Residents of Hong Kong have undergone a dietary transition from a traditional Chinese diet that is high in seafood to a more Western diet. This may have affected the nutritional composition of breast milk of Hong Kong mothers. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the dietary pattern and the fatty acid profile of the breast milk of lactating women in Hong Kong. Seventy-three volunteering healthy Hong Kong lactating mothers participated in the study. Their dietary intakes were assessed by using a 3-d dietary record and FFQ. The mean n-3 fatty acid levels were approximately 0·4 % (EPA) and 0·9 % (DHA) of total fatty acids in the breast milk of lactating mothers who had exclusively breastfed their infants aged 2–6 months. Maternal dietary intakes of n-3 fatty acids were positively associated with their levels in the breast milk. The levels of maternal intakes of freshwater and saltwater fish, especially the consumption of salmon, croaker and mandarin, were significantly correlated with the content of DHA in breast milk. The present study is among the very few in the literature to determine the fatty acid profile of breast milk in Hong Kong populations and verify certain dietary factors that influence this profile. High levels of n-3 PUFA, especially DHA, were observed in the breast milk of Hong Kong lactating women. The findings may serve as a dietary reference for lactating mothers to optimise the fatty acid profile of their breast milk.

Dietary polyphenols are phytonutrients exhibiting multiple health benefits in humans including those in infants. However, data on breastmilk (poly)phenolic composition are limited, especially among Asian populations. This study aimed to...

Both trade and transport logistics activities have impressively flourished among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries over the past decades. Based on these observations, this paper conjectures that trade liberalization and transport logistics development are mutually reinforced. Elimination of internal tariff in the free trade area facilitates trade thereby increasing the demand for transport logistics. Transport logistics development generates spillover effect to promote trade with nonmembers. The findings of this paper indicate that a country's transport logistics development will bolster both of its regional and global trade development.

This paper reports on an experimental investigation in which important primary hand attributes of nonwoven fusible interlinings are identified and empirical translation formulas for the attributes are established. These formulas can be used to objectively evaluate the hand of nonwoven fusible interlinings based on measured KESF or FAST low-stress mechanical properties.Although we know qualitatively the characteristics of hand and how they affect the garment shape and silhouette, the hand of nonwoven fusible interlining still can not be quantitatively and objectively evaluated. Such measurements are important to product development and optimum use of interlinings and effective communication during manufacturing. This paper reports on an experimental investigation for identifying the primary hand of nonwoven fusible interlinings and establishing an objective method for their hand evaluation using the KESF or FAST fabric objective measurement technology. Such technology has been progressively developing since the 1930s. Peirce [17], a pioneer in fabric objective measurement, first identified the important fabric physical and mechanical properties related to hand. He developed the well-known cantilever method for measuring fabric bending properties and introduced the very useful parameter of bending length. In the early 1960s, Lindberg [ 121 and his team at TEFO in Sweden conducted many investigations of fabric tailorability or making-up performance and how that is affected by fabric low-stress mechanical properties. Lindberg defined an important parameter called "formability," which is the product of bending rigidity and longitudinal compressibility.By the 1960s, although the important low-stress mechanical properties related to fabric hand and making-up performance were identified, accurate measurements of these properties remained problematical until the development of the KESF system by Kawabata in Japan in the 1970s 171. Kawabata, Niwa, and their associates [8, lo] successfully developed transformation equations to objectively evaluate the hand of woven fabrics based KESF measurements and applied the system to fabric product development, buying control, and process control in the apparel business. Since the KESF system was not easily affordable or easy to operate by people in industry, many attempts [ 11, 161 were made to develop less expensive and more robust instruments for industrial applications. Among these, the FAST system by the CSIRO Division of Wool Technology 1191 was the most significant. The FAST system is now extensively used by the wool textile and apparel industry. It is inexpensive and easy to operate, although it cannot measure hysteresis properties.Fabric objective measurements were first. applied to woven wool suiting fabrics, then to other materials including fusible interlinings [2, 3,4, 13, 141 and nonwovens [I, 5, 6, 81. Nitta [13] discussed generally the use of the KESF system for optimum combinations of outer and fusible interlining fabrics, suggesting optimum ranges for mechanical prope...

Carotenoids and vitamin A are nutrients crucial to infants’ development. To date, there is limited data on their availability in breastmilk and the associated dietary factors, especially in Hong Kong, where people follow a westernized Chinese diet. This study determined the selected breastmilk’s carotenoid and vitamin A (retinol) contents by ultraperformance liquid chromatography with photodiode detection (UPLC-PDA) and the dietary intakes by three-day food records in 87 Hong Kong lactating mothers, who were grouped into tertiles based on their daily carotenoid intake. Low vitamin A intake (530.2 ± 34.2 µg RAE/day) and breastmilk retinol level (1013.4 ± 36.8 nmol/L) were reported in our participants, suggesting a poor vitamin A status of the lactating participants having relatively higher socioeconomic status in Hong Kong. Mothers in the highest tertile (T3) had higher breastmilk carotenoid levels than those in the lowest (T1) (p < 0.05). There were significant associations between maternal carotenoid intakes and breastmilk lutein levels in the linear regression models (p < 0.05) regardless of dietary supplement intake. Furthermore, maternal dark green vegetable intakes were associated with breastmilk retinol, lutein, and β-carotene levels. These findings can serve as dietary references for lactating mothers to enhance breastmilk carotenoid and vitamin A contents for the benefits of child growth and development.