THE FILES USED AND PRODUCED BY FINDER2E

The software is currently only able to process Excel files in the 2003 version. If the Excel files are recorded with the 2007 or 2010 version, it will be necessary to convert them to the 2003 version.

Extracts of files used by Finder2E are displayed below:

Volunteer file:


The structure of the above file must be respected. Therefore, the volunteer code must appear in the first column, sex in the 4th (F for female and M for male), weight in the 5th, height in the 6th, age in the 7th, lean mass (kg) in the 9th, the physical activity score in the 13th, VO2max in the 14th and rest metabolism in the 22th (calculated from the Schofield equations). Height and weight are necessary to calculate BMI. Sex, age, VO2max, BMI and the physical activity score are necessary to select volunteers in the family creation stage. Moreover, age is necessary to estimate the maximal heart rate. Lean mass is also necessary because energy expenditure is expressed in kcal per kg of lean mass and per minute. If the lean mass is not available, the user can enter 1 in the column. Rest metabolism is necessary to calculate the total energy expenditure of Actiheart. Column titles can be modified. The Excel file must start with the 1st line and 1st column. Insert a blank line after the last volunteer, then the word "END"  on the following line. Columns 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15 and beyond, 23 and beyond may or may not be filled in.
It is recommended to create a directory C:\Finder2E\Files, and to place all of the volunteer files inside.
 The volunteer code present in the first column is used to label all the files concerning the volunteer: schedule, Armband, Actiheart and calorimetric room.




Schedule files:

Schedule files must be labeled in the following way: <CODE>_PLAN.xls, and then recorded in a directory. For example:  C:\Finder2E\Files\Schedule.
The user must create one schedule file per volunteer. For example, the file of the volunteer M1 will be labeled M1_PLAN.xls.
The file is composed of two tabs. The tab below is filled in by the user: date and start and end time for each activity in the French format  (dd/mm/yyyy). The user can display them as he/she wants (for example: mm/dd/yy as below).
This table is automatically converted into another table (below) by an Excel macro (VBA) when the user clicks on the "Validate" button. The date/time of the  beginning and the end of the activities are converted into time expressed in terms of the beginning of the experiment (minute) and the duration (day, hour:minute), as illustrated below. This tab is ranked in the first position in the Excel file because Finder2E uses this tab to compute statistical parameters for each activity period (see Creating a Family).
 

 Armband files:



The Armband files must be exported into Excel under the name: <CODE>-arm.xls. For example, the file of volunteer M1 will be labeled M1-arm.xls. It is recommended to create a  directory  C:\Finder2E\Files\Armband, and to place all of the Armband files inside.

Actiheart files:



The Actiheart files must be exported into Excel under the name: <CODE>-act.xls. For example, the file of volunteer M1 will be labeled M1-act.xls.
It is recommended to create a  directory  C:\Finder2E\Files\Actiheart, and to place all of the Actiheart files inside.

Calorimetric room files:



The calorimetric room files must be exported into Excel under the name: <CODE>-chc.XLS. For example, the file of volunteer M1 will be labeled M1-chc.XLS.

It is recommended to create a directory C:\Finder2E\Files\Chc, and to place all of the calorimetric room files inside. 





 FILES PRODUCED BY FINDER2E


The main parameters in the raw files are smoothed by using a Savitsky & Golay filter. Moreover, the first and second derivatives of the main parameters are computed and then smoothed. For example, SG ACC25 is the smoothed Accelerometry parameter (with an array width of 25 points), SG(dérivée)ACC55 is the smoothed first derivative of Accelerometry (with an array width of 55 points) and SG(dérivée2)ACC65 is the smoothed second derivative of Accelerometry (with an array width of 65 points).

 Armband:

The smoothed Armband files (stdLissee_<CODE>-arm.xls) are located in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\DonneesLissees\Armband

Actiheart:

The smoothed Actiheart files (stdLissee_<CODE>-act.xls)are located in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\DonneesLissees\Actiheart

ECG:

The smoothed ECG files (ECG_<CODE>-chc.xls) are located in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\DonneesLissees\ECG

Calorimetric room files:

The smoothed calorimetric room files (stdLissee_<CODE>-chc.xls) are located in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\DonneesLissees\CHC


CALCULATING CARDIAC RESERVE AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE

Using Actiheart files:

Cardiac reserve (CR) and its derivatives (CR' and CR")  are computed and saved in the files CCRACT_<CODE>.xls in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\CCR\Actiheart

Using ECG files:

Cardiac reserve (CR) and its derivatives (CR' and CR")  are computed and saved in the files CCRECG_CODE.xls in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\CCR\ECG

Using calorimetric room files:

Energy expenditure and respiratory quotient are calculated and saved in the files : DEQR_<CODE>-chc.XLS and located in the directory:  
C:\Finder2E\Projets\Projet_<Name>\Groupes\Groupe_<Name>\Experience_Exp_<Name>
\CalculChambre\CalculDE


STATISTICAL CALCULATIONS PER ACTIVITY AND PER VOLUNTEER /FAMILY

Finder2E offers the possibility of creating “families”, i.e., sets of physiologically homogeneous volunteers (categorized by age, sex, BMI, activity
level, VO2max) and creating statistical result sheets and graphs on data, including energy expenditure adjusted for lean mass (AEE, TEE), METs, accelerometry, cardiac reserve, skin temperature, heat flux, sudation, number of steps, sleeping state and supine position for each period of activity recorded in the individual schedules. For each period of activity, Finder2E calculates the lower and the upper quartiles, the median, the mean, the standard deviation, the minimum, the maximum, the inverse of the minimum and maximum, the mean2, the mean3 and the Napierian logarithm of the mean. The first and second derivative functions are also calculated for the main parameters recorded by Actiheart and Armband. The area under the curve is calculated for all the parameters (see Visualization).
The figure below shows the statistical results for a family composed of two volunteers who carried out four activities. Only some (and not all) of the parameters are shown below.



Statistical treatments are saved in the file: Calculs_<FamilyName>.xls in the directory :
C:\Finder2E\Familles\<FamilyName>


CALCULATING EE PREDICTION AND ERRORS

For a family:

A file is edited per family of volunteers (Prediction_<FamilyName>.xls). It indicates the volunteer code, activity carried out, and total energy expenditure evaluated by Armband (EE Arm), Actiheart (EE Act), the sensors in the calorimetric room (EE Chc) and by the prediction function (Prediction EE) during each activity. The three last columns list the errors made by Armband, Actiheart and the prediction function compared to the reference (indirect calorimetry). The error is calculated as the difference between estimation and reference adjusted to reference.
For example, Error Arm/Chc = (EE Arm - EE Chc)/EE Chc.
The table below shows the prediction and error results per activity for a family composed of two volunteers who carried out four activities.


The file is  located in the directory: C:\Finder2E\Familles\<FamilyName>

For a volunteer:

A file is edited per volunteer (<CODE>_EXPEXP_<Name>.xls). It indicates, minute-by-minute, the parameters selected in the prediction model, followed by the energy expenditure evaluated by Armband (EE Armband), Actiheart (EE Actiheart), the sensors in the calorimetric room (EE Chc), and by the prediction function (EE Prediction). The three last columns indicate the EE difference between Armband and the reference, Actiheart and the reference, and the prediction function and the reference (indirect calorimetry). At the bottom of the table, the mean deviation and the mean deviation adjusted to the reference are calculated for Armband, Actiheart and the prediction function.



The files are located in the directory: "C:\Finder2E\Familles\<FamilyName>\CalculPredictionVolontaires.
For more details see the section "Testing prediction functions of energy expenditure".