Low insertion loss is a critical requirement for some newly emerging applications, such as optical quantum computing. We have demonstrated improved free-space to single-mode fiber coupling via wavefront correction using an adaptive-optic (AO) mirror. By introducing AO correction paired with a three-step optimization algorithm, we have obtained 97.3 ± 0.3% of the Fresnel-reflection-limited mode-...

BACKGROUND Recent studies cast doubt about the economic efficiency of observation units (OUs). OBJECTIVE We aimed to reexamine the cost savings of OUs compared with inpatient care. METHODS Claims for 15,851 patients who were admitted to inpatient or OUs between January 2009 and December 2012 following emergency room (ER) visits for chest pain were retrospectively examined. The two groups we...

Different laboratories have achieved a consensus regarding how well human observers can estimate the average orientation in a set of N objects. Such estimates are not only limited by visual noise, which perturbs the visual signal of each object's orientation, they are also inefficient: Observers effectively use only √N objects in their estimates (e.g., S. C. Dakin, 2001; J. A. Solomon, 2010). M...

Starbursts produce large numbers of Young Star Clusters (YSCs). Multi-color photometry in combination with a dedicated SED analysis tool allows to derive ages, metallicities, EB−V, and masses including 1σ uncertainties for individual clusters and, hence, mass functions for YSC systems. The mass function, known to be Gaussian for old Globular Cluster (GC) systems, is still controversial for YSC ...

A comparison is made among various gradient methods for maximizing a function, based on a characterization by Crockett and Chernoff of the class of these methods. By defining the "efficiency" of a gradient step in a certain way, it becomes easy to compare the efficiencies of different schemes with that of Newton's method, which can be regarded as a particular gradient scheme. For quadratic func...