Full pattern analyses of small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering data with both discrete reflections and central diffuse scattering are presented. Data with both equatorial streaks and two- and four-point reflections can be fitted in elliptical coordinates with relatively few parameters.

Demonstrated here is the successful growth of continuous, edgeless ring-shaped crystals of TaSe₃ from the liquid phase.

The diaboloidal mirror is a reflecting surface that converts a spherical wave to a cylindrical wave (or vice versa). Application of the mirror in a collimated two-crystal monochromator will be the main application area and will allow brightness preserving focusing, even with the very small source size of a multi-bend achromat ultra-high-brightness synchrotron source. An exact analytical solution for the surface shape of a diaboloidal mirror as a function of the conjugate parameters of the mirror placed in a beamline is presented.

The optical design of a beamline dedicated to spectroscopy and scattering with picosecond X-ray pulses generated by the RF deflection of the electrons in a storage ring is described. The requirements for canceling the effect of off-axis radiation lengthening the duration of the picosecond pulses are detailed.

The optical design of a soft X-ray spectrometer that utilizes Wolter mirrors to enable imaging-mode spectroscopy with a beam-size independent spatial resolution in, for example, tandem catalysts in reaction is presented. When such a spectrometer is used in pump–probe experiments to study the transient electron dynamics, the imaging capability of the Wolter mirrors can offer femtosecond time delay between the pump and probe beams with non-collinear wavefronts.

TEMGYM Basic is a Python-based ray-tracing tool for novel experiment visualization and an interactive learning environment for using transmission electron microscopes.

A new 'Hybrid Method' combining ray-tracing and wavefront propagation for X-ray optics simulation is reported. The code is fast and can handle partially coherent sources, making it a useful tool for beamline design and optimization.

VapD is one of a set of highly homologous virulence-associated proteins from the multi-host pathogen Rhodococcus equi. The crystal structure reveals an eight-stranded β-barrel with a novel fold and a glycine rich `bald' surface.

Ambient temperature structures of B. longum phosphoketolase holoenzyme and its complex with a putative inhibitor, phosphoenolpyruvate, demonstrated striking conformational change of the loop at the entrance to the active-site pocket compared with known cryogenic temperature phosphoketolase structures. This structural change highlighted the reaction mechanism and substrate specificity of this enzyme.

The first use of pseudo-single-bunch pulse picking in time-resolved experiments at the Advanced Light Source is reported. The pseudo-single-bunch technique improves signal to noise and drastically reduces dose-induced sample damage.