--- a
+++ b/paf-prediction-challenge-database-1.0.0/challenge/index.shtml
@@ -0,0 +1,299 @@
+<!--#set var="TITLE" value="Obtaining CinC Challenge 2001 Scores"-->
+<!--#include virtual="/head.shtml"-->
+
+
+<h2>About the events</h2>
+
+<p>
+The PAF Prediction Challenge Database consists of 50 pairs of half-hour ECG
+recordings. Each pair of recordings is obtained from a single 24-hour ECG.
+Subjects in group A experienced PAF; for these subjects, one recording
+ends just before the onset of PAF, and the other recording is distant in
+time from any PAF (there is no PAF within 45 minutes before or after the
+excerpt). Subjects in group N do not have PAF; in these, the times of the
+recordings have been chosen at random.
+
+<p>
+The number of subjects in group N is <em>n</em>
+(where 20 &lt; <em>n</em> &lt 30).  The number of subjects in group A is
+thus 50-<em>n</em>, a number also between 20 and 30.
+
+<p>
+<b>Event 1 (Screening) is intended to determine if subjects in group A can
+be distinguished from those in group N</b>. (In other words, can individuals at
+risk of PAF be identified within a larger population, based on their ECGs?)
+Since each subject is represented by a pair of consecutively numbered records
+in the database, entrants in event 1 of the challenge should provide one
+classification (`A' or `N') for the 50 odd-numbered records only
+(<tt>t01</tt>, <tt>t03</tt>, <tt>t05</tt>, ... <tt>t99</tt>).  The number of
+correct classifications (0 to 50) is the event 1 score.
+
+<p>
+<b>Event 2 (Prediction) is intended to determine if subjects in
+group A have distinctive and detectable changes in their ECGs
+immediately before PAF</b>.  (In other words, is the imminent onset of
+PAF predictable in an individual known to be at risk of PAF?)  A
+successful method for doing so should be able to determine which
+record of each pair of group A records immediately precedes PAF.  If
+the identities of the group A records were known, it would be
+sufficient to classify these records only; since the goal of event 1
+is to identify group A, however, we have not provided this
+information!  Entrants in event 2 of the challenge must therefore
+classify exactly one of each pair of records in the test set as `A'
+(defined as ``<em>immediately preceding PAF, if the patient belongs to
+group A</em>''), and the other as `N' (defined as ``<em>not
+immediately preceding PAF</em>'').  One point is awarded for each
+correctly classified record pair, so that the event 2 scores range
+from <em>n</em> to 50 (the lower bound is <em>n</em> because the group
+N subjects are always considered correctly classified).
+
+<h2>Preparing your entry</h2>
+
+<p>
+Your entry needs to be prepared in a special text format, which depends on
+the event you are entering:
+
+<ul>
+<li> For event 1 (Screening), download this <a
+href="template-test-1">template</a>,
+and replace the `?' characters with your classifications (`A' or `N')
+for each of the 50 record pairs in the test set.
+
+<li> For event 2 (Prediction), download this <a
+href="template-test-2">template</a>,
+and replace the `?' characters with your classifications (`A' or `N')
+for each of the 100 records in the test set.
+</ul>
+
+<h2>Submitting your entry for scoring</h2>
+
+<p>
+Please double-check your entry before submitting it to be sure it is in
+<strong>plain text</strong> format, exactly like the template files.
+<em>HTML-formatted entries will confuse the automated scorer and will not be
+scored.</em>
+
+<p>
+To submit your entry successfully, you will need:
+
+<ul> 
+<li> A web browser that supports HTTP uploads, such as Netscape 2.0 or
+ later, or MS Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.
+
+<li> A valid e-mail address that is known to us.  Please
+ <a href="/register.shtml">sign in</a> before submitting your entry.
+ (If you signed in on a previous visit, you do not need to sign in again.)
+ All entries are logged by date, time, and the e-mail address of the
+ entrant.
+
+ <p>
+ <b>Important:</b>  Your score will be sent by e-mail to the address you
+ specify.  Please be sure that your e-mail address is entered correctly,
+ or you won't be able to view your score.
+
+<li> A password.  If you don't yet have a password, or if you
+ have forgotten your password, go to the entry form (see below), fill
+ in only your e-mail address, click on the "Get password" button, and a
+ password will be sent to your e-mail address immediately.
+</ul>
+
+<p>
+After filling in your e-mail address and password on the 
+<a href="http://www.physionet.org/cgi-bin/cinc-2001-score">entry form</a>.
+enter the name of the file that contains your correctly-formatted entry
+(you may use the <b>Browse</b> button to find it), indicate which
+event you wish to enter, and click on <b>Upload entry</b>.
+
+<p>
+If you wish to enter both events, you may do so, but you will need to
+submit separate entries, one in each format, in this case.
+
+<h2>Notes</h2>
+
+<p>
+Please be careful not to submit more than one copy of the same results, since
+each submission will be counted against your quota of submissions.  If this
+happens inadvertently, please
+<a href="mailto:webmaster@physionet.org subject=duplicate entry">send a
+note</a> quoting the date and time of the duplicate submission;  your
+submission counter will be adjusted manually if the error can be confirmed.
+
+<p>
+If you are tempted to try submitting many entries in order to learn about the
+correct classifications, why not play <a
+href="http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/mastermind/mastmind.html"
+target="other">Mastermind</a> instead?  We will reject obvious attempts to
+circumvent the spirit of the challenge in this way, including entries that do
+not have the correct number of classifications (50 for event 1, 100 for event
+2), entries in event 1 with fewer than 21 or more than 29 `N' classifications,
+entries in event 2 that do not have exactly one `A' classification for each of
+the 50 record pairs, and large numbers of entries from a single entrant.
+Delivery of your score may be delayed if you submit more than one entry per
+event per day.
+
+<p>
+UNIX versions of Netscape, and possibly other browsers, will allow the
+user to specify a directory name in the <b>File to upload</b> field of the
+entry form, but the browser will not transmit anything in this case and will
+hang until the user interrupts it by clicking on <b>Stop</b>.  This behavior
+is a bug in the browser and cannot be detected or avoided by the PhysioNet web
+server.  Other browsers will detect and disallow attempts to upload
+directories.
+
+<a name="faq"><h2>Frequently asked questions</h2></a>
+
+<p>
+If your question is not answered below, please consult the
+<a href="/faq.shtml">PhysioNet FAQ</a>.
+
+<p>
+<b>Group B subjects are not explicitly defined in the text. I assume these
+are Group N subjects?</b>
+
+<p>
+This is correct.  Group B was renamed Group N.  There should no longer be any
+references to Group B.  Sorry for the confusion!
+
+<p>
+<b>We have to put exactly one A under one of the subjects of each even-odd
+pair in event 2.  Does this mean that exactly 50 As and 50 Ns are expected in
+a submission for event 2 scoring?</b>
+
+<p>
+This is also correct.
+
+<p>
+<b>I presume this scoring scheme is produced in order to allow submission for
+only one of the events, and/or to eliminate the possibility of contradictory
+submissions for event 1 and event 2, from the same author?</b>
+
+<p>
+You are welcome to submit results for both events, but they must be separate
+submissions.  Because of the nature of the events, it would be a poor strategy
+to submit the same classifications in both cases, even if the autoscorer
+permitted this.  In event 1, the goal is to minimize the number of
+misclassified subjects in both groups, so it would be a mistake to mark one
+record in each pair as `A' (unless you really believe that all 50 subjects
+belong to group A; as stated above, however, there are between 20 and 30
+subjects in group A).
+
+<p>
+In event 2, the goal is to minimize the number of misclassified records in
+group A only.  In this event, it would be a mistake to omit classifying one
+record in any pair as `A', because if that pair turned out to belong to group
+A, you would forfeit the opportunity to score a point for that pair.
+
+<p>
+The submission formats for the two events were deliberately designed to be
+different.  This makes it easy for the autoscorer to recognize a result
+submitted to the wrong event in error, so that such a case doesn't get counted
+against your quota of submissions.
+
+<p>
+<b>Still, one can have a high score on one event and a poor score on the
+other. How do you treat this?</b>
+
+<p>
+The two events are really addressing rather different questions, using the same
+data set.  (This, in a nutshell, is one of the principal <em>raisons
+d'Ítre</em> for PhysioNet: to make it possible for data to be used to address
+more than one question!)  We will award US$500 to the winner of event 1, and
+US$500 to the winner of event 2.  If you win both events, you will receive
+US$1000.
+
+<p>
+<b>Who is eligible to win an award?</b>
+
+<p>
+To be eligible for an award, you must enter the competition
+officially (by submitting at least one set of results for scoring, and an
+abstract describing your work to Computers in Cardiology 2001, no later than
+the abstract deadline of 1 May 2001).  You may submit revised results at
+any time until noon GMT on 21 September 2001.  At that time, the winners
+will be determined based on the highest scores received by official entrants.
+The date and time of the submission will be used as a tiebreaker if necessary.
+
+<p>
+Submissions from members and affiliates of our research groups at MIT, Boston
+University, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and
+McGill University are not eligible for awards, although all are welcome to
+participate.
+
+<p>
+If you have missed the deadline for submitting an abstract to Computers in
+Cardiology 2001, we still encourage you to participate unofficially.  If you
+receive a high score, your achievement will be recognized on this web site.
+If you are able to attend Computers in Cardiology, you will have an opportunity
+to discuss your work informally with other participants during a workshop
+session.
+
+<p>
+<b>Would it be possible to submit my classification result and ask for
+scoring during the weekend?  How long will it take for scoring?</b>
+
+<p>
+The scoring is performed automatically -- just follow the instructions
+above for submitting your results.  Your score is sent to you by return email
+immediately.
+
+<p>
+If your results are not properly formatted, you will receive an email reply
+that will indicate this; if this happens, please review the instructions
+carefully and try again.  Your friendly challenge organizer reads his
+<a href="mailto:webmaster@physionet.org?subject=CinC Challenge 2001 Help!">
+email</a> frequently (on the weekends, too), especially as the critical
+deadlines approach, and promises to answer your questions quickly if you get
+stuck!
+
+<p>
+<b>If I would like to submit more than one result for an event, should I
+use the same file name for each submission of the text file (the default
+names are template-test-1.txt for event 1 and template-test-2.txt for event
+2)?</b>
+
+<p>
+This doesn't matter (your submission is archived using a file name
+constructed from the date, time, and your email address).
+
+<p>
+<b>About the result template for event 1 (PAF risk assessment), there are
+only odd-numbered records in the template.  What should I do if the
+classification results for the two records in a pair are different?
+Should I just write down the results for the odd-numbered records, or can I
+choose the more reliable one from each pair of records?</b>
+
+<p>
+Definitely, you should choose whatever classification you consider to be more
+reliable, provided that you are using objective criteria for making the choice.
+Each pair of records comes from one subject, so for purposes of event 1 the
+correct classification is by definition the same for both records in the pair:
+either the subject has PAF (`A') or not (`N').  Please keep in mind that the
+classifications must be determined by an algorithm, not manually, so if your
+algorithm produces a confidence level, for example, and you choose the
+classification with the higher confidence level each time, this is acceptable
+(your decision is algorithmically determined); but it would not be acceptable
+for you to decide on subjective grounds which classification to use in each
+case.
+
+<p>
+<b>According to the instructions for abstract submission, I should give the
+result of my algorithm.  Does that mean the scoring result?  So I have to
+get the scores first before I can submit the abstract, right?</b>
+
+<p>
+This is correct: your abstract should include your score.  You should consider
+this score to represent preliminary results; your abstract will be judged on
+the basis of the ideas you discuss and not on the score itself (although a good
+score might help a marginal abstract, a poor score will not rule out a good
+abstract).  You may submit revised results for scoring before or after the
+abstract deadline, at any time until noon GMT on 21 September 2001.  Your best
+results determine your standing in the competition.  In your finished
+manuscript (which is not due until 25 September 2001) you should include your
+best results and describe what changes, if any, you made in order to improve
+your initial results.
+
+<hr>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/footer.shtml" -->
+</body>
+</html>