• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1765-1794
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• 2019

Genetic Programming (GP) is an intelligence technique whereby computer programs are encoded as a set of genes which are evolved utilizing a Genetic Algorithm (GA). In other words, the GP employs novel optimization techniques to modify computer programs; imitating the way humans develop programs by progressively re-writing them for solving problems automatically. Trial programs are frequently altered in the search for obtaining superior solutions due to the base is GA. These are evolutionary search techniques inspired by biological evolution such as mutation, reproduction, natural selection, recombination, and survival of the fittest. The power of GAs is being represented by an advancing range of applications; vector processing, quantum computing, VLSI circuit layout, and so on. But one of the most significant uses of GAs is the automatic generation of programs. Technically, the GP solves problems automatically without having to tell the computer specifically how to process it. To meet this requirement, the GP utilizes GAs to a "population" of trial programs, traditionally encoded in memory as tree-structures. Trial programs are estimated using a "fitness function" and the suited solutions picked for re-evaluation and modification such that this sequence is replicated until a "correct" program is generated. GP has represented its power by modifying a simple program for categorizing news stories, executing optical character recognition, medical signal filters, and for target identification, etc. This paper reviews existing literature regarding the GPs and their applications in different scientific fields and aims to provide an easy understanding of various types of GPs for beginners.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.365-371
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• 2018

Uninterrupted monitoring of multiple subjects is required for mass causality events, in hospital environment or for sports by medical technicians or physicians. Movement of subjects under monitoring requires such system to be wireless, sometimes demands multiple transmitters and a receiver as a base station and monitored parameter must not be corrupted by any noise before further diagnosis. A Bluetooth Piconet network is visualized, where each subject carries a Bluetooth transmitter module that acquires vital sign continuously and relays to Bluetooth enabled device where, further signal processing is done. In this paper, a wireless network is realized to capture ECG of two subjects performing different activities like cycling, jogging, staircase climbing at 100 Hz frequency using prototyped Bluetooth module. The paper demonstrates removal of baseline drift using Fast Fourier Transform and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform and removal of high frequency noise using moving average and S-Golay algorithm. Experimental results highlight the efficacy of the proposed work to monitor any vital sign parameters of multiple subjects simultaneously. The importance of removing baseline drift before high frequency noise removal is shown using experimental results. It is possible to use Bluetooth Piconet frame work to capture ECG simultaneously for more than two subjects. For the applications where there will be larger body movement, baseline drift removal is a major concern and hence along with wireless transmission issues, baseline drift removal before high frequency noise removal is necessary for further feature extraction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2014.10a
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• pp.484-487
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• 2014

In this paper, We describe antenna characteristics for efficiently detecting human signs using small, planar and low power antenna. Then we can measure biological signals including respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar, using UWB (Ultra Wide Band) pulses, while does not contact the human body. The antenna need stable and wideband impedance characteristic, because it use gaussian pulse signal. Usually it has trade-off between wideband impedance and gain. But we don't considered array type antennas because we want to need small size. Generally the antennas that classified as frequency independent satisfy our requirements. Frequency independent antennas include spiral, log-periodic, sinuous, and etc. These antennas are possible to have shape planar type. In this paper, We tested these kind antenna's characteristics in center frequency 5 GHz, Especially circular patch and sinuous antenna designed and analyzed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.508-513
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• 2019

In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of ${\alpha}-lipoic$ acid (LA) and decursinol (Dec) hybrid compound LA-Dec were evaluated and compared with its prodrugs, LA and Dec. LA-Dec dose-dependently inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation in BV2 mouse microglial cells. On the other hand, no or mild inhibitory effect was shown by the Dec and LA, respectively. LA-Dec demonstrated dose-dependent protection from activation-induced cell death in BV2 cells. LA-Dec, but not LA or Dec individually, inhibited LPS-induced increased expressions of induced NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) proteins in a dose-dependent manner in both BV2 and mouse macrophage, RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, LA-Dec inhibited LPS-induced expressions of iNOS, COX-2, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$, and $interleukin-1{\beta}$ mRNA in BV2 cells, whereas the same concentration of LA or Dec was ineffective. Signaling studies demonstrated that LA-Dec inhibited LPS-activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 and protein kinase B activation, but not nuclear factor-kappa B or mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. The data implicate LA-Dec hybrid compound as a potential therapeutic agent for inflammatory diseases of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.355-363
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• 2021

Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a common renal disorder in children attributed to podocyte injury. However, children with the same diagnosis have markedly variable treatment responses, clinical courses, and outcomes, suggesting molecular heterogeneity. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the molecular responses of podocytes to nephrotic plasma to identify specific genes and signaling pathways differentiating various clinical NS groups as well as biological processes that drive injury in normal podocytes. Methods: Transcriptome profiles from immortalized human podocyte cell line exposed to the plasma of 8 subjects (steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome [SSNS], n=4; steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome [SRNS], n=2; and healthy adult individuals [control], n=2) were generated using microarray analysis. Results: Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of global gene expression data was broadly correlated with the clinical classification of NS. Differential gene expression (DGE) analysis of diseased groups (SSNS or SRNS) versus healthy controls identified 105 genes (58 up-regulated, 47 down-regulated) in SSNS and 139 genes (78 up-regulated, 61 down-regulated) in SRNS with 55 common to SSNS and SRNS, while the rest were unique (50 in SSNS, 84 genes in SRNS). Pathway analysis of the significant (P≤0.05, -1≤ log2 FC ≥1) differentially expressed genes identified the transforming growth factor-β and Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription pathways to be involved in both SSNS and SRNS. DGE analysis of SSNS versus SRNS identified 2,350 genes with values of P≤0.05, and a heatmap of corresponding expression values of these genes in each subject showed clear differences in SSNS and SRNS. Conclusion: Our study observations indicate that, although podocyte injury follows similar pathways in different clinical subgroups, the pathways are modulated differently as evidenced by the heatmap. Such transcriptome profiling with a larger cohort can stratify patients into intrinsic subtypes and provide insight into the molecular mechanisms of podocyte injury.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.8-8
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• 2019

The stringent response (SR) is characterized as a bacterial defense mechanism in response to various growth-inhibiting stresses. It is activated by accumulation of a small nucleotide regulator, (p)ppGpp, and induces global changes in bacterial transcription and translation. Recent work from our group has shown that (p)ppGpp plays a critical role in virulence and survival in Vibrio cholerae. The genes, relA and relV, are involved in the production of (p)ppGpp, while the spoT gene encodes an enzyme that hydrolyzes it in V. cholerae. A mutant strain defective in (p)ppGpp production (i.e. ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}relV{\Delta}spoT$ mutant) lost the ability to produce cholera toxin (CT) and lost their viability due to uncontrolled production of organic acids, when grown with extra glucose. In contrast, the ${\Delta}relA{\Delta}spoT$ mutant, a (p)ppGpp overproducer strain, produced enhanced level of CT and exhibited better growth in glucose supplemented media via glucose metabolic switch from organic fermentation to acetoin, a neutral fermentation end product, fermentation. These findings indicates that (p)ppGpp, in addition to its well-known role as a SR mediator, positively regulates CT production and maintenance of growth fitness in V. cholerae. This implicates SR as a promising drug target, inhibition of which may possibly downregulate V. cholerae virulence and survival fitness. Therefore, we screened a chemical library and identified a compound that induces medium acidification (termed iMAC) and thereby loss of wild type V. cholerae viability under glucose-rich conditions. Further, we present a potential mechanism by which the compound inhibits (p)ppGpp accumulation. Together, these results indicate that iMAC treatment causes V. cholerae cells to produce significantly less (p)ppGpp, an important regulator of the bacterial virulence and survival response, and further suggesting that it has a therapeutic potential to be developed as a novel antibacterial agent against cholera.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.684-694
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• 2021

Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI) data detects the temporal correlations in Blood Oxygen Level Dependent(BOLD) signal and these temporal correlations are regarded to reflect intrinsic cortical connectivity, which is deactivated during attention demanding, non-self referential tasks, called Default Mode Network(DMN). The relationship between fMRI and anatomical connectivity has not been studied in detail, however, the preceded studies have tried to clarify this relationship using Diffusion Tensor Imaging(DTI) and fMRI. These studies use method that fMRI data assists DTI data or vice versa and it is used as guider to perform DTI tractography on the brain image. In this study, we hypothesized that functional connectivity in resting state would reflect anatomical connectivity of DMN and the combined images include information of fMRI and DTI showed visible connection between brain regions related in DMN. In the previous study, functional connectivity was determined by subjective region of interest method. However, in this study, functional connectivity was determined by objective and advanced method through Independent Component Analysis. There was a stronger connection between Posterior Congulate Cortex(PCC) and PHG(Parahippocampa Gyrus) than Anterior Cingulate Cortex(ACC) and PCC. This technique might be used in several clinical field and will be the basis for future studies related to aging and the brain diseases, which are needed to be translated not only functional connectivity, but structural connectivity.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.80-85
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• 2021

We developed a model to classify the absence of cervical cancer using deep learning from the cervical image to which the histogram equalization algorithm was applied, and to compare the performance of each model. A total of 4259 images were used for this study, of which 1852 images were normal and 2407 were abnormal. And this paper applied Image Sharpening(IS), Histogram Equalization(HE), and Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization(CLAHE) to the original image. Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio(PSNR) and Structural Similarity index for Measuring image quality(SSIM) were used to assess the quality of images objectively. As a result of assessment, IS showed 81.75dB of PSNR and 0.96 of SSIM, showing the best image quality. CLAHE and HE showed the PSNR of 62.67dB and 62.60dB respectively, while SSIM of CLAHE was shown as 0.86, which is closer to 1 than HE of 0.75. Using ResNet-50 model with transfer learning, digital image-processed images are classified into normal and abnormal each. In conclusion, the classification accuracy of each model is as follows. 90.77% for IS, which shows the highest, 90.26% for CLAHE and 87.60% for HE. As this study shows, applying proper digital image processing which is for cervical images to Computer Aided Diagnosis(CAD) can help both screening and diagnosing.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.169-178
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• 2020

L-ascorbic acid (L-AA; vitamin C) induces apoptosis in cancer cells. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of L-AA-induced apoptosis in human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma Hep-2 cells. L-AA suppressed the viability of Hep-2 cells and induced apoptosis, as shown by the cleavage and condensation of nuclear chromatin and increased number of Annexin V-positive cells. L-AA decreased Bcl-2 protein expression but upregulated Bax protein levels. In addition, cytochrome c release from the mitochondria into the cytosol and activation of caspase-9, -8, and -3 were enhanced by L-AA treatment. Furthermore, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and endonuclease G (EndoG) were translocated into the nucleus during apoptosis of L-AA-treated Hep-2 cells. L-AA effectively inhibited the constitutive nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation and attenuated the nuclear expression of the p65 subunit of NF-κB. Interestingly, L-AA treatment of Hep-2 cells markedly activated Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK; extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase [JNK]) and and LY294002 (Akt inhibitor), SB203580 (p38 inhibitor) or SP600125 (a JNK inhibitor) decreased the levels of Annexin V-positive cells. These results suggested that L-AA induces the apoptosis of Hep-2 cells via the nuclear translocation of AIF and EndoG by modulating the Bcl-2 family and MAPK/Akt signaling pathways.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2022

In this paper, we proposed a portable electronic cardiogram and stethoscope (ECGS) that can simultaneously perform the electrocardiogram (ECG) and auscultation tests to increase the reliability of diagnosis of heart disease. To measure the ECG and heart sound (HS) at the same time, three ECG electrodes and a microphone sensor were combined into a triangular shape with a width of 90 mm and a height of 97 mm that can be held in one hand. In order to prevent skin problems when they contact the patient's skin, a capacitive coupled electrode was selected as the ECG electrode and a silicone material was used in a chest piece with the microphone sensor. For the signals measured from the electrodes and the chest piece, filters were respectively configured to pass only the signals of 0.01-100 Hz and 20-250 Hz, which are frequency bands for ECG and HS. The filtered ECG and HS analog signals were converted into digital signals and transmitted to a PC using wireless communication for monitoring them. The HS could be auscultated simultaneously using an earphone. The monitored ECG had an SNR of about 34 dB and a P-QRS-T waveform is clearly visible. In addition, the HS had an SNR of about 28 dB and both S₁ and S₂ are clearly visible. It is expected that it can aid doctors' inexperience in analyzing the ECG and HS.