Devibursaphelenchus alienae n. sp. isolated from the bark of dead Quercus aliena in Japan

Summary A new Devibursaphelenchus species isolated from the bark of a dead Quercus aliena, which had been infected and killed by Japanese oak wilt, was collected in Shiga, Japan. The new species is characterised by the relatively large body in males (661-768 μm) and females (893-1071 μm), conspicuous male bursal flap, male spicule with long condylus and wide blade, female post-vulval uterine sac (PUS) 39-54 μm or 1.6-2.3 times the vulval body diam. long, vestigial female anus, and female tail forming a strongly ventrally recurved elongate conoid with bluntly pointed or narrowly rounded terminus. The new species is typologically similar to D. lini, sharing a large body, conspicuous bursal flap, long PUS, and spicule shape, but can be distinguished from it by the absence of variation in the female tail shape, i.e., the tail of the new species is always long and strongly ventrally curved, while the tail shape varies more in D. lini. A previous molecular phylogenetic analysis suggested that the new species is fairly close to D. lini, but can be distinguished from it by the 1.0% (16 bp) difference within 1.6 kb of the 18S and 3.7% (26 bps) difference within 0.7 kb of the D2-D3 LSU ribosomal RNA genes. The newly found nematode is described and illustrated herein as D. alienae n. sp.

Two new insect-associated tylenchids, Sychnotylenchus hibisci n. sp. and Neoditylenchus xiphydriae n. sp. (Tylenchomorpha: Anguinidae), from Japan

Summary We isolated two tylenchid species belonging to the Sychnotylenchinae, Sychnotylenchus hibisci n. sp. and Neoditylenchus xiphydriae n. sp., from the bark beetle Ernoporus corpulentus and wood wasp Xiphydria ogasawarai, respectively. Sychnotylenchus hibisci n. sp. is characterised by its moderately stout body in both male and female, gubernaculum to spicule length ratio of one-third or less, crustaformeria structure composed of four columns with six large, rounded cells, and a broad female tail with a rounded terminus. The new species is closely related to S. ulmi, with which it shares body shape and gubernaculum to spicule length ratio, but is distinguished by the female tail shape and several morphometric values. Neoditylenchus xiphydriae n. sp. is characterised by its oval to leaf-shaped male bursa, male tail tip reaching the distal end of, and protruding beyond the bursa, a long post-vulval uterine sac (PUS), and a conical female tail with a narrowly rounded terminus. The species is typologically similar to N. pinophilus but is distinguished by its male spicule shape, gubernaculum to spicule length ratio, and longer PUS. Phylogenetically, the Sychnotylenchinae belongs under the Anguinidae (superfamily Sphaerularioidea) and is closely related to several Ditylenchus, Neotylenchus, Neomisticius, and Ficotylus species.

Nonparametric Estimation of Extreme Quantiles with an Application to Longevity Risk

A new method to estimate longevity risk based on the kernel estimation of the extreme quantiles of truncated age-at-death distributions is proposed. Its theoretical properties are presented and a simulation study is reported. The flexible yet accurate estimation of extreme quantiles of age-at-death conditional on having survived a certain age is fundamental for evaluating the risk of lifetime insurance. Our proposal combines a parametric distributions with nonparametric sample information, leading to obtain an asymptotic unbiased estimator of extreme quantiles for alternative distributions with different right tail shape, i.e., heavy tail or exponential tail. A method for estimating the longevity risk of a continuous temporary annuity is also shown. We illustrate our proposal with an application to the official age-at-death statistics of the population in Spain.

Description of Aphelenchoides roulingae n. sp. (Tylenchomorpha: Aphelenchoididae) isolated from Xylocopa collaris sauteri collected from Yilan, Taiwan, with some notes on A. xylocopae Kanzaki, 2006

Summary Aphelenchoides roulingae n. sp. is described and illustrated. This new species was isolated from Xylocopa collaris sauteri collected at Fushan, Yilan county, Taiwan. Typologically, the new species is characterised by a three-lined lateral field, conical female tail with various and not pointed termini, male spicule with well-developed and slightly dorsally truncate condylus, blunt triangular-shaped rostrum and unevenly ventrally curved dorsal contour of the spicule blade (calomus-lamina complex). The combination of typological characters of the new species is unique. Aphelenchoides roulingae n. sp. shares the three-lined lateral field and female tail shape with ‘A. helicus’, which was previously transferred to Robustodorus from Aphelenchoides, but can be differentiated from that species by its longer and more slender female tail, narrower female tail tip, and longer female stylet. In addition, the spicule morphology of A. roulingae n. sp. is unique and not similar to that of any other Aphelenchoides species. Phylogenetically, the new species forms a well-supported clade with the other Xylocopa bee-associated species, A. xylocopae, but can be typologically and molecularly distinguished from the species. In addition to the taxonomic description, some typological characters of the genus Aphelenchoides are discussed.

Qualitative characteristics of Thryonomys swinderianus swinderianus and Thryonomys swinderianus gregorianus

Cane rat, a micro livestock currently being domesticated has the potential to increase animal protein sources. This study examined the qualitative characteristics of Thyryonomys swinderianus swinderianus (Tss) and Thryonomys swinderianus gregorianus (Tsg). Three hundred and thirty five cane rats were sampled. Seven qualitative characters were coded. These included: Shape of Head (SH), Eye Placement (EP), Ear Shape (ES), Body Pelage (BP), Tail Shape (TS), Tail Colour (TC), Breed (B). The qualitative characters were scored on the individual animals. This measures were analysed using frequency distribution and chi-square analysis. In the Tss population, 89.23% of the animals had broad heads, 10.77% had narrow heads. The broad heads animals had broad tip ear (89.236) have brown and yellow - belly white body colour (89.23%). Their tail is broad base and thin out to tip (87.69%) although a few (1.54%) had broad base and even out to tip. All the broad heads (89.23%) brown and yellow-belly white animals (100.00%) had black and hairy tail. In the Tsg population, 87.06% of the animals had narrow heads, (12,94%) had broad heads. The narrow heads animal (86.67%) had ear with broad tip and have black and yellow-belly white body colour (86.67%). The tail is broad base and thin out is tip (80.39%). All the narrow heads (87.06), black and yellow-belly white (99.61%) animals had black and hairy tail

Effect of Ceramic Capillary Parameters on Bonded Morphology and Strength

The effects of the geometry parameters of a ceramic cleaver on the morphology of ball and second bonded points were studied using an automatic wire bonder, push pull tester, scanning electron microscope, ceramic capillary with different geometric parameters and φ25.4 μmAg-5Au bonding alloy wire, etc. The result shows that when the inner hole diameter (IHD) of the ceramic capillary is 1.3 times the diameter of the alloy wire (33 μm), the neck morphology of the ball bonded point (first bonded point) meet the requirements. The neck of the ball bonded point appeared to fracture when the IHD is 26 μm; The neck of the ball bonded point appeared as an irregular shape when the IHD is 41 μm. When the inner cutting angle diameter (ICAD) is 64 μm, the size of the mashed ball diameter (MBD) is qualified. When the ICAD is 51 μm, the MBD is too large and mashed ball overflows the pad. When the ICAD is 76 μm, the ball bonded point is too high. When the inner cutting bevel angle (ICBA) is 100°, the MBD size meets the requirements of the pad. When the ICBA was reduced to 70°, the ball bonded point is eccentric. When the ICBA was increased to 120°, the MBD is too large and is connected to the adjacent pad contact. The size of the fish tail of the second bonded point (second bonded point) changed in the same direction as the tip diameter (TD) changes. When the TD is 178 μm, the fish tail shape is regular and symmetrical. When the working face angle (WFA) is 8° and the outer circular radius (OCR) is equal to the diameter of the alloy wire (25.4 μm), the fish tail shape is regular. When the WFA is higher than 11° or the OCR is higher than 30 μm, the fish tail will appear as virtual welding, and when the WFA is less than 4°, the fish tail of the second bonded point will break due to thinning. When the OCR is less than 20 μm, the fish tail of the second bonded point is too long and causes a short circuit.

Phasmarhabditis zhejiangensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae), a new rhabditid nematode from Zhejiang, China

A new nematode species of the genus Phasmarhabditis was isolated from the body surface of a slug (Philomycus bilineatus Benson, PB). Morphological and molecular analyses confirmed this nematode as a new species. The nematode was named Phasmarhabditis zhejiangensis sp. nov. (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) and is dioecious. In males, the open bursa with genital papillae is characterized by the formula 1-1-1-2-1-3, and the spicule length is 58μm. In female, the vulva is located approximately in the middle of the body. The nematode belongs to papillosa group because of its tail shape pointed with filiform tip. The phasmids are rod-shaped. The posterior anus is slightly swollen. P. zhejiangensis was further characterized by internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA sequences. After the sequencing results were compared with sequences available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), the maximum similarities of ITS, 18S and 28S sequences were 89.81%, 96.22% and 95.28%, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses placed Phasmarhabditis zhejiangensis sp. nov. in the genus Phasmarhabditis.