Kokuto (brown sugar) -shochu (a brewed and distilled alcohol beverage) is produced mainly in the Amami area of Kagoshima. Kokuto-moromi vinegar was separated from the post-distillation slurry of brown sugar-shochu by centrifugation, and the supernatant was freeze-dried. Ethanol-soluble substances were extracted from the freeze-dried kokuto-moromi vinegar by ethanol. The effects were determined of the freeze-dried kokuto-moromi vinegar and ethanol-soluble substances were on the serum and liver lipid levels and on nutritional value in rats. An atherogenic diet containing 5% freeze-dried kokuto-moromi vinegar or 3.5% ethanol-soluble substances was given to 6 week-old Wistar rats for 28 days. The serum total cholesterol level in the rats fed on the kokuto-moromi vinegar diet and ethanol-soluble substances diet was significantly lower than the level in the control diet group, but the addition of kokuto-moromi vinegar and ethanol-soluble substances to the diet induced no change in the concentration of HDL-cholesterol, free cholesterol, triacylglycerol or phospholipids in the serum. The liver total lipids, cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels in the rats fed on the kokuto-moromi vinegar diet and ethanol-soluble substances diet were significantly lower than those in the rats fed on the control diet. The excretion of fecal bile acids was significantly higher from the kokuto-moromi vinegar and ethanol-soluble substance diets than from the control diet, but there was no significant difference in the fecal cholesterol excretion among the dietary groups. There were larger amounts of IgA and IgG in serum of the kokuto-moromi vinegar and ethanol-soluble substance group than the control diet group. These results suggest that the diet containing kokuto-moromi vinegar had a beneficial effect on the level of serum and liver lipids, and the possible presence of a component in the kokuto-moromi vinegar which promoted the activation of immunity.

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It is generally claimed that charcoal is a good heat source for roasting foods. We broiled chicken with several different heat sources (charcoal, gas burner, gas-heated broiling plate and electric heater). A sensory test, flavor analysis of the cooked chicken and analysis of burnt gas from the heat source were carried out. Chicken broiled over charcoal gained higher scores in the sensory test for flavor and total palatability than chicken broiled over other heat sources. An Electronic Nose analysis showed that there was difference in the flavor pattern of broiled chicken according to the heat sources used for cooking. A GC-MS analysis showed that the volatile compounds from chicken broiled over charcoal contained higher proportions of pyrazines and pyrroles, and a lower proportion of aldehydes than from those cooked over the broiling plate. The burnt gas from the charcoal contained higher proportions of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and a lower proportion of oxygen than that from the broiling plate heated with gas.

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A questionnaire was conducted to understand the demographic differences among Korean teenage students in relation to self-esteem, body cathexis, aesthetic surgery needs, and clothing attitudes. Higher body cathexis was found in slender/tall males, and in socially higher males. The need for facial aesthetic surgery was deemed higher among the more socially privileged, among females, and among students of less body cathexis. Higher body cathexis and self-esteem were founded in students of mid/small-sized cities, and in the more socially privileged. (Females more eagerly expressed their personalities through their choice of clothing.) Four factors of gender, body cathexis, age, and social status significantly influenced the aesthetic surgery needs : higher demand among females, students with less body cathexis, older students, and more socially privileged students. Both males and females indicated that they needed aesthetic surgery the most for discolored spots and scars. The orders of need for other parts were orthodontia>nose>lower body parts>double eyelid in males, and lower body part>orthodontia>nose> in females. Korean teenagers with higher self-esteem tend to be satisfied with their own body images and have less desire for aesthetic surgery. Higher body cathexis appeared in males, in the slender/tall, and socially higher students. Females in particular have a less positive attitude toward their appearance and have a stronger desire to improve it.

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We studied the longitudinal data from the first year of elementary school to the first year of college to clarify the relation between changes of clothing behavior with age and body development. The data was obtained from questionnaires given to 294 female college students in 1996 and 1997 born between 1975 and 1977. We divided the data into three groups (precocious g., average g., and late-maturing g.) using menarche age and considered the relation with clothing behaviors, analyzing the data through the t-test and χ^t-test. The main results were as follows : (1) The differences of body shape among the 3 groups were remarkable from the 2nd or 3rd year of elementary school to the 2nd or 3rd year of junior high school. (2) It was found that the more precocious their growth was, the more conscious they were of clothing behaviors such as “attitude to body shape, ” “relation between clothes and body, ” “fashion sense, ” “attitude to friends' clothes, ” and “dark and black clothes colors.” Thus, we thought these behaviors were connected to body development. (3) However, clothing behaviors such as “clothes which were often worn, ” “attitude to fashion, ” “method of obtaining clothes, ” and “red and blue clothes colors” showed the same results for all 3 groups.

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