The link between adaptation and evolutionary change remains the most central and least understood evolutionary problem. Rapid evolution and diversification of avian beaks is a textbook example of such a link, yet the mechanisms that enable beak's precise adaptation and extensive adaptability are poorly understood. Often observed rapid evolutionary change in beaks is particularly puzzling in lig...

Jeune syndrome (Asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia) is a rare dystrophy of the skeleton, inherited as an autosomal recessive condition. Patients develop a narrowed thorax, rhizomelic dwarfism, and hepatic, renal, and pancreatic abnormalities. High rates of pulmonary hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension have been reported. Some patients die in early stages of life due to respiratory failure. The c...

Bird vocalizations resonate as they propagate through a relatively long trachea and radiate out from the oral cavity. Several studies have described the dynamics with which birds actively vary beak gape while singing and it has been hypothesized that birds vary beak gape as a mechanism for varying vocal tract resonances. Nevertheless, few studies have attempted to quantify the effects of beak g...

The unprecedented wheat yield increases during the Green Revolution were achieved through introduction of Reduced height (Rht)-B1b and Rht-D1b semi-dwarfing alleles. These Rht-1 alleles encode growth-repressing DELLA genes containing a stop codon within their open reading frame that confers gibberellin (GA)-insensitive semi-dwarfism. In this study, we successfully took hurdle detecting wild-typ...

Primary microcephaly, Seckel syndrome, and microcephalic osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II (MOPD II) are disorders exhibiting marked microcephaly, with small brain sizes reflecting reduced neuron production during fetal life. Although primary microcephaly can be caused by mutations in microcephalin (MCPH1), cells from patients with Seckel syndrome and MOPD II harbor mutations in ataxi...

Two siblings with Cockayne syndrome (CS) had extremely severe and early onset cachectic dwarfism, developmental delay, cataracts, microcephaly, peripheral neuropathy, and spastic quadriplegia. In order to study the inherited DNA-repair defect known to be present in cultured CS cells, a lymphoblastoid line was established from the younger sibling. Tissue culture studies revealed the line to have...

Partington, M. W., Gonzales-Crussi, F., Khakee, S. G., and Wollin, D. G. (1971). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 46, 656. Cloverleaf skull and thanatophoric dwarfism: report of four cases, two in the same sibship. Four cases of the cloverleaf skull syndrome are reported, 3 from Britain and 1 from Canada in a family of German/Irish descent. All cases had generalized chondrodysplastic changes a...

INTRODUCTION Contracture is a condition of abnormal shortening or shrinkage of a muscle, and or a tendon often with persistent flexion or distortion at a joint. Careful documentation of the kind of contractures encountered in different paediatric disorders is important in distinguishing a specific subtype. Achondroplasia has been considered as the most common short-limbed dwarfism syndrome, but...

Wolfram syndrome is the condition characterized by juvenile onset diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy, which also known as DIDMOAD. Classical a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused mutations in WFS1, gene involved endoplasmic reticulum mitochondrial function. Patients present with type 1 followed atrophy first decade, insipidus sensorineural deafness second dilated renal outflow tracts earl...

The Schwartz-Jampel Syndrome (SJS) is a very rare condition characterised by Constant fìndings such as typical facial appearance, muscle hypertrophy and continuous muscle activity. Other fìndings are more or less frequently associated, especially skeletai abnormalities, including dwarfism or anyway short stature. The Authors review thè literature about this condition analysing thè clinical pict...