Welcome to ModelMaker 4 *********************** Version 4.0.0 20 March 2000 We hope you enjoy using your new software. Contents Of This File ********************* Registration New Features Known Issues Technical Support Registration ************ ModelMaker 4 is shipped as a fully-functional product with a built in 30-day lifespan. If you do not 'activate' ModelMaker it will stop working 30-days after installation. Activating ModelMaker is a simple, automated system using a form on our web site. http://www.modelkinetix.com/support/activate After activation your copy of ModelMaker will disable the 30-day lifespan. Note that moving ModelMaker (to another PC) or re-installing ModelMaker will cause ModelMaker to expire. If ModelMaker has expired you must activate it to continue to use it. ModelMaker 4 New Features ************************* 1) GUI. The user interface has been thoroughly re-worked. 2) Monte-Carlo Analysis. This enables users to determine the effect on a simulation of one or more parameters whose values are not known precisely. The user specifies a probability distribution for each unknown parameter and which results from the simulation (e.g. compartment values at particular times) are of interest. ModelMaker runs the simulation several times and plots a histogram of the probability distribution of each chosen result. 3) Gear's Method. This is a numeric integration method to complement those already in ModelMaker, that works well on stiff problems. Stiff problems are ones which involve processes that happen on very different time scales. Gear's method automatically adjusts the size of integration steps to match the timescale on which the simulation is evolving. 4) Extended Least Squares (ELS). This is an option for optimization for situations where the errors in the data values are not known. Currently, ModelMaker provides Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Weighted least Squares (WLS). ELS assumes that the data's variance follows a power law and uses a maximum likelihood (ML) estimator for the parameters of that power law. It is widely used in Pharmaco-kinetics modeling. Known issues in ModelMaker 4.0.0 ******************************** 1. Sometimes sections of the graph are written to the screen when the results view is open. This can be removed by changing the current page that is selected. 2. Backup model files are not always created if the file was opened by double clicking on it (in explorer, for example). 3. Old model files are not fully checked when they are opened. If an error existed in the old file, then it will still exist in the new file, e.g. sometimes components can appear in the "Find" dialog which do no exist. If this happens, the safest solution is to recreate the model. 4. When two models files are open at the same time, running either of the models canm cause the active model to change to the other file. 5. The dll definition dialog can perform erratically. 6. When an archived graph is pasted into Word/Excel, the first column data is missing. 7. Copying and pasting large numbers of components at once does not always work. 8. When using Gear integration, the limit stepsize not applied to initial step. 9. The location of a model file is not used to determine the location of subsidiary files such as lookup-tables. This can mean that the file is not always found. 10.When you choose General number format for a graph axis, the value at the end of the range (upper value) appears to be in scientific format. 11. It is not possible to customize the toolbar for the definition view; attempting to do so will cause a fatal error which shuts ModelMaker down. Support ******* ModelKinetix.com have provided extensive customer support facilities through our web site: http://www.modelkinetix.com/support These free facilities include an up-to-date FAQ database, a search facility and a 'personal assistance' option to get direct support from our staff. ModelKinetix.com is a division of Cherwell Scientific Ltd. End of README file. *******************