Wave propagation and blocking in inhomogeneous media (Q2574732)

The physiological problem behind this paper is the observed phenomenon of intercellular responses of calcium ions which may propagate without diminution over several hundreds of cells before termination. A standard modelling process results in infinite propagation and is clearly inappropriate for the observed process. In this paper the medium is divided into an alternation of stimulated cells and gaps so that the differential equation modelling the propagation takes two forms. In the gaps there is simple diffusion and the governing equation for the active regions is the McKean-Nagumo equation. The problem is to match the solutions. The model adopted is somewhat simpler than reality, but it provides a mechanism to explain natural observation. The treatment is painstaking and the arguments liberally illustrated by diagrams which deserve close scrutiny. Unfortunately the text is marred by an approach the punctuation which at best can only be described as locally consistent and generally at variance with the norms of standard English.