The characteristics of new shoots oftea plants, the soil of tea fields and the amount of fertilizer supplied to them in 8 areas in Kanagawa Prefecture were investigated in tea season of first crop. The variety of these tea plants were all 'Yabukita', and the rate of banjhi shoots were between 40% and 60%.
1.The content of free amino acids in new shoots in Hadano city, Kiyokawa village and Yamakita town were high, so, their quality was seemed to be good. As its cause, it was thought that the ratio of sand or gravel of soil in tea fields in these areas was high. The amount of fertilizer supplied to the tea fields in Hadano city and Yamakita town was larger than other areas and this seems to improve the quality of new shoots there.
2. The content of free amino acids in Shiroyama town was low. As its cause, it was thought that the amount of fertilizer in Shiroyama town was smallest in 8 areas.

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Influences of the plucking position at the yield and the quality of tea was investigated in mechanically-plucked tea bush. The self-rail-tracking equipment had been applied to the skiffing and the plucking in every experiment. The plucking position was regulated at intervals of 4mm over the range 0mm to 20mm above the last skiffing surface. From four experiments including the first and the second crop season of two years, obvious influences of the plucking position follows ;
1. The higher position plucking induced the yield decrease.
2. The higher position plucking enhanced the quality of the crude tea.
3. The higher position plucking raised the trading price of crude tea on the tea market.
These results conclude this : A little difference of plucking position between 20mm width above the last skiffing surface caused large influences on the yield and quality of tea in mechanically-plucked tea bush.

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Influences of the autumn skiffing position on the first crop of the next year was investigat-ed in tea bushes where the third crop was not harvested. The self-rail-tracking equipment had been applied to the skiffing and the plucking in three experiments. The autumn skiffing height was regulated at intervals of 5 or 10mm over the skiffing height range from 25 to 80mm above the plucking height of the second crop. Influences of the skiffing position were analyzed for the earliness of the new shoot growth, the yield, the component of the yield and the tea quality in the first crop of the next year. Comparing these results with past three literature, obvious influences of the autumn skiffing position on the first crop follows ;
1. The influence on the earliness of the sprouting time was not obvious. However, it was shown that higher skiffing position induced the delay of the plucking time.
2. The lower skiffing position induced the decrease of the lateral bud number after the treatment, and it caused the decrease of the number and the increase of weight of 100 new shoots in the first crop.
3. The lower skiffing position, especially under 40mm above the plucking surface of the second crop, showed the extreme decrease of the yield in the first crop.
4. The middle height skiffing position, of which range between 40 to 60mm above the plucking surface of the second crop, showed the enhance of tea quality. However, the higher skiffing position, especially over 70mm above the plucking surface above the second crop, appeared to decline the shape or color of made tea, aroma, color of liquor and taste.
These results conclude this : the middle height skiffing, of which range are between 50 to 60mm above the plucking surface of the second crop, is appropriate in the total balance for the earliness of the new shoot growth, the yield and the tea quality in tea bushes where the third crop was not harvested.

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In medical treatments of cancer, it is important to inhibit cancer cell metastasis. In the process of cancer cell metastasis, interactions between metastatic cancer cells and vein endothelial cells, such as cancer cell adhesion and invasion to endothelial cells, are important. Recently, an in vitro assay system to screen the inhibitory factors on cancer metastasis has been developed using animal cultured cells. In the present study, we selected a human cancer cell line for in vitro invasion assay in the combined human cells culture system as follows : Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUV-EC-C) were cultured on a gelatin pre-coated insert membrane with 8μm pores. Five fluorescence labeled human cancer cell lines (MKN-45(gastric cancer), MCF-7(breast cancer), A549(lung cancer), T-24(bladder cancer) and HT-1080(fibrosarcoma)) were added to HUV-EC-C monolayers. After incubation for 5 hours invasive cancer cells on each lower surface of insert membranes were collected and the cell number was determined by measurement of fluorescent intensity. Among five human cancer cell lines, only human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 showed invasiveness as well as adherence to HUV-EC-C/basement membrane. The application of this in vitro assay system to srceening for cancer invasion inhibitory factors showed that tea ester-type catechins with gallate-group had an invasion inhibitory activity in in vivo assay as reported previously. Especially, (-)-epicatechin gallate showed an strong invasion inhibitory activity under the concentration showed cell toxicity.

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