Introduction: Pedometers are increasingly used as a self-monitoring aid for achieving and increasing daily physical activity. Older pedometers had varied levels of accuracy ranging from 0 to 45% difference and were needed to be positioned in a certain way (on the waist). Newer models can be placed anywhere on the body but its accuracy is unknown when they are placed at different bodily sites. Purpose: We determined the accuracy of various newer pedometers under controlled laboratory and free walking conditions. Method: A total of 40 subjects (20 male and 20 female) varying widely in age (18-61 years) and BMI (18-38 kg/m²) were studied. The pedometers, including Omron HJ-320, Omron HJ-324U, Lifesource XI-25, Fitbit Ultra, and Virgin Health Miles, were placed at waist, at chest, in a pocket, and on an armband. The number of steps recorded with the pedometers was compared against those counted with a hand tally counter while the subjects walked on the treadmill at 54, 80, 107, 134, and 161 m/min and on paved ground outside at a self-selected pace. Results: With the exception of one, all the pedometers were accurate (within ±5% of the criterion measure) at moderate walking speeds (80 and 107 m/min). The results were similar no matter where the pedometers were placed on the body and where the walking was performed. There were general tendencies for the accuracy to decrease at slower and faster walking speeds in most pedometers. The mean difference scores increased particularly when the pedometers were placed in the pockets or in the purse. Conclusions: Most of the pedometers examined were accurate when they were placed at waist, chest, and armband no matter what walking speed or what terrain they exercised. But some pedometers did not register accuracy when they were put in the pocket or in the purse particularly at a slow and fast walking speed. / text

This thesis is an investigation of the reproductive performance of dairy herds managed using automated activity monitoring systems for heat detection (AHD) in comparison to herds using timed artificial insemination programs (TAI). Two approaches were taken: a randomized clinical trial and a retrospective cross-sectional study. In the field trial, pregnancy risk (PR) was not different between the AHD (14.6%) and TAI program (15.9%). Overall, time to pregnancy, time to 1st service and time to 2nd service were not different between breeding programs. In the observational study, annual herd-summary reproductive performance in farms using AHD and TAI were not different. Finally, a retrospective analysis in herds that were using AHD for more than one year compared the years before and after adoption of the system. A significant increase of PR and insemination risk was found. In conclusion, AHD systems had comparable reproductive performance to TAI-based programs. / Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Gencor and SCR Engineers Ltd.

No description available.

This study examined the reliability and validity of the SenseWear Armband (SWA, BodyMedia, Inc.) during rest and exercise compared to indirect calorimetry (IC). Energy expenditure (EE) was assessed with SWA and IC in 13 males during two resting and one cycle ergometry (40 min at 60% VO_2peak) sessions. In a second experiment, 20 adults walked on a treadmill for 30 min at 3 intensities while IC and SWA measured EE. At rest, no significant differences were found between EE measurements from the SWA (1.3 ± 0.1 kcal/min) and IC (1.3 ± 0.1 kcal/min), and the methods were significantly correlated (r = 0.76). The SWA EE estimation was reliable when comparing the two resting visits (r = 0.93). For the ergometer protocol, no significant differences were found between the SWA and IC measurements of EE early, mid, or late in exercise or for the total bout, although the measurements were not correlated (r = 0.03-0.12). The SWA EE estimate of walking increased with treadmill speed but not with inclination. The SWA significantly overestimated the EE of walking with no grade (27.4% for 3mph; 12.6% for 4mph) and significantly underestimated EE on the 5% grade (21.9%) (p<0.02). The SWA estimation of EE correlated with IC (r = 0.47-0.69). The SWA provided valid and reliable estimates of EE at rest. The SWA provided similar mean estimates of EE as IC on the ergometer, however the individual error was large. The SWA overestimated the EE of flat walking and underestimated inclined walking EE. / Master of Science

Wirkstoffgewinnung mittels chemischer Synthese führt oft zu Stereoisomeren, welche aufwendig getrennt werden müssen und manche Moleküle sind nur sehr kostenintensiv oder gar nicht darstellbar. Landwirtschaftliche Gewinnung bedeutet Nachteile wie Schadstoffeinsatz und großer Flächenbedarf. Der Einsatz von pflanzlichen Zell- und Gewebekulturen überwindet die genannten Hürden [1, 2]: mit Methoden der Pflanzenbiotechnologie ist es möglich, pflanzliche Inhaltsstoffe in ihrer natürlichen, bioaktiven Form das ganze Jahr über unabhängig von biotischen/abiotischen Umweltfaktoren bei gleichbleibender Qualität und Quantität zu produzieren [3, 4]. Suspensionskulturen und hairy roots gelten momentan als die in vitro-Kulturtypen mit dem größten biotechnologischen Potential. Erstere sind in Flüssigmedium kultivierte Kalluszellen. Bei Kallus handelt es sich um undifferenzierte Pflanzenzellen, welche tumorartig wachsen und durch Zugabe von Pflanzenhormonen an der Differenzierung gehindert werden. Hairy roots entstehen durch Infektion eines Pflanzenteils mit dem Bodenbakterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Die so erhaltene Haarwurzelkultur kann ohne Hormonzusatz vermehrt werden, ihre Morphologie erfordert aber häufig eine Anpassung bestehender Kultivierungsgefäße [2, 5]. / In advance of industrial applications of in vitro plant cell or tissue cultures e.g., as bioactive ingredients for pharmaceuticals, an intense characterization concerning growth and productivity has to be performed. Innovative respiration measurement techniques in shake flask scale were applied to investigate and compare heterotrophic, photomixotrophic and hairy root cultures of sunflower. Furthermore, the qualification of RAMOS for screening of plant in vitro cultures is discussed.

A Wearable Mobility Monitoring System (WMMS) can be an advantageous device for rehabilitation decision-making. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a proof-of-concept WMMS that uses the BlackBerry Smartphone platform. A Java program was developed for the BlackBerry 9550, using the integrated tri-axial accelerometer, Global Positioning System sensor (GPS), CMOS digital video camera, and timer to identify change-of-state (CoS) among static states, dynamic states, small activity of daily living (ADL) movements, and car riding. Static states included sitting, lying, standing, and taking an elevator. Dynamic states included walking on level ground, walking on stairs, and walking on a ramp. Small activity of daily living movements included bathroom activities, working in the kitchen, and meal preparation. Following feature extraction from the sensor data, two decision trees were used to distinguish CoS and mobility activities. CoS identification subsequently triggered video recording for improved mobility context analysis during post-processing.

A Wearable Mobility Monitoring System (WMMS) can be an advantageous device for rehabilitation decision-making. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a proof-of-concept WMMS that uses the BlackBerry Smartphone platform. A Java program was developed for the BlackBerry 9550, using the integrated tri-axial accelerometer, Global Positioning System sensor (GPS), CMOS digital video camera, and timer to identify change-of-state (CoS) among static states, dynamic states, small activity of daily living (ADL) movements, and car riding. Static states included sitting, lying, standing, and taking an elevator. Dynamic states included walking on level ground, walking on stairs, and walking on a ramp. Small activity of daily living movements included bathroom activities, working in the kitchen, and meal preparation. Following feature extraction from the sensor data, two decision trees were used to distinguish CoS and mobility activities. CoS identification subsequently triggered video recording for improved mobility context analysis during post-processing.

A Wearable Mobility Monitoring System (WMMS) can be an advantageous device for rehabilitation decision-making. This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a proof-of-concept WMMS that uses the BlackBerry Smartphone platform. A Java program was developed for the BlackBerry 9550, using the integrated tri-axial accelerometer, Global Positioning System sensor (GPS), CMOS digital video camera, and timer to identify change-of-state (CoS) among static states, dynamic states, small activity of daily living (ADL) movements, and car riding. Static states included sitting, lying, standing, and taking an elevator. Dynamic states included walking on level ground, walking on stairs, and walking on a ramp. Small activity of daily living movements included bathroom activities, working in the kitchen, and meal preparation. Following feature extraction from the sensor data, two decision trees were used to distinguish CoS and mobility activities. CoS identification subsequently triggered video recording for improved mobility context analysis during post-processing.

Understanding the predisposing factors for older people falling is imperative as falls can lead to considerable medical and societal costs, loss of independence and reduced quality of life. In particular, it is important to understand more about the many possible intrinsic and extrinsic reasons why older people sometimes fail to maintain their postural stability and fall. Older people are increasingly being encouraged to maintain or increase their daily physical activity levels. Healthy older adults have been shown to have altered postural stability following high intensity physical activity; however it is not known whether postural stability is compromised during everyday levels of physical activity. If it were, it could expose them to greater risk of falling. The overall aim of this series of investigations was to determine whether postural stability was detrimentally affected immediately after moderate intensity physical activity. Five studies were undertaken. Study 1 was carried out to determine the typical duration of activity periods that occur during the daily lives of community-living older people. In this study, the activity period durations of older people living either at home or in an aged care facility were recorded over a continuous 72 hour period using an activity monitoring device. Study 2 determined the effect of an activity protocol, designed to be representative of routine daily activity of community-living older people, on clinical indicators of fatigue. These indicators included maximal voluntary torque from the knee extensor and hip abductor muscles, subjective feelings of fatigue and temporal and spatial gait variables. The physical activity protocol involved a series of tasks carried out continuously for 14 minutes, self-paced at moderate intensity. Tasks included walking, step-ups, mini-lunges and avoiding obstacles. The final three studies compared postural stability before and immediately after the moderate intensity physical activity protocol. Study 3 recorded centre of pressure (COP) displacement during quiet standing with feet together. Study 4 recorded forces and postural electromyographic (EMG) activity during a rapid forward step-up task. Study 5 recorded postural responses to a lateral waist-pull perturbation large enough to elicit a step response. Studies 2, 3 and 4 compared healthy young adults with healthy older and balance-impaired older adults, whilst the final study compared healthy young and old adults. Community-living older people were found to have a wide range of activity period durations and those living in aged care had significantly shorter activity periods compared to those living independently at home. As a result of the findings, an activity period duration of 14 minutes was considered representative of community-living older people’s physical activity exposure. In Study 2, immediately following the physical activity protocol, young, healthy old and balance-impaired older adults all showed no changes in leg strength. All groups felt generally tired and had sensations of local leg muscle fatigue but only the balance-impaired adults were still reporting feelings of fatigue 20 minutes after the activity ceased. This group were also the only group to show altered gait after the activity. Their cadence was reduced compared with before activity and remained reduced 20 minutes later. In quiet standing, all groups demonstrated larger COP displacement in the mediolateral direction following the physical activity. For the step-up task, all groups showed small improvements immediately following the physical activity. These included reductions in the duration of the weight-shift phase, lateral COP displacement during weight-shift and the stance leg hip abductor muscle onset times. Participants also showed a shift in COP position towards the stance side prior to the step following the physical activity. In the final study, the older participants used a cross-over step in response to the lateral perturbation more frequently after the activity than before. This response is a less optimal response compared with a faster and more stable single outward step. When older and younger participants did perform outward steps following the physical activity, they performed them as well as they did before activity. Small changes to some of the measures of postural stability were found during quiet standing, voluntary stepping and to the responses after a lateral perturbation following moderate intensity physical activity. These changes may have been due to the impact of subjective feelings of tiredness experienced by participants. The increased use of a cross-over step strategy to regain balance after a lateral perturbation among healthy older people may mean that older people are at greater risk of falling after physical activity. However, the findings from this series of studies do not convincingly support a clinically significant detrimental effect on older people’s postural stability immediately following routine daily physical activity. This thesis has begun to investigate the effect of physical activity at daily levels on older people’s postural stability, however further investigations are recommended.

Just as the carbon dioxide observations that form the Keeling curve revolutionized the study of the global carbon cycle, free and open access to all available Landsat imagery is fundamentally changing how the Landsat record is being used to study ecosystems and ecological dynamics. This dissertation advances the use of Landsat time series for visualization, classification, and detection of changes in terrestrial ecological processes. More specifically, it includes new examples of how complex ecological patterns manifest in time series of Landsat observations, as well as novel approaches for detecting and quantifying these patterns. Exploration of the complexity of spectral-temporal patterns in the Landsat record reveals both seasonal variability and longer-term trajectories difficult to characterize using conventional bi-temporal or even annual observations. These examples provide empirical evidence of hypothetical ecosystem response functions proposed by Kennedy et al. (2014). Quantifying observed seasonal and phenological differences in the spectral reflectance of Massachusetts’ forest communities by combining existing harmonic curve fitting and phenology detection algorithms produces stable feature sets that consistently out-performed more traditional approaches for detailed forest type classification. This study addresses the current lack of species-level forest data at Landsat resolutions, demonstrating the advantages of spectral-temporal features as classification inputs. Development of a targeted change detection method using transformations of time series data improves spatial and temporal information on the occurrence of flood events in landscapes actively modified by recovering North American beaver (Castor canadensis) populations. These results indicate the utility of the Landsat record for the study of species-habitat relationships, even in complex wetland environments. Overall, this dissertation confirms the value of the Landsat archive as a continuous record of terrestrial ecosystem state and dynamics. Given the global coverage of remote sensing datasets, the time series visualization and analysis approaches presented here can be extended to other areas. These approaches will also be improved by more frequent collection of moderate resolution imagery, as planned by the Landsat and Sentinel-2 programs. In the modern era of global environmental change, use of the Landsat spectral-temporal domain presents new and exciting opportunities for the long-term large-scale study of ecosystem extent, composition, condition, and change.