Extracted tissue-specific atelocollagens have distinctive textural properties

Food texture is a very important factor for elderly persons, children, and patients who have difficulty swallowing. Collagen and its hydrolysis product, gelatin, are used as ingredients in foods, dietary supplements, and medical materials. In this study, we extracted atelocollagen from nonedible porcine tissues, including ear, nose, and skin, and analyzed the biophysical properties of each tissue. Extracted whole auricle collagen (AEC) showed superior springiness, while only the skin region of auricle collagen (ASC) showed superior hardness, springiness, and brittleness. Body skin collagen showed high hardness but low springiness. In a shear stress test, ASC gels showed high shear strength, and their strains coincided with hardness in a textural examination, while nose and AEC showed low maximum strains. In viscosity, the auricular collagens showed higher viscosity regardless of the region of the ear. Fibril formation in collagen from each tissue and organ varied a great deal in width and morphology. We found that the same type of collagen had a unique texture and viscosity under physiological conditions depending on the tissue or organ of extraction. The results show that the collagen extracted from each organ has a unique texture and unique possibilities to serve as an ingredient in food or supplements

Effect of weather and days of the week on number of daily circulation in public libraries

Objective. The study investigated the effect of weather and day of the week on the daily circulation numbers in two public libraries in Japan. Method. Datasets on library circulation were collected from one library in an urban area, and another in a rural area. The data were then divided according to rainy day and other days, holiday and workday, and day of the week, and the presence or absence of significant differences in daily circulation was analyzed. Automatic linear modeling was performed to analyze the effect of weather, day of the week, and holiday on daily circulation. Results. The results revealed that day of the week have a considerable impact on daily circulation for both libraries. However, weather exerted a significant impact in the urban area only. Automatic linear modeling explained the daily circulation based on day of the week and holiday with an accuracy of 71.5% for the rural library, and explained the circulation numbers based on day of the week, holiday, and precipitation amount with an accuracy of 81% for the urban library.Published versionThis work was supported by JSPS grant KAKENHI JP 19H04428 and 16K16161