The evolution of massive stars is influenced by the mass lost to stellar winds over their lifetimes. These winds limit the masses of the stellar remnants (such as black holes) that the stars ultimately produce. We use radio astrometry to refine the distance to the black hole X-ray binary Cygnus X-1, which we find to be 2.22−0.17+0.18 kiloparsecs. When combined with archival optical data, this implies a black hole mass of 21.2 ± 2.2 solar masses, higher than previous measurements. The formation of such a high-mass black hole in a high-metallicity system (within the Milky Way) constrains wind mass loss from massive stars.

We evaluate the exposure during nadir observations with JEM-EUSO, the Extreme Universe Space Obser-\ud vatory, on-board the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station. Designed as a mis-\ud sion to explore the extreme energy Universe from space, JEM-EUSO will monitor the Earth’s nighttime\ud atmosphere to record the ultraviolet light from tracks generated by extensive air showers initiated by\ud ultra-high energy cosmic rays. In the present work, we discuss the particularities of space-based obser-\ud vation and we compute the annual exposure in nadir observation. The results are based on studies of the\ud expected trigger aperture and observational duty cycle, as well as, on the investigations of the effects of\ud clouds and different types of background light. We show that the annual exposure is about one order of\ud magnitude higher than those of the presently operating ground-based observatories

Based on the biomimetic approaches the present work describes a straightforward technique to mimic not only the architecture (the morphology) but also the chemistry (the composition) of the lowest level of the hierarchical organization of bone. This technique uses an electrospinning (ES) process with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles. To determine morphology, crystalline structures and thermal properties of the resulting electrospun fibers with the pure PVA and PVA/HAp nanocomposite (NC) before electrospinning various techniques were employed, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HR-TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition, FT-IR spectroscopy was carried out to analyze the complex structural changes upon undergoing electrospinning as well as interactions between HAp and PVA. The morphological and crystallographic investigations revealed that the rod-like HAp nanoparticles exhibit a nanoporous morphology and are embedded within the electrospun fibers. A large number of HAp nanorods are preferentially oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the electrospun PVA fibers, which closely resemble the naturally mineralized hard tissues of bones. Due to abundant OH groups present in PVA and HAp nanorods, they strongly interact via hydrogen bonding within the electrospun PVA/HAp NC fibers, which results in improved thermal properties. The unique physiochemical features of the electrospun PVA/HAp NC nanofibers prepared by the ES process will open up a wide variety of future applications related to hard tissue replacement and regeneration (bone and dentin), not limited to coating implants.

We present results of single-epoch very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of gamma-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at the 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz bands, which are part of a KVN key science program, Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-Ray Bright AGNs. We selected a total of 34 radio-loud AGNs of which 30 sources are gamma-ray bright AGNs with flux densities of >6×10 −10 ph cm −2 s −1 . Single-epoch multifrequency VLBI observations of the target sources were conducted during a 24 hr session on 2013 November 19 and 20. All observed sources were detected and imaged at all frequency bands, with or without a frequency phase transfer technique, which enabled the imaging of 12 faint sources at 129 GHz, except for one source. Many of the target sources are resolved on milliarcsecond scales, yielding a core-jet structure, with the VLBI core dominating the synchrotron emission on a milliarcsecond scale. CLEAN flux densities of the target sources are 0.43-28 Jy, 0.32-21 Jy, 0.18-11 Jy, and 0.35-8.0 Jy in the 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz bands, respectively. Spectra of the target sources become steeper at higher frequency, with spectral index means of −0.40, −0.62, and −1.00 in the 22-43 GHz, 43-86 GHz and 86-129 GHz bands, respectively, implying that the target sources become optically thin at higher frequencies (e.g., 86-129 GHz).

The antihyperglycemic effect of a water extract (WE) and an alkali extract (AE) of the Fomitopsis pinicola fruit body was studied in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. The STZ-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) control group lost a significant amount of body weight, whereas the normal control group (NC) gained weight; however, the DM-AE group gained a significant amount of weight, with weight gain approaching normal. Feed intake by the DM-AE group was also similar to the NC group. The liver and kidney weights per body weight increased with the STZ treatment; however, the weights were lower in the F. pinicola-treated groups and nearly normalized in the DM-AE group. The weights of the heart, lungs, and spleen were not influenced by the STZ treatment. Blood glucose levels of F. pinicola-treated DM groups were significantly lower than that of the DM group. In particular, STZ-induced hyperglycemia was remarkably inhibited by the AE-supplemented diet. Serum insulin levels were decreased with STZ injection; however, the decreased levels were almost restored to the NC level with F. pinicola supplementation. The increased serum fructosamine levels associated with hyperglycemia were decreased with the F. pinicola treatment. Cells of the pericentral regions were found to have significant swelling, and some necrotic cells were observed in the pancreas of DM animals; however, pancreatic tissue damage by STZ in the F. pinicola-supplemented diet groups was ameliorated. In this study, the AE from F. pinicola showed the highest antidiabetic effect among the treatments. These results indicate that constituents of F. pinicola may regulate hyperglycemia via either increased insulin secretion during recovery or the prevention of STZ-induced pancreatic damage. This is the first report of antihyperglycemic effects of F. pinicola in STZ-induced DM rats.