Publications by authors named "R S Mittleman"
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle dictates that the position and momentum of an object cannot be simultaneously measured with arbitrary precision, giving rise to an apparent limitation known as the standard quantum limit (SQL). Gravitational-wave detectors use photons to continuously measure the positions of freely falling mirrors and so are affected by the SQL. We investigated the performance of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) after the experimental realization of frequency-dependent squeezing designed to surpass the SQL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare genetic disease associated with hyperphagia, a pathologic insatiable hunger, due to impaired signaling in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway. The impact of hyperphagia on the lives of patients with BBS and their families has not been fully characterized.
Methods: Patients with BBS or their caregivers who participated in clinical trials of the MC4R agonist setmelanotide (NCT03013543 and NCT03746522) were included in this qualitative study.
Article Synopsis
- Impaired cilial signaling in the MC4R pathway is linked to obesity in patients with Bardet-Biedl and Alström syndromes, prompting a study on the weight-loss effects of setmelanotide in these groups.
- The study was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 38 patients over 14 weeks, followed by 52 weeks of open-label treatment, assessing the impact of setmelanotide on body weight.
- Results indicated that 32.3% of patients aged 12 years or older with Bardet-Biedl syndrome experienced at least a 10% weight reduction after 52 weeks on setmelanotide, with skin hyperpigmentation and injection
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates compact binary coalescences with at least one component mass between 0.2 and 1.0 solar masses using data from Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors over six months in 2019, but they found no significant gravitational wave candidates.
- The analysis leads to an upper limit on the merger rate of subsolar binaries ranging from 220 to 24,200 Gpc⁻³ yr⁻¹, based on the detected signals’ false alarm rate.
- The researchers use these limits to set new constraints on two models for subsolar-mass compact objects: primordial black holes (suggesting they make up less than 6% of dark matter) and
High-quality optical resonant cavities require low optical loss, typically on the scale of parts per million. However, unintended micron-scale contaminants on the resonator mirrors that absorb the light circulating in the cavity can deform the surface thermoelastically and thus increase losses by scattering light out of the resonant mode. The point absorber effect is a limiting factor in some high-power cavity experiments, for example, the Advanced LIGO gravitational-wave detector.
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