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

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

Background: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. Methods: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. Findings: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96–1·28). Interpretation: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. METHODS: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. FINDINGS: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96-1·28). INTERPRETATION: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Fig. 6. Pseudohercostomus. A, P in Understanding the tangled taxonomy of the genus Pseudohercostomus Stackelberg, 1931 (Insecta: Diptera: Dolichopodidae) with description of new species from Singapore and DR Congo

Fig. 6. Pseudohercostomus. A, P. congoensis, new species, holotype male terminalia lateral view; B, P. congonesis, new species, female left acanthophore and cercus dorsal view, paratype; C, P. singaporensis, new species, acanthophore dorsal view, paratype (Kranji Marshes). Scale bars = 0.1 mm.Published as part of Grootaert, Patrick & Velde, Isabella Van de, 2021, Understanding the tangled taxonomy of the genus Pseudohercostomus Stackelberg, 1931 (Insecta: Diptera: Dolichopodidae) with description of new species from Singapore and DR Congo, pp. 324-335 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 69 on page 332, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2021-0055, http://zenodo.org/record/717473

Empidoid flies from Cabo Verde (Diptera, Empidoidea, Dolichopodidae and Hybotidae) are not only composed of Old World tropical species

In the present paper three empidoid fly species new to science are described from the island Sal of the Cabo Verde archipelago. Aphrosylus salensis sp. nov., a marine dolichopodid fly, is found in the splash zone of a rocky sea shore. Crossopalpus salensis sp. nov. (Hybotidae) is recorded from two different sebkhas. Crossopalpus complicatus sp. nov. is reported from an irrigated wasteland. A key to the species of these two genera occurring on Cape Verde is provided. The presence of the morphospecies Tachytrechus tessellatus (Macquart, 1842), a presumed Old World tropical species, is confirmed

Liste des esp\ue8ces de Cladoc\ue8res connues aux \ueeles des A\ue7ores

Volume: 515Start Page: 355End Page: 36

Two new coastal species of Elaphropeza Macquart (Diptera: Hybotidae) from Bali, Indonesia

Two new species of Elaphropeza Macquart, 1827 are described from the northeast coast of Bali (Indonesia): Elaphropeza triseta sp. nov. belonging to the ephippiata-group and E. balinensis sp. nov. belonging to the biuncinata-group. A COI Neighbour-Joining tree is given for the Southeast Asian Elaphropeza species showing large genetic distances between the species. The morphological characterisation of the ephippiata-group and the biuncinata-group sensu Shamshev & Grootaert 2007 is confirmed