Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision gives a classification of recognised mental health disorders in the form of DSM-IV codes.
The fear of clowns is described as a specific phobia with a code of 300.29.
A specific phobia is a fear that lacks a reason or rational against an exposure to a certain object or situation.
Such specific phobias can leads to a disability in normal life as people suffering from such phobias tend to avoid situations where they may encounter such phobias.
The fear of clowns is known as Coulrophobia which is a type of specific phobia when it interferes with the normal functioning and is persistent.
Since Francis becomes anxious upon seeing a clown since he was 6 years old and the fear persists and he avoids going to places where he sees clowns, he has specific phobia against clowns.
The statement that best describes the work of these researchers is "As a result, the researchers have been able to achieve protein-folding simulations that are far better than those other computing methods have done." I hope my answer has come to your help. God bless and have a nice day ahead!
