General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary.

The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors.

Bekenstein-Hod Universal Bound on Information Emission Rate Is Obeyed by LIGO-Virgo Binary Black Hole Remnants.

Causality and the generalized laws of black hole thermodynamics imply a bound, known as the Bekenstein-Hod universal bound, on the information emission rate of a perturbed system. Using a time-domain ringdown analysis, we investigate whether remnant black holes produced by the coalescences observed by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo obey this bound. We find that the bound is verified by the astrophysical black hole population with 94% probability, providing a first confirmation of the Bekenstein-Hod bound from black hole systems.

Measuring Intermediate-Mass Black-Hole Binaries with Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors.

We perform a systematic study to explore the accuracy with which the parameters of intermediate-mass black-hole binary systems can be measured from their gravitational wave (GW) signatures using second-generation GW detectors. We make use of the most recent reduced-order models containing inspiral, merger, and ringdown signals of aligned-spin effective-one-body waveforms to significantly speed up the calculations. We explore the phenomenology of the measurement accuracies for binaries with total masses between 50M(⊙) and 500M(⊙) and mass ratios between 0.

Gravitational waves: search results, data analysis and parameter estimation: Amaldi 10 Parallel session C2.

The Amaldi 10 Parallel Session C2 on gravitational wave (GW) search results, data analysis and parameter estimation included three lively sessions of lectures by 13 presenters, and 34 posters. The talks and posters covered a huge range of material, including results and analysis techniques for ground-based GW detectors, targeting anticipated signals from different astrophysical sources: compact binary inspiral, merger and ringdown; GW bursts from intermediate mass binary black hole mergers, cosmic string cusps, core-collapse supernovae, and other unmodeled sources; continuous waves from spinning neutron stars; and a stochastic GW background. There was considerable emphasis on Bayesian techniques for estimating the parameters of coalescing compact binary systems from the gravitational waveforms extracted from the data from the advanced detector network.

Factors affecting eGFR 5-year post-deceased donor renal transplant: analysis and predictive model.

Aim: Long-term survival of renal allografts has improved over the last 20 years. However, less is known about current expectations for long-term allograft function as determined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The aim of this study was to investigate factors which affect graft function at 5 years' post-renal transplantation.

Measuring the spin of black holes in binary systems using gravitational waves.

Compact binary coalescences are the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs) for ground-based detectors. Binary systems containing one or two spinning black holes are particularly interesting due to spin-orbit (and eventual spin-spin) interactions and the opportunity of measuring spins directly through GW observations. In this Letter, we analyze simulated signals emitted by spinning binaries with several values of masses, spins, orientations, and signal-to-noise ratios, as detected by an advanced LIGO-Virgo network.

Assessment of rotational instability with disruption of the accessory collateral ligament of the thumb MCP joint: a biomechanical study.

Objectives: The objective of this paper was to biomechanically investigate rotational stability of the thumb after ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and accessory collateral ligament (ACL) disruption and repair at the metacarpal joint of the thumb.

Methods: Twelve fresh frozen adult cadaveric thumbs were used. The torsion test was performed under constant rotation of 1/s through 30 arc of metacarpal phalangeal (MCP) joint.

Two potential causes of EPL rupture after distal radius volar plate fixation.

Rupture of the extensor pollicis longus tendon can occur after volar plate fixation of dorsally comminuted distal radius fractures. We attempted to identify the etiology of extensor pollicis longus tendon injury after volar plate fixation of the distal radius and potential solutions to this problem. After describing two case reports, we examine six cadaveric specimens and retrospectively review 10 selected patients to evaluate possible technique refinements to minimize damage to the extensor pollicis longus tendon during volar plating of the distal radius.