QANOVA: quantile-based permutation methods for general factorial designs

Population means and standard deviations are the most common estimands to quantify effects in factorial layouts. In fact, most statistical procedures in such designs are built toward inferring means or contrasts thereof. For more robust analyses, we consider the population median, the interquartile range (IQR) and more general quantile combinations as estimands in which we formulate null hypotheses and calculate compatible confidence regions. Based upon simultaneous multivariate central limit theorems and corresponding resampling results, we derive asymptotically correct procedures in general, potentially heteroscedastic, factorial designs with univariate endpoints. Special cases cover robust tests for the population median or the IQR in arbitrary crossed one-, two- and higher-way layouts with potentially heteroscedastic error distributions. In extensive simulations, we analyze their small sample properties and also conduct an illustrating data analysis comparing children’s height and weight from different countries.

Imprinting methylation predicts hippocampal volumes and hyperintensities and the change with age in later life

Epigenetic imprinting is important for neurogenesis and brain function. Hippocampal volumes and brain hyperintensities in late life have been associated with early life circumstances. Epigenetic imprinting may underpin these associations. Methylation was measured at 982 sites in 13 imprinted locations in blood samples from a longitudinal cohort by bisulphite amplicon sequencing. Hippocampal volumes and hyperintensities were determined at age 64y and 72y using MRI. Hyperintensities were determined in white matter, grey matter and infratentorial regions. Permutation methods were used to adjust for multiple testing. At 64y, H19/IGF2 and NESPAS methylation predicted hippocampal volumes. PEG3 predicted hyperintensities in hippocampal grey matter, and white matter. GNASXL predicted grey matter hyperintensities. Changes with age were predicted for hippocampal volume (MEST1, KvDMR, L3MBTL, GNASXL), white matter (MEST1, PEG3) and hippocampal grey matter hyperintensities (MCTS2, GNASXL, NESPAS, L3MBTL, MCTS2, SNRPN, MEST1). Including childhood cognitive ability, years in education, or socioeconomic status as additional explanatory variables in regression analyses did not change the overall findings. Imprinting methylation in multiple genes predicts brain structures, and their change over time. These findings are potentially relevant to the development of novel tests of brain structure and function across the life-course, strategies to improve cognitive outcomes, and our understanding of early influences on brain development and function.

Comparing samples from the G distribution using a geodesic distance

© 2019, Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa. The G distribution is widely used for monopolarized SAR image modeling because it can characterize regions with different degrees of texture accurately. It is indexed by three parameters: the number of looks (which can be estimated for the whole image), a scale parameter and a texture parameter. This paper presents a new proposal for comparing samples from the G distribution using a geodesic distance (GD) as a measure of dissimilarity between models. The objective is quantifying the difference between pairs of samples from SAR data using both local parameters (scale and texture) of the G distribution. We propose three tests based on the GD which combine the tests presented in Naranjo-Torres et al. (IEEE J Sel Top Appl Earth Obs Remote Sens 10(3):987–997, 2017), and we estimate their probability distributions using permutation methods.

Comparing samples from the G distribution using a geodesic distance

© 2019, Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa. The G distribution is widely used for monopolarized SAR image modeling because it can characterize regions with different degrees of texture accurately. It is indexed by three parameters: the number of looks (which can be estimated for the whole image), a scale parameter and a texture parameter. This paper presents a new proposal for comparing samples from the G distribution using a geodesic distance (GD) as a measure of dissimilarity between models. The objective is quantifying the difference between pairs of samples from SAR data using both local parameters (scale and texture) of the G distribution. We propose three tests based on the GD which combine the tests presented in Naranjo-Torres et al. (IEEE J Sel Top Appl Earth Obs Remote Sens 10(3):987–997, 2017), and we estimate their probability distributions using permutation methods.

Fast and Efficient Image Encryption Algorithm Based on Modular Addition and SPD

Bit-level and pixel-level methods are two classifications for image encryption, which describe the smallest processing elements manipulated in diffusion and permutation respectively. Most pixel-level permutation methods merely alter the positions of pixels, resulting in similar histograms for the original and permuted images. Bit-level permutation methods, however, have the ability to change the histogram of the image, but are usually not preferred due to their time-consuming nature, which is owed to bit-level computation, unlike that of other permutation techniques. In this paper, we introduce a new image encryption algorithm which uses binary bit-plane scrambling and an SPD diffusion technique for the bit-planes of a plain image, based on a card game trick. Integer values of the hexadecimal key SHA-512 are also used, along with the adaptive block-based modular addition of pixels to encrypt the images. To prove the first-rate encryption performance of our proposed algorithm, security analyses are provided in this paper. Simulations and other results confirmed the robustness of the proposed image encryption algorithm against many well-known attacks; in particular, brute-force attacks, known/chosen plain text attacks, occlusion attacks, differential attacks, and gray value difference attacks, among others.