Electronic nose for quality control of Colombian coffee through the detection of defects in "Cup Tests".

Electronic noses (ENs), are used for many applications, but we must emphasize the importance of their application to foodstuffs like coffee. This paper presents a research study about the analysis of Colombian coffee samples for the detection and classification of defects (i.e., using "Cup Tests"), which was conducted at the Almacafé quality control laboratory in Cúcuta, Colombia. The results obtained show that the application of an electronic nose called "A-NOSE", may be used in the coffee industry for the cupping tests. The results show that e-nose technology can be a useful tool for quality control to evaluate the excellence of the Colombian coffee produced by National Federation of Coffee Growers.

Fast identification of Bacteria for Quality Control of Drinking Water through A Static Headspace Sampler Coupled to a Sensory Perception System.

The aim of this study was to develop and implement a methodology composed by a Static Head-Space-Sampler (SHS) coupled to a Sensory Perception System (SPS) for the extraction of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) emitted by bacterial species in the water. The SPS was performed by means of a chamber of 16 Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors and a software with pattern recognition methods for the detection and identification of bacteria. At first, the tests were conducted from the sterile and polluted water with the Escherichia coli bacteria and modifying the incubation temperatures (50 °C, 70 °C and 90 °C), with the objective to obtain an optimal temperature for the distinguishing of species. Furthermore, the capacity of the methodology to distinguish the important compounds was assessed, in this case, E. coli and other bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella oxytoca, which formed similar analytes. The validation of the proposed methodology was done by acquiring water samples from different unitary operations of an aqueduct of the municipality of Toledo (North of Santander, Colombia), which were analyzed by the membrane filter technique in the laboratories of the University of Pamplona, along with the SHS-SPS system. The results showed that it was possible to distinguish polluted water samples in a fast way through the sensory measurement equipment using pattern recognition techniques such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) and a probabilistic neural network (PNN), where a 95% of differentiation was obtained through PCA and 100% of the classification with DFA. The PNN network achieved the 86.6% of success rate with the cross-validation technique "leave one out".

Selectivity Enhancement in Multisensor Systems Using Flow Modulation Techniques.

In this paper, the use of a new technique to obtain transient sensor information is introduced and its usefulness to improve the selectivity of metal oxide gas sensors is discussed. The method is based on modulating the flow of the carrier gas that brings the species to be measured into the sensor chamber. In such a way, the analytes' concentration at the surface of the sensors is altered. As a result, reproducible patterns in the sensor response develop, which carry important information for helping the sensor system, not only to discriminate among the volatiles considered but also to semi-quantify them. This has been proved by extracting features from sensor dynamics using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and by building and validating support vector machine (SVM) classification models. The good results obtained (100% correct identification among 5 volatile compounds and nearly a 89% correct simultaneous identification and quantification of these volatiles), which clearly outperform those obtained when the steady-state response is used, prove the concept behind flow modulation.

Investigación en el pre grado de medicina: una experiencia universitaria formativa / Research in the medicine undergraduate program: an educational university experience / Pesquisa em graduação de medicina: uma experiência universidataria educacional

Introducción: En nuestro país existe una figura denominada semillero de investigación como una herramienta de promoción de la formación integral de los estudiantes, que tiene el objetivo de promover nuevo talento en áreas investigativas que permita la generación de nuevo conocimiento. En consecuencia, el Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Colciencias) y las universidades del país han creado múltiples estrategias para potenciar habilidades investigativas en sus estudiantes. Objetivo: Reflexionar acerca de la importancia de la investigación en el pregrado mediante la estrategia pedagógica de los semilleros de investigación en áreas de la salud. Reflexión: Esta estrategia permite mejorar la formación del estudiante y hacerlo competitivo en el contexto nacional e internacional. Sin embargo, estos esfuerzos no son suficientes pues se carece de recursos económicos, planes curriculares flexibles y docentes capacitados en investigación; todos estos factores, sumados al insuficiente interés de los estudiantes, convierten la tarea en un objetivo difícil de lograr. Conclusión: Los semilleros de investigación forman personas en trabajo colaborativo y desarrollan destrezas que permiten la formación integral de los estudiantes.

Introduction: In our country there is a figure called hotbed of research as a tool to encourage the comprehensive training of students, which aims to promote new talent in investigative areas that allow the generation of new knowledge. Additionally, the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colciencias) and Colombian universities have created multiple strategies to enhance research skills in their students. Objective: To reflect on the importance of research in undergraduate programs by using the hotbed of research teaching strategy in health areas. Reflection: This strategy allows improving students' training and making it more competitive at national and international level. However, these efforts are not enough because it lacks sufficient financial resources, flexible curricula and teachers trained in research; all these factors, along with deficient student interest, transform the task into a difficult goal to achieve. Conclusion: Hotbeds of research educate people in collaborative work, and also develop skills that allow the comprehensive training of students.

Introdução: Na Colômbia existe uma tipo de grupo de estudantes chamado “semillero=sementeira” de pesquisa como uma ferramenta para promover a formação integral dos alunos, que visa promover novos talentos nas áreas da pesquisa com o objetivo de gerar novos conhecimentos. Além disso, o Departamento Administrativo de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Colciencias) e as universidades do país criaram várias estratégias para melhorar as habilidades de pesquisa em seus alunos. Objetivo: refletir sobre a importância da pesquisa com estudantes na graduação como uma estratégia pedagógica do ensino superior, no campo da saúde. Reflexão: Esta estratégia permite melhorar a formação dos alunos e torná-la competitiva a nível nacional e internacional. No entanto, estes esforços não são suficientes porque não conta com recursos financeiros suficientes, currículos flexíveis e professores treinados em pesquisa; todos esses fatores, mais o insuficiente interesse dos alunos, fazem com que o objetivo seja difícil de alcançar. Conclusão: Os grupos de pesquisa com estudantes formam as pessoas no trabalho colaborativo e desenvolvem habilidades que permitem a formação integral dos alunos.