Evaluation of Hygienic Status using ATP Bioluminescence Assay and Food Service Workers' Sanitation Performance in Elderly Welfare Facilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate food sanitation status in elderly welfare facilities and assess the performance of food sanitation practices. Twenty elderly welfare facilities out of 85 located in Seoul with a capacity of fewer than 50 persons participated. The food sanitation status of worktable, kitchen utensils (knives, cutting boards, ladles, spoons), and tableware and bowls were examined by ATP bioluminescence. The results found that the ATP value of knife was the highest. Those of ladles appeared relatively higher than others. Meanwhile, the tableware and bowls, although washed everyday after meals, had the lowest ATP value. This study also conducted a survey on the food sanitation practices of 32 cooking employees in the 20 facilities. Fifty-six percent were in their 40s, and 53% had graduated from high school. More than half (66%) of them had no certification of cooking. Half of the respondents had worked for at least 5 years in food service facilities, and had received food sanitation training. Among them, 31% said they applied food sanitation training while working, and 47% responded the training was very helpful. The foodservice employees demonstrated good food sanitation practices. The results show that food sanitation performance of the workers significantly differed according to their age, education level, total work experience in food service facilities, chef certification, and prior food sanitation experience.

Functional Prediction of Imprinted Genes in Chicken Based on a Mammalian Comparative Expression Network

Little evidence supports the existence of imprinted genes in chicken. Imprinted genes are thought to be intimately connected with the acquisition of parental resources in mammals; thus, the predicted lack of this type of gene in chicken is not surprising, given that they leave their offspring to their own heritance after conception. In this study, we identified several imprinted genes and their orthologs in human, mouse, and zebrafish, including 30 previously identified human and mouse imprinted genes. Next, using the HomoloGene database, we identified six orthologous genes in human, mouse, and chicken; however, no orthologs were identified for SLC22A18, and mouse Ppp1r9a was not included in the HomoloGene database. Thus, from our analysis, four candidate chicken imprinted genes (IGF2, UBE3A, PHLDA2, and GRB10) were identified. To expand our analysis, zebrafish was included, but no probe ID for UBE3A exists in this species. Thus, ultimately, three candidate imprinted genes (IGF2, PHLDA2, and GRB10) in chicken were identified. GRB10 was not significant in chicken and zebrafish based on the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, whereas a weak correlation between PHLDA2 in chicken and human was identified from the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Significant associations between human, mouse, chicken, and zebrafish were found for IGF2 and GRB10 using the Friedman's test. Based on our results, IGF2, PHLDA2, and GRB10 are candidate imprinted genes in chicken. Importantly, the strongest candidate was PHLDA2.

Functional Prediction of Imprinted Genes in Chicken Based on a Mammalian Comparative Expression Network

Little evidence supports the existence of imprinted genes in chicken. Imprinted genes are thought to be intimately connected with the acquisition of parental resources in mammals; thus, the predicted lack of this type of gene in chicken is not surprising, given that they leave their offspring to their own heritance after conception. In this study, we identified several imprinted genes and their orthologs in human, mouse, and zebrafish, including 30 previously identified human and mouse imprinted genes. Next, using the HomoloGene database, we identified six orthologous genes in human, mouse, and chicken; however, no orthologs were identified for SLC22A18, and mouse Ppp1r9a was not included in the HomoloGene database. Thus, from our analysis, four candidate chicken imprinted genes (IGF2, UBE3A, PHLDA2, and GRB10) were identified. To expand our analysis, zebrafish was included, but no probe ID for UBE3A exists in this species. Thus, ultimately, three candidate imprinted genes (IGF2, PHLDA2, and GRB10) in chicken were identified. GRB10 was not significant in chicken and zebrafish based on the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, whereas a weak correlation between PHLDA2 in chicken and human was identified from the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Significant associations between human, mouse, chicken, and zebrafish were found for IGF2 and GRB10 using the Friedman's test. Based on our results, IGF2, PHLDA2, and GRB10 are candidate imprinted genes in chicken. Importantly, the strongest candidate was PHLDA2.