We estimated the optimal heating conditions for cooking food. We had previously estimated by unsteady heat conduction the heating time for a 20-mm-thick slice of beef, indicating the difference in results according to the heating conditions. We estimated here the heating time for 7-mm, 10-mm and 15-mm-thick beef steaks and hamburger steaks under the optimum heating conditions necessary to obtain good results. We also simultaneously estimated the necessary heating time from the thermo-physical properties of the food and by the principle of unsteady heat conduction. We then measured the heating time for these three sample thicknesses of beef and hamburger steak. The temperature ranges used for the cooking pan were 160-220℃ for the beef steak and 150-180℃ for the hamburger steak. We compared the heating time and examined the influence of the heating temperature on the surface color and hardness of the beef and hamburger steak.
  A pan temperature of less than 220℃ failed to brown the 15-mm-thick beef on the surface, and the temperature at the center of the beef only rose to 85℃. The distance from the pan surface to the center of the meat sample was 1/2 of the thickness of the meat before and after heating.
  The color of the hamburger surface changed with the pan temperature. Although we found no difference in the meat hardness, we could show the optimal pan temperature and heating time according to the desired color of the hamburger steak.
  With the exception of the 7-mm-thick beef steak, we could estimate the optimal heating time by applying the principle of unsteady heat conduction and using the thermo-physical properties calculated from the various components of the meat. We achieved similar results with the hamburger steak.

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  A hot water extract of herbal tea from the seed with hard shell of Trapa japonica Flerov. showed moderate antioxidative activity against the rat brain homogenate model. The antioxidative compounds in the hard shell were isolated by chromatographic methods, and identified for the first time as gallic acid (1), 1,2,3-trigalloyl-β-glucoside (2), 1,6-digalloyl-β-glucoside (3), 1,2,6-trigalloyl-β-glucoside (4), eugeniin (5), and 1, 2, 3, 6 tetragalloyl-β-glucoside (6) by using HR-MS and NMR analyses. Their respective antioxidative activities (IC₅₀) were 14 μM (1), 5.2 μM (2), 8.8 μM (3), 0.25 μM (4), 0.26 μM (5), and 0.27 μM (6). The antioxidative compound in the herbal tea was also clarified as gallic acid (1) by an HPLC analysis.

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  We examined storage styles in apartment houses from the perspective of lifestyle management and discussed the development of a new storage style. Our findings are summarized as follows:
1) One third of all of the surveyed apartments had closets. Apartment houses have fewer closets than independent homes. Furthermore, closets in apartment houses are used for more diverse purposes when compared to independent homes.
2) When enquired about the frequency at which people review their possessions, less than 20% answered “Daily,” 45% or more “Frequently,” 25% “Irregularly,” and less than 10% “Never.” Similar trends have been observed for independent homes.
3) Households that have closets and review their possessions earned a high rating in terms of storage. In case of independent homes, lifestyle management of household goods and closets, which are used for centralized storage in apartment houses, is considered to play a key role in determining storage styles.
4) People often restrict the number of new purchases in order to manage the amount of books and clothing that tend to accumulate in houses. This forms the basis for the efficient use of social networking services, especially among youngsters, to borrow and lend such items.
5) Many people, especially youngsters, are interested in sharing and circulating household goods by utilizing the benefits of community lifestyle in apartment houses. This aspect needs to be extensively studied.

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  Consumer magazines enable consumers to access information quickly. We analyzed various articles in the magazine “Consumer Reports” published in the 1980s with a view to clarifying the characteristics of the consumer information of the period. The findings are as follows: 1) There were more articles in the 1980s than in the 1970s. 2) In the 1980s information on goods and services made up 55% of the content, while the other 45% consisted of information on social and current affairs. 3) With regard to goods and services, 70% of the content consisted of information on “transportation ＆ communication”, “furniture ＆ household utensils”, and “culture ＆ recreation”. For social and current affairs, “Consumer Research and Consumer Union related issues” and “economics” made up 60%. 4) The information was based more on “function” (40%) in goods and services, while “introduction” was based more on social and current affairs. 5) Most of the information in the magazine was from magazines to consumers, however information from consumers increased. 6) There are many articles on new sections such as “Questions on Health” and “Questions on Money” which influenced the increased of quantity. As the 1980s was known as the era of Reaganomics, which showed low economic performance, consumers sought various information in “Consumer Reports”. A new consumer information system should be established in Japan.

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  The suitability of using Mucuna bean powder as a partial substitute for wheat flour in making such pastry as cookies was investigated to lessen the undesirable impact of L-DOPA when consumed. The particle-size distribution of JVB bean powder was between 2.15 and 91.00μm, and less than that of FVB which was between 253 and 1000μm. The texture, color and amount of L-DOPA in the pastries were measured and evaluated, and the substitution ratio of bean powder in flour was determined. The most suitable substitution ratio of roasted bean powder was found to be 20% or less for bread and cookies, and 60% or less for cakes. The amount of L-DOPA in bread and cookies with 20% substitution was 0.26g/100g, and in pound cakes with 60% substitution was 0.41g/100g. These substitution ratios of bean powder decreased the amount of L-DOPA, and the results were acceptable to the panel of experts.

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