Temporal Bandwidth Research Articles

Spatiotemporal frequency characteristics of the visual unpleasantness of dynamic bandpass noise

Recent psychophysical evidence shows that visual discomfort and unpleasantness are related to particular image features such as the spatial frequency and orientation spectrum. We also have a strong unpleasant feeling toward moving objects such as swarming worms, but it is poorly understood how motion information relates to a feeling of unpleasantness. The present study investigated spatiotemporal frequency characteristics that cause visual unpleasantness using bandpass noise with variable spatial frequencies, temporal frequencies, temporal frequency bandwidths, and orientation bandwidths. Results show that dynamic noise with relatively low temporal frequencies (0.5–2 Hz) was markedly more unpleasant than static noise, including that judged as the most unpleasant in a previous study. Remarkably, translational motion of the noise did not increase the feeling of unpleasantness. A subsequent experiment using a dynamic texture in which elements moved in a variable range of random directions showed that the variegated motion direction plays a critical role in promoting visual unpleasantness. Natural scenes have regularity in that features inside an object usually move in the same direction and rarely at random, and the present results further support the notion that deviation from the statistical regularity of natural scenes in images and movies induces negative emotions.

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble: Assault in Space and Time

Building on the growing literature of the spatial examination of criminality, this study examines the stability of crime related to mass gathering events over time. Specifically, we examine the impacts of baseball games on assault patterns in the Bronx and Queens, New York, using a nonparametric permutation approach to examine the spatial distribution of point patterns at the neighborhood level over multiple seasons. Findings demonstrate that Mets and Yankees game days have significant impact on the number of assaults when compared to a sample of similar non–game days providing further support for environmental criminological theories. Implications for practitioner use of the tool as well as its use as a method for researchers who seek to compare crime event patterns across several temporal bandwidths are discussed.

Parallel computing for Fast Spatiotemporal Weighted Regression

The Spatiotemporal Weighted Regression (STWR) model is an extension of the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model for exploring the heterogeneity of spatiotemporal processes. A key feature of STWR is that it utilizes the data points observed at previous time stages to make better fit and prediction at the latest time stage. Because the temporal bandwidths and a few other parameters need to be optimized in STWR, the model calibration is computationally intensive. In particular, when the data amount is large, the calibration of STWR becomes heavily time-consuming. For example, with 10,000 points in 10 time stages, it takes about 2307 s for a single-core PC to process the calibration of STWR. Both the distance and the weighted matrix in STWR are memory intensive, which may easily cause memory insufficiency as data amount increases. To improve the efficiency of computing, we developed a parallel computing method for STWR by employing the Message Passing Interface (MPI). A cache in the MPI processing approach was proposed for the calibration routine. Also, a matrix splitting strategy was designed to address the problem of memory insufficiency. We named the overall design as Fast STWR (F-STWR). In the experiment, we tested F-STWR in a High-Performance Computing (HPC) environment with a total number of 204,611 observations in 19 years. The results show that F-STWR can significantly improve STWR's capability of processing large-scale spatiotemporal data.

Spectrally recycling space-time wave packets

'Space-time' (ST) wave packets are propagation-invariant pulsed optical beams that travel rigidly in linear media without diffraction or dispersion at a potentially arbitrary group velocity. These unique characteristics are a result of spatio-temporal spectral correlations introduced into the field; specifically, each spatial frequency is associated with a single temporal frequency (or wavelength). Consequently, the spatial and temporal bandwidths of ST wave packets are correlated, so that exploiting an optical source with a large temporal bandwidth or achieving an ultralow group velocity necessitate an exorbitantly large numerical aperture. Here we show that `spectral recycling' can help overcome these challenges. 'Recycling' or `reusing' each spatial frequency by associating it with multiple distinct but widely separated temporal frequencies allows one to circumvent the proportionality between the spatial and temporal bandwidths of ST wave packets, which has been one of their permanent characteristics since their inception. We demonstrate experimentally that the propagation invariance, maximum propagation distance, and group velocity of ST wave packets are unaffected by spectral recycling. We also synthesize a ST wave packet with group velocity c/14.3 (c is the speed of light in vacuum) with a reasonable numerical aperture made possible by spectral recycling.

Nonseparable modulation strategy for channeled spatiotemporal Stokes polarimeters.

Spatiotemporally modulated polarimeters have shown promising imaging performance by leveraging the tradeoff between spatial bandwidth and temporal bandwidth to outperform polarimeters that use spatial or temporal modulation alone. However, the existing separable modulation strategy, in which the spatial carriers are generated independently from the temporal carriers, makes such devices sensitive to the systematic errors of the rotation element inevitably. In this paper, we propose two novel strategies that have spatiotemporal modulation that is inherently mixed. The method enables different elements of the Mueller matrix to be used to create the carriers, reducing the effects of systematic errors in different ways. We present the indepth comparison of the channel structure and the reconstruction accuracy of each modulation strategy in various bandwidth scenarios under the presence of systematic error. Simulation results show that the nonseparable modulation can provide higher reconstruction accuracy of polarimetric information as compared to the separable strategy.

Adaptive Protection of Scientific Backbone Networks Using Machine Learning

In this article, we propose a new protection scheme for backbone networks to guarantee high service availability. The presented scheme does not require any reconfiguration immediately after the failure (i.e., it is proactive). At the same time, it does not require any reserved backup network resources either. To achieve these seemingly contradictory goals, we utilize the recent advancements in Machine Learning (ML) to implement a network intelligence that periodically re-allocates the unused capacity as protection bandwidth to meet the service availability requirements of each connection. Our goal is achieved by two components (1) predicting the traffic for the next period on each link, and (2) intelligently selecting the best fit dedicated protection scheme for the next period depending on the estimated unused (spare) bandwidth and the previous service availability violations. Note that re-allocating protection bandwidth affects neither the operational connections nor the current best practice of operators to over-provision network bandwidth to support elephant flows. Finally, we provide a case study on the real traffic from Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), a high-speed, international scientific backbone network. The key benefit of our framework is that adaptively utilizing the over-provisioned bandwidth for spare capacity is sufficient to improve the availability from three-nines to five-nines (in ESnet for the 30 examined connections). The drawback is negligible bandwidth limitations; the user perceives a minor and very temporal bandwidth limitation in less than 0.1% of the time.

Spectral-temporal hybrid modulation for channeled spectropolarimetry.

Channeled spectropolarimeters (CSPs) are capable of estimating spectrally resolved Stokes parameters from a single modulated spectrum. However, channel crosstalk and subsequent spectral resolution loss reduce the reconstruction accuracy and limit the systems' scope of application. In this paper, we propose a spectral-temporal modulation strategy with the aim of extending channel bandwidth and improving reconstruction accuracy by leveraging the hybrid carriers and allocating channels in the two-dimensional Fourier domain that yield optimal performance. The scheme enables spectral bandwidth and temporal bandwidth to be traded off, and provides flexibility in selecting demodulation strategies based on the features of the input. We present an in-depth comparison of different systems' performances in various input features under the presence of noise. Simulation results show that the hybrid-modulation strategy offers the best comprehensive performance as compared to the conventional CSP and dual-scan techniques.

Composite-Fringe Atom Interferometry for High-Dynamic-Range Sensing

Atom interferometers offer excellent sensitivity to gravitational and inertial signals but have limited dynamic range. We introduce a scheme that improves on this trade-off by a factor of 50 using composite fringes, obtained from sets of measurements with slightly varying interrogation times. We analyze analytically the performance gain in this approach and the trade-offs it entails between sensitivity, dynamic range, and temporal bandwidth, and we experimentally validate the analysis over a wide range of parameters. By combining composite-fringe measurements with a particle-filter estimation protocol, we demonstrate continuous tracking of a rapidly varying signal over a span two orders of magnitude larger than the dynamic range of a traditional atom interferometer.

Structured decomposition of a multi-snapshot nine-reconstructables Mueller matrix polarimeter.

Snapshot channeled polarimeters forgo temporal modulation in favor of modulating polarization information in either space or wavenumber. We have recently introduced methodologies for describing both channeled and partial polarimeters. In this paper, we focus on the nine-reconstructables design, which limits the resolution loss by reducing the number of carriers. The architecture offers a number of favorable trade-offs: a factor of 5.44 increase in spatial bandwidth or a factor of 3.67 increase in spectral bandwidth, for a smaller amount of temporal bandwidth loss as dictated by the number of snapshots taken. The multi-snapshot structured decomposition given here allows one to analytically shape the measured space with optimal noise characteristics and minimum system complexity. A two-snapshot system can measure a premeditated set of 14 reconstructables; we provide the null space for the subset of optimal systems that also achieve better SNR than the baseline single-snapshot system. A three-snapshot system can measure all 16 Mueller elements while offering an overall 26.3% or 50.4% better bandwidth-SNR figure of merit for the spectral and spatial systems, respectively. Finally, four-snapshot systems provide diminishing returns, but may be more implementable.

Functional Clusters of Neurons in Layer 6 of Macaque V1.

Layer 6 appears to perform a very important role in the function of macaque primary visual cortex, V1, but not enough is understood about the functional characteristics of neurons in the layer 6 population. It is unclear to what extent the population is homogeneous with respect to their visual properties or if one can identify distinct subpopulations. Here we performed a cluster analysis based on measurements of the responses of single neurons in layer 6 of primary visual cortex in male macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) to achromatic grating stimuli that varied in orientation, direction of motion, spatial and temporal frequency, and contrast. The visual stimuli were presented in a stimulus window that was also varied in size. Using the responses to parametric variation in these stimulus variables, we extracted a number of tuning response measures and used them in the cluster analysis. Six main clusters emerged along with some smaller clusters. Additionally, we asked whether parameter distributions from each of the clusters were statistically different. There were clear separations of parameters between some of the clusters, particularly for f1/f0 ratio, direction selectivity, and temporal frequency bandwidth, but other dimensions also showed differences between clusters. Our data suggest that in layer 6 there are multiple parallel circuits that provide information about different aspects of the visual stimulus.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The cortex is multilayered and is involved in many high-level computations. In the current study, we have asked whether there are subpopulations of neurons, clusters, in layer 6 of cortex with different functional tuning properties that provide information about different aspects of the visual image. We identified six major functional clusters within layer 6. These findings show that there is much more complexity to the circuits in cortex than previously demonstrated and open up a new avenue for experimental investigation within layers of other cortical areas and for the elaboration of models of circuit function that incorporate many parallel pathways with different functional roles.

Resolving the temporal evolution of line broadening in single quantum emitters.

Light emission from solid-state quantum emitters is inherently prone to environmental decoherence, which results in a line broadening and in the deterioration of photon indistinguishability. Here we employ photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy (PCFS) to study the temporal evolution of such a broadening in two prominent systems: GaAs and In(Ga)As quantum dots. Differently from previous experiments, the emitters are driven with short laser pulses as required for the generation of high-purity single photons, the time scales we probe range from a few nanoseconds to milliseconds and, simultaneously, the spectral resolution we achieve can be as small as ∼ 2µeV. We find pronounced differences in the temporal evolution of different optical transition lines, which we attribute to differences in their homogeneous linewidth and sensitivity to charge noise. We analyze the effect of irradiation with additional white light, which reduces blinking at the cost of enhanced charge noise. Due to its robustness against experimental imperfections and its high temporal resolution and bandwidth, PCFS outperforms established spectroscopy techniques, such as Michelson interferometry. We discuss its practical implementation and the possibility to use it to estimate the indistinguishability of consecutively emitted single photons for applications in quantum communication and photonic-based quantum information processing.

Imaging dynamic scenes with a spatio-temporally channeled polarimeter.

Most channeled polarimeters modulate the intensity in a single independent domain such as space, time, or wavenumber. Recently we proposed and modeled a concept for a system modulated simultaneously in space and time [Opt. Lett.43, 2768 - 2771 (2018)] and demonstrated that superior performance could be obtained by trading off spatial and temporal bandwidth in the system. Here we present results from a prototype realization of such a system and demonstrate quantitatively that the spatial modulation transfer function of the imager can be improved by choosing the appropriate modulation strategy for a given scene spatial and temporal bandwidth. We demonstrate that a hybrid modulation system can achieve the high spatial frequency performance of a time modulated system for static scenes, or it can achieve the high temporal frequency performance of a spatially modulated system for rapidly varying scenes, and it can out perform both systems for scenes with intermediate bandwidth in both domains. Moreover, the physical system implementation is essentially the same for each system type, which in principle allows the reconstruction strategy to be selected in real-time by choosing the appropriate reconstruction filters.

Solution-Processed Phototransistors Combining Organic Absorber and Charge Transporting Oxide for Visible to Infrared Light Detection.

This report demonstrates high-performance infrared phototransistors that use a broad-band absorbing organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layer responsive from the visible to the shortwave infrared, from 500 to 1400 nm. The device structure is based on a bilayer transistor channel that decouples charge photogeneration and transport, enabling independent optimization of each process. The organic BHJ layer is improved by incorporating camphor, a highly polarizable additive that increases carrier lifetime. An indium zinc oxide transport layer with high electron mobility is employed for rapid charge transport. As a result, the phototransistors achieve a dynamic range of 127 dB and reach a specific detectivity of 5 × 1012 Jones under a low power illumination of 20 nW/cm2, outperforming commercial germanium photodiodes in the spectral range below 1300 nm. The photodetector metrics are measured with respect to the applied voltage, incident light power, and temporal bandwidth, demonstrating operation at a video-frame rate of 50 Hz. In particular, the frequency and light dependence of the phototransistor characteristics are analyzed to understand the change in photoconductive gain under different working conditions.

Time-of-flight imaging based on resonant photoelastic modulation.

A time-of-flight imaging system is proposed and its working principle demonstrated. To realize this system, a new device, a free-space optical mixer, is designed and fabricated. A scene is illuminated (flashed) with a megahertz-level amplitude-modulated light source, and the reflected light from the scene is collected by a receiver. The receiver consists of the free-space optical mixer, comprising a photoelastic modulator sandwiched between polarizers, placed in front of a standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. This free-space optical mixer downconverts the megahertz-level amplitude modulation frequencies into the temporal bandwidth of the image sensor. A full-scale extension of the demonstrated system will be able to measure phases and Doppler shifts for the beat tones and use signal processing techniques to estimate the distance and velocity of each point in the illuminated scene with high accuracy.

The whole-cell Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ current, ICRAC , is regulated by the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter channel and is independent of extracellular and cytosolic Na.

Key points Ca2+ entry through Ca2+ release‐activated Ca2+ channels activates numerous cellular responses. Under physiological conditions of weak intracellular Ca2+ buffering, mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake regulates CRAC channel activity.Knockdown of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter channel prevented the development of I CRAC in weak buffer but not when strong buffer was used instead.Removal of either extracellular or intra‐pipette Na+ had no effect on the selectivity, kinetics, amplitude, rectification or reversal potential of whole‐cell CRAC current.Knockdown of the mitochondrial Na+–Ca2+ exchanger did not prevent the development of I CRAC in strong or weak Ca2+ buffer.Whole cell CRAC current is Ca2+‐selective.Mitochondrial Ca2+ channels, and not Na+‐dependent transport, regulate CRAC channels under physiological conditions. Ca2+ entry through store‐operated Ca2+ release‐activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels plays a central role in activation of a range of cellular responses over broad spatial and temporal bandwidths. Mitochondria, through their ability to take up cytosolic Ca2+, are important regulators of CRAC channel activity under physiological conditions of weak intracellular Ca2+ buffering. The mitochondrial Ca2+ transporter(s) that regulates CRAC channels is unclear and could involve the 40 kDa mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) channel or the Na+–Ca2+–Li+ exchanger (NCLX). Here, we have investigated the involvement of these mitochondrial Ca2+ transporters in supporting the CRAC current (I CRAC) under a range of conditions in RBL mast cells. Knockdown of the MCU channel impaired the activation of I CRAC under physiological conditions of weak intracellular Ca2+ buffering. In strong Ca2+ buffer, knockdown of the MCU channel did not inhibit I CRAC development demonstrating that mitochondria regulate CRAC channels under physiological conditions by buffering of cytosolic Ca2+ via the MCU channel. Surprisingly, manipulations that altered extracellular Na+, cytosolic Na+ or both failed to inhibit the development of I CRAC in either strong or weak intracellular Ca2+ buffer. Knockdown of NCLX also did not affect I CRAC. Prolonged removal of external Na+ also had no significant effect on store‐operated Ca2+ entry, on cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations generated by receptor stimulation or on CRAC channel‐driven gene expression. In the RBL mast cell, Ca2+ flux through the MCU but not NCLX is indispensable for activation of I CRAC.

Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneities of Capillary Hemodynamics and Its Functional Coupling During Neural Activation.

The cerebral vascular system provides a means to meet the constant metabolic needs of neuronal activities in the brain. Within the cerebral capillary bed, the interactions of spatial and temporal hemodynamics play a deterministic role in oxygen diffusion, however, the progression of which remains unclear. Taking the advantages of high-spatiotemporal resolution of optical coherence tomography capillary velocimetry designed with the eigen-decomposition statistical analysis, we investigated intrinsic red blood cell (RBC) velocities and their spatiotemporal adjustment within the capillaries permeating mouse cerebral cortex during electrical stimulation of contralateral hind paw. We found that the mean capillary transit velocity (mCTV) is increased and its temporal fluctuation bandwidth (TFB) is broadened within hind-paw somatosensory cortex. In addition, the degree to which the mCTV is increased negatively correlates with resting state mCTV, and the degree to which the TFB is increased negatively correlates with both the resting state mCTV and the TFB. In order to confirm the changes are due to hemodynamic regulation, we performed angiographic analyses and found that the vessel density remains almost constant, suggesting the observed functional activation does not involve recruitment of reserved capillaries. To further differentiate the contributions of the mCTV and the TFB to the spatiotemporally coupled hemodynamics, changes in the mCTV and TBF of the capillary flow were modeled and investigated through a Monte Carlo simulation. The results suggest that neural activation evokes the spatial transit time homogenization within the capillary bed, which is regulated via both the heterogeneous acceleration of RBC flow and the heterogeneous increase of temporal RBC fluctuation, ensuring sufficient oxygenation during functional hyperemia.

Adaptive feature detection from differential processing in parallel retinal pathways.

To transmit information efficiently in a changing environment, the retina adapts to visual contrast by adjusting its gain, latency and mean response. Additionally, the temporal frequency selectivity, or bandwidth changes to encode the absolute intensity when the stimulus environment is noisy, and intensity differences when noise is low. We show that the On pathway of On-Off retinal amacrine and ganglion cells is required to change temporal bandwidth but not other adaptive properties. This remarkably specific adaptive mechanism arises from differential effects of contrast on the On and Off pathways. We analyzed a biophysical model fit only to a cell’s membrane potential, and verified pharmacologically that it accurately revealed the two pathways. We conclude that changes in bandwidth arise mostly from differences in synaptic threshold in the two pathways, rather than synaptic release dynamics as has previously been proposed to underlie contrast adaptation. Different efficient codes are selected by different thresholds in two independently adapting neural pathways.

Concatenated silicon etalon tunable filter for hyperspectral imaging in the near infrared

A critical limitation imposed on all imaging systems is to achieve an optimal balance between optical resolution and bandwidth. The optical system determines and affects the relations between temporal information, spatial bandwidth, and resolution, so the resulting signal may differ for each wavelength. This is of significant importance for hyperspectral imaging in particular, because it extracts both spatial and temporal wavelength information. We present a dispersive device that can be used for hyperspectral imaging hypercube image measurements. We utilize the Vernier effect by integrating two silicon slabs that act together as a modified Fabry–Perot filter. The transition between wavelength bands is achieved by heating, utilizing the thermo-optic effect. Importantly, we show that red-shifting with concatenated slabs requires less heating than with a single slab. With the presented technique, a wide effective free spectral range of up to 90 nm around a central wavelength of 1550 nm was achieved along with 20-nm full-width-at-half-maximum resolution. With the same configuration, observing a narrower 0.7-nm free spectral range bandwidth, a fine spectrum resolution of 0.07 nm was obtained. Such variety covers most of the spatial and temporal standard limitations of current hyperspectral imaging requirements.

A combined phase contrast imaging and heterodyne interferometer system for multiscale fluctuation measurements (invited)

In this work, a novel combined diagnostic capable of measuring multiscale density fluctuations that extend from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) to the lower range of electron temperature gradient turbulence has been designed, installed, and operated at DIII-D. The combined diagnostic was constructed by adding a heterodyne interferometer to the pre-existing phase contrast imaging (PCI) system, both of which measure line-integrated electron density fluctuations. The port-space footprint is minimized via use of a single 10.6 μm probe beam. With temporal bandwidths in excess of 1 MHz, the PCI measures high-k (1.5 cm-1 < |k R | ≤ 25 cm-1) fluctuations with sensitivity , while the interferometer simultaneously measures low-k (|k R | < 5 cm-1) fluctuations with sensitivity . The intentional mid-k overlap has been empirically verified with sound-wave calibrations and allows quantitative investigation of multiscale effects that are predicted to be significant in the reactor-relevant T e ∼ T i regime. Furthermore, via correlation with the primary DIII-D interferometer, the toroidal mode numbers of core-localized MHD can be measured.

Analysis of Spectral Limitations and Spectral Evolution in Short Pulse Amplification With a Regenerative Amplifier

This paper presents a new understanding of the gain narrowing mechanism in short-pulse amplification. Spectral and temporal bandwidth measurements of the amplified pulse, extracted from a chirped pulse amplification system, indicates clearly that gain narrowing occurs during the initial roundtrips in a regenerative amplifier, but during the later round trips, the pulse gains spectral bandwidth. This evolution of the pulse and its spectrum in a Nd:glass regenerative amplifier has been explained with a simulation code. The simulation is based on the Frantz–Nodvik model that has been generalized to a spectral domain and applied to Nd:glass, the active medium of the regenerative amplifier. The results also confirm the inhomogeneous gain profile of the active medium and the slow cross relaxation rates.