Spinach was evaluated for the bioavailability of important dietary components. The contents of the analyzed substances in spinach were, for minerals (mg/100 g : Mg, 76; Ca, 67; Fe, 2.0; Zn, 0.9), oxalic acid (mg/100 g : total oxalic acid, 843; water-soluble oxalic acid, 459; water-insoluble oxalic acid, 384) and dietary fiber (mg/100 g : NDF, 748; ADF, 636; cellulose, 533; hemicellulose, 112; pectin, 307). The highest elution ratios of the minerals, oxalic acid and pectin in the several fractions during pectin extraction were 74% of magnesium, 39% of iron and 71% of oxalic acid in the aqueous fraction, 39% of zinc in the sodium hexametaphosphate fraction, and 67% of calcium and 75% of pectin in the HCl fraction. It is suggested that the greater part of calcium in spinach did not exist as Ca-oxalate. When the magnesium and/or calcium solution and the oxalic acid solution were mixed, the ratios of insoluble magnesium and calcium were about 20% and about 80% at the physiological pH level, respectively. The binding capacity to oxalic acid increased in accordance with rising pH value, the binding capacity for calcium being 3 to 5 times higher than that for magnesium. When both magnesium and calcium were present in the same solution, the binding capacity for magnesium and calcium to oxalic acid decreased by from 4 to 14% and from 1 to 7%, respectively. When spinach was boiled in 10 volumes of distilled and deionized water or in a 1% NaCl solution for 3 min, the elution ratio of the minerals from spinach was 77% of magnesium, 4.5% of calcium, 40% of iron and 41% of zinc with distilled and deionized water. Although there was no difference in the elution ratio of calcium, iron and zinc between water and the 1% salt solution, the elution ratio of magnesium decreased by about 10% with the 1% NaCl solution. When spinach was boiled in 5 or 10 volumes of distilled and deionized water for 1, 2, 3 or 4 min, the elution ratio of magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc and oxalic acid from spinach was from 40 to 84%, from 2 to 3%, from 26 to 51%, from 23 to 49% and from 40 to 82%, respectively.

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An investigation was made for clarifying the qualitative characteristics and the usage for actual cooking of the commercial gelatins by comparing with the alkaline processed gelatin extracted in the low temperature (60°C) as the control. The results can be summarized as follows.
The qualities of gelatin can not be judged from the appearance of xerogel, but by the transparency and color of sol. The commercial gelatins have been classified into the alkaline processed gelatin and the acid processed gelatin, and the production of alkaline processed gelatin was larger than the acid ones. On swelling gelatins it is desirable to add more than twice weight of water as much as gelatin and to keep more than 15 min. Even if the indications say that the gelatin is able to dissolve in hot or tepid water, it is advisable to swell with water as the normal gelatin. In the case of the commercial gelatin sol containing sugar, the temperature range between the starting point of increasing the viscosity and the gelation point was wide. This was due to the wide distribution of the molecular weight. In the case of alkaline processed gelatin, the higher molecular weight gelatin had the higher rupture stress. However the molecular weight of acid processed gelatin was much lower than alkaline processed one even though having the same rupture stress. The results for the measured rupture characteristics were confirmed by the sensory test.

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For the rice-cooked with several linds of ingredients, the Na absorption and the texture were studied in relation with the combination of ingredients. Based on their results, an appropriate seasoning method for several combinations of ingredients was investigated and the following results were obtained.
1) The Na absorption into rice was higher when cooked with salt and soy sauce than only with soy sauce.
2) When rice was cooked with various combinations of ingredients, there were differences in the rate of the Na absorption into rice, corresponding to the chracteristics in the salt absorption of each ingredient.
3) When rice was cooked according to a seasoning conditions determined on a basis of the salt taste of rice, the ingredients became much salty and the cooked rice, thus had a tendency to be too salty as a whole.
4) In a cooked rice which showed a good evaluation for its saltiness, the salt concentration was about 0.65% both for the rice and the ingredients.
5) The Na absorption rate in the cooked rice was increased by dipping raw materials into a seasoning solution including soy sauce for 2 h or by the combined use of soy sauce and salt. In addition, when the ingredients previously dipped in soy sauce were used, the increases in their salt concentrations were noted.
6) When the rice was seasoned with a combination of soy sauce and salt or dipped for a longer time, the breaking energy of the cooked rice was comparatively small.

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The front and back surfaces of torsos of 21 young Japanese women were measured three dimensionally using GRASP (Grating Projection System for Profiling). Measuring were repeated three times for each surface on which five measuring points were marked. The gaps of 3-D coordinate values of measuring points among the three time trials were quantified as translation, rotation needed for adjusting the coordinates of the three time trials and residuals after adjusting. Translations averaged 17 mm for Z-axis (front-back), 8 mm for X-axis (right-left) and 2 mm for Y-axis (up-down) of 3-D coordinates at back neck point. A large part of the gaps among the trials could be compensated by translation and rotation. The relatively larger differences among the trials seen for inter-points distance were 4 mm in the body part of waist to armscye. These quantified residuals and differences among trials are supposed to be physiological error and the tolerance of common somatometry. The results of this study suggested a possibility of measuring human torso in parts and putting together into the total for the purpose of making dress dummies for apparel manufacturing use.

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A set of 14 body dimensions and 9 their indexes were obtained and compared between the groups of Thai 80 males and 115 females (aged 16 to 18 years), and Japanese 50 males and 55 females (aged 15 to 18 years). The body weight, height, acromial breadth, chest girth, arm girth, thigh girth and calf girth for Thai males or females are significantly smaller than those of Japanese males or females respectively. The body indexes such as (upper limb length) / (height), (trochanteric height) / (height) and (forearm girth) / (arm girth) for the Thai males or famales are significantly larger than those of Japanese males or females. The principal component analysis revealed that the total body size (the first principal component) was the largest for Japanese males and decreased in the following order of Japanese females, Thai males and Thai females. These physical differences indicate that a careful application of the sizing systems for clothes in Japanese Industrial Standard or International Standard Organization to young males and females in Thailand are needed.

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The purpose of the present research is to analyze the visual properties of female college students' self images of body shape quantitatively with the use of line-drawing task and conduct a preliminary examination as to what psychological factor makes a difference between the self image of body shape and real one. In Study 1, 201 subjects' drawings of self body shape were measured in terms of 18 items and analyzed by multi-variate statistics. Eight clusters of the drawings from cluster analyses were well explained by 3 structural variables obtained by a canonical discriminant analysis. In Study 2, 38 subjects' silhouetter photographs were measured, as same as their drawings in Study 1. Then the differences in the structural variable scores between their real body shapes and their self images' were analyzed in a way of taking correlation with their factor scores on the self-esteem inventory in our previous study, indicating a little tendency that those who have a discrepant image of their body thickness from the real were more likely to feel stronger social anxiety.

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The purpose of this report are to describe the residential life and to clarify the housing needs of one-person households. The results are as follows :
1) The older age group of one-person households tend to live in the better class houses. But some of them, especially the old aged female have to live in the low class houses. The housing conditon of female is better than that of male.
2) The degree of dissatisfaction with the housing condition is generally high, but that of the living environment is low. The degree of dissatisfaction with the convenience of location and the good image of area are low, but those of the safety and the amenities of residential area are high.
3) The main criteria for choosing the houses of one-person households in future are firstly the reasonable price and rent, secondary the locational convenience. The trend towards stable settlement accounts for 61%. That of the young age group is relatively high for the male and female, that of the upper age group is high only for the female.
4) The bath, the toilet and the kitchen which used exclusively, the air conditioner are needed strongly on the occasion of seeking for the houses in future. The garbage disposal service and the secretarial service are also needed. The needs of housing equipment and the living service are varied by the sex and the age group.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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