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1. Functional morphology of the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium heraldicum

   https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2024.24  

   Olaru, A; Gutarra-Diaz, S; Racicot, R A; Dunn, F S; Rahman, I A; Wang, Z; Darroch, S_A F; Gibson, B M (October 2024, Paleobiology)

   Abstract Tribrachidium heraldicumis an Ediacaran body fossil characterized by triradial symmetry. Previous work has suggested that the anatomy ofTribrachidiumwas conducive to passive suspension feeding; however, these analyses used an inaccurate model and a relatively simple set of simulations. Using computational fluid dynamics, we explore the functional morphology ofTribrachidiumin unprecedented detail by gauging how the presence or absence of distinctive anatomical features (e.g., apical pits and arms) affects flow patterns. Additionally, we map particle pathways, quantify deposition rates at proposed feeding sites, and assess gregarious feeding habits to more fully reconstruct the lifestyle of this enigmatic taxon. Our results provide strong support for interpretingTribrachidiumas a macroscopic suspension feeder, with the apical pits representing loci of particle collection (and possibly ingestion) and the triradial arms representing morphological adaptations for interrupting flow and inducing settling. More speculatively, we suggest that the radial grooves may represent ciliated pathways through which food particles accumulating in the wake of the organism were transported toward the apical pits. Finally, our results allow us to generate new functional hypotheses for other Ediacaran taxa with a triradial body plan. This work refines our understanding of the appearance of suspension feeding in shallow-water paleoenvironments, with implications for the radiation of Metazoa across the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary. 

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2. Early life functional transitions impact craniofacial morphology in osteogenesis imperfecta

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25640  

   Miller, Courtney_A; Emanuel, Tanusha; Menegaz, Rachel_A (February 2025, The Anatomical Record)

   Abstract Early life behaviors have a profound role in shaping adult craniofacial morphology. During early life, all mammals undergo the dynamic transition from suckling to mastication, a period coinciding with rapid cranial biomineralization. Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic disorder that impacts the production of type I collagen, disrupts biomineralization, leading to craniofacial growth differences affecting quality of life. This study investigates craniofacial development during infant oral motor developmental stages in OI mice compared to unaffected wild‐type littermates (WT mice). We hypothesize OI mice will exhibit smaller overall size, and the adult OI phenotype will develop postnatally in response to masticatory loading. Point cloud and fixed landmarks were collected from micro‐computed tomography scans, then geometric morphometric analyses and interlandmark distances (ILDs) compared craniofacial size and shape between OI and WT mice at birth (P0;n = 27 OI murine/20 WT) and postnatal Days 7 (P7;n = 21/21), 14 (P14;n = 16/20), 21 (P21;n = 20/26), and 28 (P28;n = 26/33). This study found no size and shape differences between genotypes at birth. Starting at P7, OI mice are significantly (p < 0.05) smaller and display pronounced shape changes (p < 0.001) characterized by a larger neurocranium and a shorter viscerocranium. At P21, significant differences emerge in cranial base orientation, neurocranial width, viscerocranial shortening, and zygomatic arch displacement. These findings underscore the importance of early life oral motor stages in developing the adult OI craniofacial phenotype and oral health, suggesting earlier craniofacial interventions may improve effective treatment of OI. 

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3. Dynamic DNA nanotechnology: toward functional nanoscale devices

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c9nh00529c  

   DeLuca, Marcello; Shi, Ze; Castro, Carlos E.; Arya, Gaurav (February 2020, Nanoscale Horizons)

   Dynamic DNA nanotechnology involves the creation of nanoscale devices made of DNA whose primary function arises from their ability to undergo controlled motion or reconfiguration. In the past two decades, dynamic DNA nanotechnology has evolved to the point where it is now being employed in devices intended for applications in sensing, drug delivery, computation, nanorobotics, and more. In this review article, we discuss the design of dynamic DNA nanodevices and the characterization and prediction of device behavior. We also identify a number of continuing challenges in dynamic DNA nanotechnology and discuss potential solutions to those challenges. 

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4. Probing the effect of morphology on lymphatic valve dynamic function

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-018-1030-y  

   Ballard, Matthew; Wolf, Ki T.; Nepiyushchikh, Zhanna; Dixon, J. Brandon; Alexeev, Alexander (October 2018, Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology)
5. The Shape of Sound: a Geometric Morphometrics Approach to Laryngeal Functional Morphology

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-019-09466-9  

   Borgard, Heather L; Baab, Karen; Pasch, Bret; Riede, Tobias (May 2019, Journal of Mammalian Evolution)

   Diversification of animal vocalizations plays a key role in behavioral evolution and speciation. Vocal organ morphology represents an important source of acoustic variation, yet its small size, complex shape, and absence of homologous landmarks pose major challenges to comparative analyses. Here, we use a geometric morphometric approach based on geometrically homologous landmarks to quantify shape variation of laryngeal cartilages of four rodent genera representing three families. Reconstructed cartilages of the larynx from contrast-enhanced micro-CT images were quantified by variable numbers of three-dimensional landmarks placed on structural margins and major surfaces. Landmark sets were superimposed using generalized Procrustes analysis prior to statistical analysis. Correlations among pairwise Procrustes distances were used to identify the minimum number of landmarks necessary to fully characterize shape variation. We found that the five species occupy distinct positions in morphospace, with variation explained in part by phylogeny, body size, and differences in vocal production mechanisms. Our findings provide a foundation for quantifying the contribution of vocal organ morphology to acoustic diversification. 

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