# mkin The R package **mkin** provides calculation routines for the analysis of chemical degradation data, including <b>m</b>ulticompartment <b>kin</b>etics as needed for modelling the formation and decline of transformation products, or if several compartments are involved. ## Installation You can install the latest released version from [CRAN](http://cran.r-project.org/package=mkin) from within R: ```{r, eval = FALSE} install.packages("mkin") ``` If looking for the latest features, you can install directly from [github](http://github.com/jranke/mkin), e.g. using the `devtools` package. Using `quick = TRUE` skips docs, multiple-architecture builds, demos, and vignettes, to make installation as fast and painless as possible. ```{r, eval = FALSE} require(devtools) install_github("jranke/mkin", quick = TRUE) ``` ## Background In the regulatory evaluation of chemical substances like plant protection products (pesticides), biocides and other chemicals, degradation data play an important role. For the evaluation of pesticide degradation experiments, detailed guidance and helpful tools have been developed as detailed in 'Credits and historical remarks' below. ## Usage The simplest usage example that I can think of, using model shorthand notation (available since mkin 0.9-32) and a built-in dataset is ```{r, message = FALSE} library(mkin) fit <- mkinfit("SFO", FOCUS_2006_C, quiet = TRUE) plot(fit, show_residuals = TRUE) ``` ```{r, eval = FALSE} # Output not shown in this README to avoid distraction summary(fit) ``` A still very simple usage example including the definition of the same data in R code would be ```{r} example_data = data.frame( name = rep("parent", 9), time = c(0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, 63, 91, 119), value = c(85.1, 57.9, 29.9, 14.6, 9.7, 6.6, 4, 3.9, 0.6) ) fit2 <- mkinfit("FOMC", example_data, quiet = TRUE) plot(fit2, show_residuals = TRUE) ``` A fairly complex usage example using another built-in dataset: ```{r echo = FALSE, message = FALSE} # Somehow knitr does not find the signature() function require(methods) ``` ```{r, message = FALSE} data <- mkin_wide_to_long(schaefer07_complex_case, time = "time") model <- mkinmod( parent = mkinsub("SFO", c("A1", "B1", "C1"), sink = FALSE), A1 = mkinsub("SFO", "A2"), B1 = mkinsub("SFO"), C1 = mkinsub("SFO"), A2 = mkinsub("SFO"), use_of_ff = "max") fit3 <- mkinfit(model, data, method.modFit = "Port", quiet = TRUE) plot(fit3, show_residuals = TRUE) #summary(fit3) # Commented out to avoid distraction from README content mkinparplot(fit3) ``` For more examples and to see results, have a look at the examples provided in the [`mkinfit`](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/mkinfit.html) documentation or the package vignettes referenced from the [mkin package documentation page](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/index.html) ## Features * Highly flexible model specification using [`mkinmod`](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/mkinmod.html), including equilibrium reactions and using the single first-order reversible binding (SFORB) model, which will automatically create two latent state variables for the observed variable. * Model solution (forward modelling) in the function [`mkinpredict`](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/mkinpredict.html) is performed either using the analytical solution for the case of parent only degradation, an eigenvalue based solution if only simple first-order (SFO) or SFORB kinetics are used in the model, or using a numeric solver from the `deSolve` package (default is `lsoda`). These have decreasing efficiency, and are automatically chosen by default. * As of mkin 0.9-36, model solution for models with more than one observed variable is based on the [`ccSolve`](https://github.com/karlines/ccSolve) package, if installed. This is even faster than eigenvalue based solution, at least in the example shown in the [vignette `compiled_models`](http://rawgit.com/jranke/mkin/master/vignettes/compiled_models.html) * Model optimisation with [`mkinfit`](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/mkinfit.html) internally using the `modFit` function from the `FME` package, but using the Port routine `nlminb` per default. * By default, kinetic rate constants and kinetic formation fractions are transformed internally using [`transform_odeparms`](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/mkin_static/transform_odeparms.html) so their estimators can more reasonably be expected to follow a normal distribution. This has the side effect that no constraints are needed in the optimisation. Thanks to René Lehmann for the nice cooperation on this, especially the isometric logration transformation that is now used for the formation fractions. * A side effect of this is that when parameter estimates are backtransformed to match the model definition, confidence intervals calculated from standard errors are also backtransformed to the correct scale, and will not include meaningless values like negative rate constants or formation fractions adding up to more than 1, which can not occur in a single experiment with a single defined radiolabel position. * Summary and plotting functions. The `summary` of an `mkinfit` object is in fact a full report that should give enough information to be able to approximately reproduce the fit with other tools. * The chi-squared error level as defined in the FOCUS kinetics guidance (see below) is calculated for each observed variable. * I recently added iteratively reweighted least squares in a similar way it is done in KinGUII and CAKE (see below). Simply add the argument `reweight = "obs"` to your call to `mkinfit` and a separate variance componenent for each of the observed variables will be optimised in a second stage after the primary optimisation algorithm has converged. * When a metabolite decline phase is not described well by SFO kinetics, either IORE kinetics or SFORB kinetics can be used for the metabolite, adding one respectively two parameters to the system. ## GUI There is a graphical user interface that I consider useful for real work. Please refer to its [documentation page](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/gmkin_static) for installation instructions and a manual. ## News Yes, there is a ![Changelog](NEWS.md). ## Credits and historical remarks `mkin` would not be possible without the underlying software stack consisting of R and the packages [deSolve](http://cran.r-project.org/package=deSolve), [minpack.lm](http://cran.r-project.org/package=minpack.lm) and [FME](http://cran.r-project.org/package=FME), to say the least. It could not have been written without me being introduced to regulatory fate modelling of pesticides by Adrian Gurney during my time at Harlan Laboratories Ltd (formerly RCC Ltd). `mkin` greatly profits from and largely follows the work done by the [FOCUS Degradation Kinetics Workgroup](http://focus.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dk), as detailed in their guidance document from 2006, slightly updated in 2011. Also, it was inspired by the first version of KinGUI developed by BayerCropScience, which is based on the MatLab runtime environment. The companion package [kinfit](http://kinfit.r-forge.r-project.org/kinfit_static/index.html) was [started in 2008](https://r-forge.r-project.org/scm/viewvc.php?view=rev&root=kinfit&revision=2) and [first published](http://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/kinfit/) on CRAN on 01 May 2010. The first `mkin` code was [published on 11 May 2010](https://r-forge.r-project.org/scm/viewvc.php?view=rev&root=kinfit&revision=8) and the [first CRAN version](http://cran.r-project.org/src/contrib/Archive/mkin) on 18 May 2010. In 2011, Bayer Crop Science started to distribute an R based successor to KinGUI named KinGUII whose R code is based on `mkin`, but which added, amongst other refinements, a closed source graphical user interface (GUI), iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS) optimisation of the variance for each of the observed variables, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation functionality, similar to what is available e.g. in the `FME` package. Somewhat in parallel, Syngenta has sponsored the development of an `mkin` and KinGUII based GUI application called CAKE, which also adds IRLS and MCMC, is more limited in the model formulation, but puts more weight on usability. CAKE is available for download from the [CAKE website](http://projects.tessella.com/cake), where you can also find a zip archive of the R scripts derived from `mkin`, published under the GPL license. Finally, there is [KineticEval](http://github.com/zhenglei-gao/KineticEval), which contains a further development of the scripts used for KinGUII, so the different tools will hopefully be able to learn from each other in the future as well. ## Development Contributions are welcome! Your [mkin fork](https://help.github.com/articles/fork-a-repo) is just a mouse click away... The master branch on github should always be in good shape, I implement new features in separate branches now. If you prefer subversion, project members for the [r-forge project](http://r-forge.r-project.org/R/?group_id=615) are welcome as well. Generally, the source code of the latest CRAN version should be available there.