Stable water isotopes serve as tracers of climate processes and are useful for identifying drivers of regional and global hydrological variability. To get a precise picture of spatiotemporal changes in the water cycle, it is necessary to describe the mechanisms in a coherent way among the involved climatic reservoirs (atmosphere, land, and ocean). For example, in the Pacific Ocean, the oxygen isotopic composition (denoted delta 18O) of surface seawater recorded in corals is widely used to reconstruct the El Ni & ntilde;o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, the influences of atmosphere-ocean feedback and ocean circulation on the delta 18O-ENSO relationship are not fully understood. Describing water isotopes in the full climate system is one way to tackle this issue. Therefore, this study introduces the fully coupled isotopic version of the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate version 6 (MIROC6-iso). MIROC6-iso exhibits good performance in reproducing spatial isotopic variations in precipitation, water vapor, and ocean water, and the relationships of delta 18O with temperature and salinity against observations. We also find that the atmosphere-ocean Coupled General Circulation Model (CGCM) captures delta 18Osw (seawater) variations significantly better than a configuration where an Atmospheric General Circulation Model is coupled to a 1D slab ocean model in Pacific Ocean in climatological condition and different ENSO phases. Budget analysis indicates that the better performance of the CGCM configuration is due to fully resolved oceanic vertical mixing and horizontal advection. This study shows that MIROC6-iso is useful to reconstruct past climate changes and examine the recent changes in the water cycle.
Metal halide-based absorbents of ammonia are promising materials for developing new separation methods for ammonia production. In this study, the ammonia absorption/desorption behaviors of single metal halide salts and mixed metal halides composed of different cations were investigated. The mixed metal halides were prepared via mechanochemical (MC) treatment. The ammonia absorption/desorption behaviors of the MC-treated mixed metal halides were completely different from those of the individual single salts, as well as a simple mixture of the corresponding metal halides prepared using a mortar and pestle. After ammonia absorption, the mixed metal halides formed a single-phase crystal structure with no phase segregation. Fourier-transform infrared analysis revealed that the samples containing specific metal cations (Mn2+) had the same position for the infrared peak (1415 cm-1) assigned to ammonia coordinated to metal cations. These results demonstrate that ammonia preferentially coordinates to specific metal cations (Mn2+) within the mixed metal halides.
The molecular behavior of anisotropic alignment film surfaces in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) is a critical factor in determining the ordered structure of LC molecules anchored on these surfaces. However, the relevant LC alignment mechanisms remain incompletely understood. In this study, quantitative in-plane anisotropy analysis via sum-frequency generation spectroscopy was performed on alignment films subjected to mechanical rubbing or linear polarized ultraviolet (LPUV) irradiation to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Specifically, we investigated the in-plane anisotropy of functional groups within the polyimide films and their effect on the LC pretilt angle. Our analysis revealed that the in- and out-of-plane molecular orientations of phenylene groups in the cinnamoyl moiety affected the trends of the LC pretilt angles. Conversely, the orientation of the alkyl side-chain termini in contact with the LC layer was not directly related to the pretilt angle. Comparison of the anisotropic molecular orientation behaviors of the polyimide backbone after mechanical rubbing and LPUV irradiation revealed that the anisotropic orientation of the backbone had little impact on the pretilt angle. These findings demonstrate that the orientation of the phenylene groups in the cinnamoyl moiety plays a dominant role in LC alignment and provide valuable insights for optimizing surface anchoring in display applications.
Background People have come to rely on restaurants and takeaway foods, and less on cooking at home. We examined the association between home cooking and dementia incidence, ascertained through administrative long-term care records, and whether the benefits of home cooking differ by cooking skills.Methods Participants in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, a population-based cohort study, were followed for 6 years. The incidence of dementia was ascertained in 10 978 participants through data from the public long-term care insurance system, which captures functionally significant cognitive impairment requiring care. Cooking frequency and skills were assessed in a baseline survey. Participants with high and low frequencies of home cooking were matched in men and women based on demographic, socioeconomic and health-related factors using propensity score matching. Fine-Grey competing risk models were used, with death treated as a competing event.Results During the follow-up, 1195 dementia cases were found. A total of 1347 male and 321 female pairs were matched between high (at least once a week) and low (less than once a week) cooking frequencies. The subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) for high cooking frequency (vs low cooking frequency) was 0.77 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.98) in men and 0.73 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.98) in women. The benefits of higher cooking frequency were more pronounced in those with low cooking skills (SHR 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.84).Conclusions Creating an environment where people can cook meals when they are older may be important for the prevention of dementia.
