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Volume 526 Issue 7572, 8 October 2015

The need for replication and corroboration of research results is a vital part of the scientific process. But the complexities of the systems and techniques used today have made it harder for editors and referees to feel sure that a research result will stand the test of time. As part of a continuing series on the problem of irreproducibility, this issue of Nature includes two articles on ways of minimizing observational bias. In Comment, Robert MacCoun and Saul Perlmutter argue that more fields should, like particle physics, adopt blind analysis. In a News Feature, Regina Nuzzo reports on a range of tactics being used by concerned researchers to counter a human characteristic that scientists can display as much as anyone else � self deception. For Nature’s special collection on reproducibility, go.nature.com/huhbyr. Cover: Kelly Krause / Nature (adapted from Victoria Kalinina/Shutterstock)

Editorial

  • The human brain’s habit of finding what it wants to find is a key problem for research. Establishing robust methods to avoid such bias will make results more reproducible.

    Editorial

    Advertisement

  • Formal recognition of drug pollution will help to protect humans and ecosystems.

    Editorial
  • In difficult times, Turkey is investing in a clutch of new scientific research centres.

    Editorial
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World View

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Research Highlights

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Social Selection

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Research Highlights

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Seven Days

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News

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News Feature

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Comment

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Books & Arts

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Correspondence

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Obituary

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News & Views

  • A comprehensive modelling effort has revealed the relative contributions of different malaria-control measures to the massive reductions in disease prevalence that have occurred in Africa between 2000 and 2015. See Article p.207

    • Janet Hemingway
    News & Views
  • The finding that the Mediator protein complex contributes to messenger RNA export from the nucleus in yeast adds to a growing list of roles for the complex in regulating transcriptional processes.

    • Jonathan D. Rubin
    • Dylan J. Taatjes
    News & Views
  • The discovery that certain neurons' odour responses differ between individual fruit flies, but are consistent across the hemispheres of each fly's brain, indicates that sensory processing depends on an individual's experience. See Letter p.258

    • Thomas Frank
    • Rainer W. Friedrich
    News & Views
  • The HIV protein Nef is a viral 'Swiss army knife' with many functions. New work now shows how Nef increases infectivity — by inhibiting two of the host cell's antiviral proteins, SERINC3 and SERINC5. See Articles p.212 & p.218

    • Christopher Aiken
    News & Views
  • Nanotechnology studies explore the extreme properties of strongly interacting electronic systems through conductance measurements, and probe quantum phase transitions close to absolute zero temperature. See Letters p.233 & p.237

    • Karyn Le Hur
    News & Views
  • A recently commissioned planet-finding instrument has been used to study a young solar system around the star AU Microscopii, leading to the discovery of rapidly moving features in the dust disk around the star. See Letter p.230

    • Marshall D. Perrin
    News & Views
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Article

  • In this study, the authors present an analysis of the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2015, and quantify the effects of the interventions that have been implemented to combat the disease; they find that the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection has been reduced by 50% since 2000 and the incidence of clinical disease by 40%, and that interventions have averted approximately 663 million clinical cases since 2000, with insecticide-treated bed nets being the largest contributor.

    • S. Bhatt
    • D. J. Weiss
    • P. W. Gething
    Article
  • The transmembrane protein SERINC5 is identified as a potent inhibitor of HIV-1 particle infectivity that is counteracted by Nef; Nef redirects SERINC5 from the plasma membrane to a Rab7-positive endosomal compartment, thus excluding it from HIV-1 particles, emphasizing the potential of SERINC5 as a potent anti-retroviral factor.

    • Annachiara Rosa
    • Ajit Chande
    • Massimo Pizzato

    Collection:

    Article
  • The transmembrane proteins SERINC3 and SERINC5 are identified as new restriction factors for HIV-1 replication; this restriction is counteracted by Nef and glycoGag, which prevent SERINC3 and SERINC5 from becoming incorporated into HIV-1 virions and from profoundly blocking HIV-1 infectivity, suggesting a potential new therapeutic strategy for immunodeficiency viruses.

    • Yoshiko Usami
    • Yuanfei Wu
    • Heinrich G. Göttlinger

    Collection:

    Article
  • A high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy structure of the zebrafish α1 glycine receptor bound to agonists or antagonists reveals the conformational changes that take place when the channel transitions from closed to open state.

    • Juan Du
    • Wei Lü
    • Eric Gouaux
    Article
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Letter

  • High-contrast imaging of the nearby, young, active late-type star AU Microscopii reveals five mysterious large-scale features in the southeast side of its debris disk, moving away from the star.

    • Anthony Boccaletti
    • Christian Thalmann
    • John Wisniewski
    Letter
  • Zero-temperature quantum phase transitions and their associated quantum critical points are believed to underpin the exotic finite-temperature behaviours of many strongly correlated electronic systems, but identifying the microscopic origins of these transitions can be challenging and controversial; Iftikhar et al. (see also the related paper by Keller et al.) show how such behaviours can be engineered into nanoelectronic quantum dots, which permit both precise experimental control of the quantum critical behaviour and its exact theoretical characterization.

    • Z. Iftikhar
    • S. Jezouin
    • F. Pierre
    Letter
  • Zero-temperature quantum phase transitions and their associated quantum critical points are believed to underpin the exotic finite-temperature behaviours of many strongly correlated electronic systems, but identifying the microscopic origins of these transitions can be challenging and controversial; Keller et al. (see also the related paper by Iftikhar et al.) show how such behaviours can be engineered into nanoelectronic quantum dots, which permit both precise experimental control of the quantum critical behaviour and its exact theoretical characterization.

    • A. J. Keller
    • L. Peeters
    • D. Goldhaber-Gordon
    Letter
  • Analysis of a database of Precambrian palaeomagnetic intensity measurements reveals a clear transition in the Earth’s magnetic field that is probably the signature of the inner core first forming, suggesting a modest value of core thermal conductivity and supporting a simple thermal evolution model for the Earth.

    • A. J. Biggin
    • E. J. Piispa
    • L. Tauxe
    Letter
  • The Trivers–Willard theory proposing that maternal condition influences offspring sex ratio is extended by analysing how differences in mortality rates, age‐specific reproduction and life history tactics between males and females may affect adaptive offspring sex ratio adjustment in two systems.

    • Susanne Schindler
    • Jean‐Michel Gaillard
    • Tim Coulson
    Letter
  • Neuronal representations of sensory stimuli tend to become sparse and decorrelated, with different odours giving rise to fewer neuronal spikes in rare neurons, as signal processing moves up to higher brain layers; here comprehensive recording from the Drosophila olfactory processing centre finds instead some highly correlated tuning curves that vary flexibly from animal to animal.

    • Toshihide Hige
    • Yoshinori Aso
    • Glenn C. Turner
    Letter
  • A small-molecule inhibitor of the Mediator-associated kinases CDK8 and CDK19 inhibits growth of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cells and induces upregulation of super-enhancer-associated genes with tumour suppressor and lineage-controlling functions; Mediator kinase inhibition therefore represents a promising therapeutic approach for AML.

    • Henry E. Pelish
    • Brian B. Liau
    • Matthew D. Shair
    Letter
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Feature

  • Digital identifiers can sort out different scientists with the same names, and create a lifelong record of their work.

    • Quirin Schiermeier
    Feature
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Q&A

  • Molecular biologist turned neuroscientist goes bold after a hurricane destroys his lab.

    • Virginia Gewin
    Q&A
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Futures

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Outlook

    • Herb Brody
    Outlook
  • By studying how the brain responds to beauty, researchers hope to understand why we give some people an easier ride or appreciate certain artworks.

    • Chelsea Wald
    Outlook
  • The rise of genomic and other technologies in cosmetic skincare is leading to products that might improve skin health.

    • Alla Katsnelson
    Outlook
  • Standards for cosmetic surgery are typically based on white ideals of beauty. But the demand for facial procedures by people of all ethnicities is driving a change in practices.

    • Sujata Gupta
    Outlook
  • In a cut-throat world where only the fittest survive, beauty seems to be a needless expense. But creatures are strutting their stuff in ways that help to perpetuate their species.

    • Amy Maxmen
    Outlook
  • Karl Grammer, professor of anthropology at the University of Vienna, has been a pioneer in human attraction and courtship research. He discusses what he and others have learned by studying human beauty from an evolutionary perspective.

    • Kristin Lynn Sainani
    Outlook
  • Historically, women have been the focus of body-image studies. But as men pay more attention to their appearance, researchers are forming a clearer picture of male self-image.

    • Kelly Rae Chi
    Outlook
  • Researchers are probing how brain circuitry goes awry in people with body dysmorphia and how to treat the condition.

    • Elie Dolgin
    Outlook
  • Physicist David Deutsch is considered the founding father of quantum computing. In his 2011 book, The Beginning of Infinity, Deutsch argues that there is such a thing as objective beauty.

    • Kristin Lynn Sainani
    Outlook
  • Scientists are fascinated by the biological, social and medical implications of beauty. Here are four of their most pressing questions.

    • Chelsea Wald
    Outlook
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Nature Outlook

  • Propagation of species depends on attraction, which in humans is rooted in the ephemeral quality of beauty. Nature Outlook: Beautyexplores the science behind this aesthetic appeal, the technologies developed to achieve it, and the thorny social and psychological issues that pursuit of it triggers.

    Nature Outlook
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