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Turunen S, Paavilainen S, Vepsäläinen J, Hielm-Björkman A. Scent Detection Threshold of Trained Dogs to Eucalyptus Hydrolat. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1083. [PMID: 38612322 PMCID: PMC11010826 DOI: 10.3390/ani14071083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 03/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Dogs' (Canis lupus familiaris) sense of smell is based on a unique anatomy and physiology that enables them to find and differentiate low concentrations of odor molecules. This ability is exploited when dogs are trained as search, rescue, or medical detection dogs. We performed a three-part study to explore the scent detection threshold of 15 dogs to an in-house-made Eucalyptus hydrolat. Here, decreasing concentrations of the hydrolat were tested using a three-alternative forced-choice method until the first incorrect response, which defined the limit of scent detection for each tested dog. Quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to identify and measure the contents of ten commercial Eucalyptus hydrolats, which are used in a dog scent training sport called "nose work". In this study, the dogs' limit of detection initially ranged from 1:104 to 1:1023 but narrowed down to 1:1017-1:1021 after a training period. The results show that, with training, dogs learn to discriminate decreasing concentrations of a target scent, and that dogs can discriminate Eucalyptus hydrolat at very low concentrations. We also detected different concentrations of eucalyptol and lower alcohols in the hydrolat products and highlight the importance of using an identical source of a scent in training a dog for participation in canine scent sport competitions and in olfactory research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soile Turunen
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland; (S.T.); (J.V.)
| | - Susanna Paavilainen
- Wise Nose-Finnish Odor Separation Association, 00790 Helsinki, Finland;
- Nose Academy Ltd., 70780 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Jouko Vepsäläinen
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland; (S.T.); (J.V.)
| | - Anna Hielm-Björkman
- DogRisk Research Group, Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Kiiroja L, Stewart SH, Gadbois S. Can scent-detection dogs detect the stress associated with trauma cue exposure in people with trauma histories? A proof-of-concept study. FRONTIERS IN ALLERGY 2024; 5:1352840. [PMID: 38606088 PMCID: PMC11006987 DOI: 10.3389/falgy.2024.1352840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an impairing mental health condition with high prevalence among military and general populations alike. PTSD service dogs are a complementary and alternative intervention needing scientific validation. We investigated whether dogs can detect putative stress-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath of people with trauma histories (54% with PTSD) exposed to personalized trauma cues. Methods Breath samples were collected from 26 humans over 40 experimental sessions during a calm (control breath sample) and stressed state induced by trauma cue exposure (target breath sample). Two scent detection canines were presented with the samples in a two alternative forced choice (2AFC) discrimination and yes/no detection task. The 2AFC task assessed the dogs' ability to discriminate between the two states within the breath samples of one individual. The detection task determined their ability to generalize the target odour across different individuals and different stressful events of one individual. Signal Detection Theory was applied to assess dogs' sensitivity, specificity, precision, and response bias. Results The dogs performed at ∼90% accuracy across all sample sets in the discrimination experiment, and at 74% and 81% accuracy, respectively, in the detection experiment. Further analysis of dog olfactory performance in relation to human donor self-reported emotional responses to trauma cue exposure suggested the dogs may have been detecting distinct endocrine stress markers. One dog's performance correlated with the human donors' self-reported fear responses and the other dog's performance correlated with the human donors' self-reported shame responses. Based on these correlations between dog performance and donor self-report measures, we speculate that the VOCs each dog was detecting likely originated from the sympathetico-adreno-medullary axis (SAM; adrenaline, noradrenaline) in the case of the first dog and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA; glucocorticoids) in the case of the second dog. Conclusion Our proof-of-concept study is the first to demonstrate that some dogs can detect putative VOCs emitted by people with trauma histories when experiencing distress theoretically associated with the intrusion and arousal/reactivity symptoms of PTSD. Results have potential to improve the effectiveness and training protocol of PTSD service dogs with a focus on enhancing their alert function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Kiiroja
- Canine Olfaction Lab, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Sherry H. Stewart
- Canine Olfaction Lab, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
- Mood, Anxiety, and Addictions Comorbidity (MAAC) Lab, Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
| | - Simon Gadbois
- Canine Olfaction Lab, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
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Maughan MN, Gadberry JD, Sharpes CE, Buckley PE, Miklos AE, Furton KG, DeGreeff LE, Hall NJ, Greubel RR, Sloan KB. Calibrating canines-a universal detector calibrant for detection dogs. FRONTIERS IN ALLERGY 2024; 5:1366596. [PMID: 38533355 PMCID: PMC10963624 DOI: 10.3389/falgy.2024.1366596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Since the advent of the Universal Detector Calibrant (UDC) by scientists at Florida International University in 2013, this tool has gone largely unrecognized and under-utilized by canine scent detection practitioners. The UDC is a chemical that enables reliability testing of biological and instrumental detectors. Training a biological detector, such as a scent detection canine, to respond to a safe, non-target, and uncommon compound has significant advantages. For example, if used prior to a search, the UDC provides the handler with the ability to confirm the detection dog is ready to work without placing target odor on site (i.e., a positive control), thereby increasing handler confidence in their canine and providing documentation of credibility that can withstand legal scrutiny. This review describes the UDC, summarizes its role in canine detection science, and addresses applications for UDC within scent detection canine development, training, and testing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Patricia E. Buckley
- Biochemistry Branch, U.S. Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, United States
| | - Aleksandr E. Miklos
- Biochemistry Branch, U.S. Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, United States
| | - Kenneth G. Furton
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Lauryn E. DeGreeff
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
- Formerly of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Nathaniel J. Hall
- Department of Animal and Food Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
| | | | - Katylynn B. Sloan
- Technical Services Division, United States Secret Service, Washington, DC, United States
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Aviles-Rosa EO, Medrano AC, Cantu A, Prada-Tiedemann PA, Maughan MN, Gadberry JD, Greubel RR, Hall NJ. Development of an automated human scent olfactometer and its use to evaluate detection dog perception of human scent. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299148. [PMID: 38427659 PMCID: PMC10906837 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Working Dogs have shown an extraordinary ability to utilize olfaction for victim recovery efforts. Although instrumental analysis has chemically characterized odor volatiles from various human biospecimens, it remains unclear what perceptually constitutes human scent (HS) for dogs. This may be in part due to the lack of methodology and equipment to train and evaluate HS perception. The aims of this research were 1) to develop an automated human scent olfactometer (AHSO) to present HS to dogs in a controlled setting and 2) use the AHSO to evaluate dogs' response to different scented articles and individual components of HS. A human volunteer was placed in a clear acrylic chamber and using a vacuum pump and computer-controlled valves, the headspace of this chamber was carried to one of three ports in a different room. Dogs were trained to search all three ports of the olfactometer and alert to the one containing HS. In Experiment 1 and 2, the AHSO was validated by testing two dogs naïve to HS (Experiment 1) and five certified Search and Rescue (SAR) teams naïve to the apparatus (Experiment 2). All dogs showed sensitivity and specificity to HS > 95% in the apparatus. In Experiment 3, we used a spontaneous generalization paradigm to evaluate generalization from the HS chamber to different scented articles exposed to the same volunteer and to a breath sample. Dogs' response rate to the different scented articles was < 10% but exceeded 40% for the breath sample. In Experiment 4, we replicated this result by re-testing spontaneous generalization to breath and when the volunteer had breath exhausted/removed from the chamber. Dogs' response rate to breath alone was 88% and only 50% when breath was removed. Altogether, the data indicate that exhaled breath is an important and salient component of HS under these conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar O. Aviles-Rosa
- Department of Animal & Food Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America
| | - Andrea C. Medrano
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, Forensic Analytical Chemistry and Odor Profiling Laboratory, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America
| | - Ariela Cantu
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, Forensic Analytical Chemistry and Odor Profiling Laboratory, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America
| | - Paola A. Prada-Tiedemann
- Department of Environmental Toxicology, Forensic Analytical Chemistry and Odor Profiling Laboratory, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - Nathaniel J. Hall
- Department of Animal & Food Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, United States of America
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Olfactory threshold of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) to cold-killed Spotted Lantern Fly eggs. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2023.105880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
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Meller S, Al Khatri MSA, Alhammadi HK, Álvarez G, Alvergnat G, Alves LC, Callewaert C, Caraguel CGB, Carancci P, Chaber AL, Charalambous M, Desquilbet L, Ebbers H, Ebbers J, Grandjean D, Guest C, Guyot H, Hielm-Björkman A, Hopkins A, Kreienbrock L, Logan JG, Lorenzo H, Maia RDCC, Mancilla-Tapia JM, Mardones FO, Mutesa L, Nsanzimana S, Otto CM, Salgado-Caxito M, de los Santos F, da Silva JES, Schalke E, Schoneberg C, Soares AF, Twele F, Vidal-Martínez VM, Zapata A, Zimin-Veselkoff N, Volk HA. Expert considerations and consensus for using dogs to detect human SARS-CoV-2-infections. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:1015620. [PMID: 36569156 PMCID: PMC9773891 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1015620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Meller
- Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany,*Correspondence: Sebastian Meller,
| | | | - Hamad Khatir Alhammadi
- International Operations Department, Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Guadalupe Álvarez
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Guillaume Alvergnat
- International Operations Department, Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Lêucio Câmara Alves
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Chris Callewaert
- Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Charles G. B. Caraguel
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia
| | - Paula Carancci
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Anne-Lise Chaber
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia
| | - Marios Charalambous
- Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany
| | - Loïc Desquilbet
- École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, IMRB, Université Paris Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | | | | | - Dominique Grandjean
- École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Université Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Claire Guest
- Medical Detection Dogs, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Hugues Guyot
- Clinical Department of Production Animals, Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals & Health Research Unit, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Anna Hielm-Björkman
- Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Amy Hopkins
- Medical Detection Dogs, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Lothar Kreienbrock
- Department of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany
| | - James G. Logan
- Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom,Arctech Innovation, The Cube, Dagenham, United Kingdom
| | - Hector Lorenzo
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | | | - Fernando O. Mardones
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal and Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Leon Mutesa
- Center for Human Genetics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda,Rwanda National Joint Task Force COVID-19, Kigali, Rwanda
| | | | - Cynthia M. Otto
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Marília Salgado-Caxito
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal and Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | | | | | - Esther Schalke
- Bundeswehr Medical Service Headquarters, Koblenz, Germany
| | - Clara Schoneberg
- Department of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany
| | - Anísio Francisco Soares
- Department of Animal Morphology and Physiology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Friederike Twele
- Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany
| | - Victor Manuel Vidal-Martínez
- Laboratorio de Parasitología y Patología Acuática, Departamento de Recursos del Mar, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN Unidad Mérida, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Ariel Zapata
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Natalia Zimin-Veselkoff
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal and Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Holger A. Volk
- Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hanover, Germany,Center for Systems Neuroscience Hannover, Hanover, Germany
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Aviles-Rosa EO, Fernandez LS, Collins-Pisano C, Prada-Tiedemann PA, Hall NJ. The use of an intermittent schedule of reinforcement to evaluate detection dogs’ generalization from smokeless-powder. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1609-1620. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01648-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Gallegos S, Aviles-Rosa EO, Hall NJ, PradaTiedemann PA. Headspace Sampling of Smokeless Powder Odor in a Dynamic Airflow Context. Forensic Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2022.100402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Aviles-Rosa EO, McGuinness G, Hall NJ. Case Study: An Evaluation of Detection Dog Generalization to a Large Quantity of an Unknown Explosive in the Field. ANIMALS : AN OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL FROM MDPI 2021; 11:ani11051341. [PMID: 34066869 PMCID: PMC8151250 DOI: 10.3390/ani11051341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary This case study is a series of experiments to investigate a real-life event where two highly trained and certified detection dogs did not find an explosive in a suspicious bag. We tested seven dog teams from the agency in three experiments and confirmed that dogs were able to detect the agency’s training sample in a small quantity (30 g) but not the large amount of the confiscated explosive (13 kg) found in a similar scenario. To further evaluate a possible generalization deficit, we tested dogs with a 30 g subsample of the confiscated explosive, and most of the dogs were able to detect it (but with some decrement) even though they largely failed to detect 13 kg of the same material. Finally, we trained dogs to detect the 30 g subsample until reaching proficiency and found that after training with the small sample, dogs still showed poor generalization to the large-quantity sample until explicit training with the large sample was conducted. Altogether, this series of studies shows the importance of explicitly training for larger quantity finds and has led to changes in agency practices to mitigate future risks. Abstract Two explosive detection dogs were deployed to search a suspicious bag, and failed to detect 13 kg of explosive within. The aim of this research was to further evaluate this incident. First, dog teams (N = 7) searched four bags in a similar scenario. One bag contained the same 13 kg of explosive, two bags were blanks, and the other contained the training sample that the agency routinely used for training. All dogs detected the training sample, but most (5/7) did not alert to the 13 kg sample. Subsequently, dogs received two trials in a line up with a 30 g subsample of the explosive to evaluate whether they could generalize to a smaller quantity. Most dogs (6/7) alerted to the subsample at least once. Finally, dogs were trained with the 30 g subsample and later tested with the 13 kg sample. Only three dogs spontaneously generalized to the large sample after training with the small subsample. Dogs’ alert rate to the 13 kg sample was improved with training in subsequent trials with the 13 kg sample. This result indicates that explosive detection dogs may not generalize to a target odor at a significantly higher quantity relative to the one used in training, highlighting the importance of conducting such training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar O. Aviles-Rosa
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-214, USA;
| | | | - Nathaniel J. Hall
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-214, USA;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-806-834-8924
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