Squamates as a model to understand key dental features of vertebrates.

Thanks to their exceptional diversity, teeth are among the most distinctive features of vertebrates. Parameters such as tooth size, shape, number, identity, and implantation can have substantial implications for the ecology and certain social behaviors of toothed species. Despite decades of research primarily focused on mammalian dentition, particularly using the laboratory mouse model, squamate reptiles ("lizards" and snakes) offer a wide array of tooth types and dentition variations.

Industrial-environmental management in China's iron and steel industry under multiple objectives and uncertainties.

Industrial-environmental management is a multi-objective optimization problem plagued with multiple uncertainties. Most studies only optimize few objectives and often neglect these uncertainties. This study builds a 6-objective optimization problem to quantify energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) potentials in China's iron and steel industry.

Quantum Dot Parity Effects in Trivial and Topological Josephson Junctions.

An odd-occupied quantum dot in a Josephson junction can flip transmission phase, creating a π junction. When the junction couples topological superconductors, no phase flip is expected. We investigate this and related effects in a full-shell hybrid interferometer, using gate voltage to control dot-junction parity and axial magnetic flux to control the transition from trivial to topological superconductivity.

Musculoskeletal study of cebocephalic and cyclopic lamb heads illuminates links between normal and abnormal development, evolution and human pathologies.

This paper is part of the emerging field of Evolutionary Developmental Pathology, dedicated to study the links between normal and abnormal development, evolution and human pathologies. We analyzed the head musculoskeletal system of several 'natural mutant' newborn lambs displaying various degrees of abnormality, from mild defects to cebocephaly and to cyclopia, and compared them with humans. Interestingly, muscle defects are less marked than osteological ones, and contrarily to the latter they tend to display left-right assymetries.

Anatomy of the forelimb musculature and ligaments of Psittacus erithacus (Aves: Psittaciformes).

Parrots (order Psittaciformes) are a rather homogeneous group of birds that can be easily distinguished by the notably modified morphology of the skull and hindlimb. Detailed description of the forelimb morphology in these birds has never been provided, though parrots are often used as model objects in flight studies. Parrots are also considered the closest living relatives of the perching birds (Passeriformes), and thus knowledge of the wing morphology in Psittaciformes is important for understanding the evolution of the locomotor apparatus on the way to the most speciose group of birds.

Growth of InAs Wurtzite Nanocrosses from Hexagonal and Cubic Basis.

Epitaxially connected nanowires allow for the design of electron transport experiments and applications beyond the standard two terminal device geometries. In this Letter, we present growth methods of three distinct types of wurtzite structured InAs nanocrosses via the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. Two methods use conventional wurtzite nanowire arrays as a 6-fold hexagonal basis for growing single crystal wurtzite nanocrosses.

RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF THE ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS CAUSING DIARRHEAL DISEASES.

The main objective of this investigation was to develop and pilot a real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (rt-PCR) diagnostic system for rapid and simultaneous identification of pathogens with a particular emphasis on diarrheal disease diagnostics. The diarrheal diseases were selected as a target for the pilot because they constitute a primary public health priority in Georgia and worldwide. The product developed by our research team "Neo_PCR_Diagnostics" represents an original system for the identification of pathogens associated with gastrointestinal tract infections and diarrhea.