A COMPUTERIZED INDUCTION ANALYSIS OF POSSIBLE CO-VARIATIONS AMONG DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN HUMAN TOOTH ENAMEL

In recent decades software tools in the area of artificial intelligenc e have rapidly developed for use in personal computers. Interactive ru le induction utilizing mathematical algorithms has become a powerful t ool in data analysis and in making rules and patterns explicit. Data f rom a Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) elemental analysis of hum an dental enamel were used to elucidate co-variations between certain elements. A co-variation analysis was performed employing a computeriz ed induction analysis program, as well as a neural network program. Bo th analyses, confirming each other, revealed co-variations between cer tain elements in dental enamel in addition to exclusion of data of no importance for chosen outcomes. The results are presented in hierarchi c diagrams, in which the importance for every specific element is give n by its position and level in the diagram (decision tree). From the r esults it became evident that elements such as chlorine and sodium exp ressed a high co-variation level. Similarly fluorine and potassium co- varied, as well as magnesium and the trace element strontium. It was d emonstrated that data from an elemental analysis could be processed by an induction analysis to reveal co-variations between certain element s in tooth enamel. The biological significance of these data is not fu lly understood, and further analyses in the field are needed.