, along with Louis S. Goodman, wrote the first two editions of this text, and he served as an editor until his death in 1984. He will be missed by all those who knew him. Despite Dr. Gilman's untimely death and the addition of two new editors, Theodore W. Rall and Ferid Murad, the book remains unchanged in...

We consider the problem of accurate computation of the finite difference f(x+ s)− f(x) when ‖s‖ is very small. Direct evaluation of this difference in floating point arithmetic succumbs to cancellation error and yields 0 when s is sufficiently small. Nonetheless, accurate computation of this finite difference is required by many optimization algorithms for a “sufficient decrease” test. Reps and...

The well known Ostrowski theorem [1] gives a sufficient condition (the spectral radius of the Jacobian of the iteration mapping in the fixed point to be less than 1) for the local convergence of Picard iteration. “However, no estimate for the size of an attraction ball is known” [2] (2009). The problem of estimating the local radius of convergence for different iterative methods was considered ...

Generating imperative programs from systolic speciications implies the use of a memory-eecient model for representing data used in the original, single-assignment problem. We present a new method of generating data structures , designed for use in systolic program compilers for distributed-memory parallel computers. Our method is based on the mathematical properties of systolic programs and con...

Since the introduction of the alpha function by Rall in 1967 12], there has been signii-cant progress in our understanding of the molecular events underlying synaptic transmission. Particular receptor types have been identiied and their activation kinetics characterized. It is now possible to develop models of these receptors, using a formalism similar to that introduced by Hodgkin and Huxley 9...

Whole cell voltage- and current-clamp measurements were done on intact Xenopus laevis larval spinal neurons at developmental stages 42-47. Firing patterns and electrotonic properties of putative interneurons from the dorsal and ventral medial regions of the spinal cord at myotome levels 4-6 were measured in isolated spinal cord preparations. Passive electrotonic parameters were determined with ...

The broad field of comparative pharmacology has as a goal "to take advantage of the diversity of form and function [of all animals] to increase our knowledge of general principles" of drug or xenobiotic interactions with the living organism (1). Our current perspective on the comparative approach is derived largely from the seminal conference on comparative pharmacology held in 1967 under the j...

In previous work the existence of free thyroxine in human serum was verified by dialysis through cellophane; the concentration of the unbound hormone in normal human serum was found to approximate one-thousandth of the total thyroxine (1). This direct measurement of free thyroxine was in reasonable agreement with the theoretical value computed from data on the per cent of total thyroxine bound ...