Evaluation of freely available data profiling tools for health data research application: a functional evaluation review.

OBJECTIVES: To objectively evaluate freely available data profiling software tools using healthcare data. DESIGN: Data profiling tools were evaluated for their capabilities using publicly available information and data sheets. From initial assessment, several underwent further detailed evaluation for application on healthcare data using a synthetic dataset of 1000 patients and associated data using a common health data model, and tools scored based on their functionality with this dataset. SETTING: Improving the quality of healthcare data for research use is a priority. Profiling tools can assist by evaluating datasets across a range of quality dimensions. Several freely available software packages with profiling capabilities are available but healthcare organisations often have limited data engineering capability and expertise. PARTICIPANTS: 28 profiling tools, 8 undergoing evaluation on synthetic dataset of 1000 patients. RESULTS: Of 28 potential profiling tools initially identified, 8 showed high potential for applicability with healthcare datasets based on available documentation, of which two performed consistently well for these purposes across multiple tasks including determination of completeness, consistency, uniqueness, validity, accuracy and provision of distribution metrics. CONCLUSIONS: Numerous freely available profiling tools are serviceable for potential use with health datasets, of which at least two demonstrated high performance across a range of technical data quality dimensions based on testing with synthetic health dataset and common data model. The appropriate tool choice depends on factors including underlying organisational infrastructure, level of data engineering and coding expertise, but there are freely available tools helping profile health datasets for research use and inform curation activity.

Potency of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for induction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in hepatocyte cultures from chicken, Pekin duck, and greater scaup.

The potency of tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and 18 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for induction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity was assessed in primary hepatocyte cultures prepared from chicken (Gallus domesticus), Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), and greater scaup (Aythya marila). TCDD and 8 of the PAHs induced EROD activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Seven of these were previously shown to be acutely toxic to avian embryos, while the 10 congeners that did not produce an EROD response caused limited mortality. The rank order potency of the EROD-active congeners in all three species was as follows: TCDD>dibenz[ah]anthracene>benzo[k]fluoranthene>indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene>benzo[a]pyrene>chrysene≈benz[a]anthracene≈benz[ghi]perylene>benzo[b]naphtho[2,3-d]thiophene. Chicken hepatoctyes were more sensitive than duck hepatocytes to EROD induction by all test compounds, but the gap in species sensitivity was 100-fold for TCDD, and generally ≤10-fold for PAHs. This study is the first to use in vitro methods to rank the AHR-mediated potency of PAHs in birds. These data may be useful for assessing risks associated with exposure to PAHs in the environment.