Recently, with the aging of the population, there is an urgent need for nutritional management for all residents of long-term care health facilities to prevent malnutrition. A causal model was developed using path analysis to identify factors contributing to weight loss in residents of a long-term care health facility. Sixty subjects (mean age 91.5 ± 5.4 years, 5 males, 55 females) participated in the study. Physical measurements and dietary surveys using the food weighing method were conducted from 2014 to 2016. The data of 48 subjects were available for path analysis. The results revealed that both the activities of daily living (ADL) level and long-term stay affected energy intake of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, ultimately leading to weight loss. These findings suggest that effective nutritional management for preventing malnutrition in long-term care health facilities should take into account both ADL and the duration of stay.

  To increase the persistence of the exothermic state associated with the moisture absorption of highly hygroscopic rayon fibers, it has been attempted to improve persistence by adhering thermal storage microcapsules to fibers. In this study, for various usage environments, the effects of maintaining the exothermic state were investigated under various atmospheric conditions of temperature and moisture.

  The results showed that as the ambient temperature decreased, the exothermic state associated with moisture absorption lasted for a longer time. Similarly, after investigating the influence of changes in the ambient humidity on hygrothermal behavior, it was found that the exothermic peak tended to be higher when moisture was absorbed from the lower humidity state. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the exothermic state could be maintained for a long time over a wide range of ambient temperature and humidity conditions when the adhesion of the fibers with thermal storage microcapsules was realized. These results indicate that the adhesion of thermal storage microcapsules to hygroscopically exothermic fibers is effective for winters in Japan, when both the temperature and humidity are low.

  Color harmony in the apparel field is very important, and many color harmony theories have been proposed. Within these theoretical frameworks, hue harmony is explored in the context of identical harmony, similar harmony, and contrast harmony.

  In this experiment, we compared the harmonic ranges for L^*, a^*, b^* color space of the well-known Moon-Spencer's harmonic theory, Ostwald's harmonic theory, and PCCS harmonic theory. As a result, it was confirmed that there was no equality of hue intervals and that the harmonic range was unclear.

  Furthermore, we created a color chart sample with 20 equally divided hue angles, and conducted a visual evaluation of hue harmony in a two-color scheme. A total of 40 colors, 20 in the high-saturation area and 20 in the high-lightness area, were created, and two-color schemes were used for the upper and lower areas. Four hundred samples in the high-saturation area and 400 samples in the high-lightness area were presented against an N6 gray background. The participants in the experiment were 200 female university students. They were asked to respond to the degree of harmony on a 6-point scale.

  The results showed that the same hue was the most harmonious for both high saturation and high lightness, and the rating decreased as the hue angle between the two colors increased. No contrast harmony region existed.

  Warmer colors were placed on the upper side, while colder colors were positioned on the lower side for both high saturation and high lightness. The evaluations were higher with an increase in warmth. The overall evaluation of the color scheme was higher for high lightness than for high saturation.

  This study aimed to investigate the taste characteristics and color of fish sauces prepared from unused seafood from a remote island. In 2019, the fish sauces were prepared from the lizardfish, hairtail, and long-spined urchins. They were analyzed for their taste responses (determined using a taste sensing system) and taste components (e.g., free amino acid and organic acid concentrations). To further understand the Uku Island fish sauces, their characteristics were compared with those of commercial soy and fish sauces. The sourness and astringency were higher and umami and saltiness were lower in the Uku Island fish sauces than in commercial soy and fish sauces. This observation might be associated with lower free amino acid and higher organic acid levels in the Uku Island fish sauces. Additionally, the colors of Uku Island fish sauces fell somewhere between those of commercial soy sauces and fish sauces. These findings are useful for forming a basis for cooking using Uku Island fish sauces.