Vesicle-forming catalysts, N- {1- [(3-acety1-4-didodecylcarbamoyl-2-thiazolidinyl) manno-tetra-hydroxybutyl] carbonyl} -L-histidine and-L-histidyl-L-alanine, and micelle-forming catalysts, N- {4- [(3-acetyl-4-dodecylcarbamoyl-2-thiazolidinyl) -manno-tetrahydroxybutyl] carbonyl} -L-his-tidine and-L-histidyl-L-alanine, were designed as hydrolase models. The effects of reaction environment on catalytic activity were examined by the stereoselective hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl N-ben-zyloxycarbonyl-L- (or D)-phenylalaninate in the absence or presence of cholesterol and/or glycolipids, 3-acetyl-2- (D-manno-pentahydroxypentyl) -4-dodecylcarbamoyl-or-didodecylcarbamoyl-thiazoli-dine. The vesicle-forming catalyst as well as micelle-forming catalyst assisted by vesicle-forming glycolipid showed superior stereorecognition of chiral substrates compared to the micelle-forming catalyst itself. Stereoselectivity increased by the addition of cholesterol. The above findings are discussed in relation to the environment catalysts function.

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Biomembranes consist mainly of phospholipids and proteins. In this study, a new amino lysolecithintype macromer was designed and synthesized, for the preparation of thin membranes that would be similar to biomembranes. This macromer is an artificial phospholipid having two functional groups, a vinyl group to reinforce the membrane and an amino group to introduce the polypeptide chain. It forms small liposomes of 100 nm in the diameter in water. The macromer was not vinyl-polymerized as a liposome in itself, but was copolymerized in the presence of N, N-dimethylacrylamide. Polypeptide chains could be introduced to the vinyl polymerized copolymer by NCA of γ-benzyl-L-glutamate. The peptide-grafted copolymer was also capable of forming liposomes in water.

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To determine the most troublesome aspect of Japanese home laundry, a fact-finding survey and a series of uncontrolled wear-and-wash tests were carried out at 69 households selected at random throughout Japan. Of clothes washed during the period of the survey, 71 % were 100 % cotton fabrics and 14 %, cotton-synthetic blends. 1.6 kg of the clothing was washed in detergent solution having 57.1 ppm water hardness as CaCO₃ at ambient temperature. The average number of wear-and-wash cycles was from 13.9 to 14.7 over a period of 40 days, depending on the type of clothing.
Cotton undershirts use in the test were washed as mentioned above, using a spray-dried powdery heavy duty detergent containing no enzymes or special additives. By measuring the amounts of residual soil in cotton undershirts from 25 households, 27.4 mg of sebum/g of cloth and 3.3 mg of protein/g of cloth on the average were obtained from the shirts prior to the final washing at the end of an average of 14.7 wear-and-wash cycles of home laundry. The undershirts after the final washing contained 17.0 mg of sebum/g of cloth and 0.9 mg of protein/g of cloth on the average. Prior to and after the final washing, the amounts of residual sebum in cotton undershirts were more closely related to the number of wear-and-wash cycles than the amounts of residual protein. With increase in accumulated sebum, b values of cotton undershirts also increased. The amount of residual protein on clothing was not correlate to the b values of the clothing to the same extent as was the amount of residual sebum. Cotton undershirts soiled by sebum is thus shown to be one of the most difficult aspects of Japanese home laundry.

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Reversed vesicle formation was investigated for a mixture of nonionic (monooleoyldiglycerol; DGMO) and ionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate ; SDS) amphiphiles. Following the addition of a small amount of water to the mixture in dodecane, a lamellar liquid crystal is separated from the oil phase. Each crystall swelled due to considerable absorption of oil. Reversed vesicles, which formed by shaking the two-phase system of oil and liquid crystalline phase, were detected by a microscope equipped with a video-enhanced system. The vesicles showed considerable distribution in size, from submicron to 1020 μ m units. The particles were thus concluded to consist of closed reversed bimolecular layers, and inside and outside beeing covered with oil.

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The autoxidation reaction of soybean oils containing dissolved water at 20 to 990 ppm was investigated for various reaction periods (70, 110 and 220 h) at 50°C in oxygen. The autoxidation of the soybean oil was accelerated by dissolved water in oil.
For the autoxidation of oils containing 20 ppm dissolved water, POV increased gradually to 4.9 (70 h) with reaction time, and rapidly up to 32.1 (220 h). Total POV (amount of hydroperoxide decomposed during the reaction plus observed POV) increased from 6.2 (70 h) to 37.1 (220 h).
POV of oil containing 110990 ppm dissolved water was 0.81.2 times (POV 4.06.1, 70 h) and 1.51.6 times (POV 49.952.2, 220 h) that of 20 ppm dissolved water. Total POV was 1.41.9 times (total POV 8.511.6, 70 h) and 1.44.6 times (total POV 52.258.5, 220 h) that of 20 ppm dissolved water.
The percentage of decomposed hydroperoxide to that of hydroperoxide was calculated and found highest (2166 %) at 70 h and lowest (513 %) at 220 h.

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Propoxylation is useful for making urethane foam and surfactant materials.
Since propylene oxide is a low-boiling-point monomer which reacts so fast at high temperature, maximum pressure and temperature must be known even when reaction can not be controlled.
In this paper an equation for maximum pressure and temperature in the runaway propoxylation was proposed, and its validity demonstrated by adiabatic experiments using “Reaction Calorimeter RC-1”.

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Icosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) both containing fish oil, are of interest for their physiological effects on health. Sardine oil was selectively hydrolyzed by Candida cylindracea lipase in a bioreactor equipped with a cotton-cloth disperser, and a DHA rich oil was obtained.
DHA in acyl glycerol was concentrated 2.5 times at a conversion of 72 % in a 15-stage reactor.

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The fusion of naturally prepared liposomes and of liposome-biomembrane was investigated in terms of fluorescence resonance energy transfer using fluorescein (F) as a resonance energy donor and rhodamine B (R) as a resonance energy acceptor. Phospholipids were extracted from natural sources : phosphatidylcholine (PC) from egg yolk, phosphatidylserine (PS) from ox brain, and ghost red cell membrane (GRCM) from human blood. The fusion of small unilamellar vesicles was induced by adding Ca²⁺ and then EDTA. The fluorescence probe method using liposomes labeled with probes was shown to be a simple way for monitoring liposome fusion between PS, PC and GRCM. In fluorescence spectra, the fusion of (F) labeled PS liposome PS (F) and (R) labeled PS liposome PS (R) showed a rhodamine peak due to resonance energy transfer higher than that of PC (F) and PC (R) liposomes. The fusion of PS liposomes is thus shown to occur much more easily than that of PC liposomes. PS liposomes fused with PC liposomes to form liposomes with higher. PS content. Further study was made on the fusion of GRCM with PS liposomes to achieve a greater degree of fusion than of GRCM with PC liposomes.

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The direct liquefaction of oleaginous fungal cell mass, Mortierella ramanniana var. angulispora, IFO 8187, was carried out in an autoclave at 250 and 300°C, with and without a catalyst (Na₂CO₃). Reactions at 250°C without the catalyst appeared to occur preferable in consideration of the similar liquefied oil yields and easier product separation without foaming. Viscosity (100 mPa·s) and gross calorific values (36 kJ/g) of the liquefied oil were similar to those for heavy oil. In spite of the lower quality of liquefied oil than extracted oil from the fungal cell mass, the present liquefaction procedure appears favorable from the standpoint of energy recovery.

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The evaporation of a solvent from a surfactant solution was investigated.
Controlled solvent evaporation exerted two different effects based on affinity of the solvent for water.
The evaporation of ethylen glycol monoethyl ether could be very well controlled by a liquid crystal surface film formed by absorption of water in the solution or in atmosphere. The evaporation of benzene and carbon tetrachloride with lower affinity to water could be controlled only by the absorbed surface film of the surfactant from the solution.

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