Comparison Of Raw Data Research Articles

Quality Control-A Stepchild in Quantitative Proteomics: A Case Study for the Human CSF Proteome.

Proteomic studies using mass spectrometry (MS)-based quantification are a main approach to the discovery of new biomarkers. However, a number of analytical conditions in front and during MS data acquisition can affect the accuracy of the obtained outcome. Therefore, comprehensive quality assessment of the acquired data plays a central role in quantitative proteomics, though, due to the immense complexity of MS data, it is often neglected. Here, we address practically the quality assessment of quantitative MS data, describing key steps for the evaluation, including the levels of raw data, identification and quantification. With this, four independent datasets from cerebrospinal fluid, an important biofluid for neurodegenerative disease biomarker studies, were assessed, demonstrating that sample processing-based differences are already reflected at all three levels but with varying impacts on the quality of the quantitative data. Specifically, we provide guidance to critically interpret the quality of MS data for quantitative proteomics. Moreover, we provide the free and open source quality control tool MaCProQC, enabling systematic, rapid and uncomplicated data comparison of raw data, identification and feature detection levels through defined quality metrics and a step-by-step quality control workflow.

Evaluation of meteorological reanalysis data over the tropical Western Indian Ocean based on buoy observations in 2022

The Indian Ocean is the least observed of the three oceans, and a large amount of reanalysis data has to be used to study the Indian Ocean. Observations of sea surface winds, temperature, and sea level pressure, measured from Bailong real-time buoy system deployed in the western Indian Ocean, are being used to assess the capabilities of major high-frequency atmospheric reanalysis products in the western Indian Ocean region. During the study period, the atmospheric reanalysis data can accurately reproduce the temperature and sea level pressure fields, but the surface wind fields, especially for the meridional winds, are poorly described. ERA5 provides a better description of temperature and sea level pressure among all datasets. For the surface wind field, the reanalysis dataset overestimate/underestimate the intensity of the zonal/meridional winds, respectively, while the R-2 presents a worse description. Apart from the comparison of raw data, the diurnal variation of the three variables was also evaluated, and the results indicate a significant gap between the observation and reanalysis data. This study suggests that the current high-frequency reanalysis data still have shortcomings in describing atmospheric parameters in the tropical western Indian Ocean region.

Using MKT measures for cross-national comparisons of teacher knowledge: case of Slovakia and Norway

The measures of mathematical knowledge for teaching developed at the University of Michigan in the U.S., have been adapted and used in studies measuring teacher knowledge in several countries around the world. In the adaptation, many of these studies relied on comparisons of item parameters and none of them considered a comparison of raw data. In this article, we take advantage of having access to the raw data from the adaptation pilot studies of the same instrument in Norway and Slovakia (149 practicing elementary teachers in Norway, 134 practicing elementary teachers in Slovakia) that allowed us to compare item parameters and teachers’ ability estimates on the same scale. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the mean scores between the Norwegian and the Slovak teachers in our samples and the paper provides further insight into the issues of cross-national adaptations of measures of teachers’ knowledge and the limitations of the methods commonly applied in the item adaptation research. We show how item adaptations can be refined by combining robust quantitative methods with qualitative data, how decisions on adaptation of individual items depend on context and purpose of the adaptation, and how comparability and heterogeneity of samples affects interpretation of the results.

Parent Perceptions of a College Physical Education Program for Homeschool Students

Although the number of homeschool students in the United States has increased to approximately 2 million K–12 students as of spring 2010, there has been limited research on homeschool families and physical education. In particular, investigations of parent perceptions of homeschool physical education programs are lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the parent perceptions of a college physical education program for homeschool children. Participants included 11 female parents of a child or children enrolled in the homeschool physical education program for 6 weeks. Data were collected through focus group interviews with the 11 parents placed in one of three groups based on the age of their participant(s). In addition, observational field notes were taken before, during, and after each homeschool physical education session. Data were inductively analyzed for themes through constant comparison of raw data. Methodological and investigator triangulation and member checking were utilized and supported trustworthiness. Five main themes emerged from the data from the parent perceptions of physical education and benefits of participating in physical education. For physical education, homeschool parents described a developmentally appropriate curriculum. Further, the theme of negative physical education experiences describes poor physical activity experiences that have influenced parent perceptions of physical education. Homeschool parents recognized multiple benefits of physical education in relation to their children and to the family. At the student participation level, the theme of affective learning describes the social-emotional development experienced by the homeschool children through the physical education program. The theme of student exposure describes other participant benefits of a physical education program. Finally, the theme of impact on family describes the benefits associated with physical education taking place outside of the college physical education program.

Image Analysis for Ultrasound Quality Assurance.

The quality assurance (QA) of ultrasound transducers is often identified as an area requiring continuous development in terms of the tools available to users. Periodic evaluation of the transducers as part of the QA protocol is important, since the quality of the diagnostics. Some of the key criteria determining the process of developing a QA protocol include the complexity of setup, the time required, accuracy, and potential automation to achieve scale. For the current study, a total of eight different ultrasound machines (12 transducers) with linear transducers were obtained separately. The results from these 12 transducers were used to validate the protocol. WAD-QC was used as part of this study to assess in-air reverberation patterns obtained from ultrasound transducers. Initially, three in-air reverberation images obtained from normal transducers and three obtained from defective transducers were used to calculate the uniformity parameters. The results were applied to 12 other images obtained from independent sources. Image processing results with WAD-QC were verified with imageJ. A comparison of raw data for uniformity showed consistency, and using controls based on mean absolute deviation yielded identical results. WAD-QC can be considered as a powerful mechanism for quick, efficient, and accurate analysis of in-air reverberation patterns obtained from ultrasound transducers.

Electricity Demand Forecast of College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan by 2030

Increase in the number of students and staff in the campus has led to increase in the consumption of electricity from the gird. It is important to have reliable electricity plan to meet the future needs and to become self-sufficient. This paper presents a forecast of the electricity demand of the College of Science and Technology until 2030. The historical electricity consumption data from January 2014 until December 2018 was used for the forecast. The future electricity consumption was forecasted using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model in XLSTAT. ARIMA was specified by three order parameters (p, d, q). To identify the model of ARIMA, the autocorrelation function (ACF), and partial autocorrelation function (PACF) were used. The efficiency of the model was checked using root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), and the sum of square error (SSE). The forecast was also validated using the best fit comparison of raw data with the predicted data. The total electricity consumption of the college is forecast to increase from 1.09 MWh in 2018 to 5.75 MWh in 2030 with an average increase of 14.67 % per year. Similarly, electricity consumption in the staff residential zone is projected to increase from 166 MWh in 2018 to 295 MWh in 2030. In the case of student residential zone, the electricity consumption is forecast to increase from 273 MWh in 2018 to 361 MWh by 2030. Keywords: Time series analysis, ARIMA model, electricity demand, demand forecasting. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-30-05 Publication date: October 31 st 2020

Detection of Type, Blended Ratio, and Mixed Ratio of Pu'er Tea by Using Electronic Nose and Visible/Near Infrared Spectrometer.

The objective of this study was to find an intelligent and fast method to detect the type, blended ratio, and mixed ratio of ancient Pu’er tea, which is significant in maintaining order in the Pu’er tea industry. An electronic nose (E-nose) and a visible near infrared spectrometer (VIS/NIR spectrometer) were applied for tea sampling. Feature extraction was conducted using both the traditional method and a convolutional neural network (CNN) technique. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and partial least square regression (PLSR) were applied for pattern recognition. After sampling while using the traditional method, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that the mean differential value of each sensor should be selected as the optimal feature extraction method for E-nose data, and raw data comparison results showed that 19 peak/valley values and two slope values were extracted. While the format of E-nose data was in accord with the input format for CNN, the VIS/NIR spectrometer data required matrixing to meet the format requirements. The LDA and PLSR analysis results showed that CNN has superior detection ability, being able to acquire more local features than the traditional method, but it has the risk of mixing in redundant information, which can act to reduce the detection ability. Multi-source information fusion (E-nose and VIS/NIR spectrometer fusion) can collect more features from different angles to improve the detection ability, but it also contains the risk of adding redundant information, which reduces the detection ability. For practical detection, the type of Pu’er tea should be recognizable using a VIS/NIR spectrometer and the traditional feature extraction method. The blended ratio of Pu’er tea should also be identifiable by using a VIS/NIR spectrometer with traditional feature extraction. Multi-source information fusion with traditional feature extraction should be used if the accuracy requirement is extremely high; otherwise, a VIS/NIR spectrometer with traditional feature extraction is preferred.

Are concrete-concrete bond tests comparable?

The effectiveness and durability of a concrete repair or retrofit is mostly affected by its bond and compatibility to the existing substrate. Although our understanding of concrete-concrete bond has advanced greatly, there remains a major uncertainty in the adoption of a proper methodology to assess the quality of bond, comprising the accuracy of reproducing the stresses that the interface undergoes in a structural application, the problem of disturbed stress paths, size & rate effects, drilling-induced damage, and the possibility of conversions between shear and tensile bond.A discussion on comparability of bond tests in tension and shear is presented. The study is based on a round-robin-like test program in two independent labs in Canada and Austria (UBC, CUAS) and encompasses normal strength, high strength, and fiber reinforced concretes. The raw data comparison is complemented with an investigation of semi-empirical methods and predictive models, conversions between shear and tension coefficients, and suitability/limitations of various methodologies for assessing the effects of fiber reinforcement on bond.

Crystallographic texture can be rapidly determined by electrochemical surface analytics

Orientation affects application-defining properties of crystalline materials. Hence, information in this regard is highly-prized. We show that electrochemical jet processing (EJP), when coupled with accurate metrological appraisal, can characterise crystallographic texture. Implementation of this technique allows localised dissolution to be anisotropic and dependent on etch-rate selectivity, defined by the crystallography. EJP therefore, generates complex, but characteristic topographies. Through rapid surface processing and analysis, textural information can be elucidated. In this study, samples of polycrystalline Al and Ni have been subjected to EJP, and the resulting surfaces analysed to generate three-colour orientation contrast maps. Comparison of raw data acquired through our method with prior electron back-scatter diffraction data shows broad correlation and assignment (68% on a pixel-by-pixel basis), showcasing rapid large-area analysis at high efficiency.

Innovative Care Model for Non Communicable Disease Patients on Patient Waiting Times in Peripheral Health Clinic in Base Hospital, Elpitiya

Long queue and long waiting time for taking appointment, consulting a doctor and to get drugs is a critical problem to patients with Non-communicable diseases who are following in government health sector. Many primary healthcare services in Sri Lanka is delivered through vertical systems, where services for routine issuing appointment, consultation and issuing drugs are co-located but use separate physical space, staff and medical records. Aim of the research leads to integration of the systems deteriorates the waiting time and reduces the worse health outcomes in the long run. A care model was developed integration of consultation and issuing drugs, with permanent issuing of routine appointment in rural healthcare settings, Elpitiya. Data on waiting time of patients during two seven-day periods before and six months after the integration were collected using a time and motion study. Statistical tests were conducted to investigate whether the two observation periods differed in operational details such as staffing, patient arrival rates, mix of patients etc. Previous level of attendance was analysed by their clinic records (before intervention). Multiple linear and logistic regression repeated measures analyses were used to assess the program's effects. Comparison of raw data showed that waiting times decreased by 7.2 hours to 3hours, after integration (p<0.01). Clinic patients attendance was remarkably improved with regular clinic service after implementing appoint system from 35%-60% to 85%-90%. The rate of clinic attendance was increased dramatically over the period from 6 months. Waiting time for attending clinic was declined and waiting in lines were avoided. Moreover, the intervention did improve clinic utilization and satisfaction. Integrating health services have the potential of reducing waiting times due to more efficient use of resources. Encouraging patients by new model is challenging and does appear to provide significant realistic benefits at rural, resource poor health settings beyond those provided by basic clinic services.

Implementing a practice change: early initiation of continuous renal replacement therapy during neonatal extracorporeal life support standardizes care and improves short-term outcomes.

We hypothesized that a standardized approach to early continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) during neonatal extracorporeal life support (ECLS) results in greater homogeneity of CRRT initiation times with improvements in fluid balance and outcomes. Retrospective analysis of data (2007-2015) obtained from neonates treated prior to (E1; n = 32) and after (E2; n = 31) a 2011 practice change: CRRT initiation within 48h of ECLS. Birthweight, gestational age, ECLS mode, and age at ECLS initiation were similar to each epoch. Survival [E1: median 75%, E2: 71%] and length of ECLS [E1: median 221h, E2: 180 h] were comparable. During E2, 100% of infants received CRRT (vs. E1: 37%; p < 0.001) and 97% of infants initiated CRRT within 48h of ECLS (vs. E1: 13%; p < 0.001). Control charts demonstrate reduced practice variation. Elapsed time from ECLS to CRRT differed between Epochs [E1: median 105h, E2: 9h; p < 0.001] as did weight at CRRT initiation [E1: 4.13kg (29% above baseline), E2: 3.19kg (0%); p < 0.001]. Significant differences in weight change were noted on days 6 and 7 (E1: 14%, E2: 2%; raw data comparison yielded p < 0.05) and curves were different (p < 0.05). We successfully implemented a practice change, initiating CRRT within 48h of ECLS cannulation, leading to decreased practice variation and improved short-term outcomes including decreased weight gain at CRRT initiation and faster return to baseline weight during the first 7 days of ECLS. We did not demonstrate changes in duration of ECLS, invasive ventilation, or survival.

β-amyloid in biological samples: not all Aβ detection methods are created equal.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is the major cause of dementia in people aged 65 years and older, affecting approximately 2% of the population of industrialized countries (Mattson, 2004). The two primary histopathological lesions found within the AD brain are intracellular accumulations of hyper-phosphorylated tau protein, in the form of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and extracellular deposits that are principally comprised of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) (Adlard and Cummings, 2004). Aβ has been proposed to be a primary mediator of both the initiation and progression of disease (Hardy and Selkoe, 2002), with numerous toxic effects attributed to its abnormal accumulation within the neuropil (Karran et al., 2011). While there remains debate as to which precise species of Aβ represents the “toxic moiety” (Selkoe, 2008; Lublin and Gandy, 2010), the assessment of Aβ from bulk tissue remains one of the most common analyses conducted within the field, particularly as it relates to the development of therapeutic approaches to this intractable disease. Throughout our own investigations it became apparent that different commonly used methodologies for the quantitation of Aβ would often yield markedly different results. In this opinion piece we discuss this notion and present evidence that highlights the need to exercise caution when embarking on an analysis of Aβ, or indeed, when interpreting data from other papers. We also include some of our own data where we analyzed a common set of tissues using standard analysis techniques that are used in laboratories throughout the world, including western blot, ELISA and surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. These analyses are not meant as a strict side-by-side comparison of raw data generated by different methodologies, but rather, are designed to emulate different approaches that may be taken by different laboratories. Thus, whilst the antibodies, extraction buffers and other aspects of each technique do vary—this is the real-life situation where different approaches are taken to achieve the same endpoint analysis of Aβ burden. The resulting differences are striking, and whilst not necessarily unexpected—it is important that the field acknowledge this phenomenon and have an appreciation for the complexities involved in the apparently “simple” assessment of Aβ burden.

Reliability of the frontal sinus index as a maturity indicator

The aim of this study was to compare the reliability of frontal sinus as a skeletal maturity indicator in males and females. Lateral cephalograms of 75 males and 75 females, both in pre- and post-pubertal stages of development as determined by Middle phalanx of the third finger (MP3) radiographs. Lateral cephalograms were analyzed for frontal sinus maturity. Maximum height, maximum width and height to width ratio of the sinus were calculated. The mean height to width ratio of the sinus at respective MP3 stages were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis to determine the correlation. Correlation at different MP3 stages between males and females was also determined. Statistically significant differences were observed between the mean values of F and FG along with F and I stage in males, significant difference between the values of FG stage among males and females were also observed. Based on statistical and direct comparison of raw data, study concludes that frontal sinus is not reliable as a sole criterion for prediction of skeletal maturity.

Modeling the Impact of Integrating HIV and Outpatient Health Services on Patient Waiting Times in an Urban Health Clinic in Zambia

Background: Rapid scale up of HIV treatment programs in sub-Saharan Africa has refueled the long-standing health policy debate regarding the merits and drawbacks of vertical and integrated system. Recent pilots of integrating outpatient and HIV services have shown an improvement in some patient outcomes but deterioration in waiting times, which can lead to worse health outcomes in the long run. Methods: A pilot intervention involving integration of outpatient and HIV services in an urban primary care facility in Lusaka, Zambia was studied. Data on waiting time of patients during two seven-day periods before and six months after the integration were collected using a time and motion study. Statistical tests were conducted to investigate whether the two observation periods differed in operational details such as staffing, patient arrival rates, mix of patients etc. A discrete event simulation model was constructed to facilitate a fair comparison of waiting times before and after integration. The simulation model was also used to develop alternative configurations of integration and to estimate the resulting waiting times. Results: Comparison of raw data showed that waiting times increased by 32% and 36% after integration for OPD and ART patients respectively (p Conclusions: Integrating health services has the potential of reducing waiting times due to more efficient use of resources. However, one needs to ensure that other operational factors such as staff availability are not adversely affected due to integration.

Dynamic Iterative Beam Hardening Correction (DIBHC) in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Using Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography

In cardiac perfusion examinations with computed tomography (CT) large concentrations of iodine in the ventricle and in the descending aorta cause beam hardening artifacts that can lead to incorrect perfusion parameters. The aim of this study is to reduce these artifacts by performing an iterative correction and by accounting for the 3 materials soft tissue, bone, and iodine. Beam hardening corrections are either implemented as simple precorrections which cannot account for higher order beam hardening effects, or as iterative approaches that are based on segmenting the original image into material distribution images. Conventional segmentation algorithms fail to clearly distinguish between iodine and bone. Our new algorithm, DIBHC, calculates the time-dependent iodine distribution by analyzing the voxel changes of a cardiac perfusion examination (typically N approximately 15 electrocardiogram-correlated scans distributed over a total scan time up to T approximately 30 s). These voxel dynamics are due to changes in contrast agent. This prior information allows to precisely distinguish between bone and iodine and is key to DIBHC where each iteration consists of a multimaterial (soft tissue, bone, iodine) polychromatic forward projection, a raw data comparison and a filtered backprojection. Simulations with a semi-anthropomorphic dynamic phantom and clinical scans using a dual source CT scanner with 2 x 128 slices, a tube voltage of 100 kV, a tube current of 180 mAs, and a rotation time of 0.28 seconds have been carried out. The uncorrected images suffer from beam hardening artifacts that appear as dark bands connecting large concentrations of iodine in the ventricle, aorta, and bony structures. The CT-values of the affected tissue are usually underestimated by roughly 20 HU although deviations of up to 61 HU have been observed. For a quantitative evaluation circular regions of interest have been analyzed. After application of DIBHC the mean values obtained deviate by only 1 HU for the simulations and the corrected values show an increase of up to 61 HU for the measurements. One iteration of DIBHC greatly reduces the beam hardening artifacts induced by the contrast agent dynamics (and those due to bone) now allowing for an improved assessment of contrast agent uptake in the myocardium which is essential for determining myocardial perfusion.

Absence of Diurnal Variation of C-Reactive Protein Concentrations in Healthy Human Subjects

The concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP) in otherwise healthy subjects has been shown to predict future risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. CRP is synthesized by the liver in response to interleukin-6, the serum concentration of which is subject to diurnal variation. To examine the existence of a time-of-day effect for baseline CRP values, we determined CRP concentrations in hourly blood samples drawn from healthy subjects (10 males, 3 females; age range, 21-35 years) during a baseline day in a controlled environment (8 h of nighttime sleep). Overall CRP concentrations were low, with only three subjects having CRP concentrations >2 mg/L. Comparison of raw data showed stability of CRP concentrations throughout the 24 h studied. When compared with cutoff values of CRP quintile derived from population-based studies, misclassification of greater than one quintile did not occur as a result of diurnal variation in any of the subjects studied. Nonparametric ANOVA comparing different time points showed no significant differences for both raw and z-transformed data. Analysis for rhythmic diurnal variation using a method fitting a cosine curve to the group data was negative. Our data show that baseline CRP concentrations are not subject to time-of-day variation and thus help to explain why CRP concentrations are a better predictor of vascular risk than interleukin-6. Determination of CRP for cardiovascular risk prediction may be performed without concern for diurnal variation.

A state trauma registry as a tool for occupational injury surveillance.

The goal of occupational surveillance is to identify and determine the magnitude of work-related disease and injury and workplace hazards for the purposes of focusing prevention programs and tracking their effectiveness. There are a number of databases that collect information on pieces of the puzzle of workplace exposure and adverse health outcomes. Other than that for the fatalities, none of these datasets specifically describes the most severe occupational injuries or their attendant disability. The goal of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the Illinois Trauma Registry (ITR) in the surveillance of occupational injuries. The entire dataset of the ITR was obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health for the years 1993 and 1994. The occupational injuries were extracted and frequency distributions were determined for all demographic and health variables. Background population, employment, and death-rate data were obtained for the purpose of rate calculation and for comparison of raw data. Mean costs for acute occupational injuries were calculated. There were 5844 occupational cases, comprising 6.7% of the total group. The majority of injuries had occurred in males (86%), in urban settings (81%), and were of the "blunt" injury type. External cause (coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, External Injury) categories for work-related injuries were "Cut/Struck," 39%; "Falls," 36%; "Transportation," 12%; "Environmental," 6%; "Violence," 3%; and the remainder, 5%. By definition, all cases were admitted to the hospital, with 62% classified as "minor," 28% "moderate," and the remaining 11% "severe" to "life threatening." Surgery was performed in 54%, and admission to a monitored bed or the intensive care unit occurred in 15%. Although 93% were discharged home, only 54% ambulated independently. Seven percent were not independent with regard to self-feeding status. The mean hospital charge was $10,802 (standard deviation, $31,438). A pyramidal model of the place of ITR cases in the universe of occupational injuries is presented. The ITR contains a unique set of variables that broaden our understanding of serious work-related injuries. It is recommended that these variables--"occupation," "type of industry," and "nature of injury"--be added to the ITR so that it may be linked with other databases to check its validity and completeness and to enhance its value in occupational surveillance.