Factors affecting the digestibility of raw and gelatinized potato starches.

The enzymatic digestibilities of raw and gelatinized starches in various potato starches, as well as sweet potato, cassava, and yam starches, were estimated, along with other starch properties, such as the phosphorus content, median granule size, and rapid visco analyzer (RVA) pasting properties. Furthermore, correlation coefficients were calculated between the hydrolysis rates (HR) by amylase and other starch quality parameters. A larger granule size was closely associated with a lower HR in raw starch, while the HR in gelatinized starch did not correlate with the median granule size. An increase in phosphorus content resulted in a definitely lower HR in raw starch and tended to decrease the HR in gelatinized starch for the composite of potato and other starches. In contrast, no correlation coefficients of the phosphorus content with the HRs in raw and gelatinized starches were observed within potato starches. Starches with higher peak viscosity and breakdown showed a lower HR in raw starch, while few or no effects of these RVA parameters on the HR in gelatinized starch were observed for the composite of potato and other starches or among potato starches, respectively

Fragment distribution of thermal decomposition for PS and PET with QMD calculations by considering the excited and charged model molecules

金沢大学理工研究域物質化学系Simulations by a quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) (MD with MO) method were demonstrated on the thermal decomposition of PS and PET polymers using the model molecules at the ground state including excited and positive charged states. For the excited and positive charged model molecules, we adopted CH3CHC6H5CH3 and CH3OCOC6H4COOCH3 of PS and PET monomers, respectively at the singlet and triplet states in single excitation, and at (+2) positive charged state by semiempirical AM1 MO method. Geometry and energy optimized results of the excited and positive charged models by MO calculations were used as the initial MD step of QMD calculations. In the QMD calculations, we controlled the total energy of the system using Nosé-Hoover thermostats in the total energy range of 0.69-0.95 eV, and the sampling position data with a time step of 0.5 fs were carried out up to 5000 steps at 60 different initial conditions. The calculated neutral, positive and negative charged fragment distributions of PS and PET models with 0.82 eV energy control were obtained as (93.5, 2.3, and 4.3%), and (87.8, 5.3, and 6.9%) to the total fragments, respectively. The ratios seem to correspond well to the values observed experimentally in SIMS. Crown Copyright © 2008

Comparison of phenolic compositions between common and tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum) sprouts.

The phenolic compositions of non-germinated/germinated seeds and seed sprouts (at 6–10 day-old) of common (Fagopyrum esculentum Möench) and tartary (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) buckwheats were investigated. Phenolic compounds, including chlorogenic acid, four C-glycosylflavones (orientin, isoorientin vitexin, isovitexin), rutin and quercetin, were determined in the seed sprouts by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In the edible parts of common buckwheat sprouts, individual phenolics significantly increased during sprout growth from 6 to 10 days after sowing (DAS), whereas in tartary buckwheat sprouts they did not. While the sum contents of phenolic compounds in the edible part (mean 24.4 mg/g DW at 6–10 DAS) of tartary buckwheat sprouts were similar to those of common buckwheat sprouts, rutin contents in the non-germinated/germinated seeds (mean 14.7 mg/g DW) and edible parts (mean 21.8 mg/g DW) of tartary buckwheat were 49- and 5-fold, respectively, higher than those of common buckwheat. Extracts of the edible parts of both species showed very similar free radical-scavenging activities (mean 1.7 μmol trolox eq/g DW), suggesting that the overall antioxidative activity might be affected by the combination of identified phenolics and unidentified (minor) components. Therefore, buckwheat seed sprouts are recommended for their high antioxidative activity, as well as being an excellent dietary source of phenolic compounds, particularly tartary buckwheat sprouts, being rich in rutin

Yam contributes to improvement of glucose metabolism in rats.

To investigate whether yam improves glucose metabolism, yam-containing diets were given to Wistar rats. In a short-term experiment, fasted-rats were given 1.0 g of a control and 20% yam-containing diets. At 60 min after start of the feeding, glucose level in the yam diet group was lower or tended to be lower than that in the control diet. Insulin levels at 30 min and 60 min were significantly lower than those in the control group. In a long-term experiment, a normal diet (N) or 25% high fat diets with (Y) or without 15% yam powder (HF) were given to rats for 4 weeks. At 4 weeks, in an oral glucose tolerance test, the area under the curve (AUC) of plasma glucose level was higher in the HF group than that in the N group, whereas those in the Y groups did not differ from that in the N group. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels had similar tendency to the AUCs. Plasma leptin levels in the Y groups were significantly higher than that in the N group. In conclusion, yam may contribute to improvement of glucose metabolism. Additionally, we speculated that leptin level is possibly involved in the insulin-response to yam diets

Enzymatic hydrolysis of potato starches containing different amounts of phosphorus.

The rapid hydrolysis of potato starches differing in phosphorus content, as well as sweet potato, cassava and yam starches, was accomplished by treatment of gelatinised starches with bacterial liquefying α-amylase at 50 °C for 1 h, followed by Bacillus licheniformis α-amylase at 55 °C up to 24 h, and then by glucoamylase at 40 °C for a further 24 h. Among the potato starches, the high-phosphorus starches showed higher starch resistant capacity than the medium-phosphorus starches, as well as other tuber and root starches. The hydrolysis rate of tuber and root starches was not greatly influenced by their amylose content and median granule size. Only glucose was detected in the almost completely hydrolysed tuber and root starch samples, indicating that the concomitant enzymes treatment could hydrolyse both the α-1,4 and α-1,6 linkages of the starches examined

幼児の「表現する過程」を大切にした劇つくりの実際

In this paper, we examined the children’s growth, and the teacher’s supports through making up a dramatic play of 5 year-children in kindergarten. There, the teachers valued the process of forming children’s expression. The enhanced relationship between the teacher and the children, influenced on the variety of the children’s body expression, strengthened their fellowship, strengthened the brief that they made up the play by themselves, and it also changed the conscience of the teacher against the dramatic play festival. Through making up the dramatic play focusing on the process, not the result, it became clear that the children could enjoy the body expression in cooperation, between teacher, and also between friends

ふれあい遊びにおける双方向性 ―手をつなぐ行為に着目して―

本研究は誰もが広く親しめる遊びを通して，子どもの感性の育成を目指す着眼点を確認するために，ふれあいあそびによる双方向的展開について，手をつなぐ行為に着目して検討をおこなった。 その結果，提示者の遊びを基に個別的な遊びへの展開がみられること，また子ども同士の関わりで遊びが瞬時に変化していくこと，またそれを受けて，提示者が個別的な遊びを全体への遊びへと提案しているなど，子どもたちと提示者の関係において双方向的な遊びの進め方が見られた。手をつなぐ，つながれるという子どもの行為を観察することによって，手をつなぐという積極的な行為と子どもの身体表現の豊かさにも深まりとの関連が示された。 手をつないで動く遊びの意義については，①リズムや動きの共有が容易である ②交流が容易である ③手の動きが制限されるが身体の感覚が伝わりやすい ④表現する役割が明確になる ⑤動きを繰り返すことで一体感や高揚感を感じる ⑥安心感の受け渡しができるという6つの意義を見出した

子どもの劇つくりにおける保育者の援助

In this paper, we examined the way how one teacher (woman) supports the children’s dramatic play of 5-year children in kindergarten. We analyzed the teacher’s words, from a dramatic play activity for forty-five minutes, and eleven categories have been extracted. And that, made clear that the teacher changed her support according to each children’s reactions. We found that the teacher did not teach the expression of children directly, but tried to let them mature their body expressions spontaneously

運動会における身体表現遊びの実際

The research clarified the contents and the methods in educating preschoolers’ body expression, through analyzing the contents and the forms of the body expression activities from the programs at athletic meetings in preschools. The research showed the numbers of the programs for “body expression”, and for “rhythm and dance” , were almost equal. Therefore, the programs were classified into two patterns: “the body expression ”aimed for enjoying the process of making the stories and expressing them, and “the dancing ” aimed for enjoying the rhythm to music