The overall goal of this Core is to provide biostatistical and data base support to the four projects in the Program Project and to the investigators and staff of Core B: BehavioralAssessment Core and to facilitate dissemination ofgenotypic and phenotypic data arising from animal models of sleep in both young and older animals to the larger scientific community (data sharing). To accomplish this goal, the Core will do the following: i. Work with investigators to develop robust study designs, clarify hypotheses, determine sample sizes for experiments to be performed, and to promote statistical thinking and the valid application of the scientific method throughout the Program. Work with investigators to analyze data obtained in the studies being conducted and to assist in preparation of manuscripts, including description of the statistical approaches employed. Ensure that the statistical approaches employed in the overall program of research are state-of-the art and to introduce new strategies to address the scientificneeds ofthe program. 4. Provide to Core B optimal methodologyfor non-invasive behavioral screening coupled with outlier detection to facilitate i) exclusion of data from C5?BL/6NIA mice that exhibit non-normative sleep/wake behavior and 2) exclusion from analyses C57BL/6NIA mice that exhibit non-normative changes sleep/wake behavior after EEG/EMG implantation surgery to reduce residual variance when performing group and experimental condition comparisons involving project-specific primary and supporting outcome measures. Provide and maintain a multi-server storage, database, and web infrastructure and software applications to support research operation, data management, and data sharing. The system and accompanying software applications will have an emphasis on metadata and will adopt best data management practices ana data modelsfrom the industry and research community. This system will have a comprehensive database structure for (i) storing and sharing genotypic and phenotypic information for sleep/wake behavior across the lifespan in Drosophila and EEG/EMG, video, and other sleep/wake behavioral data in young, middle age,and old mice;(2) making the data directly accessible to researchers to ensure an integration of data, documentation of data, and research, operations and activities. These data will be made available by a web-enabled system to all investigators in the program. Selected data will be carefully characterized and made available to the larger scientific communitythrough the developmentofa new web-site?SomnoGen?that willserve as a resourcefor phenotypic and genotypic information concerning sleep in young and older animals.
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