Neuroscience Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. I-IV, 1989 Printed in Great Britain

0306-4522/89 $3.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press plc

0 1989 IBRO

SOFTWARE SURVEY SECTION

Editor's Note: The following Software Descriptions have been submitted by our readers in response to our call for an open exchange of information on software programs. They are offered without review or comment to provide a rapidly published, easily accessible avenue of communication. Other readers with relevant software packages are invited to complete and submit a Software Description Form (found at the end of this section).

Software Dackaae NS-020-S88 DOUBLE

Contributor: Christoph Redies, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology E25-435, Dept of Brain/Cognitive Sciences, Cambridge, MA 02139

Brief descriotion: The progra! DOUBLE calculates glucose utilization for double-label1 and conventional deoxyglucose experiments according to the equations given in Appendices A and B in . The program reads files with the plasma radioactivity and plasma glucose data and files with tracer rate and lumped constants. user.

These files can be edited and changed by theI The program calculates the terms in equations (A22) and (813) in .

These terms are used to determine glucose utilization if the total tissue radioactivity is given. Extensive external documentation and sample files for this easy-to-use program are provided.

Redies et al., 2 Sokoloff et al.,

NEUROSCIENCE a, 600-619, 1987 J. NEUROCHEM. 28, 897-916, 1977

Potential users: Neuroscientists using deoxyglucose method. Fields of interest: Functional mapping of brain.

This application program in the area of tracer kinetics has been developed for IBM AT and compatibles in FORTRAN 77 to run under MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. It is available on 5-l/4', dual-sided, double-density floppy diskette. Distributed by contributor. The minimum hardware configuration required is training is required. There is extensive exte code not available.

math coprocessor. No user rnal documentation. Source

in use by 39 researchers Id welcome collaboration.

The package is fully operational. It has been for approximately 1 year. The contributor wou

I

II Software Survey Section

Software packaae NS-021-S89 Computer Simulation of the Action Potential Recording in a Two-Dimensional Conductor

Contributor: Dr. Enrique Soto, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Ciencias Fisiologicas-ICUAP, Apartado Postal 406, Puebla, Pue., Mexico

Brief descriotion: The simulation setup is based on the classical Lorente de No (1947) experiment in which a bullfrog sciatic nerve is placed upon a sheet of filter paper soaked with saline solution. Hence, the potential field generated by propagated action potentials may be mapped by positioning a recording electrode in different points of the paper's surface. For the simulation, action potentials have been modeled as two opposite vectors (dipoles), one in the propagation direction, and the other in the repolarization direction. The record is obtained by adding the solid angle projection of these vectors upon a line subtended between its origin and the electrode. obtained.

Characteristically positive-negative-positive records are The amplitude and duration of each of these components varies

depending upon the position of the recording electrode and on the nerve properties. User may change the elctrode position and nerve properties (such as membrane potential, conduction velocity, etc.) at will. The potential recording is shown in a simulated oscilloscope. Graphs of the peak values of the recorded potentials, the field potential maps, and a three-dimensional graph of the last 30 potentials recorded may be obtained. Program is designed for students at the graduate and undergraduate level. The program has been fully debugged and error trapping routines are included to prevent input-output errors. The program's most useful property is that it acquaints students with the experimental procedures, methods and interpretation of nerve activity recording in a volume conductor.

Potential use Fields of in&&t

Laboratory teaching in general physiology courses. : General physiology/neurophysiology.

This program in the area of physiology has been developed for IBM PC and compatibles in Turbo Pascal to run under MS-DOS. It is available on 5-l/4", 128K.

dual-sided, double-density floppy diskette. Required memory is

Distributed by contributor. The minimum hardware configuration required is one disk drive. No user training is required. It is self-documenting with extensive external documentation. The package is fully operational. It has been in use at 5 sites for approximately 2 years. The contributor is available for user inquiries.

Software Survey Section III

JOURNAL NAME NEUROSCIENCE

PERGAMON PRESS SOFTHARE DESCRiPlION FORM

Title of software program:

Type of program: [ ] Application [ J Utility [ ] Other

Category: statistics, thermodynamics, etc.)

(ie. Psychological assessment,

Oeveloped for (name of computer/s):

in (language/s):

to run under (operating system):

available on: [ ] Floppy disk/diskette. Specify:

Size Density [ ] Single-sided [ ] Dual-sided

[ ] Magnetic tape. Specify:

Size Density Character set

Hardware required:

Memory required: User training required: [ ] Yes [ ] No

Documentation: [ ] None [ ] Minimal f ] Self-documenting [ IExtensive external documentation

Source code available: [ ] Yes [ INo

Stage of development: I: ] Design complete [ ] Fully operational f !

Is program in use? [ ] Yes How long? I INo

Coding complete Collaboration welcomed

How many sites?

Is the contributor available for user inquiries: [ ] Yes I ]No

Distributed by:

Cost of program:

Demonstration disk available? [ ] Yes cost: [ INo

RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO:

(continued)

Ms. Phyllis Hall, Senior V.P. Pergamon Press, Inc.

Maxwell House, Fairview Park Elmsford, New York 10523

[This Software Description Form may be photocopied without permission]

IV Software Survey Section

Description of what software does [maximum: 200 words]:

Potential users:

Field/s of interest:

#######

Name of contributor:

Institution:

Address:

Telephone number:

#######

Reference No. [Assigned by Journal Editor]

[The information below is not for publication.]

Would you like to have your program:

Reviewed? [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Not at this time

Marketed and distributed? [ ] Yes [ INo [ ] Not at this time

[This Software Description Form may be photocopied without permission]