Effects of Electrical Stimulation on Meat Quality of Lamb and Goat Meat

Effect of various voltage of electrical stimulation (ES) on meat quality of lamb and goat was investigated by using a total of 36 animals at 3–5 years old. Constant 50 Hz frequency and 50, 100, and 250 V, 90 sec of ES were administered to 1/2 carcasses and were examined according their textural, physicochemical, and sensorial characteristics. ES decreased the pH values of lamb and goat meat, and accelerated the rigor mortis (P < 0.05). Additionally, ES enhanced the water activity, water-holding capacity, and drip loss of both animals. Shear force varied between lamb and goat meat, and tenderness was improved depending on voltage range used (P < 0.001). ES caused difference in instrumental colour (CIE L∗, a∗, b∗) values of lamb and goat meat compared with the control groups (P < 0.05) during aging period at 4°C. Sensorial characteristics were also improved with various levels of ES treatments. In conclusion, ES had positive effects on meat quality of lamb and goat, in contrast to undesirable consumer preferences

Determination of Mould and Aflatoxin Contamination in Tarhana, a Turkish Fermented Food

Tarhana is a popular traditional Turkish cereal-based fermented food product mainly produced at home or at home-scale level. Some certain mould species can grow even at low moisture and pH values and produce aflatoxins in food. This study was conducted to determine aflatoksin levels in tarhana. For this purpose, a total of 138 tarhana powder samples were collected from bazaars in Istanbul and analyzed for aflatoxins, mould contamination, and some physco-chemical parameters. As a result, 32 out of 138 tarhana samples (23.2%) were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins in the range of 0.7–16.8 μg/kg, whereas 29 samples contained Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) ranging from 0.2–13.2 μg/kg. All samples (100%) contaminated with moulds in the range of 1.4 × 101 –5.8 × 107cfu/g. The average pH, moisture and aw results were detected as 3.82, 12.71%, and 0.695, respectively

Effects of High-Oxygen Modified Atmosphere Packaging on the Microbiological Quality and Shelf Life of Tekirdag Kofte: A Turkish Type Meatball

Effects of different concentrations of O-2/CO2/N-2 in modified atmosphere packaging on the microbiological quality and shelf-life of Tekirdag kofte (a Turkish type meatball) was investigated. For this purpose, meatballs were separately packaged under aerobic and various gas mixture conditions of 80:20:0, 60:20:20, 70:30:0 and 60:40:0/O-2:CO2:N-2. Packages were stored at refrigerator temperature (4 +/- 1 degrees C) for 12 days and examined microbiologically comparing with pH and oxidative changes during storage. As a result, the quality and shelf-life of meatballs under various gas compositions were improved; microbial growth was delayed due to increasing level of CO2 usage and shelf-life was increased by up to 8 days

Analysis of hematological indicators via explainable artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of acute heart failure: a retrospective study

IntroductionAcute heart failure (AHF) is a serious medical problem that necessitates hospitalization and often results in death. Patients hospitalized in the emergency department (ED) should therefore receive an immediate diagnosis and treatment. Unfortunately, there is not yet a fast and accurate laboratory test for identifying AHF. The purpose of this research is to apply the principles of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) to the analysis of hematological indicators for the diagnosis of AHF.MethodsIn this retrospective analysis, 425 patients with AHF and 430 healthy individuals served as assessments. Patients’ demographic and hematological information was analyzed to diagnose AHF. Important risk variables for AHF diagnosis were identified using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) feature selection. To test the efficacy of the suggested prediction model, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), a 10-fold cross-validation procedure was implemented. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), F1 score, Brier score, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) were all computed to evaluate the model’s efficacy. Permutation-based analysis and SHAP were used to assess the importance and influence of the model’s incorporated risk factors.ResultsWhite blood cell (WBC), monocytes, neutrophils, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), red cell distribution width-standard deviation (RDW-SD), RDW-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) values were significantly higher than the healthy group (p &lt; 0.05). On the other hand, erythrocyte, hemoglobin, basophil, lymphocyte, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet, hematocrit, mean erythrocyte hemoglobin (MCH), and procalcitonin (PCT) values were found to be significantly lower in AHF patients compared to healthy controls (p &lt; 0.05). When XGBoost was used in conjunction with LASSO to diagnose AHF, the resulting model had an AUC of 87.9%, an F1 score of 87.4%, a Brier score of 0.036, and an F1 score of 87.4%. PDW, age, RDW-SD, and PLT were identified as the most crucial risk factors in differentiating AHF.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that XAI combined with ML could successfully diagnose AHF. SHAP descriptions show that advanced age, low platelet count, high RDW-SD, and PDW are the primary hematological parameters for the diagnosis of AHF

Determination of aflatoxin M-1 levels in Turkish White and Kashar Cheeses made of experimentally contaminated raw milk

Aflatoxin M-1 (AFM(1)) is the hydroxylated metabolite of aflatoxin B-1 and may be found in milk and dairy products such as cheese. This study was aimed to determine the AFM(1) levels in Turkish White and fresh Kashar Cheese which were produced with experimentally contaminated raw milk and to observe the change of AFM(1) distribution in White cheese during ripening. For this purpose, AFM(1) was added in concentrations of 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 mu g/L of milk and then, the cheeses were produced according to their technologies. Whey, boiling water, cheese and brine samples were examined for AFM(1) residues. The quantitative analysis of AFM(1) was performed by ELISA using the AFM(1) test kit. The toxin remained as 42.87% and 34.73% in Turkish White and Kashar cheese samples, respectively. The change of AFM(1) concentration during the White cheese ripening of 0-90 days was recorded as the average of 9.8%

Investigation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Foods

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) also known as polycyclic organic matter or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons are a class of carcinogenic chemical compounds originating from incomplete combustion of organic matter and geochemical processes. Exposure to PAHs is a major concern for human health. Breathing the air near coal-tar, asphalt production or applications, cigarette smoke, wood smoke, vehicle exhausts, fumes from chimneys, inhalation of polluted air, eating grilled or charred meats, any food with PAHs deposited on them during growing or processing, with drinking water and coal-tar-containing medications are the main sources of PAH exposure. Under the guidance of the latest literatures, the emphasis in this review will be placed. on the general information about PAH compounds, contamination sources, human exposures, analytical methods and regulations

Some residues and contaminants in milk and dairy products

Milk and dairy products are important components of the human diet. Some residue and contaminants in milk and dairy products can be classified as antibiotics, mycotoxins, anthelinintics, pesticides, dioxins, hormones and heavy metals. Presence of the residual concentrations of these compounds in milk and dairy products can be an important direct indicator for the quality status of the milk and their products, because these agents can easily transported to milk and dairy products which are evaluated the most important contamination Sources for the human health. In this review, some residue and contaminants and surveys on this subject in Turkey were considered