+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |                                                                    |
 |                               $OMEGA                               |
 |                                                                    |
 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+

 MEANING: Supplies initial estimates for the NONMEM OMEGA Matrix
 CONTEXT: NM-TRAN Control Record

 USAGE:
 $OMEGA  [DIAGONAL(n) | BLOCK(n) | BLOCK(n) SAME(m) | BLOCK SAME(m)]
         [[value1]  [value2]  [value3] ...
         [(value,value...) xn]
         [BLOCK(n) VALUES(diag,odiag)]
         [label=value] ...
         [BLOCK(n) [NAMES (label1,...,labeln)] [VALUES (diag,odiag)]
         [FIXED] [UNINT]
         [VARIANCE|STANDARD] [COVARIANCE|CORRELATON] [CHOLESKY]

 SAMPLE:
 $OMEGA BLOCK(3)  6. .005 .3 .0002 .006 .4

 DISCUSSION:

 Gives initial estimates and constraints for elements of one or several
 blocks of the OMEGA matrix, i.e., the matrix of variances and  covari-
 ances  of  the  eta  variables  in the statistical model.  This record
 should appear only if the statistical model  contains  eta  variables.
 Multiple  $OMEGA  records  may  be  used  to define multiple blocks of
 OMEGA.  The order of the appearance of all  blocks  over  all  records
 corresponds to the order of the blocks in OMEGA.

 If the initial estimates are omitted for any element(s) of OMEGA, then
 NONMEM will try to obtain the initial estimates.

 See also the SPECIAL CASE below for the analysis type POPULATION  WITH
 UNCONSTRAINED ETAS.

 OPTIONS:

 There are six forms:

 1.   $OMEGA   [DIAGONAL(n)] [ v11 v22 v33 ... vnn ]

      This  gives  the  initial estimates of the diagonal elements of a
      diagonal block of OMEGA.  E.g.,
        $OMEGA .04 .12
        Initial estimate of variance of eta(1) = .04
        Initial estimate of variance of eta(2) = .12
      Each initial estimate may optionally be coded  with  one  of  the
      forms:
         init options      (init options)        (options init)

      With NONMEM 7.3 (value,value...)xn is permitted, so that repeated
      inputs of $OMEGA may be entered easily.   Any  initial  value  or
      group  of  initial values may be enclosed in parentheses and fol-
      lowed by "xn", which means to replicate the values within  paren-
      theses n times ("repeated value").

      The  following  options  apply  only to a single initial estimate
      (i.e., a single 1x1 block) and must follow the  initial  estimate
      unless within parentheses.

      Option  FIXED indicates that the variance is to be constrained to
      be fixed to the given initial estimate.  (When FIXED appears any-
      where,  then  the  block  is described by NONMEM as consisting of
      separate blocks, each of dimension one.)

      Option UNINT is used with NONMEM 7.5.  UNINT is used  during  the
      Optimal  Design  Step to identify an eta as uninteresting.  UNINT
      may be used anywhere that FIXED may be used.

      Option VARIANCE indicates that the initial estimate is understood
      to be a variance of the eta.  This is the default.

      Option STANDARD indicates that the initial estimate is understood
      to be a standard deviation of the eta.  May also be coded SD.

      An initial estimate may be 0 only if  the  variance  or  standard
      deviation is fixed to this estimate.

 2.   $OMEGA BLOCK(n) [ v11 v21 v22 v31 v32 v33 ... vn1 vn2 ... vnn ]

      This  gives the initial estimates of all the elements of a nondi-
      agonal ("full") block of OMEGA.  E.g.,
        $OMEGA BLOCK(2) .04 .002 .12
        Initial estimate of variance of eta(1) = .04
        Initial estimate of covariance of eta(2), eta(1) = .002
        Initial estimate of variance of eta(2) = .12

      Any initial value or group of initial values may be  enclosed  in |
      parentheses  and  followed  by "xn", which means to replicate the |
      values within parentheses n times ("repeated value").

      The following options apply to the entire block  and  may  appear
      anywhere among the list of initial estimates:

      FIXED  indicates that the entire block is constrained to be fixed
      to its initial estimate.

      Option UNINT is used with NONMEM 7.5.  UNINT is used  during  the
      Optimal  Design  Step to identify an eta as uninteresting.  UNINT
      may be used anywhere that FIXED may be used.

      VARIANCE indicates that all initial estimates given for  diagonal
      elements  are  understood to be initial estimates of variances of
      etas.  This is the default.

      STANDARD indicates that all initial estimates given for  diagonal
      elements are understood to be initial estimates of standard devi-
      ations of etas.  May also be coded SD.

      COVARIANCE indicates that all initial  estmates  given  for  off-
      diagonal  elements  are  understood  to  be  initial estimates of
      covariances of etas.  This is the default.

      CORRELATON indicates that all initial  estmates  given  for  off-
      diagonal  elements are understood to be initial estimates of cor-
      relations of etas.

      CHOLESKY indicates that the block is specified  in  its  Cholesky
      form.

      Options  VARIANCE  or STANDARD may be combined with COVARIANCE or
      CORRELATON.

      Note that NONMEM converts all initial estimates to  variance  and
      covariances.   The  values  desplayed in the NONMEM report and in
      the raw and additional output  files  are  always  variances  and
      covariances.

      Examples:

      The following describe the same block (within rounding errors):
      $OMEGA BLOCK(2) ; or $OMEGA VARIANCE COVARIANCE BLOCK(2)
      0.64
      -0.24 0.58
      $OMEGA STANDARD BLOCK(2)
      0.8
      -0.24 0.762
      $OMEGA STANDARD CORRELATION BLOCK(2)
      0.8
      -0.394 0.762
      $OMEGA VARIANCE CORRELATION BLOCK(2)
      0.64
      -0.394 0.58
      $OMEGA CHOLESKY BLOCK(2)
      0.8
      -0.3 0.7

      The (entire) initial estimate of the block must be positive defi-
      nite.  The only exception is when the entire initial estimate  of
      the  block is 0, in which case it must be fixed to this estimate.
      Initial estimates of some of the elements of the block may be  0,
      while  initial  estimates  of some other elements may be nonzero,
      but only in the case where the block is constrained to be of band
      symmetric  form.  That is, given the diagonal and a group of con-
      tiguous subdiagonals symmetrically ocurring across the  diagonal,
      the  elements off both the diagonal and the subdiagonals are con-
      strained to be zero.  To specify the initial estimates of such  a
      block,  the  initial  estimates  of those elements that are to be
      constrained to 0 should be given as 0, while  all  other  initial
      estimates  should  be  given as nonzero.  E.g., with these struc-
      tures for $OMEGA BLOCK(3), the 0's are preserved:
       x
       0x
       00x

       x
       xx
       0xx

      With NONMEM 7.3 if the initial estimate of a block is  not  posi- |
      tive  definite  because of rounding errors, a value will be added |
      to the diagonal elements to make it positive definite. A  message |
      in  the  NONMEM  report  file  will  indicate that this was done. |
      E.g.,                                                             |
      DIAGONAL SHIFT OF  1.1000E-03 WAS IMPOSED TO ENSURE POSITIVE DEF- |
      INITENESS

 3.   $OMEGA BLOCK(n) SAME(m)

      This  describes a block whose initial estimates, as well as final
      estimates, are constrained to be equal to those of the  preceding
      block. Values may not be given. "(n)" may be omitted.
      With  NONMEM  7.3 (m) is permitted.  If (m) is present, then this
      record is equivalent to m identical records without (m).  E.g.,
      $OMEGA BLOCK(2) SAME(3)
      is equivalent to
      $OMEGA BLOCK(2) SAME
      $OMEGA BLOCK(2) SAME
      $OMEGA BLOCK(2) SAME

 4.
      $OMEGA BLOCK(n) VALUES(diag,odiag)

      This supplies initial values for a block such  that  the  initial
      estimates of the diagonal elements are all the same, specified by
      "diag", and the initial estimates of  the  off-diagonal  elements
      are  all the same, specified by "odiag".  If present, VALUES must
      follow BLOCK.  Other options  (such  as  FIXED,  CHOLESKY,  VARI-
      ANCE,STANDARD,COVARIANCE,CORRELATON,  UNINT) may follow VALUES or
      be placed between BLOCK and VALUES.
      E.g.,
      $OMEGA BLOCK(6) VALUES(0.1,0.01)
      is the same as
      $OMEGA BLOCK(6)
      0.1
      0.01 0.1
      (0.01)x2 0.1
      (0.01)x3 0.1
      (0.01)x4 0.1
      (0.01)x5 0.1

      For fixed block (such as for omega priors):
      $OMEGA BLOCK(6) FIX VALUES(0.15,0.0)

 5.
      $OMEGA label=value (NM75)

      The symbolic label substitution feature is new with  NONMEM  7.5.
      This is a compact method of defining an ETA (an element of OMEGA)
      specifying its initial estimate, and specifying a label  for  the
      subscript  for this element of OMEGA.  The label may be used as a
      subscript for ETA in abbreviated code,  and  will  also  identify
      this  element  of  OMEGA  in  the  NONMEM  output.  If new $OMEGA
      records change the ordering, the abbreviated code does  not  have
      to  be  changed.  For example, suppose the first element of OMEGA
      that is defined happens to be
      $OMEGA ECL=.4
      The NONMEM report will describe the relationship, e.g.,
      LABELS FOR ETAS
      ETA(1)=ETA(ECL)
      and ETA(CL) rather than ETA1 will appear in  the  NONMEM  report.
      The  abbreviated  code can use this symbolic subscript instead of
      the numeric subscript.  Then, these take effect on both ETA's and
      MU_'s.

      For  example, suppose the following code is present for the first
      elements of THETA and ETA.  Note that $OMEGA and  $THETA  records
      must be placed ahead of any records that use the symbolic label.

      $THETA CL=(0.0,7.0)
      $OMEGA ECL= 0.3
      $PK
      MU_ECL=THETA(CL)
      CL=EXP(MU_ECL+ETA(ECL))

      This is equivalent to

      $THETA (0.0,7.0)
      $OMEGA .3
      $PK
      MU_1+THETA(1)
      CL=EXP(MU_1+ETA(1))

      Another example defines symbolic labels for a block of OMEGA:

      $OMEGA BLOCK(4)
      ECL=  0.3
      EV1=  0.01 0.35
      EQ=   0.01 0.01 0.54
      EV2=  0.01 0.01 0.01 0.67

      Or, for diagonals,

      $OMEGA
      ECL= 0.3
      EV1= 0.35
      EQ=  0.54
      EV2= 0.67

 6.
      $OMEGA BLOCK(n) NAMES (label1,...,labeln) VALUES (odiag,diag)  (NM75)
      With NONMEM 7.5, Symbolic label substitution may be specified for
      an entire block using the NAMES option.  This is a compact way of
      defining  one  or  more  etas with labels and, when combined with
      VALUES, with initial values. For example

      $OMEGA BLOCK(4) NAMES(ECL,EV1,EQ,EV2) VALUES(0.03,0.01)

      This is equivalent to

      $OMEGA BLOCK(4)
      ECL=  0.03
      EV1=  0.01 0.03
      EQ=   0.01 0.01 0.03
      EV2=  0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03

 If both are present, VALUES() must come after NAMES().

 SPECIAL CASE (NONMEM 7.3)

 If all diagonal elements of OMEGA are  "1.0E+06  FIXED",  then  NONMEM
 describes the data as
 ANALYSIS TYPE: POPULATION WITH UNCONSTRAINED ETAS

 Structurally  NONMEM  sees  the analysis as population, but mathemati-
 cally, the population density portion of the total likelihood  is  not
 included.   This allows a population data set to be analyzed as if the
 data from each individual were single-subject data.  Furthermore, some
 theta  parameters could be shared across subjects ("pooled fit parame-
 ters"), whereas etas are free to fit each individual without any popu-
 lation constraint.  Parallelization is possible.

REFERENCES: Guide I Section C.3.4.6, D.5.2, D.5.3
REFERENCES: Guide IV Section III.B.10, V.C.6
REFERENCES: Guide V Section 9.3


  
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