Simultaneous VLBI Astrometry of H2O and SiO Masers toward the Semiregular Variable R Crateris

We obtained, for the first time, astrometrically registered maps of the 22.2 GHz H2O and 42.8, 43.1, and 86.2 GHz SiO maser emission toward the semiregular b-type variable (SRb) R Crateris, at three epochs (2015 May 21, and 2016 January 7 and 26) using the Korean Very-long-baseline Interferometry Network. The SiO masers show a ring-like spatial structure, while the H2O maser shows a very asymmetric one-side outflow structure, which is located at the southern part of the ring-like SiO maser feature. We also found that the 86.2 GHz SiO maser spots are distributed in an inner region, compared to those of the 43.1 GHz SiO maser, which is different from all previously known distributions of the 86.2 GHz SiO masers in variable stars. The different distribution of the 86.2 GHz SiO maser seems to be related to the complex dynamics caused by the overtone pulsation mode of the SRb R Crateris. Furthermore, we estimated the position of the central star based on the ring fitting of the SiO masers, which is essential for interpreting the morphology and kinematics of a circumstellar envelope. The estimated stellar coordinate corresponds well to the position measured by Gaia

Method and an apparatus for processing a signal

A method of processing a signal is disclosed. The present invention includes receiving a maximum number of band and a code value of at least one section length, calculating a bit number corresponding to the code value of the at least one section length using the maximum number of the band, and obtaining the section length information by decoding the code value of the section length based on the bit number. A method of processing a signal is disclosed. The present invention includes receiving factor information of a current frame, receiving flag information indicating whether a coding mode of the factor information is an absolute value mode or a relative value mode, and obtaining factor data of the current frame using factor data of a previous frame and the received factor information based on the flag information

Methods and apparatuses for encoding and decoding object-based audio signals

Provided are an audio encoding method and apparatus and an audio decoding method and apparatus in which audio signals can be encoded or decoded so that sound images can be localized at any desired position for each object audio signal. The audio decoding method generating a third downmix signal by combining a first downmix signal extracted from a first audio signal and a second downmix signal extracted from a second audio signal; generating third object-based side information by combining first object-based side information extracted from the first audio signal and second object-based side information extracted from the second audio signal; converting the third object-based side information into channel-based side information; and generating a multi-channel audio signal using the third downmix signal and the channel-based side information

Bambusae caulis in Liquamen Suppresses the Expression of Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine and Macrophage-Derived Chemokine in Human Keratinocytes due to Antioxidant Effect

Bambusae caulis in Liquamen (BCL), traditional herbal medicine used in East Asia, is known to have antioxidative and immune-regulating properties. We hypothesized that the potential antioxidant effects of BCL might suppress the production of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) and macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC) in human keratinocytes (HaCaT cell). The immune-regulating effect of BCL was demonstrated by antioxidant capacity using DPPH analysis and DCFH-DA analysis. We found that BCL had strong ROS scavenge effect in HaCaT cell. BCL also showed suppression of IFN-γ-induced expression of TARC and MDC, activation of NF-κB, and, moreover, significant block of IFN-γ-induced degradation and phosphorylation of IκB. However, it had no effects on phosphorylation of p38 MAPK. Collectively, these results suggest that BCL may have a therapeutic potential on skin disease such as atopic dermatitis by inhibiting Th2 chemokines which is due, at least in part, to its antioxidant capacities

Effect of Fe/N-doped carbon nanotube (CNT) wall thickness on CO2 conversion: A DFT study

Many researches on CO2 adsorption using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been actively studied, but experimental and theoretical studies on CO2 conversion are still in demand. In particular, the effect of CNT wall thickness on CO2 conversion is not yet established clearly. This study employed two different-walled CNT catalysts doped with iron and nitrogen, single-walled CNT (Fe-N-SWCNT) and double-walled CNT (Fe-N-DWCNT). The structural and electrical properties of these CNTs and their influences on CO2 conversion were characterized and compared using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. As a result, Fe-N-DWCNT was shown to improve catalyst stability with higher formation energy and adsorption energy for CO2 adsorption than Fe-N-SWCNT. Also, the CO2 molecules were found to be highly delocalized and strongly hybridized with Fe-N-DWCNT, leading to more active charge transfer in the catalyst. These findings demonstrate the potential of selective CO2 conversion, as wall thickness differences can lead to different electrical properties of CNTs by showing that the larger the thicknesses, the lower the energy barrier required for CO2 conversion. Specifically, Fe-N-DWCNT is easier to convert CO2 to HCOOH than Fe-N-SWCNT at lower overpotential (0.15 V) obtained with limiting potentials and free energies calculated by understanding the possible reaction pathways in the proton-electron transfer process. Therefore, these results support the hypothesis that the wall thickness of CNT influences CO2 conversion by showing that the double-walled heterogeneous CNT (Fe-N-DWCNT) is a potential catalyst to selectively produce HCOOH from CO2 conversion.Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) - grant #NPRP 10-1210-160019

Theoretical insight into effect of cation–anion pairs on CO2 reduction on bismuth electrocatalysts

This study presents theoretical insight into the mechanism of the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to formic acid (HCOOH) on Bi (012) surfaces in the presence of alkali metal cations (M+: Cs+, K+, and Li+) and/or halide anions (X−: Cl−, Br−, and I−) using density functional theory (DFT). The adsorption energy (Eads) and work function (Wf) of the anions increases with decreasing anion size (i.e., Cl− > Br− > I−). On the other hand, the larger the cation size is, the higher is the Eads (i.e., Li+ < K+ < Cs+) but the lower is the Wf (i.e., Cs+ < K+ < Li+). In the presence of the cation–anion pairs (M+/X−), Eads of the pairs on hydrated Bi (Bi-2H) becomes more negative than that in the cases of anions or cations alone, particularly when the ionic radius of the paired cation and anion do not differ significantly. Such a synergistic effect of the mixed ions is also observed for the work function values. In the case of anions alone, CO2 molecules prefer to coordinate directly with hydrated Bi atoms via the oxygen bidentate mode; in the case of cations alone, CO2 molecules directly bind to the cations via the oxygen monodentate mode, rather than the hydrated Bi atoms. Between two possible CO2RR pathways involving *OCHO and *COOH intermediates on Bi-2H pre-adsorbed with M+/X−, the former pathway requires less energy for all M+/X− pairs. In addition, cascaded reaction profiles from CO2* to HCOOH are obtained with Cs+/Cl− and K+/Cl− pairs in the former. This indicates that once CO2 is adsorbed, the following reactions proceed spontaneously on Bi-2H with Cs+/Cl− or K+/Cl− pairs. This study thus shed light on the positive effects of supporting electrolytes (e.g., CsCl and KCl) on catalytic CO2RR.- Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) - grant #NPRP 10-1210-160019. - National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - grant #2018R1A6A1A03024962, 2019M1A2A2065616, 2019R1A2C2002602