Tail behaviour of Gaussian processes with applications to the Brownian pillow

AbstractIn this paper we investigate the tail behaviour of a random variable S which may be viewed as a functional T of a zero mean Gaussian process X, taking special interest in the situation where X obeys the structure which is typical for limiting processes occurring in nonparametric testing of (multivariate) independency and (multivariate) constancy over time. The tail behaviour of S is described by means of a constant a and a random variable R which is defined on the same probability space as S. The constant a acts as an upper bound, and is relevant for the computation of the efficiency of test statistics converging in distribution to S. The random variable R acts as a lower bound, and is instrumental in deriving approximation for the upper percentage points of S by simulation

Genetic diversity and host alternation of the egg parasitoid Oencyrtus pityocampae between the pine processionary moth and caper bug

Research ArticleThe increased use of molecular tools for species identification in recent decades revealed that each of many apparently generalist parasitoids are actually a complex of morphologically similar congeners, most of which have a rather narrow host range. Ooencyrtus pityocampae (OP), an important egg parasitoid of the pine processionary moth (PPM), is considered a generalist parasitoid. OP emerges from PPM eggs after winter hibernation, mainly in spring and early summer, long before the eggs of the next PPM generation occurs. The occurrence of OP in eggs of the variegated caper bug (CB) Stenozygum coloratum in spring and summer suggests that OP populations alternate seasonally between PPM and CB. However, the identity of OP population on CB eggs seemed uncertain; unlike OP-PPM populations, the former displayed apparently high male/female ratios and lack of attraction to the PPM sex pheromone. We studied the molecular identities of the two populations since the morphological identification of the genus Ooencyrtus, and OP in particular, is difficult. Sequencing of COI and ITS2 DNA fragments and AFLP analysis of individuals from both hosts revealed no apparent differences between the OP-PPM and the OP-CB populations for both the Israeli and the Turkish OPs, which therefore supported the possibility of host alternation. Sequencing data extended our knowledge of the genetic structure of OP populations in the Mediterranean area, and revealed clear separation between East and West Mediterranean populations. The overall level of genetic diversity was rather small, with the Israeli population much less diverse than all others; possible explanations for this finding are discussed. The findings support the possibility of utilizing the CB and other hosts for enhancing biological control of the PPMinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Tail behaviour of Gaussian processes with applications to the Brownian pillow

In this paper we investigate the tail behaviour of a random variable S which may be viewed as a functional T of a zero mean Gaussian process X, taking special interest in the situation where X obeys the structure which is typical for limiting processes occurring in nonparametric testing of (multivariate) independency and (multivariate) constancy over time. The tail behaviour of S is described by means of a constant a and a random variable R which is defined on the same probability space as S. The constant a acts as an upper bound, and is relevant for the computation of the efficiency of test statistics converging in distribution to S. The random variable R acts as a lower bound, and is instrumental in deriving approximation for the upper percentage points of S by simulation.Tail behaviour Gaussian processes Brownian pillow Asymptotic distribution theory Kolmogorov-type tests Cramer-von Mises type tests Anderson-Darling-type tests Multivariate constancy Multivariate independence

Diversity of Ooencyrtus spp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) parasitizing the eggs of Stenozygum coloratum (Klug) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) with description of two new species.

Ooencyrtus spp. (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) are important natural enemies of agricultural and forest insect pests, and are distributed worldwide. Their reduced dimensions, highly variable morphological characters and possible effect of wide host range and abiotic factors, make correct identification at the species level particularly difficult. This paper combined molecular, morphological, and biological data to characterize a group of Ooencyrtus spp. emerging from the eggs of the variegated caper bug, Stenozygum coloratum in the east Mediterranean area. COI and ITS2 sequencing revealed the presence of six and five divergent clades, respectively. Three clades were identified as Ooencyrtus telenomicida, Ooencyrtus pityocampae and O. pistaciae. Two clades represent new species which are here described and named Ooencyrtus zoeae and Ooencyrtus mevalbelus. These features were combined with reliable morphological characters to facilitate the separation of these species. A dichotomous key and a new synonymy are proposed. Ooencyrtus pistaciae had two distinct COI clades but only one ITS2 clade. Crossbreeding trials that included Ooencyrtus telenomicida, Ooencyrtus melvabelus sp. nov. and Ooencyrtus zoeae sp. nov. confirmed their reproductive isolation. COI sequences showed 0-0.8% and 4-9% within and between-species genetic differences, respectively. ITS2 showed 0.4-5.9% genetic differences between species, with no genetic differences within species. Haplotype diversity of Israeli and Turkish populations of the various species was 0-0.98 and was particularly low in Ooencyrtus pityocampae, whose Israeli population showed no diversity. The discovery of the Ooencyrtus spp. on the eggs of the caper bug, and their abundance support the idea that the bug can be used as an alternative host for augmentation of populations of these parasitoids in agricultural and forestry systems

Information on <i>Ooencyrtus pityocampae</i> samples used in the present study.

<p>Sampling sites, geographic co-ordinates, altitude, collection date, host species and haplotype composition for each locality. Haplotype codes are as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a>. The number in parentheses after each haplotype code indicates the number of individuals with that haplotype. Locality codes refer to the sites shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a>. Codes for hosts are CB: Caper bug, <i>Stenozygum coloratum</i>; PPM: Pine processionary moth, i.e., <i>Thaumetopoea pityocampae</i> (Tunisia, Portugal and Greece) or <i>T</i>. <i>wilkinsoni</i> (Israel, Turkey and Cyprus).</p><p>* Collectors: 1. Shahar samra; 2. Carlos Jorge Carvalho; 3. Miktat Doğanlar; 4. Feza Can Cengiz; 5. Zvi Mendel 6. Panagiotis Milonas; 7. Manuela Branco.</p><p>Information on <i>Ooencyrtus pityocampae</i> samples used in the present study.</p

DNA chromatograms of a segment from the ribosomal ITS2 gene of <i>Ooencyrtus pityocampae</i>.

<p>This segment contains a microsatellite (starting from nucleotide 507) in which a variable number of GT repeats is present. Microsatellite repeats are framed with a black rectangle. 1. All individuals from the West Mediterranean population (Portugal and Tunisia) have a fixed number of six GT repeats. 2. All individuals from the East Mediterranean population (Israel, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece) have mixed fragments with variable number of five or six GT repeats. Sequences were aligned with ChromasPro ver. 1.6 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.ref061" target="_blank">61</a>].</p

COI Haplotype network of <i>Ooencyrtus pityocampae</i>.

<p>The haplotype code is indicated next to each haplotype circle (corresponding to the codes in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>). Each haplotype was given a different color in order to enable the presentation of haplotypes' geographical distribution (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>). The size of each circle corresponds to the number of sampled individuals having this haplotype. Each line in the network represents a single mutational change. Empty circles indicate intermediate, missing haplotypes. Each country-host association in each of the main regions (East and West Mediterranean) is marked with a different line set (See legend above the network). Haplotypes belonging to the West Mediterranean populations (Portuguese and Tunisian) are encircled with red line.</p

Schematic illustration of seasonal activity pattern of <i>Ooencyrtus pityocampae</i> (OP) and availability of its known hosts in Israel.

<p>Red bar represents the occurrence of egg masses of the pine processionary moth (PPM) <i>Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni</i>; vital (solid line) or after larval hatching (dashed line). Blue bar represents the occurrence of egg masses of the caper bug (CB) <i>Stenozygum coloratum</i>. Dashed arrows indicate OP activity (hosts from which adults emerged and parasitized hosts: arrow tail and head, respectively); solid arrows indicate parasitism of the same host species. Dashed arrows indicate occurrence of host alternation. Question marks indicate unconfirmed data. Data is based on Mizrachi [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0122788#pone.0122788.ref032" target="_blank">32</a>].</p