Evaluation of statistical packages for suitability for use by clinical investigators in medicine

With the increased availability of personal computers and statistical software packages, it is inevitable that there will be increasing attempts by clinical investigators to perform data management and statistical analysis. Reviews of statistical packages are abundant in computer and statistical journals. However the majority of them were not written for clinical investigators in medicine. This paper presents an analytic approach to evaluate the suitability of statistical packages for use by clinical investigators for data-management and preliminary statistical-analysis purposes. The evaluation scheme addresses five areas of concern: availability of data-management features; availability of basic statistical-analysis features; ease of use; documentation; and quality of programs. Among six statistical packages reviewed by this process, CRISP is recommended as the most suitable package for clinical investigators to use for data-management and preliminary statistical-analysis purposes.     

The use of minicomputers in structural analysis

Currently available small computer systems and their potential use in the design and analysis of structures are summarized. The use of expensive main-frame computers in structural analysis is being challenged by the availability of inexpensive minicomputers and microprocessors. However, the use of this new equipment has not been fully exploited due to the lack of software which must be tailored for small computers.The development of interactive, computer assisted, structural design has not progressed significantly in the past due to expensive computer hardware or remote time-sharing costs. The availability of powerful inexpensive computer systems within small design firms will allow the design engineer to gradually integrate interactive computer assisted design into the design process without a major investment in computer hardware.The total cost of a small computer with extended BASIC and FORTRAN IV languages is less than $10,000. In addition to the ability to perform engineering computations the same computer system can be used for administration functions such as accounting, inventory, cost estimates and word processing associated with the writing of specifications and engineering reports. The total cost of a small microcomputer may be completely justified by its use as a high or low speed remote terminal to a larger computer.     

旧计算机机房改造的几点体会

随着软、硬件的不断升级,原有的机器越来越显得力不从心,较旧机房改造经常成为实验室需面对的一个现实问题。在收集大量资料的基础上,提出一种廉价、实用且高效的解决方法。该方案的实施,明显降低了管理人员工作压力,提高机房计算机设备稳定性,使得计算机系统维护简单、方便,同时使机房能满足当前非计算机专业大学生计算机基础类课程教学的需求,使该机房重新焕发出新的活力。     

Hand-held computers for ergonomics data collection

The new generation of inexpensive, powerful, hand-held computers allows ergonomists to collect field data more easily and reliably. Typical programs are described for data collection by questionnaires, event timing and occurrence sampling. Further programs evaluate basic human capabilities using the keyboard and screen as control and display.     

A comparison of and future trends in personal computer-based computer-aided design and drafting software

Drawing software has become available on personal computers only within the last year and a half. Given the wide availability and relatively low-cost of personal computers and the great benefits that can be gained from their use as drawing processors, hundreds of thousands of people will within a few years be using these tools. The drawing software that is now available is impressive and in some cases provides better performance than software available on mini-computers. I expect that competitive pressures and a large market for this type of software will continue to encourage manufacturers to enhance the capabilities of their packages. I will be discussing the varieties of drawing processor software that is available on personal computers and in particular personal computers running the MS-DOS operating system and adhering closely to the IBM-PC software and hardware standards. In addition, I will be examining the features that one might expect to get with drawing processor software and what future trends one can expect. In the next few years there will continue to be rapid growth in the variety and power of CAD software running on personal computers. Personal computer CAD workstations will vastly outnumber those on mini-computers within five years. The features available in the personal computer CAD software will equal those available on mini-computer systems today.     

Developing microcomputer software for CAD and CAM education

Many educators find that CAD and CAM laboratories and software which are necessary for their programs are prohibitively expensive to install and maintain. With the advent of powerful yet inexpensive microcomputing equipment, educational institutions now have an excellent opportunity to instruct NC, CAD and CAM technologies using personal computers (PCs). In this paper, several PC-based software programs developed for educational use are presented.     

Developments of CAD in civil engineering reviewed

Substantial progress has been made during the past decade in making the computer an effective analytical tool for the design engineer. However more recent development has concentrated on various features of a design offices final product. These areas comprise production of construction drawings, interactive graphics, colour graphics, pre-and post-processing of input and output data, linking analysis programs to modular design programs to provide a rapid transfer of design to the latest code requirement, use of microcomputers and personal computers. There is also significant software development for site management, cost analysis, general administration and documentation related to construction. This takes advantage of the availability of cheaper hardware which can communicate with other computers elsewhere in a network. User interaction facilities are being built into programs which allow the engineer to concentrate on design decisions. This paper reviews the developments during the last two-three years in CAD in Civil Engineering.     

GATR－C50开发应用系统研制

介绍了一种以ＴＭ３２０Ｃ５０为数字信号处理器，以ＩＢＭ－ＰＣ（ＸＴ，ＡＴ，３８６，４８６及兼容机）为主机的微机扩展系统。该系统可直接插在ＰＣ机的扩展槽中，充分利用ＰＣ机的软硬件资源，实现ＤＳＰ应用程序的开发、信号的实时显示和记录等。系统板上还带有ＴＬＣ３２０４４专用芯片，可直接用于语音信号的采集与处理。     

Using a personal computer to collect and analyse energy audit data

Personal computers can be adapted to record data directly from the instruments commonly used in energy auditing, such as wattmeters, temperature sensors, and flowmeters. When fitted with special application boards, computers of the IBM-PC and Apple II lines can read analogue signals from a diverse range of instruments, convert the signals to digital readings, correct the readings for scale, offset and calibration factor, and record the data on disks for later analysis. Data gathered in this manner can be read directly by integrated software packages such as Lotus, Symphony or Visicalc, without retyping the information. Thus, data collection, analysis, graphics generation and report writing can be performed on the same computer, with no artificial format barriers to slow down the process. This paper describes the concept of microcomputer data logging, discusses an actual example case, and lists sources for equipment and software.     

基于FPGA的多功能数据采集模块设计

研究设计一种基于FPGA总线的多功能数据采集模块,包括硬件模块和FPGA程序,硬件模块分为八个功能单元。FP-GA程序采用Verilog HDL编程开发。经验证性能稳定、可靠性高,可进行长时间、连续大量数据采集;CPCI总线数据传输具有DMA功能高速连续传输不丢帧;总线信号驱动能力强,传输距离远;结构简单,价格低廉,使用方便。     

Communications and the Minicomputer

The technical literature dealing with computing and data communications contains advertisements today for a tremendous variety of data communications hardware; terminals in almost every shape and size, modems, multiplexers, communications pre-processors, and so on. Applications and software packages to be used with this hardware are being described and programmers everywhere are learning how to optimize data transmission to and from their computers.     

Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools: An integrated framework for ecological geoprocessing with ArcGIS,Python, R,MATLAB, and C++

With the arrival of GPS, satellite remote sensing, and personal computers, the last two decades have witnessed rapid advances in the field of spatially-explicit marine ecological modeling. But with this innovation has come complexity. To keep up, ecologists must master multiple specialized software packages, such as ArcGIS for display and manipulation of geospatial data, R for statistical analysis, and MATLAB for matrix processing. This requires a costly investment of time and energy learning computer programming, a high hurdle for many ecologists. To provide easier access to advanced analytic methods, we developed Marine Geospatial Ecology Tools (MGET), an extensible collection of powerful, easy-to-use, open-source geoprocessing tools that ecologists can invoke from ArcGIS without resorting to computer programming. Internally, MGET integrates Python, R, MATLAB, and C++, bringing the power of these specialized platforms to tool developers without requiring developers to orchestrate the interoperability between them.In this paper, we describe MGET’s software architecture and the tools in the collection. Next, we present an example application: a habitat model for Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) that predicts dolphin presence using a statistical model fitted with oceanographic predictor variables. We conclude by discussing the lessons we learned engineering a highly integrated tool framework.     

NASA's Manned Spacecraft Computers

Many people believe that NASA's extensive use of computers has kept the agency at the forefront of computer development. This study evaluates the hypothesis in regard to computers used on board manned spacecraft. The results show that NASA's contributions to computer science were made primarily in the areas of software verification and fault tolerance, and that overall, NASA has adopted proved technology for manned space flight operations. This technology is consistently behind the state of the art in terms of hardware, but the continued use of older technology in manned spacecraft is not necessarily a negative development. The computer power used in the Apollo, Gemini, and shuttle programs has been sufficient for the requirements of the missions. Most important, reliability has been ensured.     

The Tools We Use

What's the state of the art in the tools we use to build software? To answer this question, I let a powerful server build from source code about 7,000 open source packages over a period of a month. The packages I built form a subset of the FreeBSD operating system ports collection, comprising a wide spectrum of application domains: from desktop utilities and biology applications to databases and development tools. The collection is representative of modern software because, unlike say a random sample of SourceForge.net projects, FreeBSD developers have found these programs useful enough to port to FreeBSD.     

Database Transformation, Query Translation, and Performance Analysis of a New Database Computer in Supporting Hierarchical Database Management

Database computers are special-purpose storage and processing devices which are intended to relieve the database management (software) systems running on the general-purpose computers and provide improved storage and processing capabilities (via hardware) for the existing and new database application. However, to support existing database applications, two steps must be followed. First, the existing database must be transformed into the storage format of the new database computer. This one-time tranformation, known as database transformation, is required to preserve the semantics of the database and to take advantage of the advanced hardware features of the new computer. Second, the database sublanguage used in the existing application programs must be supported in real time by the new database computer so that application programs may be executed in the new environment without the need of program conversion. Such real-time translation of sublanguage calls to the instructions of the new database computer, known as query translation, must be straightforward with minimal software support.     

Automatic document preparation by interacting GIS software packages using office programs

Most GIS desktop computer programs support reporting or documenting graphical or attribute data. However, some difficulties arise for their united reports in desired formats. This situation detains the efficient use of Geographic Information System (GIS) especially in municipalities or in governmental departments where print out of documents based on united data is mostly needed. Therefore, it is necessary to create GIS software packages working with some interface programs to overcome such difficulties. In this study, possibility of automatic document preparation by interacting ArcView GIS with Microsoft Word (MSWord) has been investigated. Test results of the several runs of program showed that the existing difficulties can easily be overcome, and the conventional GIS programs can be a very powerful tool for data handling and reporting.     

Qmol: a program for molecular visualization on Windows-based PCs

With the advent of powerful, inexpensive graphics hardware, a variety of molecular modelling tools are now available for personal computers (PCs). While a host of high-quality, free visualization programs exist for Unix-like operating systems, there are relatively few available for Microsoft Windows. Most programs that do run under Windows are designed to interactively visualize experimental data and cannot read binary trajectory data generated by molecular simulations. In addition, many of these programs do not accept command line arguments, limiting their ability to serve as a “helper” application to be run by other applications. To fill this gap in functionality, we present Qmol—a program designed for viewing the output of simulations and theoretical calculations of peptides and small molecules.     

Communications and the personal computer

Communication between personal computers and other computers is a rapidly developing area of computing. The paper provides an overview of the many alternatives currently available for implementing communications on personal computers. The techniques covered include asynchronous and synchronous techniques, terminal emulations, workstation replacement, disc emulators, data concentrators and techniques peculiar to personal computers themselves. Consideration is also given to some of the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, the problems of using imported personal computer software and hardware, and of attaching personal computers to British Telecom lines. The likely factors affecting the future development of personal computer communications are also discussed.     

Clinical psychological test interpretations by computer: Hardware outpaces software

The development of computers and related hardware for computer-assisted, psychological test interpretation represents an important advance in the field of psychological assessment. Unfortunately, development and validation of associated software is not as advanced as is the hardware. Yet software is the heart of packages being sold in unprecedented numbers to undertrained and unsuspecting purchasers of these systems. The author includes criticism of a representative narrative published for one MMPI codetype to buttress the opinion that valid sounding, computer-generated reports have the potential to lull the untrained service provider into believing that these narratives can be used in isolation without further reference to the clinical history of the individual. Furthermore, it is believed that when today's computer software is exposed to the scrutiny of our courts, it will fare relatively poorly against today's experienced and credentialed (albeit unvalidated) clinician. This assertion reflects the author's belief that the appropriately credentialed clinician is still better able than computer software to interrelate test findings with each client's unique, observable characteristics and history. Nevertheless, in the not too distant future it is very possible that further research will help give software and advantage over the clinician.     

计算机软件的日常管理与维护研究

随着科技的高速发展,计算机已经变得与我们的生活息息相关.而针对于计算机的使用,我们除了了解正确的使用方法,更要明白计算机的日常管理与维护.计算机的软硬件对于计算机而言是不可或缺的两个部分.计算机软件,是指计算机程序中的数据文档和程序.软件是以及计算机及计算机正常运营的重要依据.所以,我们在使用计算机软件的时候,也必须主义对于计算机软件日常管理和维护的进行深入研究.