NXFit: A program for simultaneously fitting X-ray and neutron diffraction pair-distribution functions to provide optimized structural parameters

NXFit is a program for obtaining optimized structural parameters from amorphous materials by simultaneously fitting X-ray and neutron pair-distribution functions. Partial correlation functions are generated in Q space, summed and Fourier transformed for comparison with the experimental data in r space. NXFit uses the Nelder-Mead method to vary a set of 'best guess' parameters to achieve a fit to experimentally derived data. The output parameters from NXFit are coordination number, atomic separation and disorder parameter for each atomic correlation used in the fitting process. The use of NXFit has been demonstrated by fitting both X-ray and neutron diffraction data from two quite different amorphous materials: a melt-quenched (Na2O) 0.5(P2O5)0.5glass and a (TiO2)0.18(SiO2)0.82sol-gel

A Collaborative Research Manifesto! An Early Career Response to Uncertainties

Social researchers have been adapting methods and practices in response to COVID-19. In the wake of these adaptations, but still in the midst of intersecting crises that the pandemic has exacerbated or shifted (e.g. health-social-political-economic), researchers face a future suffused with methodological uncertainties. This paper presents a Collaborative Research Manifesto that responds to this by promoting markers for mean-ingful collaborations in future research. The manifesto was co-written primarily through a series of workshops and events that were designed to identify challenges within, and potential for, collaborative research. Through this exploratory collaborative qualitative process, we highlight what the future of such research could look like and describe methodo-logical commitments that collaborative researchers should embody. The discussion draws on wider methodological literature to articulate the key role that ‘collaborative research’ can offer in uncertain times whilst being sensitive of the limitations of our assertive and radical programme

Beyond the tip of the iceberg: A meta-analysis of the anatomy of the clitoris.

An understanding of ranges in clitoral anatomy is important for clinicians caring for patients including those who have had female genital mutilation, women seeking genital cosmetic surgery, or trans women seeking reconstructive surgery. The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate the ranges in clitoral measurements within the literature. A meta-analysis was performed on Ovid Medline and Embase databases following the PRISMA protocol. Measurements of clitoral structures from magnetic imaging resonance, ultrasound, cadaveric, and living women were extracted and analyzed. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. The range in addition to the average length and width of the glans (6.40 mm; 5.14 mm), body (25.46 mm; 9.00 mm), crura (52.41 mm; 8.71 mm), bulb (52.00 mm; 10.33 mm), and prepuce (23.19 mm) was calculated. Furthermore, the range and average distance from the clitoris to the external urethral meatus (22.27 mm), vagina (43.14 mm), and anus (76.30 mm) was documented. All erectile and non-erectile structures of the clitoris present with substantial range. It is imperative to expand the literature on clitoral measurements and disseminate the new results to healthcare professionals and the public to reduce the sense of inadequacy and the chances of iatrogenic damage during surgery

Dark Matter from Minimal Flavor Violation

We consider theories of flavored dark matter, in which the dark matter particle is part of a multiplet transforming nontrivially under the flavor group of the Standard Model in a manner consistent with the principle of Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV). MFV automatically leads to the stability of the lightest state for a large number of flavor multiplets. If neutral, this particle is an excellent dark matter candidate. Furthermore, MFV implies specific patterns of mass splittings among the flavors of dark matter and governs the structure of the couplings between dark matter and ordinary particles, leading to a rich and predictive cosmology and phenomenology. We present an illustrative phenomenological study of an effective theory of a flavor SU(3)_Q triplet, gauge singlet scalar.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; v2: references added, minor changes to collider analysis, conclusions unchange

Bacterial Pneumonia and Pandemic Influenza Planning

Prevention and treatment of secondary bacterial complications are important but neglected areas of planning

RhoGTPase Regulators Orchestrate Distinct Stages of Synaptic Development

Small RhoGTPases regulate changes in post-synaptic spine morphology and density that support learning and memory. They are also major targets of synaptic disorders, including Autism. Here we sought to determine whether upstream RhoGTPase regulators, including GEFs, GAPs, and GDIs, sculpt specific stages of synaptic development. The majority of examined molecules uniquely regulate either early spine precursor formation or later matura- tion. Specifically, an activator of actin polymerization, the Rac1 GEF β-PIX, drives spine pre- cursor formation, whereas both FRABIN, a Cdc42 GEF, and OLIGOPHRENIN-1, a RhoA GAP, regulate spine precursor elongation. However, in later development, a novel Rac1 GAP, ARHGAP23, and RhoGDIs inactivate actomyosin dynamics to stabilize mature synap- ses. Our observations demonstrate that specific combinations of RhoGTPase regulatory pro- teins temporally balance RhoGTPase activity during post-synaptic spine development