Ants Protect Acacia Plants Against Pathogens

Ants Protect Acacia Plants Against Pathogens

The biological term "symbiosis" refers to what economists and politicians usually call a win-win situation: a relationship between two partners which is beneficial to both. The mutualistic association between acacia plants and the ants that live on them is an excellent example: The plants provide food and accommodation in the form of food bodies and nectar as well as hollow thorns which can be used as nests. The ants return this favor by protecting the plants against herbivores. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now found that ants also keep harmful leaf pathogens in check. The presence of ants greatly reduces bacterial abundance on surfaces of leaves and has a visibly positive effect on plant health. Study results indicate that symbiotic bacteria colonizing the ants inhibit pathogen growth on the leaves.

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Myrmecophytes are plants which live in a symbiotic relationship with ants. The acacia species Acacia hindsii, which is native to tropical dry forests in Central America, is such a myrmecophyte. Its inhabitants are ants of the genusPseudomyrmex. The ants depend completely on their host plants for nectar and the food bodies rich in proteins and lipids which they require. The acacia also provides shelter, the so-called domatia, in the hollows of its swollen thorns. In return for room and board, mutualistic Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus ants become bodyguards, protecting their host against herbivores and competing plants. However, some ants also benefit from the plant's services without giving anything in return, such as the parasitic ant species Pseudomyrmex gracilis.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have now looked more deeply into the insect-plant interaction, asking whether the tiny bodyguards also provide protection against microbial pathogens. They compared the leaves of acacia plants which were inhabited by either mutualistic or parasitic ants to leaves from which ants had been removed. Intriguingly, the leaves of acacia colonized by parasitic ants showed more leaf damage from herbivores and microbial pathogens than did the leaves that had mutualistic ants. The presence of the right symbiotic partner seemed to have a positive effect on the plant's health.

Analysis of the surfaces of the leaves revealed that the number of plant pathogens as well as of necrotic plant tissues increased considerably when mutualistic Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus ants were absent. These plants also showed strong immune responses in the form of an increased concentration of salicylic acid, a plant hormone which regulates defense against pathogens. Detailed analysis of the bacterial composition on the surfaces of the leaves suggested that the presence of mutualistic ants changed the bacterial populations and reduced harmful pathogens. Although far less pronounced, this effect could also be observed in parasitic ants.

How antimicrobial protection is transferred from ants to plant is still unclear. Chilean researcher Marcia González-Teuber, first author of the publication, suspected that microorganisms associated with the ants might play a role. Because acacia leaves are touched mainly by ants' legs, she extracted the legs of mutualistic and parasitic ants and tested the effect of the extracts on the growth of bacterial pathogens in the lab.

Plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae was sensitive to the application of leg extracts of both ant species and its growth was inhibited. In the next step, the scientist isolated and identified bacteria from the legs of the ants.  In lab tests, bacterial strains of the genera Bacillus, Lactococcus, Pantoea and Burkholderiaeffectively inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas bacteria isolated from infected acacia leaves. Interestingly, some of the bacterial genera associated with the ants are known to produce antibiotic substances.

The Jena researchers have thus added another level of interaction to the symbiosis between ants and their host plants. "Such mutualistic relationships are much more complex than previously thought. In the future, we will have to include bacteria and other microorganisms in our considerations," says Wilhelm Boland, head of the Department of Bioorganic Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute. Studies on symbiotic relationships between ants and myrmecophytic plants should not overlook the role of bacterial partners that help the ants protect "their" plants.

Neurofeedback Tunes Key Brain Networks, Improving Well-Being in PTSD

Neurofeedback Tunes Key Brain Networks, Improving Well-Being in PTSD

Pioneering research conducted at Western University points to a promising avenue for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): utilising neurofeedback training to alter the plasticity of brain networks linked to the condition.

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During neurofeedback, intentional control of one's own brain activity may be learned with what's called a brain-computer interface, which is able to represent graphically a person's real-time brain activation on a computer. This can be done noninvasively with brainwave activities, for example, where the computer monitor behaves like a virtual "mirror" to real electrical oscillations produced by neurons in the cortex. These are recorded by surface sensors on the scalp, also known as an electroencephalogram (EEG).

Available online at the psychiatry journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, lead authors Rosemarie Kluetsch and Tomas Ros describe the details: "This is the first study to show that key brain networks involved in mediating affect and cognition in PTSD can be volitionally modulated via neurofeedback, with measurable outcomes on subjective well-being. It was achieved by harnessing multiple imaging techniques, including EEG and functional MRI (fMRI). In a nutshell, using fMRI we captured the patients' resting-state brain activity just before and after a 30-minute neurofeedback training session, which was carried out outside the scanner using EEG.

We then searched for any differences in connectivity within well-known brain networks. Interestingly, we discovered significant correlations between EEG and fMRI network activities as well as changes in self-reported calmness. This indicated that neurofeedback was able to directly modulate the brain bases of emotional processing in PTSD."

Senior author and principal investigator Dr. Ruth Lanius, a professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and a scientist with Lawson Health Research Institute, adds "The last decade of neuroscience research has offered a deeper understanding of the key brain networks involved in cognitive and emotional functions. Connectivity in the salience and default mode networks, for example, has been found to be altered in PTSD.

We are now on the threshold of being able to use this information to understand the neural mechanisms underlying certain disorders and their treatments. Neurofeedback offers great promise as a type of brain training that is directly based on the functional activation of these brain networks. We are therefore thrilled to see the first evidence of this in action, along with significant changes in subjective well-being. Our hope and vision for the future is that this approach could improve and potentially augment PTSD treatment."

Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity

Accidental Discovery Dramatically Improves Electrical Conductivity

Quite by accident, Washington State University researchers have achieved a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light. The effect, which lasted for days after the light was turned off, could dramatically improve the performance of devices like computer chips.

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WSU doctoral student Marianne Tarun chanced upon the discovery when she noticed that the conductivity of some strontium titanate shot up after it was left out one day. At first, she and her fellow researchers thought the sample was contaminated, but a series of experiments showed the effect was from light.

The phenomenon they witnessed -- "persistent photoconductivity" -- is a far cry from superconductivity, the complete lack of electrical resistance pursued by other physicists, usually using temperatures near absolute zero. But the fact that they've achieved this at room temperature makes the phenomenon more immediately practical.

And while other researchers have created persistent photoconductivity in other materials, this is the most dramatic display of the phenomenon. The research, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, appears this month in the journal Physical Review Letters.

"The discovery of this effect at room temperature opens up new possibilities for practical devices," said Matthew McCluskey, co-author of the paper and chair of WSU's physics department. "In standard computer memory, information is stored on the surface of a computer chip or hard drive. A device using persistent photoconductivity, however, could store information throughout the entire volume of a crystal."

This approach, called holographic memory, "could lead to huge increases in information capacity," McCluskey said. Strontium titanate and other oxides, which contain oxygen and two or more other elements, often display a dizzying variety of electronic phenomena, from the high resistance used for insulation to superconductivity's lack of resistance.

"These diverse properties provide a fascinating playground for scientists but applications so far have been limited," said McCluskey, Tarun and physicist Farida Selim, now at Bowling Green State University, exposed a sample of strontium titanate to light for 10 minutes. Its improved conductivity lasted for days. They theorize that the light frees electrons in the material, letting it carry more current.

Friendly App Attacks Detect Vulnerabilities

Friendly App Attacks Detect Vulnerabilities

Hacking programs disguised as games are helping Apple to improve the security of devices operating on its iOS platform.

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Software companies work hard to protect their customers personal data from malicious applications, or 'apps', but even the most secure devices can be vulnerable. Skilled and independent computer scientists, such as Jin Han and co-workers at the A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research and the Singapore Management University, can greatly assist companies by spotting security weaknesses before they are exploited.

Han and co-workers recently published a detailed comparison of the two very different security models used by the big players in mobile software, Apple's iOS platform and Google's Android1. Now, the researchers have developed subtle attack apps that test the secretive model of mobile security used in iOS2.

Apple's preferred security model is 'closed source'. This means that the company does not publish details of how apps are vetted before becoming available in their iTunes Store. Apple also refrains from publishing the internal code that decides whether apps can control phone functions such as contacts, calendars or cameras.

Despite this secrecy, the researchers were able to develop generic attack codes that enabled third-party control of iOS devices. They demonstrated seven different attack apps, disguised as games, that performed malicious actions including cracking the device's PIN, taking photographs and sending text messages without the user's awareness.

"We utilized private function calls to gain privileges that are not intended for third-party developers," explains Han. "Furthermore, we found a way to bypass Apple's vetting process so that our apps, embedded with proof-of-concept attacks, could be published on iTunes."

The attack apps worked on both iOS 5 and 6, although the team was careful to include secret triggers to protect any public users. The researchers have shared all of their findings with Apple and published recommendations on how the company should fix these vulnerabilities.

"Apple responded very quickly after we informed them about our findings, and before the release of the new iOS 7 platform," says Han. He expects that the company adopted countermeasures similar to those described in his team's paper, but cannot confirm this since iOS is closed source.

The ongoing debate over open- versus closed-source development will continue to rage among information technology specialists. Nevertheless, Han notes that their attack-app codes could, with some modifications, probably also bypass the permissions-based security model used in Android. "My personal opinion is that closed-source development is not good for security. A cryptosystem should be secure even if everything about the system, except the key, is public knowledge. I think the same principle applies to operating systems."

Key Processes of Photosynthesis Simulated On Quantum Level

Key Processes of Photosynthesis Simulated On Quantum Level

An artificial quantum system, physicists at Heidelberg University have simulated key processes of photosynthesis on a quantum level with high spatial and temporal resolution. In their experiment with Rydberg atoms the team of Prof. Dr. Matthias Weidemüller and Dr. Shannon Whitlock discovered new properties of energy transport. This work is an important step towards answering the question of how quantum physics can contribute to the efficiency of energy conversion in synthetic systems, for example in photovoltaics.

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The new discoveries, which were made at the Center for Quantum Dynamics and the Institute for Physics of Heidelberg University, have now been published in the journal Science.

In their research, Prof. Weidemüller and his team begin with the question of how the energy of light can be efficiently collected and converted elsewhere into a different form, e.g. into chemical or electric energy. Nature has found an especially efficient way to accomplish this in photosynthesis. Light energy is initially absorbed in light-harvesting complexes -- an array of membrane proteins -- and then transported to a molecular reaction centre by means of structures called nanoantennae; in the reaction centre the light is subsequently transformed into chemical energy. "This process is nearly 100 percent efficient. Despite intensive research we're still at a loss to understand which mechanisms are responsible for this surprisingly high efficiency," says Prof. Weidemüller. Based on the latest research, scientists assume that quantum effects like entanglement, where spatially separated objects influence one another, play an important role.

In their experiments the researchers used a gas of atoms that was cooled down to a temperature near absolute zero. Some of the atoms were excited with laser light to high electric states. The excited electron of these "atomic giants," which are called Rydberg atoms, is separated by macroscopic distances of almost a hair's breadth from the atomic nucleus. Therefore these atoms present an ideal system to study phenomena at the transition between the macroscopic, classical world and the microscopic quantum realm. Similar to the light-harvesting complexes of photosynthesis, energy is transported from Rydberg atom to Rydberg atom, with each atom transmitting its energy packages to surrounding atoms, similar to a radio transmitter.

"To be able to observe the energy transport we first had to find a way to image the Rydberg atoms. At the time it was impossible to detect these atoms using a microscope," explains Georg Günter, a doctoral student in Prof. Weidemüller's team. A trick from quantum optics ensured that up to 50 atoms within a characteristic radius around a Rydberg atom were able to absorb laser light. In this way each Rydberg atom creates a tiny shadow in the microscope image, allowing the scientists to measure the positions of the Rydberg atoms.

The fact that this technique would also facilitate the observation of energy transport came as a surprise, as PhD student Hanna Schempp emphasises. However, the investigations with the "atomic giants" showed how the Rydberg excitations, which are immersed in a sea of atoms, diffused from their original positions to their atomic neighbours, similar to the spreading of ink in water. Aided by a mathematical model the team of Prof. Weidemüller showed that the atomic sea crucially influences the energy transport from Rydberg atom to Rydberg atom.

"Now we are in a good position to control the quantum system and to study the transition from diffusive transport to coherent quantum transport. In this special form of energy transport the energy is not localised to one atom but is distributed over many atoms at the same time," explains Prof. Weidemüller. As with the light-harvesting complexes of photosynthesis, one central question will be how the environment of the nanoantennae influences the efficiency of energy transport and whether this efficiency can be enhanced by exploiting quantum effects. "In this way we hope to gain new insights into how the transformation of energy can be optimised in other synthetic systems as well, like those used in photovoltaics," the Heidelberg physicist points out.

Robotic Advances Promise Artificial Legs That Emulate Healthy Limbs

Robotic Advances Promise Artificial Legs That Emulate Healthy Limbs

 Recent advances in robotics technology make it possible to create prosthetics that can duplicate the natural movement of human legs. This capability promises to dramatically improve the mobility of lower-limb amputees, allowing them to negotiate stairs and slopes and uneven ground, significantly reducing their risk of falling as well as reducing stress on the rest of their bodies.

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For the last decade, Goldfarb's team has been doing pioneering research in lower-limb prosthetics. It developed the first robotic prosthesis with both powered knee and ankle joints. And the design became the first artificial leg controlled by thought when researchers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago created a neural interface for it.

In the article, Goldfarb and graduate students Brian Lawson and Amanda Shultz describe the technological advances that have made robotic prostheses viable. These include lithium-ion batteries that can store more electricity, powerful brushless electric motors with rare-Earth magnets, miniaturized sensors built into semiconductor chips, particularly accelerometers and gyroscopes, and low-power computer chips.

The size and weight of these components is small enough so that they can be combined into a package comparable to that of a biological leg and they can duplicate all of its basic functions. The electric motors play the role of muscles. The batteries store enough power so the robot legs can operate for a full day on a single charge. The sensors serve the function of the nerves in the peripheral nervous system, providing vital information such as the angle between the thigh and lower leg and the force being exerted on the bottom of the foot, etc. The microprocessor provides the coordination function normally provided by the central nervous system. And, in the most advanced systems, a neural interface enhances integration with the brain.

Unlike passive artificial legs, robotic legs have the capability of moving independently and out of sync with its users movements. So the development of a system that integrates the movement of the prosthesis with the movement of the user is "substantially more important with a robotic leg," according to the authors.

Not only must this control system coordinate the actions of the prosthesis within an activity, such as walking, but it must also recognize a user's intent to change from one activity to another, such as moving from walking to stair climbing.

Identifying the user's intent requires some connection with the central nervous system. Currently, there are several different approaches to establishing this connection that vary greatly in invasiveness. The least invasive method uses physical sensors that divine the user's intent from his or her body language. Another method -- the electromyography interface -- uses electrodes implanted into the user's leg muscles. The most invasive techniques involve implanting electrodes directly into a patient's peripheral nerves or directly into his or her brain. The jury is still out on which of these approaches will prove to be best. "Approaches that entail a greater degree of invasiveness must obviously justify the invasiveness with substantial functional advantage…," the article states.

There are a number of potential advantages of bionic legs, the authors point out.

Studies have shown that users equipped with the lower-limb prostheses with powered knee and heel joints naturally walk faster with decreased hip effort while expending less energy than when they are using passive prostheses.

In addition, amputees using conventional artificial legs experience falls that lead to hospitalization at a higher rate than elderly living in institutions. The rate is actually highest among younger amputees, presumably because they are less likely to limit their activities and terrain. There are several reasons why a robotic prosthesis should decrease the rate of falls: Users don't have to compensate for deficiencies in its movement like they do for passive legs because it moves like a natural leg. Both walking and standing, it can compensate better for uneven ground. Active responses can be programmed into the robotic leg that helps users recover from stumbles.

Before individuals in the U.S. can begin realizing these benefits, however, the new devices must be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Single-joint devices are currently considered to be Class I medical devices, so they are subject to the least amount of regulatory control. Currently, transfemoral prostheses are generally constructed by combining two, single-joint prostheses. As a result, they have also been considered Class I devices.

In robotic legs the knee and ankle joints are electronically linked. According to the FDA that makes them multi-joint devices, which are considered Class II medical devices. This means that they must meet a number of additional regulatory requirements, including the development of performance standards, post-market surveillance, establishing patient registries and special labeling requirements.

Another translational issue that must be resolved before robotic prostheses can become viable products is the need to provide additional training for the clinicians who prescribe prostheses. Because the new devices are substantially more complex than standard prostheses, the clinicians will need additional training in robotics, the authors point out.

In addition to the robotics leg, Goldfarb's Center for Intelligent Mechatronics has developed an advanced exoskeleton that allows paraplegics to stand up and walk, which led Popular Mechanics magazine to name him as one of the 10 innovators who changed the world in 2013, and a robotic hand with a dexterity that approaches that of the human hand.

New Hologram Technology Created With Tiny Nanoantennas

New Hologram Technology Created With Tiny Nanoantennas

Researchers have created tiny holograms using a "metasurface" capable of the ultra-efficient control of light, representing a potential new technology for advanced sensors, high-resolution displays and information processing.

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The metasurface, thousands of V-shaped nanoantennas formed into an ultrathin gold foil, could make possible "planar photonics" devices and optical switches small enough to be integrated into computer chips for information processing, sensing and telecommunications, said Alexander Kildishev, associate research professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University.

Laser light shines through the nanoantennas, creating the hologram 10 microns above the metasurface. To demonstrate the technology, researchers created a hologram of the word PURDUE smaller than 100 microns wide, or roughly the width of a human hair.

"If we can shape characters, we can shape different types of light beams for sensing or recording, or, for example, pixels for 3-D displays. Another potential application is the transmission and processing of data inside chips for information technology," Kildishev said. "The smallest features -- the strokes of the letters -- displayed in our experiment are only 1 micron wide. This is a quite remarkable spatial resolution."

Findings are detailed in a research paper appearing on Friday (Nov. 15) in the journal Nature Communications.

Metasurfaces could make it possible to use single photons -- the particles that make up light -- for switching and routing in future computers. While using photons would dramatically speed up computers and telecommunications, conventional photonic devices cannot be miniaturized because the wavelength of light is too large to fit in tiny components needed for integrated circuits.

Nanostructured metamaterials, however, are making it possible to reduce the wavelength of light, allowing the creation of new types of nanophotonic devices, said Vladimir M. Shalaev, scientific director of nanophotonics at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center and a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering.

"The most important thing is that we can do this with a very thin layer, only 30 nanometers, and this is unprecedented," Shalaev said. "This means you can start to embed it in electronics, to marry it with electronics."

The layer is about 1/23rd the width of the wavelength of light used to create the holograms.

The Nature Communications article was co-authored by former Purdue doctoral student Xingjie Ni, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley; Kildishev; and Shalaev.

Under development for about 15 years, metamaterials owe their unusual potential to precision design on the scale of nanometers. Optical nanophotonic circuits might harness clouds of electrons called "surface plasmons" to manipulate and control the routing of light in devices too tiny for conventional lasers.

The researchers have shown how to control the intensity and phase, or timing, of laser light as it passes through the nanoantennas. Each antenna has its own "phase delay" -- how much light is slowed as it passes through the structure. Controlling the intensity and phase is essential for creating working devices and can be achieved by altering the V-shaped antennas.

The work is partially supported by U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army research Office, and the National Science Foundation. Purdue has filed a provisional patent application on the concept.