Web-based Collection Research Articles

Web-Based Collection of Expert Opinion on Routine Scalp EEG: Software Development and Interrater Reliability

Computerized detection of epileptiform transients (ETs), characterized by interictal spikes and sharp waves in the EEG, has been a research goal for the last 40 years. A reliable method for detecting ETs would assist physicians in interpretation and improve efficiency in reviewing long-term EEG recordings. Computer algorithms developed thus far for detecting ETs are not as reliable as human experts, primarily due to the large number of false-positive detections. Comparing the performance of different algorithms is difficult because each study uses individual EEG test datasets. In this article, we present EEGnet, a distributed web-based platform for the acquisition and analysis of large-scale training datasets for comparison of different EEG ET detection algorithms. This software allows EEG scorers to log in through the web, mark EEG segments of interest, and categorize segments of interest using a conventional clinical EEG user interface. This software platform was used by seven board-certified academic epileptologists to score 40 short 30-second EEG segments from 40 patients, half containing ETs and half containing artifacts and normal variants. The software performance was adequate. Interrater reliability for marking the location of paroxysmal activity was low. Interrater reliability of marking artifacts and ETs was high and moderate, respectively.

Development of a data dictionary for the Strategies for Post Arrest Resuscitation Care (SPARC) network for post cardiac arrest research

Background The widely accepted Utstein style has standardized data collection and analysis in resuscitation and post resuscitation research. However, collection of many of these variables poses significant practical challenges. In addition, several important variables in post resuscitation research are missing. Objective Our aim was to develop a comprehensive data dictionary and web-based data collection tool as part of the Strategies for Post Arrest Resuscitation Care (SPARC) Network project, which implemented a knowledge translation program for post cardiac arrest therapeutic hypothermia in 37 Ontario hospitals. Methods A list of data variables was generated based on the current Utstein style, previous studies and expert opinion within our group of investigators. We developed a data dictionary by creating clear definitions and establishing abstraction instructions for each variable. The data dictionary was integrated into a web-based collection form allowing for interactive data entry. Two blinded investigators piloted the data collection tool, by performing a retrospective chart review. Results A total of 454 variables were included of which 400 were Utstein, 2 were adapted from existing studies and 52 were added to address missing elements. Kappa statistics for two outcome variables, survival to discharge and induction of therapeutic hypothermia were 0.86 and 0.64, respectively. Conclusion This is the first attempt in the literature to develop a data dictionary as part of a standardized, pragmatic data collection tool for post cardiac arrest research patients. In addition, our dataset defined important variables that were previously missing. This data collection tool can serve as a reference for future trials in post cardiac arrest care.

Genetics of Late‐Onset Alzheimer′s Disease: Update from the Alzgene Database and Analysis of Shared Pathways

The genetics of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) has taken impressive steps forwards in the last few years. To date, more than six-hundred genes have been linked to the disorder. However, only a minority of them are supported by a sufficient level of evidence. This review focused on such genes and analyzed shared biological pathways. Genetic markers were selected from a web-based collection (Alzgene). For each SNP in the database, it was possible to perform a meta-analysis. The quality of studies was assessed using criteria such as size of research samples, heterogeneity across studies, and protection from publication bias. This produced a list of 15 top-rated genes: APOE, CLU, PICALM, EXOC3L2, BIN1, CR1, SORL1, TNK1, IL8, LDLR, CST3, CHRNB2, SORCS1, TNF, and CCR2. A systematic analysis of gene ontology terms associated with each marker showed that most genes were implicated in cholesterol metabolism, intracellular transport of beta-amyloid precursor, and autophagy of damaged organelles. Moreover, the impact of these genes on complement cascade and cytokine production highlights the role of inflammatory response in AD pathogenesis. Gene-gene and gene-environment interactions are prominent issues in AD genetics, but they are not specifically featured in the Alzgene database.

Palaeontological collections of the Senckenberg Museum (Frankfurt am Main, Germany): new initiatives

In the framework of a German Research Foundation Grant (DFG-LIS), the Hunsrueck Slate and Fossil Brachiopod collections of the Senckenberg Museum are the subject of a curatorial upgrade, including electronic cataloguing and imaging in the web-based Senckenberg Collection Management System (SeSam). One of the main objectives is to make object data and images available to researchers worldwide. The famous Hunsrueck Slate Collection comprises more than 1,500 excellently preserved fossils from the Lower Devonian of Germany. It is supplemented by an x-ray collection consisting of almost 7,600 negatives mainly of Hunsrueck Slate fossils. All object data, images of the Hunsrueck Slate fossils and x-ray negatives have been made available on the internet. With about 900,000 fossil brachiopod specimens, the Senckenberg collection is one of the largest of its kind. Voucher specimens from this collection are also recorded in SeSam. By these concrete examples, the properties of this web-based collection management system are briefly described.

The small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein (snoRNP) database

Small nucleolar ribonucleoproteins (snoRNPs) are widely studied and characterized as guide RNAs for sequence-specific 2'-O-ribose methylation and psuedouridylation of ribosomal RNAs. In addition, snoRNAs have also been shown to interact with some tRNAs and direct alternative splicing in mRNA biogenesis. Recent advances in bioinformatics have resulted in new algorithms able to rapidly identify noncoding RNAs generally and snoRNAs specifically in genomic and metagenomic sequences, resulting in a rapid increase in the number and diversity of identified snoRNA sequences. The snoRNP database is a web-based collection of snoRNA and snoRNA-associated protein sequences from a wide range of species. The database currently contains 8994 snoRNA sequences from Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes and 589 snoRNA-associated protein sequences. The snoRNP database can be found at: http://evolveathome.com/snoRNA/snoRNA.php.

Use of web-based data collection to evaluate analgesic administration and the decision for surgery in horses with colic

There is no current veterinary information with regard to data entry on a website. We therefore completed a prospective study on use of analgesics in relation to the need for abdominal surgery using a web-based survey instrument. To establish an internet-based data entry system that could be used to record prospective data on horses with colic. Failure of horses to respond to the initial administration of an analgesic is an indicator of the need for abdominal surgery. A survey was developed to determine if the response to administration of an analgesic during a veterinarian's first examination of a horse with colic was related to the need for surgery. Veterinarians were contacted via AAEP and ECN listservs requesting submission of cases using a log-in system at a data entry website. The survey was completed by submission of a data entry page. Twenty-seven veterinarians submitted details of 119 cases of colic, 28 of which required surgery. The need for surgery was significantly associated with moderate or severe pain observed during the first examination compared to mild or no pain, and with constant pain or return of pain after administration of one or more analgesics and the need to administer a second analgesic treatment. Abnormal findings on rectal examination were not associated with the need for surgery, whereas total absence or decrease of intestinal sounds was significantly related to the odds that surgery was needed. The web-based data collection was successful in collecting all data points on the survey for each case. This study reinforced veterinarians' use of response to therapy as a way to determine the need for abdominal surgery. When a specific diagnosis has not been made, lack of response or resumption of colic after analgesic administration should be considered as an indicator of the need for surgery. Web-based collection of data allows veterinary practitioners to participate in clinical research by providing prospective data.

Collection of routine national seasonal influenza vaccine coverage data from GP practices in England using a web-based collection system

This paper describes a web-based system developed to collect data on influenza (flu) vaccine uptake in near real time during the flu season in England. Data are collected from all GP practices providing the immunisation programme. Data are submitted either monthly or weekly on-line to a website using manual, automated and semi-automated methods. During the 2008/09 season, a final response rate of 96.2% was achieved (n=7980/8293). This equates to 52,217,430 GP registered patients aged 6 months and over being included in the survey. The majority of reports (65.5%) were submitted via automated or semi-automated methods. We were also able to collect the data weekly from a sentinel group of GP practices (approximately 50%) that have fully automated data extraction facilities. This system successfully provides data locally and nationally to monitor the annual seasonal flu programme, with a large sample size, quickly and efficiently, with minimal burden on the NHS. At a time when the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century is occurring, the ability to measure influenza vaccine uptake coverage in near real time will be invaluable.

Towards a novel content organisation in agriculture using semantic technologies: a study with topic maps as a tool

Agricultural information management needs to be responsive to the needs of varied stakeholders, and content repurposing to suit multiple audiences is a key requirement. A framework that combines the semantic web techniques of Topic Maps (TM) and a global agricultural thesaurus, the FAO AGROVOC, has been developed on a pilot basis for five crops. The framework when overlaid on a web-based collection of information objects reveals interesting possibilities, especially in presenting the repository content in noticeably different ways to a subject-matter specialist or to an extension worker. Results are discussed and opportunities for further development are briefly described.

Care of patients with psoriasis: an audit of U.K. services in secondary care

Medical professionals require data about the structure and delivery of dermatological services in primary and secondary care in order to identify and tackle variations in standards and monitor the impact of healthcare reforms. The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) commissioned an audit of the provision of care for patients with psoriasis. To assess the staffing and facilities in dermatology units in the U.K. with a focus on the provision of care for patients with psoriasis. Data were collected from 100 dermatology units in the U.K. for 1 year using a questionnaire and a web-based collection system. Key results are as follows. Eighteen per cent (18/98) of units had fewer than 2.0 whole-time equivalent consultants and 20% had no specialist dermatology nurse. Only 23% of units collected diagnostic data on outpatients, and half were unable to supply details about the number of attendances for psoriasis. Seventy-seven units reported admitting patients to dedicated dermatology beds, general medical beds, or both; three-quarters of units had access to dedicated adult dermatology beds. Pharmacy services were not always available for dermatology patients. Only 21 units (21%) had dedicated clinics for patients with psoriasis and 56% of units lacked a clinical psychology service willing to accept adult dermatology patients; 59% (55/93) lacked psychological services for children. Fifty-five per cent had no systemic drug monitoring clinic. Phototherapy was run by dermatology nurses in 93% (88/95) of the units and by physiotherapists in 11% (10/94). Biologics for psoriasis were prescribed in 75% (73/97) of units and in 88% (64/73) of these the BAD guidelines for the use of biologics were known to be followed. Of the seventy-three units prescribing biologic therapies, 64% had a nurse trained in the assessment and administration of biologics, 71% had facilities for outpatient infusions (e.g. for infliximab) and 39% were restricted in prescribing biologic agents because of financial constraints. A quality-of-life score was either inadequately or never recorded in outpatient records in 81% of units, increasing to 88% for inpatient records. The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score was inadequately or never recorded in 79% of outpatient records and 82% of inpatient records. Units varied in their capacity to meet BAD guidelines and standards. Among the most significant deficiencies identified were a shortage of specialist dermatology nurses, treatment delivery by untrained nurses and financial constraints on the prescription of biologics for psoriasis. Gaps in data collection and record keeping jeopardize efforts to improve standards of care.

Catalog of Clinical Images (Out of Print)

OPEN ACCESSOctober 4, 2006Catalog of Clinical Images (Out of Print) Charlie Goldberg, MD Charlie Goldberg, MD University of California, San Diego School of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.184 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractThis resource is a web-based collection of images of common and uncommon physical exam findings organized into eight categories: head-neck, eyes, thorax, upper extremities, abdomen, genital/rectal, lower extremities, and skin. The site is accessible to anyone (i.e., students, clinicians, patients) who might be interested. Educational Objectives By reviewing these images learners will be able to better identify physical examination abnormalities. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Web Link Access_184.pdf To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. CitationGoldberg C. Catalog of Clinical Images (Out of Print). MedEdPORTAL. 2006;2:184. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.184 Copyright & Permissions© 2006 Goldberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.KeywordsPhysical ExaminationExamination Abnormalities Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Loading ...

Collecting data on alcohol use and alcohol-related victimization: a comparison of telephone and Web-based survey methods.

Traditionally, personal contact with an experienced interviewer has been thought to facilitate collection of data on alcohol use and victimization experiences. Recent studies indicate that Web-based surveys may be an efficient alternative for gathering these sensitive data. To date, telephone interviewing and Web-based collection of data on alcohol-related negative consequences, particularly victimization, have not been compared. This study was designed to compare data from an interviewer-administered and Web-based survey on alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences in a sample of college women. Seven hundred women from a second semester freshmen college class were randomly selected to participate in either the telephone interview or Web-based modes of survey administration. Fifty-three percent of invited women (N = 370) completed the survey. Completion rates were higher, and estimated dollar costs were significantly lower, for the Web-based survey. There were no differences in reported rates of alcohol or drug use by survey method; however, there were differences in several specific alcohol-related negative consequences. These findings suggest that, for college women, Web-based surveys versus telephone interviews can be an effective and more cost-efficient means for collecting data on alcohol use and related negative consequences, particularly victimization. In addition, we found some evidence that women may be more forthcoming when responding to a Web-based survey as compared with an interviewer-administered telephone survey.

A Family of Stochastic Programming Test Problems Based on a Model for Tactical Manpower Planning

Ariyawansa and Felt (2001, 2004) have recently created a test problem collection for testing software for stochastic linear programs. This freely-available, web-based collection was originally created with 35 problem instances from 11 problem families representing a variety of application areas. The collection was created with plans for enriching it with problem instances based on different application areas from the research community. The work of Martel and Al-Nuaimi (1973) on manpower planning under uncertain demand represents an application area suitable for creating new problem instances to be added to the collection. The purpose of this paper is to describe the construction of a new family of stochastic programming test problems based on the work of Martel and Al-Nuaimi (1973). As part of our construction, we review the work of Martel and Al-Nuaimi (1973) leading to an extension of their models for which their solution procedure does not apply. The new test problems are based on this extension. We also present solutions to the test problems obtained using the software package CPA (2002) for stochastic programming developed by Ariyawansa, Felt and Sarich.

Second edition of 'The Bethesda System for reporting cervical cytology' – atlas, website, and Bethesda interobserver reproducibility project

A joint task force of the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently completed a 2-year effort to revise the Bethesda System "blue book" atlas and develop a complementary web-based collection of cervical cytology images. The web-based collection of images is housed on the ASC website, which went live on November 5th, 2003; it can be directly accessed at .

Management, organisational and policy issues related to electronic data reporting in the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia

Electronic data reporting (EDR) together with information communication technology (ICT) offers many possibilities to collect cheaper, timely and better quality data. At the same time it lowers the burden to the data respondent. But in order to achieve efficient EDR some needs are to be satisfied. In the following article projects running in the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SORS) and experiences gained are presented. The article concentrates on the strategies used to migrate research results into the production environment; it also deals with testing while maintaining the regular production, and coping with rapid changes in information technology. Three projects from the SORS are presented, also discussing problems and solutions. The first project (EDI-FIN) is from the field of electronic data collection, where data are taken directly from the enterprises’ financial records using experiences and tools from the Eurostat TELER project. QUESTOR is the second project related to the subject of maintaining the process of data management in the input division of SORS. The third project is related to the integrated approach of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and SORS in building the integrated web-based collection of data on upper secondary education. The abovementioned projects have exposed several management, organisational and policy issues. Some of them are: integration of the needs of several public institutions and possible future arrangements, problems of outsourcing the electronic data reporting (EDR) of NSIs, promotion of EDR and education of data respondents and internal staff, coping with transition period, challenges and possible obstacles for NSIs when understanding and using the current and future possibility of accessing data from electronic networks, data protection issues, etc. The outline of the article is as follows. First, EDR and its influence on the regular work is presented, and the background of implementing EDR in SORS is introduced. The overall production process and infrastructure as groundwork for introducing EDR for statistical purposes is shown. Then three projects related to EDR in SORS are presented with some details. At the end experiences – good and bad – gained during these projects, are presented, and also some questions that need to be answered in the future are emphasized.

Undergraduate participation in the development of the Alsos digital library for nuclear issues

Part of the National Science Digital Library, the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues is a web-based collection of annotated references to resources in five media that offer a broad, balanced perspective on nuclear issues. Undergraduate students have participated in important roles in the development of the content of the library and the computer system that supports access to and maintenance of the library. Working in a team, they create annotations, and work on the four tiers of the system: the user interface, the search engine, the database structure, and the metadata component.

Lost and found: media sales

Does file-sharing of copyrighted material harm sales today? The movie, music and book trade associations say it does, but for each form of entertainment, a growing body of evidence suggests otherwise-and not all of the evidence is anecdotal. In a study of about 3,000 individuals, research firm Jupiter Media Metrix Inc. found that experienced file-sharers are more likely to actually increase the amount of money they spend on CDs. 34% said they spent more than before on music, twice as many as said they spent less (15%). One ongoing real-life experiment is the Baen Free Library. The novels in this Web-based collection are made available at no charge and in their entirety by science fiction publisher Baen Books. It seems that a free online copy can boost sales of movies, records and books.

Enhanced Environments: Large-Scale, Real-Time Ecosystems

This research proposes a new method for using real-time information to support large-scale, climatic virtual environments that exhibit natural eco-behavioral conditions. The purpose of this research is to support a real-time virtual ecosystem created by live weather information and GIS terrain data, and delivered through a common multimedia PC/Internet network. For this research experiment, we customized available GIS satellite, terrain, and photography data to construct a highly accurate, large-scale, virtual environment. Next, a Web-based climatic collection system was developed to persistently collect real-time weather information for the physical area being modeled. Finally, an enhanced environment module was created and added to a popular game engine to support a “living” virtual ecosystem with real-time climatic conditions. This type of enhanced environment lays the foundation for creating emergent, dynamic environments that integrate the behavioral patterns of climate, artificial life, user interactions, and their complex interrelationships within a dynamic virtual world. In the sections that follow, the issues and problems of constructing, supporting, and maintaining a new style of virtual environment are explored, discussed, and analyzed. Finally, a conclusion is presented, including future uses and potentials of this research.

Web-Based Collection of Critical Incidents during Remote Usability Evaluation

A web-based reporting tool was developed to support the collection of critical incidents during remote usability evaluations. The tool facilitated structured critical incident data entry by the user and the ability to transfer this data directly to the experimenter in the form of an email. The reporting tool was evaluated by assessing a voice email system comprised of a voice interface for emailing and a web interface for system configuration. The evaluation compared the frequency and severity of critical incidents obtained from remote participants with users located in a controlled laboratory setting. Changes in critical incident reporting resulting from repeated exposure to the system were evaluated. The results of the evaluation demonstrated that the web-based reporting tool was an effective critical incident data collection technique for remote usability evaluation.