Otsuma Women's University

About: Otsuma Women's University is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Differential scanning calorimetry & Population. The organization has 422 authors who have published 913 publications receiving 12796 citations. The organization is also known as: Otsuma-Joshi-Daigaku.

Effects of Konjac Mannan Addition on the Properties of Pound Cakes

Abstract: Konjac mannan absorbs large amounts of water and forms gels that can be used in various processed foods. Moreover, it is a very interesting saccharide in that it is not decomposed by enzymes in the human body. However, few foods contain Konjac mannan. In this study, compared with control pound cakes, which contain soft wheat flour, egg, butter and sugar in a ratio of 1:1:0.75:0.75, the use of Konjac mannan gel in place of butter was examined. With 50% Konjac mannan substituted for butter (batter A), adequate physical properties and taste were obtained by increasing the amount of B.P. added to 3-4% of the weight of the wheat flour. Compared with the 28.9% water content of the control batter, the water content of batter A was 39.0%. Therefore every batter in this study was controlled to have a water content of 39.0%. Batter B consisted of 25% Konjac mannan and water, batter C contained equal amounts of Konjac mannan and egg white, and batter D only contained egg white; all yielded preferable pound cakes by increasing the amount of B.P. added to 3-4% of the weight of the wheat flour. The degrees of caloric intake suppression were about 21, 17, 14 and 14% for A, B, C and D, respectively.

Effect of Genistein Administered through the Mother on the Osteogenesis of Infant Rats

Abstract: The effects of the soy-isoflavone, genistein, on the osteogenesis of rat dams and their offspring were evaluated. Maternal rats were fed on a diet containing purified genistein at the level of 0.5g/kg of diet or on a control diet without genistein from various stages during pregnancy to postnatal day 12. The dry weight, length, ash weight, mineral content, calcium content, and bone mineral density of the femurs from the dams and infants were measured. Genistein slightly affected the bone of infants immediately after the birth, but the effect was temporary on infant osteogenesis.There was no consistent effect on the infants after successive genistein exposure through their mothers during the fetal and suckling stages, and there was no difference in effect according to the period of exposure during pregnancy and lactation. The femurs of the dams ingesting genistein during the pregnancy period showed a significantly higher calcium content, but there was no significant effect on the dry weight, ash weight, mineral content or bone mineral density.The results of this study suggest that maternal feeding of genistein had no marked effect on osteogenesis in the dams, suckling pups and offspring during growth.

Introducing Gamification to Cleaning and Housekeeping Work

Abstract: Gamification is the concept that utilizing elements and ideas of video games in non-gaming fields. It aims at improving user experience, user engagement and users’ motivation by utilizing elements and mechanisms by which video games entertain many people. In the paper, we explain some basic ideas to let people enjoy housekeeping work, and propose a vacuum cleaner with gamification elements as an example of the ideas. As a result of the experiments, it turned out that our vacuum cleaner with game elements could provide more enjoyable experience to users than usual.

Estimating equations of autonomic balance using factor analysis.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to propose a new metrical method using the factor analysis in quantifying the autonomic balance. In this model the sympathetic and parasympathetic functions are independent of each other and these two functions constitute the two-dimensional coordinate space. The model, which is constituted by two estimating equations of autonom ic balance extracting the ECG information, is able to express all types of its responses. The equations were derived from factor analysis on the ECG information of 625 healthy children from 6 to 15 years of age. According to the factor analysis, the first factor was obviously interpreted as the parasympathetic factor and the second factor was done as the sympathetic factor. These factors and equations were extracted as follows: 1. The ECG of 625 healthy children were taken under five different conditions (1) in a resting supine (2) while deep breathing (3) while breath holding (4) standing position maintained for 10 min (5) in circum stances of sinus arrhythmia. 2. The factor analysis treated the ECG data by all types of experimental conditions and confirmed a factorial validity through the several factor solutions. 3. Finally two estimating equations for autonomic balance were

Top-on-top mechanism and the electromagnetic transitions for the triaxial strongly deformed bands in odd mass nuclei

Abstract: We found a set of quantum numbers for the particle-rotor model with one nucleon coupled to a triaxially deformed core. These quantum numbers classify the rotational bands, and lead the selection rules for the electromagnetic intraband and interband transitions.