Generalized Procrustes Analysis Research Articles

Development of Leaf Lobing and Vein Pattern Architecture in the GenusIpomoea(Morning Glory)

Premise of research. Formation of leaf shape and establishment of vascular pattern are intrinsically tied during development. While vein formation resists major changes in patterning, leaf shape is more liable to change. We investigated the pattern of major vascular strands among species with varying leaf shapes within the genus Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae). Our study was conducted to identify structural similarities in vascular architecture despite differences in leaf morphology.Methodology. We used SEM to observe the initiation and formation of leaf lobes, while vascular strand development was examined in cleared leaves. A generalized Procrustes analysis was used to analyze branching patterns of the major secondary veins.Pivotal results. Analysis of vascular strands in the five Ipomoea species revealed that the two most proximal major secondary veins emerging from the petiole-blade junction are highly conserved, and the shapes defined by the trajectories of those veins through the leaf blade show significant overlap among the divergent leaf forms.Conclusions. The longitudinal arrangement of vascular strands is highly reproducible, while leaf morphology is amenable to changes within species. Our data show that a common vascular architecture exists and that significant consistencies can be seen in the basic shape described by this architecture across species.

Statistical shape analysis of temporal lobe in mesial temporal sclerosis patients.

Surgery is regarded as a common treatment option for patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis but sometimes deciding this diagnosis can be very difficult. We aim to investigate the shape differences in the temporal lobe of mesial temporal sclerosis epilepsy patients compared with healthy controls, investigating the side difference and, if present, assessing the clinical application of this situation. The MRI scans of mesial TLE patients and controls were retrospectively reviewed. Temporal lobe data were collected from the two-dimensional digital images. Standard anthropometric landmarks were selected and marked on each digital image using TPSDIG 2.04 software. Eight anatomic landmarks were marked on images. A generalized Procrustes analysis was used to evaluate the shape difference. The shape deformation of the temporal lobe from control to patient was evaluated using the TPS method. There were statistically significant TL shape differences between groups. High level deformations for the left and right side from the control to patient group were seen in the TPS graphic. The highest deformation was determined at the inferior lateral temporal midpoint of the middle temporal gyri and superior temporal landmark points of both the right and left sides. Our study for the first time demonstrated temporal shape differences in TLE patients using a landmark-based geometrical morphometric method by taking into consideration the topographic distribution of TL.

Cross-modal taste and aroma interactions: Cheese flavour perception and changes in flavour character in multicomponent mixtures

The effect of cross-modal sensory interactions between cheese aroma and cheese taste on both cheese flavour intensity and cheese flavour character were investigated. Cheese aroma consisted of a mixture of ten aroma compounds, whilst cheese taste was constructed with the five basic tastes in water solution. Interactions were investigated using a combination of a high resolution design (HRD) and central composite design (CCD). The HRD was 2 aroma×5 NaCl×5 lactic acid levels. The CCD was constructed based on a 23 factorial design that covered the HRD space. Both HRD and CCD gave a total of 57 samples. A panel of experienced assessors (n=8–10) evaluated cheese flavour intensity relative to reference. In addition, samples were sorted based on similarity of flavour character. Fourteen samples were selected for free choice profiling and analysed using generalised procrustes analysis (GPA). Cheese flavour intensity was non-linear and dependent on both taste level and aroma level. The status of flavour character being cheese-like was dependent on taste levels, where either NaCl or lactic acid at a high or low level altered the flavour character to being atypical of cheese. A cheese-like flavour character was maintained across a wide range of NaCl concentrations, but only across a narrow range of lactic acid concentrations. Aroma level changed the character of cheese flavour. Overall, the balance in concentration of both tastes and aroma levels was important in maintaining cheese flavour character as cheese flavour intensity was modified.

Asymmetry in genitalia does not increase the rate of their evolution

Left–right asymmetry is a frequently encountered phenomenon in the copulation organs of insects. While various causes have been proposed for genital asymmetry, we raise the question of whether asymmetry might facilitate, or even accelerate, morphological divergence of genitalia between species. We tested this hypothesis in the scarab chafer genus Schizonycha, which comprises species with symmetric as well as asymmetric male genitalia. Morphometric analyses were conducted in the context of their phylogeny, inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data (cox1, rrnL, and 28S) for a sample of 99 South African specimens, including 34 species and 5 outgroup taxa. Trees were reconstructed with maximum likelihood and Bayesian analysis. The extent of asymmetry and the variation of male copulation organs were analyzed with Generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA), by quantifying shape divergence of the parameres. We found a continuous transition in the degree of asymmetry among the investigated species. Ancestral state reconstruction revealed multiple origins and a high degree of evolutionary plasticity of paramere asymmetry in Schizonycha. However, no significant correlation between evolutionary rates of paramere shape divergence and the degree of paramere asymmetry was found, and so we conclude that asymmetric genitalia in Schizonycha do not increase the rate of genital shape divergence.

Sensory Characterization and Consumer Preference Mapping of Fresh Sausages Manufactured with Goat and Sheep Meat.

The main objective of this study was the sensory characterization, by a taste and a consumers' panel, of fresh sausages from 140 culled goats and 140 culled ewes. Species and type of preparation effects were studied. All data were previously analyzed by analysis of variance. Taste panel data were analyzed by a Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA). Consumers' panel data were analyzed by Preference Mapping. The 1st 2 factors explained 88.22% of total variation in GPA. Different sausages samples were perfectly differentiated by assessors. Goat sausages have been considered harder, more fibrous, and less juicy than sheep sausages. The panelists observed that sheep sausages without paprika had greater intensity of flavor, tasted spicy, and had an off-odor, while goat sausages with paprika were considered sweeter. Consumers' panel did not show any preference for the different types of sausages. This means that all types of sausages can have market opportunity. The present study was a result of a project in co-promotion between 2 breeder associations, an industry unit and a research center. Results indicated that the meat from animals out of quality commercial brands could be useful as processed meat in a product with consumer acceptability. Also these new meat products brought diversity to meat industry to reach new markets and originating 2 new meat brands recorded at INPI (Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial—Natl. Industrial Property Inst.) with the numbers of 489664 and 489662 of National Brands of sheep and goat meat, respectively.

Fish traceability: Guessing the origin of fish from a seafood market using fish scale shape

Fish traceability is an important tool in fish food safety and a recognition tool in the assessment of biodiversity and fisheries. Geometric morphometric methods were used to establish whether scale morphology may determine the origin of specimens from a fish market. In order to trace the origin of fish, the fish scale shape of two mugilids species Mugil cephalus and Mugil curema specimens from three different trade premises at the Mexico City central fish market was analyzed and compared with the scale shape of previously collected samples from known areas along the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific coasts. The origin of the fish market specimens was kept in a closed envelope and was revealed at the end of the study. Scale shape was described using seven landmarks, the coordinates of which were subjected to a generalised Procrustes analysis, followed by a principal components analysis and discriminant analysis. Discriminant classification was used as the main indicator to identify the source of the fish, where the percentage of discrimination traced the origin of the specimens, respectively. A leave-one-out procedure was applied to validate the results of discriminant functions on shape, and relative warp in size-shape space (shape plus size). Results showed that the discriminant analysis correctly classified 83.3% of the cases, with 100% for adjacent geographic areas. The relative warp in size-shape space (shape plus size) of fish scales could be used to reliably trace fish populations by applying geometric morphometric methods to one fish scale per specimen. In order to effectively use such an approach in fisheries management, it is necessary to have previous patterns of fish scale shapes for each locality. Since the scale shape was described using seven landmarks, it may be possible to improve the tracing rate by increasing the number of landmarks used. Fish scale shape thus offers a straightforward, accessible, quick and inexpensive method to trace fish stocks.

Age- and Sex-Specific Thorax Finite Element Model Development and Simulation

Objective: The shape, size, bone density, and cortical thickness of the thoracic skeleton vary significantly with age and sex, which can affect the injury tolerance, especially in at-risk populations such as the elderly. Computational modeling has emerged as a powerful and versatile tool to assess injury risk. However, current computational models only represent certain ages and sexes in the population. The purpose of this study was to morph an existing finite element (FE) model of the thorax to depict thorax morphology for males and females of ages 30 and 70 years old (YO) and to investigate the effect on injury risk.Methods: Age- and sex-specific FE models were developed using thin-plate spline interpolation. In order to execute the thin-plate spline interpolation, homologous landmarks on the reference, target, and FE model are required. An image segmentation and registration algorithm was used to collect homologous rib and sternum landmark data from males and females aged 0–100 years. The Generalized Procrustes Analysis was applied to the homologous landmark data to quantify age- and sex-specific isolated shape changes in the thorax. The Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) 50th percentile male occupant model was morphed to create age- and sex-specific thoracic shape change models (scaled to a 50th percentile male size). To evaluate the thoracic response, 2 loading cases (frontal hub impact and lateral impact) were simulated to assess the importance of geometric and material property changes with age and sex.Results: Due to the geometric and material property changes with age and sex, there were observed differences in the response of the thorax in both the frontal and lateral impacts. Material property changes alone had little to no effect on the maximum thoracic force or the maximum percent compression. With age, the thorax becomes stiffer due to superior rotation of the ribs, which can result in increased bone strain that can increase the risk of fracture. For the 70-YO models, the simulations predicted a higher number of rib fractures in comparison to the 30-YO models. The male models experienced more superior rotation of the ribs in comparison to the female models, which resulted in a higher number of rib fractures for the males.Conclusion: In this study, age- and sex-specific thoracic models were developed and the biomechanical response was studied using frontal and lateral impact simulations. The development of these age- and sex-specific FE models of the thorax will lead to an improved understanding of the complex relationship between thoracic geometry, age, sex, and injury risk.

Making geological sense of ‘Big Data’ in sedimentary provenance analysis

Sedimentary provenance studies increasingly apply multiple chemical, mineralogical and isotopic proxies to many samples. The resulting datasets are often so large (containing thousands of numerical values) and complex (comprising multiple dimensions) that it is warranted to use the Internet-era term ‘Big Data’ to describe them. This paper introduces Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA) and Individual Differences Scaling (INDSCAL, a type of ‘3-way MDS’ algorithm) as simple yet powerful tools to extract geological insights from ‘Big Data’ in a provenance context. Using a dataset from the Namib Sand Sea as a test case, we show how MDS can be used to visualise the similarities and differences between 16 fluvial and aeolian sand samples for five different provenance proxies, resulting in five different ‘configurations’. These configurations can be fed into a GPA algorithm, which translates, rotates, scales and reflects them to extract a ‘consensus view’ for all the data considered together. Alternatively, the five proxies can be jointly analysed by INDSCAL, which fits the data with not one but two sets of coordinates: the ‘group configuration’, which strongly resembles the graphical output produced by GPA, and the ‘source weights’, which can be used to attach geological meaning to the group configuration. For the Namib study, the three methods paint a detailed and self-consistent picture of a sediment routing system in which sand composition is determined by the combination of provenance and hydraulic sorting effects.

GLIMR: A GIS-BASED METHOD FOR THE GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ARTIFACTS

Archaeology's participation in the digital renaissance of the twenty-first century requires adequate operationalization of technological methods, such as three-dimensional scanning. Here, we describe and demonstrate a geographic information systems-based lithic morphometric research (GLiMR) software approach. GLiMR accurately and rapidly handles a sequence of ArcGIS procedures to extract geometric morphometric data from 2D and 3D scan files that are impractical to record by hand, opening new doors to the analysis of lithic artifacts. GLiMR generates three main types of geometric properties: shape data, topographic data, and domain aggregate data. These data can be extracted in ways that support other analyses of artifact form, including generalized Procrustes analysis, principal components analysis, and cluster analyses. We illustrate the use of GLiMR by presenting a basic case study that compares the geometric morphometry of Western Stemmed Tradition projectile points found in two cache features at Idaho's Cooper's Ferry site and from other sites in the Columbia River Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest. Cluster analyses of the generalized Procrustes analysis of 3D landmarks from Cooper's Ferry cache points fail to separate the two caches from one another on the basis of their geometric morphometric attributes. We interpret these results to suggest that these stemmed projectile points were probably created by persons who shared a specific set of technological production guidelines for the manufacture of Western Stemmed Tradition projectile points. Cluster analyses indicate that Cooper's Ferry Western Stemmed Tradition projectile points can be morphometrically separated from stemmed points found at other regional sites; however, significant overlaps were seen among stemmed projectile points from the Pilcher Creek site, which may suggest the existence of contemporaneous information sharing networks or macroband territorial movements.

Ethics, Risk and Benefits Associated with Different Applications of Nanotechnology: a Comparison of Expert and Consumer Perceptions of Drivers of Societal Acceptance.

Examining those risk and benefit perceptions utilised in the formation of attitudes and opinions about emerging technologies such as nanotechnology can be useful for both industry and policy makers involved in their development, implementation and regulation. A broad range of different socio-psychological and affective factors may influence consumer responses to different applications of nanotechnology, including ethical concerns. A useful approach to identifying relevant consumer concerns and innovation priorities is to develop predictive constructs which can be used to differentiate applications of nanotechnology in a way which is meaningful to consumers. This requires elicitation of attitudinal constructs from consumers, rather than measuring attitudes assumed to be important by the researcher. Psychological factors influencing societal responses to 15 applications of nanotechnology drawn from different application areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, food, military, sports, and cosmetics) were identified using repertory grid method in conjunction with generalised Procrustes analysis. The results suggested that people differentiate nanotechnology applications based on the extent to which they perceive them to be beneficial, useful, necessary and important. The benefits may be offset by perceived risks focusing on fear and ethical concerns. Compared to an earlier expert study on societal acceptance of nanotechnology, consumers emphasised ethical issues compared to experts but had less concern regarding potential physical contact with the product and time to market introduction. Consumers envisaged fewer issues with several applications compared to experts, in particular food applications.

An evaluation of nasal bone and aperture shape among three South African populations

Reliable and valid population specific standards are necessary to accurately develop a biological profile, which includes an estimation of peer-reported social identification (Hefner, 2009). During the last 300 years, colonialism, slavery and apartheid created geographic, physical and social divisions of population groups in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to evaluate variation in nasal bone and aperture shape in a modern population of black, white, and coloured South Africans using standard craniometric variables and geometric morphometrics, namely general Procrustes and elliptical Fourier analyses.Fourteen standard landmarks were digitally recorded or computationally derived from 310 crania using a 3D coordinate digitizer for discriminant function, principal components and generalized Procrustes analyses. For elliptical Fourier analysis, outlines of the nasal aperture were generated from standardized photographs. All classification accuracies were better than chance; the lowest accuracies were for coloured and the highest accuracies were for white South Africans. Most difficulties arose in distinguishing coloured and black South African groups from each other. Generally, misclassifications were noted between the sexes within each group rather than among groups, which suggests that sex has less influence on nasal bone and aperture shape than ancestry. Quantifiable variation in shape of the nasal aperture region between white and non-white South African groups was observed.

A New 4D Trajectory-Based Approach Unveils Abnormal LV Revolution Dynamics in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

The assessment of left ventricular shape changes during cardiac revolution may be a new step in clinical cardiology to ease early diagnosis and treatment. To quantify these changes, only point registration was adopted and neither Generalized Procrustes Analysis nor Principal Component Analysis were applied as we did previously to study a group of healthy subjects. Here, we extend to patients affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy the original approach and preliminarily include genotype positive/phenotype negative individuals to explore the potential that incumbent pathology might also be detected. Using 3D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography, we recorded left ventricular shape of 48 healthy subjects, 24 patients affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and 3 genotype positive/phenotype negative individuals. We then applied Generalized Procrustes Analysis and Principal Component Analysis and inter-individual differences were cleaned by Parallel Transport performed on the tangent space, along the horizontal geodesic, between the per-subject consensuses and the grand mean. Endocardial and epicardial layers were evaluated separately, different from many ecocardiographic applications. Under a common Principal Component Analysis, we then evaluated left ventricle morphological changes (at both layers) explained by first Principal Component scores. Trajectories’ shape and orientation were investigated and contrasted. Logistic regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves were used to compare these morphometric indicators with traditional 3D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography global parameters. Geometric morphometrics indicators performed better than 3D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography global parameters in recognizing pathology both in systole and diastole. Genotype positive/phenotype negative individuals clustered with patients affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy during diastole, suggesting that incumbent pathology may indeed be foreseen by these methods. Left ventricle deformation in patients affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy compared to healthy subjects may be assessed by modern shape analysis better than by traditional 3D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography global parameters. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy pathophysiology was unveiled in a new manner whereby also diastolic phase abnormalities are evident which is more difficult to investigate by traditional ecocardiographic techniques.

A comparison of generalised procrustes analysis and multiple factor analysis for projective mapping data

Generalised procrustes analysis and multiple factor analysis are multivariate statistical methods that belong to the family of multiblock methods. Both methods are often used for analysis of data from projective mapping (a.k.a. Napping). In this study, generalised procrustes analysis and multiple factor analysis are compared for a number of simulated and real data sets. The type of data used in this study were (I) random data from Monte Carlo simulations; (II) constructed data that were manipulated according to some specific criteria; (III) real data from nine Napping experiments. Focus will be on similarities of the consensus solutions. In addition we considered interpretation of the RV coefficient and individual differences between assessors.

The use of novel phenotyping methods for validation of equine conformation scoring results

In this experiment, which is based on a cohort of 44 Lipizzan mares from the Austrian state stud farm of Piber, we present new statistical techniques for the analysis of shape and equine conformation using image data. In addition, we examined which strategies and procedures of image processing techniques led to a successful interpretation of the traits implemented in horse breeding programs. A total of 246 two-dimensional anatomical and somatometric landmarks were digitized from standardized photographs, and the variation of shape has been analyzed by the use of generalized orthogonal least-squares Procrustes (generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA)) procedures. The resulting shape variables have been regressed on the results from linear type trait classifications. In addition, the rating scores of six conformation classifiers were tested for agreement, yielding an inter-rater correlation (inter-class correlation) ranging from 0.41 to 0.68, respectively, a κ coefficient ranging from 0.16 to 0.53. From the 12 linear type traits assessed on a valuating scale, only the type-related traits (type, breed-type and harmony) revealed significant (P<0.05) results in the regression analysis of shape variables on linear type traits. The other nine traits were characterized by a lower agreement between classifiers and did not result in a significant ‘shape regression’. Finally, the ‘horse shape space’ defined by shape variables resulting from GPA procedures offered the possibility to assist in trait definition and in the evaluation of ratings, and it is an adequate biological and objective scale to human perception of conformation, which is expressed in numerical data only.

The sensitivity of QBA assessments of sheep behavioural expression to variations in visual or verbal information provided to observers

Qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) is based on observers’ ability to capture the dynamic complexity of an animal’s demeanour as it interacts with the environment, in terms such as tense, anxious or relaxed. Sensitivity to context is part of QBA’s integrative capacity and discriminatory power; however, when not properly managed it can also be a source of undesirable variability and bias. This study investigated the sensitivity of QBA to variations in the visual or verbal information provided to observers, using free-choice profiling (FCP) methodology. FCP allows observers to generate their own descriptive terms for animal demeanour, against which each animal’s expressions are quantified on a visual analogue scale. The resulting scores were analysed with Generalised Procrustes Analysis (GPA), generating two or more multi-variate dimensions of animal expression. Study 1 examined how 63 observers rated the same video clips of individual sheep during land transport, when these clips were interspersed with two different sets of video footage. Scores attributed to the sheep in the two viewing sessions correlated significantly (GPA dimension 1: rs=0.95, P<0.001, GPA dimension 2: rs=0.66, P=0.037) indicating that comparative rankings of animals on expressive dimensions were highly similar, however, their mean numerical scores on these dimensions had shifted (RM-ANOVA: Dim1: P<0.001, Dim2: P<0.001). Study 2 investigated the effect of being given different amounts of background information on two separate groups of observers assessing footage of 22 individual sheep in a behavioural demand facility. One group was given no contextual information regarding this facility, whereas the second group was told that animals were moving towards and away from a feeder (in view) to access feed. Scores attributed to individual sheep by the two observer groups correlated significantly (Dim1: rs=0.92, P<0.001, Dim2: rs=0.52, P=0.013). A number of descriptive terms were generated by both observer groups and used in similar ways, other terms were unique to each group. The group given additional information about the experimental facility scored the sheep’s behaviour as more ‘directed’ and ‘focused’ than observers who had not been told. Thus, in neither of the two studies did experimentally imposed variations in context alter the characterisations of animals relative to each other, but in Study 1 this did affect the mean numerical values underlying these characterisations, indicating a need for careful attention to the use of visual analogue scales.

Through the Eyes of Galileo's Heirs: Deciphering the Laws of Nature Through the Language of Mathematics

When I was a graduate student at Yale, back in what seems like the Paleozoic era, one of the courses that I took was called “Statistics for Morphometrics.” It was designed for those graduate students, like me, who were planning to eventually use some assortment of measures and statistics in our budding morphology-based dissertation work. The course was taught by a very bright fellow named Ray Heimbuch, an advanced graduate student in physical anthropology who already had a reputation for his exceptional skills in these areas. His presentations were extraordinary, and took his pupils deep into the continually evolving science of how one extracts meaningful data from the geometry of form. As he became more and more granular, we grasped that he saw the world in mathematical and geometric images beyond what most of the overwhelmed and struggling students, particularly me, could envision, now or, probably ever. With each presentation, it became clearer to me that I would have to accrue his incredible abilities and mathematical “eyes” if I was to undertake the research I wished to pursue. Or, I could become his really good friend. A few years later (with my successful Dissertation completed, and many papers hatched; e.g., see Laitman et al. 1978, 1979; Laitman and Heimbuch, 1982), I was the best man at Ray’s wedding. Some weeks back as I penned this essay, I had the privilege of listening to Mike Hausman, our Professor and Chair of Orthopedics at Mount Sinai, and an internationally renown surgeon, as he taught my first-year anatomy students about the hand. I met Mike when I was his Teaching Assistant at Yale, also back in the Paleozoic, and noticed even then his extraordinary mind and special ability to see structure through mathematics and geometry. I again sat in awe in my lecture hall as this physician-surgeon-mathematician taught my class, not solely about the muscles or bones of the hand, but about the extraordinary patterns and geometric codes buried within the structure of nature’s form. My young physicians-to-be sat enraptured as he guided them to the intersection of geometric shape and regularity of form, of Fibonacci numbers and patterns appearing from feathers to the shells of a nautilis to the fingers of the hand. And he took them back to the words of insight from one of the greatest minds of all time, Galileo Galilei, and his guiding principle that the laws of nature can only be understood through the language of mathematics itself (Galilei, 1623). One of the observations that life has shown me is that some people’s minds are wired very differently from others. No great or unique insight here, but it’s what I’ve seen. In my inch of the scientific world—working on head and neck structures such as the larynx or ear—I’ve been amazed by how many of the surgeons, for example, who approach vocal folds are also extraordinary singers, or those who meticulously seek to reconstruct one’s hearing are also talented musicians. No group, however, has impressed—awed might be a better term—me more than those who see the world through mathematical equations or through the ever-morphing lenses of geometry.

The skeletal maturation status estimated by statistical shape analysis: axial images of Japanese cervical vertebra.

To evaluate axial cervical vertebral (ACV) shape quantitatively and to build a prediction model for skeletal maturation level using statistical shape analysis for Japanese individuals. The sample included 24 female and 19 male patients with hand-wrist radiographs and CBCT images. Through generalized Procrustes analysis and principal components (PCs) analysis, the meaningful PCs were extracted from each ACV shape and analysed for the estimation regression model. Each ACV shape had meaningful PCs, except for the second axial cervical vertebra. Based on these models, the smallest prediction intervals (PIs) were from the combination of the shape space PCs, age and gender. Overall, the PIs of the male group were smaller than those of the female group. There was no significant correlation between centroid size as a size factor and skeletal maturation level. Our findings suggest that the ACV maturation method, which was applied by statistical shape analysis, could confirm information about skeletal maturation in Japanese individuals as an available quantifier of skeletal maturation and could be as useful a quantitative method as the skeletal maturation index.

Effects of the evolution of theSerra doMar mountains on the shape of the geographically isolated populations ofAegla schmittiHobbsIII, 1979 (Decapoda:Anomura)

AbstractThe Aeglidae family is a useful model for evaluating the shape variation to present small geographically isolated populations and present a carapace structure that allows precise placement of landmarks. We analysed variations of the size and shape of the carapace of seven populations ofA. schmitti. We used 18 bidimensional anatomical landmarks on the carapace of adult males. Size variation between the populations was analysed through a univariate analysis of variance, while the shape variation was analysed through a multivariate analysis of variance using the configurations aligned by the generalized Procrustes analysis. The ordination of the populations was investigated through a canonical variables analysis. Individuals from the populations differed in the carapace size, in this case, we observed the largest individuals in the Iguaçu river basin, followed by Ribeira do Iguape and the Coastal basin. Carapace shape also differed between the populations ofA. schmitti, with the exception of the Mato Grande and Piraquara rivers: populations from the Iguaçu River presented a larger and rounder carapace when compared with the slenderer carapace of the Coastal basin, and the Ribeira do Iguape animals presented intermediate shapes. Data from the present study show great congruency with the draining pattern and geological history of the region.

Generalized procrustes analysis (GPA) as a tool to discriminate among sheep breeds

Abstract. Forty male lambs of five Southern Spanish breeds were used to study the effects of the breed in their sensorial characteristics. The used breeds were: Segureña, Spanish Merino, Grazalema Merino, Churra Lebrijana and Montesina breeds. Milk lambs were slaughtered at 12 kg of live weight. A descriptive sensory evaluation was developed using the longissimus lumborum from each animal by a panel of 12 experts and a Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA) was used to discriminate among them. Generalized Procrustes Analysis clearly differentiated Churra Lebrijana of out the rest breeds. Churra Lebrijana was defined as more tender, juicier and with less lamb odour than the rest of the Southern Spanish lamb breeds. Thus, GPA is able to discriminate among breeds.

Ancestry estimation in South Africa using craniometrics and geometric morphometrics

Population history and positive assortative mating directs gene flow in such a way that biological differences are recognized among groups. In turn, forensic anthropologists quantify biological differences to estimate ancestry. Some anthropologists argue that highly admixed population groups, such as South African coloureds, cannot achieve acceptable accuracies because within group variance is too large. Whereas ancestry estimation in South Africa has been limited to craniometric data from South African blacks and whites, the current study integrates craniometric and geometric morphometric data from the three largest South African groups.Crania from 377 South African individuals (black=158, white=112, and coloured=107) comprised the sample. Standard measurements were collected and the coordinate data were subjected to Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA), which resulted in size-free shape variables (ProCoords). A principal component analysis was used to combine the shape variation captured in the ProCoords (ProCoords PC). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), using equal priors, stepwise variable selection and leave-one-out cross-validation, was conducted on the ProCoords, the ProCoords PCs, and the traditional craniometric data.The LDA using 18 stepwise selected ProCoords resulted in the highest cross-validated accuracy (89%). Utilization of geometric morphometric data emphasized that the relative location of cranial landmarks was more discriminating than simple linear distances. Regardless of high levels of genetic admixture, South African coloureds are a homogeneous group and morphologically distinct from other contemporaneous South African populations. Furthermore, the present study demonstrated a correspondence between peer-reported race and morphological differences in the crania of black, white, and coloured South Africans.