Rice gruel prepared from raw rice needs a long cooking time. A simple and easy way to shorten this cooking time is using cooked rice instead of raw rice. We prepared rice gruel made from cooked rice, and compared its properties with those of rice gruel made from raw rice. The cooked rice gruel samples were prepared by reheating cooked rice with hot water and then cooking for 10-30 min; the longer the cooking time, the smaller the rupture force and hardness, and the larger the cohesiveness and adhesiveness. The quantity of free water in the cooked rice gruel and the solid material in the washing water of the rice gruel cooked for 30 min were similar to those from the raw rice gruel. The physical and sensory properties of the rice gruels made from previously cooked rice which then cooked for 30 min were similar to those of the raw rice gruel. Cooked rice gruel prepared with an extract of bamboo charcoal showed a large amount of free water and resulted in large amounts of total sugar and protein in the washing water of the cooked rice gruel. It differed in properties from the cooked rice gruel prepared by using water alone.

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A variety of boil-in-the-bag food paste products were assessed for their physical properties and sensory attributes. Measurement of the hardness and viscosity of these food paste products demonstrated, in all the samples, higher hardness than the maximum value established by the Ministry of Health & Welfare as the standard for sol type food for people with difficulty in mastic ating and swallowing. It was also found that the harder the food paste product, the higher the adhesive energy tended to be. It was also found for all the samples that the faster the compression speed at which the hardness was measured, the harder the sample tended to be, and the greater the rotation, the more pronounced was the shear fluidity and the decreased viscosity. The proportional decrease of G' in the non-linear region, in other words, the distortion dependence, varied among the food paste products. Measurement of the frequency dependence revealed a relatively long relaxation time in all the food paste samples. The results indicate that the ease of swallowing can be inferred from the dependence on compression speed. of the hardness, and from the distortion dependence of G' in the non-linear region. These findings indicate that knowing the physical properties in the non-linear region is essential for inferring the general properties of food paste products and particularly for the ease of swallowing.

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Pajamas are worn for long hours in direct contact with one's skin; so we assume that the contact sensation of the material of pajama cloth might influence the quality of one's sleep. In this study, we looked at pajamas made of RAFUMA-mixed cotton cloth, which is called “Wearable Chinese medicine” which is said to be good for one's health, and studied clothing comfort through wearing experiments. Subjects wore RAFUMA-mixed cotton pajamas (A) and nylon-mixed cotton pajamas (B) alternately. Their biological reactions were measured and subjective examinations were also performed. In Wearing Experiment (I), the subjects' EEGs were measured for 30 min when wearing pajamas. In Wearing Experiment (II), subjects' hormone secretion levels and skin temperature during normal sleep were measured. The EEG measurement results showed a significantly high ratio of α-waves when the subjects were wearing pajamas (A), proving that the subjects were in a state of relaxation at the time. It was also observed that melatonin secretion was promoted and small skin temperature differences occurred between the trunk and peripheral regions. From these observations, it is suggested that one can obtain effective sleep while wearing pajamas (A). The biological reactions observed while subjects wore RAFUMA-mixed cotton pajamas coincided with the results of the subjective examinations on wearing comfort and feeling of sound sleep.

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Commercially available dry-cleaning solvents, such as hydrocarbon from petroleum distillates (aromatic, paraffin, naphthene) and tetrachloroethylene (perc), have done serious damages to our environment. In order to overcome these environmental problems, we have developed dry-cleaning washing systems for textile articles with liquid CO₂ as a substitute solvent. Liquid CO₂ is well known to be a greatly promising solvent because it is inexpensive, nontoxic and non-flammable. In this study, cleanings of some artificially soiled fabrics using both liquid CO₂ in high pressure equipment and aqueous surfactant solutions in H₂O and organic solvent (AK-225), with mechanical force by means of a magnetic stirrer, have been carried out to estimate and compare their detergencies obtained from reflectance measurements. As a result, the cleaning of oil stains made with motor oil with liquid CO₂ has a detersive efficiency of about 44%. The detergency increases with the addition of AOT, while it decreases with the addition of PEG. This increase of detergency with the addition of AOT might be due to the formation of O/W emulsions composed of a large amount of AOT in the mixture of liquid CO₂ and water, because the solubility of AOT is higher in water than in liquid CO₂, and thus CO₂ droplets in the water phase would be able to encapsulate oil stains such as those caused by motor oil. On the other hand, in the case of cleanings of water-soluble stains (coffee, red wine, etc.) using liquid CO₂, the detergency remarkably increases, even with the addition of small amounts of aqueous surfactant solutions to liquid CO₂.

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This paper traces evolution of the households producing Kuroe-nuri, the traditional lacquerware made in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, from the closing years of Edo period to the early Showa period. Machiya or tradesman's houses in Kuroe as elsewhere were designed for both domestic and professional use. The craftsmen who specialized in coating wares with lacquer or those who specialized in painting the lacquered ware used the upper floor of the main house, while those who specialized in producing the toxic lacquering fluid used Kura or outhouse for work. The production of lacquering fluid was the first of the three crafts hit by the waves of modernization. The production continued to be shifted from Machiya to factories from around 1920's to 1930's. Then, from around the mid 1950's, the market came to be dominated by cheap plastic wares lacquered by spray coating, a technique unsuitable for domestic production, and the other two crafts too had to leave Machiya one after another. The traditional fusion of household and lacquering work at Machiya closed its history in 1970 when the Kuroe-nuri production began at the industrial complex for lacquerware.

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The bioavailability of niacin in bonito powder high in nicotinamide content was investigated in female college students. They were given a semi-purified diet based on the Japanese Dietary Reference Intakes for 4 days. On days 1, 2, they were given only the required diet for obtaining controlled urinary excretion of the nicotinamide metabolites. On day 3, 15 g of the bonito powder (5 g of the powder after each meal) containing 51 mg of nicotinamide was administered. The urinary excretion of the nicotinamide metabolites was significantly increased, with 52% being excreted on day 3. On day 4, they were given only the required diet, however, the urinary excretion of the nicotinamide metabolites was still higher than the scores for days 1 and 2. These findings indicate that the bioavailability of nicotinamide in the bonito powder was high and provided an excellent source of niacin.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between the factors of meal scenes and father-child and mother-child psychological connection of elementary school children. Two hundred thirty elementary school children in the fifth and sixth grades and 94 of their parent pairs completed our questionnaire. The main results are as follows : (1) Children with higher levels of father-child and mother-child psychological connection had more satisfied meal concerns, communication and atmosphere at meal time. It is to be noted that children with higher levels of father-child psychological connection had dinner with parents more frequently than the ones with lower levels of the said connection. (2) Concerning the consciousness and attitude Over the meal scenes, more nutritional concern and consciousness were shown by mothers of the children with higher levels of mother-child psychological connection. In this connection, there was no relation to the fathers' levels of consciousness and attitude.

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