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At least 1,441 records · Page 80Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Biological data integration: wrapping data and tools.

Nowadays scientific data is inevitably digital and stored in a wide variety of formats in heterogeneous systems. Scientists need to access an integrated view of remote or local heterogeneous data sources with advanced data accessing, analyzing, and visualization tools. Building a digital library for scientific data requires accessing and manipulating data extracted from flat files or databases, documents retrieved from the Web as well as data generated by software. We present an approach to wrapping web data sources, databases, flat files, or data generated by tools through a database view mechanism. Generally, a wrapper has two tasks: it first sends a query to the source to retrieve data and, second builds the expected output with respect to the virtual structure. Our wrappers are composed of a retrieval component based on an intermediate object view mechanism called search views mapping the source capabilities to attributes, and an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) engine, respectively, to perform these two tasks. The originality of the approach consists of: 1) a generic view mechanism to access seamlessly data sources with limited capabilities and 2) the ability to wrap data sources as well as the useful specific tools they may provide. Our approach has been developed and demonstrated as part of the multidatabase system supporting queries via uniform object protocol model (OPM) interfaces.

Algorithms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attending physician coverage in a teaching hospital's emergency department: effect on malpractice.

It seems self-evident that the establishment of 24-hour per day attending physician coverage in a teaching hospital's emergency department would enhance risk management. However, prior to this study, little investigation had been done to corroborate the effects of full-time emergency department attending physician coverage. In a retrospective study from a large teaching hospital's emergency department, malpractice claims filed for 1985-1987 (part-time attending physician coverage) were analyzed and compared to those for 1987-1989 (full-time attending physician coverage). A total of 98 claims were filed; these data were derived from 466,862 patient visits. Attending physician presence increased from 6000 hours per year in 1985-1987 to 26,280 hours per year in 1987-1989. There was an 18.5% decrease in claims filed, and a 70.1% decrease in disbursements for the first 2 years after the introduction of full-time attending physician coverage as compared with the preceding 2 years. These findings suggest that full-time attending physician coverage in the emergency department is associated with improved risk management.

Emergency Service, Hospital↗
PubMed2002

Rosuvastatin for the treatment of patients with hypercholesterolemia.

OBJECTIVE: To review the currently available information on rosuvastatin in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia. DATA SOURCES: MEDLEY (2000-January 2001), MEDLIT, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SciSearch, Current Contents, Derwent, Drug, BIOSIS, Adis LMS Drug Alerts, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1994-July 2001) were searched; unpublished data obtained from the manufacturer were also included. STUDY SELECTION: Studies evaluating rosuvastatin including abstracts, proceedings, and data on file from the manufacturer were considered for inclusion. English-language literature was evaluated for pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use, and adverse effects of rosuvastatin. Additional relevant citations were used in the introductory material and discussion section. DATA EXTRACTION: English-language study abstracts selected for inclusion were limited to those on human subjects. Animal data were included only if human data were not available. DATA SYNTHESIS: Resuvastatin, a new synthetic hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (HMG-CoA RI), recently completed Phase III clinical trials. At a dosage of 1-80 mg/d, the drug significantly reduced total cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and produced beneficial effects on other lipid parameters as well. Overall, resuvastatin was well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: In hypercholesterolemic patients, rosuvastatin reduced LDL-C and other lipid parameters to a greater degree than currently available agents. One advantage of rosuvastatin is that it achieves target LDL-C goals in a greater proportion of treated patients with similar adverse events compared with those treated with other HMG-CoA RIs. The potential to reduce risk of coronary heart disease events and decrease mortality as well as cost comparisons with currently used HMG-CoA RIs remains a subject of further investigation.

Anticholesteremic Agents↗
PubMed1991

Statistical analysis in dBASE-compatible databases.

Database management in clinical and experimental research often requires statistical analysis of the data in addition to the usual functions for storing, organizing, manipulating and reporting. With most database systems, transfer of data to a dedicated statistics package is a relatively simple task. However, many statistics programs lack the powerful features found in database management software. dBASE IV and compatible programs are currently among the most widely used database management programs. d4STAT is a utility program for dBASE, containing a collection of statistical functions and tests for data stored in the dBASE file format. By using d4STAT, statistical calculations may be performed directly on the data stored in the database without having to exit dBASE IV or export data. Record selection and variable transformations are performed in memory, thus obviating the need for creating new variables or data files. The current version of the program contains routines for descriptive statistics, paired and unpaired t-tests, correlation, linear regression, frequency tables, Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, a time-saving procedure for counting observations according to user specified selection criteria, survival analysis (product limit estimate analysis, log-rank test, and graphics), and normal t and chi-squared distribution functions.

Database Management Systems↗
PubMed2002

Genew: the human gene nomenclature database.

Genew, the Human Gene Nomenclature Database, is the only resource that provides data for all human genes which have approved symbols. It is managed by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) as a confidential database, containing over 16 000 records, 80% of which are represented on the Web by searchable text files. The data in Genew are highly curated by HGNC editors and gene records can be searched on the Web by symbol or name to directly retrieve information on gene symbol, gene name, cytogenetic location, OMIM number and PubMed ID. Data are integrated with other human gene databases, e.g. GDB, LocusLink and SWISS-PROT, and approved gene symbols are carefully co-ordinated with the Mouse Genome Database (MGD). Approved gene symbols are available for querying and browsing at http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/nomenclature/searchgenes.pl.

Confidentiality↗
PubMed1998

Atorvastatin in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia and mixed dyslipidemias.

OBJECTIVE: To review the efficacy and safety of atorvastatin in the treatment of dyslipidemias. DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search (January 1960-April 1998), Current Contents search, additional references listed in articles, and unpublished data obtained from the manufacturer were used to identify data from scientific literature. Studies evaluating atorvastatin (i.e., abstracts, clinical trials, proceedings, data on file with the manufacturer) were considered for inclusion. STUDY SELECTION: English-language literature was reviewed to evaluate the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use, and adverse effects of atorvastatin. Additional relevant citations were used in the introductory material and discussion. DATA EXTRACTION: Open and controlled animal and human clinical studies published in the English-language literature were reviewed and evaluated. Clinical trials selected for inclusion were limited to those in human subjects and included data from animals if human data were not available. DATA SYNTHESIS: Atorvastatin is a recent hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor for the treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia, mixed dyslipidemias, and homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. In patients who have not met the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal as recommended by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel II guidelines, atorvastatin 10-80 mg/d may be used as monotherapy or as an adjunct to other lipid-lowering agents and dietary modifications. In placebo-controlled clinical trials, atorvastatin 10-80 mg/d lowered LDL-C by 35-61% and triglyceride (TG) concentrations by 14-45%. In comparative trials, atorvastatin 10-80 mg/d showed a greater reduction of serum total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, TG concentrations, and apolipoprotein B-100 (apo B) compared with pravastatin, simvastatin, or lovastatin. In comparison, currently available HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, cerivastatin) lower LDL-C concentrations by approximately 20-40% and TG concentrations by approximately 10-30%. In pooled placebo-controlled clinical trials of up to a duration of 52 weeks, atorvastatin in dosages up to 80 mg/d appeared to be well tolerated. The most common adverse effect of atorvastatin was gastrointestinal upset. The incidence of elevated serum hepatic transaminases may be greater at higher dosages of atorvastatin. The risk of myopathy and/or rhabdomyolysis is increased when an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor is taken concomitantly with cyclosporine, gemfibrozil, niacin, erythromycin, or azole antifungals. CONCLUSIONS: Atorvastatin appears to reduce TC, LDL-C, TG concentrations, and apo B to a greater extent than do currently available HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. Atorvastatin may be preferred in patients requiring greater than a 30% reduction in LDL-C or in patients with both elevated LDL-C and TG concentrations, which may obviate the need for combination lipid-lowering therapy. Adverse effects of atorvastatin appear to be similar to those of other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and should be routinely monitored. Long-term safety data (> 1 y) on atorvastatin compared with other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are still needed. Cost-effectiveness studies comparing atorvastatin with other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors remain a subject for further investigation. Published clinical studies evaluating the impact of atorvastatin on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are still needed. Additionally, clinical studies evaluating the impact of lipid-lowering therapy in a larger number of women, the elderly (> 70 y), and patients with diabetes for treatment of primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease are needed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Limitations to the use of employee exposure data on air contaminants in epidemiologic studies.

The bias in the estimation of uptake of substances in the human body from exposure data gathered from ordinary workplace check-ups is discussed. It is concluded that most exposure is probably overrated. This means that exposure limits based on these premises will tend to be too high. To counteract this bias in the future, filed exposure data should be accompanied with information on a number of circumstances which prevailed at the sampling.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1983

GOG meets RPMIS. Experience with computerized data management in a cooperative group setting.

The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) is a multiinstitutional, multidisciplinary cooperative group. Its clinical trials encompass the planning, initiation, execution, analysis, and presentation of results of management and treatment of patients with gynecologic cancer. The GOG Statistical Office, located at Roswell Park Memorial Institute, is responsible for data management and analysis of all patients entered into GOG protocols. Present annual accrual is approximately 1,600 patients; 37 protocols are active, while follow-up continues on 9 studies that are closed to patient entry. RPMIS is a formatted video-based system of programs for file creation, data entry, editing, updating, retrieval, and report generation. It has been utilized in more than 500 intrainstitutional research studies at Roswell Park. In the past, data management for the GOG had been based on computer entry via punched cards, and on hand-filled reports. The switch to RPMIS used required major reorganization of the data-handling process and was first attempted on a limited basis. As the advantages of RPMIS became evident, the whole data management operation was gradually converted to the new system. In this paper, batch processing and RPMIS utilization are compared and contrasted in terms of time saved, human engineering, quality control, and satisfaction of information requests.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1996

Safety aspects of treatment with lacidipine--a slow-onset, long-acting calcium antagonist.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to review the clinical safety profile of lacidipine with the help of the rather comprehensive datafile of the manufacturer- a novel approach which may be of some value while awaiting the outcome of calcium antagonist treatment in prospective, randomised trials of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: This paper includes data from clinical trials finished before 1 January 1995. Since 1985, 50 phase III-IV trials have been performed investigating antihypertensive efficacy in patients with hypertension; 32 were controlled trials with comparison treatment and 18 were open studies of lacidipine treatment. SUBJECTS: In all, 16,590 patients received lacidipine; 13,419 in open studies and 3171 in double blind, comparative trials. Altogether, these patients contributed 5 124 person-years (p.y.). Furthermore, active comparative treatment was given to 1810 patients and placebo to 451. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Both fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events have been estimated. Efficacy (change in blood pressure and heart rate), adverse event rates, and drop-out rates have been compared for the different treatment regimes. Also the reasons for dropping out of studies have been compared. Adverse effects were also analysed as to their time of occurrence and duration. RESULTS: Blood pressure was lowered by 2-6 mg lacidipine; in the controlled trials from 166/102 to 144/85 mmHg. Heart rate dropped from 75.6 to 74.1 beats per minute. The estimated event rate for a possible myocardial infarction in all studies was 5.46 per 1000 p.y. The fatal (all causes) event rate was 5.27 per 1000 p.y., and the estimated fatal cardiovascular event rate 2.93 per 1 000 p.y. In one long-term study (48 weeks) comprising 2282 patients (1658 p.y.), the observed fatal (all causes) event rate was 4.2 per 1 000 p.y. The overall incidence in the comparative studies of (one or more) adverse events was: for lacidipine 30.3%, other calcium antagonists 43.8%, diuretics 18.7%, beta-receptor blockers 48.7%, ACE inhibitors 10.4%, and placebo 15.7%. The adverse effects of lacidipine were the expected ones, e.g. headache, flushing, pedal oedema, and palpitations. CONCLUSION: When analysing the data on file for lacidipine and some comparatory drugs in almost 19000 hypertensive patients we have found lacidipine to be an effective and well tolerated drug with a reasonable adverse profile typical for a calcium antagonist of the dihydropyridine group. Our study has the obvious limitations of a retrospective analysis of data obtained from a large cohort of patients, most of whom received lacidipine for a relatively short period of time. The present results indicate a lower fatal event rate than previously reported in the actively treated hypertensives in Collins' meta-analyses, comprising ten times more person-years than our analysis. Prospective studies with lacidipine focusing on possible reductions of atherosclerosis as well as incidence of cardiovascular disease are required and are well under way.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

SILMUT: a computer program for the identification of regions suitable for silent mutagenesis to introduce restriction enzyme recognition sequences.

We describe a set of IBM-compatible computer programs designed to selectively identify the potential sites for silent mutagenesis within a target DNA sequence. This program is based on a novel strategy of identifying amino acid motifs compatible with each restriction site (BioTechniques 12:382-384, 1991). The programs can be used to identify the suitability for the introduction of any 6-base nucleic acid sequences, such as restriction enzyme sites in cassette mutagenesis strategies. The Table program generates a table of multiple amino acid motifs for each restriction enzyme, obtained by translating each unique recognition sequence in all three reading frames. The Silmut program, which utilizes the features of Table, will further identify the presence of a match between any amino acid motif of each restriction enzyme and the input target sequence. Minor manipulations of the data base files will enable the individual researcher to identify the potential for introduction of any 6-base sequences by silent mutagenesis.

Base Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of septicemic patients with cefoxitin: pharmacokinetics in renal insufficiency.

Experience with cefoxitin in the treatment of septicemia of diverse etiologies in 11 patients is reviewed. Results of a small study of the pharmacokinetics of cefoxitin in patients with renal insufficiency, which was used as a guideline for determining the dosage of cefoxitin for severely ill patients with renal insufficiency, are included. In addition, a summary of data on file at Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories (Rahway, New Jersey) that concern 135 bacteremic patients who were treated with cefoxitin and evaluated is presented. Although information derived from septicemic patients is among the most difficult to interpret in regard to the efficacy of an investigational antibiotic, both our experience and the summary of data confirm that cefoxitin is a potent antibiotic suitable for use in septicemic patients when the etiologic agent is susceptible; the data also demonstrate that cefoxitin has a significantly expanded spectrum of activity as compared with that of cephalothin.

Cefoxitin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The time to onset and overall analgesic efficacy of rofecoxib 50 mg: a meta-analysis of 13 randomized clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the time to onset of analgesia of rofecoxib based on a patient-level meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled, postoperative oral surgery pain studies. METHODS: A search on MEDLINE and of Merck data on file was conducted to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis inclusion criteria required that patients were treated with a single oral dose of rofecoxib 50 mg when they experienced moderate or severe pain after surgical extraction of > or = 2 third molars; study design involved patient randomization, double-blinding, and matching placebo, and onset data from individual patients were available. The meta-analysis of time to onset also required that studies used the two-stopwatch method. Eleven studies fulfilled the onset criteria and included patients who received a single dose of rofecoxib 50 mg (N = 1220) or placebo (N = 483). These studies were analyzed to determine time to onset of analgesia, time to perceptible pain relief, percentage of patients achieving onset of analgesia, and duration of analgesia. Six of the 11 studies included a nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (N = 303) and were included in the onset meta-analysis for comparison. The meta-analysis of overall efficacy also required that data on total pain relief scores over 8 hours were available. Over-all effectiveness of analgesia was based on analysis of 13 studies involving 1330 rofecoxib patients and 570 placebo patients on the endpoints of total pain relief scores over 8 hours and patient global assessment of response to therapy at 24 hours. Eight of the 13 studies with a nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug comparator (N = 391) were included for the efficacy meta-analysis. RESULTS: Patient demographics and baseline characteristics were similar across treatment groups in each study. Median time to onset of analgesia for rofecoxib was 34 minutes (95% CI, 31-38 minutes), significantly faster than placebo, which did not achieve onset within the 4 hours the assessment was conducted (P < 0.001). Duration of analgesia for rofecoxib 50 mg was > 24 hours. Rofecoxib achieved a greater mean total pain relief score over 8 hours than placebo (17.4 versus 4.4; P < 0.001) and a greater patient response rate on patient global assessment of response to therapy at 24 hours than placebo (73% versus 16%; P < 0.001). Outcomes were similar between the rofecoxib group and the nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug group. CONCLUSION: In this meta-analysis of over 1200 rofecoxib-treated patients, a single dose of rofecoxib 50 mg demonstrated a rapid onset of analgesia in approximately half an hour combined with sustained effectiveness, supporting its use as a treatment of acute pain.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[A model for analyzing ascending genealogies].

"This paper presents a model of ascending genealogies, with the definition and investigation of the functions allowing for the study of these genealogies as well as with the main algorithms used in operationalizing the model on a micro-computer. Examples of the type of results one may obtain with this model are provided; they concern file outputs as well as the computation of consanguinity and completeness coefficients." The examples provided concern the island of Saint Barthelemy, Guadeloupe. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Americas↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Should we screen for hemochromatosis? An examination of evidence of downstream effects on morbidity and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Population-based hemochromatosis screening has been suggested with the rationale that identification and treatment of subclinical disease would decrease morbidity and mortality due to hemochromatosis. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of elevated serum transferrin saturation levels and the burden of illness of hemochromatosis in terms of ambulatory visits, hospitalizations, and death in the United States. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Four nationally representative data sets were used for the analysis of the prevalence of hemochromatosis as well as ambulatory care, hospitalizations, and deaths related to hemochromatosis. Participants included men and nonpregnant women aged 18 years and older in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) and the 1996, 1997, and 1998 National Ambulatory Care Survey, National Hospital Discharge Survey, and Underlying Cause-of-Death Mortality Files. The data sets were based on single measurements of serum transferrin saturation levels, serum ferritin levels, and healthcare provider-recorded diagnoses according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, code for hemochromatosis. RESULTS: The prevalence of elevated serum transferrin saturation levels ranged from 1% to 6%. When an elevated serum transferrin saturation level of 55% is combined with an elevated serum ferritin level, the prevalence decreases from 1.9% to 0.65%. The proportion of diagnosed hemochromatosis utilization out of total ambulatory visits, hospitalizations, and deaths is stable across the measures and the 3 years of data ranging from 0.01% to 0.03%. When white men were examined separately, the relationships remained the same as those among the general population of adults. CONCLUSIONS: Although a substantial proportion of adults whose condition is not currently diagnosed would be identified in a population-based screening program for subclinical hemochromatosis, diagnosed morbidity or mortality owing to hemochromatosis is considerably lower than would be expected. Recommendations for screening programs may need to be revisited.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ground and on-orbit command and data handling architectures for the Active Rack Isolation System microgravity flight experiment.

The Active Rack Isolation System [ARIS] International Space Station [ISS] Characterization Experiment, or ARIS-ICE for short, is a long duration microgravity characterization experiment aboard the ISS. The objective of the experiment is to fully characterize active microgravity performance of the first ARIS rack deployed on the ISS. Efficient ground and on-orbit command and data handling [C&DH] segments are the crux in achieving the challenging objectives of the mission. The objective of the paper is to provide an overview of the C&DH architectures developed for ARIS-ICE, with the view that these architectures may serve as a model for future ISS microgravity payloads. Both ground and on-orbit segments, and their interaction with corresponding ISS C&DH systems are presented. The heart of the on-orbit segment is the ARIS-ICE Payload On-orbit Processor, ARIS-ICE POP for short. The POP manages communication with the ISS C&DH system and other ISS subsystems and payloads, enables automation of test/data collection sequences, and provides a wide range of utilities such as efficient file downlinks/uplinks, data post-processing, data compression and data storage. The hardware and software architecture of the POP is presented and it is shown that the built-in functionality helps to dramatically streamline the efficiency of on-orbit operations. The ground segment has at its heart special ARIS-ICE Ground Support Equipment [GSE] software developed for the experiment. The software enables efficient command and file uplinks, and reconstruction and display of science telemetry packets. The GSE software architecture is discussed along with its interactions with ISS ground C&DH elements. A test sequence example is used to demonstrate the interplay between the ground and on-orbit segments.

Acceleration↗
PubMed2000

The Observer Video-Pro: new software for the collection, management, and presentation of time-structured data from videotapes and digital media files.

The Observer Video-Pro is a system for collecting, managing, analyzing, and presenting observational data. It integrates The Observer software with time code and multimedia hardware components. It extends the functionality of a conventional real-time event recording program in various ways. Observational data can be collected, reviewed, and edited with synchronized display of the corresponding video images. For optimal visual feedback during coding, one can display the video image in a window on the computer screen. Video playback from either a VCR or a digital media file can be controlled by the computer, allowing software-controlled jog, shuttle, and search functions. Besides a wide range of VCRs, The Observer Video-Pro supports all major digital video file formats. The software allows the user to summarize research findings in numerical, graphical, or multimedia format. One can create a time--event plot for a quick glance at the temporal structure of the observed process, or run specific analysis procedures and generate reports with statistics. An Event Summary function is available for exploratory and qualitative analysis. Video material can be summarized in a Video Play List, which allows on-screen summary presentations or the creation of highlight compilations on tape, CD, or other media. Video images can be captured and saved as disk files, for use as illustrations in documents, slides for presentations, and so forth. In this paper we describe the design and operation of the system, illustrated with a case study from research on Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).

Electronic Data Processing↗
PubMed2001

Biological sequences integrated: a relational database approach.

Over the last decade the modeling and the storage of biological data has been a topic of wide interest for scientists dealing with biological and biomedical research. Currently most data is still stored in text files which leads to data redundancies and file chaos. In this paper we show how to use relational modeling techniques and relational database technology for modeling and storing biological sequence data, i.e. for data maintained in collections like EMBL or SWISS-PROT to better serve the needs for these application domains. For this reason we propose a two step approach. First, we model the structure (and therefore the meaning of the) data using an Entity-Relationship approach. The ER model leads to a clean design of a relational database schema for storing and retrieving the DNA and protein data extracted from various sources. Our approach provides the clean basis for building complex biological applications that are more amenable to changes and software ports than their file-base counterparts.

Computational Biology↗
PubMed1996

TongueTwister: an integrated program for analyzing lickometer data.

The analysis of lickometer data is often rendered prohibitively tedious by the large volume of data generated by the typical experiment. TongueTwister is an integrated program for the rapid and automatic analysis, presentation, and summary of long- and medium-access data collected by lickometers or of brief-access data collected by multi-bottle lickometers such as the DiLog Instruments MS80. The program was written in C+2 for Macintosh computers, and analyzes data collected by MS-DOS PCs. It takes advantage of the Macintosh user interface to provide quick and convenient output from all the files of a single experimental session, and to export the data to third-party statistical software or other documents. It can batch-process data files by automatically opening and analyzing all the files in a directory; thus, the user can employ directories as a simple database for organizing experimental groups. When a lickometer data file is opened, a textual summary, a raster plot of the lick pattern, the cumulative licks, the lick rate, a histogram of inter-lick intervals, and a breakdown of the session by fractions are automatically calculated and displayed. When an MS80 brief-access file is opened, the lick pattern for each tube presentation and a textual summary of the mean values derived for each tube are automatically displayed. If a directory of files is opened, the mean values derived across all the individual files are calculated and graphed. Analysis parameters can be tailored to the investigator's liking. Tables or graphs can be saved to disk, or copied and pasted into other Macintosh programs for additional analysis. The program may also be used for general-purpose analysis of periodic event records.

Animals↗