Wildlife tracking data management: a new vision

To date, the processing of wildlife location data has relied on a diversity of software and file formats. Data management and the following spatial and statistical analyses were undertaken in multiple steps, involving many time-consuming importing/exporting phases. Recent technological advancements in tracking systems have made large, continuous, high-frequency datasets of wildlife behavioral data available, such as those derived from the global positioning system (GPS) and other animal-attached sensor devices. These data can be further complemented by a wide range of other information about the animals’ environment. Management of these large and diverse datasets for modelling animal behaviour and ecology can prove challenging, slowing down analysis and increasing the probability of mistakes in data handling. We address these issues by critically evaluating the requirements for good management of GPS data for wildlife biology. We highlight that dedicated data management tools and expertise are needed. We explore current research in wildlife data management. We suggest a general direction of development, based on a modular software architecture with a spatial database at its core, where interoperability, data model design and integration with remote-sensing data sources play an important role in successful GPS data handling.

Design, recruitment, logistics, and data management of the GEHA (Genetics of Healthy Ageing) project

In 2004, the integrated European project GEHA (Genetics of Healthy Ageing) was initiated with the aim of identifying genes involved in healthy ageing and longevity. The first step in the project was the recruitment of more than 2500 pairs of siblings aged 90 years or more together with one younger control person from 15 areas in 11 European countries through a coordinated and standardised effort. A biological sample, preferably a blood sample, was collected from each participant, and basic physical and cognitive measures were obtained together with information about health, life style, and family composition. From 2004 to 2008 a total of 2535 families comprising 5319 nonagenarian siblings were identified and included in the project. In addition, 2548 younger control persons aged 50-75 years were recruited. A total of 2249 complete trios with blood samples from at least two old siblings and the younger control were formed and are available for genetic analyses (e.g. linkage studies and genome-wide association studies). Mortality follow-up improves the possibility of identifying families with the most extreme longevity phenotypes. With a mean follow-up time of 3.7 years the number of families with all participating siblings aged 95 years or more has increased by a factor of 5 to 750 families compared to when interviews were conducted. Thus, the GEHA project represents a unique source in the search for genes related to healthy ageing and longevity.

Exploiting evidence from unstructured data to enhance master data management

Master data management (MDM) integrates data from multiple
structured data sources and builds a consolidated 360-
degree view of business entities such as customers and products.
Today’s MDM systems are not prepared to integrate
information from unstructured data sources, such as news
reports, emails, call-center transcripts, and chat logs. However,
those unstructured data sources may contain valuable
information about the same entities known to MDM from
the structured data sources. Integrating information from
unstructured data into MDM is challenging as textual references
to existing MDM entities are often incomplete and
imprecise and the additional entity information extracted
from text should not impact the trustworthiness of MDM
data.
In this paper, we present an architecture for making MDM
text-aware and showcase its implementation as IBM InfoSphere
MDM Extension for Unstructured Text Correlation,
an add-on to IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management
Standard Edition. We highlight how MDM benefits from
additional evidence found in documents when doing entity
resolution and relationship discovery. We experimentally
demonstrate the feasibility of integrating information from
unstructured data sources into MDM.

The Value of Full Scale Prototype Data - Testing Oyster 800 at EMEC, Orkney

This paper demonstrates the unparalleled value of full scale data which has been acquired from ocean trials of Aquamarine Power’s Oyster 800 Wave Energy Converter (WEC) at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Orkney, Scotland.
High quality prototype and wave data were simultaneously recorded in over 750 distinct sea states (comprising different wave height, wave period and tidal height combinations) and include periods of operation where the hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO) system was both pressurised (damped operation) and de-pressurised (undamped operation).
A detailed model-prototype correlation procedure is presented where the full scale prototype behaviour is compared to predictions from both experimental and numerical modelling techniques via a high temporal resolution wave-by-wave reconstruction. This unquestionably provides the definitive verification of the capabilities of such research techniques and facilitates a robust and meaningful uncertainty analysis to be performed on their outputs.
The importance of a good data capture methodology, both in terms of handling and accuracy is also presented. The techniques and procedures implemented by Aquamarine Power for real-time data management are discussed, including lessons learned on the instrumentation and infrastructure required to collect high-value data.

Collaborative practice:a strategy to improve the relevance of health services research.

Health services research has emerged as a tool for decision makers to make services more effective and efficient. While its value as a basis for decision making is well established, the incorporation of such evidence into decision making remains inconsistent. To this end, strengthening collaborative relationships between researchers and healthcare decision makers has been identified as a significant strategy for putting research evidence into practice.

Energy-Efficient In-Memory Data Stores on Hybrid Memory Hierarchies

Increasingly large amounts of data are stored in main memory of data center servers. However, DRAM-based memory is an important consumer of energy and is unlikely to scale in the future. Various byte-addressable non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies promise high density and near-zero static energy, however they suffer from increased latency and increased dynamic energy consumption.

This paper proposes to leverage a hybrid memory architecture, consisting of both DRAM and NVM, by novel, application-level data management policies that decide to place data on DRAM vs. NVM. We analyze modern column-oriented and key-value data stores and demonstrate the feasibility of application-level data management. Cycle-accurate simulation confirms that our methodology reduces the energy with least performance degradation as compared to the current state-of-the-art hardware or OS approaches. Moreover, we utilize our techniques to apportion DRAM and NVM memory sizes for these workloads.

Making randomised trials more efficient: report of the first meeting to discuss the Trial Forge platform

Randomised trials are at the heart of evidence-based healthcare, but the methods and infrastructure for conducting these sometimes complex studies are largely evidence free. Trial Forge (www.trialforge.org) is an initiative that aims to increase the evidence base for trial decision making and, in doing so, to improve trial efficiency.

This paper summarises a one-day workshop held in Edinburgh on 10 July 2014 to discuss Trial Forge and how to advance this initiative. We first outline the problem of inefficiency in randomised trials and go on to describe Trial Forge. We present participants' views on the processes in the life of a randomised trial that should be covered by Trial Forge.

General support existed at the workshop for the Trial Forge approach to increase the evidence base for making randomised trial decisions and for improving trial efficiency. Agreed upon key processes included choosing the right research question; logistical planning for delivery, training of staff, recruitment, and retention; data management and dissemination; and close down. The process of linking to existing initiatives where possible was considered crucial. Trial Forge will not be a guideline or a checklist but a 'go to' website for research on randomised trials methods, with a linked programme of applied methodology research, coupled to an effective evidence-dissemination process. Moreover, it will support an informal network of interested trialists who meet virtually (online) and occasionally in person to build capacity and knowledge in the design and conduct of efficient randomised trials.

Some of the resources invested in randomised trials are wasted because of limited evidence upon which to base many aspects of design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of clinical trials. Trial Forge will help to address this lack of evidence.

Pet population management and public health:A web service based tool for the improvement of dog traceability

The risks associated with zoonotic infections transmitted by companion animals are a serious public health concern: the control of zoonoses incidence in domestic dogs, both owned and stray, is hence important to protect human health. Integrated dog population management (DPM) programs, based on the availability of information systems providing reliable data on the structure and composition of the existing dog population in a given area, are fundamental for making realistic plans for any disease surveillance and action system. Traceability systems, based on the compulsory electronic identification of dogs and their registration in a computerised database, are one of the most effective ways to ensure the usefulness of DPM programs. Even if this approach provides many advantages, several areas of improvement have emerged in countries where it has been applied. In Italy, every region hosts its own dog register but these are not compatible with one another. This paper shows the advantages of a web-based-application to improve data management of dog regional registers. The approach used for building this system was inspired by farm animal traceability schemes and it relies on a network of services that allows multi-channel access by different devices and data exchange via the web with other existing applications, without changing the pre-existing platforms. Today the system manages a database for over 300,000 dogs registered in three different Italian regions. By integrating multiple Web Services, this approach could be the solution to gather data at national and international levels at reasonable cost and creating a traceability system on a large scale and across borders that can be used for disease surveillance and development of population management plans. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.