Respirometry is frequently used to estimate metabolic rates and examine organismal responses to environmental change. Although a range of methodologies exists, it remains unclear whether differences in chamber design and exercise (type and duration) produce comparable results within individuals and whether the most appropriate method differs across taxa. We used a repeated-measures design to co...

Short duration repeated maximal efforts are often used in swimming training to improve lactate tolerance, which gives swimmers the ability to maintain a high work rate for a longer period of time. The aim of the study was to examine the kinematics of swimming and its relation to the changes in blood acid-base status and potassium level. Seven collegiate swimmers, with at least 6 years of traini...

We followed up swimming performance times of 321 women and 319 men who participated in the US Masters Swimming Championships over a 12-yr period. All swimmers placed in the top 10 in their age group over 3 yr (mean = 5 yr). A random coefficients model for repeated measures was used to derive a line of best fit from a group of regression lines for each subject. Both 50- and 1,500-m swimming perf...

background physical activity and alteration of temperature as a source of stress may have adverse effects on male reproduction. objectives the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chronic swimming and standing in cold, warm and lukewarm water on mouse spermatogenesis. materials and methods forty-nine male mice (n = 49) were randomly divided into seven groups: c, control; swc, swim...

Discriminant analysis (DA) encompasses procedures for classifying observations into groups (i.e., predictive discriminative analysis) and describing the relative importance of variables for distinguishing amongst groups (i.e., descriptive discriminative analysis). In recent years, a number of developments have occurred in DA procedures for the analysis of data from repeated measures designs. Sp...

Tactile stimulation (light stroking) of a body wall flap attached to the ventral nerve cord of the medicinal leech evokes episodes of swimming activity. This swimming response undergoes habituation, involving changes in swim initiation and swim maintenance. Repeated stimulation of the body wall flap evoked swimming activity between three and 39 times before this response failed. During repetiti...

The behavioural state of an organism consists of an array of constituent behaviours or responses which may be altered differentially as the behavioural state of an animal changes (Kupferman et al. 1991). The medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis , exhibits a long cycle in feeding behaviour (Dickinson and Lent, 1984). When they have not fed for some months, Hirudo exhibit an array of appetitive be...