Erfahrungen, Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze aus der Extraktion pseudonymer Daten für das Projekt INDEED

Background: In Germany there is currently no health reporting on cross-sectoral care patterns in the context of an emergency department care treatment. The INDEED project (Utilization and trans-sectoral patterns of care for patients admitted to emergency departments in Germany) collects routine data from 16 emergency departments, which are later merged with outpatient billing data from 2014 to 2017 on an individual level. Aim: The methodological challenges in planning of the internal merging of routine clinical and administrative data from emergency departments in Germany up to the final data extraction are presented together with possible solution approaches. Methods: Data were selected in an iterative process according to the research questions, medical relevance, and assumed data availability. After a preparatory phase to clarify formalities (including data protection, ethics), review test data and correct if necessary, the encrypted and pseudonymous data extraction was performed. Results: Data from the 16 cooperating emergency departments came mostly from the emergency department and hospital information systems. There was considerable heterogeneity in the data. Not all variables were available in every emergency department because, for example, they were not standardized and digitally available or the extraction effort was judged to be too high. Conclusion: Relevant data from emergency departments are stored in different structures and in several IT systems. Thus, the creation of a harmonized data set requires considerable resources on the part of the hospital as well as the data processing unit. This needs to be generously calculated for future projects

Creative Technology – An Oxymoron?

Reinhold Behringer, Professor in Creative Technology, considers how technology can be used for creative purposes, during his inaugural lecture ‘Creative Technology – An Oxymoron?’ on Wednesday 15 March. Professor Behringer begins his lecture by discussing his work and background in the technology sector, drawing on his experience of autonomous road vehicles, augmented reality, computer vision and software development for intelligent systems. Following on from this, Professor Behringer then examines creative areas in which technology is used, including the making of classical music performances, based solely on computers and synthesisers. The lecture concludes with Professor Behringer looking ahead to future projects, ideas and activities in creative technology at Leeds Met.

A Low-Cost Intelligent Car Break-in Alert System Using Smartphone Accelerometers for Detecting Vehicle Break-Ins

Smartphones provide sensors and online data connectivity which makes them suitable for individual alert systems. A prototype for a car break-in alert system has been developed which can detect activity through smartphone accelerometers. The main goal of this system is to provide a low-cost alternative to expensive embedded systems with similar functionality. It can be controlled remotely solely through text messages from another mobile phone, which provides the option to use SMS instead of internet data access, in case the internet access cost (roaming charges) would be higher than the cost of an SMS message. In case of a detected break-in the system will send a text message to the user’s second phone. The user also can query information and request the location of the vehicle. The prototype has been tested in various situations, and data have been collected to distinguish different scenarios. The system has been programmed with MIT App Inventor and will be made available for free on the Google Play Store

Numeracy Basics - interactive quiz

Comprehensive quiz covering the full range of numeracy (mathematics) basics including multiplication, rounding, division, order of execution, maths conventions, series, surveys, summation and so on. Offers randomised questions, multiple attempts, instant feedback.