Artificial cranial deformation and the increased complexity of the lambdoid suture

Studies examining an association between artificial cranial deformation and the presence of wormian bones in the lambdoid suture have been inconclusive. Cranial deformation, however, does not seem to have a direct effect of increasing the sutural complexity of the pars lambdica of the lambdoid suture and also increasing the mean number of lambdoidal wormian bones, given their presence.     

A comparative study of the temporal bone in three populations of man

A comparative study was made to determine race and sex differences in the temporal bone, to investigate growth relationships, and to establish a basis for phylogenetic studies of the temporal bone and the temporal lobe of the brain. Data on Eskimo, Indian, and white crania were collected from radiographs and directly from the skulls. Of the 25 variables studied, only the minimum diameter of porus failed to demonstrate some difference among the races. Variation between sexes was found for all measurements except the cranial base angle (of deflection) and three angles related to the petrous pyramids. Correlation coefficients indicated that none of the angles are related in any consistent manner to the other variables studied. This is interpreted as further evidence of cranial base stability. The Indians have the lowest, longest squamae, differing most from the whites. The position of squama is more anterior in the Eskimos. Females of each race possess more anteriorly positioned squamae than males. When the squama is more anteriorly located, the porus is in a more posterior position within the squama itself. Strong race variation exists in the shape of porus. In order to establish a basis for phylogenetic studies of the temporal lobe of the brain better reference points for reflecting its size and shape must be found.     

The evolutionary geometry of human anatomy: Discovering our inner fly

The human body is one still frame in a very long evolutionary movie. Anthropologists focus on the last few scenes, whereas geneticists try to trace the screenplay back as far as possible. Despite their divergent time scales (millions versus billions of years), both disciplines share a reliance on a third field of study whose scope spans only a matter of days to months, depending on the organism. Embryology is crucial for understanding both the pliability of anatomy and the modularity of gene circuitry. The relevance of human embryology to anthropology is obvious. What is not so obvious is the notion that equally useful clues about human anatomy can be gleaned by studying the development of the fruit fly, an animal as different from us structurally as it is distant from us evolutionarily. The underlying kinship between ourselves and flies has only become apparent recently, thanks to revelations from the nascent field of evolutionary developmental biology, or evo‐devo. All bilaterally symmetric animals, it turns out, share a common matrix of body axes, a common lexicon of intercellular signals, and a common arsenal of genetic gadgetry that evolution has tweaked in different ways in different lineages to produce a dazzling spectrum of shapes and patterns. Anthropologists can exploit this deep commonality to search our genome more profitably for the mutations that steered us so far astray from our fellow apes.     

北京军都山古代居民的颅骨创伤

北京延庆军都山墓地是东周时期玉皇庙文化的代表性墓地。对墓地出土125例个体颅骨创伤的观察表明,军都山男性颅骨创伤的发生率为13.3%,均为生前钝器伤;女性和未成年个体则未发现有颅骨创伤病例。颅骨创伤的发生没有时代变化或墓葬等级间的差异。军都山古代男性居民较高的颅骨创伤率与暴力冲突关系最为密切,是军都山社会关系不稳定性的一种体现,与农牧交错区生态的脆弱性、外来人群流入以及与周边定居农业人群互动等因素所导致的竞争增强有关。     

(鼲)属(啮齿目,仓鼠科)同域分布物种形态学鉴别特征组的筛选

现有的分类系统尚缺乏可用于减少䶄属物种种间鉴定不确定性的形态学鉴别特征。鉴于此,本研究旨在筛选出能够对同域分布的棕背䶄（Myodes rufocanus）, 红背䶄（M. rutilus）和堤岸䶄（M. glareolus）进行可靠鉴定的头骨形态指标和方法。为了达到以上目的,本文一方面筛选出能够用于种间鉴别的头骨和齿列形态特征,另一方面提出可用于鉴别以上三个物种的计算公式。对不同研究者提出来用于鉴别以上三个同域分布物种的35个特征进行筛选。头骨形态测量数据的获取需要花费较长的时间,而且结果变异很大。在本研究中,在分析中剔除15个形态特征,20个相对保守的特征被选择用于分析（包括来自头盖骨、牙齿和头骨其它部位的特征）。在20个特征中,有8个特征被选择出来,并使用Statistica 10 计算出判别公式。这些特征使准确鉴定不同个体各自所属种类成为可能。     

Single‐cell dynamics of chromatin activity during cell lineage differentiation in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

Elucidating the chromatin dynamics that orchestrate embryogenesis is a fundamental question in developmental biology. Here, we exploit position effects on expression as an indicator of chromatin activity and infer the chromatin activity landscape in every lineaged cell during Caenorhabditis elegans early embryogenesis. Systems‐level analyses reveal that chromatin activity distinguishes cellular states and correlates with fate patterning in the early embryos. As cell lineage unfolds, chromatin activity diversifies in a lineage‐dependent manner, with switch‐like changes accompanying anterior–posterior fate asymmetry and characteristic landscapes being established in different cell lineages. Upon tissue differentiation, cellular chromatin from distinct lineages converges according to tissue types but retains stable memories of lineage history, contributing to intra‐tissue cell heterogeneity. However, the chromatin landscapes of cells organized in a left–right symmetric pattern are predetermined to be analogous in early progenitors so as to pre‐set equivalent states. Finally, genome‐wide analysis identifies many regions exhibiting concordant chromatin activity changes that mediate the co‐regulation of functionally related genes during differentiation. Collectively, our study reveals the developmental and genomic dynamics of chromatin activity at the single‐cell level.     

Nanomoulding of Functional Materials,a Versatile Complementary Pattern Replication Method to Nanoimprinting

We describe a nanomoulding technique which allows low-cost nanoscale patterning of functional materials, materials stacks and full devices. Nanomoulding combined with layer transfer enables the replication of arbitrary surface patterns from a master structure onto the functional material. Nanomoulding can be performed on any nanoimprinting setup and can be applied to a wide range of materials and deposition processes. In particular we demonstrate the fabrication of patterned transparent zinc oxide electrodes for light trapping applications in solar cells.