a list of parameter values for the random effects. It should contain the assignment for these
parameters only: n.m and n.s, which refer to the mean and standard deviation used
in the normal distribution estimation of n, as well as a.m, a.s,
alpha.s.m, alpha.s.s, alpha.b.m, alpha.b.s, alpha.u.m, alpha.u.s,
alpha.v.m, alpha.v.s. By default, this is an empty list, and all the mean are set to 0, and
alpha.n.s = alpha.a.s = 0.16, and alpha.s.s = alpha.b.s = alpha.u.s = alpha.v.s = 0.25.