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Symmetry-adapted distortion modes provide a natural way of describing distorted structures derived from higher-symmetry parent phases. Structural refinements using symmetry-mode amplitudes as fit variables have been used for at least ten years in Rietveld refinements of the average crystal structure from diffraction data; more recently, this approach has also been used for investigations of the local structure using real-space pair distribution function (PDF) data. Here, the value of performing symmetry-mode fits to PDF data is further demonstrated through the successful application of this method to two topical materials: TiSe 2 , where a subtle but long-range structural distortion driven by the formation of a charge-density wave is detected, and MnTe, where a large but highly localized structural distortion is characterized in terms of symmetry-lowering displacements of the Te atoms. The analysis is performed using fully open-source code within the DiffPy framework via two packages developed for this work: isopydistort , which provides a scriptable interface to the ISODISTORT web application for group theoretical calculations, and isopytools , which converts the ISODISTORT output into a DiffPy -compatible format for subsequent fitting and analysis. These developments expand the potential impact of symmetry-adapted PDF analysis by enabling high-throughput analysis and removing the need for any commercial software. 

Garnet ages for eclogite and granulite from the Western Fiordland Orthogneiss (WFO) provide a precise age for high-grade metamorphism and partial melting of the lower crust in a Cretaceous magmatic arc currently exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. U/Pb zircon ages and pluton areas indicate that a high magmatic flux event between 118 and 115 Ma added >3,000 km2 of mid- to lower-crustal plutons. The high flux event was followed by high temperature metamorphism and partial melting which resulted in pervasive leucosomes, and trondhjemite layers and veins. At least 1,800 km2 of the newly added crust was metamorphosed to garnet granulite facies orthogneiss. Thermobarometry and phase diagram models indicate that garnet grew at 850 to 1,000°C and 12 to 14 kbar in this monzodiorite and diorite gneiss of the Misty, Malaspina, and Breaksea plutons. Sm-Nd garnet-rock isochrons for these three plutons of the WFO (>700 km2of lower crust) indicate that peak temperatures were reached at 111.7±1.0 Ma (N=16). The isotopic and chemical composition of zircon indicate that the Cretaceous arc flare-up was most likely triggered by partial melting and hybridization of subducted oceanic crust and enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle directly prior to cessation of arc magmatism. The driving mechanism for the terminal magmatic surge is inferred to be propagation of a discontinuous slab tear beneath the arc, or a ridge-trench collision event between 136 and 128 Ma. The lack of ca. 112 Ma plutons in the western part of Fiordland negates a magmatic heat source for garnet granulite metamorphism. Therefore, we infer that high heat flow associated with mantle advection at the base of the arc after the magmatic surge continued for several m.y., heating the lower crust to granulite facies temperatures 

Genetic screens are used to identify genes involved in specific biological processes. An EMS mutagenesis screen in Drosophila melanogaster identified growth control phenotypes in the developing eye. One mutant line from this screen, H.3.2, was phenotypically characterized using the FLP/FRT system and genetically mapped by complementation analysis and genomic sequencing by undergraduate students participating in the multi-institution Fly-CURE consortium. H.3.2 was found to have a nonsense mutation in short stop (shot), an ortholog of the mammalian spectraplakin dystonin (DST). shot and DST are involved in cytoskeletal organization and play roles during cell growth and proliferation. 

Two additions impacting tables 3 and 4 in ref. [1] are presented in the following. No significant impact is found for other results or figures in ref. [1].