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

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

INTRODUCTION: UNPACKING THE RESEARCH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ernest Boyer\u27s work is the touchstone for most contemporary discussions about research and scholarship and is as pertinent to undergraduate research as to the professional research of faculty. This introduction will begin with Boyer so that his definitions and philosophies may inform additional discussions concerning the epistemologies, methodologies, and hierarchies embedded within the creative human pursuits we call research and scholarship. Boyer\u27s work may be valued as much for the vocabulary it endows upon this conversation as for its impact on the values and purposes of higher education. His articulation of terminology for a range of creative pursuits under the umbrella of scholarship was brilliant in its timing and effects. In 1990, a decade of discontent and reflection culminated in the publication of Boyer\u27s Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In this short volume, Boyer addressed his conviction that scholarship is at the core of academic life (Boyer, 1990, p. 1) and that the vitality of the academic professions required an expanded notion of this crucial element. Reflecting on the history of educational commitments as well as years of observation, data from faculty, and conversation with other educational leaders, he formulated a definition that encompasses four functions of scholarship and that is responsive to both academic and community purposes. Boyer reminds educators that research, the function of scholarship he designates scholarship of discovery, is a relatively new and comparatively narrow aspect of the range of activities of those we call scholars. For several generations it has been the most highly valued work of the university. Conceived primarily as an individual activity where breakthroughs are achieved or innovative models are developed, the scholarship of discovery advances new knowledge that transforms disciplines and, quite often, even our lives