                             Gepasi 3.0
               (Bio)chemical Kinetics Simulation Software

Copyright (C) Pedro Mendes 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996. All Rights Reserved.
Portions of the code are Copyright (C) 1985-1995 Microsoft Corporation. The
associated program "gnuplot" is Copyright (C) 1986-1993 Thomas Williams,
Colin Kelley.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does
not represent a commitment on the part of the copyright holder or any other
parties associated with the production of this software and documentation.


INTRODUCTION
============

Gepasi is a Microsoft Windows program intended for the simulation of the
kinetics of systems of chemical and biochemical reactions. The program is
aimed at the study and teaching of the behaviour of such systems. Gepasi is
able to simulate the steady-state and time-course behaviour of reactions in
several compartments of different volumes. The user supplies the program
with information about the stoichiometric structure of the pathway,
kinetics of each reaction, volumes of the compartments and initial
concentration of all chemical species. The program then builds the
differential equations that govern the behaviour of the system and solves
them. Results are produced in a flexible way so that data can be imported
into spreadsheets or other data processing programs. The data can also be
plotted in 2D and 3D graphs directly from the program (by using the package
gnuplot that is distributed with Gepasi). Gepasi has the ability of
scanning ranges of values of the system parameters and produce a mapping of
the behaviour of the system within these ranges. Gepasi characterises the
steady states that it finds using Metabolic Control Analysis and linear
kinetic stability analysis.

Gepasi 3.0 was developed by Pedro Mendes at the University of Wales
Aberystwyth under the supervision of Prof. Douglas Kell with funding from
the Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Directorate of the UK BBSRC.


HARDWARE AND OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
==========================================

Gepasi 3.0 is a Microsoft Windows 32-bit program. It is available in two
versions, one for computers with the Intel 80386 CPU (and above) running
Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 and above; the other is
for DEC Alpha workstations running Windows NT 3.51 and above.

For the Intel version, a Pentium processor is recommended with 8 Mb RAM for
Win95 or 16 Mb for WinNT. For the DEC Alpha version 32 Mb RAM is
recommended. The minimum requirement is an Intel 80386 with 4 Mb RAM (but
be prepared to wait).


AVAILABILITY
============

Gepasi 3.0 is available for download from a series of sites on the
Internet. The program is also available in CD-ROM software collections and
can be supplied by the author on floppy disks. The primary site for
distribution of Gepasi on the internet is at the URL:

http://gepasi.dbs.aber.ac.uk/softw/gepasi.html

That is where you should look for updates and add-ons for the program and
contact the author.


REDISTRIBUTION
==============

Gepasi 3.0 is freeware. You can redistribute Gepasi 3.0 freely as long as
you only copy the file Gep300i.zip in its entirety and in unmodified form.
You can charge no money for copies of the program, except for reasonable
costs of the supporting media.


INSTALATION
===========

The steps you must take to install Gepasi 3.0 depend on how you have
obtained the package.

 - you obtained the file gep300i.zip or gep300a.zip from the Internet or
   from a CD-ROM:

    1) unzip the contents of the file onto a temporary directory
    2) run the program setup.exe on that directory and follow the
       instructions

 - you obtained Gepasi 3.0 on floppy disks

    1) insert the floppy disk marked "Disk 1" on a floppy drive
    2) run the program setup.exe on that floppy disk and follow the
       instructions


DOCUMENTATION
=============

Gepasi 3.0 is an interactive program and its documentation is supplied in
hypertext format as a windows help file. Updates on the documentation are
available on the Internet on the primary site for distribution (see above).


========================
Aberystyth, October 1996
