Thrombospondin receptor α2δ-1 promotes synaptogenesis and spinogenesis via postsynaptic Rac1.

Astrocytes control excitatory synaptogenesis by secreting thrombospondins (TSPs), which function via their neuronal receptor, the calcium channel subunit α2δ-1. α2δ-1 is a drug target for epilepsy and neuropathic pain; thus the TSP-α2δ-1 interaction is implicated in both synaptic development and disease pathogenesis. However, the mechanism by which this interaction promotes synaptogenesis and the requirement for α2δ-1 for connectivity of the developing mammalian brain are unknown.

Detection of ventricular fibrillation and tachycardia from the surface ECG by a set of parameters acquired from four methods.

The recent development and increased application of automatic external defibrillators have prescribed very strong requirements towards ventricular fibrillation (VF) and fast ventricular tachycardia (VT > 180 bpm) detection from the surface electrocardiogram (ECG). We attempted to use informative parameters from several existing analysis methods and from a method developed in-house. A set of nine parameters was derived initially, with four of them being selected after statistical assessment.

A computer system for acoustic analysis of pathological voices and laryngeal diseases screening.

A system for acoustic analysis of pathological voices is proposed. The vocalized part of the voice signal is separated and all glottal cycles are traced by means of a cross-correlation detector. Based on the so determined beginning and duration of all glottal cycles, shimmer, jitter, several harmonics-to-noise ratios and other widely used acoustic parameters are calculated.