This package contains version 0.2.0 of 'block' and 'theta'. The programs are available free of charge for non-commercial use. In all other cases please contact the author. Please read this file before doing anything. block : performs pedigree and linkage analysis in very large pedigrees with many inbreeding loops. theta : takes the output of a 'block' linkage analysis and calculates lod scores. Both the programs have high requirements for computer specifications, in particular, much RAM is necessary. With 16MB of RAM you will be able to run only smaller examples. With more RAM or by using virtual memory, you will be able to run much larger examples. NB : convergence is guaranteed for pedigree and linkage analysis in only the case where all loci have two alleles. More alleles can be handled but this requires the explicit specification of blocks by the user. Read more about this in 'block.man'. The newest version of the programs can always be obtained from ftp://ftp.iesd.auc.dk/... There is also a homepage associated with the programs at http://www.iesd.auc.dk/~claus/block.html. The programs are currently given out as executable only, and they are available in versions for Solaris, SunOS, Linux, FreeBSD, IRIX, and MS-DOS. The documentation is still very sparse, but reading 'block.man' and 'theta.man' would be a good start. The directory 'peds' contains a few example pedigrees to test the programs on. The programs are Copyright (C) 1996 Claus Skaanning Jensen. If these programs are used in scientific work that results in the publication of a paper, the following paper should be cited : Jensen, C.S., Kong, A. & Kjaerulff, U. (1995). "Blocking-Gibbs Sampling in Very Large Probabilistic Expert Systems". International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 42: 647-666. Disclaimer ---------- The programs distributed in this package are experimental. They have not been extensively tested. The author, the University of Aalborg and any other part assisting the author in distributing the programs take no responsibility for losses or damages resulting directly or indirectly from the use of this program. As the programs are relatively new and have never been widely used, except by myself, I very much welcome any input of the forms : - Bugs, problems, errors, etc. - Changes that you would like - Additions to the programs that you would like If there are new features that many people want, I will try to implement them. Claus Skaanning Jensen Department of Computer Science Aalborg University Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 DK-9220 Aalborg DENMARK Fax: +45 98159889 Phone: +45 98158522 (switch board) +45 98154211 5023 (direct call) Email: claus@iesd.auc.dk