Alternative-ingredient Recommendation Based on Co-occurrence Relation on Recipe Database

AbstractThis paper proposes a recommendation method of alternative-ingredients based on co-occurrence relation on recipe database. Currently, dishes are often cooked with reference to recipes on Website. Convenience to access so many and varied recipes encourages beginners to cook. Recipe on Website list ingredients used for a dish. However, for some reason, some of the listed ingredients cannot be used for the cooking; this paper defines such ingredient as “exchange-ingredient.” To cook a dish, it should alternate exchange-ingredient and another one (i.e., alternative-ingredient). This paper proposes two algorithms to recommend alternative-ingredient. Through the cooking and tasting experiments, it was confirmed that the each of the proposed methods were effective for each intended purpose

A Study on High School and Undergraduate Students’ Learning Motivation : A Case of Joint Management of the Educational Relationship between K Agricultural High School and A University for the “K Agricultural High School & A University Program"

This paper introduces the joint management of an educational relationship between K Agricultural High School and A University, and reports the program's effects to increase students' motivation for learning at both schools. In the program, first, the high school students presented the results of their project based learning, and the university students and university instructor gave comments. Next, the high school students received a lecture from the university instructor and a research report from the university student. Finally, the high school students, university students, and instructors attended a social gathering. An analysis of responses to the study questionnaire suggests that students’ motivation for learning increased at both schools, except the university students who have high motivation originally

在宅高齢者の口腔機能評価と口腔体操プログラムの 効果について

　本研究は、健康な在宅高齢者を対象に、嚥下に関わる口腔機能を評価し、口腔体操プログラム（Ｐ）を実施することによる口腔機能の変化や、健康関連QOL（Quality of Life）との関連について調べた。近畿地区の在宅高齢者41人を対象として、口腔体操Ｐを実施する訓練（Ｔ）群と実施しない対照（NT）群に分けて，３か月の訓練による口腔機能評価と健康関連QOL の変化について検討した。その結果，口腔体操Ｐにより、音節交互反復運動（Oral Diadochokinesis: OD）では「パ」「タ」「カ」の発声回数が増加し、特に「タ」と「カ」で有意な増加が認められた。また、OD のpre の初期値と変化量との間に有意な負の相関関係が認められ、初期値の回数が少ないほど、発声回数が増加し口腔体操Ｐの効果が顕著であった。唾液嚥下時間および唾液分泌量について有意ではなかったが、改善する傾向はあった。一方、NT 群では口腔機能評価には変化がなかった。健康関連QOL では、SF-8TM のPCS（身体的健康感サマリースコア）が口腔体操Ｐにより向上する傾向があった

Importance of “meal first” strategy and effective situations of supplement use in elite athletes: Japan high performance sport center position stand

The “meal first” strategy is traditionally recommended for athletes' conditioning. However, the importance of the “meal first” principle has not been detailly well documented in athletes' lives. Supplement use has recently become a common part of athletes' diets, but unmonitored supplement use can cause negative consequences, such as anti-doping violations and health issues. Therefore, this review summarizes how the “meal first” strategy and planned supplement use are important for enhancing athletes’ health and performance. We believe that the “meal first” strategy is beneficial in terms of the following aspects: (1) consumption of multi-nutrients and other functional components simultaneously; (2) positive effects on psychological well-being; (3) contribution to athletes' health by way of mastication; and (4) less risk for anti-doping violations. Before supplement use, we recommend that athletes first verify their basic factors (e.g., diet, training, and sleep), given that the benefits of supplements are examined and demonstrated with the control of those factors. Otherwise, athletes cannot obtain maximal benefits from the supplements. In contrast, there are situations in which supplements in athletes' lives can be advantageous, such as (1) nutrient deficiency due to ongoing dietary characteristics; (2) interruption of meals due to disease; (3) inaccessibility of quality food during athletic travel; (4) difficulty preparing food due to societal restrictions associated with disasters or infection outbreaks; (5) having a meal before, during, or after exercise is difficult; and (6) achieving targeted intake of performance-enhancing ingredients is not practical. In summary, we emphasize that the “meal first” strategy is recommended for athletes' conditioning, but there are several contexts when supplement use can be more useful in athletes' lives

Comparison of Site-Specific Bone Mineral Densities between Endurance Runners and Sprinters in Adolescent Women

We aimed to compare site-specific bone mineral densities (BMDs) between adolescent endurance runners and sprinters and examine the relationship of fat-free mass (FFM) and nutrient intake on BMD. In this cross-sectional study, 37 adolescent female endurance runners and sprinters (16.1 ± 0.8 years) were recruited. BMD and FFM were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Nutrient intake and menstrual state were evaluated by questionnaires. After adjusting for covariates, spine and total bone less head (TBLH) BMDs were significantly higher in sprinters than endurance runners (TBLH, 1.02 ± 0.05 vs. 0.98 ± 0.06 g/cm2; spine, 0.99 ± 0.06 vs. 0.94 ± 0.06 g/cm2; p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between groups in other sites. The rate of menstrual abnormality was higher in endurance runners compared with sprinters (56.3% vs. 23.8%; p < 0.05). FFM was a significant covariate for BMD on all sites except the spine (p < 0.05). Dietary intake of vitamin D was identified as a significant covariate only for pelvic BMD (p < 0.05). The BMDs of different sites among endurance runners and sprinters were strongly related to FFM. However, the association of FFM with spine BMD cannot be explained by FFM alone. Other factors, including nutrition and/or mechanical loading, may affect the spine BMD

The Effects of Utilizing Cartilage Conduction Hearing Aids among Patients with Conductive Hearing Loss

The cartilage-conduction hearing aid (CC-HA) is a new hearing device that is suitable for use in patients with conductive hearing loss. It has been 5 years since the introduction of the CC-HA. Although the number of users has increased, the CC-HA is not yet widely known. This study examines the effects of CC-HA on patients with conductive hearing loss and investigates factors that affect the willingness to use the device by comparing purchasers and non-purchasers of CC-HA in patients with unilateral conductive hearing loss. Eight patients had bilateral conductive hearing loss, and 35 had unilateral conductive hearing loss. Each patient underwent sound field tests and speech audiometry, and the effects of the CC-HA were compared with those of conventional bone conduction hearing aids (BC-HA). In patients with bilateral conductive hearing loss, the CC-HA was non-inferior to BC-HA. The CC-HA improved the hearing thresholds and speech recognition in patients with unilateral conductive hearing loss. Moreover, in patients with unilateral conductive hearing loss, experiencing the effect of wearing the CC-HA under conditions such as putting noise in the better ear could affect patients’ willingness to use the CC-HA