Ordered mesoporous inorganic materials such as FSM-16 and MCM-41 are of particular interest owing to the potential application as molecular-sieves, adsorbents, chromatographic materials, catalytic supports, and catalysts. Such porous materials were prepared by the calcination of inorganic ion/surfactant hybrid mesophases (ISH), which from multicomponent systems would have very variant structures, depending on the particular conditions for synthesis. First preparation methods for MCM-41 and FSM-16 and then general methods for producing ISH which may lead to mesoporous materials, along with a formation mechanism for ISH, are discussed. Finally, many different ISH prepared solar are summarized in regard to the view point of kind of inorganic ions and polymorphs, morphology, crystallinity, and lattice constants of mesophases.

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LB technique is quite useful not only for preparing molecular organized materials but elucidating dynamic processes that occur at interfaces. This review presents recent topics on dynamic properties of monolayer and LB films consisting of photochromic materials. Two categories of topics, (i) photomechanical responses in monolayers observed by Brewster angle microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and (ii) photocontrols of molecular assemblies such as liquid crystals and functional LB films mediated by a surface photochromic layer, are surveyed. As mentioned here, LB technique is found quite useful for preparing high performance photoresponsive material.

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Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), are of particular interest for the potential applications to functional diets and medication, which would require a high degree of purity.
Considerable effort has been directed to the purification of PUFA. EPA has been fully purified on an industrial scale.
The purification of PUFA is difficult due to the numerous complex processes required. A large scale purification still remains to be fully realized.
Esterified single cell oil containing high DHA and DPA content was purified in the present study by an industrial scale high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) plant using ODS columns. Highly purified DHA-E and DPA-E were obtained in a one-step process.

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Changes in physical function due to different triacylglycerol structures have been studied but their effects on a living body are little understood. The digestion, absorption and nutritional functions of structured lipids were examined in this study and the effects of triacylglycerol structure on physiological functions are discussed. The absorption of fatty acids at the 2 position of glycerol is considered greater than at 1 or 3, but this would depend on fatty acid type and combination. Differences in triacylglycerol structures also affect plasma cholesterol and accordingly should thus also influence lipid metabolism. A structured lipid with stearic and hexanoic acids was found to suppress food intake, suggesting its involvement not only in lipid absorption and metabolism but physiological functions as well.

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The development of a method to mask bitter taste has been actively sought after in pharmaceutical and food science. A lipoprotein (PA-LG) was found in the present study to be composed of phosphatidic acid (PA) and β-lactoglobulin (LG) was noted to selectively and reversibly suppress frog taste nerve response and human taste sensation to various bitter substances without affecting sweetness, saltiness and sourness. PA would thus appear importantly involved in inhibiting bitterness since PA-containing lipoproteins showed inhibitory action irrespective of protein species. As for the mechanism of bitter suppression, PA-LG would appear to mask the receptor site for bitterness on taste receptor membrane. Inhibitory action forward bitterness by PA itself without protein or other phospholipids in humans was examined. PA and phosphatidylinositol (PI) inhibited the bitterness of various bitter substances without affecting the taste sensation of other taste stimuli, although inhibitory activity was less than that of PA-LG. A lecithin fraction containing high content PA and PI was thus prepared from soybean lecithin on an industrial scale. The lecithin fraction showed inhibitory activity forward bitterness. This fraction and PA were thus concluded effective means for masking the bitter taste of drugs and food.

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The effects of nigella (Nigella sative L.) seeds and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extracts on autoxidation of corn oil were investigated. Both water and ethanolic extracts of the two plants displayed an antioxidant activity (AA) when β-carotene emulsion was used as substrate. Also, they retarded the oxidative deterioration of triglycerides in corn oil at accelerated temperature (100°C), The AA of ethanolic extracts exceeded those of water. Among the four extracts, ethanolic nigella seeds extract was superior to others in preventing the oil oxidation and the AA was essentially the same as that of t-butylhydroquinone (2-t-butylbenzene-1, 4-diol).

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A biomembrane mainly consists of proteins (enzymes) and phospholipid bilayer. The ratio of both components, and the composition and kind of phospholipids are diverse, though they are almost constant, depending on the kind and site of tissues and the kind of living things. Such relationship of an enzyme with phospholipids is thought important for the action of enzyme. However, the relationship has been little investigated in detail. In this paper, six kinds of phospholipids were synthesized and used as reaction fields for hydrolyses of amino acid esters with a glycolipid as hydrolase model. Phospholipids were found to be classified into three groups : (1) a lipid deactivating the glycolipid by strong hydrogen bond (phosphatidic acid analog), (2) a lipid likely to distribute the glycolipid rather homogeneously by weak hydrogen bond (phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol analogs), and (3) a lipid enhancing the activity of a glycolipid by electrostatic effect (phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine analogs). In addition, especially, phosphatidylserine analog seemed to contribute to the activation of a membrane, resulting in the enhancement of the catalytic activity of glycolipid, even in the presence of phosphatidic acid analog.

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Commercially available meats (cattle, mutton, deer, pork, horse, rabbit, chicken, duck, quail and pigeon), edible viscera (tongue, stomach, intestines, liver, heart and kindney) and meat products (from beef, mutton and pork) were examined for trans fatty acid content.
1) Total trans fatty acid content ranged from 1.9% to 6.8% total fatty acids in Japanese cattle beef. Trans fatty acids of flank (4.9%), sirloin (4.2%) and chuk (4.1%) were present in greater amounts compared to fillet (2.7%), inside round (3.1%) and rump (3.4%).
2) Total trans fatty acids of beef edible viscera varied from 2.7% to 9.5% total fatty acids. Total trans fatty acids of rumen (6.7%), kindney (5.5%) and tongue (5.6%) contained more than other edible viscera (2.7-4.9%).
3) Total trans fatty acid content of mutton and deer meat was 10.2% and 5.3%, respectively, total fatty acids. Small amounts of trans fatty acids found in other animal meats. In most non-ruminant tissue, the source of trans fatty acid had been the feed. Total trans fatty acid content of beef and mutton meat products was 4.4% and 9.0%, respectively.
4) The intake of total trans fatty acids from milk fat and beef meat was determind based on the present data as 0.23g, 0.13g and total 0.36g/person/day, respectively.

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The effects of lessening amount of liquor in home laundry on soil redeposition of new synthetic polyester fibers were examined during the cleaning artificially soiled cloth specimens (JIS C 9606, WFK type 10D) using a Terg-O-Tometer. The effects of fabric substrate structure on the soil redeposition in polyester fabrics with different deniers were also studied. Sodium alumino silicate (zeolite) performance as a detergent builder for phosphate-free synthetic detergents was evaluated through a washing test and the results were compared with those for sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP). The detergency decreased with reduction in the liquor ratio, as has also been noted for home washing machines. The degree of soil redeposition of polyester fabrics varied according to the soil components in a washing solution. When JIS C 9606 soiled test fabric was used, the soil redeposition of Shingosen was inversely related to the liquor ratio, and fine single polyester fabric fibers in the range of 0.20.4 deniers were influenced by the change of liquor ratio compared to conventional single fibers. The soil deposition of Shingosens was determined by the surfactant concentration in a washing solution, not soil components in a washing solution. On the other hand, when WFK soiled test fabric was used, a conventional polyester fabric showed higher soil redeposition than Shingosen. It was found that the soil redeposition of conventional polyester fabrics was determined by the soil components in a washing solution, not by the surfactant concentration, based on the fact that soil redeposition decreased with lessening the liquor ratio. The detergency of a zeolite for the detergent builder decreased with reduction in liquor ratio more rapidly than that of a STPP. The effects of the two detergent builders on the soil redeposition with decrease in liquor ratio were noted to be essentially the same.

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To elucidate antioxidant mechanism of natural antioxidants, (+) -catechin was reacted with 2, 2'-azobis [2-methylpropanenitrile] under photoirradiation in a mixture of EtOAc/MeOH (99 : 1, vol/vol). The structure of one major reaction product isolated by chromatography was determined based on the UV, IR, MS and NMR spectrum. This product was idetified as the methyl ester derivative of the acrylic acid, produced from (+) -catechin during the lipid peroxidation. The B ring of (+) -catechin was shown to contribute to antioxidative activity and (+) -catechin was noted to trap the methoxide radical generated from methanol.

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Examination was made of the selectivity of 2-ethylation in the reaction of acetoacetate with ethyl iodide using the nonaqueous phase transfer reaction. Selectivity was high in the reaction using triethylbenzylammonium chloride as the phase transfer catalyst at room temperature. A suitable solvent was shown to be benzene.

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