Electronic data collection

Rosenberg MJ, Haldi JR. Accelerating drug development with electronic data collection and processing. Sci Computing Automation 1995 11 13-17. 

Personnel not trained to operate electronic data collection system... 

When a sample is injected, the injector port is at a temperature sufficient to vaporize the sample components. Based on the solubility and volatility of these components with respect to the stationary phase, the components separate and are swept through the column by the carrier gas to a detector, which responds to the concentration of each component. The detector might not respond to all components. The electronic signal produced as the component passes through the detector is amplified by the electrometer, and the resulting signal is sent to a recorder, computer, or electronic data-collecting device for quantitation. 

Case report forms (CRFs) are used throughout clinical trials to record data collected during a trial. They record all of the information specified in the protocol for each subject (all data recorded on the CRF must be verifiable from original source documentation). While the traditional paper CRF format is still used, electronic data collection is becoming more common. Voorhees and Scheipeter (2005) discussed CRF development in detail, highlighting some of the fundamental aspects of their purpose, design, and nature ... 

The Data Handling and Record Retention section of the protocol will address the requirement to maintain data (whether on a paper CRF or using an electronic data collection tool (DCT)) of each trial subject. It will address expectations of ownership of the completed CRF data, the investigator s responsibility to ensure accuracy and completeness of data recording. This section will also address the requirements for retention of records at the trial site in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulatory requirements. 

Primary data are collected and recorded either manually or electronically. Manual data collection and recording has higher probabilities of errors due to the intervention of human factors. Electronic data collection may be achieved via bar code readers, optical mark readers, or point-and-click devices or directly from other electronic devices or databases. The electronic way of collection conforms to standards and ensures accuracy, consistency, and completeness of data. 

Recent trends in x-ray diffraction are the increased use of electronic data collection and computer analysis, and in situ or dynamic experiments. These include experiments where the x-ray patterns are obtained while the sample is stretched, heated to its melting point, or aligned with an electric field. Synchrotron radiation is several orders of magnitude more intense than regular laboratory x-ray sources, and its use allows real-time study of deformation or fiber spinning, for example. More synchrotron sources usable for polymer science are currently being built, and although they are limited to national facilities, access should improve in the future. The increased power of computer data analysis permits whole pattern analysis where the crystal structure, orientation and crystallinity are simultaneously determined [10]. More detailed numerical analysis has led to interpretation of x-ray patterns in terms of three phases in semicrystalline polymers instead of the usual two. 

SAFETYNET is the state level information management system for motor carrier safety. SAFETYNET captures interstate and intrastate driverA ehicle inspection data, accident data, carrier on-site reviews, enforcement data, and carrier identification data that is entered into ASPEN. It is operational in every state and routinely transfers data to and from Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). It was originally designed as a manual data entry system but now allows electronic data collection. 

Figure C3.2.4. Plot of the log of photocurrent against number of methyl units in a alkylsilane based monolayer self-assembled on a n silicon electrode. The electrode is immersed in a solution witli an electron donor. Best fits of experimental data collected at different light intensities ( ) 0.3 mW cm ( ) 0.05 mW cm. From [10].

The rapid development of microelectronics has enabled many similar measurements to be made with data collecting systems and then stored electronically. The raw data can then be downloaded to the data processing installation, where they can be plotted and evaluated at any time [1]. This applies particularly to monitoring measurements on pipelines for intensive measurements, see Section 3.7. Figure 3-1 shows an example of a computer-aided data storage system. 

Data collection is mostly performed at normal incidence of the primary electron beam. Under these conditions usually several equivalent LEED spots exist because of the surface symmetry. By taking care that the I-V curves of equivalent spots are identical, normal incidence conditions can be adjusted to within a few tenths of a degree. 

FIGURE 7 Scientific research today often requires sophisticated equipment and computers. This chemist is using an Auger electron spectrometer to probe the surface of a crystal. The data collected will allow the chemist to determine which elements are present in the surface. 

When a diffracted X-ray beam hits a data collection device, only the intensity of the reflection is recorded. The other vital piece of information is the phase of the reflected X-ray beam. It is the combination of the intensity and the phase of the reflections that is needed to unravel the contributions made to the diffraction by the electrons in different parts of the molecule in the crystal. This so-called phase problem has been a challenge for theoretical crystallographers for many decades. For practical crystallography, there are four main methods for phasing the data generated from a particular crystal. 

Electronic-based data collection and management systems have revolutionized data collection and management. The advantages of such systems over the traditional pure paper-based data collection and management systems... 

Electronic-based data collection and management systems rely heavily on computer hardware and software at both the participating sites and the coordinating centers. The hallmark of the electronic-based data collection and management systems is the elimination of paper data collection forms. Instead of recording data on paper forms, data collectors enter data directly into a computer system where an electronic data record is generated for each form. The method of data transfer to the central location depends on the type of the electronic-based data collection and management system. 

Situations in which proposed trials must await approval and funding before development of the electronic-based data collection and management system can begin present a real challenge to developers in terms of being able to complete the system before the initiation of data collection. Development of a basic system that is easily adaptable will aid in decreasing the time needed for development. 

Electronic-based data collection and management systems use various computer hardware and software technologies. Although some organizations design and develop their own systems, others purchase well-established e-clinical trials software from a wide range of vendors. 

This method of data collection uses Portable Document Format (PDF) Forms. This approach is flexible and inexpensive. A number of commercial software packages such as Adobe Acrobat, LaText, and Microsoft Word and free software such as Python and R are used to create the PDF forms. Paper copies of the PDF forms may be used as an intermediate data collection. Electronic versions are completed at each site with Adobe Reader software. Completed forms are submitted on a CD or faxed as Extended Markup Language (XML)... 

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