I. A new apparatus is described with which it is possible to measure the volume (and hence density) of obese patients without requiring them to immerse totally in water. Replicate measurements of subjects with 6, 23 and 38 kg body fat had a standard deviation not greater than 0.3 kg fat.2. In nineteen obese women body fat was measured by density, total body water, and total body potassium at the beginning, and again at the end, of a period of 3-4 weeks on a reducing diet, during which they lost 5.43 (SD I. 83) kg in weight. The composition of weight loss was also estimated both by energy balance and nitrogen balance during the interval between the two measurements of body composition.3. The estimates of fat content of the nineteen women at the start of the balance period were 45.63(SD 1450) kg by density, 48.07 (SD 13.88) kg by K and 47.09 (SD 13.85) kg by water. The correlation coefficient between the density and K estimate was 0-949, and for the density and water estimate it was 4. It is concluded that measurement of density by the new method provides a convenient method for estimating body fatness, and change in fat content, which compares favourably with estimates based on total body water or total body K. However, these methods cannot be used to provide an accurate estimate of the composition of a small weight loss in an individual since deviations up to 4 kg fat occur between fat loss based on change in density and those based on the more reliable (but more tedious) energy balance method. 0,971.

Abstract. Several new times of minima, based on photoelectric observations, have been secured for two bright and well-known eclipsing binaries with eccentric orbits and with very similar orbital periods: HS Her (P = 1.d 637, e = 0.02) and U Oph (P = 1.d 677, e = 0.003). For HS Her, an apsidal motion with a period of 78 years is confirmed and a third body in an eccentric orbit with a period of 85 years is found. An analysis of all available eclipse timings of U Oph has confirmed the presence of an apsidal motion with one of the shortest known periods (20.1 yr) and a light-time effect with the improved period of 37.6 yr. The corresponding internal structure constants log k2 were also derived. It is estimated that the tertiaries of both systems are detectable via speckle interferometry.

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Abstract. -We report several new reliable times of minimum of the eclipsing binary AS Cam. Using all precise timings found in the literature, the O-C diagram is analyzed and improved values for the elements of the apsidal motion are computed. The discrepancy between observed rotational velocity of the line of apsides and the theoretically expected value still remains unresolved.

Abstract. Several new times of minimum light recorded with photoelectric means have been gathered for two bright eccentric eclipsing binaries TV Cet (P = 9.d 1, e = 0.055) and V451 Oph (P = 2. d 2, e = 0.013). Analysis of all available eclipse timings of TV Ceti has revealed a small motion of the line of apsides ofω = 0.000 30 ± 0.000 08 deg cycle −1 , corresponding to an apsidal period of U = 30 000 ± 8 000 years. The contribution from the general relativity effects is dominant (ω rel /ω ∼ 80%). In this system, the third body on an eccentric orbit with a period of 28.5 years is also predicted. The more precise values for the apsidal motion elements were computed for V451 Oph, where apsidal motion with a period of 170±5 years was confirmed. The corresponding internal structure constants log k2 were derived.