A blue pigment complex was isolated from the blue flowers of Salvia uliginosa. The absorption spectrum of its aqueous solution had three maxima at 645, 589 and 314 nm. The blue pigment did not permeate a cellulose membrane, and contained magnesium as the metallic component, but not manganese, aluminum, zinc, calcium or iron. The blue pigment was composed of acetylated malonyl awobanine (Ishikawa, T. et al., Phytochemistry, 52, 517-521 (1999)), apigenin 7-cellobioside-4'-glucoside, and magnesium. This composition was confirmed by an in vitro synthesis of the blue color from its component parts. No blue color was formed without magnesium. These results show the blue color of the flower is manifested by a metalloanthocyanin containing magnesium as the chelating metal. There was no difference in the blue pigment formation among apigenin 7-cellobioside-4'-glucose, apigenin 7-cellobioside, and apigenin 7-glucoside. This blue pigment has potential use as a food colorants.

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The purpose of this research is to throw light on the style of speech of salespeople that is most effective in reducing fashion risks that consumers are aware of when they purchase clothing. The following became evident as a consequence of these endeavors. In men, speech connected to "social proof," "authority" and "goodwill" is effective in alleviating "fashion concerns," speech connected to "authority" is effective in connection with "criteria concerns," speech connected to "authority" and "distinctiveness" is effective in connection with "harmony concerns," speech connected to "authority" and "rarity" is effective in connection with "self-expression concerns," and speech connected to "rarity" and "distinctiveness" is persuasive among people who are insensitive to "concern over visual image." In women, speech connected to "social proof" is effective in alleviating "dressing concerns," speech connected to "social proof" and "authority" is effective in connection with "fashion concerns," speech connected to "distinctiveness" is effective in connection with "criteria concerns," and "goodwill" is effective in connection with "harmony concerns."

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It was taken for granted that "Cooking" and "Eating" pertained to home activities, but things have changed over the years and it has become nothing out of the ordinary for us to buy some prepared dishes at stores and supermarkets and for many families to eat out. This study aims to clarify the feature of the dietary style of those who live in suburban residential areas in the Kansai region, focusing on their "internal" and "external" cooking and eating. For this purpose, we chose Gakuenmae in Nara Prefecture, where development began 35-55 years ago. In this study the residents were typified into six types: Internal/External Cooking by their dependence on purchase of Prepared or Semi-Prepared Food, Internal/External Cooking by the frequency of eating out, and Internal/External Eating. The largest is Type I or Internal/External who do the cooking at home with low frequency of eating out, followed by Type II or External/External who eat out depending on Prepared Dishes including box lunch bought at supermarkets and convenience stores. The majority of males belong to either Type I (Internal/External) or Type II (External/External) while females are spread over to the other types. Many working males in their 30s and 40s are found in Type II (External/External) while many full-time housewives and retired males are found in Type V (Internal/Internal). In other words, the typification is closely related to gender, age and whether or not they are employed. In the past, the mainstream of the suburbanities' dietary style was Type I, but they are now typified into six types as enumerated above and seem to continue to diversity. It is desired that the feature of dietary style clarified in this study will be taken into consideration in planning suburban areas in the future.

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The purpose of this study was to examine how the child care workers viewed the Experience in Early Childhood Education and Care at Day Care Center (ECEC). The result of our questionnaire survey shows that the majority of the day care centers adopted this system and regarded it as a good experience. From the standpoint of the implementation of ECEC, the day care centers that answered our interview may be divided into a positive group and a negative group. The positive group admitted that ECEC had brought about a good effect on the part of both the preschoolers and junior and senior high school students, and considered ECEC as an effective child care support. The results of this survey indicated the good effects circulated between junior and senior high schools and the day care centers that had taken part in ECEC. It is important, therefore, for caregivers to be aware of the abovementioned cycle in implementing ECEC.

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A simple and clear method to demonstrate the hydrolyzing ability for starch in germinated brown rice was investigated. This method involves visualizing the α-amylase activity in germinating rice as spots on a starch plate. These spots were relatively clear and could be detected within only 2 hours, indicating the suitability of the method for teaching.α-Amylase contributes to the physiological degradation of storage starch in brown rice, and provides good teaching material for understanding the value of germinated brown rice as a foodstuff for human digestion and absorption.

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