Graphical Presentation of
Protein Fraction Utilization Data by
Computer System Analysis
DALE A. CARLSON, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
CHARLES W. BOWER, Associate Research Engineer
Boeing Company
Seattle,   Washington
Electronic Data Processing has been incorporated as a beneficial tool into
many professional fields in the past decade. Most procedures utilized have been
limited to computing, tabulating, and summarizing data.
Developments in the past two to three years have shown the feasibility and
economy of programming data for automatic graphic display. The processes utilized can make the necessary computations to convert raw to finished data and then
present the desired information graphically. This graphical data display can be
applied to preset scales or plot sizes or, as developed for this Warburg Data presentation, the computer program can automatically select the scale dimensions
and the size of drawing which most appropriately fit the computed data. Computer systems are especially valuable where large volumes of reiterative data are
processed and where many graphical displays are desired.
Applications of computer displays are found in many fields such as presentation of isobars by the U. S. Weather Bureau, population distributions by ace groups
as prepared by the U. S. Census Bureau, isodose plots indicating the distribution of
radioactive iodine in radiotracer thyroid studies or displays of radiation intensities
in the earth's atmosphere as relayed by the Tiros satellite.
Several of the Electronic Data Processing programs have been applied to areas
of civil engineering and related fields such as in regional planning, transportation,
and population studies (1). Data displays are available in mapping outputs or in
bar graph array outputs. These bar graph arrays may appear with different symbols
to show confidence of distribution limits. Machine mapping outputs appear as a
series of numbers or symbols. This background of data can be overlaid with a location map transparency by means of check points printed on the machine output
and photographed to give a map with the pertinent data appearing in the appropriate map areas. Such data distribution systems are applicable to housing types,
number of rental units, populations and many other types of information of significance in planning and transportation studies for municipal and regional governments. A planning study of this type is now nearing completion for the City of
Spokane, Washington (1). Also, the mapping can be photographed from an image
displayed on a cathode ray tube. This type of projection has been used to indicate
traffic patterns out of Chicago and can print the desired data as short vectors; the
intensity of traffic is indicated by the concentration of vectors along the arterials
emanating from the city center. Other slower processes involve the transferring
of data to an inking head that may be directed to any spot on a plane surface by
use of either punch card or taped information.
For the past two years, an investigation has been in progress at the University
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