R is identified as a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. This software is compatible with a wide variety of Windows, MacOS, and UNIX platforms. Due to this advantage, many researchers and plant breeders have been encouraged to create scripts for computing stability statistics. Until now, there have many R scripts that each enable calculation of some stability parameters. However, Olivoto and Lucio [109] developed an R package “metan” for analyzing the GEI effect in plant breeding experiments. This package enables breeders to compute the AMMI model and GGE biplot, as well as estimating several parametric and non-parametric stability statistics.

• Furthermore, because it is so stable, it is widely considered to be the center of Europe’s economy.
• Note that it’s important to research these funds before buying, just as you’d research stocks.
• According to the Plan Sponsor Council of America, more than 30% of plans lack stable value fund offerings, though this number shrinks for larger plans with at 1,000 participants.
• Models and/or methods based on G + GE are more repeatable if they are calculated within mega-environments because mean yield is more repeatable.
• Progress in computer sciences and programming languages has resulted in the advent of various script codes and software that help breeders to analyze the big data sets in their experiments.
• Matthew Schwartz, a certified financial planner (CFP) at Great Waters Financial in Richfield, Minn., suggests that stable value funds can be used as a “complement” to bond funds in your portfolio.

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This is calculated by taking an equal dollar amount of each stock and figuring out how many shares would be needed to reach that amount. For instance, an equal-weighted index where all components start at $1,000 would take 1,000 divided by the share price to get the number of shares needed. The S&P 500 is considered an effective representation of the economy due to its inclusion of 500 companies, which covers most U.S. industries. In contrast, the DJIA is made up of 30 companies, leading to a more narrow reflection.

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Based on the AMMI’s output, several stability statistics have been proposed by different researchers for evaluating genotypes. Since the rank of genotypes in the specific environments cannot be done according to the phenotypic values, the stability of test genotypes has to be estimated independently of the genotypic effect. To solve this challenge, a correction of ranking patterns of test genotypes and environments based on the corrected phenotypic values was developed.

• Due to this advantage, many researchers and plant breeders have been encouraged to create scripts for computing stability statistics.
• As a component of the total phenotypic variance, the GEI has a negative effect on heritability.
• It’s able to do this because it holds a short-term bond fund as well as an added insurance feature that kicks in to protect investors from losing any of their principal.
• Indeed, these parameters are based on the ranks of adjusted means of the genotypes in each environment.
• Because the investment fee is so low, your returns are virtually identical to the performance of the S&P 500.
• Ultimately, though, how much of your bond allocation you might want to move into stable value funds is a matter of personal choice, based on your risk tolerance.
• In other words, if sums of independent, identically distributed random variables converge in distribution to some Z, then Z must be a stable distribution.

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• Perhaps turn to stable value funds, a potential goldilocks solution that may already be available in your workplace retirement plan.
• Formally known as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the S&P 500 serves as a quick snapshot of the state of the stock markets.
• These tend to be good choices because they’re well diversified and allow you to lock in the historical growth of the domestic stock market.
• You don’t need to buy all of them, but having exposure to many helps build a diversified portfolio.
• Hence, in each experiment, attention to the causes of GEI is very important and should be dissected.
• Based on the AMMI’s output, several stability statistics have been proposed by different researchers for evaluating genotypes.

Furthermore, they were able to predict the genetic gain and accrue estimations of performance using the BLUP model. In a comparative study, Anuradha et al. [71] used a set of AMMI- and BLUP-based stability statistics to select stable and high-yielding finger millet genotypes. Based on the obtained results, they stated that several statistics, such as ASV, ASTAB, AVAMGE, DA, Dz, EV, and FA, proved that all have equal potential in the identification of stable genotypes.

How We Can Compute Stability Statistics?

In this section we address how this methodology could help the breeder to interpret the GEI effect, and to select the ideal genotypes across different environments with high yield and the most stability. In the above formulas, GVij, μj, and E are the genotypic values (BLUP) for the ith genotype in the jth environment, the grand mean for each environment j, and the number of environments, respectively. As has been mentioned by Resende et al. [40], the highest values of these parameters are suitable. Where bi is slope regression, Xij is the grain yield of genotype ith in environment jth; X¯i. Is the mean grain yield of genotype ith; X¯.j is the mean grain yield of the environment jth; and X¯..

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At 0.1%, its expense ratio is relatively low, especially for a fund offering exposure to the companies with the most growth potential. Like its benchmark index, the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF has dropped by more than 2% during the first four months of 2024, as small-cap stocks have struggled. This software is a free and user-friendly tool that was developed by the Biometrics Unit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) [103]. Using this software, the AMMI model and some stability statistics can be computed.

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Instead of depending upon a single method and approach, papers published analyzing this effect and the prediction of phenotypic stability of various crops are often found in the integration of several models. The main objective in each study is to select the correct method or model of analysis to capture the maximum GEI effect. Although the AMMI and BLUP models are the most commonly used models so far, each of them has some disadvantages.

• This is a country that takes a stance of isolationism whenever a conflict breaks out, and Switzerland was not even involved in World War 2.
• I specialize in explaining the how and why of retirement planning so consumers can make confident choices and get on with their lives.
• Furthermore, this model provides additional information for the test of stability, adaptability, and simultaneous stability-adaptability in METs, which will be described in the following.
• This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research.
• Since index funds are passively managed, they are actually more likely to outperform funds with active managers over the long term.
• The index structure can mask strength or weakness in smaller companies if the movements diverge from those of larger-cap companies.
• This software is compatible with UNIX platforms, Windows, and MacOSX, and it provides information on both Pearson’s and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficients among measured stability statistics.

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The two most commonly used parametrizations are the one above (Nolan’s “1”) and the one immediately below (Nolan’s “0”). Since the normal distribution, the Cauchy distribution, and the Lévy distribution all have the above property, it follows that they are special cases of stable distributions. Gauch and Moran [101] developed a Windows-based software that enables breeders to understand complex GEI and AMMI models.

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Using this software, breeders can obtain more information about AMMI families. Using this software, the researcher can compute the AMM model and GGE biplot analyses. Zali et al. [42] also proposed the absolute value of relative contribution IPCA as another statistic to measure of stability. Similarly to Da, genotypes with the lowest value of this statistic are the most stable. Where W2 is Wricke’s ecovalence, and p and q are the numbers of genotypes and environments, respectively. Founded in 1988 (and formerly known as Institutional Premium Class fund), Fidelity removed this fund’s investment minimum so investors with any budget size could get into the low-cost index fund action.

• They reported that this parameter can be ideal index for identify superior varieties in METs experiments.
• For EV1, N is one; for EVV, N is the number of IPC that retain in the AMMI model via validation procedures; and for EVF, N is the number of IPC that retain the AMMI model via F-test.
• My work has appeared in Money magazine, Consumer Reports, Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com, and The New York Times.
• The genotype that occurred mostly in the top third (high top value) was considered a widely adapted cultivar.
• REITs typically pay high dividends because they’re required to disburse at least 90% of their taxable income.

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So, it’s unsurprising that the SPDR S&P 500 Dividend ETF had much smaller losses than the S&P 500 in 2022 or that it underperformed compared to the S&P 500 in 2023 and the first four months of 2024. Alternately, you can make a histogram to shown the change in distributions for each bucket. This way, the difference between the actual and estimated becomes quite explicit, and you will know in which range of values the data drift is more pronounced.

Becker [8] stated that this concept is analogous to the agronomic concept of stability, and most breeders prefer to apply it to select high yielding genotypes in their METs. However, it is worth noting that there is no absolute decision on classifying stability parameters based on dynamic and static concepts. For instance, in many studies, some stability parameters have a dynamic concept due to their correlation with yield performance. Hence, we believe that dynamic and static concepts depend on the nature of data and test environments and that classifying them in an absolute scale is not logical. Stability analyses are evolving continuously to add precision to the GEI component.

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The terms “performance stability” and “phenotypic stability” are usually used to refer to fluctuations in the phenotypic expression of crop performance while the genotypic composition of the genotypes remains stable [6]. Investigation of stability is important in any breeding program, where the GEI effect should be dissected. Leon [7] defined two concepts of stability based on the goal and on the characteristics under consideration, which are termed “static” and “dynamic” concepts of stability.

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9. Scripts for R Software

The index structure can mask strength or weakness in smaller companies if the movements diverge from those of larger-cap companies. In 2022, the fund fell more than 18%, almost identical to the S&P 500’s losses for the year. Like its benchmark index, the fund was up about 12% in the first four-and-a-half months of 2024.

This method, which is named Kang’s rank-sum (RK), uses both yield and Shukla’s stability variance (σ2i) as a selection index. This parameter gives a weight of one to both yield and stability statistics to identify high-yielding and stable genotypes. The genotype with the highest yield and lower σ2i are assigned a rank of one. Then, the ranks of yield and stability variance are added for each genotype and the genotypes with the lowest rank-sum are the most desirable.

As another non-parametric stability statistic, Fox et al. [30] suggested an ideal and simple parameter to superiority measure of general adaptability. This method is a stratified ranking approach that includes scoring the number of test environments in which each entry ranked in the LOW (bottom), MID (middle), and TOP (top) thirds of trial entries. The genotype that occurred mostly in the top third (high top value) was considered a widely adapted cultivar. The proportion of environments at which the genotype occurred in the each of these groups was determined to form the non-parametric measures of LOW, MID, and TOP, respectively.

This is clear that the last statistics will be less precise than W(AMMI), as is evident from the fact that they could not exploit the information in detail. In other words, the reliability of a stability statistic improves with the increase in the number of axes retained in the Stable Index model. For EV1, N is one; for EVV, N is the number of IPC that retain in the AMMI model via validation procedures; and for EVF, N is the number of IPC that retain the AMMI model via F-test. Genotypes with the lowest values for these statistics are identified as the most stable.