On The Trail of Physiology across America: First Stop, Arizona (Part 1)

While searching website of The American Physiological Society, I discovered that there are local chapters of the society all across America. So I have decided to bring highlights from their meetings to you. We will be starting with the Arizona Physiological Society as they just held their annual meeting at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona.

Here are some highlights of current comparative physiology research from the meeting's abstracts for Friday November 5th:

Bullfrog Bones: Researchers at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ) are in the process of building a computerized biomechanical model of the bullfrog skeleton to better understand motor control. Wilkinson K, Uyeno TA, Gilles B, Sueda S, Lee D, Giszter SF, Pai DK, and Nishikawa KC. Building a Virtual Biomechanical Model of the Bullfrog Skeleton. Visit Dr. Nishikawa's website.

Fatty Birds: Researchers at Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) are studying fuel preference (glucose and fatty acids) in mitochondria isolated from the flight muscles of house sparrows. Kuzmiak S, Schmidt E, Sweazea K, and Willis W. Pyruvate Sparing by Fatty Acid and Glutamate in Sparrow Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria. Visit Dr. Willis' website.