Multilevel Richardson-Romberg and Importance Sampling in Derivative Pricing

In this paper, we propose and analyze a novel combination of multilevel Richardson-Romberg (ML2R) and importance sampling algorithm, with the aim of reducing the overall computational time, while achieving desired root-mean-squared error while pricing. We develop an idea to construct the Monte-Carlo estimator that deals with the parametric change of measure. We rely on the Robbins-Monro algorithm with projection, in order to approximate optimal change of measure parameter, for various levels of resolution in our multilevel algorithm. Furthermore, we propose incorporating discretization schemes with higher-order strong convergence, in order to simulate the underlying stochastic differential equations (SDEs) thereby achieving better accuracy. In order to do so, we study the Central Limit Theorem for the general multilevel algorithm. Further, we study the asymptotic behavior of our estimator, thereby proving the Strong Law of Large Numbers. Finally, we present numerical results to substantiate the efficacy of our developed algorithm

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data