Overcoming challenges to data quality in the ASPREE clinical trial

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Large-scale studies risk generating inaccurate and missing data due to the complexity of data collection. Technology has the potential to improve data quality by providing operational support to data collectors. However, this potential is under-explored in community-based trials. The Aspirin in reducing events in the elderly (ASPREE) trial developed a data suite that was specifically designed to support data collectors: the ASPREE Web Accessible Relational Database (AWARD). This paper describes AWARD and the impact of system design on data quality. Methods: AWARD's operational requirements, conceptual design, key challenges and design solutions for data quality are presented. Impact of design features is assessed through comparison of baseline data collected prior to implementation of key functionality (n = 1000) with data collected post implementation (n = 18,114). Overall data quality is assessed according to data category. Results: At baseline, implementation of user-driven functionality reduced staff error (from 0.3% to 0.01%), out-of-range data entry (from 0.14% to 0.04%) and protocol deviations (from 0.4% to 0.08%). In the longitudinal data set, which contained more than 39 million data values collected within AWARD, 96.6% of data values were entered within specified query range or found to be accurate upon querying. The remaining data were missing (3.4%). Participant non-attendance at scheduled study activity was the most common cause of missing data. Costs associated with cleaning data in ASPREE were lower than expected compared with reports from other trials. Conclusions: Clinical trials undertake complex operational activity in order to collect data, but technology rarely provides sufficient support. We find the AWARD suite provides proof of principle that designing technology to support data collectors can mitigate known causes of poor data quality and produce higher-quality data. Health information technology (IT) products that support the conduct of scheduled activity in addition to traditional data entry will enhance community-based clinical trials. A standardised framework for reporting data quality would aid comparisons across clinical trials

Opportunistic Sensing: Security Challenges for the New Paradigm

We study the security challenges that arise in Opportunistic people-centric sensing, a new sensing paradigm leveraging humans as part of the sensing infrastructure. Most prior sensor-network research has focused on collecting and processing environmental data using a static topology and an application-aware infrastructure, whereas opportunistic sensing involves collecting, storing, processing and fusing large volumes of data related to everyday human activities. This highly dynamic and mobile setting, where humans are the central focus, presents new challenges for information security, because data originates from sensors carried by people— not tiny sensors thrown in the forest or attached to animals. In this paper we aim to instigate discussion of this critical issue, because opportunistic people-centric sensing will never succeed without adequate provisions for security and privacy. To that end, we outline several important challenges and suggest general solutions that hold promise in this new sensing paradigm

Using Decentralized Networks and Distributed Ledger Technologies for Foreign Aid Distribution and Reporting

The U.S. federal government is responsible for the creation and disbursement of roughly $95 billion worth of international spending packages annually. Of this amount, nearly$45 billion is allocated for the advancement of economic and humanitarian aid initiatives. However, these programs often face challenges when attempting to distribute funds to individual recipients in regions lacking stable government or reliable financial infrastructure. In addition, existing inefficiencies within the allocation process for these awards may introduce various inequalities through bias or other procedural complexities. As a result, many aid initiatives are not administered in a cost-effective manner and the subsequent lack of transparent reporting makes it difficult for the public to audit these programs and assess outcomes. To address these challenges, a new mobile based (Android/iOS) application has been developed in which foreign aid awards are distributed through the transaction of digital currency and asset-backed stable-coins on the Stellar network. Following user registration and onboarding, the application confirms that users meet the required qualifications through the use of a novel crowdsourcing mechanism comprised of previous recipients. Network validators are incentivized through continued awards to verify new recipient eligibility and further expand the verification network. Once confirmed, the application allows users to transact their awards in USDC, network-native Stellar lumens (XLM) or transfer their tokens to other marketplaces and asset representations with minimal transaction cost. While other available software addresses each of these issues separately, this application combines the end-to-end transfer and housing of aid funds into a singular process for both administrators and recipients. Furthermore, the awarding of these funds is recorded on a public ledger that allows for detailed analysis of initiative outcomes in a verifiable and trust-less manner. Finally, a simulation script was constructed for the purposed of modeling network growth and efficiency in relation to incentivizing future participation in validating new applicants

Proceedings, MSVSCC 2011

Proceedings of the 5th Annual Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Student Capstone Conference held on April 14, 2011 at VMASC in Suffolk, Virginia. 186 pp

Usable Pasts

In Usable Pasts, fourteen authors examine the manipulation of traditional expressions among a variety of groups from the United States and Canada: the development of a pictorial style by Navajo weavers in response to traders, Mexican American responses to the appropriation of traditional foods by Anglos, the expressive forms of communication that engender and sustain a sense of community in an African American women\u27s social club and among elderly Yiddish folksingers in Miami Beach, the incorporation of mass media images into the C&Ts (customs and traditions) of a Boy Scout troop, the changing meaning of their defining Exodus-like migration to Mormons, Newfoundlanders\u27 appropriation through the rum-drinking ritual called the Schreech-In of outsiders\u27 stereotypes, outsiders\u27 imposition of the once-despised lobster as the emblem of Maine, the contest over Texas\u27s heroic Alamo legend and its departures from historical fact, and how yellow ribbons were transformed from an image in a pop song to a national symbol of resolve.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1068/thumbnail.jp

Developing a distributed electronic health-record store for India

The DIGHT project is addressing the problem of building a scalable and highly available information store for the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the over one billion citizens of India

Reports to the President

A compilation of annual reports for the 1985-1986 academic year, including a report from the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as reports from the academic and administrative units of the Institute. The reports outline the year's goals, accomplishments, honors and awards, and future plans

8th Biennial Employment Law Institute

Materials from the 8th Biennial Employment Law Institute held by UK/CLE in June 2002