This study on housewives not employed full time reports on a field investigation about their consciousness of demands for services as well as participation in actions and management of network. We examined functions of network and its effects in order to form their independence and cooperation, or reform living environment for their self-contentment and dignity of life. It appears that there is less possibility for activation of their actions in welfare services through the network such as “consultations and/or supports”, when compared to the actions related by demands for their self-contentment such as “finding friends” or “searching dignity of life”. Their regional-social consciousness and/or subjective factors for cooperation basically control their participation in actions and management of network. These findings indicate the importance of finding a way to improve their consciousness and actions aiming at common interests and to develop some subjective factors for cooperation in order to form their effective network in living area.

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Three samples of chicken breast meat were prepared : 1) raw chicken breast meat which the skin intact (untreated meat), 2) meat which had been vacuum packed after the skin had been removed under aseptic conditions (treated meat), and 3) meat which had been vacuum packed with the skin intact (vacuum packed meat). After 7 days of storage at 4°C, the inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) content in the treated meat was higher than that in the untreated meat and vacuum packed meat samples. The three samples differed in microflora, that in the treated meat being mainly composed of Lactobacilli. Meat skinned and inoculated with 7 bacterial strains, which had been isolated from the stored meat, was incubated at 4°C for 4 days. The IMP content of this inoculated meat was the same as that of the control meat. The sterilized meat inoculated with Lactobacillus sp. and incubated at 35°C for 48 h had a slightly lower level of IMP.

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Changes in the radical-scavenging activity and amount of active components (ascorbic acid and polyphenols) in astringent persimmon (shibugaki) during dry-ripening were investigated. The activity and active compounds in home-made wet-ripened (jukushi), commercial dry-ripened (hoshigaki), and commercial alcohol-treated (sawashigaki) persimmon samples were also examined. The activity of astringent persimmon during dry-ripening decreased with a reduction in the astringent taste, resulting in that the activity after 5 weeks of dry-ripening being about 1% of that of the original persimmon. The amounts of ascorbic acid and polyphenols after 5 weeks of dry-ripening respectively decreased to 0 and 5% of those in the original persimmon. The activity of the commercial dry-ripened and alcohol-treated persimmon was similar to that of the home-made dry-ripened persimmon prepared in this study. However, the activity of wet-ripened persimmon having no astringent taste was comparable to that of fresh astringent persimmon.

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Blanc-mange was prepared from starch (sago, corn, or potato) with added soybean protein isolate (SPI) or soymilk powder (SMP). SPI or SMP was added to the starch as a powder (the powder method) or as a suspension prepared by boiling for 5 min and then cooling (the suspension method). The effects on the viscosity of the dispersion during heating, gel texture, mold-shape retention, and color tone were investigated. The effects of the additive concentration of SPI or SMP and the addition method were also examined by a sensory evaluation. Increasing the additive concentration of SPI to any starch suspension decreased the pasting temperature, and promoted swelling and gelatinization. In regard to the mold-shape retention of the starch gel with added SPI or SMP, the corn starch gel was inferior to the control gel, and the potato starch gel was superior to the control gel. When SPI or SMP was added to sago starch, the gel had low adhensive characteristics. The sago and corn starch gels with SPI added by the suspension method had decreased springiness, cohesiveness, and adhesiveness. A concentration of 5% for both SPI and SMP was preferred by the sensory evaluation. Blanc-mange with added SPI was preferred for its appearance, firmness and springiness, and the gel with added SMP was evaluated well for its smoothness and good taste. The suspension method was evaluated as being better than the powder method for the resulting flavor and smooth texture.

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Blanc-mange type of starch gels were prepared from sago, corn and potato with added soybean protein isolate (SPI) or soymilk powder (SMP) to a 5 w/w% concentration by the suspension method, cocoa or powdered green tea then being added to these gels. The effect of the concentration of the cocoa or powdered green tea on the physical properties and sensory evaluation were investigated. The concentrations of the cocoa and powdered green tea were 10, 15, and 20 w/w%, and 3, 5, and 7 w/w% of starch, respectively. Each gel was stored at 5t for 24 h. The firmness, cohesiveness and mold-shape retention of the starch gel with added SPI or SMP were increased by the cocoa and powdered green tea, and added SPI gave a superior gel to that with added SMP. The optimum concentrations of cocoa and powdered green tea were 15 and 5 w/w% of starch, respectively, by the sensory evaluation. When either cocoa or powdered green tea was added to the gel with SPI or SMP, the taste, smoothness, and overall evaluation were rated most highly by the sensory evaluation. Of the starch gels with added soybean protein, and cocoa or powdered green tea, the sago starch gel had the lowest compressed dehydration ratio. SMP added to any starch gel with cocoa resulted in a lower compressed dehydration ratio than that without the additive.

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A convenient method for testing the mechanical action in machine washing developed by the Danish Technological Institute (D.T.I.) is now widely accepted to evaluate the mechanical action in household and commercial launderings. This method uses a plain weave cotton cloth having five holes 35 mm in diameter and determines the mechanical action as the total number of threads loosened and bridging at the hole edges. However, this D.T.I. method tends to underestimate when the mechanical action exceeds a certain limit, especially in heavy washing, since the method does not take into account the considerable number of broken and released threads at the hole edges, and the size of the test pieceused, which is always 40 cm × 40 cm, for household washing machines. In this paper, we proposed amodified method of improving the above testing procedure. In this method, we accounted for the total number of released and deformed threads in addition to the loosened threads. Using a small-sized MA test pieces having one circular hole 35 mm in diameter and fixed on a specified position on test cloths and washed in a standard Japanese washing machine. It became clear that the larger the model cloths, the larger the MA values. By fixing the small-sized MA test pieces with artificially soiled test cloths adjacently on the test cloths, the relationship between detergency and mechanical action was evaluated simultaneously.

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In order to examine the decolorization of dyeing effluent by enzyme, aqueous solutions of ten commercial anthraquinone dyes (C. I. Acid Blue 45, C. I. Acid Blue 25, C. I. Acid Blue 40, C. I. Acid Blue 41, C. I. Reactive Blue 19, C. I. Acid Green 27, C. I. Acid Green 25, C. I. Acid Blue 80, C. I. Reactive Blue 4, C. I. Reactive Blue 2) were treated with bilirubin oxidase (BO). Efficient decolorization of all ten dyes was confirmed by measuring the visible and UV absorption spectra of the dye solution to which the enzyme was added. An aqueous solution of purified C.I. Acid Blue 40, to which the enzyme was added, was shaken at 37°C. Aliquots of the solution after the specified time were analyzed by HPLC after removing the enzyme. The chromatograms showed that the decomposition of dye (C.I. Acid Blue 40) started immediately after the addition of the enzyme. A peak around a retention time of 5.2 min, which can be related to the decomposition intermediate, increased gradually after the addition of the enzyme and was reached after about 3 h. That peak was nearly maintained even after 24 h, although it gradually decreased. The absorption spectrum of the product at that peak was determined by a photodiode array analysis.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify and examine how the needs of the elderly, especially those related to their life style and relationship with the neighbors, differ by the stage of their age. We categorized the elderly into five segments, each differing in age by approximately five years. Stage 1 include those of 60 to 64 years of age, Stage 2 65 to 69, Stage 3 70 to 74, Stage 4 75 to 79, and Stage 5 over 80. The results are as follows : 1) On the basis of their awareness regarding their life and relationship with neighbors, the elderly may be categorized into three groups : Stages 1 & 2, Stage 3 and Stages 4 & 5. 2) There are two types of relationship with the neighbors. One is “relation established through various activities” and the other is “relation naturally resulted.” Both can finally develop into the relation of natural support. For those of Stages 4 and 5, who show less tendency for social activities, sustaining opportunities to establish “naturally occurring relations” is rather important. Thus, Stage 3 may be considered as a turning point. It may be concluded that there is a necessity to create a social system in which the elderly of Stage 3 may be spontaneously guided to keep contact as well as mix with the local community.

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Two different sets of questionnaires were distributed to students in order to elicit their evaluation of the subjects related to home economics course for training care workers. The first set asked about the usefulness of the subjects related to home economics. The second focused on students' evaluations of the subject called “an introduction to home economics.” There were 113 respondents to the first set of questionnaire and 177 respondents to the second set. Regarding the evaluation of “an introduction to home economics, ” it was found that students did not consider the content of the subject to be useful. In particular, a considerable number of students answered that the units called “home management” and “dwelling life” were impractical. With respect to the unit called “food life, ” a significant number of students reported that it is difficult to apply the content to real life. Careful selection of subjects and materials as well as improvement of teaching methods is deemed especially essential for the subjects related to home economics. The results of the researches by two sets of questionnaires clearly suggest that the relationship of theory and practice under actual personal care situation should be clearly shown with detailed investigations of teaching materials.

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