Effect of the storage temperature on the quality of eggs inoculated with Salmonella Enteritidis onto shell.

This study explored the temperature-dependent effect on the growth characteristics of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) on eggshell toward identifying an appropriate storage temperature for unwashed eggs in an actual distribution environment. Among the test storage temperatures (10 °C, 25 °C, and 35 °C), 25 °C was determined to be an appropriate storage temperature, with no effect of changing temperature on the control of SE on eggshell. Regarding the effect of the temperature on egg quality, the quality indicators of egg such as Haugh unit, yolk index, albumin index, and albumin pH were significantly maintained. These results indicated that unwashed eggs should be distributed at 25 °C for SE control, and the storage temperature should be below 10 °C from at least day 4 onward after the start of distribution to maintain egg quality. This study will assist for safety management of unwashed egg in an actual distribution environment.

Comparative Evaluation of Egg Quality in Response to Temperature Variability: From Farm to Table Exposure Scenarios.

This study aimed to develop appropriate temperature management practices and provide scientific evidence to support the development of sell-by-date guidance for eggs. Washed and unwashed eggs were subjected to storage under six different scenarios, and both types of eggs were stored at temperatures up to 35°C to evaluate the sell-by-date. Despite temperature fluctuations or continuous storage at 30°C for 5 days, subsequent storage at 10°C resulted in significantly higher Haugh unit and yolk index on day 15. These results indicate that refrigerating eggs from retail sales until consumption is effective for egg quality management, despite the exposure of up to 35°C during distribution. In terms of sell-by-date evaluation, washed eggs retained class B quality for an additional 37 days beyond the recommended sell-by-date at 15°C, which is above the regulated storage temperature. However, unwashed eggs maintained class B quality for approximately 20 days at 30°C-35°C, emphasizing the need for sell-by-date guidelines for unwashed eggs. This study is the first to provide appropriate egg-handling practices based on the actual distribution environment in Korea.

Simulation of contamination and elimination of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1) from the washing process when handling of potatoes.

Root vegetables, which are in close contact with soil, are particularly vulnerable to soil contamination or decay as they can be contaminated from multiple sources, including primary production and processing. This study investigated effective washing conditions to reduce the microbial contamination of potatoes by using soaking and shaking in the washing process. The reduction of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1) in four washing processes (soaking only, shaking only, combined soaking-shaking I, and combined soaking-shaking I-shaking II) were compared. The numbers of E. coli and L. monocytogenes decreased by 0.55 and 0.49 log CFU/g after shaking only, 1.96 and 1.80 log CFU/g after soaking, 2.07 and 1.67 log CFU/g after soaking-shaking I, and 2.42 and 1.90 log CFU/g after soaking-shaking I-shaking II, respectively. The combined process reduced the microbial contamination more efficiently than shaking only. The reduction of E. coli in the washing process was higher than that of L. monocytogenes by approximately 0.5 logs. MNV-1 showed a reduction in the soaking and shaking steps by 1.34 and 1.98 log GC/100 g, with no significant reduction observed after the combination process. A combined process of soaking-shaking I-shaking II was effective to eliminate E. coli, L. monocytogenes, and MNV-1 from potatoes during the handling and washing process.

Ground Moving Target Tracking Filter Considering Terrain and Kinematics.

This paper addresses ground target tracking (GTT) for airborne radar. Digital terrain elevation data (DTED) are widely used for GTT as prior information under the premise that ground targets are constrained on terrain. Existing works fuse DTED to a tracking filter in a way that adopts only the assumption that the position of the target is constrained on the terrain. However, by kinematics, it is natural that the velocity of the moving ground target is constrained as well. Furthermore, DTED provides neither continuous nor accurate measurement of terrain elevation. To overcome such limitations, we propose a novel soft terrain constraint and a constraint-aided particle filter. To resolve the difficulties in applying the DTED to the GTT, first, we reconstruct the ground-truth terrain elevation using a Gaussian process and treat DTED as a noisy observation of it. Then, terrain constraint is formulated as joint soft constraints of position and velocity. Finally, we derive a Soft Terrain Constrained Particle Filter (STC-PF) that propagates particles while approximately satisfying the terrain constraint in the prediction step. In the numerical simulations, STC-PF outperforms the Smoothly Constrained Kalman Filter (SCKF) in terms of tracking performance because SCKF can only incorporate hard constraints.