Early Seizure Detection Based on Cardiac Autonomic Regulation Dynamics

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes changes in the autonomic nervous system. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects the regulation of cardiac activity and autonomic nervous system tone. The early detection of epileptic seizures could foster the use of new treatment approaches. This study presents a new methodology for the prediction of epileptic seizures using HRV signals. Eigendecomposition of HRV parameter covariance matrices was used to create an input for a support vector machine (SVM)-based classifier. We analyzed clinical data from 12 patients (9 female; 3 male; age 34.5 ± 7.5 years), involving 34 seizures and a total of 55.2 h of interictal electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. Data from 123.6 h of ECG recordings from healthy subjects were used to test false positive rate per hour (FP/h) in a completely independent data set. Our methodological approach allowed the detection of impending seizures from 5 min to just before the onset of a clinical/electrical seizure with a sensitivity of 94.1%. The FP rate was 0.49 h−1 in the recordings from patients with epilepsy and 0.19 h−1 in the recordings from healthy subjects. Our results suggest that it is feasible to use the dynamics of HRV parameters for the early detection and, potentially, the prediction of epileptic seizures

Cavity implementation of quantum interference in a Λ\Lambda-type atom

A scheme for engineering quantum interference in a $\Lambda$-type atom coupled to a frequency-tunable, single-mode cavity field with a pre-selected polarization at finite temperature is proposed. Interference-assisted population trapping, population inversions and probe gain at one sideband of the Autler-Townes spectrum are predicted for certain cavity resonant frequencies.Comment: 2 postscript figures are adde

Sistematização da origem, da distribuição e dos territórios da artéria cerebral caudal na superfície do encéfalo em gatos Systematization of the origin, distribution and territory of the caudal cerebral artery on the surface of the encephalon in cats

Foram estudados 26 encéfalos de gatos, adultos, sem diferenciação de sexo, sem raça definida, corados com látex e fixados por solução aquosa de formaldeído. As artérias cerebrais caudais, direita e esquerda, apresentaram-se únicas em 96,1 e 88,4% dos casos, respectivamente. Em 69,2% dos casos no antímero direito e 80,8% no esquerdo, a artéria cerebral caudal originou-se pela anastomose entre o ramo caudal da artéria carótida interna, com maior contribuição, e o ramo terminal da artéria basilar. Em 88,4% dos casos no antímero direito e em 84,6% no esquerdo, a artéria cerebral caudal originou a artéria tectal rostral e um ramo caudal. O ramo caudal bifurcou-se e vascularizou os colículos rostrais e caudais dos corpos quadrigêmeos e em alguns casos contribuiu na formação do plexo coroide do terceiro ventrículo. A artéria tectal rostral seguiu ventralmente ao lobo piriforme e durante seu trajeto liberou ramos para o hipocampo e, no antímero esquerdo, supriu a superfície dorsal do tálamo, contribuindo para a formação do plexo coroide do terceiro ventrículo.<br>In this study were used 26 brains of adult cats, without sex differentiation and definable race, colored with latex and fixed in formaldehyde aqueous solution. The right and left caudal cerebral arteries were single in 96.1% and 88.4% of the sample, respectively. In 69.2% of the samples on the right side and 80.8% on the left, the caudal cerebral artery fin from the anastomosis behind the caudal branch of the internal carotid artery, with a large contribution, and the basal artery terminal branch. In 88.4% of the samples on the right side and 84.6% on the left, the caudal cerebral artery showed the tectal rostral artery and one caudal branche. The caudal branch forked in two branches that supplied the rostral and caudal colliculis of the quadruplet bodies and formed the choroid plexus of the third ventricle. The tectal rostral artery followed ventrally to the piriform lobe and during his way sent some branches to hippocampus. In the left side, this vessel supplied the dorsal surface of thalamus and contributed to the formation of the choroid plexus of the third ventricle