Meeting Abstract 50.3  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:45  Myosin heavy chain isoforms of the flight and leg muscles of hummingbird and zebra finch VELTEN, B*; WELCH, K; University of Toronto; University of Toronto brandy.velten@mail.utoronto.ca The maximum shortening velocity of a muscle fiber is strongly correlated with the myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms it contains. While MHC isoforms of […]

Meeting Abstract 50.4  Sunday, Jan. 5 11:00  How does the velocity-dependent behavior of muscles change with activation? TAHIR, UH*; MONROY, JA; NISHIKAWA, KC; Northern Arizona University; Northern Arizona University; Northern Arizona University ut5@nau.edu Despite the success of the sliding filament theory, many important properties of muscle remain unexplained. Surprisingly, the goal of predicting muscle force output during […]

Meeting Abstract 50.5  Sunday, Jan. 5 11:15  Effects of prenatal glucocorticoids on the fetal guinea pig scalenus muscle BUTLER, M.R.*; CHUGHTAI, A.; RILEY, L.A.; WALKER, R.A.; DEAROLF, J.L.; RICHMOND, J.P.; Hendrix College, Conway, AR; Univ. of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL butlermr@hendrix.edu Glucocorticoids are commonly administered to women considered at risk for premature birth to speed up fetal […]

Meeting Abstract 50.6  Sunday, Jan. 5 11:30  Does Ca2+ diffusion limit myofibril size? KELLY, K.L.; GOLDING, C.; LOCKE, B.R.; DILLAMAN, R.M.; KINSEY, S.T.*; Univ. of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington; Florida State Univ., Tallahassee; Florida State Univ., Tallahassee; Univ. of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington; Univ. of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington kinseys@uncw.edu Tail beat frequency in fishes generally decreases […]

Meeting Abstract 50.2  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:30  Boundaries of skeletal muscle instability at long sarcomere lengths AZIZI, E*; DUNLEVIE, MD; Univ. of California, Irvine; Univ. of California, Irvine eazizi@uci.edu Skeletal muscles are thought to be unstable when operating at lengths beyond the plateau of the force-length curve. This instability is a result of variation in sarcomere length […]

Meeting Abstract 49.1  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:15  Surface swimming in tropical canopy ants YANOVIAK, S P*; FREDERICK, D N; Univ. of Louisville; Univ. of Arkansas, Little Rock steve.yanoviak@louisville.edu Wingless arthropods (e.g., ants) regularly fall from tropical forest canopies to the ground below. The flooded, fish-inhabited understory typical of many tropical forests presents an especially high probability of […]

Meeting Abstract 49.3  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:45  Flying fish accelerate at 5 G to leap from the water surface YANG, P.J.*; PHONEKEO, S.; XU, K.; CHANG, S.K.; HU, D.L.; Georgia Tech, Georgia; Georgia Tech, Georgia; Georgia Tech, Georgia; National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan; Georgia Tech, Georgia peijyang@gatech.edu Flying fish can both swim underwater and glide in air. Transitioning […]

Meeting Abstract 49.2  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:30  ECHOLOCATION IN WHIRLIGIG BETTLES USING SURFACE WAVES: AN UNSUBSTANTIATED CONJECTURE CASAS, J*; VOISE, J; University of Tours (F) casas@univ-tours.fr Whirligig beetles use surface waves in a wide range of situations and it has been hypothesized that they could use the echo of their own waves to scan the water surface. […]

Meeting Abstract 48.2  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:15  The response of octopus chromatophores to light is independent of the CNS and may be mediated by r-opsin phototransduction genes RAMIREZ, D*; OAKLEY, TH; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara ramirez@lifesci.ucsb.edu Both eyed and eyeless animals depend on sensors in their skin to detect changes in light, a phenomenon known as […]

Meeting Abstract 48.1  Sunday, Jan. 5 10:00  The origin of screening pigments in the evolution of the ‘shell’ eyes of chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) SPEISER, D.I.*; DEMARTINI, D.G.; OAKLEY, T.H.; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara dispeiser@gmail.com Image-forming eyes have evolved multiple times in Mollusca. We are studying these […]