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Artificial Intelligence ... what have we learned through natural ignorance?
During the late '80s and early '90s, I had the opportunity to work with expert systems in real-time production environments. I found artificial intelligence, or AI, to be thoroughly intriguing. I even went so far as to write an expert system...
Choosing, Cleansing and Charging Crystals
I have written a lot of articles about gemstones, rocks and crystals for this site that describe which ones are best for prosperity, love and protection. If you look back in the archives here, you will find lots of information about gemstones,...
Human Cultural Evolution(?)
Human Cultural Evolution: If we think about it at this juncture, clearly there is little to commend this Judaeo/ Christian/Islamic God if he is represented by the people who led this church. Pagans have a far better history and stand foursquare...
Mind Over Matter - Proven
THE ACTS OF CREATION: The following quote is a review I found on Amazon.com for a book I have only read about but seems to confirm many other things. The book is written by a former Chair of Material Sciences at Stanford and I think it fits the...
New Hope for Alzheimer's Treatment
There is now widespread agreement among research scientists and medical professionals that Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a problem quickly growing to vast proportions. As the life expectancy of Americans continues to rise, increasing the percentage of...
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What does statistics have to do with drug contaminated bank notes?
Does the topic pique your curiosity? Are you wondering what
indeed does statistics have to do with drug contaminated notes?
Let's suffice it to say: Everything. Yes, though the connection
may sound implausible, a team of conscientious and dedicated
researchers have discovered that a multivariate statistical
technique called Mass-spectroscopy can aid policemen in
detecting drug contaminated notes. A process that is
significantly faster than other previous methods, the
Mass-Spectroscopy method helps detect a distinct pattern of
contamination on banknotes. One that is different from the notes
seen in general circulation.
Before delving into the process of drug detection, it would be
good to deliberate on the meaning of Mass spectroscopy. Glossing
over the technicalities, Mass Spectroscopy can simply be
described as a technique used to determine the mass-to-charge
(m/z) ratio of ions. This analysis method helps find the
composition of a physical sample by generating a mass spectrum
that represents the masses of the sample's components. Effective
multivariate softwares like The Unscrambler® help researchers
perform Mass spectroscopy on data derived from a multitude of
industry verticals.
It is this seemingly easy- sounding technique that has emerged
as a critical tool to aid detection and control of drug-
trafficking. What makes it a handy and effective tool is that
Mass spectrometry can help determine the chemical nature of a
compound, even if only a minute sample is available.
In this process, banknotes recovered during police raids were
heated to 285º C to vaporize the chemicals. The vapors were
sucked into the detector and the chemicals smashed into
fragments. The short heating time helped remove sufficient
material from the notes without destroying them (a crucial
consideration to be kept in mind while conducting forensic
work).The logic behind this method is that if the notes were to
contain heroin, the mass spectrometer would detect two product
ions namely, (m/z 328 and 268) from the protonated molecular ion
(m/z 370). The presence of these 2 ions on a bank note would
confirm the presence
of diacetylmorphine (DAM), the major active
component of heroin.
What makes this method the apt solution is that: by using this
method around 500 notes can be analysed in one hour, including
the strict paperwork that is required for train of evidence. A
typical GC/MS analysis of 500 notes, on the other hand, would
have taken about 170 hours. In a scenario where time is of the
utmost importance, Mass spectrometry can prove to be timely
solution to the crime fighters. Tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis),
Cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy) and DAM (heroin) are the main targets to
be tested through this method. Other drugs such as amphetamine
or cutting agents, such as caffeine, will be added as required.
The rapid analytical technique ensures the accurate analysis of
banknotes. Researchers opine that the techniques may be easily
adapted to the analysis of drugs found on other surfaces such as
mobile phones, car interiors and house furniture, in the near
future.
Multivariate statistical methods like Mass spectrometry are
extremely useful in research; as they have the ability to
compress data into a more easily managed form. This can assist
in visualizing, for example, how a given sample relates to other
samples.
Multivariate analysis is practically essential in the
fingerprinting approaches, such as the case discussed here.
While there are quite a few established statistical software
that can help investigators analyze and predict results of
spectral data, The Unscrambler® is the most comprehensive
software available that can aid researchers, cops,
spectroscopists and chemometricians in making an intelligent
interpretation of the spectral data procured from bank notes.
About the author:
Mahalakshmi is a Marketing Writer for CAMO Group, the creator of
the mulivariate data analysis tool
The Unscrambler®. The Unscrambler® can be used extensively
across a multitude of industry verticals including, Forensics;
Pharmaceutical & Biotech; Agriculture and Environmental; Oil and
Gas; Food Science and Nutrition; Chemicals; Polymers & Specialty
Materials.
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