Electrically packaged silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) I/Q-modulator for 64 GBd operation

Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) electro-optic (EO) modulators combine small footprint with low operating voltage and hence low power dissipation, thus lending themselves to on-chip integration of large-scale device arrays. Here we demonstrate an electrical packaging concept that enables high-density radio-frequency (RF) interfaces between on-chip SOH devices and external circuits. The concept combines high-resolution $\mathrm{Al_2O_3}$ printed-circuit boards with technically simple metal wire bonds and is amenable to packaging of device arrays with small on-chip bond pad pitches. In a set of experiments, we characterize the performance of the underlying RF building blocks and we demonstrate the viability of the overall concept by generation of high-speed optical communication signals. Achieving line rates (symbols rates) of 128 Gbit/s (64 GBd) using quadrature-phase-shiftkeying (QPSK) modulation and of 160 Gbit/s (40 GBd) using 16-state quadrature-amplitudemodulation (16QAM), we believe that our demonstration represents an important step in bringing SOH modulators from proof-of-concept experiments to deployment in commercial environments

Comb-based WDM transmission at 10 Tbit/s using a DC-driven quantum-dash mode-locked laser diode

Chip-scale frequency comb generators have the potential to become key building blocks of compact wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transceivers in future metropolitan or campus-area networks. Among the various comb generator concepts, quantum-dash (QD) mode-locked laser diodes (MLLD) stand out as a particularly promising option, combining small footprint with simple operation by a DC current and offering flat broadband comb spectra. However, the data transmission performance achieved with QD-MLLD was so far limited by strong phase noise of the individual comb tones, restricting experiments to rather simple modulation formats such as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or requiring hard-ware-based compensation schemes. Here we demonstrate that these limitations can be over-come by digital symbol-wise phase tracking algorithms, avoiding any hardware-based phase-noise compensation. We demonstrate 16QAM dual-polarization WDM transmission on 38 channels at an aggregate net data rate of 10.68 Tbit/s over 75 km of standard single-mode fiber. To the best of our knowledge, this corresponds to the highest data rate achieved through a DC-driven chip-scale comb generator without any hardware-based phase-noise reduction schemes

Inter-individual stereotypy of the Platynereis larval visual connectome

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Developmental programs have the fidelity to form neural circuits with the same structure and function among individuals of the same species. It is less well understood, however, to what extent entire neural circuits of different individuals are similar. Previously, we reported the neuronal connectome of the visual eye circuit from the head of a Platynereis dumerilii larva (Randel et al., 2014). We now report a full-body serial section transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM) dataset of another larva of the same age, for which we describe the connectome of the visual eyes and the larval eyespots. Anatomical comparisons and quantitative analyses of the two circuits reveal a high inter-individual stereotypy of the cell complement, neuronal projections, and synaptic connectivity, including the left-right asymmetry in the connectivity of some neurons. Our work shows the extent to which the eye circuitry in Platynereis larvae is hard-wired.The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 260821.European Research Council (ERC): Grant Agreement 260821, Gaspar Jekel

Revisiting Southern Hemisphere polar stratospheric temperature trends in WACCM: The role of dynamical forcing

The latest version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), which includes a new chemistry scheme and an updated parameterization of orographic gravity waves, produces temperature trends in the Antarctic lower stratosphere in excellent agreement with radiosonde observations for 1969-1998 as regards magnitude, location, timing, and persistence. The maximum trend, reached in November at 100hPa, is -4.42.8Kdecade(-1), which is a third smaller than the largest trend in the previous version of WACCM. Comparison with a simulation without the updated orographic gravity wave parameterization, together with analysis of the model's thermodynamic budget, reveals that the reduced trend is due to the effects of a stronger Brewer-Dobson circulation in the new simulations, which warms the polar cap. The effects are both direct (a trend in adiabatic warming in late spring) and indirect (a smaller trend in ozone, hence a smaller reduction in shortwave heating, due to the warmer environment)

Neuronal connectome of a sensory-motor circuit for visual navigation.

This is the final version of the article. Available from eLife Sciences Publications via the DOI in this record.Animals use spatial differences in environmental light levels for visual navigation; however, how light inputs are translated into coordinated motor outputs remains poorly understood. Here we reconstruct the neuronal connectome of a four-eye visual circuit in the larva of the annelid Platynereis using serial-section transmission electron microscopy. In this 71-neuron circuit, photoreceptors connect via three layers of interneurons to motorneurons, which innervate trunk muscles. By combining eye ablations with behavioral experiments, we show that the circuit compares light on either side of the body and stimulates body bending upon left-right light imbalance during visual phototaxis. We also identified an interneuron motif that enhances sensitivity to different light intensity contrasts. The Platynereis eye circuit has the hallmarks of a visual system, including spatial light detection and contrast modulation, illustrating how image-forming eyes may have evolved via intermediate stages contrasting only a light and a dark field during a simple visual task.The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/European Research Council Grant Agreement 260821

Delayed Decision-making in Real-time Beatbox Percussion Classification

This is an electronic version of an article published in Journal of New Music Research, 39(3), 203-213, 2010. doi:10.1080/09298215.2010.512979. Journal of New Music Research is available online at: www.tandfonline.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=1744-5027&volume=39&issue=3&spage=20