8 TIPS -January 1983

Computer Club The world of pharmacology computing

Introducing the TIPS Computer Club The following letters mark the commence- ment of the TIPS Computer Club. They contain numerous suggestions for possible Club activities but what actually comes to pass depends on you, the reader. The use of. computers and microprocessors in phar- macology is increasing all the time, and TIPS wishes to assist the process. It can accomplish this by publishing brief articles

about specific programs, problems, uses of computers, routines, etc. and these can now be sent to the TIPS editorial office. There is insufficient space in the journal for publica- tion of lengthy program listings (although short routines can be reproduced) so authors of TIPS Computer Club articles should be prepared to provide these direct to other interested scientists.

TIPS is prepared to advertise availability of programs from individual pharmacol- ogists free of charge, so if you have written a program and do not think it warrants an article in TIPS, but still wish to disseminate

it to other pharmacologists, just send us brief details. Even if you wish to sell your programs, we will publish details without charge provided you are an individual whose primary occupation is as a phar- macologist.

From now on please let us, and hence other TIPS readers, know what you are doing in pharmacology computing.

Write to: TIPS Computer Club, Elsevier Biomedical Press, 68 Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1LA, U.K.

From Mr R. Marshal l

The adverts tell us that 'microcomputers put real computer power within the reach of researchers and teachers'. However, many people do not realize that the power of computers is only potential until harnessed by programs embodying the expertise of the user. A computer becomes 'intelligent' by virtue of the programs supplied to it.

The use of computers can be approached from two distinctly different directions. In the first the user makes no attempt to develop programming skills but buys a complete package of hardware (computer) and software (programs) to carry out a clearly defined and essentially unchanging task. This can be very satisfactory for cir- cumscribed applications such as word pro- cessing or statistics where many wel l written and, equally importantly, well- supported program packages are available. The weakness of this approach lies in the inability of the worker to modify the pro- grams to meet even the smallest changes in task, thereby failing to exploit the inherent flexibility of a computer, even though its work capacity may be fully utilized. The second approach requires the user to devote substantial time to developing program- ming skills which then allow him to exploit the flexibility of his computer in research and/or teaching.

A range of intermediate approaches involving varying degrees of help from an 'expert' lie between the extremes of these two approaches. This can work well, but the progress of one's research can then rely on continuing 'expert' help. To make such a collaboration work one must establish a

fLrrn understanding with the 'expert' and if necessary his superior(s) about the degree of continuing support to which he is willing and able to commit himself.

At the time of writing, the second approach is forced on pharmacologists who wish to use computers for real-time data col- lection and analysis in the laboratory, since not only are commercial programs seldom available in such specialized fields but also the tasks in such research applications can vary from day to day. For example, a pro- gram suite to collect and analyse data from tissue bath experiments is unlikely to be sufficiently flexible to cope with every type of tissue bath experiment but could easily be modified by an experimenter with pro- gramming experience.

I am very much in favour of the second approach. It was forced on me when I developed my tissue-bath data collection and analysis system, since neither inter- faces nor programs were available when I started. However, the knowledge I was forced to acquire has subsequently allowed me to develop systems to investigate drug action on human tremor, the dynamics of skeletal muscle twitches in humans and animals, the roughness of human skin as

estimated by scanning densitometry of photographic negatives and on the dynam- ics of human saccadic eye movements. The broadening of my research potential that these techniques represent has amply repaid the initial investment of time. Unfortu- nately time spent in developing these skills is often derided as 'fiddling with computers' and labelled unproductive. As a conse- quence few pharmacologists make this investment or, worse still, invest so little time that the computer systems they develop are clumsy, difficult to use and actually hinder experimentation.

Despite their benefits computers can cause dependence and tolerance. This syn- drome is characterized by increased keyboard time with reduced productivity. Withdrawal can cause a marked sense of loss often accompanied by involuntary finger movements. Like narcotics, com- puters can be abused but when used with skill and imagination can increase the qual- ity and quantity of information obtained from experiments.

R O G E R M A R S H A L L

Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Welsh Naaonal School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN, U.K.

From Dr R. B. Bar low ~ Do you remember the names Brunsviga, Diehl, Facit, Marchant, Munroe? Perhaps you had better not admit it if you wish to retain your youthful image. These were makes of calculating machine, mostly elec- trically driven, with which pharmacologists used to process their results. It was an impressive business: grim faces, shining

with intelligence and effort, hands busily writing down numbers, and eyes, hawk- like, desperately trying to spot errors. A truly heroic age!

Then came the computer. Amazingly expensive machines which lived in spec- ially built air-conditioned 'centres' (or 'centers') and were looked after by super- intelligent beings who spoke strange lan- guages. Most pharmacologists felt very out

O Elsevier Biomedical Press 1983 0165 - 6147/83/0000 - 0000/$01 00

TIPS -Jaauary 1983

of place in this environment. There was the constant feeling that 'Big Brother' was watch- ing you, that you were asking questions which displayed your stupidity, and that very soon you would do something which would cause the whole system to crash. It was all very impressive but rather frighten- ing. So the pharmacologist usually went back to the laboratory to play with the new calculators which were then appearing.

Now it's all different. You don't have to he a genius to run a microcomputer, a child can show you, and you can pick up a work- ing understanding of a language like BASIC in a few minutes. There are situa- tions in which big computers are still needed (e.g. for X-ray crystallography and tax-collecting) but most pharmacological results can be handled very easily with a

microcomputer. The physical burden associated with doing the arithmetic has gone without replacing it with the effort of grappling with computer jargon.

Computers make it possible to handle information in ways which were unthink- able because of the sheer effort involved. There have also been big improvements in the quality of the results which may be obtained in pharmacological experiments. In this challenging situation the phar- macologist needs to be able to talk to the mathematician and statistician without someone else getting in the way; this is now possible. Many pharmacologists are pro- ducing important new ways of handling data which should be intelligible to other pharmacologists even if they do not talk 'computerese'. Many pharmacologists use

computers to run their experiments and others use them to help with teaching. The problem now is that they should be able to communicate with each other and with their colleagues scattered all over the world. A TIPS Computer Club is a unique way of achieving this.

Advances in pharmacology have come from developments in biology, as well as from new drugs produced in the chemical laboratory, but they have also come from developments in the automation of experi- ments and in the analysis of data. Can you afford not to bother with these?

Join the club! R B BARLOW

Department of Pharmacology, University of Bris- tol, The Medical School, Umversity Walk, Bristol B58 ITD, U.K.

From Dr R. Towart

I applaud the initiative in proposing a TIPS Computer Club. However I would like to warn against what, in my experience, are some of the dangers of the silicon chip in the laboratory.

Firstly, there is a danger that the compu- ter be treated as an end in itself. Pro- grams of ever-increasing complexity (and

busily measuring his analogue trace? For a standard tissue like a guinea pig ileum, I like to measure and store the contraction height once a second. At the end of the response a simple computation calculates peak contraction, time of peak contraction, and area under the curve. These three parameters, printed along with the baseline, are more than adequate for most routine

purposes. Any 'interesting' experimental changes can later he analysed from the analogue trace using that most flexible of all transducer/interface/micro systems, the eyes and brain of the experienced phar- macologist.

R. TOWART

Mdes Laboratories Ltd, P.O. Box 37, Stoke Poges, .Slough SL2 4L Y, U K

incomprehensibility to others) may be writ- , ~ ten. High speed printers, floppy disks, hard e~ x F r O m Dr D. Mackay disks, etc. may have to be purchased to satisfy the ever-growing cravings of the addicts. Soon, a significant percentage of the laboratory work-force will be found, not experimenting or interpreting results, but writing, debugging and perfecting programs.

Secondly, there is a danger that the pro- grams which the resident laboratory 'expert' produces will be too difficult for others to understand. I personally feel that if you use a program to produce or process your data, you should understand it. A corollary of this is that programs should be written more in the style of the comic strip rather than that of Proust, i.e. as simply as possible. This also enables the non-expert to adapt an existing program quickly and efficiently to his own needs. Only if a clear, uncompli- cated programming style is universally encouraged and adopted will it be possible usefully to exchange programs with others.

Thirdly, there is the danger of producing too much or too little digital data. If one intends to sample a signal representing a pharmacological response, one must be cer- tain that the sampling rate is adequate to describe the analogue response w/thout pro- ducing floods of indigestible digital data. How often have we seen somebody with rolls of untouched digital data on his benchj

The relative cheapness and availability of microcomputers means that now quite small groups of workers, or even individ- uals, can have their own computers. What is more, increasingly powerful microcomput- ers are becoming available at little or no greater cost.

However, the cheapness and availability of microcomputers is no reason to rush out and buy one! What can one do with such a machine? Of course it can be used to store and analyse data, but that is only one part of the story. Essentially, the microcomputer is a microprocessor which can take in infor- mation, process it and output the results of such processing. It is therefore an extremely flexible machine and can be used in a multitude of ways depending on the programs fed into it or stored inside it. The programs can be written in a fairly simple language, namely BASIC. Such programs may be used to analyse data but they may also be used to control external equipment such as relays, solenoids and electric motors. Indeed it is quite feasible to pro- gram the microcomputer to carry out an experiment and to measure, store and ana- lyse the results during the experiment. The progress of the experiment can be moni- tored and changes made automatically to the plan of the experiment, as it proceeds, depending on the results obtained.

Since the microcomputer can accept and store information, analyse it and output conclusions, it can also be used as a teach- ing aid. In this case it can output text or fig- ures, output questions, accept answers and compare these with the correct answers stored in the machine. In this way it can be used for programmed learning.

The use of the microcomputer for word- processing is another extremely useful capability. At first sight this may not seem to be related to pharmacology but in fact is extremely useful for the preparation of reports and typescripts. Since information fed into the computer is stored in memory compartments, which can be accessed and changed rapidly, written text stored in memory can be added to, deleted, changed or rearranged before the required number of copies are printed out in the final polished form. Contrast this with the use of copy paper and correction media.

Undoubtedly the microcomputer is here to stay. The points which I've mentioned above were well illustrated at a recent meet- mg of the British Pharmacological Society in Sunderland, U.K. Students entering the universities within the next few years will have learned about micros at school. Hope- fully, by the time they graduate they will have learned even more and will expect to apply their knowledge. We of the older generation must keep up with and encour-