Tesi sul tema "Static and functional occlusion"

Static analysis is the name given to a number of compile time analysis techniques used to automatically generate information which can lead to improvements in the execution performance of function languages. This thesis provides an introduction to these techniques and their implementation. The abstract interpretation framework is an example of a technique used to extract information from a program by providing the program with an alternate semantics and evaluating this program over a non-standard domain. The elements of this domain represent certain properties of interest. This framework is examined in detail, as well as various extensions and variants of it. The use of binary logical relations and program logics as alternative formulations of the framework , and partial equivalence relations as an extension to it, are also looked at. The projection analysis framework determines how much of a sub-expression can be evaluated by examining the context in which the expression is to be evaluated, and provides an elegant method for finding particular types of information from data structures. This is also examined. The most costly operation in implementing an analysis is the computation of fixed points. Methods developed to make this process more efficient are looked at. This leads to the final chapter which highlights the dependencies and relationships between the different frameworks and their mathematical disciplines.
KMBT_223

The most frequent clinical presentation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) is intermittent claudication, which may be caused by impaired vasodilation. Patients demonstrate both local and systemic impairments in vasodilation, but as the collateral circulation is the primary site of resistance to the ischemic zone, impaired collateral vasodilation would have the greatest potential to induce claudication. Collateral function following arterial occlusion is not well defined, but immature collaterals may demonstrate impaired vasodilation in animal models, although this is potentially improved with exercise training. Furthermore, as females exhibit poorer physical function with ischemia and less improvement with therapeutic exercise, there appears to be a sexually dimorphic response to PAOD, warranting a comparison in collateral vasodilation between sexes. In this study, the femoral artery was ligated to induce chronic ischemia in sedentary and exercise-trained mice, and at 7 or 28 days post-surgery, the diameter of the gracilis collateral arteriole was measured at rest and after gracilis muscle contraction using intravital microscopy. No major sex differences were observed in any group. At day 7, both the resting and dilated diameters were increased, while vascular reactivity was minimal. By day 28, resting diameter decreased while maximal diameter was unchanged, causing an increase in functional vasodilation. Exercise training also improved vasodilation by decreasing collateral resting diameter. These results are consistent with reported trends in endothelium-dependent and smooth muscle-dependent vasodilation, which are impaired in immature vessels and improved with maturation and exercise, but the significance of the observed variations in resting diameter remains unclear. Large resting diameters at day 7 could be due to a loss of sympathetic tone or the proliferative and non-contractile state of smooth muscle cells, while decreased resting diameters at day 28 could indicate that a smooth muscle contractile phenotype has been restored, or that the gracilis collateral is no longer the primary collateral. However, the further research is required to determine the functional relevance of collateral resting diameter and its importance in the ischemic limb circulation.

L’objectif général de cette thèse est le développement de méthodes mathématiques correctes et efficaces en pratique pour prouver automatiquement la correction de logiciels. Plus précisément, cette thèse est fondée sur la théorie de l’interprétation abstraite, un cadre mathématique puissant pour l’approximation du comportement des programmes. En particulier, cette thèse se concentre sur la preuve des propriétés de vivacité des programmes, qui représentent des conditions qui doivent être réalisés ultimement ou de manière répétée pendant l’exécution du programme. La terminaison des programmes est la propriété de vivacité la plus fréquemment considérée. Cette thèse conçoit des nouvelles approximations, afin de déduire automatiquement des conditions suffisantes pour la terminaison des programmes et synthétiser des fonctions de rang définies par morceaux, qui fournissent des bornes supérieures sur le temps d’attente avant la terminaison. Les approximations sont paramétriques dans le choix entre l’expressivité et le coût des approximations sous-jacentes, qui maintiennent des informations sur l’ensemble des valeurs possibles des variables du programme ainsi que les relations numériques possibles entre elles. Cette thèse développe également un cadre d’interprétation abstraite pour prouver des propriétés de vivacité, qui vient comme une généralisation du cadre proposé pour la terminaison. En particulier, le cadre est dédié à des propriétés de vivacité exprimées dans la logique temporelle, qui sont utilisées pour s’assurer qu’un événement souhaitable se produit une fois ou une infinité de fois au cours de l’exécution du programme. Comme pour la terminaison,des fonctions de rang définies par morceaux sont utilisées pour déduire des préconditions suffisantes pour ces propriétés, et fournir des bornes supérieures sur le temps d’attente avant un événement souhaitable. Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse ont été mis en œuvre dans un prototype d’analyseur. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent qu’il donne de bons résultats sur une grande variété de programmes, il est compétitif avec l’état de l’art, et il est capable d’analyser des programmes qui sont hors de la portée des méthodes existantes
The overall aim of this thesis is the development of mathematically sound and practically efficient methods for automatically proving the correctness of computer software. More specifically, this thesis is grounded in the theory of abstract interpretation, a powerful mathematical framework for approximating the behavior of programs. In particular, this thesis focuses on provingprogram liveness properties, which represent requirements that must be eventually or repeatedly realized during program execution. Program termination is the most prominent liveness property. This thesis designs new program approximations, in order to automatically infer sufficient preconditions for program termination and synthesize so called piecewisedefined ranking functions, which provide upper bounds on the waiting time before termination. The approximations are parametric in the choice between the expressivity and the cost of the underlying approximations, which maintain information about the set of possible values of the program variables along with the possible numerical relationships between them. This thesis also contributes an abstract interpretation framework for proving liveness properties, which comes as a generalization of the framework proposedfor termination. In particular, the framework is dedicated to liveness properties expressed in temporal logic, which are used to ensure that some desirable event happens once or infinitely many times during program execution. As for program termination, piecewise-defined ranking functions are used to infer sufficient preconditions for these properties, and to provide upper boundson the waiting time before a desirable event. The results presented in this thesis have been implemented into a prototype analyzer. Experimental results show that it performs well on a wide variety of benchmarks, it is competitive with the state of the art, and is able to analyze programs that are out of the reach of existing methods

Functional ankle instability (FAI) is characterized by the recurrent giving way of the ankle and the constant feeling of instability that affects the quality of life of its patients adversely. Kinesiology Tape (KT), differed from the traditional rigid athletic tape, becomes more popular as a new therapeutic tool for injuries management. It is reported to decrease pain, promote blood circulation and natural healing of muscular functioning. However, scientific evidence of KT’s effects on FAI remains very limited. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate if applying KT on the unstable ankle may improve static postural control in individuals with FAI. Twenty young adults with FAI performed a series of static quiet bipedal and unipedal stances on a force platform. Postural control was assessed by four measures derived from the centre of pressure (COP) data: 95% Confidence ellipse of total displacements (area), standard deviation of displacements (SD), mean velocity and mean power frequency (MPF). Measurements were taken at three different times: baseline or no tape, immediately after the application of KT on the unstable ankle, and 24 hours after the taping application with the tape remaining on the ankle. Results revealed only minor changes in mean velocity and MPF in unipedal stances immediately after KT application. However, the overall results indicated statistically insignificant improvements in postural control performance neither immediately after KT application nor after 24 hours. In conclusion, our results suggest that the use of KT did not affect bipedal and unipedal stances of individuals with functional ankle instability.

Dans le domaine de la vérification formelle de logiciels, il est impératif d'identifier les limites au sein desquelles les éléments ou fonctions opèrent. Ces limites constituent les propriétés de frame (frame properties en anglais). Elles sont habituellement spécifiées manuellement par le programmeur et leur validité doit être vérifiée: il est nécessaire de prouver que les opérations du programme n'outrepassent pas les limites ainsi déclarées. Dans le contexte de la vérification formelle interactive de systèmes complexes, comme les systèmes d'exploitation, un effort considérable est investi dans la spécification et la preuve des propriétés de frame. Cependant, la plupart des opérations ont un effet très localisé et ne menacent donc qu'un nombre limité d'invariants. Étant donné que la spécification et la preuve de propriétés de frame est une tache fastidieuse, il est judicieux d'automatiser l'identification des invariants qui ne sont pas affectés par une opération donnée. Nous présentons dans cette thèse une solution inférant automatiquement leur préservation. Notre solution a pour but de réduire le nombre de preuves à la charge du programmeur. Elle est basée sur l'analyse statique, et ne nécessite aucune annotation de frame. Notre stratégie consiste à combiner une analyse de dépendances avec une analyse de corrélations. Nous avons conçu et implémenté ces deux analyses statiques pour un langage fonctionnel fortement typé qui manipule structures, variants et tableaux. Typiquement, une propriété fonctionnelle ne dépend que de quelques fragments de l'état du programme. L'analyse de dépendances détermine quelles parties de cet état influent sur le résultat de la propriété fonctionnelle. De même, une fonction ne modifiera que certaines parties de ses arguments, copiant le reste à l'identique. L'analyse de corrélations détecte quelles parties de l'entrée d'une fonction se retrouvent copiées directement (i.e. non modifiés) dans son résultat. Ces deux analyses calculent une approximation conservatrice. Grâce aux résultats de ces deux analyses statiques, un prouveur de théorèmes interactif peut inférer automatiquement la préservation des invariants qui portent sur la partie non affectée par l’opération concernée. Nous avons appliqué ces deux analyses statiques à la spécification fonctionnelle d'un micro-noyau, et obtenu des résultats non seulement d'une précision adéquate, mais qui montrent par ailleurs que notre approche peut passer à l'échelle
In the field of software verification, the frame problem refers to establishing the boundaries within which program elements operate. It has notoriously tedious consequences on the specification of frame properties, which indicate the parts of the program state that an operation is allowed to modify, as well as on their verification, i.e. proving that operations modify only what is specified by their frame properties. In the context of interactive formal verification of complex systems, such as operating systems, much effort is spent addressing these consequences and proving the preservation of the systems' invariants. However, most operations have a localized effect on the system and impact only a limited number of invariants at the same time. In this thesis we address the issue of identifying those invariants that are unaffected by an operation and we present a solution for automatically inferring their preservation. Our solution is meant to ease the proof burden for the programmer. It is based on static analysis and does not require any additional frame annotations. Our strategy consists in combining a dependency analysis and a correlation analysis. We have designed and implemented both static analyses for a strongly-typed, functional language that handles structures, variants and arrays. The dependency analysis computes a conservative approximation of the input fragments on which functional properties and operations depend. The correlation analysis computes a safe approximation of the parts of an input state to a function that are copied to the output state. It summarizes not only what is modified but also how it is modified and to what extent. By employing these two static analyses and by subsequently reasoning based on their combined results, an interactive theorem prover can automate the discharching of proof obligations for unmodified parts of the state. We have applied both of our static analyses to a functional specification of a micro-kernel and the obtained results demonstrate both their precision and their scalability

Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) often presents as intermittent claudication, which may be caused by impaired vasodilation. Impairment of resistance vessels may contribute to the pathogenesis of PAOD, and explain the poor correlation between resting blood flow and limb function. Collateral function following arterial occlusion is not well defined, however collaterals and arterialized collateral capillaries (ACCs) in male and female animal models exhibit impaired vasodilation following arterial occlusion, which can potentially be improved with exercise training. Furthermore, resistance vessels in the ischemic tree and stem are likely involved in the pathogenesis of PAOD, however the relative importance of each is unknown. Therefore, we measured functional vasodilation in pre-existing collaterals, ACCs, the ischemic tree, and the stem region, 7 and 21-days following spinotrapezius feed artery ligation in male and female BALB/c mice, and with exercise therapy. Vasodilation in ACCs was more impaired in female mice than in males. Generally, vasodilation was impaired at day-7, likely due to impaired endothelium-dependent and smooth muscle-dependent vasodilation in maturing collaterals, and recovered by day-21. Exercise training appears to enhance collateral reactivity, more in ACCs in males than in females, suggesting that its therapeutic benefits are linked not only to structural adaptation but also to vessel functionality. Therefore, future research is required to determine the cause of sex differences in exercise therapy to treat peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

Mestrado em Fisioterapia
Background: Neural mobilization is commonly used by physiotherapists, and in broad sense, it could be used either as tension mobilization or as gliding mobilization. Nevertheless, studies comparing the effects of both techniques are scarce and mainly devoted to flexibility. The aims of this study is to compare the effects of tensioning neural mobilization versus sliding neural mobilization of the dominant lower limb on static postural control and on the functional performance of both lower limbs. Methods: Thirty-seven football players of the first and second district league participated in this randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized into two groups: sliding group (n=18) and tensioning group (n=19). Postural sway was assessed with a force plate and functional performance with hop tests. The assessment was taken before, immediately after and 30 minutes after the intervention. Results: At baseline, no differences were found between groups (p>0,05). There was a significant decrease (p<0,05) of total displacement of COP and velocity with eyes opened and closed after intervention. There was also an increase in total distance for the single leg hop test and the crossover hop test and a decrease of time for the 6 meters timed hop. On the first test, there was also an interaction between time and dominant limb (p>0,05). Conclusion: Sliding and tensioning neural mobilization have immediate positive and similar effects on postural control and lower limb functional performance in football players and these effects are maintained at 30 minutes post intervention. Mobilization of the dominant limb can produce effects on the non-dominant and non-mobilized limb.
Introdução: A mobilização neural é comummente utilizada em Fisioterapia, podendo, de uma forma geral, ser realizada em tensão ou em mobilidade. Contudo, estudos que comparem o efeito de ambas as técnicas são escassos. O objetivo deste trabalho é comparar os efeitos da mobilização neural em tensão vs mobilização neural em mobilidade do membro dominante no controlo postural estático e na performance funcional de ambos os membros inferiores. Métodos: Trinta e sete jogadores de futebol da primeira e segunda divisão distrital participaram neste estudo randomizado e controlado. Os participantes foram randomizados em dois grupos: mobilização em mobilidade (n=18) e mobilização em tensão (n=19). O controlo postural foi avaliado com uma plataforma de forças e a performance funcional com hop tests antes, imediatamente após e 30 minutos depois da intervenção. Resultados: Não foram encontradas diferenças iniciais entre grupos (p>0,05). Houve uma diminuição significativa (p<0,05) no deslocamento total do COP e na velocidade com olhos abertos e fechados após a intervenção. Verificou-se, também, um aumento da distância total percorrida no single leg hop test e no crossover hop test, e uma diminuição do tempo no 6 meters timed hop (p<0,05) após a intervenção. No primeiro teste, verificou-se, ainda, uma interação entre o fator tempo e o fator membro dominante (p<0,05). Não houve diferenças significativas entre as intervenções (p>0,05). Conclusão: Mobilização neural em mobilidade e tensão têm efeitos imediatos positivos e semelhantes no controlo postural estático e na performance funcional de jogadores de futebol, e as melhorias mantêm-se 30 minutos após a intervenção. A mobilização do membro dominante produz efeitos positivos neste e, também, no membro não dominante.

The brain consists of spatially distinct areas, which underlie different aspects of human behavior. Using advanced neuroimaging technology and neurocomputational analysis methods, researchers have been able to uncover the functional roles of many of these areas and how they are interconnected both structurally and functionally to produce actions, sensations and cognitions which allow us to navigate our lives. In more recent years, it has been discovered that these brain networks also underlie the healthy functioning of the brain while it is at rest, i.e. awake but not performing any explicit or goal-directed tasks. Changes in these resting-state networks (RSNs) have been implicated in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders, indicating that their degradation may play a role in the diverse loss of sensory, motor or cognitive functions associated with these.In this thesis, we introduce some new guidelines for capturing the electrophysiology of RSN structures using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive neuroimaging technique which directly measures the magnetic fields associated with the synchronized electrical neural activity underlying these connections. Using MEG, we are able to consider these complex communication structures with great spatial and temporal resolution and probe how they are altered in multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease defined in part by both the degradation of the structures connecting different brain areas and by impairments across a wide spectrum of cognitive functions. However, in order to achieve this, there are methodological and analytical issues that must be dealt with.This thesis is separated into three introductory chapters and three research chapters. The introductory chapters outline the relevant theoretical bases that are not covered in the specific research chapters, while each of the research chapters contain a study undertaken as part of the thesis. Additionally, some research chapters start with an additional introductory prologue which expands on relevant ideas or concepts that are used but not fully explained in the corresponding papers.This thesis contains three empirical studies. In the first, we investigated the differential impact of source reconstruction methods and MEG system type on resting state functional connectivity (rsFC). The results showed that the choice of source reconstruction algorithm has a substantial impact on the uncovered rsFC in the posterior default mode network (DMN). Specifically, this was shown to be due to a suppression of the source activity in this region when using a Beamformer rather than minimum norm estimation (MNE) for source reconstruction. Through exploring this effect this we also made a novel discovery about a linear synchronization structure within the posterior DMN. This also led us to recommend the use of MNE when conducting MEG rsFC studies involving the DMN, representing a novel and important result regarding best practice recommendations for the field as a whole and for the subsequent studies in this thesis.In the second study, we set out to distinguish intrinsic, i.e. task-invariant, and extrinsic, i.e. task-dependent, functional connectivity (FC) using a large data set containing MEG data from more than a hundred participants acquired during several different tasks with multiple task levels, as well as during rest, We were able to demonstrate that the human brain operates using two distinct modes of neuronal integration in parallel, i.e. intrinsic FC in the form of amplitude FC and extrinsic FC in the form of phase FC. These results are important both in that they establish a new conceptual framework for functional integration in the human brain and in that they highlight a potentially fuzzy distinction between resting-state and task-related FC, which can be better approached using this novel intrinsic/extrinsic formulation. Having established the existence of an intrinsic functional integration structure in amplitude FC among brain regions, in the third study we investigated how amplitude rsFC is altered in brain disease, here represented by patients with MS. We showed that patients with MS display specific alterations in amplitude FC, particularly involving the DMN and sensorimotor (SMN) networks, compared to healthy participants. Additionally, we showed that the degree of disease-related physical disability was associated with specific motor-related amplitude rsFC changes, and that variations in cognitive task performance and neuropsychological scores were different between patients and healthy subjects on scores which were significantly different between the groups. These results demonstrate the ability of intrinsic/amplitude FC to characterize functional changes in clinical populations that are associated with specific disability-related and neuropsychological outcomes.
Le cerveau se compose de différentes zones fonctionnelles spatialement distinctes, qui sous-tendent différents aspects du comportement humain. En utilisant une technologie avancée de neuroimagerie et des méthodes d'analyse neurocomputationnelle, les neuroscientifiques ont caractérisé les rôles fonctionnels d’un bon nombre de structures cérébrales (i.e. la spécialisation fonctionnelle) et comment elles sont interconnectées à la fois structurellement et fonctionnellement (i.e. l’intégration fonctionnelle) pour produire les actions motrices, les sensations et les fonctions cognitives qui nous permettent de naviguer dans nos vies. Ces dernières années, les techniques de neuroimagerie ont également démontré que ces réseaux cérébraux fonctionnels sous-tendent également le bon fonctionnement du cerveau lorsqu'il est « au repos », c'est-à-dire qu'il n'effectue aucune tâche explicite ou ciblée. Des modifications de ces réseaux « de l’état de repos » (RSN) ont été impliquées dans un certain nombre de pathologies neurologiques ou psychiatriques, indiquant que leur altération peut jouer un rôle dans les déficits de fonctions sensorielles, motrices ou cognitives présentées par les patients.Dans cette thèse, nous introduisons de nouvelles lignes directrices pour investiguer l'électrophysiologie des RSN à l'aide de la magnétoencéphalographie (MEG), une technique de neuroimagerie non invasive qui mesure directement les champs magnétiques associés à l'activité neuronale électrique. Nous avons premièrement déterminé comment les choix méthodologiques au niveau de la reconstruction de sources en MEG influence les résultats de l’estimation de l’intégration fonctionnelle cérébrale. Ensuite, nous avons été en mesure d’étudier l’intégration fonctionnelle au sein des RSNs avec une grande résolution spatiale et temporelle, et ainsi, de déterminer les processus neurophysiologiques à l’origine de l’intégration fonctionnelle « intrinsèque » (i.e. indépendante d’une tâche ou de ce que le sujet fait) et « extrinsèque » (i.e. influencée ou modulée par une tâche). Nous avons démontré que l’intégration fonctionnelle intrinsèque repose sur le couplage de l’enveloppe (ou amplitude) de l’activité rythmique cérébrale alors que l’extrinsèque repose sur le couplage de phase de cette activité. Enfin, nous avons déterminé comment l’intégration fonctionnelle intrinsèque est altérée dans la sclérose en plaques (SEP), une maladie caractérisée en partie par la dégradation des connexions reliant différentes zones cérébrales et par des altérations variables des fonctions cognitive. Nous avons pu démontrer que le handicap moteur et certains troubles cognitifs (fatigue, cognitiven fluence verbale) sont associés à des altérations de l’intégration fonctionnelle intrinsèque de RSNs spécifiques.
Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Médecine)
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective procedure to teach a functional communication response (FCR) and decrease problem behavior. However, there are limitations to FCT. These limitations include excessive manding (e.g., requesting items at a high rate) and manding at inappropriate times (e.g., requesting attention when caregiver is driving). Multiple schedules using static signals (e.g., colored cards) have been used to decrease these limitations while maintaining appropriate levels of the FCRs and low levels of problem behavior. Moreover, dynamic signals have been used to maintain low levels of problem behavior and appropriate levels of alternative responses outside of a multiple schedule format. Presently, no research has examined the comparison of static and dynamic signals to address the limitations of FCT. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to compare the effects of static and dynamic signals (i.e., Time Timer®) during multiple schedules consisting of reinforcement and extinction components following FCT. Key words: functional communication training, multiple schedules, static signals, Time Timers®

Functional purity is a fundamental part of the functional programming paradigm. A function is functionally pure if it is side-effect free and deterministic. Pure functions provide many benefits compared to impure ones, including guaranteed thread-safety as well as easier testing, debugging and maintenance. But how can functional purity be measured? This thesis develops a method for statically measuring the level of functional purity in any given C# program. It also investigates problems with determining purity in object-oriented languages, with a focus on C#. Moreover, a prototype of the method is implemented in order to evaluate the method using a benchmark consisting of 11 open source repositories that use C#'s [Pure] attribute. The [Pure] attribute can be placed in front of a method declaration to indicate that it is side-effect free. Due to a number of limitations to the implementation as well as to [Pure]'s definition of functional purity, which excludes determinism, the results of the evaluation appear relatively poor. After normalizing the implementation's classification distribution for each repository, its classification of pure functions has a precision of 65% and recall 17%, and its classification of impure functions has 54% precision and 69% recall. Nevertheless, the prototype still shows the potential of the full analysis method. A complete implementation of the analysis method could potentially yield a fully working system for measuring any C# program's level of functional purity.

The following dissertation is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the modeling of helium trapping at oxide-iron interfaces in nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFAs) using density functional theory (DFT). The modelling that has been performed serves to increase the knowledge and understanding of the theory underlying the prevention of helium embrittlement in materials. Although the focus is for nuclear reactor materials, the theory can be applied to any material that may be in an environment where helium embrittlement is of concern. In addition to an improved theoretical understanding of helium embrittlement, the following DFT models will provide valuable thermodynamic and kinetic information. This information can be utilized in the development of large-scale models (such as kinetic Monte Carlo simulations) of the microstructural evolution of reactor components. Accurate modelling is an essential tool for the development of new reactor materials, as experiments for components can span decades for the lifetime of the reactor. Part II of this dissertation deals with the development, and use of, kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations for improved efficiency in investigating catalytic chemical reactions on surfaces. An essential technique for the predictive development and discovery of catalysts relies on modelling of large-scale chemical reactions. This requires multi-scale modelling where a common sequence of techniques would require parameterization obtained from DFT, simulation of the chemical reactions for millions of conditions using KMC (requiring millions of separate simulations), and finally simulation of the large scale reactor environment using computational fluid dynamics. The tools that have been developed will aid in the predictive discovery, development and modelling of catalysts through the use of KMC simulations. The algorithms that have been developed are versatile and thus, they can be applied to nearly any KMC simulation that would seek to overcome similar challenges as those posed by investigating catalysis (such as the need for millions of simulations, long simulation time and large discrepancies in transition probabilities).
Ph. D.

The aim of this thesis is to determine whether surface electromyography (EMG) can be used as a diagnostic tool in chiropractic practice to identify the functional status of the lumbar paraspinal muscles. There were two main studies to achieve this aim. The reliability and validity of the surface EMG signal to measure the activity of paraspinal muscles during maintenance of simple static postures was evaluated. During maintenance of static postures, the raw surface EMG signal was often contaminated by an electrocardiographic (ECG) signal. Although the ECG artefact was successfully removed using two different ECG removal techniques (manual and semi-automatic), the reliability of the surface EMG signal was not significantly improved (ICC less than 0.75) for both non-normalised and normalised data. Therefore the static postures that were used in this thesis did not provide a protocol that can be used to measure the functional status of the lumbar paraspinal muscles in clinical practice. However, when muscle contraction was at a moderate level, the reliability of EMG signal became better. Walking was considered to be a possible protocol to record a reliable surface EMG signal from paraspinal muscles. Three components of the surface EMG signal were used to characterise the pattern of muscle activity during steady state walking. The narrow window technique was used to characterise the peak activation point of the activity envelope in order to capture a stationary signal from which to calculate amplitude and frequency measures. Walking is a cyclic activity. The back muscles contract rhythmically during a single gait cycle. It is possible to identify the start and end points of the activity envelope associated with the rhythmic contraction of the muscles and define the timing of the muscle activation cycle relative to heel strike. The metronome was found to be useful to control the pace of natural walking in this study. The surface EMG signal of the first recording minute (1 ~ 2 minute) was not associated with a signal that was stable in terms of the parameters that were used in this study. It wa s found that the last recording minute (9 ~ 10 minute) can be used. This suggests that it may be necessary for subjects to walk for a defined period lasting some minutes before the commencement of recording of the surface EMG. Surface EMG may be used as a tool to measure activation patterns of the low back muscles during muscle contraction associated with the support of various static postures or during the execution of dynamic movements such as walking in the real world. The static postures used in this thesis to record the surface EMG signal from the lumbar paraspinal muscles were found not to provide the basis for a reliable and valid tool. However, a walking exercise might be an alternative activity which can be used easily in clinical practice. The components of the surface EMG signal that may be used in future studies might include measures of the amplitude, frequency and timing of the surface EMG signal.

Aging and disease processes are known to compromise tissue strength and consequently increase the risk of harmful movement or detachment of a heart valve prosthesis in vivo when exposed to strong magnetic forces associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Research however, has failed to fully assess prosthetic valve movement or functional valve impedance in the MR environment. This study seeks to design and evaluate an MR compatible device which aims to detect and measure ex vivo, frequency, direction and magnitude of movements and leaflet function in vitro of nine prosthetic heart valves in the static magnetic field (B0) of a 1.5 Tesla (T) and a 3.0 T MR system. A valve holder incorporating strain gauges connected to a strain gauge recorder and laptop computer were used to detect and record displacement and rotational valve movements and, a hydro-pneumatic system recorded pressure changes across the valve indicative of any MR induced alteration in leaflet performance in vitro. The data confirms the compatibility of the test apparatus in the MR environment and its capacity to detect and record valve movement and changes in functional valve performance in field strengths =3.0 T. Real-time three-dimensional movements were detected in both B0 fields in all valves, differences in entry and return profiles and static and dynamic measurements were recorded. Furthermore, applied magnetic forces leading to prosthesis movement were greater than previously reported. Functional valve impedance was detected in three valves but no commonality between valve types or sub-groups regarding this, type, frequency, magnitude or patterns of valve movements were noted. These data suggests magnetism is induced and retained in valve prostheses during exposure to the MR environment and patients with friable valvular tissue are at significantly increased risk of prosthetic valve movement and/or dehiscence. Furthermore, current uses of static measurements to assess risk are inadequate.

INTRODUCTION. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) combines a congenital malformation of the diaphragm with lung hypoplasia, leading to severe respiratory distress and intractable pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. Despite advances in prenatal diagnosis and neonatal intensive care, CDH is associated with high mortality and devastating morbidities. In the absence of curative treatment, numerous prenatal therapies have been used experimentally with varying success. So far, only fetal tracheal occlusion has been tested in clinical trials, but the consequences for the human lung are poorly known. AIMS. To further characterize the rabbit model of CDH, which was subsequently used to assess the effects of prenatal therapies on airway and pulmonary vascular development, including tracheal occlusion, and two novel approaches, perfluorooctylbromide and an activator of soluble guanylate cyclase (BAY 41–2272), which were given through tracheal instillation.METHODS. After a diaphragmatic incision during the pseudoglandular stage, fetal rabbits were randomized against placebo/sham operation during the saccular stage for tracheal occlusion, perfluorocarbon or BAY 41–2272. At term operated fetuses and controls were subject to evaluation of lung mechanics and/or hemodynamics as well as postmortem lung analyses. Human fetal and neonatal lung tissue, including controls and CDH with tracheal occlusion or expectant management, was analyzed histologically and biochemically.RESULTS. The rabbit model of CDH was characterized by reduced lung volumes and impaired compliance, disorders of elastin deposition within alveolar walls, and downregulation of elastogenesis-related genes. Moreover, this model reproduced features of pulmonary hypertension, including high right ventricular pressure and level of N-terminal-pro-B type natriuretic peptide, remodeling of pulmonary arterioles, decreased alveolar capillary density, and downregulation of vasodilation-related genes. In the rabbit model, lung distension caused by tracheal occlusion improved alveolar formation and elastogenesis, yet without correction of lung mechanical parameters. Tracheal occlusion increased also the expression of other extracellular matrix components, which reflected myofibroblast activity, and reduced the transcription of surfactant-associated proteins. Human neonatal lungs exposed to fetal tracheal occlusion displayed alveolar deposits of collagen and myofibroblasts. In human CDH as well as in the rabbit model of CDH, tracheal occlusion enhanced the pulmonary expression of transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) and Rho kinase−associated proteins to the detriment of activation of SMAD2/3, which is normally detected in human lungs with advancing gestation. As an alternative to tracheal occlusion, pulmonary distension by perfluorocarbon in the fetal rabbit model of CDH improved lung mechanics and alveolar elastogenesis without transcriptional changes in extracellular matrix, surfactant protein genes or TGFβ. Finally, intratracheal instillation of BAY 41–2272 in the rabbit fetuses with CDH improved hemodynamics, reduced medial hypertrophy of pulmonary arterioles, and increased capillary bed formation by stimulating endothelial cell proliferation.CONCLUSIONS. In the fetal rabbit model of CDH, poor lung function after tracheal occlusion is compatible with activation of TGFβ and imbalance in extracellular matrix and epithelial homeostasis. In human CDH newborns treated by fetal tracheal occlusion, changes in the pulmonary interstitium and impaired TGFβ signaling raise the question of disturbances of postnatal lung development induced by tracheal occlusion. As potential alternatives to tracheal occlusion, prenatal perfluorocarbon improves lung hypoplasia, whereas prenatal BAY 41–2272 attenuates pulmonary hypertension.
Doctorat en Sciences médicales (Médecine)
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

BALTAZAR, H. I. Métricas críticas do funcional volume e não-existência de múltiplos buracos negros em espaço-tempo estático. 2017. 67 f. Tese (Doutorado em Matemática) – Centro de Ciências, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, 2017.
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This work is divided in two parts. In the first one we prove a Böchner type formula for critical metrics of the volume functional on compact manifolds with fixed metric on boundary (such critical metrics are called Miao-Tam critical metrics). As an application, we derive an integral formula that will be crucial to deduce a generalization of a result obtained by Miao and Tam in 2011 for the Einstein case. More precisely, we prove that a Miao-Tam critical metric with parallel Ricci curvature must be isometric to a geodesic ball in a simply connected space form Rn, Sn or Hn. Furthermore, in dimension 3, we prove that critical metrics with non-negative sectional curvature are precisely geodesic balls of R3 or S3. Moreover, we generalize a result due to Kim and Shin (2016), replacing the harmonic Weyl tensor condition by the second order divergence free Weyl tensor condition (i.e., div2W = 0), which is weaker that the former. To be precise, we shall show that a 4-dimensional Miao-Tam critical metric, with boundary isometric to a standard sphere S3 and satisfying div2W = 0 is isometric to a geodesic ball in a simply connected space form R4, S4 or H4. At the same time, we get some rigidity results for positive static triples. In the second part, we study static vacuum space-times, which can be seen as a special case of the V-static metrics for complete Riemannian manifolds with null scalar curvature. In this case, we focus our attention on four dimensions. We prove that there are no multiple black holes on static vacuum space-times with half harmonic Weyl tensor (i.e., divW+ = 0).
Esse trabalho está dividido em duas partes. A primeira delas está relacionada ao estudo de fórmulas tipo-Böchner para métricas críticas do funcional volume em variedades compactas com métrica fixada no bordo (estas são conhecidas como métricas críticas de Miao-Tam). Como aplicação, estabeleceremos uma fórmula integral que permitirá generalizar o resultado obtido por Miao e Tam em 2011 para o caso Einstein, mais precisamente, provaremos que métricas críticas de Miao-Tam com curvatura de Ricci paralelo são isométricas às bolas geodésicas em um espaço forma simplesmente conexo Rn, Sn ou Hn. Se nos restringirmos às variedades com dimensão 3, veremos que tais estruturas se mostram ainda mais rígidas, a saber, provaremos que métricas críticas com curvatura seccional não-negativa são precisamente as bolas geodésicas de R3 ou S3. Além disso, generalizamos o resultado obtido por Kim e Shin (2016) substituindo condição de harmonicidade do tensor de Weyl pela hipótese que o tensor de Weyl tem divergente de segunda ordem nulo (i.e., div2W = 0). Mais precisamente, mostraremos que métricas críticas de Miao-Tam em dimensão 4, com bordo isométrico a esfera S3 e satisfazendo div2W = 0, são isométricas às bolas geodésicas em um espaço forma simplesmente conexo R4, S4 ou H4. Concomitantemente, obtemos resultados de rigidez para triplas estáticas positivas. Na segunda parte do trabalho, estudaremos o espaço-tempo estático no vácuo, o qual pode ser visto como um caso especial das mátricas V-estáticas para variedades completas com curvatura escalar nula. Neste caso, restringiremos nosso estudo a quarta dimensão e provaremos que não existem múltiplos buracos negros em um espaço-tempo estático no vácuo com a parte autodual do tensor de Weyl harmônico (i.e., divW+ = 0).

Ce manuscrit aborde plusieurs interactions / réactions chimiques importantes se produisant dans la soluton en utilisant la calorimétrie par titrage isothermique (ITC) et la théorie de la densité fonctionnelle statique (DFT). Cette thèse porte son attention notamment sur : l'association de paires de Lewis (frustrées) ((F)LPs), la migration cis du groupe méthyle au sein du pentaméthylmanganèse induit par les phosphines, l'aminolyse de carbènes de Fischer, l'insertion d'alcynes dans des palladacycles, l'affinité de divers donneurs de Lewis à l’hexafluoroisopropanol. L'ITC s'est révélé être une technique expérimentale puissante pour obtenir des données thermochimiques fiables sur les systèmes étudiés. Les calculs statiques DFT-D ont montré une capacité d’estimation correcte des paramètres de réaction thermodynamique lorsque l’influence de la solvatation n’est pas significative. Autrement, lorsque l’influence du solvant est apparente, les calculs ne permettent pas de reproduire les résultats expérimentaux. En plus, les résultats expérimentaux et théoriques révèlent l’existence d’ensembles moléculaires plus grandes dans la solution de FLP, soulignant le rôle des interactions non covalentes
This manuscript adressed several important chemical interactions/reactions taking place in solutuon by using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) and static Density Functional Theory (DFT). Namely, this thesis dealt with: association of (frustrated) Lewis pairs ((F)LPs), cis-migration of methyl group within pentamethylmanganese induced by phosphines, aminolysis of Fischer carbenes, insertion of alkynes into palladacycles, affinity of various Lewis donors to hexafluoroisopropanol. The ITC proved to be powerful experimental technique for obteining reliable thermochemical data of sutudied systems. The static DFT-D calculations showed capability for proper estiamtion of thermodynamic reaction parameters when an influence of solvation is not sighnificant. Otherwise, when the influence of solvent is not innocent, the calculations moslty failed to reproduce the experimantal results. In addition, Both the experimantal and therortical results revield existance of larger molecular clusters in solution of FLPs emphasising a role of non-covalent interactions

Les logiciels critiques nécessitent l'obtention d'une évaluation de conformité aux normesen vigueur avant leur mise en service. Cette évaluation est obtenue après un long travaild'analyse effectué par les évaluateurs de logiciels critiques. Ces derniers peuvent être aidéspar des outils utilisés de manière interactive pour construire des modèles, en faisant appel àdes analyses de flots d'information. Des outils comme SPARK-Ada existent pour des sous-ensembles du langage Ada utilisés pour le développement de logiciels critiques. Cependant,des langages émergents comme ceux de la famille ML ne disposent pas de tels outils adaptés.La construction d'outils similaires pour les langages ML demande une attention particulièresur certaines spécificités comme les fonctions d'ordre supérieur ou le filtrage par motifs. Cetravail présente une analyse de flot d'information pour de tels langages, spécialement conçuepour répondre aux besoins des évaluateurs. Cette analyse statique prend la forme d'uneinterprétation abstraite de la sémantique opérationnelle préalablement enrichie par desinformations de dépendances. Elle est prouvée correcte vis-à-vis d'une définition formellede la notion de dépendance, à l'aide de l'assistant à la preuve Coq. Ce travail constitue unebase théorique solide utilisable pour construire un outil efficace pour l'analyse de toléranceaux pannes.

With the advent of System-On-a-Chip (SOC) design, many Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) now require multiple design clocks that operate asynchronously to each other. This design characteristic presents a significant challenge when these ASIC designs are mapped to hardware based verification systems such as parallel cycle-accurate simulators and logic emulators. In general, hardware based verification systems require all computation and communication to be synchronized to a global system clock. As a result, the undefined relationship between design asynchronous clocks can make it difficult to determine hold times for synchronous storage elements and causality relationships along reconvergent communication paths. This research presents new scheduling and synchronization techniques to support accurate mapping of designs with multiple asynchronous clocks to a hardware based logic emulator. The multi-domain scheduling problem can be divided into problems of scheduling multi-domain data paths, multi-domain clock paths, and multi-domain memories. Our approach is based upon a crucial observation that multi-domain functional requirements can be reduced to single domain constraints that need to be satisfied simultaneously. We have developed a new set of algorithms to statically schedule multi-domain circuits such that functional properties (timing closure, setup, and hold-time) are satisfied in each of the constituent domains. Through analysis, we show that our approach is scalable to an unlimited number of domains and supports increasingly large design sizes. To prove the effectiveness of our approach, we have integrated our algorithms into the compilation system for a commercial multi-FPGA logic emulation system. For three industrial designs mapped to a logic emulator using this software environment, modeling fidelity is improved and performance is enhanced versus previous manual mapping or hard-wired approaches. A theoretical analysis based on Rent's Rule validates the scalability of our approach as device sizes increase.

碩士
國立清華大學
工業工程與工程管理學系
95
The purpose of this thesis is to study the relationship between static hand dimensions and functional hand dimensions in grasping by means of the methods of anthropometry and to compare the variations of these two dimensions to make prediction models of hand dimensions. This study consists of two experiments. The first part is preliminary tests. In the first experiment there are 4 male and 4 female subjects, representing different hand length groups. Using the direct-measure method, subjective comfortability scale and 6 different handle diameters (25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 mm) to find out the relationship among handle diameters, hand dimensions and subjective comfortability of subjects. There are 15 male and 15 female subjects in the second experiment and each subject is asked to paste with marks on the defined points on the hand. Each hand dimension is measured by means of the direct-measure method and 3D-scan method. According to the results of the first experiment, each subject is given a fit handle covered with 10 mm clay to grasp. After grasping, the handles will be scanned by the 3D scanner. After the experiments, these conclusions are made.1. By the results, the 17 points defined in this study can be the key points between static hand dimensions and functional hand dimensions.2. When grasping the handles with comfort and without force, there are 12 constant ratios of variations between static hand dimensions and functional hand dimensions in grasping. For example, the constant ratio for index finger is 0.3623; for middle finger is 0.4016; for ring finger is 0.3632; for little finger is 0.3253. 3. Although one’s hand dimensions are different from another, the ratios between static hand dimensions and functional hand dimensions in grasping with comfort and without force are constant. Excluding the other factors such as force or angles of joints, this thesis only includes with factors, subjective comfortability, handle diameters and hand dimensions. This is the limitation of this thesis.

Objectives: To evaluate postural control in individuals with functional ankle instability using static, dynamic, and clinical balance tests. Also, to examine the relationships between the performances in each of these tests. Design: Postural control was evaluated with a single leg balance test, a balance test involving movement, and the star excursion balance test. Participants: A volunteer sample of 19 subjects with functional ankle instability and 19 uninjured control subjects. Main Outcome Measures: Center of pressure sway path length was calculated for the static and dynamic balance tests. Total reach distance was measured for the star excursion balance test. Results: Subjects with functional ankle instability demonstrated a significantly greater center of pressure sway path length in both the static and dynamic balance tests. Conclusions: Functional ankle instability may be associated with reduced postural control as demonstrated by decreased performance in static and dynamic balance tests.
Graduation date: 2003

博士
國立成功大學
醫學工程研究所
87
This study originated from developing an FES-cycling system for paraplegic subjects. In the beginning, some problems appeared because the short period of cycling time can not afford the subjects satisfied exercise training. It has been attributed to two possible problems (inadequate control scheme or muscle fatigue). This study examined the design of a rational stimulation pattern for electrical stimulation and a model-free fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is employed in our FES-cycling system. Comparison between FLC and proportional-derivative (PD) controllers demonstrated that the FLC enabled the paraplegic subjects to maintain varied cycling speeds. For the second problem, the fatigue characteristics of paralyzed muscles were investigated during dynamic cycling movement induced by electrical stimulation. The peak-to-peak (PTP) amplitude of evoked electromyogram (EMG), after suppression of stimulus artifact, was adopted as fatigue indicator. Compared to static contraction, the effects of dynamic movement factors on the evoked EMG, such as joint angle and contraction speed, were first evaluated in separated experiments. The effects of joint angle caused periodic changes in EMG PTP amplitude. Under the same stimulation intensity, our results indicated that slower muscle contraction speed would have larger EMG PTP and vice versa. Our results showed that the use of EMG PTP amplitude as a reliable muscle fatigue indicator during dynamic movement is only valid at the same cycling speed or corresponding contraction speed. An electrodynomometer was utilized for recording the generated torque output and controlling the dynamic movements. The measured parameters of the evoked EMG included peak to peak amplitude (PTP), rise time to peak (RTP), and peak to peak duration (PTPd). For characterizing the fatigue processes, the time constant, inflection time, and the relative asymptotic value of the EMG features can be obtained by fitting the curves with a hyperbolic equation. In static contractions, muscles in shortened positions showed more resistant to fatigue. In dynamic contractions, obvious oscillations of EMG features can be found concurrently with the varying of muscle length and torque output. The general characteristics in dynamic contraction are the smaller PTP but larger RTP and PTPd values in lengthened muscles. Comparing the fatigue processes of static and dynamic muscle contractions, the decaying rate of EMG PTP and force output is obviously slower in static contractions. To verify the observation from experiment, a structured EMG modeling considering the numbers and types of MU and the electrode-motor unit territory distance was utilized to simulate stimulus-evoked EMG during the fatigue process. The evoked EMG was simulated by summing up the MUAPs generated from different proportions of fast-twitch or slow-twitch muscle fibers. A nonlinear optimization technique was utilized to extract amplitude and duration features of type I and type II muscle fibers from the stimulus-evoked EMG. The mathematical modeling reveals that the early fatigue in the lengthened muscles were resulted from the fast depletion of the type II motor unit. Our study confirms the feasibility of using this mathematical model to observe the important physiological changes from the evoked EMG.

碩士
國立體育大學
運動科學研究所
106
Purpose: Recent studies have pointed out that the incidence of falls in older females is higher than that in males. However, functional fitness testing in the community did not find gender differences in agility and static balance in the middle-aged and older adults. This study used force plates to compare differences in balance parameters between male and female middle-aged and older adults. Methods: One hundred and twenty-five community residents over 50 years old (mean age of 72.4 ± 6.17 years) were recruited in Miaoli. Among the participants, 61 were males and 64 were females. All participants performed dynamic and static balance tests (double legs stand with eyes open/closed, single leg stand with eyes open, tandem stand with eyes open, and dynamic walking) and functional fitness tests (body composition, 8-foot up-and-go, walking speed test, 30-second arm curl, back scratch, chair sit-and-reach, 30-second chair stand, grip, and 2-minute step test). The differences of outcome variables between males and females were analyzed by independent t-test. Correlation between balance parameters and functional fitness and health status were determined by Pearson's product correlation coefficient. The significant level was set at p = .05. Results: The performances of 8-foot up-and-go and grip strength in males were significantly better than females (males vs. females:　6.2 ± 1.22 sec vs. 6.9 ± 2.27 sec, p = .033; 30.4 ± 8.17 kg vs. 22.2 ± 5.91 kg, p = .003). The performance of the chair sit-and-reach test in females was significantly better than that in males (females vs. males: 15.7 ± 10.04 cm vs. 9.0 ± 12.31 cm，p = .001). Regarding parameters associated with balance, we found the maximum anterior-posterior sway, the maximum medio-lateral sway, and the average velocity of the sway during single leg stand with eyes open test were greater in males than in females (males vs. females: 13.5 ± 3.95 mm vs. 11.1 ± 3.68 mm, p = .000; 21.1 ± 7.75 mm vs. 18.5 ± 6.94 mm, p = .048; 50.9 ± 39.91 mm/s vs. 33.7 ± 35.14 mm/s, p = .012 for each stated parameters, respectively). The performance and the average velocity of the sway in tandem stand test were greater in males than in females (males vs. females: 28.4 ± 4.98 sec vs. 25.6 ± 8.22 mm, p = .023; 31.2 ± 13.26 mm/s vs. 25.4 ± 12.22 mm/s, p = .012). In males, the performance of double legs stand with eyes closed was associated with back scratch (r = -.316, p = .013); the performance of double legs stand with eyes open was associated with grip strength, chair sit-and-reach test, normal walking speed and fast walking speed (r = .262, p = .041; r = .278, p = .031; r = .384, p = .002; r = .346, p = .007). In females, the performance of double legs stand with eyes open was associated with grip strength, 30-second chair stand test, 2-minute step test (r = -.263, p = .035; r = -273, p = .030; r = -.249, p = .049); the performance of single leg stand with eyes open was associated with performances of 8-foot up-and-go and 2-minute step test (r = .350, p = .005; r = -.280, p = .026); the performance of tandem stand with eyes open was associated with normal walking speed and fast walking speed (r = .322, p = .013; r = .315, p = .015). Conclusions: Male middle-aged and older adults had better balance performance and balance control than that in female middle-aged and older adults. The association between balance control/performance and items of physical fitness were gender specific.

The aim of the present thesis is to analyze the Norwegian existential construction (presenteringskonstruksjonen) with regard to syntax, static semantics, dynamic semantics, and functional sentence perspective (FSP). The thesis first introduces the firbasian FSP theory in general, demonstrating the concepts on Norwegian examples. Then the theories most relevant for the study of the existential construction are summarized. The analysis is carried out on a sample of 1000 instances (500 taken from fiction and 500 excerpted from academic prose), and focuses mainly on the notional subject, the verb, and a possible adverbial. The syntactic analysis includes the position and the structure of the notional subject and adverbials. In addition, the lexical semantics of the head words and static semantics of adverbials were observed. The FSP analysis focused on the FSP functions of the individual clause elements and the FSP patterns the existential construction may realize. In addition, the dynamic semantic roles were studied in relation to the static semantic roles. The aim of the analyses is to find out in what circumstances the existential construction may realize the presentation scale or the quality scale, and what functions the construction may perform. The thesis observes the application of FSP on real...

Les outils de programmation sont des programmes informatiques qui aident les humains à programmer des ordinateurs. Les outils sont de toutes formes et tailles, par exemple les éditeurs, les compilateurs, les débogueurs et les profileurs. Chacun de ces outils facilite une tâche principale dans le flux de travail de programmation qui consomme des ressources cognitives lorsqu’il est effectué manuellement. Dans cette thèse, nous explorons plusieurs outils qui facilitent le processus de construction de systèmes intelligents et qui réduisent l’effort cognitif requis pour concevoir, développer, tester et déployer des systèmes logiciels intelligents. Tout d’abord, nous introduisons un environnement de développement intégré (EDI) pour la programmation d’applications Robot Operating System (ROS), appelé Hatchery (Chapter 2). Deuxièmement, nous décrivons Kotlin∇, un système de langage et de type pour la programmation différenciable, un paradigme émergent dans l’apprentissage automatique (Chapter 3). Troisièmement, nous proposons un nouvel algorithme pour tester automatiquement les programmes différenciables, en nous inspirant des techniques de tests contradictoires et métamorphiques (Chapter 4), et démontrons son efficacité empirique dans le cadre de la régression. Quatrièmement, nous explorons une infrastructure de conteneurs basée sur Docker, qui permet un déploiement reproductible des applications ROS sur la plateforme Duckietown (Chapter 5). Enfin, nous réfléchissons à l’état actuel des outils de programmation pour ces applications et spéculons à quoi pourrait ressembler la programmation de systèmes intelligents à l’avenir (Chapter 6).
Programming tools are computer programs which help humans program computers. Tools come in all shapes and forms, from editors and compilers to debuggers and profilers. Each of these tools facilitates a core task in the programming workflow which consumes cognitive resources when performed manually. In this thesis, we explore several tools that facilitate the process of building intelligent systems, and which reduce the cognitive effort required to design, develop, test and deploy intelligent software systems. First, we introduce an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming Robot Operating System (ROS) applications, called Hatchery (Chapter 2). Second, we describe Kotlin∇, a language and type system for differentiable programming, an emerging paradigm in machine learning (Chapter 3). Third, we propose a new algorithm for automatically testing differentiable programs, drawing inspiration from techniques in adversarial and metamorphic testing (Chapter 4), and demonstrate its empirical efficiency in the regression setting. Fourth, we explore a container infrastructure based on Docker, which enables reproducible deployment of ROS applications on the Duckietown platform (Chapter 5). Finally, we reflect on the current state of programming tools for these applications and speculate what intelligent systems programming might look like in the future (Chapter 6).