Table 1.

Five types of HTS datasets containing different kinds of systematic and/or random error generated and tested in this study

Error type	Generation of error-affected measurements
A. Datasets with both column and row systematic errors which are constant across all assay plates.	${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}=x_{ijp}+r_i+c_j+Ran{d}_{ijp}$, 1 ≤ i ≤ 8, 1 ≤ j ≤ 12, 1 ≤ p ≤ 1250.
B. Datasets with the column systematic error only which is constant across all plates.	${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}=x_{ijp}+c_j+Ran{d}_{ijp}$, 1 ≤ i ≤ 8, 1 ≤ j ≤ 12, 1 ≤ p ≤ 1250.
C. Datasets with the well systematic error which is constant across all plates.	${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}=x_{ijp}+w_{ij}+Ran{d}_{ijp}$, 1 ≤ i ≤ 8, 1 ≤ j ≤ 12, 1 ≤ p ≤ 1250.
D. Datasets with the variable column and row systematic error which are different for each plate.	${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}=x_{ijp}+r_{ip}+c_{jp}+Ran{d}_{ijp}$, 1 ≤ i ≤ 8, 1 ≤ j ≤ 12, 1 ≤ p ≤ 1250.
E. Datasets with the random error only (i.e., systematic error was absent).	${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}=x_{ijp}+Ran{d}_{ijp}$, 1 ≤ i ≤ 8, 1 ≤ j ≤ 12, 1 ≤ p ≤ 1250.

where: ${x^{\prime }}_{ijp}$ is the error-affected value in well i,j (row i, column j) of plate p.

x_ijp is the original value in well i,j of plate p in the error-free dataset.

r_i is the systematic error in row i (constant over all plates); it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, C).

x_j is the systematic error in column j (constant over all plates); it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, C).

w_ij is the systematic error that affects well i,j (row i, column j) and is the same for all plates; it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, C).

r_ip is the systematic error in row i of plate p; it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, C).

c_jp is the systematic error in column i of plate p; it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, C).

Rand_ijp is the random error affecting well i,j (row i, column j) of plate p; it had a normal distribution with the parameters ~N(0, 0.3×SD).

Datasets for C = 0, 0.6×SD, 1.2×SD, 1.8×SD, 2.4×SD and 3×SD were generated and tested, where μ is the mean and SD is the standard deviation of the error-free dataset.