We studied the effect of the fatty acid composition of commercially available cooking oil added to a high-cholesterol diet on the serum and liver lipid concentrations and hepatic acid composition in rats fed with the diets. Rats were fed one of three diets respectively containing the following three types of oil : diet 1, oil rich in saturated fatty acid; diet 2, oil rich in a-linoleic acid; and diet 3, oil rich in diacylglycerol. The weight gain among the three diet any groups did not significantly differ. The total food intake was most for the diet 1 group, while serum cholesterol was highest and the ratio of HDL-cholesterol/total-cholesterol was lowest in this dietary group. Serum triglyceride was lowest in the rats fed with diet 3, and the hepatic fatty acid composition in the liver reflected that of the diet. The dietary fatty acid composition in food and the lipid metabolism need to be carefully considered when providing a high-cholesterol diet.

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The purpose of this study is to acquire data on the changes in the physical ability of the elderly due to the aging process and to improve the standard of clothing in relation to those changes. A questionnaire was administered to 971 subjects in five age groups (60, 65, 70, 75, 80) for each sex. The mean scale value for each question was calculated. Hayashi's Quantification Method III was applied to 24 physical functions related to the subjects' ability to get dressed and undressed. The following results were found : 1) When the elderly reach eighty, roughly 25% of them experience some difficulty in dressing and undressing, with 70% of the men and 95% of the women preferring loose-fitting elastic waist bands. 2) The structures obtained using Q III for 48 sample scores were calculated on the I and II Axes. Those of the elderly indicated a clear U-shape. With regard to criterion validity, a correlation was discovered between the age of the subjects and their scores. This means that as the age of the subjects increases, their ability to easily dress and undress themselves decreases. Such criteria has produced useful data in respect of designing garments for the elderly. 3) Elderly women produced much higher scores than elderly men. 4) Once they exceed the age of seventy, the elderly begin to experience difficulties getting dressed and undressed. It is clear that clothing which is easier to put on and remove must be developed. 5) People in their eighties experience more difficulties than those in their seventies, due to decreasing physical ability, especially shoulder flexibility and increasing joint pain. They prefer loose-fitting elastic waist bands as small buttons and snaps are difficult to work with. The most stable way of putting on socks was from the sitting position. It is clear, therefore, that special clothing should be designed and manufactured for this age group.

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Concerning the consciousness of body shape of Japanese students in the Kyushu area, an investigation was made on 598 males and 557 females ranging in age from 18 to 29 from the viewpoint of differences between the sexes. The results were as follows : 1) The degree of satisfaction with their own body proportions is lower in females than in males. The principal body parts with which over 50% of subjects are dissatisfied are body height, upper limb girth and bust girth in males, and all the body parts in females. 2) Males and females differ on what constitutes the ideal female body shape. Females desire leaner bodies than males desire for them. 3) According to correlation analysis, the regression lines of the ideal body weight to ideal height show a bias toward leanness in females, while the regression line for males is centrally situated in the normal range based on BMI.

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To clarify the characteristics of breast vibration and brassiere dislocation during running, movements of five spots on the breast surface, that of the same five spots on transparent brassieres after removing brassiere caps to visualize the breast surface, and the clothing pressures of the corresponding five spots were simultaneously monitored using an image analyzing system. The subjects for our experiment were young women with had hemispheric breasts. Obtained data of those movements and pressure were analyzed using the discrete Fourier transform. The breasts in a brassiere were vibrated at the same frequency of running. The dislocation of the brassiere from the breast surface which was observed was associated with changes in the clothing pressure at the lower half of the brassiere..Vibration of the breasts of the subjects wearing spots brassieres was move obvious in the vertical direction, while vibration of the breasts of the subjects wearing full-cup brassieres was more obvious in the horizontal direction.

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The effect of temperature and pH on the yields of indigo and indirubin from indoxyl which was generated from indoxyl acetate was examined. In the indoxyl solution of pH 9-10 at 65-85°C, a significant amount of indirubin was produced in addition to indigo. In the case of indigo dyeing using fresh leaves of Strobilanthes cusia, a kind of indigo plants, a purple shade of dye can be achieved by merely heating the dye bath. This was explained by the relatively higher pH of the juice of the plant. In this condition, a yield of indirubin was promoted by heating. The indirubin dyeing consists of two processes, the production of indirubin in the fiber and the penetration of indirubin, which has already been produced in the dye bath, into the fiber. In the case of Polygonum tinctorium, indirubin could be dyed by making a mild alkaline juice from fresh leaves and by heating.

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People have had a desire to dye clothes throughout history. For this purpose, dyeing materials and agents have been developed through various thoughtful efforts. As a result, efficient applications of characteristic coloring materials of particular local areas are often found as archaeological evidence. Historical documents on the use of soil as a dyeing material are also found. Based on the measurement results of the size of the soil particles and dyeing states, we examined the relation between the size of soil particles and cellulose fiber, which has been a popular clothing material for ordinary people. Our study led to the following conclusions : 1) The dyeing of natural cellulose fiber with soil particles is influenced by the fiber width; 2) The diameter of soil particles effective for dyeing can be estimated from the fiber width; 3) The supernatant liquid extraction method is suitable for obtaining soil particles for cellulose fiber dyeing.

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Polyphenols distributed widely in vegetables, fruits and teas are likely to have beneficial effects on human health, because of their antioxidative, antimutagenic, and antitumor activities. The total polyphenol content in 24 species of wild grass was measured and compared with that in 16 vegetables by the Folin-Denis assay, using caffeic acid as a standard. The polyphenol content per 100 g of fresh plant was more than 0.1 g in all of the wild grass species, but in only 7 types of vegetable. Furthermore, values over 1 g were found in 6 of the wild grass species, but in none of the vegetables. These results indicate that wild grass may be a good source for physiologically active polyphenols.

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