CalR: A Web-Based Analysis Tool for Indirect Calorimetry Experiments.

We report a web-based tool for analysis of experiments using indirect calorimetry to measure physiological energy balance. CalR simplifies the process to import raw data files, generate plots, and determine the most appropriate statistical tests for interpretation. Analysis using the generalized linear model (which includes ANOVA and ANCOVA) allows for flexibility in interpreting diverse experimental designs, including those of obesity and thermogenesis. Users also may produce standardized output files for an experiment that can be shared and subsequently re-evaluated using CalR. This framework will provide the transparency necessary to enhance consistency, rigor, and reproducibility. The CalR analysis software will greatly increase the speed and efficiency with which metabolic experiments can be organized, analyzed per accepted norms, and reproduced and will likely become a standard tool for the field. CalR is accessible at https://CalRapp.org/.

Study design, water quality, morphometrics and age of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana, in sub-watersheds of the Yamaska River drainage basin, Québec, Canada.

The Yamaska River basin is renowned for its poor water quality, which has been attributed to intensive agriculture (corn, soya, high-density pork and poultry production). Six locations within the Yamaska watershed were selected to evaluate the impact of agriculture on water habitats and study the bullfrog as a sentinel species of potential exposure and effects. The selected sub-watersheds were chosen according to the percentage of surface area under cultivation and classified as low (0-19%), moderate (20-59%) or high (>60%). In 2004 and 2005, analysis of surface water samples demonstrated that pesticide concentrations and most water quality parameters increased with increasing agricultural activity. Sixteen adult bullfrogs were sampled from each site. Animals were weighed, measured for length (total, snout-vent, tibia, tympanum), sexed, and evaluated for the colour of the throat. Skeletochronology was used to estimate the growth and age of the frogs. Cross-sections of decalcified phalanges and femurs were treated in order to count LAGs (lines of arrest growth) and for the observations of other parameters related to bone growth. The bullfrogs from highly contaminated sites had the lowest mean age and the smallest snout-vent length compared to sites of low contamination.