The purpose of this study is to clarify the anxities and the needs of middle-aged women toward their old age in the rural area surveyed for 11 years. The aim of the second report is to find differences in their attitudes of three cohorts in 1982 and 1993. The survey method was mentioned in the first report.
The differences are summarized as follows :
1) In 1982 there were little differences in the three cohorts surveyed.
2) In 1993 there were significant differences in the three cohorts concerning many items; especially significant were the differences concerning seven items found between the 61-70 age cohort and the 41-50 age cohort.
3) The most significant between the 61-70 age cohort and the 41-50 age cohort were the differences concerning two items; by which son or daughter they wished to be taken care of in their inability to look after themselves, and how to live without either spouse or son or daughter to live with.
4) In 1993, the attitudes of the 51-60 age cohort were closer to those of the 61-70 age cohort than to those of the 41-50 age cohort except for their wish to lead respectively independent life when sharing a household with their married son or daughter.
5) In 11 years since 1982, the differences between the 61-70 age cohort and the 41-50 age cohort became smaller concerning three items and larger concerning eight items.

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This paper aims to clarify whether the Japanese pattern of food consumption is inherent in Japan or common to other parts of East Asia. The regression analysis and the cluster analysis were employed in this sutdy.
The major findings are as follows :
The relation between the starch rate of total calories and the national income per capita of respective countries under study, i.e., Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan, are clearly different.
The cluster analysis of the food consumption pattern shows that Japan and the Republic of Korea may be considered to belong to the same cluster. The food consumption pattern of the two countries, however, is far from identical.
The findings show that the food consumption behavior of Japan is similar to that in other areas of East Asia and that each area has its own characteristic pattern.

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It is known that using an iron frying pan increases iron in the dish, although the bioavailability of iron is not obvious. In order to elucidate the bioavailability of dissolved iron, the effects of dissolved matter from an iron frying pan on anemia were studied by comparing with those of ferrous sulfate.
Iron-deficient anemic rats were fed with a diet containing 4 or 2 mg of Fe/100 g of dissolved iron (dissolved in 10% vinegar) or equivalent concentrations of iron as ferrous sulfate for 4 weeks. During and after feeding, the Hb, Ht, RBC and serum iron concentrations, the total iron-binding capacity, and the liver and spleen iron concentrations were analyzed.
With the 4 mg of Fe/100 g diets, both the dissolved matter and ferrous sulfate enhanced the Hb, Ht, RBC and serum iron concentrations, and the total iron-binbing capacity to the same level as those from the control diet after 4 weeks, and showed a significant effect on the anemia. However, both resulted in significantly lower liver and spleen iron concentrations when compared with those from the control diet. With the 2 mg of Fe/100 g diets, both the dissolved iron and ferrous sulfate resulted in lower Hb and serum iron concentrations when compared with those from the control diet, although the difference was not significant. These results suggest that the dissolved matter from an iron frying pan had a significant effect on anemia and comparably higher bioavailability than ferrous sulfate.

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The effect of dietary fat on the plasma levels of cholesterol and free amino acids was studied for rats fed on a 10 or 20 % casein diet containing cholesterol. Olive, safflower and perilla oil, as well as lard commercially available, were used as the test fats.
The plasma cholesterol level was significantly lower in the rats fed on safflower oil or perilla oil than in the animals fed on lard or olive oil with both the 10 and 20% casein diets. There was no difference in the plasma cholesterol level between the lard and olive oil supplemented diets, nor between the safflower oil and perilla oil supplemented diets. The HDL-cholesterol level in the plasma was higher in the rats fed on safflower oil than in the animals fed on lard, olive oil or perilla oil.
The effect of dietary fat on the free amino acid content of the plasma showed significant differences between the levels of methionine, glycine and tyrosine in both the diets with lard and with perilla oil in the 10% casein diet. In the 20% casein diet, the levels of methionine, leucine, isoleucine, glutamic acid, serine and glycine were significantly different from those with the lard and perilla oil diets. These results indicate that a change in the type of dietary fat will result in a difference in the level of plasma free amino acids.

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The effects of various amino acids on the acid production of lactic acid bacteria were studied for nine strains of Lactobacillus, two strains of Lactococcus, and one strain of Streptococcus. The amino acids were added in 50-mg amounts to 100 ml of skim milk.
The type of inhibiting, stimulating or non-effective amino acid for acid production was different for each strain of lactic acid bacteria.
L-Cysteine and L-cystine stimulated 8 of the 9 strains of Lactobacillus, while inhibiting the Streptococcus strain used in this study.
Glycine stimulated to a small extent four strains of Lactobacillus, but inhibited one strain of this genus.
L-Aspartic acid, L-methionine, L-isoleucine, and L-leucine generally inhibited acid production.
The Lactobacillus and Streptococcus strains were stimulated by one or more of the amino acids used in the study, while 7 strains of Lactobacillus, and the Lactococcus and Streptococcus strains tested were inhibited by one or more of the added amino acids.

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The gelling properties of an acidified mixed gel consisting of alkali- or acid-treated gelatin (3%) and a denatured whey protein isolate (WPI 6 %) were investigated. Compared with the WPI gel alone, the mixed gel adjusted to pH 5.5 was more resistant to syneresis and its rupture value was higher, regardless of the type of gelatin. The value for the apparent rupture stress of the mixed gel with either type of gelatin was a maximum at pH 4.5, while the mixed gel incorporating the acid-treated gelatin showed a second peak at pH 3.5. The mixed gel at around pH 6 with orange juice added had a low value of apparent rupture stress and a high value of apparent rupture strain. The mixed gel at around pH 4.7 with lemon juice added had a high value of apparent rupture stress and a low value of apparent rupture strain. The mixed gel consisting of WPI and alkali-treated gelatin with 5 % orange juice added had a small amount of free water and its structure was characterized by a dense network formed by WPI strands filled with membranous gelatin.

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The Properties of frozen cooked rice thawed at room temperature were studied. The samples of rice used were of the Koshihikari variety from Niigata and Mie harvested in 1993. Three methods of cooking were used : A) The standard method involved soaking for 30 min at 20 °C, then vigorously boiling for 5 min and finally gently boiling for 15 min. B) The high-temperature soaking method involved soaking for 30 min at 60t, then vigorously boiling for 5 min and finally gently boiling for 15 min. C) The long-boiling method involved soaking for 30 min at 20 °C, then vigorously boiling for 20 min and finally gently boiling for 5 min.
The frozen and thawed cooked rice was unfavorably evaluated in comparison with normal rice just after cooking. The best evaluated samples of frozen-thawed cooked rice were those soaked at 60°C for 30 min (B), boiled for 20 min and then 5 min for Niigata Koshihikari (C), and soaked at 60°C for 30 min for Mie Koshihikari (B).
The moisture content of normal rice after cooking was the same as that of frozen and thawed cooked rice.
The increase in hardness of Niigata Koshihikari in the rheolometer test was slight with soaking at 60°C for 30 min (B), and with boiling for 20 min and then 5 min (C). The change of adhesiveness of Mie Koshihikari with soaking at 60t for 30 min (B) was small.
The histological changes of cooked rice after freezing and thawing were minor.

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In the rapidly ageing society of Japan, welfare services must be urgently improved for the aged at home, especially those who need care and support. Dwelling environment and support services are considered to be the fundamental problems, which will have to be dealt with from the viewpoint of both those offering care and support and receiving them. In order to help provide improved dwelling environment and support services for the aged receiving care at home, I investigated the circumstances and the requirements of the aged with homehelp services at home and homehelps in Miyazaki Prefecture. In this paper, the results of a survey of the aged receiving homehelp services will be reported.
1) Among the one-person households, the rate of those dwelling in rented houses is comparatively high. There is only limited public support given to the aged on housing. As they lose health, they tend to confine themselves in their rooms, which then look more like nursing rooms. The poorer they were in health, the lower were their evaluations. It was also noted that those living in rented houses evaluated their environment low. It was found that they have fear and feel uneasy about passages as well as places where water is used. In one-person househoulds, utility space tend to be considered inadequate by the resident. Demands for the improvement of dwelling environment came mostly from those living in rented houses. As a result, there is an urgent need to improve the dwelling environment of the aged in poor health and those living alone in the rented houses.
2) The aged receive various types of homehelps, including care and support in household work as well as consultation on mental state. Males living alone and those aged couples in poor health feel uneasy carrying out basic household work while homehelps are not available. The requirements or expectations for the future of the aged may be summarized in two types of dependence; dependence on their children and dependence on the public supports of welfare services and institutions. Those living alone express strong desire to be accommodated in the institutions for the aged. They depend largely on homehelp, and need more frequent homehelp.

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The aged with homehelp services at home and homehelps in Miyazaki Prefecture were investigated with a view to helping provide improved dwelling environment and support services for the increasing number of the aged receiving care at home. In this paper, the results of a survey of homehelps will be reported.
1) Varied are the range of work offered by homehelps. They may have to intervene in the human relations between the aged to care and the families of the aged; they may have to deal with emergencies that may occur while not in direct contact with the aged; they look after the health and diet of the aged; and homehelps are the ones who feel the need to improve the dwelling environment of the aged. The issues just cited are identical to the problems raised in the survey of the aged. Furthermore, homehelps have thier own problems, most of which cannot be solved by homehelps alone.
2) Homehelps are not only proud of but also dedicated to their work. They, however, need their working conditions improved and their job socially recognized. They also want fuller in-service training. As a result, recommended are the participation of experts in the welfare services for the aged at home, the complementary relationship between the public and the private sectors in terms of welfare services, and the provision of comprehensive networks and systems connected to the aged who need care at home.

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[in Japanese]

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