Intensity and physiological responses to the 6-minute walk test in middle-aged and older adults: a comparison with cardiopulmonary exercise testing

The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a simple field test that is widely used in clinical settings to assess functional exercise capacity. However, studies with healthy subjects are scarce. We hypothesized that the 6MWT might be useful to assess exercise capacity in healthy subjects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 6MWT intensity in middle-aged and older adults, as well as to develop a simple equation to predict oxygen uptake ( V ˙ O 2 ) from the 6-min walk distance (6MWD). Eighty-six participants, 40 men and 46 women, 40-74 years of age and with a mean body mass index of 28±6 kg/m2, performed the 6MWT according to American Thoracic Society guidelines. Physiological responses were evaluated during the 6MWT using a K4b2 Cosmed telemetry gas analyzer. On a different occasion, the subjects performed ramp protocol cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) on a treadmill. Peak V ˙ O 2 in the 6MWT corresponded to 78±13% of the peak V ˙ O 2 during CPET, and the maximum heart rate corresponded to 80±23% of that obtained in CPET. Peak V ˙ O 2 in CPET was adequately predicted by the 6MWD by a linear regression equation: V ˙ O 2 mL·min-1·kg-1 = -2.863 + (0.0563×6MWDm) (R2=0.76). The 6MWT represents a moderate-to-high intensity activity in middle-aged and older adults and proved to be useful for predicting cardiorespiratory fitness in the present study. Our results suggest that the 6MWT may also be useful in asymptomatic individuals, and its use in walk-based conditioning programs should be encouraged.

Model-based testing of software systems : functionality and performance

Software is a key component in many of our devices and products that we use every day. Most customers demand not only that their devices should function as expected but also that the software should be of high quality, reliable, fault tolerant, efficient, etc. In short, it is not enough that a calculator gives the correct result of a calculation, we want the result instantly, in the right form, with minimal use of battery, etc. One of the key aspects for succeeding in today's industry is delivering high quality. In most software development projects, high-quality software is achieved by rigorous testing and good quality assurance practices. However, today, customers are asking for these high quality software products at an ever-increasing pace. This leaves the companies with less time for development. Software testing is an expensive activity, because it requires much manual work. Testing, debugging, and verification are estimated to consume 50 to 75 per cent of the total development cost of complex software projects. Further, the most expensive software defects are those which have to be fixed after the product is released. One of the main challenges in software development is reducing the associated cost and time of software testing without sacrificing the quality of the developed software. It is often not enough to only demonstrate that a piece of software is functioning correctly. Usually, many other aspects of the software, such as performance, security, scalability, usability, etc., need also to be verified. Testing these aspects of the software is traditionally referred to as nonfunctional testing. One of the major challenges with non-functional testing is that it is usually carried out at the end of the software development process when most of the functionality is implemented. This is due to the fact that non-functional aspects, such as performance or security, apply to the software as a whole. In this thesis, we study the use of model-based testing. We present approaches to automatically generate tests from behavioral models for solving some of these challenges. We show that model-based testing is not only applicable to functional testing but also to non-functional testing. In its simplest form, performance testing is performed by executing multiple test sequences at once while observing the software in terms of responsiveness and stability, rather than the output. The main contribution of the thesis is a coherent model-based testing approach for testing functional and performance related issues in software systems. We show how we go from system models, expressed in the Unified Modeling Language, to test cases and back to models again. The system requirements are traced throughout the entire testing process. Requirements traceability facilitates finding faults in the design and implementation of the software. In the research field of model-based testing, many new proposed approaches suffer from poor or the lack of tool support. Therefore, the second contribution of this thesis is proper tool support for the proposed approach that is integrated with leading industry tools. We o er independent tools, tools that are integrated with other industry leading tools, and complete tool-chains when necessary. Many model-based testing approaches proposed by the research community suffer from poor empirical validation in an industrial context. In order to demonstrate the applicability of our proposed approach, we apply our research to several systems, including industrial ones.

Spectrally Tuned Lanthanide Photoluminescence for Point-of-Care Testing

Point-of-care (POC) –diagnostics is a field with rapidly growing market share. As these applications become more widely used, there is an increasing pressure to improve their performance to match the one of a central laboratory tests. Lanthanide luminescence has been widely utilized in diagnostics because of the numerous advantages gained by the utilization of time-resolved or anti-Stokes detection. So far the use of lanthanide labels in POC has been scarce due to limitations set by the instrumentation required for their detection and the shortcomings, e.g. low brightness, of these labels. Along with the advances in the research of lanthanide luminescence, and in the field of semiconductors, these materials are becoming a feasible alternative for the signal generation also in the future POC assays. The aim of this thesis was to explore ways of utilizing time-resolved detection or anti-Stokes detection in POC applications. The long-lived fluorescence for the time-resolved measurement can be produced with lanthanide chelates. The ultraviolet (UV) excitation required by these chelates is cumbersome to produce with POC compatible fluorescence readers. In this thesis the use of a novel light-harvesting ligand was studied. This molecule can be used to excite Eu(III)-ions at wavelengths extending up to visible part of the spectrum. An enhancement solution based on this ligand showed a good performance in a proof-of-concept -bioaffinity assay and produced a bright signal upon 365 nm excitation thanks to the high molar absorptivity of the chelate. These features are crucial when developing miniaturized readers for the time-resolved detection of fluorescence. Upconverting phosphors (UCPs) were studied as an internal light source in glucose-sensing dry chemistry test strips and ways of utilizing their various emission wavelengths and near-infrared excitation were explored. The use of nanosized NaYF :Yb3+,Tm3+-particles enabled the replacement of an external UV-light source with a NIR-laser and gave an additional degree of freedom in the optical setup of the detector instrument. The new method enabled a blood glucose measurement with results comparable to a current standard method of measuring reflectance. Microsized visible emitting UCPs were used in a similar manner, but with a broad absorbing indicator compound filtering the excitation and emission wavelengths of the UCP. This approach resulted in a novel way of benefitting from the non-linear relationship between the excitation power and emission intensity of the UCPs, and enabled the amplification of the signal response from the indicator dye.

Automated UI testing. WBCT, a computer-automated user test environment tool.

Today, the user experience and usability in software application are becoming a major design issue due to the adaptation of many processes using new technologies. Therefore, the study of the user experience and usability might be included in every software development project and, thus, they should be tested to get traceable results. As a result of different testing methods to evaluate the concepts, a non-expert on the topic might have doubts on which option he/she should opt for and how to interpret the outcomes of the process. This work aims to create a process to ease the whole testing methodology based on the process created by Seffah et al. and a supporting software tool to follow the procedure of these testing methods for the user experience and usability.

(Arrêt du Grand Conseil qui ordonne la suppression d'un libelle intitulé : "Mémoire pour Messire Gui-Michel Billard de Lorière, conseiller au Grand Conseil, contre dame Marie-Henriette de Saint-Simon, son épouse.)

[Acte. 1755-08-30. Paris]

勑修百丈清規Chi xiu bai zhang qing gui.Rituel et règlements officiels des bonzes.

Par Bai zhang (époque des Tang) ; revu par De hui, et Da su (époque des Yuan). Nouvelle édition (1442) précédée d'un rapport de Hu Yong, ministre des Rites, et de diverses pièces de 1335, 1336, etc.

繡像白圭全傳Xiu xiang bai gui quan zhuan.Histoire illustrée de la tablette blanche.

Par Cui Xiang chuan, de Bai ling ; le titre porte l'indication : édition du 10e romancier de génie par Ji Xiao lan. Ce dernier, postnom Yun, originaire de Xian, a vécu de 1724 à 1805. Préface de Qing chuan ju shi. Portraits des personnages. Édition de la salle Yong an.Livre préliminaire + 4 sections (16 hui).

沈微垣先生規正圖註王叔和難經脉訣大全Shen wei yuan xian sheng gui zheng tu zhu wang shu he nan jing mo jue da quan.Le Mo jue et le Nan jing, édition collective.

Contient : I刪註脈訣規正Shan zhu mo jue gui zheng.Le Mo jue corrigé ; II圖註八十一難經Tu zhu ba shi yi nan jing.Le Nan jing illustré, en 81 sections

丹桂籍Dan gui ji.Collection de traités taoïstes.

Contient : I太上感應篇Tai shang gan ying pian.Le Tai shang gan ying pian ; II文昌帝君陰騭文Wen chang di jun yin zhi wen.Traité de la fixation mystérieuse, par le dieu de la Littérature ; III關夫子覺世眞經Guan fu zi jue shi zhen jing.Le livre sacré de l'éveil du monde, de Guan fu zi ; IV關聖帝君降筆眞經Guan sheng di jun jiang bi zhen jing.Livre sacré écrit par le dieu de la Guerre ; V關聖帝君顯應戒士文Guan sheng di jun xian ying jie shi wen.Conseils aux lettrés, traité par le dieu de la Guerre ; VI東嶽聖帝垂訓Dong yue sheng di chui xun.Instructions du dieu du Dong yue ; VII呂純陽祖師勸世戒食牛犬Lü chun yang zu shi quan shi jie shi niu quan.Défense de manger le bœuf et le chien, traité par Lü Chun yang ; VIII文昌孝經Wen chang xiao jing.Livre sacré de la piété filiale, par Wen chang ; IX蕉窓十則Jiao chuang shi ze.Les dix commandements de Jiao tchhoang ; X功過格纂要Gong ge ge zuan yao.Éléments des règles du mérite et du péché ; XI桂香殿功過格Gui xiang dian gong ge ge.Règles du mérite et du péché, de la salle Gui xiang ; XII靈驗記Ling yan ji.Exemples miraculeux ; XIII文昌帝君降乩惜字功罪例Wen chang di jun jiang ji xi zi gong zui li.Règlement du mérite et du péché, relativement au respect des caractères d'écriture ; donné par le dieu de la Littérature ; XIV, livre préliminaire募刊疏引Mu kan su yin.Rapport et introduction sur la gravure de l'ouvrage ; XV, livre préliminaire婁東善書目錄.Lou dong shan shu mu lu.Liste d'ouvrages recommandés, dressée à Lou dong ; XVI, livre préliminaire文昌帝君丹桂籍靈驗記 。續記.Wen chang di jun dan gui ji ling yan ji. Xu ji.Notice des miracles dus au Dan gui ji du dieu delà Littérature, partie principale et suite ; XVII, livre préliminaire顏廷表先生傳.Yan ting biao xian sheng zhuan.Vie de Yan Ting biao ; XVIII, livre préliminaire顏雲麓先生傳.Yan yun lu xian sheng zhuan.Vie de Yan Yun lu ; XIX, livre préliminaire丹桂籍奉行心法.Dan gui ji feng xing xin fa.Préceptes pour pratiquer les règles du Dan gui ji ; XX, livre préliminaire文昌帝君降筆記.Wen chang di jun jiang bi ji.Notice dictée parle dieu de la Littérature ; XXI, livre préliminaire玉皇寶號.Yu huang bao hao.Les noms précieux de Yu huang ; XXII, livres 1-4九天開化主宰元皇司錄宏仁文昌帝君陰隲文註案Jiu tian kai hua zhu zai yuan huang si lu hong ren wen chang di jun yin zhi wen zhu an.Traité de la fixation mystérieuse, par le dieu de la Littérature ; avec commentaires et exemples ; XXIII, livre final文昌帝君救刧寶章Wen chang di jun jiu jie bao zhang.Précieux articles du dieu de la Littérature pour le salut du monde ; XXIV, livre final梓潼帝君降筆戒士子文Zi tong di jun jiang bi jie shi zi wen.Conseils aux lettrés, deux traités par le dieu de la Littérature ; XXV, livre final文昌帝君勸孝文Wen chang di jun quan xiao wen.Traité pour conseiller la piété filiale, par le dieu de la Littérature ; XXVI, livre final玉中書勸孝歌Yu zhong shu quan xiao ge.Chanson pour conseiller la piété filiale ; XXVII, livre final圓明鬥母天尊勸世文.Yuan ming dou mu tian zun quan shi wen.Conseils au monde, traité de la déesse Yuan ming dou mu ; XXVIII, livre final俞淨意先生遇竈神記.Yu jing yi xian sheng yu zao shen ji.Entrevue de Yu Jing yi avec l'esprit du Foyer ; XXIX, livre final袁了凡先生四訓 。立命之學.Yuan liao fan xian sheng si xun. Li ming zhi xue.Quatre exhortations de Yuan Liao fan. Première section : Science de la direction de la vie ; XXX, livre final積善之方Ji shan zhi fang.Deuxième section : Recette pour accumuler les bonnes actions ; XXXI, livre final改過之法Gai ge zhi fa.Troisième section : Moyen de corriger les fautes ; XXXII, livre final謙德之效Qian le zhi xiao.Quatrième section : Manifestation d'humilité ; XXXIII, livre final佛母準提神咒Fo mu zhun ti shen zhou.Invocation de la mère du Bouddha ; XXXIV, livre final袁了凡先生勸喪文Yuan liao fan xian sheng quan sang wen.Traité de Yuan Liao fan sur les funérailles ; XXXV, livre final遏淫說E yin shuo.Traité contre l'impureté ; XXXVI, livre final行不費錢功德例Xing bu fei qian gong de li.Manière d'obtenir des mérites sans dépenser d'argent

丹桂籍Dan gui ji.Collection de traités taoïstes.

Contient : I太上感應篇Tai shang gan ying pian.Le Tai shang gan ying pian ; II文昌帝君陰騭文Wen chang di jun yin zhi wen.Traité de la fixation mystérieuse, par le dieu de la Littérature ; III關夫子覺世眞經Guan fu zi jue shi zhen jing.Le livre sacré de l'éveil du monde, de Guan fu zi ; IV關聖帝君降筆眞經Guan sheng di jun jiang bi zhen jing.Livre sacré écrit par le dieu de la Guerre ; V關聖帝君顯應戒士文Guan sheng di jun xian ying jie shi wen.Conseils aux lettrés, traité par le dieu de la Guerre ; VI東嶽聖帝垂訓Dong yue sheng di chui xun.Instructions du dieu du Dong yue ; VII呂純陽祖師勸世戒食牛犬Lü chun yang zu shi quan shi jie shi niu quan.Défense de manger le bœuf et le chien, traité par Lü Chun yang ; VIII文昌孝經Wen chang xiao jing.Livre sacré de la piété filiale, par Wen chang ; IX蕉窓十則Jiao chuang shi ze.Les dix commandements de Jiao tchhoang ; X功過格纂要Gong ge ge zuan yao.Éléments des règles du mérite et du péché ; XI桂香殿功過格Gui xiang dian gong ge ge.Règles du mérite et du péché, de la salle Gui xiang ; XII靈驗記Ling yan ji.Exemples miraculeux ; XIII文昌帝君降乩惜字功罪例Wen chang di jun jiang ji xi zi gong zui li.Règlement du mérite et du péché, relativement au respect des caractères d'écriture ; donné par le dieu de la Littérature ; XIV, livre préliminaire募刊疏引Mu kan su yin.Rapport et introduction sur la gravure de l'ouvrage ; XV, livre préliminaire婁東善書目錄.Lou dong shan shu mu lu.Liste d'ouvrages recommandés, dressée à Lou dong ; XVI, livre préliminaire文昌帝君丹桂籍靈驗記 。續記.Wen chang di jun dan gui ji ling yan ji. Xu ji.Notice des miracles dus au Dan gui ji du dieu delà Littérature, partie principale et suite ; XVII, livre préliminaire顏廷表先生傳.Yan ting biao xian sheng zhuan.Vie de Yan Ting biao ; XVIII, livre préliminaire顏雲麓先生傳.Yan yun lu xian sheng zhuan.Vie de Yan Yun lu ; XIX, livre préliminaire丹桂籍奉行心法.Dan gui ji feng xing xin fa.Préceptes pour pratiquer les règles du Dan gui ji ; XX, livre préliminaire文昌帝君降筆記.Wen chang di jun jiang bi ji.Notice dictée parle dieu de la Littérature ; XXI, livre préliminaire玉皇寶號.Yu huang bao hao.Les noms précieux de Yu huang ; XXII, livres 1-4九天開化主宰元皇司錄宏仁文昌帝君陰隲文註案Jiu tian kai hua zhu zai yuan huang si lu hong ren wen chang di jun yin zhi wen zhu an.Traité de la fixation mystérieuse, par le dieu de la Littérature ; avec commentaires et exemples ; XXIII, livre final文昌帝君救刧寶章Wen chang di jun jiu jie bao zhang.Précieux articles du dieu de la Littérature pour le salut du monde ; XXIV, livre final梓潼帝君降筆戒士子文Zi tong di jun jiang bi jie shi zi wen.Conseils aux lettrés, deux traités par le dieu de la Littérature ; XXV, livre final文昌帝君勸孝文Wen chang di jun quan xiao wen.Traité pour conseiller la piété filiale, par le dieu de la Littérature ; XXVI, livre final玉中書勸孝歌Yu zhong shu quan xiao ge.Chanson pour conseiller la piété filiale ; XXVII, livre final圓明鬥母天尊勸世文.Yuan ming dou mu tian zun quan shi wen.Conseils au monde, traité de la déesse Yuan ming dou mu ; XXVIII, livre final俞淨意先生遇竈神記.Yu jing yi xian sheng yu zao shen ji.Entrevue de Yu Jing yi avec l'esprit du Foyer ; XXIX, livre final袁了凡先生四訓 。立命之學.Yuan liao fan xian sheng si xun. Li ming zhi xue.Quatre exhortations de Yuan Liao fan. Première section : Science de la direction de la vie ; XXX, livre final積善之方Ji shan zhi fang.Deuxième section : Recette pour accumuler les bonnes actions ; XXXI, livre final改過之法Gai ge zhi fa.Troisième section : Moyen de corriger les fautes ; XXXII, livre final謙德之效Qian le zhi xiao.Quatrième section : Manifestation d'humilité ; XXXIII, livre final佛母準提神咒Fo mu zhun ti shen zhou.Invocation de la mère du Bouddha ; XXXIV, livre final袁了凡先生勸喪文Yuan liao fan xian sheng quan sang wen.Traité de Yuan Liao fan sur les funérailles ; XXXV, livre final遏淫說E yin shuo.Traité contre l'impureté ; XXXVI, livre final行不費錢功德例Xing bu fei qian gong de li.Manière d'obtenir des mérites sans dépenser d'argent

神鬼正紀Shen gui zheng ji.

Sur les anges et les démons.Publié à l'église Jing jiao, de Jiang, par le P. Vagnoni avec l'autorisation du P. Furtado.4 livres.

聖教規誡箴贊Sheng jiao gui jie zhen zan.

Règles de la morale chrétienne.Édition plus grande qu'au Chinois 6915, article VII.4 feuillets.

天主親立領洗告解二要規之理Tian zhu qin li ling xi gao jie er yao gui zhi li.

Sur l'institution par Notre Seigneur lui-même du baptême et de la confession.Par Zhang Geng, de Jin jiang, avec introduction.5 feuillets.