How Stimulus Statistics Affect the Receptive Fields of Cells in Primary Visual Cortex.

We studied the changes that neuronal receptive field (RF) models undergo when the statistics of the stimulus are changed from those of white Gaussian noise (WGN) to those of natural scenes (NSs), by fitting the models to multielectrode data recorded from primary visual cortex (V1) of female cats. This allowed the estimation of both a cascade of linear filters on the stimulus, as well as the static nonlinearities that map the output of the filters to the neuronal spike rates. We found that cells respond differently to these two classes of stimuli, with mostly higher spike rates and shorter response latencies to NSs than to WGN. The most striking finding was that NSs resulted in RFs that had additional uncovered filters compared with WGN. This finding was not an artifact of the higher spike rates observed for NSs relative to WGN, but rather was related to a change in coding. Our results reveal a greater extent of nonlinear processing in V1 neurons when stimulated using NSs compared with WGN. Our findings indicate the existence of nonlinear mechanisms that endow V1 neurons with context-dependent transmission of visual information.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study addresses a fundamental question about the concept of the receptive field (RF): does the encoding of information depend on the context or statistical regularities of the stimulus type? We applied state-of-the-art RF modeling techniques to data collected from multielectrode recordings from cat visual cortex in response to two statistically distinct stimulus types: white Gaussian noise and natural scenes. We find significant differences between the RFs that emerge from our data-driven modeling. Natural scenes result in far more complex RFs that combine multiple features in the visual input. Our findings reveal that different regimes or modes of operation are at work in visual cortical processing depending on the information present in the visual input. The complexity of V1 neural coding appears to be dependent on the complexity of the stimulus. We believe this new finding will have interesting implications for our understanding of the efficient transmission of information in sensory systems, which is an integral assumption of many computational theories (e.g., efficient and predictive coding of sensory processing in the brain).

Indirect spectrum measurement via random phase modulation and detection in temporal domain.

Spectroscopy continues to provide possibilities for a deeper understanding of fundamental physical phenomena. Traditional spectral measurement method, dispersive Fourier transformation, is always limited by its realization condition (detection in the temporal far-field). Inspired by Fourier ghost imaging, we put forward an indirect spectrum measurement to overcome the limitation. The spectrum information is reconstructed via random phase modulation and near-field detection in the time domain. Since all operations are realized in the near-field region, the required length of dispersion fiber and optical loss are greatly reduced. Considering the application in spectroscopy, the length of required dispersion fiber, the spectrum resolution, the range of spectrum measurement and the requirement on bandwidth of photodetector are investigated.

Hacking single-photon avalanche detectors in quantum key distribution via pulse illumination.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been proved to be information-theoretically secure in theory. Unfortunately, the imperfect devices in practice compromise its security. Thus, to improve the security property of practical QKD systems, a commonly used method is to patch the loopholes in the existing QKD systems. However, in this work, we show an adversary's capability of exploiting the imperfection of the patch itself to bypass the patch. Specifically, we experimentally demonstrate that, in the detector under test, the patch of photocurrent monitor against the detector blinding attack can be defeated by the pulse illumination attack proposed in this paper. We also analyze the secret key rate under the pulse illumination attack, which theoretically confirmed that Eve can conduct the attack to learn the secret key. This work indicates the importance of inspecting the security loopholes in a detection unit to further understand their impacts on a QKD system. The method of pulse illumination attack can be a general testing item in the security evaluation standard of QKD.

Detecting fast signals beyond bandwidth of detectors based on computational temporal ghost imaging.

Measurement of fast signal is getting more and more important in many fields. In this paper, we propose to detect a temporal signal based on the idea of computational ghost imaging (GI), which can greatly reduce requirements on bandwidth of detectors. In experiments, we implement retrieving of a temporal signal with time scale of 50ns using a detector of 1kHz bandwidth, which is much lower than the requirement on bandwidth of detector according to information theory. The performance of our technique are also investigated under different detection bandwidths.

Mutual information network-based support vector machine strategy identifies salivary biomarkers in gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: To determine the vital salivary transcriptomic biomarkers for the early detection of gastric cancer via comparing classification efficiency of multiple candidate genes. METHODS: We firstly identified 5 kinds of candidate genes related to gastric cancer, including differential pathway genes (DPGs) based on the attract method, hub genes in differential pathways based on mutual information network (MIN) analysis, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified by Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM), informative genes (DEGs in differential pathways), and key genes (hub DEGs). Then, the classification efficiency of these 5 kinds of candidate genes were assessed using support vector machines (SVM) model. The genes with the best classification efficiency were considered as salivary biomarkers in gastric cancer. RESULTS: Using the attract method, we screened 5 differential pathways in gastric cancer, in which there were 349 DPGs. Based on these DPGs, MIN with 345 genes and 1313 interactions was constructed, from which we obtained 26 hub genes by topological analysis. Meanwhile, we identified 374 DEGs in gastric cancer. Combining DEGs with DPGs and hub genes respectively, we selected 16 informative genes and 5 key genes. SVM analysis showed that the key genes presented the best classification efficiency with AUC=0.99, specificity=1.00, sensitivity=0.98 and MCC=0.95, which would be considered as salivary biomarkers in gastric cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This study successfully explored several salivary biomarkers for the non-invasive detection of gastric cancer with high specificity and sensitivity, which might contribute to the early detection and treatment of gastric cancer.

More than expected: extracellular waveforms and functional responses in monkey LGN.

Unlike the exhaustive determination of cell types in the retina, key populations in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGN) may have been missed. Here, we have begun to characterize the full range of extracellular neuronal responses in the LGN of awake monkeys using multi-electrodes during the presentation of colored noise visual stimuli to identify any previously overlooked signals. Extracellular spike waveforms of single units were classified into seven distinct classes, revealing previously unrecognized diversity: four negative-dominant classes that were narrow or broad, one triphasic class, and two positive-dominant classes. Based on their mapped receptive field (RF), these units were further categorized into either magnocellular (M), parvocellular (P), koniocellular (K), or non-RF (N). We found correlations between spike shape and mapped RF and response characteristics, with negative and narrow spiking waveform units predominantly associated with P and N RFs, and positive waveforms mostly linked to M RFs. Responses from positive waveforms exhibited shorter latencies, larger RF sizes, and were associated with larger eccentricities in the visual field than the other waveform classes. Additionally, N cells, those without an estimated RF, were consistently responsive to the visually presented mapping stimulus at a lower and more sustained rate than units with an RF. These findings suggest that the LGN cell population may be more diverse than previously believed.

Quantum key distribution based on phase encoding in long-distance communication fiber.

A robust two-way quantum key distribution system based on phase encoding is demonstrated in 50 km and 100 km commercial communication fiber. The system can automatically compensate for birefringence effects and remain stable over 23 h. A low quantum bit error rate and high visibility are obtained. Furthermore, the storage fiber is unnecessary and train of pulses is only needed in the test with 100 km fiber.

Security evaluation of quantum key distribution with weak basis-choice flaws.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) can share an unconditional secure key between two remote parties, but the deviation between theory and practice will break the security of the generated key. In this paper, we evaluate the security of QKD with weak basis-choice flaws, in which the random bits used by Alice and Bob are weakly controlled by Eve. Based on the definition of Li et al. (Sci Rep 5:16200, 2015) and GLLP's analysis, we obtain a tight and analytical bound to estimate the phase error and key rate for both the single photon source and the weak coherent source. Our approach largely increases the key rate from that of the original approach. Finally, we investigate and confirm the security of BB84-QKD with a practical commercial devices.

Retraction: Hacking on decoy-state quantum key distribution system with partial phase randomization.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep04759.

Hacking on decoy-state quantum key distribution system with partial phase randomization.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides means for unconditional secure key transmission between two distant parties. However, in practical implementations, it suffers from quantum hacking due to device imperfections. Here we propose a hybrid measurement attack, with only linear optics, homodyne detection, and single photon detection, to the widely used vacuum + weak decoy state QKD system when the phase of source is partially randomized. Our analysis shows that, in some parameter regimes, the proposed attack would result in an entanglement breaking channel but still be able to trick the legitimate users to believe they have transmitted secure keys. That is, the eavesdropper is able to steal all the key information without discovered by the users. Thus, our proposal reveals that partial phase randomization is not sufficient to guarantee the security of phase-encoding QKD systems with weak coherent states.