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The invention is a novel longer-lived mouse model for Gaucher disease. Gaucher disease is a genetic disorder that results from deficiencies in the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA). The use of animal models to study how the disease progresses has been invaluable in research of this disorder. However, existing mouse models have been limited due to early mortality because the GBA enzyme plays an important role in lysosomal storage.

The invention is a new algorithm for decoding neuronal responses based on the discovery that neuronal spike trains can be described using order statistics. The device has applications in the direct control of prosthetic limbs by neuronal signals originating from electrodes placed in the brain. The method allows for decoding neuronal responses by monitoring sequences of potentials from neurons while specific motor tasks are carried out.

This invention provides a DNA construct that can be useful for both diagnostics and AIDS therapeutics. The construct can be incorporated into a retrovirus or into a cell line. This construct mediates the expression of a selected gene in the presence of HIV replication, but is silent in the absence of HIV. The cell line with the incorporated construct can be used as an indicator line for the presence of replication-competent HIV. The virus containing the construct can be used to co-infect a population of HIV-infected cells.