Browsing by Author "Prada-Tiedemann, Paola A. (TTU)"
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Item Canine detection of explosives under adverse environmental conditions with and without acclimation training(2024) Kane, Sarah A. (TTU); Fernandez, Lauren S. (TTU); Huff, Dillon E. (TTU); Prada-Tiedemann, Paola A. (TTU); Hall, Nathaniel J. (TTU)Canines are one of the best biological detectors of energetic materials available; however, canine detection of explosives is impacted by a number of factors, including environmental conditions. The objectives of this study were: 1) determine how canine detection limits vary when both the canine and odorant are tested in varying temperature and humidity conditions (canine and odor interactive effects); and 2) determine if an acclimatization plan can improve detection limits in an adverse environmental condition. Eight working line canines were trained to detect four energetics: prill ammonium nitrate (AN), Composition 4 (C4), trinitrotoluene (TNT) and double base smokeless powder (SP). In Experiment 1, canines completed a 3-alternative forced choice 3-down-1-up staircase threshold assessment in five environmental conditions: 40°C and 70% relative humidity (RH), 40°C and 40% RH, 0°C and 90% RH, 0°C and 50% RH and 21°C and 50% RH. Canines showed a 3.5-fold detection limit increase (poorer detection) for C4 in 40°C and 70% RH compared to their detection limit at 21°C and 50% RH. In Experiment 2, the eight canines were split into two groups (n = 4), control and acclimation groups. The control group completed the threshold assessment for C4 at 21°C and 50% RH each day for 20 days, with 5 minutes of petting prior to testing. The acclimation group completed the same assessment daily starting at 21°C and 50% RH but temperature and RH were incremented daily over the course of 6 days to the 40°C and 70% RH condition. After the initial six days, the acclimation group completed daily assessments at 40°C and 70% RH condition for the remainder of the experiment. All acclimatization group canines started their session with 5 minutes of toy or food retrieves. Detection limits for C4 for all dogs were tested in 40°C and 70% RH on day 11 and day 22. The acclimatization plan improved detection limits in the 40°C and 70% RH condition for C4 compared to the non-acclimated group. In this set of experiments, canine detection limits for four explosive odorants were found to vary based on environmental condition and were mostly driven by impacts on the canine rather than odor availability. The acclimatization plan did result in lower detection limits (i.e., increased performance). Future work should determine what factor (exercise or environmental exposure) is more effective in acclimatization for odor detection work.Item Challenges for the strategic inclusion of canine teams in security and defense in Colombia Desafíos para la inclusión estratégica de equipos caninos en seguridad y defensa en Colombia(2023) Reátiga Rincón, Omar Edgardo; Rojas-Guevara, Jorge Ulises; Prada-Tiedemann, Paola A. (TTU); Ochoa Torres, Martha XimenaIntending to propose inter-institutional actions to involve canine teams in security and defense in Colombia, this article conducted a literature review between 2010 and 2020 to identify the multidimensional security model and the use of canine teams. As a result, their use in various tasks is evidenced, but their strategic inclusion in environmental protection, forensic sciences, and criminal investigation, among other areas, is still lacking. To this end, guidelines are proposed to advance in this area based on the Defense and Security Policy. It is necessary to strengthen the selection, training, certification, and performance processes to redesign protocols, standards, and functions for the use of canine teams in coordinated operations among various forces.Item Chemical Characterization of Human Body Odor Headspace Components(2024) Medrano, A. Celeste (TTU); Cantu, Ariela (TTU); Aviles-Rosa, Edgar O. (TTU); Hall, Nathaniel J. (TTU); Maughan, Michele N.; Gadberry, Jenna D.; Prada-Tiedemann, Paola A. (TTU)This study focused on evaluating human body odor volatiles using a chamber approach. Ten participants were asked to sit inside the chamber for 1 h, while using SPME as the extraction technique for vapor sampling. A total of 105 compounds were detected across participants, with nonanal having the highest frequency. PCA statistical analysis depicted tighter clustering in female whole-body odor profiles when compared to males, thus corroborating gender odor differences. Concurrently, various biospecimens (hand, axillary, breath) from the same participants allowed for a comparison between whole-body and individual biospecimen odor signatures. When comparing whole-body sampling and distinctive biospecimens, nonanal and decanal were the only odor volatiles shared. Statistical clustering depicted higher similarity within the odor profiles of individual biospecimens compared to odor profiles of the whole body, indicating distinctiveness of the odor chemical landscape as a function of sampling region. Overall, this study demonstrated that SPME-GC/MS methodology was successful in the extraction, detection, and identification of previously reported human scent volatiles when employing the human chamber for whole-body sampling. Our presented testing paradigm allows for a direct comparison of odor volatiles across the full body and specific body locations that allows odor markers to be furthered exploited for diagnostic and biological detection contexts.