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Odor & Irritation
Background:
Jim Walker has been investigating odor and irritation since the mid 1970s and in humans since the mid 1980s.
This has often involved his designing new instrumentation and/or new procedures for data collection or processing.
Much of this effort has involved investigation of the roles of the olfactory and trigeminal nerves in responses
(perceptual, behavioral, physiological) to vapor phase chemical stimuli.
Jim is the lead inventor on a patent (37 claims granted) for an automated olfactometer used for quantifying responses of humans to ocular and/or nasal stimulation.
This instrument has been used in a series of studies that elucidated: a) the role of the olfactory nerve in perceptual and respiratory measures of nasal irritation; b) variation within and among individuals in both odor and nasal irritation;
c) EEG responses to detected and undetected odorants and d) ocular-nasal interactions as seen using both perceptual and respiratory endpoints.
Sample
(hypothetical) Projects/Issues:
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My company is in the process of replacing existing flavors and fragrances in a number of our products with new ones that cost significantly less.
We need to do this as rapidly as possible but it is even more important that we not err by doing something that causes perceived product quality or reliability to decline.
We require assistance in the design and implementation of studies that will help us select new formulations, target the ideal strength of each new formulation and then measure very sensitively if our changes result in
perceptible product changes.
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My company has run into some potentially very costly problems in a production step in that malodors and sensory irritants are being introduced. Apparently some of these carry over into the consumer product, resulting in
worrisome complaints that are hard to connect to specific chemical changes.
We have obtained some chemical analyses of the point in our process where the "bad actors" but we need rapid and expert assistance in translating these chemical data into expected sensory outcomes.
It is essential that we be able to get a handle on odor potency, odorant-irritant interactions,
hedonics and odor character/quality.
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My company is getting clobbered by a competitor whose odor counteractant claims are, we suspect,
beyond what can be supported by solid scientific data. We see great financial benefit if this competitor's claims are ruled unsupported and thus seek assistance in devising a sound research study that can be conducted rapidly, will determine if our skepticism is valid and will stand up to hostile attack from our competitor on both legal and scientific grounds.
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Our corporate development group has been asked to enhance consumer appraisal of an excellent line of personal care products that
currently holds a respectable SOM but is slipping steadily. We
suspect the slippage is due to chemicals released from our products that remind customers of the medical or dental environment or convey attributes of "old" or "unhealthy".
We seek assistance in formulating a variety of new fragrances that will be targeted for the different demographic groups that use our product line.
We want to make sure that these changes do not lose customers or make them think any of the products are less
effective. At the same time, we want to ensure that the desired
feature of each product are communicated in ways that increase preference and motivation to purchase.
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Our company has, through serendipity, come up with a set of compounds that are
relatively low in vapor pressure and odor potency but which seem to lessen the irritancy of compounds that they are mixed with (in vapor phase).
We seek assistance in: i) evaluating/characterizing each compound as an odorant (when presented
alone); and ii) quantifying the effect that each has on modifying perceptual and/or respiratory responses to known nasal irritants.
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Our auto company has contracted with a flavor house to produce a set of fragrance formulations to enhance the degree to which the interiors of our most expensive models are perceived as "rich", "sophisticated" and "classic" in terms of indoor air.
We seek assistance in designing and executing studies that select that formulation that has the greatest net positive effect on consumer liking of cabin air, is perceived as unacceptable by the smallest number of potential buyers and has the best persistence over time.
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The organization I represent has been charged with setting occupational exposure limits (taking into account concentration and time) for a set of 100 HPV (high production volume) chemicals.
A component of our work requires that we obtain highly accurate measures of the stimulatory effectiveness of each for ocular and nasal irritation.
We understand the need for tight control of stimulus concentration, collection of sufficient data for quantification of variation and the need for inclusion of physiological as well as self-report endpoints. We seek assistance with the execution of this rather large
effort from inception to design and execution, data processing protocols,
publications and promulgation of standards.
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I represent a law enforcement agency that is recognizing the role that the olfactory systems of our officers can play in the awareness of a crime and evidence-gathering, and we also are becoming aware of serious pitfalls at the intersection of olfactory science and forensics.
One step we are sure we want to make is an assessment each year of the ability of each officer to detect and recognize the odor of at least 10 chemical substances germane to law enforcement. We know that our test methodology must be transparent,
represent the state of advancement in human odor psychophysics, incorporate procedures for dealing with variation within and among
individuals, be one that can be given by in-house
personnel and be able to withstand a wide variety of challenges.
We have ambitions of offering our methodology, once refined,
to governmental and non-governmental organizations but we are not sure about how to
go about this. We seek assistance with the establishment of our test methodology, ensuring that QC standards are
well-grounded in modern science maintained and establishing the link between particular aspects of the job performance of the officers and documented olfactory capabilities.
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