title: BACTID: a microcomputer implementation of a PASCAL program for bacterial identification based on Bayesean probability.
abstract: A computer program (BACTID) is described which enables the identification of bacteria based on a priori data and Bayesean probability testing. The program is not limited to a specific format, has a short execution time, can be easily applied to a variety of situations, and can be run on almost any microcomputer system operating under either 8-bit CP/M or 16-bit MS-DOS or PC-DOS. Additionally, BACTID is not limited to one type of computer (hardware independent); is not limited by size of the computer's random access memory (RAM independent); can recognize various database matrices (format independent); is able to compensate for missing data; and allows for various methods of data entry. The efficacy of the program was checked against a commercially available test system and a 99.34% agreement was obtained. Also, the execution time for a 46 x 21 data matrix was as little as 3.5 seconds. These results show that microcomputer identification programs not only are viable alternatives to code-book registers, but also offer flexibility which is not found in commercial systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago 60680.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Jilly
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003201:Computers; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008838:Microcomputers; D011381:Programming Languages; D012984:Software; D012985:Software Design