The significance of annual events in Japan changed after World War II. We studied how people in urban areas were concerned with annual events in order to clarify the factors effecting the view of annual events. The events in which many people participated satisfied the requirements as follows : befitting to the spirit of modern life, usefulness for the education of children, helpfulness in communication among family members and friends or effective as a commercial strategy. On the other hand, the events, which were recently introduced into Japan or were based on the agricultural rites, were unfamiliar with people in urban areas. The view of annual events varied according to generations, which were caused by the difference of social situations, such as World War II and the crest of rapid economic growth in childhood.

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The effects of vitamin C (VC) deficiency on bone metabolism were investigated in the VC-requiring osteogenic disorder Shionogi (ODS) rats. The control rats were fed on a VC-supplemented diet (VC-free food and drinking water with VC) for 3 weeks. The VC-deficient Cl and C2 groups were fed on a VC-free diet (VC-free food and drinking water with no VC) for 1 (C1) and 2 (C2) weeks after being fed on the VC-supplemented diet for 2 and 1 week, respectively. The C3 group was fed on the VC-free diet for 3 weeks. The VC-deficient rats of the Cl, C2 and C3 groups gained body weight at a similar rate to that of the control. The alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities of the serum and femoral bone in the Cl, C2 and C3 groups were also at similar levels to those of the control. However, the tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activities of the serum and femoral bone in the C2 and C3 groups were significantly higher than those of the control. The femoral calcium contents of the C2 and C3 groups were significantly lower at about 80% of the control level. The hydroxyproline contents of the femur in the C2 and C3 rats were also significantly lower at about 90% and 80% of the control level, respectively. Although VC is required for ALP expression in an in vitro culture of the osteoblast cell line, MC3T3-E1, the ALP activities in the femur were unchanged by VC deficiency in vivo in the present study. In mature rat bone (in vivo), fully differentiated osteoblasts and a collagenous matrix already existed and VC deficiency incresed the TRAP activity. These results suggest that an increase in bone resorption, not a decrease in bone formation, has caused the decrease in bone calcium and hydroxyproline levels during the period of VC deficiency in mature rats.

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The palatal pressure while eating gelatin, agar and carrageenan milk jelly was measured with three transducers embedded on an artificial palate installed in the human mouth. Mastication with the tongue and the palate naturally shifted to mastication with the teeth at a palatal pressure of around 20-50 kPa for the three jellies with two subjects tested. This critical pressure differed between the subjects. The first pressure pulses for the three jellies were compared with stress-strain curves measured by a compression machine with a compression rate of 10 mm/s. The stress at the breaking point for each jelly obtained by the palatal pressure measurement almost agreed with that of the machine measurement. The initial gradient of the curves for the apparent Young's modulus and for the breaking time of the three jellies were similar to those obtained from the stress-strain curves. A single-break pattern was shown on the stress-strain curve from mechanical measurements, while a multi-break pattern was observed for the palatal pressure measurements with each jelly.

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The generation of oligosaccharides in the process of cooking rice is examined, since oligosaccharides contribute to the taste of cooked rice. The changes in activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase suggested the generation of G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6 and G7 oligosaccharides by the time the temperature had reached 70°C, which is the first stage of cooking. Branched-chain cutting enzymes such as pullulanase and isoamylase play important roles in generating G4 and G7 oligosaccharides which were the major ones in cooked rice. The generation of low-molecular-weight oligosaccharide G4 or lower was notable above 80°C and would have been caused by the enzyme action at the branching site.

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“Mattari, ” which is a term for describing food properties, was clarified by a questionnaire to 496 young people in the metropolitan area around Tokyo. The respondents were first asked when and how they had known the term, and the answers reveal that “mattari” is a vogue-word. Second, the association between “mattari” and 52 kinds of food was studied. The panel was asked how “mattari” an item is : very, a little, not at all, and “I've never eaten.” The data were analyzed by quantification method III, and their item category values were obtained. Order was apparent among the data categories, showing that there was a common conception of “mattari.” Order was also found among the evaluated items, meaning that scaling of “mattari” was possible, so that the intensity of “mattari” for each kind of food could be quantitatively obtained. Sweets or dairy products such as custard cream, fresh cream, butter cream and carbonara sauce were very “mattari.” Third, the panel was asked whether 53 kinds of terms for describing food properties were close to “mattari” or not. The terms close to “mattari” were “sticky, ” “mild, ” “spreading slowly in the mouth” and “rich.”

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“Mattari, ” a dialectic term for describing food properties, was clarified by a questionnaire and interviews in the area around Kyoto. The questionnaire had three questions, the first being when and how the term had come to be known. The answers revealed that young people learned it through mass media as a vogue-word, and that middle-aged and elderly people learned it from their parents and/or grandparents. Second, the intensity of “mattari” for 52 kinds of food was asked, before the data were analyzed by quantification method III. Their item category values show that the scaling of “mattari” when used by young group was sharply formed, while the scaling of “mattari” when used by middle-aged and elderly group was more vague. Third, the respondents were asked whether 53 kinds of terms for describing food properties were close to “mattari” or not. “Mild” and “spreading slowly in the mouth” were close to “mattari” in all the 3 groups questioned : the young, middle-aged and elderly. The term was also close to “sticky” and “rich” for the young, and “delicious” for the elderly. Interviews with 10 persons who had worked in traditional food shops and restaurants in Kyoto for several generations verified the results of the questionnaire.

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As today's washing machines have large capacities, rather thick items are now washed more than before. With this, the washing effects of the under side of thick items or fabrics lying one on top of another have become more important. However, the washing of inside surfaces has been little investigated to date. In this paper, methods of evaluating inside detergency of detergents or washing machines were investigated and a convenient one was proposed. Using that method, washing experiments were carried out, resulting in a number of interesting findings. Soap had the least inside detergency at low washing temperature and the largest at high washing temperature. Synthetic detergent A containing enzyme had the largest inside detergency at about 50 °C and, on average, it was significantly larger than any other detergents at each temperature. Light duty detergents B and C depended little on washing temperature. The effect of water pressure on inside detergency was greater for synthetic detergents A, B, and C than it was on ordinary detergency and the inside detergency depended little on detergents or washing temperature, while that of soap depended on washing temperature considerably. A statistical analysis was done on detergency. The washing machine and washing temperature contributed 30% to 50% on ordinary detergency with all detergents. However, the inside detergency of soap and that of synthetic detergents A, B and C were very different. The effectiveness of soap was 77% dependent on the washing temperature, while that of synthetic detergents A, B and C depended on the washing machine at the rate of 55%, 83% and 67% respectively.

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This study aims to evaluate and improve the conditions of the life support system for the elderly residents in private as well as public welfare institutions. Understanding the actual state of the life support conditions in the low income housing for the elderly will be useful in drawing up the future support measures. The result was as follows : 1. The residents highly evaluate the present support system including home care service and emergency relief service. With a view to upgrading the system, it is clearly important for the beneficiaries to recognize correctly what measures are planned for improving the support system. 2. Most of the elderliness living in those facilities are not opposed to the social exchange with other local residents. In this connection, it is suggested that part of the facilities for the low income residents be utilized for interactions with the residents in the vicinity as a venue of social exchange. 3. Regarding the social exchange with local residents, the low income residents may be classified into three types : (1) Those closely tied to the vicinity, (2) Those only exchanging casual greetings with local residents, and (3) Those with little or no contacts with the neighbors. The first type is actively involved in social exchange and life support is mutually practised. Although support from the care staff is needed with all types, it is to be noted that the second and third types need much more attention from the staff, especially in the use of the support facilities, because it is difficult for the elderliness to further their exchange with the people in the vicinity.

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Although the bioavailability of niacin in cereals is considered to be low, no evidence has been published, because a method for evaluating the bioavailability of niacin in mammals had not been established. The difficulty is that mammals can biosynthesize niacin from tryptophan. We used a tryptophan-limited diet, which was formulated by the addition of some amino acids to a low-protein diet to study the niacin bioavailability of wheat bran in weaning rats. The growth rate was significantly improved by supplementing wheat bran to the niacin-free and tryptophan-limited diet, and the levels of the niacin coenzyme, NAD and NADP, in the blood and liver were significantly increased. This study therefore established that wheat bran contained highly bioavailable niacin.

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