NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: From helical fibers to vortical flow: unravelling the contributions of muscle geometry and physiology to swimming performance

这项行动资助了2022财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究员的研究目标是了解肌肉解剖结构的微小差异如何影响动物运动。这个研究项目从一个简单的观察开始：从一边到另一边弯曲是脊椎动物运动的最古老和最常见的形式。几乎所有的鱼都是通过前后弯曲身体来游泳的。事实上，对大多数脊椎动物来说，移动就是弯曲。然而，使用身体弯曲的动物受到生物力学约束：当肌肉弯曲脊柱时，肌肉组织变形不均匀。靠近脊柱的肌肉只会缩短一点，而远离脊柱的肌肉会缩短很多，这两个都不是最佳的。这种不均匀的肌肉变形可能会破坏运动性能。这项研究旨在确定身体弯曲的脊椎动物是否可能已经进化出专门的肌肉纤维几何形状来解决这个生物力学问题。为了回答这些问题，研究员将使用多种尖端方法来分析和模拟鱼类在水中的运动。为了增加在干的参与，研究员将在奇卡诺斯和美洲原住民的进步（SACNAS）的社会担任领导角色。为了确定脊椎动物如何解决弯曲的生物力学问题，研究员正在进行两项研究，研究鱼类及其几何复杂的轴向肌肉系统。这项工作将涉及多种方法，包括3D建模，体外肌肉生理学和粒子成像测速（PIV）来测量水流模式。第一项研究测量了大口黑鲈以不同速度游泳时的身体弯曲度、肌肉活动和液体流动。第二项研究使用一种称为“工作循环”的经典技术来测量具有不同纤维几何形状的肌纤维束的收缩性能，如使用3D数学模型和肌纤维角度的3D测量所计算的。这些实验的数据将结合起来，以产生内部肌肉力量和外部水动力的空间定量地图。这些结果将确定鱼肌肉的复杂螺旋纤维几何形状是否解决了弯曲问题。这项研究还将扩大对肌肉内产生的力量如何传递到水中的理解，以及鱼类是否会在不同的游泳速度下改变策略。为了长期的职业发展，研究员正在接受学生导师和实验室管理方面的培训。为了扩大代表性不足的少数民族的参与，研究员将参加由SACNAS提供的领导计划，也将参加在波士顿科学博物馆的推广活动。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The goal of the Fellow’s research is to understand how animal movement is affected by small differences in muscle anatomy. This research project begins with a simple observation: bending from side to side is the oldest and most common form of vertebrate locomotion. Nearly all fishes swim by bending their bodies back and forth. For most vertebrates, in fact, to move is to bend. However, animals that use body bending are subject to a biomechanical constraint: as muscles flex the spine, muscle tissue deforms unevenly. Muscle close to the spine only shortens a little, and muscle far from the spine shortens a lot, and neither of these are optimal. This uneven muscle deformation risks sabotaging locomotor performance. This research seeks to determine whether body-bending vertebrates may have evolved specialized muscle fiber geometries to solve this biomechanical problem. To answer these questions, the Fellow will use multiple cutting-edge approaches to analyze and model fish motion in water. To increase participation in STEM, the Fellow will serve in leadership roles in the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans (SACNAS). To determine how vertebrates have solved the biomechanical problem of bending, the Fellow is conducting two studies examining fish and their geometrically complex axial musculature. The work will involve multiple approaches including 3D modelling, in vitro muscle physiology, and particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) to measure patterns of water flow. The first study measures body curvature, muscle activity, and fluid flow in largemouth bass swimming at different speeds. The second study uses a classic technique called a “work loop” to measure contractile performance for muscle fiber bundles with different fiber geometries, as calculated using a 3D mathematical model and 3D measurements of muscle fiber angle. The data from these experiments will be combined to generate a spatial quantitative map of internal muscular forces and external hydrodynamic forces. These results will determine if the complex helical fiber geometry of fish muscles solves the bending problem. This research will also expand the understanding of how force generated within muscles is transmitted into the water, and whether fish shift strategies at different swimming speeds. For long-term career development, the Fellow is being trained in student mentorship and lab management. To broaden participation of underrepresented minorities, the Fellow will participate in leadership programs offered by SACNAS and will also participate in outreach at the Museum of Science in Boston.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.