This paper analyzes the information contained in the articles carried by the magazine “Consumer Reports” (1945-1949) with a view to making best use of information on the part of consumers. The articles selected for this purpose were divided into “goods and services” and “social and current events.” The former was further classified into eleven categories and the latter into four. The findings are as follows : 1) Sixty percent of the articles are related to “goods and services, ” of which the categories of “pastime” and “furniture and household utensils” were the majority.2) Most of the goods in the articles were analyzed by the magazine by product testing, where “function” and “economy” were of prime focus. 3) Forty percent of the articles dealt with “social and current events, ” one third of which were in the categories of “social issues” and “social welfare.” 4) The articles related to “social issues” and “economic issues” explained the current social and economic situation, whereas the articles related to “social welfare” usually offered solutions for current problems.5) As for the information flow, the articles on “goods and services” were directed to consumers on the basis of news from various publications offering consumer information. In the case of “social and current events, ” the magazine positively supplied information related to the administrative policies and business news. 6) From the standpoint of the lifecycle of “goods and services, ” many of the articles were information on “utilization.” There was no articles dealing with information on “disposal.”

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the personal network and to clarify the related variables having an influence on the emotional integration of married couples and their well-being in the late middle age stage. The survey was conducted in October 2002; mail was sent to 1, 357 married couples in Maebashi and Takasaki, the age of the wives ranging 52 to 62. Seven hundred eight replies were received (return rate : 26.1%), but the analyzed subjects were only 261 couples as they were the case where both husband and wife made a response to the questionnaire. The wives average 57.0 in age and the husbands 59.5. As to the family composition, 41.4% are only husband and wife while 80% of the respondents have children who run separate household. The obtained results are as follows : 1) The overall size of their personal network as well as the number of pairs with whom the married couples associate have a positive influence on their emotional integration. The diversities of the kinds of supportive resources to be used in the resource use scenes have a positive influence on the well-being. Those findings are common to both wives and husbands. 2) As far as wives are concerned, the ratio of the relatives to the total size of the personal network negatively influences the emotional integration of the married couple, and both the ratio of colleagues and that of neighbors have a negative influence on their well-being. 3) Wives have more personal network variables that significantly influence the emotional integration of the married couple as well as their well-being. The finding suggests that there is a difference between wives and husbands in their commitment to the personal network.

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In our investigation of views on child care and education held by senior high school students, we centered our attention on gender difference while researching the relation between the formation of their views and the factors influencing their ego development. The analytic models were 313 senior high school students in Kanagawa Prefecture. The findings are as follows : 1) By factor analysis, it is found that their views on child care and education have three factor structures : emotional factor, social customs factor and external factor. 2) By comparison, boys' ego identity in the ego development is related to the external factor while girls' sense of division of labor between male and female is related to the emotional factor and social customs factor. So long as their experience of contacting with infants is concerned, it is found in boys and girls alike that both emotional factor and social customs factor are strengthened by their affection for infants.

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We evaluated the hydrophilicity by measuring the contact angles of model surfaces after their adsorption of dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride (DMDOAC), a poly (vinyl acetate) emulsion (PVAcE), and their mixture. The adsorbent surfaces used were vacuum-dried organic macromolecular agar gel containing each additive, and hydrophilic glass sheets (glass sheets) and hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene sheets (PTFE sheets) with each additive attached. With increasing concentration of each additive, the contact angle of the agar gel (109° without an additive) markedly decreased in a similar hyperbolic manner to about 1/3, resulting in hydrophilization. The contact angle of the hydrophilic glass sheets (33 degrees) showed a maximum value (a 2-fold increase), indicating hydrophobilization, at a low additive concentration, but this angle gradually decreased thereafter with increasing additive concentration. However, the maximum value after adding the mixture was very low, and the change in contact angle was negligible with increasing additive concentration, showing only slight hydrophibilization. The hydrophobic PTFE sheets (120 degrees) showed properties similar to those of agar gel; the contact angle decreased after adding each additive, showing hydrophilization. The degree of hydrophilization after adding the mixture was marked;the contact angle was maintained at slightly more than 20 degrees with increasing additive concentration (about 100 degrees decrease), showing very high hydrophilicity.

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Sprouts of broccoli, watercress, mustard, red cabbage, radish and toumyo (pea seedlings) contained higher levels of total vitamin C (VC) and had greater 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicalscavenging activity than green bean and alfalfa sprouts. Broccoli and red cabbage contained more total VC and ascorbic acid (AsA) in mature vegetables than in sprouts, but there was no difference in these levels in watercress and mustard between the mature vegetables and sprouts. Toumyo contained the highest level of total VC and greatest DPPH radical-scavenging activity 4-5 days after germination. The level of L-galactonolactone dehydrogenase was positively correlated with the total VC content, while that of ascorbate oxidase was a negatively correlated with the total VC content. Cotyledons of toumyo that contained a high level of DPPH radical-scavenging activity could be eaten by frying after boiling, although the cotyledons are usually wasted.

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A series of measurements was conducted to clarify the mechanism for the sol-gel transition of gelatin in the presence of a variety of sugars that had been added to the gelatin solution. To investigate the effects due to the difference type and structure of the sugar, we measured the viscosity by a nondestructive method, the optical rotation, dynamic viscoelasticity, rupture characteristics and ¹⁷O NMR data. The gelation temperature was increased by added sugar. Physical changes during the sol-to-gel transition occurred in the following order : dynamic viscosity, dynamic elasticity, and then optical rotation each increased. Each gel of the gelatin solution with added sugar was stronger than that of the control without added sugar. The gel of the gelatin solution with maltose and trehalose added showed particularly strong ductility. The ¹⁷O-NMR spin-lattice relaxation time (T₁) of the gelatin solutions with added sugar, suggested that the number of equatorial OH groups (e-OH) in the 3D structure of the added sugar affected the gelation of the gelatin solution.

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This study investigates the continuity and regional variation of eating shioika (salted squid) and niika (boiled squid) in Nagano Prefecture. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 1, 545 female residents of Nagano. The response rate was 77%. The answers revealed that, while more than half of the respondents continue to purchase shioika and niika, much more namaika (raw squid) is now purchased. The regional variation of eating shioika and niika was clarified by a logistic regression analysis : shioika and niika are more common foods in the southern and central districts of Nagano Prefecture than in the northern and eastern districts. Shioika and niika are used as regular dishes rather than as occasional dishes. The method for cooking shioika has been handed down from previous generations in most cases. The results of this study suggest the following important factors in passing this regional cuisine to future generations : 1. experience of eating the dish during childhood as an example of home cooking, 2. ease of preparation, 3. tasty flavor that appeals to all ages.

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While the previous study focused on the origins of the agarito, this one aims to describe its spread and evolution, from a socio-historical perspective. The agarito established itself as a normal feature of the farmhouses in this area over a span of eighty years, between the end of the Meiji era and the sixth Showa decade. It first appeared in upper-class farmhouses, and became widespread in ordinary-class farmhouses during the third and fourth Showa decades; while there was a corresponding decline in the same period of the farming activities that made use of the front part of the earthen floor. During the sixth Showa decade, the agarito was modified with increasing frequency in order to accommodate changes of lifestyle. One modification was to enclose it with a screen or wall; another was to floor the side of the agarito, instead of leaving bare earth. But the end result of this change was the demise of the agarito itself, with its transitional role. By the start of the sixth Showa decade, most new farmhouses were built without an earthen floor at all, and thus also without an agarito.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate how people assess the influence of cooking on the thermal and odor environment outside the kitchen. Subjects (N=480) were asked to answer questions including the items related to the subjective assessment of thermal and odor comfort. The types of kitchens used by respondents are : 206 open types (55%), 92 semi-open types (25%), 71 close types (25%), and 5 island types (1%). The largest in number was the open type kitchen that spread the influence of cooking to the rest of the house more than any other types. As to the thermal environment, the satisfaction rating of the semi-open kitchen was high both in summer and winter. The satisfaction rating of kitchens having larger space tended to be higher, and the thermal environment of the open type was highly evaluated both in summer and winter. The items related to odor factors were extracted, and a structural analysis using the Quantification Method III was conducted to examine the odor environment.

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