Evaluation of the Finnish CERN activities: panel report

The Academy of Finland decided in November 2000 that Finnish CERN-activities should be evaluated. The first ten years of the Finnish membership in CERN have been successful. Also in the future, Finland has great opportunities and benefits of the collaboration with CERN. The Finnish presentations clearly show the rapid development in experimental physics since the joining of CERN. Still, Finland can be considered as a relatively young Member State in CERN, but one of the most dynamic new partners for CERN

Two new species of Apistogramma Regan (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from the rio Trombetas, Pará State, Brazil

Apistogramma angayuara is described from the rio Trombetas close to the cachoeira Vira Mundo where it is found in association with rapids. It is assigned to the A. pertensis species group, distinguished by the following characters in combination: three prominent stripes composed of dark spots along the sides of the abdomen, 2 vs. 3 postlachrymal infraorbital pores, 5 vs. 4 dentary pores, low dorsal fin in adult males, and presence of a caudal spot. It is the smallest species of Apistogramma reported so far, with the largest male 24.7 mm SL and the largest female 22.7 mm SL, and the first cichlid species found with a significant proportion of rhizopods in the stomach content. Apistogramma salpinction is described from lentic habitats at the margin of road BR-163, circa 70 km from Cachoeira Porteira village, in a swamp most probably connected to the igarapé Caxipacoré. It is compared to members of the Apistogramma cacatuoides group with which it shares prolonged anterior dorsal fin lappets and marginal caudal fin streamers in adult males. It is distinguished from all other species of Apistogramma by the color pattern which includes a lateral band and abdominal stripes that become darker and have much lighter interspaces on the caudal peduncle, and a caudal spot that is divided into elongated blotches continuing the lateral band and upper two abdominal stripes, respectively. Apistogramma angayuara é descrita para o rio Trombetas próximo à cachoeira Vira Mundo, onde é encontrada associada com corredeiras. É a menor espécie de Apistogramma até agora registrada, com o maior macho atingindo 24,7 mm CP, e a maior fêmea 22,7 mm CP. Trata-se do primeiro registro de uma espécie de ciclideo com grande quantidade de rizopodos em seu conteúdo estomacal. Apistogramma angayuara pertence ao grupo A. pertensis e difere das demais espécies deste grupo pela seguinte combinação de caracteres: três conspícuas séries de pontos escuros ao longo da região abdominal, 2 vs. 3 poros infra-orbitais pós-lacrimais, e 5 vs. 4 poros dentários, nadadeira dorsal baixa em machos adultos, e presença de uma mancha caudal grande. Apistogramma salpinction é descrita de habitats lênticos localizados na margem da BR-163, cerca de 70 km da vila de Cachoeira Porteira, em um alagadiço que provavelmente está conectado ao igarapé Caxipacoré, e é semelhante a membros do grupo Apistogramma cacatuoides com o qual compartilha as membranas anteriores da nadadeira dorsal prolongadas e faixas marginais na nadadeira caudal em machos adultos. Entretanto, difere pelo padrão de colorido que inclui uma faixa lateral e listras abdominais mais escuras e com interespaços mais claros no pedúnculo caudal, que se prolongam sobre a base da nadadeira caudal em uma pinta caudal dividida em manchas alongadas continuando a faixa lateral e duas listras abdominais, respectivamente

Two new species of Apistogramma Regan (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from the rio trombetas, Pará State, Brazil.

Apistogramma angayuara is described from the rio Trombetas close to the cachoeira Vira Mundo where it is found in association with rapids. It is assigned to the A. pertensis species group, distinguished by the following characters in combination: three prominent stripes composed of dark spots along the sides of the abdomen, 2 vs. 3 postlachrymal infraorbital pores, 5 vs. 4 dentary pores, low dorsal fin in adult males, and presence of a caudal spot. It is the smallest species of Apistogramma reported so far, with the largest male 24.7 mm SL and the largest female 22.7 mm SL, and the first cichlid species found with a significant proportion of rhizopods in the stomach content. Apistogramma salpinction is described from lentic habitats at the margin of road BR-163, circa 70 km from Cachoeira Porteira village, in a swamp most probably connected to the igarapé Caxipacoré. It is compared to members of the Apistogramma cacatuoides group with which it shares prolonged anterior dorsal fin lappets and marginal caudal fin streamers in adult males. It is distinguished from all other species of Apistogramma by the color pattern which includes a lateral band and abdominal stripes that become darker and have much lighter interspaces on the caudal peduncle, and a caudal spot that is divided into elongated blotches continuing the lateral band and upper two abdominal stripes, respectively

Reviewing electricity production cost assessments

A thorough review of twelve recent studies of production costs from different power generating technologies was conducted and a wide range in cost estimates was found. The reviewed studies show differences in their methodologies and assumptions, making the stated cost figures not directly comparable and unsuitable to be generalized to represent the costs for entire technologies. Moreover, current levelized costs of electricity methodologies focus only on the producer's costs, while additional costs viewed from a consumer perspective and on external costs with impact on society should be included if these results are to be used for planning. Although this type of electricity production cost assessments can be useful, the habit of generalizing electricity production cost figures for entire technologies is problematic. Cost escalations tend to occur rapidly with time, the impact of economies of scale is significant, costs are in many cases site-specific, and country-specific circumstances affect production costs. Assumptions on the cost-influencing factors such as discount rates, fuel prices and heat credits fluctuate considerably and have a significant impact on production cost results. Electricity production costs assessments similar to the studies reviewed in this work disregard many important cost factors, making them inadequate for decision and policy making, and should only be used to provide rough ballpark estimates with respect to a given system boundary. Caution when using electricity production cost estimates are recommended, and further studies investigating cost under different circumstances, both for producers and society as a whole are called for. Also, policy makers should be aware of the potentially widely different results coming from electricity production cost estimates under different assumptions

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Peer reviewe

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