The main purpose of this volume is to provide a focused analysis of the function of the G protein-coupled signaling pathways that operate in the interconnected network of retinal neurons as they detect and encode the information carried by light. The organization of this volume will generally follow the path of signal flow in the retina. First we will describe recent advances in understanding the phototransduction cascade of rod and cone photoreceptors, which use signaling cascade based on the GPCR rhodopsin to transduce incident light into neural activity. Chapters will be devoted to unique specializations of the two major types of photosensitive cells that comprise the predominant input for our spatial and color vision. Subsequently, the mechanisms of synaptic information encoding by retinal ON bipolar cells will be described, where the GPCR mGluR6 plays a fundamental role. Chapters in this section will examine macromolecular organization of the mGluR6 signaling pathway as well as current understanding of its function. The functional characteristics of this signaling mechanism will be explored in detail. Additionally, this section will cover the role of dopamine receptors in modulating signal transmission between photoreceptors and ON-bipolar cells. Finally, chapters will be focused on the output neurons of the inner retina, ganglion cells, where the components of the emerging GPCR melanopsin cascade in intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells will be detailed. Collectively these mechanisms allow the retina to represent visual space over a wide range of light intensities.

The main purpose of this volume is to provide a focused analysis of the function of the G protein-coupled signaling pathways that operate in the interconnected network of retinal neurons as they detect and encode the information carried by light. The organization of this volume will generally follow the path of signal flow in the retina. First we will describe recent advances in understanding the phototransduction cascade of rod and cone photoreceptors, which use signaling cascade based on the GPCR rhodopsin to transduce incident light into neural activity. Chapters will be devoted to unique specializations of the two major types of photosensitive cells that comprise the predominant input for our spatial and color vision. Subsequently, the mechanisms of synaptic information encoding by retinal ON bipolar cells will be described, where the GPCR mGluR6 plays a fundamental role. Chapters in this section will examine macromolecular organization of the mGluR6 signaling pathway as well as current understanding of its function. The functional characteristics of this signaling mechanism will be explored in detail. Additionally, this section will cover the role of dopamine receptors in modulating signal transmission between photoreceptors and ON-bipolar cells. Finally, chapters will be focused on the output neurons of the inner retina, ganglion cells, where the components of the emerging GPCR melanopsin cascade in intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells will be detailed. Collectively these mechanisms allow the retina to represent visual space over a wide range of light intensities.

This volume is the proceedings of a workshop organized by General Motors research and development laboratory in Bangalore, India. It was the first of its kind to be run by an automotive major to bring together the leaders in the field of embedded systems development to present state-of-the-art work, and to discuss future strategies for addressing the increasing complexity of embedded control systems. The workshop consisted of invited talks given by leading experts and researchers from academic and industrial organizations. It covered all areas of embedded systems development.

This volume is the proceedings of the workshop ?Next Generation Design and Verification Methodologies for Distributed Embedded Control Systems? organised by General Motors R&D, India Science Lab. The workshop was held on January 5-6 2007 at the NIAS auditorium, IISc campus, Bangalore, India. This workshop is the first of its kind to be organised by an automotive major to bring together the leaders in the field of embedded systems development to present state-of-the-art work, and to discuss future strategies for addressing the increasing complexity of embedded control systems. The workshop consisted of invited talks given by leading experts and researchers from academic and industrial organizations. The workshop covered all areas of embedded systems development and in particular: Formal specification and verification of distributed, heterogeneous, embedded systems Formal semantics of modeling languages Model-based specification and testing Formal approach to component based development Software product line engineering Automatic code generation for distributed, embedded systems.