MEV file is a tab-delimited text file that contains coordinate and expression data for a single microarray experiment. The file can be divided into three parts: header, comments, and data. The header precedes the data in order to identify the columns below; the comments start with a "#' sign in each line and provides information about the file (i.e. how the file is generated). ExpressConverter generates the comments and header as following:
Comments:
| version: | version number of MEV Generator in the Converter. |
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| format_version: | version number of mev file format. |
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| date: | date of file creation. |
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| created by: | Converter and its version number. |
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| row_count: | number of rows of data items (genes). |
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| converted from: | the file from which the mev file is generated. |
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| background_correction: | ON if background subtracted. |
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Header Names (definition of columns)
| UID: | Unique identifier for this spot. |
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| IA: | Integrated intensity for channel 1 (Cy3). |
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| IB: | Integrated intensity for channel 2 (Cy5). |
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| R: | Row (slide_row). |
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| C: | Column (slide column). |
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| MR: | Meta-row (block row). |
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| MC: | Meta-column (block column). |
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| SR: | Sub-row (row in block). |
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| SC: | Sub-column (column in block). |
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| FlagA: | TIGR SpotFinder flag value for channel 1. |
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| FlagB: | TIGR SpotFinder flag value for channel 2. |
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| BkgA: | Background intensity for channel 1. |
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| BkgB: | Background intensity for channel 2. |
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| SAA: | Spot area for channel 1. |
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| SAB: | Spot area for channel 2. |
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| MedA: | Median Intensity for channel 1 (Cy3). |
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| MedB: | Median Intensity for channel 2 (Cy5). |
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In the data section, all data items are arranged based on the column definition for each spot. The format of UID varies based on the type of inputs. The Customized page generates more columns. Besides the above columns, they are:
| QC: | Combined quality control score from channels A and B. |
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| QCA: | Quality control score in channel A. |
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| QCB: | Quality control score in channel B. |
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| SDA: | Standard deviation for spot pixels in channel A. |
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| SDB: | Standard deviation for spot pixels in channel B. |
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