Search

During the Korean War, International Business Machines (IBM) punch cards were created for every individual involved in military combat. Each card contained all pertinent personal information about the individual and was utilized to keep track of all soldiers involved. However, at present, all of the information known about these punch cards reveals only their format and their significance; there is little to no information on how these cards were created or how to interpret the information contained without the aid of the computer system used during the war. Today, it is believed there is no one available to explain this computerized system, nor do the original computers exist. This decode strategy is the result of an attempt to decipher the information on these cards through the use of all available medical and dental records for each individual examined. By cross-referencing the relevant personal information with the known format of the cards, a basic guess-and-check method was utilized. After examining hundreds of IBM punch cards, however, it has become clear that the punch card method of recording information was not infallible. In some cases, there are gaps of information on cards where there are data recorded on personal records; in others, information is punched incorrectly onto the cards, perhaps as the result of a transcription error. Taken all together, it is clear that the information contained on each individual's card should be taken solely as another form of personal documentation.

Small volume fluid handling in single and multiphase microfluidics provides a promising strategy for efficient bio-chemical assays, low-cost point-of-care diagnostics and new approaches to scientific discoveries. However multiple barriers exist towards low-cost field deployment of programmable microfluidics. Incorporating multiple pumps, mixers and discrete valve based control of nanoliter fluids and droplets in an integrated, programmable manner without additional required external components has remained elusive. Combining the idea of punch card programming with arbitrary fluid control, here we describe a self-contained, hand-crank powered, multiplex and robust programmable microfluidic platform. A paper tape encodes information as a series of punched holes. A mechanical reader/actuator reads these paper tapes and correspondingly executes a series of operations onto a microfluidic chip coupled to the platform in a plug-and-play fashion. Enabled by the complexity of codes that can be represented by a series of holes in punched paper tapes, we demonstrate independent control of fifteen on-chip pumps with enhanced mixing, on-off valves and a novel on-demand impact-based droplet generator. We demonstrate robustness of operation by encoding a string of characters representing the word "PUNCHCARD MICROFLUIDICS" using the droplet generator. Multiplexing is demonstrated by implementing an example water quality test utilizing colorimetric assays for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate content in different water samples. With its portable and robust design, low cost and ease-of-use, we envision punch card programmable microfluidics will bring complex control of microfluidic chips into field-based applications in low-resource settings and in the hands of children around the world bringing microfluidics and low-Reynolds number hydrodynamics to everyday classrooms., Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures

A new method of collection and presentation of the genealogical data in nontraditional (nongraphic) way is proposed. The collection of genealogical data within a population is organized through the family lists presented in perforated cards. The quick and correct identification of any population member realizes by colour tab indexes. The principles of arrangement and algorithms of organization of population tab card system are described.

An investigation has been completed of the behaviour of passengers boarding a slow speed travellator system. Film was obtained and the behaviour of 274 passengers subjected to a detailed slow motion analysis. The extent of human factor problems is indicated by the surprisingly large number of system users (3L%( who experienced some degree of loss of balance when boarding the travellator. The study indicates that there is a definite relationship between the boarding style of passengers and any subsequent loss of balance they might experience. Several design recommendations are made on the basis of this study.

A simple 'fail-safe' system is described that produces microbiology reports on a computer teleprinter and stores results on the magnetic tapes and discs of a computer for instant retrieval and epidemiological analysis. The system, which has been in operation for over a year, involves the use of a modified conventional NCR request form. The top portion, which is completed manually by the laboratory staff, is coded by writing numbers in hatched boxes. The data thus written on to the bottom portion are transcribed by punch operators on to paper tape and this data input is verified by double punching. The reports are normally produced automatically by the computer terminal telprinter, but in case of mechanical failure the manually completed request forms can be returned to wards and outpatient departments. The system permits a wide choice of options for epidemiological analysis, and six programmes are described, one of which produces a digest of the overall percentage antibiotic sensitivities of organisms from various sites.

In two separate experiments, none of the 14 subunits examined consistently ranked dentifrices similarly to the ranking obtained when the individual rat was used as the experimental unit. Arbitrarily dividing the rat into subunits and then comparing results among these subunits may lead to false conclusions since the rankings using subunits vary within each experiment and from experiment to experiment.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Health Center has developed a simple inexpensive McBee Card Surveillance System for following approximately 2,000 registered patients with hypertension. The system has been in use for the past two years by three health teams. On a quarterly basis teams and physicians are given reports on the percentage of their hypertensive patients with controlled blood pressure (bp) (bp less than or equal to 140/90 for patients younger than 50; bp less than or equal to 160/95 for 50 or older). In addition, patients not seen in the past 4 months are identified for follow-up by family health workers. During the 2-year period that the system has been in operation, the three teams have increased their percentage of patients under control by 50%. Of 929 patients with hypertension, 411 were controlled at the inception of the study and 617 were controlled 2 years later. Such a simple surveillance and self-evaluaton system is readily applicable to all ambulatory care settings.

• The rhinoplastic surgeon must vary technique to fit the anatomic variations of nose and face. Our system to record and correlate preoperative findings with surgical methods could help accomplish this. It includes three forms to record pertinent findings of the history and physical examination, operative findings and techniques, and postoperative evaluations. These forms are numerically coded, and data can be transferred to a punch card system or computer cards for quick and easy retrieval and statistical analysis. The system tries to simplify the many anatomic and surgical variations, yet remain complete. We hope that this system, which has been used in other disciplines, can be applied to rhinoplasty. In this way, more scientific statistical data can be used to support surgical approaches. ( Arch Otolaryngol 105:644-648, 1979)

An analysis of the systems of nosocomial infection reporting utilized in a 332 bed, urban, referral-type hospital demonstrated that physician reporting was much less reliable than a well-planned surveillance system coordinated by an infection control nurse. During 12 months' experience with the most recently devloped system, the average monthly rate of nosocomial infection was 10.7%. A prevalence survey gave a rate of 14.4%. The efficiency of reporting was close to 100% when the infection control nurse spent 100% of her time on surveillance. With a reduction in surveillance time to 75%, the efficiency of reporting fell to about 75%.

A literature index is presented based on edge notched cards. A key word vocabulary is included with suitable binary coding. A simple system for coding and searching is explained.

GENCAT is a computer program which implements an extremely general methodology for the analysis of multivariate categorical data. This approach essentially involves the construction of test statistics for hypotheses involving functions of the observed proportions which are directed at the relationships under investigation and the estimation of corresponding model parameters via weighted least squares computations. Any compounded function of the observed proportions which can be formulated as a sequence of the following transformations of the data vector - linear, logarithmic, exponential, or the addition of a vector of constants - can be analyzed within this general framework. This algorithm produces minimum modified chi-square statistics which are obtained by partitioning the sums of squares as in ANOVA. The input data can be either: (a) frequencies from a multidimensional contingency table; (b) a vector of functions with its estimated covariance matrix; and (c) raw data in the form of integer-valued variables associated with each subject. The input format is completely flexible for the data as well as for the matrices. Multivariate analysis Categorical data Contingency tables Minimum modified chi-square Weighted least squares Linear models Computer program Rates and proportions

We have developed a computerised system for the storage, retrieval and analysis of the workload of a hand clinic. In a study of 800 patients we have found it superior to a punched card system collecting similar information. The computer system functioned reliably and achieved its user specification. It should prove a useful tool in helping a surgeon in matters of audit, research and disease or accident prevention but its long term performance in this regard requires evaluation.

A code for herpetic eye disease is presented. This simplifies the management of individual patients, and the up-to-date code summary of each case is easily maintained thus facilitating assessment of interrelating factors. It is suggested that the pattern of herpetic eye disease may have prognostic and epidemiological significance. This system has simplified retrieval of such data.

Biostereometrics is an accurate anthropometric system for quantifying geometric changes of facial form and the relationship of features as they are influenced by growth and by surgery. Facial features distant from the site of surgical intervention are influenced in their geometric relationship to each other by changes in the soft-tissue drape brought about by manipulation of skeletal tissues. The most accurate coordinate system should be elsewhere than on the surface of the face, but if this is not possible it should be in an area farthest removed from the surgical site. This investigation demonstrates that a usable coordinate transformation system can be created by connecting points supernasale and subnasale for establishing the Y Z plane and the construction of the X Z plane at subnasale. Accurate comparative numerical measurements can be made by using soft-tissue landmarks.

The parametric statistical models discussed include all those which have previously been described in the literature (Boag, 1948-lognormal; Berkson and Gage, 1952-negative exponential, Haybittle, 1959-extrapolated actuarial) and the basic data used to test the models comprised some 3000 case histories of patients treated between 1945 and 1962. The histories were followed up during the period treated between 1945 and 1962. The histories were followed up during the period 1969-71 and thus provided adequate information to validate long-term survival fractions predicted using short-term follow-up data. The results with the log-normal model showed that for series of staged carcinoma cervix patients treated during a 5-year period, satisfactory estimates of long-term survival fractions could be predicted after a minimum waiting period of 3 years for stages I and II, and 2 years for stage III. The model should be used with a value assumed for the lognormal paramater S in the range S = 0.35 to S = 0.40. Although alternative models often gave adequate predictions, the lognormal proved to be the most consistent model. This model may therefore now be used with more confidence for prospective studies on carcinoma cervix series and can provide good estimates of long-term survival fractions several years earlier than would otherwise be possible.

Summary A procedure for evaluating personality is described. Conventional and transposed factor analyses are made from Q sort data describing the important people in the subject's life in terms of his own constructs (a la Kelly) as variables. The scoring procedure produces construct-factors and people-factors. Sorts from a subject illustrate the method. Cross-cultural applications are possible since the translation of personal constructs is not essential. Simulation of relationships to others, SORTO, combines Kelly's (1955) personal constructs with Stephenson's (1953) Q sort procedure. A large amount of personal data is factor analyzed by the computer to reveal the main idiosyncratic features of a subject's perceptions of his relationships to others. Maximum output from the analysis occurs when the nature of personal constructs employed is supplied as input to the analysis.

829 healthy male volunteers aged 20-49 were issued with supplies of either demethylchlortetracycline or placebo in late October, 1969, with instructions to take a course of treatment in the event of getting a cold or influenza-like illness between November, 1969, and April, 1970. Clinical and other information was self-recorded on reply-paid postcards, one card for each month. 91% of cards were returned, and 836 courses of treatment were taken by 543 of the patients. Morbidity was assessed in terms of the number of days in each illness on which purulent spit was noted and the number of days off work. Closely similar patterns of morbidity were found for patients taking antibiotic and placebo; whether treatment was started early in the illness, before or after onset of cough, purulent nasal discharge or purulent spit had no effect. Being a non-smoker rather than a 20-plus cigarettes a day smoker was of greater benefit than taking the antibiotic rather than the placebo. Work loss averaged 1·1 days per illness in patients on antibiotic and 1·5 days per illness in those on placebo. Medical advice was sought in 109 illnesses in which the trial tablets had been used. The need for insurance certificates seemed to be a more prominent reason for attendance than did morbidity referable to absence of antibiotic treatment. Side-effects were recorded in 6·7% of illnesses on antibiotic treatment and 1·8% of illnesses on placebo treatment. No justification has thus been found to support the early use of a tetracycline for minor respiratory illness in otherwise healthy patients.

The author discusses the logical of medimatic diagnosis, and presents his own method of automatic diagnosis bymedigraphic computing. This method consists of employing punched cards (medigrams) containing both data concerning a patient under examination and the entire knowledge of medical science expressed in numerical language. By employing diagnostic matrices (medimatrices), and by feeding into a computer a sequence of statements according to a flow-medigramd, a medimatic diagnosis is obtained. The method has been proved effective in many groups of patients, especially in the field of rheumatology.

A simple binomial-code punched-card system for biochemists is described. Employing major and minor classifications, the system can handle a total of 812 subjects in two rows of 29 holes each. Enough theoretical and practical technics are illustrated to enable the novice to devise a system suited to his own needs.

ABSENTEEISM among the workers of the Sorocabana Railroad in the department of the electric punch card machines was so high, as compared with that in other departments, that it demanded the attention of a neuropsychiatrist. He presented the following report: "... the patients complain mostly of nervous irritability, lessened capacity for work, palpitation and sleeplessness. They are persons who are maladjusted in their private lives and whose neurotic symptoms show up with nervous fatigue brought about by the continuous noise of the machines. Such employees cannot receive compensation. All the patients but one returned to work after treatment and a varying period of rest." The matter was therefore referred to the department of otology at the Sorocabana Railroad medical service, where it was approached by the study of the room noise and its influence on the workers' ears. This investigation was undertaken from three standpoints: (1) study of the room

A system for detailed documentation of external beam radiation therapy is described. A new, more detailed treatment record form has been designed. From this form, selected data is key-punched immediately after conclusion of the treatment series. These transactions update a register, resident on a drum memory, in a daily routine, which also prints out a brief treatment report for each individual in the transaction file. Each month, concluded treatments are transferred from the drum to magnetic tape, thus keeping the current register at a constant size. From the register, short form listings of selected variables as well as more specialised statistics on quality of data-acquisition and work load on each treatment unit is obtained. On request, complete treatment reports and statistics on selected patients and/or treatment techniques can be generated.

A system for the on-line acquisition and analysis of chemical relaxation data by a small digital computer has been developed. The system is designed so that knowledge of specialized digital electronics and logic is unnecessary for its implementation and a variety of fast reaction instrumentation can be serviced. Programs are discussed which analyze the relaxation data rapidly, yielding values for the amplitude and the reciprocal relaxation time of the kinetic process. Signal averaging of repetitive measurements also is described. The data can be stored on punched paper tape. Typical experimental data and the resulting data analysis are presented.

A system of punched card programming and recording of primate discrimination learning experiments is described to illustrate the application of these techniques to the automation of the discrete trial learning situation, allowing for punched card recording and subsequent digital computer data analyses without intermediate data reduction. The system was also designed to control several potential sources of variability inherent in the conventional WGTA testing mode, including 1) the subject's (S's) motivation to test on each trial, 2) S's attention to the stimuli, and 3) the rate of trial presentation so as to be more under S's control. Reliable techniques of punched card programming and recording are detailed.

The rapid growth of scientific information has stimulated new methods of handling both published and unpublished materials. One of these methods, coordinate indexing, can be used in an oral pathology department to handle case reports, reprints, transparencies, or tissue sections. Vocabulary control, input, and search are described for an optical coincidence coordinate indexing system. A table summarizes the characteristics of cards of several manufacturers. Coordinate indexing is useful to the researcher or report writer and can be the first step toward the eventual automated handling of pathology information.

The output from a Coulter model S is captured by a specially designed silent interface which visualizes the results, automatically prints the data on a continuous paper roll and transmits the information to a card punch located in a data processing room. Further requested test data and patient identification data are subsequently added manually to the punch card. The completed deck of cards is used in an off-line batch mode on a dedicated laboratory computer to format report documents, produce ward listings, and quality control information. A punch card off-line method is also described for blood group and related data.

The computer is playing an increasingly important role in medicine and dentistry. Two sets of punch cards used for epidemiological surveys are described. Details are given of the method of using the sets and the analysis of the data by the computer. These cards have been used satisfactorily by several examiners and the system adapted for other computers.

The results of 700 interventions for otosclerosis were examined by means of superimposable punched cards. So different correlations were examined i.e. the relations between age and sex, the influence of menstruation and pregnancy on the evolution and the results according to the various surgical techniques. The relation between the results obtained and the age of the patient at the time of operation was determined even as the maximal postoperative improvement. The authors want to show, by these few examples, the possibilities and the necessity of an adequate card system.

Owing to the increased volume of laboratory services and the shortage of skilled medical microbiologists who presently spend up to 30% of their time in clerical matters, pragmatic applications of electronic sorting techniques and computers should be considered to alleviate this problem. Moreover, surveillance of the hospital community, with particular reference to changing patterns of microbial resistance and the distribution of potentially infectious pathogens, requires detailed information which can be readily supplied by electronic sorting analysis. Mark-sense and prescored Port-A-Punch IBM cards were used to: (i) analyze antibiotic susceptibility data; (ii) tabulate total test loads according to conditions set down by the American Society for Clinical Pathologists; and (iii) to prepare a bacteriological report on the surveillance of hospital infections. After proper sorting and analysis, the cards also serve as a convenient reference file in the laboratory for pertinent information recorded by either blackening the appropriate areas (mark-sense style) or pushing out the preperforated rectangular holes with a simple inexpensive board and stylus (Port-A-Punch). No one scheme can fulfill the requirements of all laboratories or purposes, but ideas contained herein might serve as starting points for the design of similar systems in other laboratories.

A “desk top” system for blood donor information, storage, and retrieval is described. The system can accept up to 1,000 different items of information on each of 10,000 donors. It is currently in active use for locating eligibles in a walking donor population of 2,500. It contains 80,000 items of information all of which can be searched without machine processing by laboratory personnel at any time of day or night.

Summary.-It is argued that the IBM card is the best "file card" available for constructing a personalized reference system that is inexpensive and flexible enough to allow for constant revisions of materials while providing a means of automating the inforrna-ion retrieval process. The advantages of utilizing the IBM card for such a purpose are presented, followed by an example of its use in a reference system developed for writing books. Whether he is writing a book or simply keeping track of relevant literature citations for teaching and personal reference, each academician (or any person in a professional occupation) is faced with determining the most effective means for filing units of information for later recall. These units of information can range from a meticulo~~sly assembled bibliography to random ideas generated in the midst of a work day--all, however, should be filed in a manner to ensure their accurate and rapid retrieval when needed. Further, such a referencing system should be inexpensive and flexible eno~lgh to allow for constant revisions; and, if possible, be developed w3th an eye to ultimate automation of the retrieval process. It is the contention of this writer, after extensive experience with several filing systems, that the standard IBM card provides the cheapest, most convenient and readily "automatable" building block in constructing an information retrieval system available for home and/or office use. The advantages of utilizing the IBM card for such a puspose will be presented, followed by an example of its use in a reference system developed for writing a book. The psychological principle of functional fixedness seems to explain the reason why most individ~~zls utilize IBM cards for feeding numbers into computers and stop there. This writer first became aware of the other advantages such cards provide when he observed several colleagues utilizing them as scratch paper and reminder notes. This awareness was reinforced when IBM cards were utilized for printing large quantities of messages to Ss in a psychological experiment (Karlins, 1967; Karlins 8: Schroder, 1967). At this point, the automation possibilities of the cards became obvious. Finally, in co~nparing IBM cards with other types of "file cards" the advantages of the former over the latter were undeniable. Some of these advantages are listed below: (1) Expense: Any institutions (university, business firm, etc.) utilizing computers (including those institutions that do not have computer installations but utilize facilities elsewhere) are quite likely to dispense IBM cards free of charge. And, if for some reason, such a supply is not available, then these cards can be purchased commercially at 1/10 to 1/4 the price of other file cards. (2) Accessibility: IBM cards are liberally distributed throughout insciru

A centralized system for recording standard 12-lead electrocardiograms and vectorcardiograms is described. Multiple simultaneous signals are obtained from the patient by means of buffer amplifiers which minimize the effect of differences in skin resistance at the electrodes on resistance networks. Rightleg driving is employed to reduce common-mode voltage. Six simultaneous channels of data are transmitted by direct wire or by one or three simultaneous channels over standard telephone lines to a central recording console. Multiple leads are simultaneously monitored and recorded from a slave oscilloscope onto 35 mm. film premounted on standard computer punch cards (camera cards). The film is automatically developed in 45 seconds. Standard-sized prints of the electrocardiogram are made with standard microfilm printers for return to the patient area. The electrocardiogram may be viewed immediately over closed-circuit television by use of the camera card. The use of 35 mm. film on punch cards allows more efficient and economic handling. Storage and retrieval of electrocardiographic and vectorcardiographic interpretive data are facilitated. Simultaneous output to magnetic tape or on-line computer facilities is possible.