REVIEWS GenStat 13.2
centred around an emphasis on biosciences, but plenty of appeal for broad scientific application. This approach finds particular expression in
T
a new menu, one of several progressive changes under the top level Statistics drop down, collecting tools for qualitative trait loci analysis under the heading QTL (Linkage/Association). This is more than an interface metaphor, though: the GenStat server stores and maps information about QTL data structures in a very intuitive and productive dedicated centralised space for common access by the tools grouped here. At import of traits, maps or marker data,
structure names can be added to this space and the contained structures viewed with a utility which contains addition, import, export and shortcut buttons. Provided they have been specified, QTL tools automatically enter structure names into the appropriate fields when their menus are opened. Right-clicking on the available data list calls up a shortcut to change between data space and full program data display. Using the new data space are a number of new
or improved QTL tools. Eigenanalysis and linkage disequilibrium options make a welcome appearance alongside comprehensive access to resampling via
Minitab
currently uses the mission
headline ‘Give everyone in your
organisation the power to improve it’
T Minitab 16
he latest version of Minitab extends and further consolidates its existing position in the market in most directions, without disrupting its existing layout or the workflow
patterns of long-term users. Every product has its key natural hinterland, and
for Minitab (if we exclude education) it is industrial quality. Release 16 recognises this with more than a dozen enhancements across eight headings under the Quality Tools heading and, for six sigma users, profile management of the DMAIC toolbar. At the same time, there are valuable additions throughout the tools range. A great favourite among Minitab-experienced
postgraduate research students to whom I showed the package was the worksheet storage and outlier plotting of squared centroid distances (aka Mahalanobis distances) in multivariate data sets without need for manual operations or programming. To the team of ecologists I visited next, developments in the Design of Experiments provision was the main focus of comment. If I had to pick out particular features myself, I might well pick on subtle additions to Generalised Linear Model support and the range of new features available to regression handling. Or, looking to the
30 Statistics special
extension of user base for such software, which is a particular hobby horse of mine, the most significant movement may be in enriching more basic options such as hypothesis testing and flexible descriptives display. To an already rich stock of help materials
it now adds the Assistant (to the right of Help on the top menu), a well-structured attempt to provide guidance to lost human beings rather than experienced computer scientists. From six headline descriptions, the user is taken through step-by-step decisions, which culminate in execution of the selected analysis without recourse to either the menus or the command line. I would like to see more top level signposts, but they are well chosen to reflect what a user is likely to be seeking – and will no doubt develop over time. There is also a tension between relevance and consistency, which again will presumably homogenise in the light of feedback. Despite those two caveats, the response from those new users to whom I have shown the Assistant has been unanimously enthusiastic. All in all, a very worthwhile upgrade to a solid
and reliable package.
www.minitab.com
he 13th edition of GenStat (formally version 13.2, after a service release) continues recent development trends, with broad- based development of reach and function
the bootstrap procedure. Subsetting by genotype and marker joins summary statistics options for markers and between traits, as does imputation of missing marker scores. Analyses of multi-trait linkage and (single or multiple environment) single trait analyses branch off association or simple and composite interval, respectively, branch off from the QTL Analysis submenu. Instant import and export of data in Flapjack format is added to GenStat’s famously broad file handling gamut. A group of server directives fit, display and
REVIEWS ONLINE For the latest software reviews visit:
www.scientific-
computing.com/ products/
reviews.php
predict from multi-layer perceptron neural networks. These work impressively with minimum interference, but there is all the scope for fine tuning you would expect from a GenStat provision, the fit itself offering 10 options and eight parameters. Particular favourites of my own include extensions of classification. BCFOREST constructs a random forest (with, once again, a rich set of control options) while BCIDENTIFY and BCDISPLAY then do exactly what you might expect of them. BIDENTIFY identifies specimens using a key
or tree built using BKEY, BCLASSIFICATION, or BREGRESSION. Calculation of regression models and percentile or quantile calculation across multiple variates, and spatial point spectra, are other highlights among many. And I haven’t even mentioned the range of incremental development within existing facilities.
www.vsni.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48