Participation and quality of life in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by muscle damage and progressive loss of muscle function in male children. DMD is one of the most devastating genetically linked neuromuscular diseases for which there is currently no cure. Most clinical studies for DMD utilize a standard protocol for measurement exploring pathophysiology, muscle strength and timed tasks. However, we propose that examining broader components of health as emphasized by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) may be of great value to children and their families, and important outcomes for future clinical trials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty boys with DMD and 25 unaffected age-matched boys completed two self-report measures: the Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory^TM 4.0. We investigated differences between the two groups with regard to participation in life activities and perceived quality of life (QoL). Additionally, we compared participation in activities and QoL in both cohorts of younger and older boys.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participation in physical activities was significantly lower in boys with DMD than unaffected boys. Perceived QoL was markedly diminished in children with DMD relative to unaffected controls, except in the emotional domain. The amount of time boys engage in an activity, as well as participation in social activities, declined for our older boys with DMD but no changes were observed for our older unaffected boys. For both groups, QoL remained constant over time.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The ICF-CY provides a conceptual framework and specific terminology that facilitates investigation of the consequences of impairment in children and youth. Our study is one of the first to explore participation in a cohort of boys with DMD. It was not surprising that activities of choice for boys with DMD were less physical in nature than unaffected boys their age, but the consequences of less social engagement as the boys with DMD age is of great concern. Results from our study underscore the need to further evaluate activities that children elect to participate in, with special emphasis on facilitators and barriers to participation and how participation changes throughout the course of a disease.</p

Skeletal Muscle Apoptotic Signaling Predicts Thigh Muscle Volume and Gait Speed in Community-Dwelling Older Persons: An Exploratory Study

Preclinical studies strongly suggest that accelerated apoptosis in skeletal myocytes may be involved in the pathogenesis of sarcopenia. However, evidence in humans is sparse. In the present study, we investigated whether apoptotic signaling in the skeletal muscle was associated with indices of muscle mass and function in older persons.Community-dwelling older adults were categorized into high-functioning (HF) or low-functioning (LF) groups according to their short physical performance battery (SPPB) summary score. Participants underwent an isokinetic knee extensor strength test and 3-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of the thigh. Vastus lateralis muscle samples were obtained by percutaneous needle biopsy and assayed for the expression of a set of apoptotic signaling proteins. Age, sex, number of comorbid conditions and medications as well as knee extensor strength were not different between groups. HF participants displayed greater thigh muscle volume compared with LF persons. Multivariate partial least squares (PLS) regressions showed significant correlations between caspase-dependent apoptotic signaling proteins and the muscular percentage of thigh volume (R(2) = 0.78; Q(2) = 0.61) as well as gait speed (R(2) = 0.81; Q(2) = 0.56). Significant variables in the PLS model of percent muscle volume were active caspase-8, cleaved caspase-3, cytosolic cytochrome c and mitochondrial Bak. The regression model of gait speed was mainly described by cleaved caspase-3 and mitochondrial Bax and Bak. PLS predictive apoptotic variables did not differ between functional groups. No correlation was determined between apoptotic signaling proteins and muscle strength or quality (strength per unit volume).Data from this exploratory study show for the first time that apoptotic signaling is correlated with indices of muscle mass and function in a cohort of community-dwelling older persons. Future larger-scale studies are needed to corroborate these preliminary findings and determine if down-regulation of apoptotic signaling in skeletal myocytes will provide improvements in the muscle mass and functional status of older persons

Suitability of external controls for drug evaluation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the suitability of real-world data (RWD) and natural history data (NHD) for use as external controls in drug evaluations for ambulatory Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHODS: The consistency of changes in the 6-minute walk distance (Δ6MWD) was assessed across multiple clinical trial placebo arms and sources of NHD/RWD. Six placebo arms reporting 48-week Δ6MWD were identified via literature review and represented 4 sets of inclusion/exclusion criteria (n = 383 patients in total). Five sources of RWD/NHD were contributed by Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven, DMD Italian Group, The Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group, ImagingDMD, and the PRO-DMD-01 study (n = 430 patients, in total). Mean Δ6MWD was compared between each placebo arm and RWD/NHD source after subjecting the latter to the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the trial for baseline age, ambulatory function, and steroid use. Baseline covariate adjustment was investigated in a subset of patients with available data. RESULTS: Analyses included ∼1,200 patient-years of follow-up. Differences in mean Δ6MWD between trial placebo arms and RWD/NHD cohorts ranged from -19.4 m (i.e., better outcomes in RWD/NHD) to 19.5 m (i.e., worse outcomes in RWD/NHD) and were not statistically significant before or after covariate adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: We found that Δ6MWD was consistent between placebo arms and RWD/NHD subjected to equivalent inclusion/exclusion criteria. No evidence for systematic bias was detected. These findings are encouraging for the use of RWD/NHD to augment, or possibly replace, placebo controls in DMD trials. Multi-institution collaboration through the Collaborative Trajectory Analysis Project rendered this study feasible

Search of the early O3 LIGO data for continuous gravitational waves from the Cassiopeia A and Vela Jr. supernova remnants

partially_open1412sìWe present directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from the neutron stars in the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) and Vela Jr. supernova remnants. We carry out the searches in the LIGO detector data from the first six months of the third Advanced LIGO and Virgo observing run using the weave semicoherent method, which sums matched-filter detection-statistic values over many time segments spanning the observation period. No gravitational wave signal is detected in the search band of 20–976 Hz for assumed source ages greater than 300 years for Cas A and greater than 700 years for Vela Jr. Estimates from simulated continuous wave signals indicate we achieve the most sensitive results to date across the explored parameter space volume, probing to strain magnitudes as low as ∼6.3×10^−26 for Cas A and ∼5.6×10^−26 for Vela Jr. at frequencies near 166 Hz at 95% efficiency.openAbbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adhikari, N.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agarwal, D.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Albanesi, S.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Amato, A.; Anand, C.; Anand, S.; Ananyeva, A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Andrade, T.; Andres, N.; Andrić, T.; Angelova, S. V.; Ansoldi, S.; Antelis, J. M.; Antier, S.; Appert, S.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arène, M.; Arnaud, N.; Aronson, S. M.; Arun, K. G.; Asali, Y.; Ashton, G.; Assiduo, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aubin, F.; Austin, C.; Babak, S.; Badaracco, F.; Bader, M. K. M.; Badger, C.; Bae, S.; Baer, A. M.; Bagnasco, S.; Bai, Y.; Baird, J.; Ball, M.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Balsamo, A.; Baltus, G.; Banagiri, S.; Bankar, D.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barbieri, C.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barneo, P.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Barton, M. A.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Bawaj, M.; Bayley, J. C.; Baylor, A. C.; Bazzan, M.; Bécsy, B.; Bedakihale, V. M.; Bejger, M.; Belahcene, I.; Benedetto, V.; Beniwal, D.; Bennett, T. F.; Bentley, J. D.; BenYaala, M.; Bergamin, F.; Berger, B. K.; Bernuzzi, S.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Beveridge, D.; Bhandare, R.; Bhardwaj, U.; Bhattacharjee, D.; Bhaumik, S.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Bini, S.; Birney, R.; Birnholtz, O.; Biscans, S.; Bischi, M.; Biscoveanu, S.; Bisht, A.; Biswas, B.; Bitossi, M.; Bizouard, M.-A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bobba, F.; Bode, N.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Boldrini, M.; Bonavena, L. D.; Bondu, F.; Bonilla, E.; Bonnand, R.; Booker, P.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, N.; Bose, S.; Bossilkov, V.; Boudart, V.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Bramley, A.; Branch, A.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Breschi, M.; Briant, T.; Briggs, J. H.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brooks, J.; Brown, D. D.; Brunett, S.; Bruno, G.; Bruntz, R.; Bryant, J.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buscicchio, R.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Bustillo, J. Calderón; Callaghan, J. D.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Cameron, J.; Camp, J. B.; Canepa, M.; Canevarolo, S.; Cannavacciuolo, M.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, H.; Capote, E.; Carapella, G.; Carbognani, F.; Carlin, J. B.; Carney, M. F.; Carpinelli, M.; Carrillo, G.; Carullo, G.; Carver, T. L.; Diaz, J. Casanueva; Casentini, C.; Castaldi, G.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Ceasar, M.; Cella, G.; Cerdá-Durán, P.; Cesarini, E.; Chaibi, W.; Chakravarti, K.; Subrahmanya, S. Chalathadka; Champion, E.; Chan, C.-H.; Chan, C.; Chan, C. L.; Chan, K.; Chandra, K.; Chanial, P.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chase, E. A.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chatterjee, C.; Chatterjee, Debarati; Chatterjee, Deep; Chaturvedi, M.; Chaty, S.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, J.; Chen, X.; Chen, Y.; Chen, Z.; Cheng, H.; Cheong, C. K.; Cheung, H. Y.; Chia, H. Y.; Chiadini, F.; Chiarini, G.; Chierici, R.; Chincarini, A.; Chiofalo, M. L.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, G.; Cho, H. S.; Choudhary, R. K.; Choudhary, S.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S.; Chung, K. W.; Ciani, G.; Ciecielag, P.; Cieślar, M.; Cifaldi, M.; Ciobanu, A. A.; Ciolfi, R.; Cipriano, F.; Cirone, A.; Clara, F.; Clark, E. N.; Clark, J. A.; Clarke, L.; Clearwater, P.; Clesse, S.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Codazzo, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Cohen, D. E.; Cohen, L.; Colleoni, M.; Collette, C. G.; Colombo, A.; Colpi, M.; Compton, C. M.; Constancio, M.; Conti, L.; Cooper, S. J.; Corban, P.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cordero-Carrión, I.; Corezzi, S.; Corley, K. R.; Cornish, N.; Corre, D.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Cotesta, R.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Cousins, B.; Couvares, P.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Creighton, T. D.; Criswell, A. W.; Croquette, M.; Crowder, S. G.; Cudell, J. R.; Cullen, T. J.; Cumming, A.; Cummings, R.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Curyło, M.; Dabadie, P.; Canton, T. Dal; Dall’Osso, S.; Dálya, G.; Dana, A.; DaneshgaranBajastani, L. M.; D’Angelo, B.; Danilishin, S.; D’Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darsow-Fromm, C.; Dasgupta, A.; Datrier, L. E. H.; Datta, S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Davis, D.; Davis, M. C.; Daw, E. J.; Dean, R.; DeBra, D.; Deenadayalan, M.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Favero, V.; De Lillo, F.; De Lillo, N.; Del Pozzo, W.; DeMarchi, L. M.; De Matteis, F.; D’Emilio, V.; Demos, N.; Dent, T.; Depasse, A.; De Pietri, R.; De Rosa, R.; De Rossi, C.; DeSalvo, R.; De Simone, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Diaz-Ortiz, M.; Didio, N. A.; Dietrich, T.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Fronzo, C.; Di Giorgio, C.; Di Giovanni, F.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Ding, B.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Renzo, F.; Divakarla, A. K.; Dmitriev, A.; Doctor, Z.; D’Onofrio, L.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Dorrington, I.; Drago, M.; Driggers, J. C.; Drori, Y.; Ducoin, J.-G.; Dupej, P.; Durante, O.; D’Urso, D.; Duverne, P.-A.; Dwyer, S. E.; Eassa, C.; Easter, P. J.; Ebersold, M.; Eckhardt, T.; Eddolls, G.; Edelman, B.; Edo, T. B.; Edy, O.; Effler, A.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Eisenmann, M.; Eisenstein, R. A.; Ejlli, A.; Engelby, E.; Errico, L.; Essick, R. C.; Estellés, H.; Estevez, D.; Etienne, Z.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Ewing, B. E.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Farah, A. M.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Farrow, N. W.; Fauchon-Jones, E. J.; Favaro, G.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fazio, M.; Feicht, J.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferguson, D. L.; Fernandez-Galiana, A.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, T. A.; Fidecaro, F.; Figura, P.; Fiori, I.; Fishbach, M.; Fisher, R. P.; Fittipaldi, R.; Fiumara, V.; Flaminio, R.; Floden, E.; Fong, H.; Font, J. A.; Fornal, B.; Forsyth, P. W. F.; Franke, A.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frederick, C.; Freed, J. P.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fronzé, G. G.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A.; Gadre, B. U.; Gair, J. R.; Gais, J.; Galaudage, S.; Gamba, R.; Ganapathy, D.; Ganguly, A.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garaventa, B.; García-Núñez, C.; García-Quirós, C.; Garufi, F.; Gateley, B.; Gaudio, S.; Gayathri, V.; Gemme, G.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gerberding, O.; Gergely, L.; Gewecke, P.; Ghonge, S.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, Shaon; Ghosh, Shrobana; Giacomazzo, B.; Giacoppo, L.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Gibson, D. R.; Gier, C.; Giesler, M.; Giri, P.; Gissi, F.; Glanzer, J.; Gleckl, A. E.; Godwin, P.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gohlke, N.; Goncharov, B.; González, G.; Gopakumar, A.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Gould, D. W.; Grace, B.; Grado, A.; Granata, M.; Granata, V.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Grassia, P.; Gray, C.; Gray, R.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Green, R.; Gretarsson, A. M.; Gretarsson, E. M.; Griffith, D.; Griffiths, W.; Griggs, H. L.; Grignani, G.; Grimaldi, A.; Grimm, S. J.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Gruning, P.; Guerra, D.; Guidi, Gianluca; Guimaraes, A. R.; Guixé, G.; Gulati, H. K.; Guo, H.-K.; Guo, Y.; Gupta, Anchal; Gupta, Anuradha; Gupta, P.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Guzman, F.; Haegel, L.; Halim, O.; Hall, E. D.; Hamilton, E. Z.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hannuksela, O.; Hansen, H.; Hansen, T. J.; Hanson, J.; Harder, T.; Hardwick, T.; Haris, K.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hartwig, D.; Haskell, B.; Hasskew, R. K.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Hayes, F. J.; Healy, J.; Heidmann, A.; Heidt, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heinze, J.; Heinzel, J.; Heitmann, H.; Hellman, F.; Hello, P.; Helmling-Cornell, A. F.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennes, E.; Hennig, J.; Hennig, M. H.; Hernandez, A. G.; Vivanco, F. Hernandez; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hill, P.; Hines, A. S.; Hochheim, S.; Hofman, D.; Hohmann, J. N.; Holcomb, D. G.; Holland, N. A.; Hollows, I. J.; Holmes, Z. J.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Hourihane, S.; Howell, E. J.; Hoy, C. G.; Hoyland, D.; Hreibi, A.; Hsu, Y.; Huang, Y.; Hübner, M. T.; Huddart, A. D.; Hughey, B.; Hui, V.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huxford, R.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idzkowski, B.; Iess, A.; Ingram, C.; Isi, M.; Isleif, K.; Iyer, B. R.; JaberianHamedan, V.; Jacqmin, T.; Jadhav, S. J.; Jadhav, S. P.; James, A. L.; Jan, A. Z.; Jani, K.; Janquart, J.; Janssens, K.; Janthalur, N. N.; Jaranowski, P.; Jariwala, D.; Jaume, R.; Jenkins, A. C.; Jenner, K.; Jeunon, M.; Jia, W.; Johns, G. R.; Jones, A. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, J. D.; Jones, P.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Junker, J.; Juste, V.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kamai, B.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Kao, Y.; Kapadia, S. J.; Kapasi, D. P.; Karat, S.; Karathanasis, C.; Karki, S.; Kashyap, R.; Kasprzack, M.; Kastaun, W.; Katsanevas, S.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kéfélian, F.; Keitel, D.; Key, J. S.; Khadka, S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, S.; Khazanov, E. A.; Khetan, N.; Khursheed, M.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, C.; Kim, J. C.; Kim, K.; Kim, W. S.; Kim, Y.-M.; Kimball, C.; Kinley-Hanlon, M.; Kirchhoff, R.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Knee, A. M.; Knowles, T. D.; Knyazev, E.; Koch, P.; Koekoek, G.; Koley, S.; Kolitsidou, P.; Kolstein, M.; Komori, K.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Koper, N.; Korobko, M.; Kovalam, M.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnendu, N. V.; Królak, A.; Kuehn, G.; Kuei, F.; Kuijer, P.; Kumar, A.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, Rahul; Kumar, Rakesh; Kuns, K.; Kuwahara, S.; Lagabbe, P.; Laghi, D.; Lalande, E.; Lam, T. L.; Lamberts, A.; Landry, M.; Lane, B. B.; Lang, R. N.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; La Rosa, I.; Lartaux-Vollard, A.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lecoeuche, Y. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, H. W.; Lee, J.; Lee, K.; Lehmann, J.; Lemaître, A.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levesque, C.; Levin, Y.; Leviton, J. N.; Leyde, K.; Li, A. K. Y.; Li, B.; Li, J.; Li, T. G. F.; Li, X.; Linde, F.; Linker, S. D.; Linley, J. N.; Littenberg, T. B.; Liu, J.; Liu, K.; Liu, X.; Llamas, F.; Llorens-Monteagudo, M.; Lo, R. K. L.; Lockwood, A.; London, L. T.; Longo, A.; Lopez, D.; Portilla, M. Lopez; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lott, T. P.; Lough, J. D.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Lucaccioni, J. F.; Lück, H.; Lumaca, D.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynam, J. E.; Macas, R.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; MacMillan, I. A. O.; Macquet, A.; Hernandez, I. Magaña; Magazzù, C.; Magee, R. M.; Maggiore, R.; Magnozzi, M.; Mahesh, S.; Majorana, E.; Makarem, C.; Maksimovic, I.; Maliakal, S.; Malik, A.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mango, J. L.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Mapelli, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Mark, Z.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markakis, C.; Markosyan, A. S.; Markowitz, A.; Maros, E.; Marquina, A.; Marsat, S.; Martelli, F.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martinez, M.; Martinez, V. A.; Martinez, V.; Martinovic, K.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, E. J.; Masalehdan, H.; Mason, K.; Massera, E.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matas, A.; Mateu-Lucena, M.; Matichard, F.; Matiushechkina, M.; Mavalvala, N.; McCann, J. J.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McClincy, P. K.; McCormick, S.; McCuller, L.; McGhee, G. I.; McGuire, S. C.; McIsaac, C.; McIver, J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Mehmet, M.; Mehta, A. K.; Meijer, Q.; Melatos, A.; Melchor, D. A.; Mendell, G.; Menendez-Vazquez, A.; Menoni, C. S.; Mercer, R. A.; Mereni, L.; Merfeld, K.; Merilh, E. L.; Merritt, J. D.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Meyers, P. M.; Meylahn, F.; Mhaske, A.; Miani, A.; Miao, H.; Michaloliakos, I.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Milano, L.; Miller, A.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B.; Millhouse, M.; Mills, J. C.; Milotti, E.; Minazzoli, O.; Minenkov, Y.; Mir, Ll. M.; Miravet-Tenés, M.; Mishra, C.; Mishra, T.; Mistry, T.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Mo, Geoffrey; Moguel, E.; Mogushi, K.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Mohite, S. R.; Molina, I.; Molina-Ruiz, M.; Mondin, M.; Montani, M.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Morawski, F.; More, A.; Moreno, C.; Moreno, G.; Morisaki, S.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mozzon, S.; Muciaccia, F.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, Soma; Mukherjee, Subroto; Mukherjee, Suvodip; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Muñiz, E. A.; Murray, P. G.; Musenich, R.; Muusse, S.; Nadji, S. L.; Nagar, A.; Napolano, V.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, B.; Nayak, R. K.; Neil, B. F.; Neilson, J.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Nery, M.; Neubauer, P.; Neunzert, A.; Ng, K. Y.; Ng, S. W. S.; Nguyen, C.; Nguyen, P.; Nguyen, T.; Nichols, S. A.; Nissanke, S.; Nitoglia, E.; Nocera, F.; Norman, M.; North, C.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; O’Brien, B. D.; O’Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Oganesyan, G.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Ohta, H.; Okada, M. A.; Olivetto, C.; Oram, R.; O’Reilly, B.; Ormiston, R. G.; Ormsby, N. D.; Ortega, L. F.; O’Shaughnessy, R.; O’Shea, E.; Ossokine, S.; Osthelder, C.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Pace, A. E.; Pagano, G.; Page, M. A.; Pagliaroli, G.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pan, H.; Panda, P. K.; Pang, P. T. H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Panther, F. H.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Paolone, A.; Park, H.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patel, M.; Pathak, M.; Patricelli, B.; Patron, A. S.; Paul, S.; Payne, E.; 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The population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3

We report on the population properties of 76 compact binary mergers detected with gravitational waves below a false alarm rate of 1 per year through GWTC-3. The catalog contains three classes of binary mergers: BBH, BNS, and NSBH mergers. We infer the BNS merger rate to be between 10 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ and 1700 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ and the NSBH merger rate to be between 7.8 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ and 140 $\rm{Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}}$ , assuming a constant rate density versus comoving volume and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. Accounting for the BBH merger rate to evolve with redshift, we find the BBH merger rate to be between 17.9 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ and 44 $\rm{Gpc^{-3}\, yr^{-1}}$ at a fiducial redshift (z=0.2). We obtain a broad neutron star mass distribution extending from $1.2^{+0.1}_{-0.2} M_\odot$ to $2.0^{+0.3}_{-0.3} M_\odot$. We can confidently identify a rapid decrease in merger rate versus component mass between neutron star-like masses and black-hole-like masses, but there is no evidence that the merger rate increases again before 10 $M_\odot$. We also find the BBH mass distribution has localized over- and under-densities relative to a power law distribution. While we continue to find the mass distribution of a binary's more massive component strongly decreases as a function of primary mass, we observe no evidence of a strongly suppressed merger rate above $\sim 60 M_\odot$. The rate of BBH mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional to $(1+z)^{\kappa}$ with $\kappa = 2.9^{+1.7}_{-1.8}$ for $z\lesssim 1$. Observed black hole spins are small, with half of spin magnitudes below $\chi_i \simeq 0.25$. We observe evidence of negative aligned spins in the population, and an increase in spin magnitude for systems with more unequal mass ratio

Population of Merging Compact Binaries Inferred Using Gravitational Waves through GWTC-3

We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star-black hole mergers. We infer the binary neutron star merger rate to be between 10 and 1700 Gpc-3 yr-1 and the neutron star-black hole merger rate to be between 7.8 and 140 Gpc-3 yr-1, assuming a constant rate density in the comoving frame and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. We infer the binary black hole merger rate, allowing for evolution with redshift, to be between 17.9 and 44 Gpc-3 yr-1 at a fiducial redshift (z=0.2). The rate of binary black hole mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional to (1+z)κ with κ=2.9-1.8+1.7 for z≲1. Using both binary neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries, we obtain a broad, relatively flat neutron star mass distribution extending from 1.2-0.2+0.1 to 2.0-0.3+0.3M⊙. We confidently determine that the merger rate as a function of mass sharply declines after the expected maximum neutron star mass, but cannot yet confirm or rule out the existence of a lower mass gap between neutron stars and black holes. We also find the binary black hole mass distribution has localized over- and underdensities relative to a power-law distribution, with peaks emerging at chirp masses of 8.3-0.5+0.3 and 27.9-1.8+1.9M⊙. While we continue to find that the mass distribution of a binary's more massive component strongly decreases as a function of primary mass, we observe no evidence of a strongly suppressed merger rate above approximately 60M⊙, which would indicate the presence of a upper mass gap. Observed black hole spins are small, with half of spin magnitudes below χi≈0.25. While the majority of spins are preferentially aligned with the orbital angular momentum, we infer evidence of antialigned spins among the binary population. We observe an increase in spin magnitude for systems with more unequal-mass ratio. We also observe evidence of misalignment of spins relative to the orbital angular momentum

Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA and GEO

The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in April of 2019 and lasting six months, O3b starting in November of 2019 and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in April of 2020 and lasting 2 weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main dataset, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages.Comment: 27 pages, 3 figure

Constraints on dark photon dark matter using data from LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run

We present a search for dark photon dark matter that could couple to gravitational-wave interferometers using data from Advanced LIGO and Virgo's third observing run. To perform this analysis, we use two methods, one based on cross-correlation of the strain channels in the two nearly aligned LIGO detectors, and one that looks for excess power in the strain channels of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. The excess power method optimizes the Fourier Transform coherence time as a function of frequency, to account for the expected signal width due to Doppler modulations. We do not find any evidence of dark photon dark matter with a mass between $m_{\rm A} \sim 10^{-14}-10^{-11}$ eV/$c^2$, which corresponds to frequencies between 10-2000 Hz, and therefore provide upper limits on the square of the minimum coupling of dark photons to baryons, i.e. $U(1)_{\rm B}$ dark matter. For the cross-correlation method, the best median constraint on the squared coupling is $\sim1.31\times10^{-47}$ at $m_{\rm A}\sim4.2\times10^{-13}$ eV/$c^2$; for the other analysis, the best constraint is $\sim 2.4\times 10^{-47}$ at $m_{\rm A}\sim 5.7\times 10^{-13}$ eV/$c^2$. These limits improve upon those obtained in direct dark matter detection experiments by a factor of $\sim100$ for $m_{\rm A}\sim [2-4]\times 10^{-13}$ eV/$c^2$, and are, in absolute terms, the most stringent constraint so far in a large mass range $m_A\sim$ $2\times 10^{-13}-8\times 10^{-12}$ eV/$c^2$.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

All-sky search for long-duration gravitational-wave bursts in the third Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run

After the detection of gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences, the search for transient gravitational-wave signals with less well-defined waveforms for which matched filtering is not well suited is one of the frontiers for gravitational-wave astronomy. Broadly classified into “short” ≲1  s and “long” ≳1  s duration signals, these signals are expected from a variety of astrophysical processes, including non-axisymmetric deformations in magnetars or eccentric binary black hole coalescences. In this work, we present a search for long-duration gravitational-wave transients from Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo’s third observing run from April 2019 to March 2020. For this search, we use minimal assumptions for the sky location, event time, waveform morphology, and duration of the source. The search covers the range of 2–500 s in duration and a frequency band of 24–2048 Hz. We find no significant triggers within this parameter space; we report sensitivity limits on the signal strength of gravitational waves characterized by the root-sum-square amplitude hrss as a function of waveform morphology. These hrss limits improve upon the results from the second observing run by an average factor of 1.8