Food models were made from only pure cocoa powder in order to verify the effectiveness in comparison with the usually used models containing wheat flour and wheat starch in the solid phase. We measured the mechanical and heat properties, and conducted a dispersion test. RVA measurements indicated that pure cocoa powder had suitable heat stability due to its equable viscosity. The thermal conductivity (λ) and internal temperature of these cocoa models tended to increase with increasing water content of the model, similarly to the usually used models. There was little difference in the breaking energy of these models from mechanical measurements. Pure cocoa powder as an ingredient had amphiphilic capacity that could modify the dispersion quantities according to the ratio of water and oil from the results of the dispersion test. It was confirmed that pure cocoa powder had the capability of keeping the molded shape for the usually used models during various cooking procedures.

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We examined the effects on the lipid content of pre-treating pan-fried chicken and pork with kiwifruit juice and ginger juice. The pre-treatment with kiwifruit juice significantly decreased the triglyceride content, as evaluated by a fatty acid analysis, and the cholesterol content of pan-fried pork and chicken in comparison to the figures without the pre-treatment. The pre-treatment with ginger juice only decreased the cholesterol content of the pan-fried pork. The kiwifruit juice pre-treatment significantly decreased the weight of the pan-fried meat. These different effects between the two juices could be explained by the difference in pH value between kiwifruit juice (pH 3.2) and ginger juice (pH 6.0) due to the higher susceptibility of collagen molecules to protease digestion in an acidic pH range. The results indicate that tenderizing meat by pre-treating with kiwifruit juice affected not only the texture of the cooked meat, but also its lipid content.

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The white fur with black-spots in the paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Vermeer is often considered to be ermine, which has been regarded 'royal fur, ' though he depicted ordinary citizens in his works. Why do the citizens wear royal fur? Is the fur really ermine? It cannot be concluded that Vermeer depicted the fur as ermine in view of reality or representation. The fur in Vermeer's paintings is probably modeled after more available kinds of white fur such as squirrel, rabbit and cat, to which he intentionally added black spots on canvas. This case confirms that even paintings that are considered realistic and meaningful may include fictional expression of costumes, which casts doubt on whether they truly reflect what the people of the time wore or the feelings they had about dress. We should be extremely careful not to treat such fictional expression as real and to put it properly into the context of the history of costume.

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Synthesis of superabsorbent polymers was investigated with the reaction of five kinds of cotton products (new jeans, worn-out jeans, worn-out underwear, a worn-out towel, and worn-out bedding) and succinic anhydride in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine as an esterification catalyst in a mixture of lithium chloride and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, followed by NaOH neutralization. The molecular weight of cellulose composing cotton products was estimated by solution viscometry. The superabsorbent polymer from new jeans showed the highest absorbency in both pure water and NaCl aqueous solution, while that from worn-out jeans exhibited the lowest absorbency. These results corresponded to the molecular weight of cotton cellulose, i.e., the higher the molecular weight, the higher the absorbency. The superabsorbent polymers of the present study biologically degraded almost completely in 20 days, which shows their excellent biodegradability.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a program of dietary education that will help realize a sustainable dietary life. The authors developed a lesson on the basis of the calculated data, and put it into practice at a high school and two universities. In the lesson, students were introduced to the data charts displaying the life cycle energy of food. A cooking lesson was given at one university. The main findings in the trial lessons are as follows : (1) Students were made aware of the fact that food is seasonal. (2) Students showed willingness in choosing food or products on the basis of how they had been produced as well as where they had come from. (3) Those students who regularly cooked meals or helped cooking at home were more active in class and more positive in applying what they had learned at home. (4) The cooking practice in class was very effective in making students aware of environmental protection at home. The authors are convinced that their program was effective for students to learn about the relationship between life and environment.

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The first objective of this study is to construct a resilience scale of nursery school and kindergarten teachers. The second objective is to declare a relation between the pre-school teacher efficacy and the resilience of nursery schools and kindergartens. The responses to our questionnaire were sent in from 183 kindergarten teachers and 190 nursery school teachers. Out of the items contained in the resilience scale, three factors were obtained by factor analysis; they are “feeling of satisfaction from care, ” “positive role-adaptation” and “professional skill of care and education.” The internal consistency reliability was determined with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. 3 factors mentioned above contained the personal trait on the part of teachers and the environment of child care and education. Next, the cluster analysis was made on the resilience scale scores with a view to declaring declaring a relation between the resilience and the efficacy. As a result, the nursery school and kindergarten teachers were divided into 4 groups. The group that scored high marks on all the items of the resilience scale showed the pre-school teacher efficacy that was significantly higher than that of the other groups.

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The effects of heat treatment, radiation with UV light, and addition of sodium chloride on the radical-scavenging activity of the pigments separated from purple-black and red rice were investigated. The activity of the purple-black rice pigment was as strong as the activity of ascorbic acid and a-tocopherol. The activity of the purple-black and red rice pigment remained at almost the same level during heat treatment at 90 t for 60 min, and more than 80% was retained after 15 min of heating at 180 t. Radiation with UV light for 24 h resulted in about 50% of the radical-scavenging activity and color intensity of the purple-black rice pigment being retained. The radical-scavenging activity of the colored rice pigment was stable to the addition of sodium chloride. The effect of colored rice on the lipid peroxidation in cookies was also investigated. After 39 days of storage at 50t, the cookies in which 50% of wheat flour had been substituted by colored rice showed inhibition of the peroxide value by more than 90% relative to the control sample without any colored rice.

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The object is a child care center established by local government, and its activities were studied. The findings are as follows : (1) 90% of the local governments run child care centers within their nursery schools, while 10% of the local governments provide the centers with independent facilities for child care. (2) Some private nursery schools are commissioned by local government to offer their services. (3) In most cases, a child care center is established in an area where a junior high school is located. In some cases, however, the said area is larger than a junior high district. (4) Most of full-time workers are child care specialists. (5) With 20% of those local governments that run a child care center together with a nursery school, the facilities specifically for child care are not provided. (6) The services or events offered by child care centers include nursery consultations, parent classes, and space and occasion for children to play at. (7) In most cases, the child care services centering around the center are not run in coordination with other organs; it is only less than half of the local governments that have coordinate partners. It is desirable that they will expand their services in that direction.

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