The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between the buttoning movements and the skillfulness in fingers and hands. The subjects were 54 5-year-old kindergarten infants (21 boys and 33 girls).

  The results were as follows:

  (1) Characteristics of buttoning movements were considered through the observation of the time required and the movement patterns. The time required for buttoning varied substantially among individuals. The movement was classified into two patterns: ‘push out’ and ‘pick out’. The time required for the ‘pick out’ movement was longer than that for the ‘push out’.

  (2) Skillfulness in fingers and hands were measured by a bead-stringing test and a string-tying test. The girls performed better on both tests. Skillfulness in fingers and hands were analyzed by the string-tying test in terms of the time required and the movement patterns.

  (3) There was a tendency for common movement patterns in the bead-stringing tests and the buttoning movements. Therefore, it was suggested that infants with higher skillfulness in fingers and hands required less time for buttoning.

  The heat transfer rate from a glass bottle containing hot water was measured, comparing the bottle to a human body, for the purpose of examining the promotion of heat radiation by blowing air under clothes. The bottle was wrapped tightly with a cotton cloth and covered with a clothes, with a 5 mm gap. Sweat water was supplied to the cotton cloth and air was blown into the gap. The heat transfer rate was determined from the decrease in the hot water temperature. The heat transfer coefficient between the cotton cloth surface and surrounding air was determined for the heat transfer without the sweat water supply. The heat transfer rate with the sweat water supply decreased with an increase in temperature of the surrounding air, but the rate for the high air velocity within the gap did not become zero when the temperature of the air became near that of the hot water. The evaporation rate at the cotton cloth surface, which was obtained from the latent heat transfer rate determined by subtracting the thermal heat transfer rate from the total heat transfer rate, was in proportion to the difference in the partial pressure of water between the cotton cloth surface and the surrounding air. The mass transfer coefficient was correlated with the air velocity within the gap. The temperature of the surrounding air for a given heat transfer rate from the human body was estimated using the heat transfer coefficient and the mass transfer coefficient. The calculated air temperature increases with the increase in air velocity within the gap, the decrease in the heat transfer rate, the decrease in air humidity and the increase in humidity at the surface of human skin. The heat transfer rate from the human body without blowing air under the clothes is not high enough in hot and arid regions or in areas in Japan with high humidity in summer, but the rate with the air blowing is enough in high temperature and humidity conditions.

  We conducted a written questionnaire survey focusing on people's feelings about Japanese-style rooms, with the objective of elucidating the future prospects of such rooms. Among younger respondents, we found a relationship between their feelings and the number of Japanese-style rooms, the presence of contiguous Japanese-style rooms, and the age of their current residence. Many young people who feel an attachment to Japanese-style rooms use them for special purposes such as seasonal events or as a parlor. Reasons cited for the necessity of Japanese-style rooms were that they are soothing, are an essential part of the Japanese identity, and allow users to assume comfortable postures. The most common reason given for why such rooms are unnecessary was that there is no disadvantage of not having a Japanese-style room. Advantages cited for such rooms matched the reasons given for their necessity. The most commonly cited disadvantage was the burden of maintaining such rooms.

  We investigated quality characteristics of four kinds of commercial pidan using duck eggs from different locations. We assessed the weight, pH, specification of color, textural properties and odor, and evaluated the nutrient composition of the eggs. From the weight measurements, we found that Taiwanese pidan eggs (TA and TB) were bigger than Chinese pidan eggs (C and H). The pH of the yolk and albumen was alkaline. The color of the yolk was different only in sample TA. There were differences between the nutrient composition of C / H and TA / TB. The rupture properties of the albumen was the hardest in sample TB. The gumminess of the yolk was the highest in sample TB and the lowest in sample C. Odors recorded for sample TA were different from those recorded from the other samples. We have concluded that the quality characteristics of the four kinds of commercial pidan eggs may be classified into two types, Taiwanese and Chinese.

  We measured bone mass using calcaneal ultrasound and studied the dietary/lifestyle habits of 283 first- to third-grade junior high school students in Kanagawa Prefecture using a self-reported questionnaire. As a result of comparing the three grades, no significant differences were found among them in terms of the percentage of students who slept fewer hours and ate breakfast/dinner alone. Furthermore, the percentage of students who answered “rarely” when asked how frequently they drank milk was high among third-year students. The rate of first- to third-year students with a Z score (an indicator of bone mass, compared with the standard value for the same sex and age) of less than 90％ was 20.5％ (58 students). There were significant differences among the grades for students with a Z score of less than 90％. Although there was no relationship between frequency of milk consumption and bone mass in all subjects, the percentage of students who belonged to sports clubs in school or the community was higher in the high Z score group compared with the low Z score group.

  Third-year students in junior high school had several problems related to dietary/lifestyle habits and bone mass that first- and second-year students generally didn't have, and so a support system is necessary for improving their dietary/lifestyle habits to prevent osteoporosis.