RE: Minimization terminated ?

Hi Quick note. > I am not sure, if a successful termination message and a > successful $COV step should be a criterion for publishing a > model. As Nick wrote, WinBugs and Monolix do not provide such > a termination message. WinBUGS is not based on maximum likelihood theory and doesn't rely on asymptotic results - hence convergence in an MLE sense is not an issue (obviously it is much more complex than this - but this is the gist). Convergence in an MCMC sense remains important. Monolix is used in an MLE setting - perhaps Marc or France would want to comment on this with respect to convergence? I believe that the SAEM algorithm is proven to converge if run long enough - but of course how long is long enough is for the experts. Steve -- Professor Stephen Duffull Chair of Clinical Pharmacy School of Pharmacy University of Otago PO Box 913 Dunedin New Zealand E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] P: +64 3 479 5044 F: +64 3 479 7034 Design software: www.winpopt.com