Apr. 04, 2012

Influence of Neurobeachin on Differentiation and Formation of Synapses

A challenge in neuroscience research is to understand the mechanisms underlying synapse formation and how nerve cells contact each other to transmit information.
Most excitatory synapses in the brain are built on actin-rich dendritic protrusions called spines and, as numerous psychiatric and neurological diseases are accompanied by alterations of spine numbers or size, the elucidation of mechanisms that regulate formation and plasticity of spinous synapses is vital. moreMar. 10, 2010

Light Sculpts Three-Dimensional Crystals

Engineering and guiding light by artificial structures is one of the most actual questions in photonics, allowing optical information processing to open new horizons for waveguiding, storing, and processing light. Three-dimensional structures have been a challenge up to now, either due to the complex formation method or the lack of appropriate material. Especially the creation complex quasi crystals that have a number of advantages features as e.g. better control of the transmission features by larger und more homogeneously distributed band gaps, is an actual challenge. more