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. 2016 Sep 11;66(1):e66–e82. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syw077

Figure 8.

Figure 8.

Illustration of sequential Monte Carlo ABC using the tuberculosis example. The first proposal distribution is the prior and the threshold value used is Inline graphic. The proposal distribution in iteration Inline graphic is based on the sample of size Inline graphic from the previous iteration. The threshold value Inline graphic is decreased at every iteration as the proposal distributions become similar to the true posterior. The figure shows parameters drawn from the proposal distribution of the third iteration (Inline graphic). The red proposal is rejected because the corresponding simulation outcome is too far from the observed data Inline graphic. At iteration Inline graphic, however, it would have been accepted. After iteration Inline graphic, the accepted parameter values follow the approximate posterior Inline graphic. As long as the threshold values Inline graphic decrease, the approximation becomes more accurate at each iteration.