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Update to BLUPF90+/GIBBSF90+ programs

Since 2022, the BLUPF90 programs have been reorganized, and some programs have been unified. This tutorial is still useful for the new software because the updated versions retain the same functionalities as the previous ones. Here, I would like to briefly outline the differences between the old and new programs. For more details, please refer to the WCGALP proceedings (Lourenco et al., 2022).

BLUPF90+

• The programs blupf90, remlf90, and airemlf90 have been unified into blupf90+.
  • The default behavior of blupf90+ is the same as that of blupf90, i.e., building and solving the system of mixed model equations using data and variance components specified in the user-supplied parameter file.
  • The blupf90+ program can estimate variance components by REML using the option OPTION method VCE in the parameter file.
  • You can switch the algorithm from AI (Average Information) to EM (Expectation-Maximization) by using the option OPTION EM-REML.
• blupf90+ now supports more options to improve usability.
• The UGA group has discontinued support and development of the old programs (blupf90, airemlf90, and remlf90) because blupf90+ is compatible with and can fully replace them.

GIBBSF90+

• The Gibbs-sampling programs, including gibbs2f90, gibbs3f90, thrgibbs1f90, and others, have been unified into gibbsf90+.
  • The default behavior of gibbsf90+ is the same as that of thrgibbs1f90, i.e., estimating variance components via Gibbs sampling under a linear model (or a threshold model with an option).
  • The usage and options are the same as those in thrgibbs1f90 or other Gibbs-sampling programs.
• The UGA group has discontinued support and development of the old Gibbs-sampling programs because gibbsf90+ is compatible with and can fully replace them.

This tutorial

The descriptions in this tutorial are based on the old programs, but most of the content should still be applicable to the new ones. In the text, readers can simply replace the old program names with the new ones as shown below.

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