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At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

The portable virtual simulator.

The Virtual Simulator is a software tool for support and management of the geometric component of 3-dimensional radiotherapy treatment design. The Virtual Simulator is a software implementation of a physical simulator with additional functionality not currently available on physical simulators. Treatment of a virtual patient, derived from CT or other source, is simulated using the Virtual Simulator in the same way a physical simulator would be used. The intent of this approach is to provide the user with a familiar working environment for radiotherapy treatment design. Key features include an effective and efficient user interface, and the use of computing techniques and software standards which enhance portability to a variety of computer workstations. The Virtual Simulator is implemented in the C programming language using the X Window System, and has been written with the generic UNIX workstation in mind. It has been demonstrated that it can be installed and run without modification on workstations from a number of vendors.

Computer Simulation↗

Radiation oncology residents' computer workstation.

We are investigating the feasibility of using the Macintosh computer as a workstation platform for radiation oncology residents because of its ease of use, graphics capability, and low cost. Hypercard was chosen as the programming environment because it easily mixes graphics, text, and control functions in an integrated screen display. Furthermore, it results in a system that can be relatively easily extended and customized by individual users with varying degrees of computer skills. We have developed several software modules in order to test the ability of this environment to support the demands of such a workstation. Modules created thus far include various clinical physics aids and tutorials, treatment planning guides, oncology databases, and others. The software runs on all Macintosh configurations, but calculation speeds are improved when a 68020 or greater processor is used. In general, we have been pleased with the implementation thus far. Graphics display capability is good, but design and entry of graphics have proved labor-intensive. Searching is fast and text is easily entered and manipulated. Finished modules can be customized with minimal computer training, but implementing complex new functions requires familiarity with Hypercard's programming language. New modules, once developed, are easily integrated into the workstation universe, suggesting that cooperative development of the workstation by multiple contributors is realistically achievable.

Computer Graphics↗

A computer approach to measuring shuttle box activity and conditioned place preference.

A procedure is described for measuring locomotor activity and place preference using an Apple II + computer. The interface consists of a single integrated circuit connected by a 16 pin jumper cable to the Apple's game I/O connector. This approach can be easily adapted to provide sequential reading of one to seven input lines from up to 16 different test boxes. The software is written in basic and doesn't require any knowledge of memory addressing or machine language programming.

Animals↗

An automated approach for conditioning and testing the hearing of gerbils.

A simple, inexpensive hardware and software protocol is described for conditioning and testing hearing of gerbils with minimal experimenter involvement. Behavioral thresholds correspond closely with data which employ nonautomated procedures. Partial source listings of the programs written in the 'C' programming language are provided.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Enhanced robotic dissolution system with concurrent off-line analysis.

A Zymate II robotic dissolution system was modified by addition of a liquid chromatography (LC) system equipped with an Isco ISIS autosampler. Using the Concurrent EasyLab programming language, operation of this LC system was integrated into the main robotic dissolution procedure. This enabled simultaneous dissolution sampling and LC analysis of standard and pre-pulled sample solutions. The resulting dual-tasking system effects considerable efficiency of operation and results in significant time savings. Comparison of the robotic and non-robotic data indicate good correlation and statistically insignificant differences at the 95% confidence level. Validation studies confirm linearity and precision of the quantitative LC method, accuracy and precision of volume and temperature measurements and negligible vessel-to-vessel carryover.

Capsules↗

A computer model of uterine contractions based on action potential propagation and intercellular calcium waves.

OBJECTIVE: To simulate a uterine contraction using a novel computer model for uterine communication and to validate the assumptions of the computer model by comparing the simulated contraction with a real uterine contraction. METHODS: The computer model assumed two known mechanisms of intercellular communication: action potential propagation and calcium wave propagation. Simulations were performed on a desktop computer using available programming language. Model validity was assessed by fitting the computer-simulated contraction to a real contraction and comparing the fit values with values measured independently. RESULTS: The simulated contraction demonstrated five characteristics that are also observed in human labor: 1) gradual onset, 2) a linear rising segment, 3) a plateau region, 4) a symmetrical fall, and 5) gradual offset. The fit values agreed well with values determined experimentally and supported the model. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the model, strongly suggesting that intercellular communication occurs throughout the uterus by action potentials and locally within the tissue by calcium waves.

Action Potentials↗

An iconographic program for computer-controlled whole-cell voltage clamp experiments.

A Macintosh-based system is described for performing instrument control, data acquisition and storage operations in single-electrode whole-cell voltage clamp experiments. The system consists of a commercially available voltage clamp amplifier, multifunction input/output (I/O) board, graphical programming language (LabVIEW 2) and custom built 'virtual instrument' (VI). The I/O board is capable of fast (up to 110 ksample/s) multichannel analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion with 12-bit resolution. It can control the gain settings of the clamp unit through digital I/O lines and generate the P/N leak subtraction protocol to eliminate the linear portion of capacitive currents using analog output voltages and gating pulses. Complete voltage clamp protocols can be implemented using the on-screen front panel controls of the VI. It enables the user to visualize the acquired data, to graph sets of current-voltage (I-V) relations or to fit single-exponential functions to one current trace. To evaluate the adequacy of whole-cell recording, the total membrane capacitance (Cm), the series resistance (Rs) and the time constant (tau c) of the decay of the capacitive current are calculated using the single-exponential function fit to the data. The system is particularly well suited to the study of large quantities of transmembrane I-V relationships. Source code for the crucial elements of the VI as well as sample recordings from a cultured spinal cord neuron, illustrating system operation, are presented.

Amplifiers, Electronic↗

A procedure for generating bootstrap samples for the validation of nonlinear mixed-effects population models.

A method is presented for automated preparation of bootstrap data samples and their presentation to NONMEM for use in the validation of population pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic models, which have been developed with relatively small numbers of subjects. The bootstrap sampling procedure involves the use of an MS-DOS batch file and a script file for use with the public-domain text processing program, AWK, which is a single EXE file (48k in size for the version used in this report). A UNIX version of AWK is also available and UNIX users can adapt the process to their needs. Its use obviates the need for expensive, high-end statistical packages and associated script files written using in-built programming languages. The method can easily be adapted to bootstrap sampling requirements in other biomedical modelling applications.

Computer Simulation↗

MASTER: a Windows program for recording multiple auditory steady-state responses.

MASTER is a Windows-based data acquisition system designed to assess human hearing by recording auditory steady-state responses. The system simultaneously generates multiple amplitude-modulated and/or frequency-modulated auditory stimuli, acquires electrophysiological responses to these stimuli, displays these responses in the frequency-domain, and determines whether or not the responses are significantly larger than background electroencephalographic activity. The operator can print out the results, store the data on disk for more extensive analysis by other programs, review stored data, and combine results. The system design follows clear principles concerning the generation of acoustic signals, the acquisition of artifact-free data, the analysis of electrophysiological responses in the frequency-domain, and the objective detection of signals in noise. The instrument uses a popular programming language (LabVIEW) and a commercial data acquisition board (AT-MIO-16E-10), both of which are available from National Instruments.

Computer Simulation↗

Cost-effectiveness of targeted screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Monte Carlo-based estimates.

OBJECTIVES: This article reports a cost-effectiveness analysis of targeted screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A major emphasis was on the estimation of distributions of costs and effectiveness. METHODS: We performed a Monte Carlo simulation using C programming language in a PC environment. Data on survival and costs, and a majority of screening probabilities, were from our own empirical studies. Natural history data were based on the literature. RESULTS: Each screened male gained 0.07 life-years at an incremental cost of FIM 3,300. The expected values differed from zero very significantly. For females, expected gains were 0.02 life-years at an incremental cost of FIM 1,100, which was not statistically significant. Cost-effectiveness ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were FIM 48,000 (27,000-121,000) and 54,000 (22,000-infinity) for males and females, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the results for males were stable. Individual variation in life-year gains was high. CONCLUSIONS: Males seemed to benefit from targeted AAA screening, and the results were stable. As far as the cost-effectiveness ratio is considered acceptable, screening for males seemed to be justified. However, our assumptions about growth and rupture behavior of AAAs might be improved with further clinical and epidemiological studies. As a point estimate, females benefited in a similar manner, but the results were not statistically significant. The evidence of this study did not justify screening of females.

Aged↗

PC controlled toothbrush/dentifrice abrasion machine.

A toothbrush/dentifrice abrasion machine was developed to use in dental research laboratory. The mechanism was designed as a hexagonal block driven by two stepping motors which move the mechanism in four directions. In order to control the stepping motors speed, position and direction commands or signals were generated by a software written in C Programming Language and then these commands were applied the stepping motor drives through parallel port of a personal computer. The toothbrush/dentifrice abrasion machine was finally used to measure different longevity of tooth brush. It was experimentally shown that the mechanism can be used for highly accurate position and speed applications.

Dental Materials↗

Experimental analysis of syntax training in Broca's aphasia: a generalization and social validation study.

A multiple baseline design across responses was used to examine the effect of syntax training on the sentence production of 4 individuals with chronic Broca's aphasia. Subjects were trained to produce five exemplars of five sentence types from Helm's Elicited Language Program for Syntax Stimulation (Helm-Estabrooks, 1981). Generalization and maintenance of trained sentence types to novel exemplars and novel stimulus conditions served as dependent measures. In addition, five naïve judges rated subjects' responses before and following the treatment in terms of their "adequacy." Generalization to novel exemplars was demonstrated sequentially by 3 subjects (i.e., following the teaching of all five forms), and the remaining subject demonstrated generalization for three of five sentence types trained. Maintenance was variable across subjects and sentence types. Generalization across stimulus conditions was limited for all subjects. Adequacy judgments revealed improved communication skills for wh-questions but limited changes in the perceived adequacy of subjects' declarative responses. These findings indicate that the effects of syntax training procedures are limited to those grammatical constructions taught, that generalization of learned forms to novel stimulus conditions is not an automatic consequence of acquisition, and that the effect of such training on the adequacy of subjects' responses may be limited.

Adult↗

[Topography-assisted correction of superficial irregularities of the cornea with the excimer laser].

BACKGROUND: A retinal image performance distorted by an asymmetric or irregular corneal surface cannot be compensated for with spherocylindric glasses completely. The best-corrected visual acuity is markedly decreased and contact lens fitting often impossible. The purpose of this study was to calculate the differential height between corneal topography raw data and any regular surface with mathematical methods in order to ablate the differential height with a computer-controlled laser beam, thereafter. METHODS: A Zernike decomposition of radial degree n = 16 was realized within a clinically relevant central corneal area of 8 mm in diameter based on corneal topography raw height data of a commercially available topographer (TMS-1, Tomey, Erlangen). Any target surface could be defined by varying weighting of the Zernike coefficients. The calculated differential height ablation between the raw data and the target surface given in a polar grid was transformed to a Cartesian grid to evaluate the sleeping time at each grid position considering the characteristic ablation curve for the intended ablation of the height difference. Subsequently, differential height ablation was simulated using an automated laser beam control for a modified excimer laser (MEL60, Aesculap-Meditec, Jena). We developed software tools for Zernike decomposition of corneal topography raw height data and time-regulated automatic laser beam control of the grid positions in the higher programming language C (Borland C++ 3.1, Borland Inc., München). RESULTS: Definition of a target surface can be realized alternatively by selecting a set of Zernike coefficients or defining a spherical or spherocylindrical surface by superposition of parabolic terms in a fixed proportion creating a best-fit target surface to the raw data. In originally "relatively flat" areas, the differential height profile indicates a "relatively deep" ablation resulting in relative steepening towards the periphery of the ablation zone. The resolution of the mechanical unit of the laser beam control consisting of two linear stepping motors is 9 microns in the focal plane with a reproducibility of 5 microns. The software unit is guiding the laser beam in a meandering fashion within the ablation area considering the calculated sleeping time for each grid position. Mean overlap of the 1 mm laser spots is 70%. The laser beam diameter of 1 mm effects a peripheral transition zone of 0.5 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Zernike decomposition of corneal topography height data is an efficient tool for localizing and quantifying superficial irregularities and for directly calculating an ablation profile from created differential height data. With an automatic laser beam control a well-defined laser ablation of superficial corneal irregularities is possible, subsequently.

Astigmatism↗

[Obstetric-perinatologic data collection using a personal computer].

A concept covering the collecting and processing of obstetrical and perinatological data is described. Collecting of patient data is effected on the basis of a case history that has been drawn up in an EDP-adequate manner, which, however, can also be used in the conventional way. This procedure was chosen because for some time to come one cannot do without a document for handwritten notes to avoid duplication of work by "double tracking" and to eliminate transmission errors, and also to continue the present procedure of dealing with the patient. A commercial data base system was chosen for data collection and storage (dBase III by Ashton Tate). This relational data base has its own programming language with very powerful macro calls. Data input is effected by means of programme masks which the user can solicit via menu monitoring. The requisite hardware configuration consists of a computer with a main storage comprising 640 KB, system MS-DOS, and a hard disk of at least 20 MB. This data collection system operates in an obstetric hospital with annually more than 1,600 births and more than 1,200 entries during early pregnancy, to the satisfaction of the users. Besides compiling the usual statistical analyses and formulating research problems, the system automatically prepares the discharge reports. This rationalisation procedure compels the user to collect the data with care and also completely. On the whole, such a data collection system offers to hospitals of any size quick and easy access to data at any time, as well as optimised patient care, without additional effort and at a reasonable cost level.

Computers↗

Discussion on the mechanism of Lingguizhugan Decoction in treating hypertension based on network pharmacology and molecular simulation technology.

To explore the mechanism of Lingguizhugan Decoction in treating hypertension based on network pharmacology and molecular simulation. The active ingredients and potential targets were screened by the Systematic Pharmacological Analysis Platform of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCMSP). Hypertension-related targets were obtained from OMIM and GeneCards databases. Common targets between drug and hypertension were screened in the Venny platform. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed in the STRING database using intersection targets. Key targets in PPI network were analyzed by Cytoscape. R language program was used for Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Finally, the binding abilities of the main active ingredients to critical targets were verified by molecular simulation. Naringenin, quercetin, kaempferol, and β-sitosterol in Lingguizhugan Decoction, and potential targets such as STAT3, AKT1, TNF, IL6, JUN, PTGS2, MMP9, CASP3, TP53, and MAPK3, were screened out. KEGG Enrichment analysis revealed that the common targets of Lingguizhugan Decoction and hypertension are mainly involved in the lipid and atherosclerosis signaling pathway, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications, fluid shear stress and atherosclerosis, and IL17 signaling pathway. The molecular simulation results showed that naringenin-MAPK3, quercetin-MMP9, quercetin-PTGS2, and quercetin-TP53 were the top four in the docking scores. Naringenin-MAPK3 and quercetin-MMP9 were stable, with binding free energies of -27.97 ± 1.41 kcal/mol and -21.15 ± 3.17 kcal/mol, respectively. The possible mechanism of Lingguizhugan Decoction in treating hypertension is characterized of multi-component, multi-target, and multi-pathway.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Network Pharmacology↗

Using the hypertext software to develop computer-assisted instruction in oncology for medical students.

A new development in computer-assisted medical education has been the introduction of hypertext authoring systems. Authoring systems are computer programs that can allow an instructor to prepare computer-based medical educational materials without the need to know programming languages. Hypertext is a database management system that lets the user connect screens of information using associative links. The authors developed a hypertext authoring system for teaching their medical students the domain of oncology. The features of the system are hierarchical structure, index browsing, and nonsequential browsing. Moreover, the student may become a writer of a hyperdocument by typing a few script commands. In this way the hierarchical structure of a document meets the needs of the reader. Although hypertext brings with it a few difficulties for the student, the authors expect that the system will become a popular mean for organizing textual information for retrieval and browsing in oncology.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗

Testing linkage disequilibrium in sibships.

We describe the use of multivariate regression for testing allelic association in the presence of linkage, using marker genotype data from sibships. The test is valid, provided that the correct mean structure is modeled but does not require the correlation structure within families to be specified. The test can be implemented using standard statistical software such as the SAS programming language. In a simulation study, we evaluated this new test in comparison with one from a standard, matched-case-control analysis. First, we noted that the genetic effect needed to be quite extreme before residual familial correlation due to linkage led to false inference using the standard, matched-pair analysis. Second, we showed that under examples of extreme residual familial correlation, the new test had the correct test size. Third, we found that the test was more powerful than the sibship disequilibrium test of Horvath and Laird. Finally, we concluded that although the standard analysis may lead to correct inference for practical purposes, the new test is valid, even under extreme residual familial correlation and with no cost in power at the causal locus.

Alleles↗

Representing metabolic pathway information: an object-oriented approach.

MOTIVATION: The University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database (UM-BBD) is a website providing information and dynamic links for microbial metabolic pathways, enzyme reactions, and their substrates and products. The Compound, Organism, Reaction and Enzyme (CORE) object-oriented database management system was developed to contain and serve this information. RESULTS: CORE was developed using Java, an object-oriented programming language, and PSE persistent object classes from Object Design, Inc. CORE dynamically generates descriptive web pages for reactions, compounds and enzymes, and reconstructs ad hoc pathway maps starting from any UM-BBD reaction. AVAILABILITY: CORE code is available from the authors upon request. CORE is accessible through the UM-BBD at: http://www. labmed.umn.edu/umbbd/index.html.

Databases, Factual↗