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EigenU 2014 Poster Contest Winners

Mar 2, 2015

Each year, Tuesday evening at Eigenvector University features the PLS_Toolbox/Solo User Poster Session. Prizes are given for the two best posters as judged by the Eigenvector staff, associates, and guest instructors.

At EigenU 2014 there were 10 posters presented by users, plus a couple more from EVRI, which made for a very lively session. Associate Rasmus Bro and guest lecturer Age Smilde, (who was there to lead the “Chemometrics in Metabolomics” course), assisted the Eigenvectorians in choosing the best posters. The winners were Eric Massicotte of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Sarah Nielsen of Janssen Supply Group.

Massicotte displayed “Determination of the Geographic Origin of Tobacco Leaves by NIR.” A Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) model based on the NIR spectra of flue-cured tobacco leaves was developed that classified the samples into the 10 countries of origin. The sensitivity and specificity of the model was found to be greater than 0.92 for all classes except the USA group, which has the largest variability. The technique may be used in the future as a screening tool by the CBSA.

Nielsen presented “Distribution Analysis of Components in the EVRA® Patch by Confocal Raman Microscopy” which she developed with her co-author Amber Mantz. Confocal Raman Microscopy (CRM) images were generated at various locations within EVRA® samples to charaterize drug product and excipient distributions. PLS models were developed to predict relative drug concentration in the patches. Samples were analyzed from time of manufacture to product expiry to determine if changes in drug concentrations occurred. The models indicated that there were no significant changes over the life of the product.

Nielsen and Massicotte each received an Apple iPod nanos engraved with Eigenvector University 2014 Best Poster for their efforts. Good work, and thanks to everybody that presented at EigenU 2014!

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