The effects of various types of added thickeners (gelatin, xanthan gum, and ι-carrageenan) on the physical and sensory properties of espuma were examined using soymilk and milk. Foamability of the soymilk N₂O espuma and milk N₂O espuma decreased with increasing concentrations of added thickeners for both. By contrast, the stability of soymilk N₂O espuma and milk N₂O espuma tended to increase as the concentration of the thickener increased, probably because the increase in the rate of liquid separation became gradual. It was suggested that the combination of food components and thickeners had different physical properties and that the optimal thickeners for improving stability differed depending on the food. As a result of sensory evaluation by the youth group and the elderly, both groups perceived soymilk N₂O espuma to be easiest to swallow, and soymilk CO₂ espuma to be the most bitter. The youth group perceived soymilk N₂O espuma supplemented with ι-carrageenan to be the stickiest. Soymilk and milk espuma supplemented with thickeners show promise as a new method of preparing diets for swallowing control.

  In this study, a portion of the quinoa flour was replaced with starch and the effect of starch on dough characteristics and baking performance was examined. Previous studies have shown that the addition of thickening polysaccharides to quinoa flour does not affect bread swelling. In the process of bread making, starch plays an important role in maintaining the structure of bread. Quinoa flour has a lower starch content than rice flour, so it is thought that bread does not swell well. The specific volume tended to increase upon 30% substitution of quinoa with corn starch or sweet potato starch. The crumbs became significantly softer upon 30% substitution of quinoa with sweet potato starch (p < 0.05). When the dynamic viscoelasticity of the dough was examined, the hardness (G'₀) of dough prepared by adding MCE-4000 to quinoa flour—immediately after dough preparation— increased to approximately 5-times that of the dough prepared using quinoa flour alone (p < 0.05). However, after 30% replacement of quinoa with starch, the G'₀ value decreased to approximately 500–600 Pa (p < 0.05). When the G'₀ was 500–600 Pa and the gelation temperature of the thickening polysaccharide was lower than that of quinoa flour, the crust of the bread formed first and the bread expanded well.

  The “family care support projects” listed in Chapter6 (community support projects) of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act make up the main public service for family carers in Japan. The aim of this study is to examine what kind of information is provided in family care support projects and to reveal issues related to this service. The elderly welfare sections in 160 municipalities were surveyed via a questionnaire that was sent by post. 86 municipalities responded to the survey (response rate: 53.8％).

  The questionnaire includes 9 sections that ask what information they provide to familycarers. It was found that the most prevalent information was about “available service” (60.5％) and there was not sufficient information provided in the other eight sections. Specific projects names and methods for providing information to family carers are broadly divided into “direct approaches to family carers” and “approaches related to the use of long-term care insurance services by person in need of nursing care.” 37.2％ of them utilize existing materials for family carers and 27.9％ created their own information brochure. The situation of original projects that lead to the provision of information was apparent. Moreover, this study revealed how existing materials are utilized and how original materials are created. These results suggest the possible direction of sharing advanced initiatives with other municipalities. The survey also presented the issue of how to approach family carers who have no contact with these municipalities.

  In this study, a multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders was developed and examined for reliability and validity, with the aim of suggesting early preventative measures for persons at risk of developing such disorders. Survey subjects were 798 male and female high school and college students (aged 16.5 ± 1.6 years). Of the subjects, 119 were subject to a second survey using the developed scale after an interval of 4 weeks. The survey consisted of questions for each level of the newly developed multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders, using EAT-26＋EDI and Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale. Based on the results of factor analysis, a multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders consisting of 25 items related to 4 factors was developed. The Cronbach's alpha were α＝.891～.721 for the subscales named “Adherence to body shape and dieting”, “Body dissatisfaction”, “Restriction of high energy diet” and “Consideration for others”, respectively. Stability scores in the re-survey were r＝.818 for the 25 items combined and r＝.853～.620 (p＜.001) for the subscales, respectively. The construct validity based on the correlation with the two relevant scales was r＝.544 (p＜.001) for EAT-26＋EDI and r＝－.531 (p＜.001) for Self Esteem Scale. This scale was confirmed to be highly reliable in terms of both internal consistency and stability as well as construct validity.