Resolving the Stellar-Collapse and Hierarchical-Merger Origins of the Coalescing Black Holes.

Spin and mass properties provide essential clues in distinguishing the origins of coalescing black holes (BHs). With a dedicated semiparametric population model for the coalescing binary black holes (BBHs), we identify two distinct categories of BHs among the GWTC-3 events, which is favored over the one population scenario by a logarithmic Bayes factor (lnB) of 7.5. One category, with a mass ranging from ∼25M_{⊙} to ∼80M_{⊙}, is distinguished by the high spin magnitudes (∼0.75) and consistent with the hierarchical merger origin. The other category, characterized by low spins, has a sharp mass cutoff at ∼40M_{⊙}, which is natural for the stellar-collapse origin and in particular the pair-instability explosion of massive stars. We infer the local hierarchical merger rate density as 0.46_{-0.24}^{+0.61} Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}. Additionally, we find that a fraction of the BBHs has a cosine-spin-tilt-angle distribution concentrated preferentially around 1, and the fully isotropic distribution for spin orientation is disfavored by a lnB of -6.3, suggesting that the isolated field evolution channels are contributing to the total population.

Chlorogenic acid alleviates renal fibrosis by reducing lipid accumulation in diabetic kidney disease through suppressing the Notch1 and Stat3 signaling pathway.

AIMS: Abnormal renal lipid metabolism causes renal lipid deposition, which leads to the development of renal fibrosis in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and mechanism of chlorogenic acid (CA) on reducing renal lipid accumulation and improving DKD renal fibrosis. METHODS: This study evaluated the effects of CA on renal fibrosis, lipid deposition and lipid metabolism by constructing in vitro and in vivo models of DKD, and detected the improvement of Notch1 and Stat3 signaling pathways. Molecular docking was used to predict the binding between CA and the extracellular domain NRR1 of Notch1 protein. RESULTS: In vitro studies have shown that CA decreased the expression of Fibronectin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), p-smad3/smad3, alleviated lipid deposition, promoted the expression of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 A (CPT1A), and inhibited the expression of cholesterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c). The expression of Notch1, Cleaved Notch1, Hes1, and p-stat3/stat3 were inhibited. These results suggested that CA might reduce intercellular lipid deposition in human kidney cells (HK2) by inhibiting Notch1 and stat3 signaling pathways, thereby improving fibrosis. Further, in vivo studies demonstrated that CA improved renal fibrosis and renal lipid deposition in DKD mice by inhibiting Notch1 and stat3 signaling pathways. Finally, molecular docking experiments showed that the binding energy of CA and NRR1 was -6.6 kcal/mol, which preliminarily predicted the possible action of CA on Notch1 extracellular domain NRR1. CONCLUSION: CA reduces renal lipid accumulation and improves DKD renal fibrosis by inhibiting Notch1 and stat3 signaling pathways.

[Purification Effect of Piggery Wastewater with Chlorella pyrenoidosa by Immobilized Biofilm-Attached Culture].

Piggery wastewater treatment with microalgae is a biological recycling technology. To evaluate the purification effect, this study investigated the treatment of piggery wastewater at different dilution ratios with Chlorella pyrenoidosa by attached cultivation and lipid production of algae cells and explored the tolerance of Chlorella pyrenoidosa to the piggery wastewater, which has high ammonia nitrogen. The piggery wastewater was diluted with purified water 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-fold in culture media. The removal efficiencies of COD, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus and the enrichment effect of the heavy metals copper, zinc, and iron were measured. Meanwhile, we investigated the lipid production of Chlorella pyrenoidosa in variously diluted wastewater (1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-fold). It turned out that the purification effects of COD, ammonia nitrogen, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were best when the piggery wastewater was diluted 5-fold, and the removal efficiencies were 86.8%, 94.1%, 85.2%, and 84.3%, respectively. Correspondingly, the lipid content was as high as 32.7%, and the removal efficiencies of the heavy metals copper, zinc, and iron were 72.9%, 70.0%, and 73.0%, respectively. The biomass productivity was 4.21 g·(m2·d)-1 at the end of the experiment. This research makes an effective connection between microalgae and piggery wastewater, which is difficult to purify deeply, and provides a theoretical basis for achieving algal biofuel production and decreasing the cost of wastewater treatment.