J. F. Oberlin University

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Atmospheric rivers (ARs) play a major role in transporting heat and moisture into the Arctic, yet their thermodynamic structure and regional impacts remain poorly understood. Here, we adopt a combined Eulerian-Lagrangian framework to investigate two intense ARs that penetrated into the central Arctic within one week in April 2020, providing a comprehensive view of their large-scale dynamics, moisture sources, and thermodynamic evolution. The first AR entered the Arctic via the Siberian sector, driven by a highly anomalous quasi-stationary anticyclone over north-central Siberia. The second followed an Atlantic pathway and was associated with an unusually deep and persistent cyclone over Baffin Bay. Despite their distinct origins and pathways, both events produced extreme surface impacts, including widespread warming across Eurasia exceeding 9 &deg;C over a 7-day period and intense precipitation along the Greenland coast and in the central Arctic. The events coincided with a notable decline in sea ice extent in the Barents-Kara Sea and along eastern Greenland, that is highly correlated with the AR-induced warming and rainfall. Backward trajectory analysis of air parcels associated with extreme Arctic precipitation reveals distinct pathways and thermodynamic evolution. One group of parcels associated with overall cooling and increases in potential temperature exhibits classic AR characteristics: warm, moist, low-pressure airmasses that ascended upon arrival and released intense precipitation. Moisture sources however differed by pathway: the Atlantic AR drew from the warm Gulf Stream region, while the Siberian AR was fed by continental Eurasia. These findings highlight the diverse origins and mechanisms of ARs and their capacity to drive rapid Arctic climate and cryospheric changes.

Abstract We present a detailed analysis of the kinematics of SiO maser stars around the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A$^\ast$ (Sgr A$^\ast$). We used the archive data in the SiO $v=1$, J = 2–1 emission line obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2017 and 2021 (#2016.1.00940.S, PI J. Darling and #2019.1.00292.S, PI J. Paine). We detected 37 SiO maser stars in the channel maps and derived their angular offsets relative to Sgr A$^\ast$ and LSR radial velocities. We derived the proper motions of 35 stars by comparing their angular offsets in the two epochs. The proper motions of Wolf–Rayet and O star in the nuclear star cluster are reported to be rather random, except for the co-moving clusters IRS13E and IRS13N (Tsuboi et al. 2022, PASJ, 74, 738). However, the derived proper motions of SiO maser stars do not look completely random. The proper motions of the SiO maser stars show a tendency to lie along the Galactic plane. The proper motion amplitudes of SiO maser stars are larger than the local standard of rest (LSR) velocity amplitudes. We estimated the 3D motions from the proper motions and LSR velocities. Many 3D velocities are near to or larger than the upper limit velocities for Kepler orbits around Sgr A$^\ast$, whose mass is assumed to be $4\times 10^6$ M$_{\odot }$. These indicate that the SiO maser stars around Sgr A$^\ast$ are members of the nuclear stellar disk rather than the nuclear star cluster.

This study examines the relationship between living arrangements and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults in Japan, with a particular focus on gender differences. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Ayase City, Kanagawa Prefecture, using mailed questionnaires, and the analysis was conducted on data from 1409 participants aged 65 and older. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the associations between living arrangements, social networks, social participation, and depressive symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors. The findings indicate that older adults living alone and those co-residing with their children are particularly vulnerable. Those living alone were more likely to be women aged 75 and older, with economic difficulties, and exhibited higher rates of depressive symptoms and care needs. Similarly, older adults living with their children had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms and care requirements despite experiencing fewer economic hardships. This group was also characterized by lower educational attainment. Additionally, gender-specific factors were identified in the relationship between social relationships, including living arrangements, and depressive symptoms. These results underscore the necessity of interventions that consider both living arrangements and gender-specific social factors to mitigate mental health risks among older adults.

Advances in technology have enabled students to interact more effectively in virtual exchange (VE) projects across institutions and countries. However, there are still challenges and barriers that need to be addressed (O’Dowd, 2023). This paper reports Japanese students’ perceptions of a video letter assignment in an asynchronous VE project as their first experience of communicating using English and ICT. This preliminary study focuses on the video letter exchange which was conducted as an additional task during the project. The comments of the reflection sheets revealed that they were able to overcome some difficulties and learn through the video letter exchange. It was found that the video letter assignment in the VE project provided an opportunity to learn English expressions and other cultures, to experience differences with partners’ cultures, and express their messages confidently.

Compassion toward clients constitutes a vital aspect of welfare professionals’ work. However, few studies have examined the factors promoting compassion for clients and the associated outcomes. The present study explored the relationship between compassion toward clients and occupational well-being among welfare professionals. We also investigated individual and organizational consequences of occupational well-being, including mental health, turnover intentions, and job performance. This study included a sample of 370 welfare professionals. Structural equation modeling indicated that compassion towards clients enhanced occupational well-being and job performance. Occupational well-being is also directly associated with reduced turnover intentions and enhanced job performance. Furthermore, self-compassion influenced occupational well-being and secondary symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of cultivating compassion in welfare professionals.

Abstract Despite the significant socioeconomic implications in the link between atmospheric waviness and extreme weather events, future atmospheric waviness trends remain elusive due to uncertainties arising from diverse definitions and insufficient dynamical formalism in existing metrics. This study employs a local wave activity (LWA) metric, whose prognostic equation links wave activity changes to forcing mechanisms, to assess wintertime Northern Hemisphere waviness in ERA5 and HighResMIP data sets. The models generally exhibit high fidelity in reproducing observed waviness, while biases stem primarily from biases in the LWA source, low‐level meridional heat flux, which tend to improve with higher resolutions. Future projections exhibit reduction in LWA, primarily due to suppressed LWA generation, which is mitigated by higher‐resolution models. We found that both biases and reduction of the LWA source are closely associated with sensible heat fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere, highlighting the potential impacts of resolving ocean currents.

Biases in Northern Hemisphere wintertime climatological waviness in historical runs are mostly ameliorated with high-resolution models• Future Northern Hemisphere winter waviness will undergo a general reduction, which is mitigate by high-resolution models over North Atlantic• Sensible heat fluxes play a crucial role in both historical biases and future reductions in waviness, highlighting the key role of the ocean

This study aimed to examine the relationships between levels of competence and impaired physical and cognitive functions in older adults. We used a data set of the Integrated Longitudinal Studies on Aging in Japan for 2017 including 5475 community-dwelling older adults. Levels of competence were assessed using the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence (JST-IC). Grip strength (low grip strength: <28 kg for men and <18 kg for women) and gait speed (slow gait speed: <1.0 m/s for both sexes) were evaluated as physical function measurements, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (cognitive decline: <24 on the Mini-Mental State Examination) was used to assess cognitive function. The JST-IC had areas under the curve estimated from receiver operating characteristic analysis ranging from 0.65 to 0.73 for detecting low function as assessed by these tests. Restricted cubic spline curves showed that the shape of the association between the JST-IC and impaired function depended on sex and the test used. The comparison between perfect and imperfect JST-IC scores showed significant differences in the prevalence of low grip strength in both sexes, slow gait speed in women, and cognitive decline in men. It may be insufficient to identify those with impaired physical or cognitive function using the JST-IC. The shape of the association with the JST-IC varies across their measurements. Our findings can help interpret JST-IC scores in the context of low physical and cognitive functions. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 352-358.

Oya, Yuki, Hagiya, Morio (2023): Description of a New Genus of Candimboididae (Polycladida: Acotylea) from the Coast of Sagami Bay. Species Diversity 28 (2): 255-262, DOI: 10.12782/specdiv.28.255, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12782/specdiv.28.255