Seasonal changes in the soft body weight and biochemical composition of total tissues and different organs of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) were studied with special reference to the palatability of this mussel. The specimens were collected from littoral beds at Saitozaki of Hakata Bay for 1 year.
The seasonal variation throughout the year in the contents of water, protein, lipid and ash was small, while that of carbohydrate was large and the content of carbohydrate was high during May to October.
The soft body parts of the mature mussels were separated into muscle, digestive gland, gonad, and mantle and gills. The ratio of the gonad weight to total soft body (dry weight) increased from March to reach a maximum in September. This was mainly due to the accumulation of carbohydrate in the gonad.
The result in the previous report that the mussels are in season for the table from June to August in Hakata Bay, was supported by the seasonal variations in tissue weight and biochemical composition of the blue mussels.

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Retrogradation of cooked rice was investigated by the methods of enzymatic digestion with glucoamylase, modified balance and amylograph during the storage in a room and in a refrigerator. The results obtained were as follows :
1. Degree of gelatinization and cohesiveness value during the storage in a room and in a refrigerator decreased with the lapse of time, and the values at the latter decreased faster than the values at the former.
2. In amylogram, the milled rice showed peak I (original) and the cooked rice just after cooking showed peak II.
As this peak II did not show peak viscosity seen at peak I, it was presumed that the micelles of starch might be destroyed to a certain degree. On the other hand, the amylogram curve for the cooked rice retrograded in a room and in a refrigerator showed the low starting viscosity, and showed the peaks II and III. This curve is different from the one of cooked rice.
3. The max. viscosity of cooked rice in a room and in a refrigerator increased at the beginning of retrogradation and then decreased with the lapse of time.
It it assumed that changes in the viscosity associated with the retrogradation of cooked rice may depend upon the state of dispersion in starch micelles.

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The effect of concentration of agar and of addition of citric acid and lemon juice on 0.6 w/v% agar jelly with 40 w/v% powdered starch syrup and 4 w/v% sucrose (control jelly) were investigated. The rupture and texture measurements of the jellies were made using Dynagraph and Rheolometer at 20 °C. Preference of the jellies was examined by a sensory evaluation. The rupture parameter, hardness and shortness (texture parameter) of the control jelly were decreased with decreasing concentration of agar from 0.6 to 0.3 w/v%. In the case of addition of 0.7-0.3 w/v% citric acid to the control jelly at 98, 80 and 60°C, it was shown that the rupture parameter, hardness and shortness of the jelly were decreased with increasing the temperature applied. The rupture parameter, hardness and shortness of the control jelly with addition of 5 w/v% lemon juice (corresponding to 0.3 w/v% citric acid) were also decreased with increasing the temperature applied. As the result of the sensory evaluation for three kinds of jelly (almost the same rate of texture), namely, “0.5 w/v% agar jelly, ” “jelly with addition of 0.3 w/v% citric acid” and “jelly with addition of 5 w/v% lemon juice, ” it became clear that “jelly with addition of 5 w/v% lemon juice” had the best taste.

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The commercial polyester and polyester-mixed woven fabrics were dry-cleaned using perchloroethylene (D-treatments). The changes of physical properties of the fabrics by D-treatments were compared with those treated with water (W-treatments).
Both D- and W-treatments tended to increase the elongation percentage and the compressibility ratio and to decrease the bending resistance and the compressional resilience for the fabrics. Wtreatments led to the larger changes in physical properties than D-treatments did. It was assumed that the plasticization of the polyester fibers took an important role in the difference of the property-changes.
The difference of properties of the fabrics D-and W-treated was studied in connection with the structural factors of the fabrics using multi-variate analysis. It may be noted that the factors were less related to the bending resistance which was highly significant with respect to the difference between the population means. The composition and nonuniformity of the fabrics affected the difference of the property-changes. It was found that the crimp retraction of the weaving yarn was closely connected with the elongation percentage and the air permeability of the fabrics. The twist coefficient of the yarn was also found to be associated with the compressional resilience of the fabrics.

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The shrinking effects on the mechanical characteristics of the crape cloths were discussed. The results obtained are as follows.
By being treated with the Yunoshi-method of shrinking, (1) Tensile : Young's modulus E of the cloths increases remarkably. And tensile energy A_L of the cloths becomes larger, but resilience R_E of the cloths remains almost unchanged. (2) Shearing : Shear stiffness G, hysteresis 2HG (at shear angle 0.5°) and hysteresis 2HG5 (at shear angle 5°) of the cloths increase respectively, so the shrunk cloths become difficult to shear and recover from shearing deformation. (3) Bending : Bending rigidity B and hysteresis 2HB of the cloths decrease, so the shrunk cloths become easy to bend and recover from bending deformation. (4) Compression : Compressibility EMC, compressive energy WC and resilience RC of the cloths decrease. This means that the cloths become difficult to compress and to recover just a little from the compressive deformation.
From (1) and (2), as the shrunk cloths are difficult to deform for the tensile and the shearing force, it may be said that the dimensional stability of the cloths makes even better. And from (3), the shrunk cloths become easy to bend and recover from its bending deformation, this shows that the shrunk cloths are endowed with flexibility with soft feeling, and the loosed shape of the cloths become poor in bending deformation of the cloths.

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Gait of Japanese women in Kimonos was analyzed with regard to materials of Kimonos, ways of dressing and footwears, in order to investigate the relation between Kimono-dressing and walking. The results are as follows :
1) Gait clearly changed by the ways of dressing. Dressing of horizontal “Suso” line makes the stride length and the step length longer. On the contrary, dressing of “Tsumasaki-Agari-7 cm” makes the stride length and the step length shorter. Horizontal dressing of wool Kimono makes the stride duration shorter, and that of silk Kimono makes it longer.
2) Gait is also changed by footwears. Japanese Zori assures the long stride and the fast walk, so the Zori is proved to be the best Japanese footwear to Kimono-dressing.
3) The contribution coefficients show that the ways of dressing and footwears greatly influence the gait.

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Children often use a substitute object (signifier) to refer to an object (significate) during symbolic play. The present research was designed to examine not only the differences between “signifier” and “significate, ” but also the presence or absence of an object influence on children's symbolic representation, and to examine the role of play for the development of the symbolic function in children.
We designed two experiments. Experiment I was carried out under the condition when the children did not play. Experiment II was carried out under the condition when they were playing. The subjects were 144 children who were enrolled in day nursery and elementary schools.
The main results were as follows :
1) It was easy for children to symbolize the “significate, ” if the “signifier” were similar to the “significate.”
2) Children, up to 5 years of age, needed the presence of toys to symbolize the “significate” during play.
3) Their symbolic function was more promoted through play than otherwise. It may be said that any children can easily relate the “significate” with “signifier” in play.

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[in Japanese]

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