Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

How it works

Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit der quantenchemischen Betrachtung der eisenkatalysierten Michael-Reaktion, unterstützt durch experimentelle Befunde, die teilweise auch aufgrund der Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit durchgeführt wurden. Verschiedene Modellsysteme wurden betrachtet und es zeigte sich, daß Monodionatsysteme als reaktive Spezies dieser Katalyse ausgeschlossen werden können, da sie nicht die experimentell beobachteten Unterschiede zwischen Methylvinylketon und Acrylsäuremethylester als Michaelakzeptoren erklären. Erst Bisdionatsysteme können diesen Unterschied erläutern. Zudem wurden Katalysatoren mit unterschiedlicher Anzahl an Chloridliganden berechnet, doch es zeigte sich, daß solche Systeme die Reaktionsbarriere im Allgemeinen erhöhen, bzw. die Protonenaffinität des System dadurch derartig erhöht wird, daß die Dionatbildung ausgeschlossen werden kann. Aufgrund dieser Ergebnisse wurden Experimente mit nichtkomplexierenden Perchloratliganden durchgeführt. Dadurch erhöhte sich die Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit maßgeblich, das die These des Inhibierungseffektes der Chloridliganden unterstützt. Auch der Effekt verschiedener Michaelakzeptoren auf die Reaktionsbarriere wurde untersucht. Sowohl Elektronendonoren (R=-N(CH3)2, -SCH3 als auch Akzeptoren (R=-CF3, -OCF3, -OCOCF3) wurden in Betracht gezogen. Es zeigte sich eine große lineare Abhängigkeit der Barrierenhöhe der Reaktion und der Energie des LUMOs des gesamten Komplexes, so daß Vorhersagen über das Verhalten weiterer Michaelakzeptoren einfach durch die Berechnung des Komplexes im Grundzustand möglich sind. Der Frage, ob eine Elektronentransferreaktion vorliegt, wurde nachgegangen, indem ein Cyclopropylrest an das deprotonierte Kohlenstoffatom des Dionates gebunden und dessen Ringöffnungsbarriere berechnet wurde. Neben dem Eisen(III)-System wurden zudem auch Systeme mit einem Li1+-, Na1+- und Al3+-Zentrum betrachtet. Zur korrekten Einordnung der Reaktionsbarrieren wurden außerdem die Ringöffnungsbarrieren zahlreiche Cyclopropanderivate berechnet. Es stellte sich heraus, daß die Ringöffnungsbarriere des Eisensystem bei weitem am niedrigsten und vergleichbar mit der eines Methylcyclopropanradikals ist. Dies unterstützt die Annahme, es handele sich um eine Elektronentransferreaktion. Ein Vergleich der Reaktionsbarrieren und -energien zwischen dem BP86-Funktional, unter Verwendung von Density Fitting (RI), und dem B3LYP-Funktional, zeigte eine starke lineare Abhängigkeit, so daß die Verwendung von RI-BP86 einen wesentlichen Zeitgewinn bedeutet und dem B3LYP-Funktional bevorzugt werden kann. Da sich die Geometrien der einzelnen Verbindungen im Durchschnitt um 0,02 Å unterscheiden, reicht es vollkommen aus die geometrieoptimierten Strukturen durch Singlepointrechnungen auf B3LYP-Niveau nachzurechnen, um die Energetik der Reaktion zu überprüfen.The Iron catalysed Michael reaction is examined using a variety of theoretical methods and techniques, supported by previously observed experimental evidence and by experiments proposed on the basis of theoretical observations. Model systems are initially used to examine the effects of the catalyst composition on reactivity. It is found that theoretical calculations with only one dionate ligand on the catalyst (and four water ligands) cannot explain the experimentally observed differences in reactivity between the vinyl and acryl Michael acceptors. Increasing the complexity of the model system to include a second Dionate ligand on the catalyst and recalculating the activation barriers and reaction energies of the acryl and vinyl reactions, leads to good agreement with the experimental results; the vinyl acceptor is correctly predicted to be reactive when compared with the acryl acceptor being unreactive. The effect of the catalyst composition is further examined by altering the chlorine content of the system (one chloride anion and one dionate anion vs two chloride anions and one dionate anion vs one chloride anions and two dionate anions). It is found that these alterations lead to general increases in reaction barriers and increase the proton affinity of the system, which will inhibit the initial formation of the reactive intermediates and result in a general inhibition of the catalytic process. Based on these theoretical observations, it was predicted that the addition of the non-coordinating perchlorate ligands would result in increases in the reaction rate of the system. Experiments were then undertaken on this basis and were found to confirm the hypothesis. The effects of different Michael acceptors on the activation barrier of the system were examined in detail. Using a variety of electron donating and electron withdrawing substituents (R=-OCOCF3, R=-OCF3, -CF3, -CH3, -SCH3, -OCH3, -N(CH3)2) on the acceptor, it was observed that there is a strong linear relationship between activation barriers and the LUMO energy of the reactive complex. The correlation coefficients of this relation is high enough (0.95 or greater) that this effect can be used as a predictive tool for determing the relative reactions rates of various Michael acceptors. In order to aid experimental investigations of the origins and nature of the reactivity in these systems, the ring opening barriers for a variety of potential radical clocks were examined theoretically. These results were compared with ring opening barriers for radical clocks coordinated to the dionate anion coordinated to Li1+, Na1+, Al3+ and Fe3+. Barriers for cyclopropane ring opening in the Fe3+ system were substantially lower than for the other ions, supporting the hypothesis that iron acts as an electron transfer agent (to the dionate ring) during the Michael reaction. A comparison is made between the results calculated using the RI-BP86 and B3LYP methods/density functionals. Strong linear relationships are found between the data for reaction barriers and energies, indicating that the substantially more computationally expensive B3LYP method need not be used to examine these system. Geometries for ground and transition states are essentially identical (Delta r= plus/minus 0.02 Å), further indicating that single point calculations with the B3LYP method using the optimised RI-BP86 geometries would suffice as a check on the reliability and accuracy of the RI-BP86 method

Status Update of the SINBAD-ARES Linac Under Construction at DESY

ARES (Accelerator Research Experiment at Sinbad) is a linear accelerator for the production of low charge (from few pC to sub-pC) electron bunches with 100 MeV energy, fs and sub-fs duration and excellent arrival time stability. This experiment is currently under construction at DESY Hamburg and it is foreseen to start operation by the beginning of 2018 with the commissioning of the RF-gun. After an initial beam characterization phase, ARES will provide high temporal resolution probes for testing novel acceleration techniques, such as Laser driven plasma Wake-Field Acceleration (LWFA), Dielectric Laser Acceleration (DLA) and THz driven acceleration. In this work we present an overview of the present design of the linac with a special focus on 3D integration and planned installation phases of the beamline

Incidence of infections due to third generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae - a prospective multicentre cohort study in six German university hospitals

BackgroundInfections caused by third generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (3GCREB) are an increasing healthcare problem. We aim to describe the 3GCREB infection incidence and compare it to prevalence upon admission. In addition, we aim to describe infections caused by 3GCREB, which are also carbapenem resistant (CRE).MethodsIn 2014-2015, we performed prospective 3GCREB surveillance in clinically relevant patient specimens (screening specimens excluded). Infections counted as hospital-acquired (HAI) when the 3GCREB was detected after the third day following admission, otherwise as community-acquired infection (CAI).ResultsOf 578,420 hospitalized patients under surveillance, 3367 had a 3GCREB infection (0.58%). We observed a similar 3GCREB CAI and HAI incidence (0.28 and 0.31 per 100 patients, respectively). The most frequent pathogen was 3GCR E. coli, in CAI and HAI (0.15 and 0.12 per 100 patients). We observed a CRE CAI incidence of 0.006 and a HAI incidence of 0.008 per 100 patients (0.014 per 1000 patient days).ConclusionsComparing the known 3GCREB admission prevalence of the participating hospitals (9.5%) with the percentage of patients with a 3GCREB infection (0.58%), we conclude the prevalence of 3GCREB in university hospitals to be about 16 times higher than suggested when only patients with 3GCREB infections are considered. Moreover, we find the HAI and CAI incidence caused by CRE in Germany to be relatively low

First Experience with the Standard Diagnostics at the European XFEL Injector

International audienceThe injector of the European XFEL is in operation since December 2015. It includes, beside the gun and the accelerating section, containing 1.3 and a 3.9 GHz accelerating module, a variety of standard diagnostics systems specially designed for this facility. With very few exceptions, all types of diagnostics systems are installed in the injector. Therefore the operation of the injector is served to validate and prove the diagnostics characteristics for the complete European XFEL. Most of the standard diagnostics has been available for the start of beam operation and showed the evidence of first beam along the beam line. In the following months the diagnostics has been optimized and used for improvements of beam quality. First operational experiences and results from the standard beam diagnostics in the injector of the European XFEL will be reported in this contribution

First Experience with the Standard Diagnostics at the European XFEL Injector

The injector of the European XFEL started beam operation in December 2015. Besides the gun and the accelerating section, containing a 1.3 and a 3.9 GHz accelerating module, it contains a variety of standard diagnostics systems specially designed for this facility. With very few exceptions, all types of diagnostics systems of the whole XFEL are installed in the injector. Therefore the injector operation allows validating and proving of the diagnostics performances for the entire facility. Most of the standard diagnostics have been available from the very beginning of the beam operation and have been used for the monitoring of the first beam. In the following months the diagnostics have been optimized and used for improvements of beam quality. In this contribution, the first results and the operation experience of the standard beam diagnostics of the European XFEL are reported

Eight principles of integrated pest management

The use of pesticides made it possible to increase yields, simplify cropping systems, and forego more complicated crop protection strategies. Over-reliance on chemical control, however, is associated with contamination of ecosystems and undesirable health effects. The future of crop production is now also threatened by emergence of pest resistance and declining availability of active substances. There is therefore a need to design cropping systems less dependent on synthetic pesticides. Consequently, the European Union requires the application of eight principles (P) of Integrated Pest Management that fit within sustainable farm management. Here, we propose to farmers, advisors, and researchers a dynamic and flexible approach that accounts for the diversity of farming situations and the complexities of agroecosystems and that can improve the resilience of cropping systems and our capacity to adapt crop protection to local realities. For each principle (P), we suggest that (P1) the design of inherently robust cropping systems using a combination of agronomic levers is key to prevention. (P2) Local availability of monitoring, warning, and forecasting systems is a reality to contend with. (P3) The decision-making process can integrate cropping system factors to develop longer-term strategies. (P4) The combination of non-chemical methods that may be individually less efficient than pesticides can generate valuable synergies. (P5) Development of new biological agents and products and the use of existing databases offer options for the selection of products minimizing impact on health, the environment, and biological regulation of pests. (P6) Reduced pesticide use can be effectively combined with other tactics. (P7) Addressing the root causes of pesticide resistance is the best way to find sustainable cro