The immobilization of proteins on gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles and the subsequent recognition of the targeted proteins provide an effective means for the separation of proteins via application of a magnetic filed. A key challenge is the ability to fabricate such nanoparticles with the desired core-shell nanostructure. In this article, we report findings of the fabrication and characterization of gold-coated iron oxide (Fe2O3 and Fe3O4) core@shell nanoparticles (Fe oxide@Au) toward novel functional biomaterials. A hetero-interparticle coalescence strategy has been demonstrated for fabricating Fe oxide@Au nanoparticles that exhibit controllable sizes ranging from 5 to 100 nm and high monodispersity. Composition and surface analyses have proven that the resulting nanoparticles consist of the Fe2O3 core and the Au shell. The magnetically active Fe oxide core and thiolate-active Au shell were shown to be viable for exploiting the Au surface protein-binding reactivity for bioassay and the Fe oxide core magnetism for magnetic bioseparation. These findings are entirely new and could form the basis for fabricating magnetic nanoparticles as biomaterials with tunable size, magnetism, and surface binding properties.

This study investigated the effect of various freezing and thawing techniques on the quality of beef. Meat samples were frozen using natural convection freezing (NF), individual quick freezing (IQF), or cryogenic freezing (CF) techniques, followed by natural convection thawing (NCT) or running water thawing (RT). The meat was frozen until the core temperature reached -12℃ and then stored at -24℃, followed by thawing until the temperature reached 5℃. Quality parameters, such as the pH, water binding properties, CIE color, shear force, and microstructure of the beef were elucidated. Although the freezing and thawing combinations did not cause remarkable changes in the quality parameters, rapid freezing, in the order of CF, IQF, and NF, was found to minimize the quality deterioration. In the case of thawing methods, NCT was better than RT and the meat quality was influence on the thawing temperature rather than the thawing rate. Although the microstructure of the frozen beef exhibited an excessive loss of integrity after the freezing and thawing, it did not cause any remarkable change in the beef quality. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CF and NCT form the best combination for beef processing; however, IQF and NCT may have practical applications in the frozen food industry.

Under the urban architecture paradigm for urban regeneration, the scope for research related to historical assets has broadened. Historical assets consist of private and public goods. The management responsibility of managing private goods is allocated to individuals, which has complicated the relationships among stakeholders and led to dissipation of assets and conflicts. To address this issue, this study focuses on community involvement in the conservation management of Kanazawa machiya, a Japanese traditional architecture style.This study was conducted in three phases. The first phase involved classification of the types of conservation management activities and the local actors related to Kanazawa machiya. In the second phase, the relationship between different stakeholders and the characteristics of conservation management activities were investigated using the DEMATEL method. Finally, it drew on the Power-Interest Grid to examine stakeholders' performance capability.The case study of Kanazawa machiya indicates that the building-up of the conservation management system involves the local actors and development of their activities. It also shows an incremental shift away from a government-led system to one based on government-citizen cooperation. This study demonstrates the necessity of community involvement and civic activities for the conservation management of historical assets.

The effects of freezing and thawing rates on the physicochemical properties of rice were investigated to improve the quality of frozen rice as a home meal replacement product. Cooked rice was frozen by an individual quickfreezing (IQF) system at-45 o C or by a conventional freezing (CF) system at-24 o C. The frozen rice was then thawed using a microwave oven with multiple output powers of 200, 600 and 1000 W. The quality of rice was evaluated by the water content, color and the textural properties of hardness and adhesiveness. In addition, the internal microstructure of the rice grain was observed by scanning electron microscope. Results showed that rice thawed by 600 W of microwaves contained lower water content and had harder textures than those treated with 200 or 1000 W. Lightness and redness of rice was increased by the freezing-thawing process, whereas yellowness decreased. The total color difference of individual quick-frozen rice was lower than conventional frozen rice. Microstructure imaging showed the thawed rice contained a crack in the core of the grain. Moreover, the large pore may occur with the 1000 W microwave. High freezing and thawing rates seemed to improve the quality of frozen rice. However, using more than 600 W of microwaves leads to the hardening of texture or porous structures in the rice.

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