Comprehensive evaluation of a single-stage submaximal treadmill walking protocol in healthy, middle-aged women.

Cardiorespiratory fitness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events in women; however, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)) protocols are not always feasible. The Evaluation of Physical Activity Measures in Middle-Aged Women Study was a 6-week study designed to evaluate six physical activity (PA) measures in women, aged 45-65 years. We investigated the Ebbeling submaximal treadmill (EbbTM) protocol's ability to reflect an active lifestyle in 66 women [median (IQR) age, 51.0 (48.0, 56.5) years]. Participants were screened using ACSM and AHA guidelines and classified as moderate or low cardiovascular risk. VO(2max) was estimated using the EbbTM in all participants (TEST1). Moderate risk women repeated the EbbTM (TEST2) while low risk completed a maximal treadmill test. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and minimal detectable change (MDC(90)) score were calculated to examine reliability. Spearman rank order or Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to determine the association between estimated VO(2max) and physical fitness and activity measures. Estimated VO(2max) from the EbbTM protocol had excellent reproducibility [ICC = 0.95 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.98) and MDC(90) was 1.62 mL kg(-1) min(-1). The EbbTM protocol was associated with measured VO(2max) (ρ = 0.48; p = 0.01) and was positively correlated with moderate- (ρ = 0.32; p = 0.02), vigorous- (ρ = 0.47; p = 0.0005) and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA (ρ = 0.36; p = 0.009), pedometer steps (ρ = 0.41; p = 0.002) and inversely correlated with waist circumference (ρ = -0.58; p < 0.0001), body fat (ρ = -0.55; p < 0.0001), and right leg endurance (ρ = -0.41; p = 0.003). The EbbTM protocol was shown to be reliable and associated with objective measures of fitness and PA in healthy, middle-aged women.

Analysis of 14 BAC sequences from the Aedes aegypti genome: a benchmark for genome annotation and assembly.

BACKGROUND: Aedes aegypti is the principal vector of yellow fever and dengue viruses throughout the tropical world. To provide a set of manually curated and annotated sequences from the Ae. aegypti genome, 14 mapped bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones encompassing 1.57 Mb were sequenced, assembled and manually annotated using a combination of computational gene-finding, expressed sequence tag (EST) matches and comparative protein homology. PCR and sequencing were used to experimentally confirm expression and sequence of a subset of these transcripts. RESULTS: Of the 51 manual annotations, 50 and 43 demonstrated a high level of similarity to Anopheles gambiae and Drosophila melanogaster genes, respectively. Ten of the 12 BAC sequences with more than one annotated gene exhibited synteny with the A. gambiae genome. Putative transcripts from eight BAC clones were found in multiple copies (two copies in most cases) in the Aedes genome assembly, which point to the probable presence of haplotype polymorphisms and/or misassemblies. CONCLUSION: This study not only provides a benchmark set of manually annotated transcripts for this genome that can be used to assess the quality of the auto-annotation pipeline and the assembly, but it also looks at the effect of a high repeat content on the genome assembly and annotation pipeline.

Opportunities for improved risk assessments of exotic species in Canada using bioclimatic modeling.

This paper briefly reviews the process of exotic pest risk assessments and presents some examples of emerging opportunities for spatial bioclimatic modeling of exotic species in Canada. This type of analysis can support risk assessments but does not replace the need for on-going high quality field-based observations to validate and update models. Bioclimatic analysis of several exotic pests is provided to illustrate both opportunities and limits. A link is demonstrated to the National Forest Inventory to characterize timber volumes at risk for one exotic species. 'Challenges' are both scientific and administrative. More accessible and current field survey data are required to improve models. Our experience is that for many exotic species, historical, and even current, data are not always digital or quality controlled for taxonomic identity and accurate geo-referencing. This inhibits their use for integrated spatial modeling applications.