Heat transfer coefficients for various air gap widths between cloth and the side of a glass bottle surface were measured as a model for determining the effect of air gaps between clothes or cloth and the human body. Heat transfer resistance, which is in inverse proportion to the heat transfer coefficient of the air gap, increases with the increase in the air gap width for small air gap widths, but it levels off for large air gap widths. Heat transfer resistances of air gaps estimated from the radiation heat transfer coefficient and the convection heat transfer coefficient were in good agreement with those obtained by experiments. The calculated results indicated that the leveling off of heat transfer resistance at large gap widths comes from the radiation heat transfer coefficient which is independent of gap width. This indicates that radiation heat transfer resistance increases with the increase in the number of shields dividing an air gap. In other words the layering of clothes is effective in retaining heat due to the increase in radiation heat transfer resistance.

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A textile washing test was carried out on three artificially soiled fabrics that are commercially available using water and various organic solvents. The detergency was evaluated from surface reflectance of the soiled fabric before and after washing. For all soiled fabrics, the detergency had good correlation with the relative electric constant, εr, of the washing liquid. The maximum detergency was achieved atεr_??_14, corresponding to that of 1-pentanol. The soil stains were difficult to be removed in water with highεr and organic solvents with low εr. However, in the presence of anionic surfactant and alkali, the detergency in water increased and was comparable to that in 1-pentanol. As a mechanical action for the soil removal, stirring with a magnetic stirrer and ultrasonic waves were found to be effective in water and organic solvents, respectively. It was observed that the washing in water by stirring damaged the fabric. On the other hand, the damage was reduced considerably when organic solvents were used or when ultrasonic waves were applied. Conclusively, it was confirmed that water is an excellent washing medium, although there are cases where it may damage the fabric.

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In this essay, I explore the reasons why Victorian women anxiously wanted their garments to be "suitable for their complexions." In the Victorian period, "good complexions" not only meant fair skin that was fine in texture, they also signified the purity, fineness, and gaiety of the women to whom they belonged. In other words, good complexions were vouchers for good characters. This judgment was sanctified by the popular belief that good complexions were "a gift of Nature," and therefore a true exposure of one's purity in mind. The same belief demoralized people having different complexions. Reddened and flushed faces, blotches, freckles, even tiny black spots and oily skin were categorized as bad complexions. Such dichotomy idealized fair skin, while unreasonably denunciated all other types. Furthermore, women with bad complexions were labeled as immoral, because it was firmly believed that bad complexions were the result of indulgence, intemperateness, and vanity. They were stamped on the face as indelible badges of such sins. Cosmetics were also severely criticized, since they were incompatible with the ideal of "a gift of Nature." Under social and moral pressures, women had to find a means to improve their complexions. One of only a few socially acceptable options was to select the right colors for their garments.

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The aim of this study is to clarify the activities of "Fureai-ikiiki Community Salon" in Uji City and to investigate the factors to help sustain this type of community clubs. We made a hearing investigation of the salon management, observed the salon activities, and conducted a questionnaire survey of its senior users or members. Thirty percent of the users are senior citizens of over 75 years of age who live alone or with their spouses. The users attend nearly all meetings seeking communication or friendly interchange of information. In other words, the salon activities have become part of their life. There are various types of salons in Japan depending on an openness to respective community and the nature of their users. The salon has its worthiness in improving the users'quality of life and offering safeguards to the emergency of not only its users but also non-users who tend to isolate themselves from community activities. As the salons play the role of community centers, it is desirable hat they should be included in the meeting plans of respective regional administration. It is, therefore, required that the meeting facilities of a salon such as seating based on chair should be planned with senior citizens in mind, and the interior design should offer warmth and comfort for social gathering.

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We asked 58 young women to select their preferred pant size after trying on pants of various sizes. The wearers and third party observers assessed how well the pants fit at different parts of the body. The results were as follows: 1. Fifty percent of the wearers selected a smaller size than their actual size as their preferred size. 2. As to size selection, wearers whose waists were larger than that of the standard size preferred a good fit at the waist. 3. Regarding the degree of fit in each region, the observers tended to assess the degree of fit over the entire body, while there was no correlation between the degree of fit at the waist and that at the hip among the wearers.

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Many food-related entries appear in "Baishi's Diary" written from 1785 to 1832 by Baishi Rai, the mother of Sanyo Rai. They appear approximately once every four days. Entries concerning the exchange of gifts are the most common, followed by those concerning serving guests, due to the fact that there were many visitors to Rai family. Household festivities, which are important to a Confucian scholarly family, and regular annual events for preparing food are also recorded every year. Baishi took part in the care of eight babies, including her own children, a stepchild, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. The health conditions of the children and their food during infant rearing were often recorded in the diary. Baishi enjoyed visiting Sanyo's house in Kyoto in her later years, and wrote her diary in an unusual way as travel notes with inserted odes. "Baishi's Diary" is an important historical record of life in the latter part of the Edo era from the aspect of home economics; in particular, household festivity entries are unique among other dairies written in the same era.

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The relative availability of water-soluble vitamins to free vitamins in a white bread diet consumed by Japanese male and female subjects was determined. The subjects, 9 female Japanese college students in experiment 1, and 7 male Japanese and 5 female Japanese college students in experiment 2, consumed the test diet with or without a water-soluble vitamin mixture for five consecutive days, and the water-soluble vitamin levels in a 24-h urine sample were measured. The ratio of the urinary excretion rate for each water-soluble vitamin in the test diet to that in the water-soluble vitamin mixture was determined as the relative availability. The relative availability of each vitamin was as follows: B₁, 55%; B₂, 50%; vitamin B₆, 85%; niacin, 60%; pantothenic acid, 70%; folate, 50%; biotin, 85%; and C, 95%.

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