A Wavelet Packets Approach to Electrocardiograph Baseline Drift Cancellation

Baseline wander elimination is considered a classical problem. In electrocardiography (ECG) signals, baseline drift can influence the accurate diagnosis of heart disease such as ischemia and arrhythmia. We present a wavelet-transform- (WT-) based search algorithm using the energy of the signal in different scales to isolate baseline wander from the ECG signal. The algorithm computes wavelet packet coefficients and then in each scale the energy of the signal is calculated. Comparison is made and the branch of the wavelet binary tree corresponding to higher energy wavelet spaces is chosen. This algorithm is tested using the data record from MIT/BIH database and excellent results are obtained

The influence of yeast level and fermentation temperature on Ochratoxin A decrement during bread making

Ochratoxin A (OTA) occurrence in cereals is a permanent challenge in human health. In recent years, some studies have focused on the role of yeasts as adsorbing tools to eliminate OTA. The aim of the current research was to study the effects of different variables including Saccharomyces cerevisiae amount and the fermentation temperature on the reduction of OTA during bread baking. For this purpose, the OTA was spiked to the flour and then the bread was prepared. OTA levels in flour, dough, and bread were measured by the high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (HPLC‐FD). The results revealed that yeast level and fermentation temperature had a significant effect on OTA reduction. The increase of the amount of S. cerevisiae from 1% to 2% w/w and the fermentation temperature from 25ºC to 30ºC resulted in the increment of OTA reduction from 31.17% to 59.41%. During baking, OTA reduction was 19.21%. In general, the utilization of 2% w/w S. cerevisiae and the fermentation temperature of 35 ºC could reduce considerable amount of OTA in the wheat bread

Effect of Osmo-air drying on quality of dried onion

Osmotic dehydration is a process of partial removing of water from food by immersion of the product in a hypertonic aqueous solution. This study aimed to investigate  the effect of osmotic dehydration on quality of hot- air- dried onion. Azarshahr red onion variety was used for the experiments. In order to define an optimum condition for osmo-drying process, some parameters including temperature, time and concentration of dehydration solution was evaluated. Based on water loss(WL) and solid gained (SG), the best treatment of temperature, time and concentration of dehydration solution were determined as 40˚C, 1 h and %5 respectively. One series of samples were prepared and dried in oven at 65˚C for 12 h. These samples were packed in two different ways including aluminium foil under the pressure of inert gas and in polyethylene packs. The samples were kept in ambient temperature. Every 2 months during storage period, parameters  such as rehydration and organoleptic properties were performed on the samples.The results organoleptic test revealed that, the quality of samples decreases after 4 months of storage.Moreover, the samples that were packed by polyethylene showed the most desirable properties. Among osmotic samples, the degree of rehydration of the sample prepared with concentration of % 5 in 40˚C in 1 hour and packed in foil under inert gas, was greater than the other osmotic samples. Rehydration parameters had direct relation with temperature and the time of rehydration. Therefore, the amount of rehydration improves with increasing time and temperature

Twelve-Year Cardiovascular and Mortality Risk in Relation to Smoking Habits in Type 2 Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Men: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study.

INTRODUCTION:To examine the associations between smoking and cardiovascular disease (CVD) / coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality events in men with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a Middle Eastern cohort during a median follow-up of 12 years. METHODS:The study population included 2230 subjects aged ≥ 40 years, free from CVD, comprised of 367 participants with diabetes (21.2% current smokers) and 1863 without (27.3% current smokers). Multivariate Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for smoking (considering different definitions) for those with and without diabetes. Potential confounding factors including age, body mass index, estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and educational level were entered in the multivariate analysis. RESULTS:In men with diabetes, the HR (95% CI) of comparing current and non-smokers was 1.25 (0.74-2.12) for incident CHD, 1.52 (0.96-2.40) for CVD and 2.10 (1.27-3.47) for mortality events; the corresponding values for men without diabetes were 1.65 (1.24-2.20), 1.70 (1.30-2.22) and 1.72 (1.14-2.58), respectively (all P values for interactions > 0.46). After pooling past smokers with current smokers, among diabetic individuals there was no significant risk for CVD [1.29 (0.89-1.86)] or mortality events [1.25 (0.81-1.92)]; however, among non-diabetic individuals the HRs of current/past smokers reached significant levels for CVD [1.53 (1.23-1.91)] but not for mortality outcomes (all P values for interactions > 0.51). CONCLUSIONS:The strength of the associations between smoking habits and incident CVD/CHD and mortality events from all causes did not differ significantly among diabetic and non-diabetic participants. Therefore, a comprehensive community-based smoking prevention program is important, given the increasing trend of smoking among the Iranian population regardless of diabetes status