The effects of nonnormality on asymptotic distributions of some likelihood ratio criteria for testing covariance structures under normal assumption

This paper examines asymptotic distributions of the likelihood ratio criteria, which are proposed under normality, for several hypotheses on covariance matrices when the true distribution of a population is a certain nonnormal distribution. It is well known that asymptotic distributions of test statistics depend on the fourth moments of the true population's distribution. We study the effects of nonnormality on the asymptotic distributions of the null and nonnull distributions of likelihood ratio criteria for covariance structures.Asymptotic distribution Fixed alternative Kurtosis Local alternative Model misspecification with respect to distribution Nonnormality Nonnull distribution Null distribution Robustness Testing for covariance structures vecs operator Weighted sum of chi-squared variables

Comparison of gut microbiota and allergic reactions in BALB/c mice fed different cultivars of rice

Our preliminary clinical trial showed that consumption of cooked rice of a Japanese common cultivar Yukihikari improved atopic dermatitis associated with a suspected rice allergy, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesised that the ameliorating effect of Yukihikari on atopic dermatitis is associated with the gut microbiota. BALB/c mice were fed a synthetic diet supplemented with uncooked and polished white rice powder prepared from one of four different cultivars: Yukihikari, rice A (common rice), rice B (brewery rice) and rice C (waxy rice). Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments showed that the composition of faecal microbiota was different between mice fed Yukihikari and those fed rice A. Analysis of the 16S rRNA clone library and species-specific real-time PCR showed that the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila, a mucin degrader, tended to be lower in mice fed Yukihikari. The incidence of allergic diarrhoea induced by oral administration of ovalbumin in systemically immunised mice was lower in mice fed Yukihikari, albeit with no difference in serum antibodies specific to ovalbumin. In a separate experiment, serum antibody levels specific to orally administered ovalbumin were lower in mice fed Yukihikari. Additionally, the translocation of horseradish peroxidase in isolated segments of ileum and colon tended to be lower in mice fed Yukihikari, suggesting a reduction in gut permeability in mice fed Yukihikari. These data indicate that changes in the gut microbiota of mice fed Yukihikari could be advantageous in the prevention of food allergy