We developed a new curriculum for early childhood education as well as care for underachieving high-school students. The curriculum includes three major issues: 1) Students are told to imagine that they have become pregnant, and then led to pursue the process of study from pregnancy to childbirth and to childcare. 2) They are taught to consider the problems related to childcare from the viewpoint of economy. 3) They are provided with a variety of worksheets as well as date involving their daily activities. The lessons are evaluated on the basis of questionnaires as well as the worksheets collected from students after each lesson.The results of our initial questionnaires made it clear that the students had realized how much childrearingwas economically burdensome. Through these results we were able to evaluate to what extent the students realized the need to know more about childcare and also the need to seek community as well as family support. It is to be noted that they also understood how troublesome pregnancy might be for teenagers, and how desirable it was for them to stay away from thoughtless sexual intercourse.Many students indicated in their worksheets that they understood the aims and contents of this course of study, that it helped them in considering more seriously about the problems involved with childcare, that they would make use of what they had learned in their lives, and, most of all, that they had to consider the financial consequences of parenthood and childcare.

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A disorder of dietary condition in recent years is concerned with the dietary habit of engorgement.We thus believe that dietary education is necessary for university students. This study examines the consciousness and behavior in the dietary condition, sense of taste, and daily life of university students.The influence of a student's family on this dietary behavior and consciousness is also assessed. An analysis was conducted of the results of a questionnaire survey taken from 229 university students.Structural equation modeling was applied to study the consciousness which influences the dietary behavior, living activities and influence of the family. This analysis shows the influence of the family on the consciousness of dietary condition, sense of taste, and daily activities related to a healthy life style.The results suggest the importance of university students having experience of cooking, promoting consciousness of their dietary behavior, and that the family recognizes its influence.

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A pot culture experiment was conducted to investigate the cadmium, zinc, manganese and copper concentrations of two Japanese radish cultivars (Raphanus sativus L. cv. Harunomegumi and Raphanus sativus L. cv. Akibutai) grown for 9 weeks in soil whose respective cadmium and zinc concentrations were 3.3 and 68 mg/kg of dried soil. Both of the Japanese radish cultivars grew normally throughout the growth period, the weight of the shoots being 2.8 times that of the roots. The cadmium concentrations in the shoots of both cultivars initially increased for 6 weeks after sowing and then slowed. The cadmium concentrations in the shoots after 9 weeks of growth were respectively 2.4 and 1.5 mg/kg for Harunomegumi and Akibutai, this 0.9 mg/kg difference indicating cultivar dependence. The cadmium concentrations in the roots of both cultivars were about one fourth of those of the shoots. The zinc, manganese and copper concentrations varied similarly for both of the cultivars. The zinc concentrations in the shoots did not fluctuate greatly at between 20 and 50 mg/kg, this being similar to the zinc concentrations in the roots throughout the growth period. The manganese concentrations in the shoots increased from around 2 to 12 mg/kg during the growth period, while those in the roots remained almost constant at around 1.5 mg/kg. The copper concentrations in the shoots tended to be higher than those in the roots throughout the growth period. The copper concentration in the shoots after 9 weeks of growth was around 1.2 mg/kg, being 1.4 times that in the roots.

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Onionskin has been used for dyeing since a long time ago. It is known that the coloring matter in onionskin is quercetin. In the present paper, we dyed wool fabrics with commercial quercetin and compared the results with those dyed with onionskin extraction. It was revealed that higher K/S values were observed at 380-400nm for the fabrics dyed with quercetin, and the K/S values decreased with increasing wavelength. The amount of adsorption onto wool fabrics increased with increasing quercetin concentration in the dye bath. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between K/S values at 410nm and the amount of adsorption of quercetin onto the fabrics. On the other hand, wool fabrics dyed with onionskin extraction showed higher K/S values at 380-400nm, as did the fabrics dyed with quercetin. It is noteworthy that higher K/S values at about 500nm and the higher values of a* in the CIEL* a*b* system were observed in onionskin dyeing, which means that the fabrics dyed with onionskin have a more reddish color than the fabrics dyed with commercial quercetin.

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In the late Victorian period, adorning one's dresses and parasols with blushing roses became increasingly popular with young British women. Although not an unusual rose species, blushing roses acquired a symbolic value, and were widely commercialized in the form of a book (Language of Flowers ). The language of blushing roses, “ If you love me, you will find me," emphasised ideal womanhood, so that the roses immediately became an acceptable fashion for young women. The blushing rose transformed itself from just another flower in the rose family to a symbol of young, modest, and beautiful women, as well as to fashionable commodities. This process was, however, complicated. It entailed the changing interpretation of facial expressions (blushing), the establishment of the symbolism of roses, the horticulture of roses, and the ways of representing ideal characters through one's dresses and accessories. This essay examines the ideological structures of blushing roses, and through it, explores Victorian desires and values.

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