In 2004, the United Nations emphasized strengthening family support on the 10th anniversary of the International Year of the Family. Family support is closely related to both public institutions and company policies. This paper reviews family-friendly policies of companies from the viewpoint of family resource management. Data used in this paper was obtained from surveys of companies and employees that suggested the following. (1) Women tended to acquire child care leave frequently. (2) Men could not acquire maternity leave easily, and the acquisition rate was low. (3) Even in family-friendly companies, a corporate culture enabling men to use child care leave was not growing. In order for male employees to have consciousness as a citizen and to achieve work-life balance, it is necessary to utilize family-friendly policies from the viewpoint of family resource management.

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Japanese millet starch was prepared from Japanese millet flour with aqueous alkali by the centrifuge method, and the starch obtained was compared with that prepared by the conventional method. Japanese millet flour was washed 1 or 3 times with 0.2% (w/v, 0.05 M) or 0.3% (w/v, 0.075 M) aqueous sodium hydroxide, and the optimum conditions for obtaining pure starch from Japanese millet in a short time were investigated. The yield of Japanese millet starch was 44-47% by the centrifuge method, whereas that by the conventional method was 40%. The protein content (0.29-0.35%) and ash content (0.08-0.10%) of the starch samples did not differ significantly with either preparation method. Gel chromatography showed that the apparent amylose content of Japanese millet starch (Fr. I), long-chain amylopectin (Fr. II) and short-chain amylopectin (Fr. III) was 23%, 19% and 58.3%, and the Fr. III/Fr.II ratio was 3.1. The average diameter of the Japanese millet starch granules was 7.0-7.4 μm. The results from the Rapid Visco-Analyser showed that Japanese millet starch prepared by the centrifuge method had a higher maximum viscosity and cooled at 50°C viscosity, lower minimum viscosity and greater breakdown value. The gel texture of the starch samples differed according to the preparation method, the sample prepared by one wash with 0.2% (0.05 M) alkali being the softest. There was correlation between the firmness of the gel and breakdown value measured with the Rapid Visco-Analyser. The centrifuge method was used to prepare Japanese millet starch in 2-3 days with high purity and yield, compared with 2-3 weeks by the conventional method. One wash with 0.2% (0.05 M) alkali was sufficient.

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Model bolus samples were prepared from artificial saliva and masticated agar gel to study the textural properties and evaluate the swallowing properties with young and elderly subjects. The model bolus samples containing 13%, 20% and 26% of artificial saliva showed a textural hardness that decreased with increasing saliva content. The young subjects evaluated the model bolus samples containing 20% and 26% of saliva as being easier to swallow than the sample containing 13%. The elderly subjects evaluated the model bolus sample containing 26% of saliva as being easy to swallow with little remaining in the mouth. When the apparent viscosity of the artificial saliva was varied in the model bolus samples, the textural hardness decreased with increasing apparent viscosity of the saliva. No significant difference was recognized among the samples by both the young and elderly subjects in the sensory evaluation.

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The purpose of this investigation is to propose the desirable life style in the solar residence. The investigation was centered around to which extent the residents were conscious of energy-saving in concert with environment preservation, why they decided to install the solar system, and how they lived. The results of the investigation are as follows. 1) The solar house residents take environmental problems as everyday issue of their life, as they are highly conscious of global environmental issues as well as daily energy-saving efforts. And they are convinced that daily efforts contribute to help solve the environmental problems. 2) When planning their residence, i.e., in and outside the house, they had symbiosis with the environment in mind. 3) It may be concluded that they decided on the installation of the solar system as they were highly conscious of the environmental an energy problems. 4) They try to live with the nature on the basis of their efforts to save energy wherever possible. 5) In this way, they are able to hold the electrical, gas and water charges at low level. 6) It is to be noted that the energy-saving efforts are necessary even in the solar residence.

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The purpose of this study is to compare views of grownups on the cuteness of children between 1980 and 2005. A 21-item questionnaire was answered by 80 adults in 1980 and 200 adults in 2005. The adults who responded consist of 4 groups; a male group with a child or children, a female group with a child or children, male university students with no children, and female university students with no children. The main results are as follows : 1) In the case of the second group, or the female group with a child or children, their views are not identical between 1980 and 2005, the variance between the two is greater than that of the other groups, although their views come closer to those of the other 3 groups in 2005. 2) The number of those who stated that children were all lovely is larger in 2005 than in 1980. 3) The number of those who answered that they felt sympathy for babies or little children is larger in 2005 than in 1980. 4) Notable is the number of the respondents in the first and second groups who objected to the item that pensive or inactive children are not childish. Those who objected to the statement is larger in 2005 than in 1980.

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A strain no. 153 isolated from soil degraded poly-γ-glutamate (PGA), which was produced by Bacillus subtilis (natto) . The strain formed a spore and was a Gram-positive rod, showing that this strain belonged to the genus Bacillus. We purified the PGA lytic enzyme from the culture filtrate of the bacterium by a combination of procedures, such as precipitations with ammonium sulfate (70% saturation), and chromatography on CM-cellulose, DEAE-cellulose and gel filtration. The yield of the lytic enzyme from the culture filtrate was 0.062%. The molecular weight of this enzyme was considered to be around 28, 000, which was estimated by SDS-PAGE. The optimum temperature and pH for the lytic enzyme were 60°C and pH 8.0, respectively. The enzyme was strongly inhibited by heavy metal ions, such as Hg²⁺ and Cr³⁺ and by EDTA, and may be an endopeptidase from the result of the HPLC analysis of the degradation products and its substrate specificity. The PGA lytic enzyme acted on not only substrates with a γ-peptide bond but also those with an a-peptide bond, which might be due to the contamination of other peptidase.

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The textural properties of the outer layer of the traditional Japanese sweets, saka-manju, yaku-manju and joyo-manju, were compared. Saka-manju produced by ten manufacturers, yaku-manju produced by nine, and joyo-manju produced by ten were used as samples. The thin firm skin from the outer layer of each sample was peeled off by hand. The textural properties of this skin were measured by a tensile-rupture test with a creep meter. The tensile stress of the skin increased linearly against the stretched length of the skin in the early stage of measurement to show elastic behavior. This elastic behavior disappeared as the skin continued to be tensioned, with small cracks occurring, before the skin completely ruptured. The energy needed to rupture the skin of the three types of manju sweet was highest with the saka-manju specimens. This energy could be classified into two stages : the energy while the skin maintained its elastic properties, and the energy after the skin had lost its elastic properties. The skin of the saka-manju samples showed the highest energy value in the second stage and stretched the most. The saka-manju samples could be distinguished from other samples by the application of a principal component analysis.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of tencel material from the aspect of human thermoregulation during heat loading in women. For the purpose of comparison, of the tencel material, clothes made of 3 kinds of material (tencel, cotton and polyester) were used in the present experiment. Five young females were exposed to a 43-degree water heat loading for 30 min and a 30-min recovery. Individual skin temperatures, local sweat rate, body temperature, and the temperature and humidity of the inner surface of the clothes were measured throughout the experiment. The skin temperatures at the chest and forearm regions in tencel tended to be higher than those in cotton and polyester. The changes of the inner surface temperature and humidity were significantly lower in tencel than in cotton during the heat loading. The sweat rate in tencel was significantly lower than in polyester. These findings suggest that the tencel material suppresses microclimate changes within clothing during heat loading.

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