We appreciate the thoughtful commentary and opportunity to continue the discussion on this important topic of dealing with left-censored data. We thank Prof. Hites for reflecting on our introduction and want to reinforce that the challenges for measurement of trace-level environmental data and their statistical analysis are long-standing, complex, and continually evolving. While there is extensive

Background Environmental noise exposure is increasing but limited research has been done on the association with emotional, aggressive, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms in children. Objective To analyze the association between prenatal and childhood environmental noise exposure and emotional, aggressive, and ADHD-related symptoms in children from two European birth

Human and economic costs highlight the need for fresh approaches in research.

Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 27 October 2021

Our generation could realistically be the one to discover evidence of life beyond Earth. With this privileged potential comes responsibility. The magnitude of the question of whether we are alone in the Universe, and the public interest therein, opens the possibility that results may be taken to imply more than the observations support, or than the observers intend. As life-detection objectives become

Quantifying the pathogenicity of protein variants in human disease-related genes would have a marked effect on clinical decisions, yet the overwhelming majority (over 98%) of these variants still have unknown consequences1,2,3. In principle, computational methods could support the large-scale interpretation of genetic variants. However, state-of-the-art methods4,5,6,7,8,9,10 have relied on training

The Dispatched protein, which is related to the NPC1 and PTCH1 cholesterol transporters1,2 and to H+-driven transporters of the RND family3,4, enables tissue-patterning activity of the lipid-modified Hedgehog protein by releasing it from tightly -localized sites of embryonic expression5,6,7,8,9,10. Here we determine a cryo-electron microscopy structure of the mouse protein Dispatched homologue 1 (DISP1)

The cognitive abilities that characterize humans are thought to emerge from unique features of the cortical circuit architecture of the human brain, which include increased cortico–cortical connectivity. However, the evolutionary origin of these changes in connectivity and how they affected cortical circuit function and behaviour are currently unknown. The human-specific gene duplication SRGAP2C emerged

Glutathione (GSH) is a small-molecule thiol that is abundant in all eukaryotes and has key roles in oxidative metabolism1. Mitochondria, as the major site of oxidative reactions, must maintain sufficient levels of GSH to perform protective and biosynthetic functions2. GSH is synthesized exclusively in the cytosol, yet the molecular machinery involved in mitochondrial GSH import remains unknown. Here

Growth regulation tailors development in plants to their environment. A prominent example of this is the response to gravity, in which shoots bend up and roots bend down1. This paradox is based on opposite effects of the phytohormone auxin, which promotes cell expansion in shoots while inhibiting it in roots via a yet unknown cellular mechanism2. Here, by combining microfluidics, live imaging, genetic

Inflammation early in life can prime the local immune milieu of peripheral tissues, which can cause lasting changes in immunological tone that confer disease protection or susceptibility1. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that prompt changes in immune tone in many nonlymphoid tissues remain largely unknown. Here we find that time-limited neonatal inflammation induced by a transient reduction in

Excitonic insulators (EIs) arise from the formation of bound electron–hole pairs (excitons)1,2 in semiconductors and provide a solid-state platform for quantum many-boson physics3,4,5,6,7,8. Strong exciton–exciton repulsion is expected to stabilize condensed superfluid and crystalline phases by suppressing both density and phase fluctuations8,9,10,11. Although spectroscopic signatures of EIs have been

Access to safely managed drinking water (SMDW) remains a global challenge, and affects 2.2 billion people1,2. Solar-driven atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) devices with continuous cycling may accelerate progress by enabling decentralized extraction of water from air3,4,5,6, but low specific yields (SY) and low daytime relative humidity (RH) have raised questions about their performance (in litres

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generating capacity has grown by 41 per cent per year since 20091. Energy system projections that mitigate climate change and aid universal energy access show a nearly ten-fold increase in PV solar energy generating capacity by 20402,3. Geospatial data describing the energy system are required to manage generation intermittency, mitigate climate change risks, and identify

Accurate navigation to a desired goal requires consecutive estimates of spatial relationships between the current position and future destination throughout the journey. Although neurons in the hippocampal formation can represent the position of an animal as well as its nearby trajectories1,2,3,4,5,6,7, their role in determining the destination of the animal has been questioned8,9. It is, thus, unclear

The phytohormone auxin controls many processes in plants, at least in part through its regulation of cell expansion1. The acid growth hypothesis has been proposed to explain auxin-stimulated cell expansion for five decades, but the mechanism that underlies auxin-induced cell-wall acidification is poorly characterized. Auxin induces the phosphorylation and activation of the plasma membrane H+-ATPase

Measurements of the atmospheric carbon (C) and oxygen (O) relative to hydrogen (H) in hot Jupiters (relative to their host stars) provide insight into their formation location and subsequent orbital migration1,2. Hot Jupiters that form beyond the major volatile (H2O/CO/CO2) ice lines and subsequently migrate post disk-dissipation are predicted have atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen ratios (C/O) near 1 and

Today, the eastern African hydroclimate is tightly linked to fluctuations in the zonal atmospheric Walker circulation1,2. A growing body of evidence indicates that this circulation shaped hydroclimatic conditions in the Indian Ocean region also on much longer, glacial–interglacial timescales3,4,5, following the development of Pacific Walker circulation around 2.2–2.0 million years ago (Ma)6,7. However

Bryozoans (also known as ectoprocts or moss animals) are aquatic, dominantly sessile, filter-feeding lophophorates that construct an organic or calcareous modular colonial (clonal) exoskeleton1,2,3. The presence of six major orders of bryozoans with advanced polymorphisms in lower Ordovician rocks strongly suggests a Cambrian origin for the largest and most diverse lophophorate phylum2,4,5,6,7,8. However

Adipocytes increase energy expenditure in response to prolonged sympathetic activation via persistent expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)1,2. Here we report that the regulation of glycogen metabolism by catecholamines is critical for UCP1 expression. Chronic β-adrenergic activation leads to increased glycogen accumulation in adipocytes expressing UCP1. Adipocyte-specific deletion of a scaffolding

Understanding human organ formation is a scientific challenge with far-reaching medical implications1,2. Three-dimensional stem-cell cultures have provided insights into human cell differentiation3,4. However, current approaches use scaffold-free stem-cell aggregates, which develop non-reproducible tissue shapes and variable cell-fate patterns. This limits their capacity to recapitulate organ formation

The dearth of new medicines effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria presents a growing global public health concern1. For more than five decades, the search for new antibiotics has relied heavily on the chemical modification of natural products (semisynthesis), a method ill-equipped to combat rapidly evolving resistance threats. Semisynthetic modifications are typically of limited scope within

Abstract The engineered biochar has been extensively developed for environmental applications in the last decade, owing to its carbon-neutral and long-term persistent characteristics. Here, we addressed the advancement in production of novel engineered biochar with practical environmental remediation, and pointed out key challenges and future perspectives, based on total 28 publications in Critical

Anthropogenic regulation of hydrographs is a widespread approach to river management; however, the effects of river regulation on habitat conditions and aquatic communities have rarely been studied. In this study, we analyzed the physical, chemical, and biological data from the lower Nakdong River in South Korea from 2005 to 2009 before weir construction and from 2012 to 2016 after weir construction

George et al. have recently discussed the problem of dealing with data sets which are missing values because some of the measurements are below the detection limit of the analytical method. (1) These are commonly called left-censored data sets, and the problem is what to do with the missing data if one is calculating the central tendency of the data set. In an elegant introduction, George et al. discuss

China’s coal-dominated energy mix is undergoing an unprecedented transition to promote sustainable development. As part of this transition, switching the residential sector from coal to clean energy is a promising measure to curb indoor pollution and health burdens. In 2017, the central government set a target of reducing 150 million tons of dispersed coal, with the goal of completing the transition

Comparative analysis using cross-cultural data has a long tradition in anthropology and applications by ecologically minded researchers have exploded in the past decade. Here we discuss problems and recommend solutions for use of cross-cultural datasets in ecology.

Improvements in public transport are often regarded as essential to combat climate change. A study investigating the Chinese high-speed rail system suggests that these benefits could operate through channels other than those that one might expect.

Carbon emission reduction in the transportation sector is essential in the global mitigation effort, and a large-scale public transport system has the potential to be an effective instrument. High-speed rail (HSR) is one such example, yet it is unclear how much reduction in road traffic results from new rail routes. Using the difference-in-differences method, we show that new HSR routes in China lead

Replisome disassembly is the final step of eukaryotic DNA replication, and is triggered by ubiquitylation of the CMG (Cdc45-MCM-GINS) replicative helicase1–3. Despite being driven by evolutionarily diverse E3 ubiquitin ligases in different eukaryotes (SCFDia2 in budding yeast1, CUL2LRR1 in metazoa4–7), replisome disassembly is governed by a common regulatory principle, whereby CMG ubiquitylation is

Various approaches are approved for treating blood cancers and a few rare disorders—they may soon become standard care.

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

The value of studying wetlands, and the excavation of an ancient city in Sicily.

Letter to the Editor

Over the past few years the discipline has evolved in significant ways.

Tragic side effects plagued the field’s early years, but researchers are finding ways to minimize the risks.

Simple, regular checks could squelch some pernicious practices by unscrupulous publishers and preserve your digital presence.

To thwart publishing rackets that undermine scholars and scholarly publishing, legitimate journals should show their workings.

Cutting-edge microscopy techniques are allowing researchers to spy on the innards of cells in all their crowded glory.

The field is beginning to fulfill its potential. These therapies offer a glimpse of what’s to come.