Use, Storage, and Disposal of Electronic Equipment in Switzerland.

Electronic devices contain important resources, including precious and critical raw materials. For an efficient management of these resources, it is important to know where the devices are located, how long they are used and when and how they are disposed of. In this article, we explore the past and current quantities of electronic devices in the in-use stock and storage stock in Switzerland and quantify the flows between the use, storage and disposal phase with dynamic material flow analysis (MFA).

BK Channels Are Required for Multisensory Plasticity in the Oculomotor System.

Neural circuits are endowed with several forms of intrinsic and synaptic plasticity that could contribute to adaptive changes in behavior, but circuit complexities have hindered linking specific cellular mechanisms with their behavioral consequences. Eye movements generated by simple brainstem circuits provide a means for relating cellular plasticity to behavioral gain control. Here we show that firing rate potentiation, a form of intrinsic plasticity mediated by reductions in BK-type calcium-activated potassium currents in spontaneously firing neurons, is engaged during optokinetic reflex compensation for inner ear dysfunction.

Implementation of linear sensory signaling via multiple coordinated mechanisms at central vestibular nerve synapses.

Signal transfer in neural circuits is dynamically modified by the recent history of neuronal activity. Short-term plasticity endows synapses with nonlinear transmission properties, yet synapses in sensory and motor circuits are capable of signaling linearly over a wide range of presynaptic firing rates. How do such synapses achieve rate-invariant transmission despite history-dependent nonlinearities? Here, ultrastructural, biophysical, and computational analyses demonstrate that concerted molecular, anatomical, and physiological refinements are required for central vestibular nerve synapses to linearly transmit rate-coded sensory signals.

Neutral sphingomyelinase 2 is a key factor for PorB-dependent invasion of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Disseminated gonococcal infection (DGI) is a rare but serious complication caused by the spread of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the human host. Gonococci associated with DGI mainly express the outer membrane protein PorBIA that binds to the scavenger receptor expressed on endothelial cells (SREC-I) and mediates bacterial uptake. We recently demonstrated that this interaction relies on intact membrane rafts that acquire SREC-I upon attachment of gonococci and initiates the signalling cascade that finally leads to the uptake of gonococci in epithelial cells.

Transcriptional landscape and essential genes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

The WHO has recently classified Neisseria gonorrhoeae as a super-bacterium due to the rapid spread of antibiotic resistant derivatives and an overall dramatic increase in infection incidences. Genome sequencing has identified potential genes, however, little is known about the transcriptional organization and the presence of non-coding RNAs in gonococci. We performed RNA sequencing to define the transcriptome and the transcriptional start sites of all gonococcal genes and operons.