MedARKS notes

System utilities – system parameters: set paths here for programs, MedARKS data, and tax list

System utilities – inventory utilities - edit collection info: set ARKS data path

See “mnemonic: 3”in upper right corner: means it’s reading ARKS 3.

PKUNZIP version issue: sometimes

taxlist.dbf does not exist error when installing: if there is not an ARKS 3 folder with stuff in it, it will die. Newest version installs without this error.

wxline error after installation: fix file handles; then delete file med_vars.mem from NEWMED\MEDARKS – next time you start MedARKS, it will launch the system utilities set up and you answering the questions will replace the file you deleted.

can’t search by common name:The newest version of MedARKS has a utility that modifies the ARKS4 generated taxlist to improve common name lookup. So, people should now upgrade to MedARKS 5.40, make sure that they are using the ARKS4 generated taxlist and then run the "Update Common Names for Taxonomic Lookup" utility. This will give them a taxlist that has all the ARKS4 taxonomic modifications and most of the common name lookup power of the ARKS3 file. (OLD WAY: replace taxlist.dbf with one from the new CD; remind them not to export tax list from now on. May have to rename taxlist.dbf (it maybe taxlistf.dbf) and may have to change it to not read-only.)

Want to know paths MedARKS is using: Hit Alt-F1

Parasit module problems: try 2)5) 4&5 – “deworming”

spell check: Ctrl F2

Find a file containing text you want to insert: Ctrl L

Set data entry order (e.g. to match the order of fields on a certain lab’s paperwork: 4)1)5

Get scrollable screen: choose disk save, then Alt F12

User can’t search by common name: replace ARKS 3 taxlist with the one from the MedARKS CD (may have to rename and make non-read-only)

Customize security: move Userlist.dbf from MedARKS CD to newmed/medarks/data. Don’t give “supervisor” rights to anyone except user: 000 (password: medarks). Give everyone else “authority” level or below. Security menu will be in 9)2.

Windows XP “half-screen” issue: right click on title bar, go to properties, go to layout, set window and screen buffer size to 80 wide by 25 high.

Memory problems: try setting Expanded to “none” and Extended to “auto.”

Sending files: MedARKS automatically generates monthly morbidity reports (that’s the thing that appears when I log out of MedARKS). Cyd and Andy specifically ask for the Phys Values stuff. (ISIS_year_month.sqz) Users need “Write” rights to the NEWMED folder.

Files in a MedARKS backup: grab the data folder and all the *.mem files.

Monthly summary report – They get a prompt monthly asking them to create the Monthly Summary Report (we sometimes call it the morbidity and mortality report). It creates a file in the newmed folder named “isis0502.sqz” (where 05 is the year and 02 is the month. They should then email it to . This is NOT the same as the phys norms.

Phys Norms (Phys Ref Values) data – They get a prompt in July and January, asking them to create this. They can also get to it via the menus (4,1,5, 5). It creates a file named 310523010.5ba (or something close) where 310523010 is their institution code. They should then email it to .

Phys Norms Standard Deviation -The reference ranges themselves are calculated from the mean +/- 2 StDev. However, because our sample sizes are often small and quality of submitted data is entirely outside our control while the overall quantity of data is too large to manually review all submissions, we need a method to automatically eliminate extreme outlying values. The mean +/- 3 StDev is our attempt to perform this task. The +/- 3 StDev encompasses 99+% of a normal distribution. Values that fall outside of this range represent either the 1% of "normals" in this range or outlying (probably incorrect) data. These values are marked and discarded from the final calculation of the reference ranges. I am not aware of a published paper regarding this standard technique for removing outlying values being applied to reference ranges, but most laboratory calculations of reference ranges do not face the twin issues of occasional questionable data quality and overwhelming data quantity, so it is unlikely that most laboratories would require this technique for calculating their reference ranges.