Welcome words

1. Introduction

Ghrelin, produced mainly in the stomach, is an appetite stimulating hormone, an powerful orexigenic bio-molecule; i.e. it triggers the need for food, our appetite. It has been discovered in 1999 by Japanese scientists, but largely spread-out by British groups, and so then it has been a quite important piece for taking in the workings of feeding patterns and behaviors.

Ghrelin is an amino acid peptide, related to growth hormone, which is secreted primarily in the stomach but is found throughout the gastrointestinal system and even in the hypothalamus and amygdala, among other sites, such as the heart and pancreas. Some claims that the name comes from Growth Hormone releasing, by shorting and gathering, we encounter ghrelin. But exactly how ghrelin exerts its effect is not clear, neither how it is produced, e.g. the complete profile for triggering ghrelin activation and inhibition.

2. The complex process of eating

We can say that eating is one of the simplest activities, it is not necessary being an Einstein for eating with style. Nonetheless, within the body, it is a quite complex process, maybe amongst the most complex ones, given that we are still try to understand it properly for treating medical conditions such as obesity.

Ghrelin receptors in the brain

Ghrelin receptors in the brain
This picture presents the ghrelin receptors in the brain. Source: Nelson and Cox (2004, p.912)

Ghrelin mathematical model (current)

Ghrelin mathematical model (current)
This is the current model for ghrelin

Aim

Aim
This is the general picture of what is chased

Future works

Future works

Likely not for now

- Image processing;

Hypothesized relationship between ghrelin and tastants

Hypothesized relationship between ghrelin and tastants
Hypothesized relationship between ghrelin and tastants. See https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281683781_Taste_and_the_regulation_of_food_intake_It%27s_not_just_about_flavor/reviews/168301

Posts

Below are the posts, organized in order of publication, FPLS (First Published, Last Shown)

Thursday, September 28, 2017

A hybrid algorithm for parameter estimation of the ghrelin dynamics based on in vivo data (CBIC-2017)

Food intake, bodyweight and appetite are controlled by a “web of hormones.”On this work, we shall present a problem in parameter estimation using evolutionary algorithms alongside local search, what we have called hybrid algorithms (global search + local search); furthermore, we apply artificial neural networks (feedforward neural network) for supporting the numerical simulations (what we have called “fake data”). We present a mathematical model for ghrelin partially published elsewhere by the same authors; furthermore, we have confronted the model mathematically with in vivo data via parameter estimation and got promising results for the novel mathematical formulation. Notwithstanding the parameter estimation was unable to model precisely the experimental data, most likely due to physiological details still unclear in the medical literature, it generated an optimized curve relatively close to the experimental data, leaving promising results for future investigations.

Track: Evolutionary, swarm and nature-inspired computation: Real World Applications