R help - Feb 2009 - weighted-ML estimates

Hi,
We are trying to calculate ML-parameter estimates of a mixed effects models
where the observations are weighted.  The "weights" option in lmer()
with
RELM=FALSE seems attractive.  Does anyone know the mechanism it uses to
calculate weighted ML estimates?  (Is there a paper?).  Also, our model
includes a serial correlation structure(e.g. AR(1)) among the residuals.  As
far as I know, no such "cor" option is available in lmer() unlike in
nlme.
 Is this correct and if so, any suggestions on how to proceed?

thanks,

Harlan Campbell
McGill University

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