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The paper describes a personal computer (PC) program PEDIPLOT for drawing genetic pedigrees. It is easy to use because the input file is created from index cards by a special program PEDI-BASE. The place in the pedigree is calculated from the parents id, which means the order of the persons in indifferent. It is possible to draw rectangular as well as circular pedigrees.
The authors describe a new program for cephalometric analysis which uses a commonly available microprocessor (computer) and digitizing pad to register fifteen commonly identified cephalometric landmarks to produce a meaningful analysis which is printed out for permanent or hard-copy record. Conventional and digitizing errors of cephalometric measurement are reviewed, with a discussion of the advantages of computer-assisted programs. The authors describe a program that uses vectors and vector algebra and the capabilities of the Pascal computer language to determine angular measurements and distances. It is suggested that computer-assisted cephalometric programs will likely be widely used in the near future, providing the orthodontist with a superior method of cephalometric analysis with respect to accuracy and speed of completion.
We describe the theoretical features and in vivo assay of an original computer-based program, which describes Na and HCO3 kinetics with acetate-free biofiltration performed as a continuous veno-venous renal replacement therapy (CVVAFB). In 14 patients, CVVAFB sessions were performed as follows. Machine Hospal Prisma, membrane AN69 0.9 m2, blood circuit Hospal M100 pre Set, dialysate bags of electrolyte solution with basic composition of: Na 139 mEq/L, K 2 mEq/L, Ca 3.0 mEq/L, Mg 2 mEq/L, Cl 146 mEq/L, and glucose 5.5 mmol/L. Predilutional infusion bags of 167 mEq/L of NaHCO3 solution (Hospal Biosol). To guide the prescription of the dialysate (QD) and the infusate (QInf ) flow rates we designed a suitable computer program, which calculated Na and HCO3 kinetics and predicted their plasma profiles at equilibrium. Prescribed flow rates were QB 150 ml/min, QD 1636 +/- 42 ml/hr, Q Inf 639 +/- 74 ml/hr and ultrafiltration (UF) rate 110 +/- 41 ml/hr. During CVVAFB, plasma profiles of HCO3 and Na became stable after 24 hr. With HCO3 , the average predicted and observed plasma levels at equilibrium were 27.1 +/- 1.5 and 27.3 +/- 1.5 mEq/L, respectively (p=ns); with Na, the predicted and observed levels at equilibrium were 140.2 +/- 1.8 and 141.3 +/- 1.7 mEq/L, respectively (p=ns). There was a good correlation between predicted and observed values for both Na (p<0.01, r=0.78) and HCO3 (p<0.01, r=0.87). These results confirmed the reliability of our mathematical model for CVVAFB. A Long-term trial is needed to obtain more information on its clinical effects and compare CVVAFB with other continuous renal replacement therapy techniques.
High-resolution protein electrophoresis of serum, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can aid in the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases. Electrophoresis-Tutor is a personal computer program based on approximately 150 digital images that teaches the clinical interpretation of agarose gel electrophoretic patterns. The program is divided into the following sections: introduction, CSF, serum, urine, review of disease states, program navigator, and final exam. The CSF section describes normal and abnormal CSF findings with emphasis on oligoclonal banding, as seen in the CSF of patients with multiple sclerosis. The serum section emphasizes monoclonal gammopathy patterns but also has detailed descriptions of inflammation, liver disease, protein-losing disorders, genetic deficiencies, and other patterns. Monoclonal gammopathy is described in the context of specific associated clinical conditions (e.g., myeloma, amyloidosis). For each monoclonal gammopathy example, results of standard electrophoresis, densitometry, and immunofixation are presented. The review of disease states uses animation to illustrate the development and remission of a variety of pathological patterns. The program navigator allows the user to jump quickly to any place in the program. The optional exam contains 20 questions, and detailed feedback is given after each question. Electrophoresis-Tutor can be used as a stand-alone teaching tool, a companion to traditional instruction, or a reference source.
Advances in computer visualization and user interface technologies have enabled development of "virtual reality" programs that allow users to perceive and to interact with objects in artificial three-dimensional environments. Such technologies were used to create an image database and program for studying the human skull, a specimen that has become increasingly expensive and scarce. Stereoscopic image pairs of a museum-quality skull were digitized from multiple views. For each view, the stereo pairs were interlaced into a single, field-sequential stereoscopic picture using an image processing program. The resulting interlaced image files are organized in an interactive multimedia program. At run-time, gray-scale 3-D images are displayed on a large-screen computer monitor and observed through liquid-crystal shutter goggles. Users can then control the program and change views with a mouse and cursor to point-and-click on screen-level control words ("buttons"). For each view of the skull, an ID control button can be used to overlay pointers and captions for important structures. Pointing and clicking on "hidden buttons" overlying certain structures triggers digitized audio spoken word descriptions or mini lectures.
An algorithm is described which attempts to find the maximum likelihood order of the loci on a chromosome using linkage data. It can also use data on locus order if these are available. A computer program which applies this algorithm has been written, and tested on the data for human chromosome 1. The most likely possible order is GDH, PGD, ENO1, Rh, UMPK, Sc, PGM1, AMY, Fy, CAE, 1qh, CMT1, AT3, PEPC.
The use of chronic disease probabilistic models to calculate patient prognosis is presented. The method relies on the calculation of transition probabilities between discrete disease states from a patient data bank. Maximum likelihood estimates are used for each age and unwanted fluctuations are removed by a moving average. An interactive computer program was written and the method applied to the calculation of the probability of stroke and myocardial infarction for male patients on antihypertensive therapy. A clinician could obtain the prognostic information for a patient in less than one minute. Applications in medical student education are also discussed.
Sample size must be determined while planning a study to ensure that valid conclusions can be drawn when the study is over. different formulae for calculating the required size of the sample are used for different study designs and situations. A computer program is described here to ease the complexity of calculation of sample size for studies designed to use students 't' test.
Enzyme induction may be modeled on the basis of four, quantifiable processes that control the rates at which specific gene products accumulate and decay. These processes include synthesis of functional mRNA, translation and degradation of mRNA, and degradation of the protein product. We present a simple computer program that permits mathematical simulation of gene expression on the basis of experimentally determined rates of synthesis and degradation. The program was implemented as a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel for Macintosh and MS-DOS operating systems and also was adapted for HyperCard on the Macintosh. It contains a formula to account for growth of tissue or cell populations. The program predicts amounts of individual mRNAs and proteins (or enzyme activities) in cells as a function of time after a stimulus alters their rates of synthesis or degradation.
As inhaled fibers may lead to a variety of lung diseases, detailed information on their deposition in the human respiratory tract is an indispensable requirement in medical science. In the work presented here, a Visual Basic((R)) computer program, termed FIBROS, is described which enables the simulation of fibrous particle deposition in both the extrathoracic region and different parts of the lung itself, including the results of published numerical studies on inertial/interceptional as well as diffusional and gravitational deposition. The input window of FIBROS includes the selection of specific breathing conditions by variation of the tidal volume and breathing cycle. Furthermore, the user is able to determine fiber properties such as diameter, aspect ratio, specific weight, and fiber orientation with respect to the air stream in the upper and lower airways of the lungs. Besides the offer of various deposition formulae for each region of the respiratory tract, thereby also allowing a distinction between mouth and nose breathing, the user may select between different morphometric datasets of the lung and respective airway scaling procedures. Analysis routines of FIBROS include the estimation of regional deposition fractions, thereby distinguishing between extrathoracic, bronchial, and acinar compartments, and a calculation of generation-by-generation deposition probabilities within tubular and alveolar structures. Preliminary results presented here should demonstrate the effects on fiber deposition due to variations of the breathing behaviour and the particle properties.
Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints were generated with M13 and DAF4 primers for 25 isolates of Acinetobacter spp. obtained from 16 different hospitals situated in 12 countries. The overall robustness of the algorithms and the reproducibility of the cluster analysis results generated by two commercially available computer programs (GelCompar and DENDRON) for analysing DNA fingerprinting gels were tested by examining the same set of fingerprinting data independently in two laboratories with the different software packages. Both programs were efficient at recognising and grouping strains with closely similar RAPD fingerprints, i.e., strains which might be expected to have a close epidemiological or evolutionary relationship. However, the relationships suggested for less closely related strains showed considerable variation in terms of the overall similarity or percentage correlation values suggested by the programs. It was concluded that both programs were useful tools for indicating close genotypic relationships between individual strains, but that epidemiological conclusions based on the similarity or correlation values (or the dendrograms derived from them) obtained for less closely related strains should be treated with considerable caution.
The electroacoustic characteristics of an experimental master hearing aid are determined by the choice of transducers and settings of 26 controls which include a preamplifier, the gains and limiting levels in each of 12 channels as well as the gain of a final power amplifier. Here, a computer program which aids in the fitting of the electroacoustic characteristics of this aid to the characteristics of a patient's residual hearing is described. The patient's audiologic data and the hearing-aid parameters are entered into the computer and the gain and limiting level of each channel of the hearing aid are adjusted until an appropriate fit is achieved. The results of the fitting procedure are displayed on a graphics terminal. Permanent copies of the results can be produced on a printer-plotter. Included in the results for each of 12 channels are (1) the discomfort level, most comfortable listening level, and hearing threshold of the patient, and (2) the maximum output and noise floor of the hearing aid as well as the aided speech level. This approach has simplified the problem of fitting a complicated hearing aid to a patient's residual hearing and seems to offer attractive possibilities for fitting commercial hearing aids in the future.
The application of fully automated, unattended sample preparation performed by a laboratory robot for the analysis of drugs in biological samples requires the prevention of system failures which may arise in the on-line coupled chromatographic system or in other components of the robotic system. A computer program has been developed which can help to detect such problems. The control program for the robotic sample preparation contains a number of safety measures to intercept robotic or human errors. A routine is implemented, guarding for chromatographic malfunctions and errors in dispensing liquids by the robot. After detection of trouble, sample preparation is interrupted.
The optimum choice of categories in problems of medical data recognition is governed by the choice of categories, the selection of appropriate features, and by the choice of a loss function. Under these circumstances it is often difficult to find out the suitable classification scheme. The computer program described here serves for the design of the optimum recognition procedure. The Bayes rule is used as decision rule. A criterion for the comparison of different choice of categories is given. The program can be performed after estimation of the underlying prior probabilities and the conditional densities obtained from a training set, and before testing the decision rule with real data.
The arcs of the six anterior maxillary and mandibular teeth have recently been described mathematically by the hyperbolic cosine function with a maxillary correlation coefficient (r ) of 0.885 and a mandibular correlation coefficient (r ) of 0.951. Because the geometric relationships of the anterior dental arcs are known when the occlusion is Class I, a computer program has been developed for use in clinical practice. Rapid forecasting of the interrelationships between the maxillary and mandibular arc depths (related to overjet) with variations in the mesiodistal sums of the six maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth for various intercanine widths is now possible with ease and accuracy (+/- 0.1 mm). Clinical applications are illustrated.
Nowadays 40-50 % of the patients receive inappropriate antibiotic treatment. Evidence based recommendations are not considered and there is an increasing burden of resistant pathogens. Therefore, standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be implemented considering guidelines and resistant species in the specific ICU. The authors developed algorithms and generated a user friendly computer program available for all ICU physicians all the time.
The sequencing of the human genome and the genomes of several model organisms is the first step toward the long-term objective of genetic research: the identification of all genes, and the discovery of their functions and mutual interactions. This article presents a methodology and a computer program called GenePath to support the discovery of gene function. GenePath uses mutant data and available genetic knowledge to identify potential genetic pathways. Several pilot applications based on experimental results from Dictyostelium and C. elegans confirmed the usefulness of the proposed schema. Our results suggest that GenePath is a valuable tool that can be used as an intelligent assistant to support genetic reasoning.
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