Kong

 Cheung  
23664017  

BioE  101  Problem  Set  2  

 
Question  1  
(a)    
According  to  the  statistics  from  American  Diabetes  Association,  the  numbers  of  type  
2  diabetes  patients  in  different  ethnic  group  are  as  follows:    
African  Americans:  14.7  %  (3.7  million  who  age  >  20  years  old)  
Natives  American:  14.6%  (0.45  million  who  age  >  20  years  old)  
Caucasian  Americans:  9.8%  (14.9  million  who  age  >  20  years  old)  
Asian  Americans:  9.7%  (1.7  million  who  age  >  20  year  old)  
Hispanic/Latino  Americans:  9.5%  (2.5  million  who  age  >  20  years  old)  
 
(b)  
According  to  the  WHO  website  there  are  approximately  347  million  people  with  
the  type  2  diabetes.  
[Source:  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/]    
 
(c)  

 
 
(d)    
I  would  pick  Cancer  because  I  am  so  amazed  by  the  complexity  of  cancer  cell  
behavior  and  the  cell  signaling  pathways  contributing  to  malignant  phenotypes.  
Therefore,  I  would  like  to  contribute  my  time  and  effort  to  investigate  the  signaling  
pathway  and  develop  a  cheaper  and  more  effective  imaging  system  to  increase  the  
diagnosis  rate  of  early  stage  cancer.    
 Kong  Cheung  
23664017  
Question  2  
(a)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There  are  two  cutoff  frequencies,  one  at  around  20Hz,  and  another  one  at  around  
20kHz.  
 
(b)  

 
There  are  two  cutoff  frequencies,  one  at  around  40Hz,  and  another  one  at  around  
60kHz.  
 
(c)  Since  
𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆  
so  the  wavelength  of  the  sound  will  decrease  if  frequency  increase.  It  will  useful  
because  sounds  with  shorter  wavelength  tend  to  be  more  directional  as  they  don’t  
diffract  as  much  as  the  sounds  with  longer  wavelength.  Therefore,  it  will  be  better  
for  animals  to  communicate  in  dark  environment,  such  as  deep  ocean,  because  they  
can  identified  the  direction  of  the  sound  more  accurately.    
 Kong  Cheung  
23664017  
Question  3  
(a)  
 H(w)  
!
!"#
=   !    
!!  
!"#
!
=   !!!"#$      
 
so,    
𝑤 𝟏
𝐻 𝑓 =  𝐻 = 𝒘  
2𝜋 𝟏 + 𝒋 𝟐𝝅 𝑹𝑪
 
(b)  
 

 
(c)  This  is  a  low-­‐pass  filter.  The  cutoff  frequency  is  the  resonance  frequency    
 Kong  Cheung  
23664017  
Question  4  
(a)  

 
 
(b)  
Yes.  The  max  frequency  the  signal  could  be  will  be  20kHz,  if  we  assume  it  is  a  human  
audio  signal.  Therefore,  the  frequency  above  20kHz  in  the  spectrum  is  not  belongs  
to   the   original   signal,   and   they   are   all   noise.   So   for   frequency   >   20kHz,   noise  
amplitude  >  signal  amplitude.    
 
 
(c)  
It   is   because   a   filter   can   only   filter   out   a   range   of   frequency,   it   cannot   distinguish  
which  part  of  the  amplitude  is  belongs  to  signal,  and  which  part  is  belongs  to  noise.  
Therefore,  both  noise  and  signal  that  have  frequency  in  the  operation  range  of  the  
filter   will   pass   through   the   filter.   As   a   result,   the   SNR   in   this   range   will   not   be  
improved.   However,   in   most   of   the   cases,   noise   has   higher   amplitude   than   signal  
(low  SNR)  if  they  are  outside  the  range  of  the  filter.  Therefore,  the  overall  SNR  can  
be  improved  by  eliminating  a  range  of  frequency  that  has  low  SNR.    
 
 
 
 
Question  5  
(a)  No.  
Bandwidth  is  not  adequate  because  the  sound  of  the  lung  is  audible,  which  indicates  
its   range   is   between   20Hz   to   20kHz.   Therefore,   the   bandwidth   is   too   short   to   detect  
the  sound  of  the  lung.    
 
 Kong  Cheung  
23664017  
(b)  Yes.  
Bandwidth   is   adequate   because   cardiac   activity,   like   heartbeats   are   usually   have  
max   frequency   at   around   4-­‐5Hz.   Therefore,   10Hz   is   a   enough   bandwidth   for   sample  
as  it  already  greater  or  equal  to  the  double  of  max  frequency.    
 
(c)  Yes.  
Bandwidth   is   adequate   because   usually   blood   pressure   readings   in   the   ankles   and  
arm  are  needed  for  PVD  diagnosis.  And  the  frequency  of  blood  pressure  should  be  
related  to  heartbeat.  Therefore,  the  bandwidth  is  enough  as  explained  in  b  
 
Question  6  
I   don’t   think   that   the   measured   waveform   is   always   within   1%   of   the   true  
physiologic   waveform.   I   think   they   measure   accuracy   by   calculating   the   difference  
between   the   measured   waveform   and   the   true   physiologic   waveform   for   n   time,  
where  n  is  a  large  number.  Then  they  take  an  average  for  all  the  difference,  to  see  
whether  the  mean  which  be  with  in  the  1%  boundary.  Therefore,  there  may  be  still  
chance   that   there   are   some   measurement   are   out   of   the   1%   boundary,   but   those  
measurement  are  just  canceled  out.    
 
Question  7  
90%  PPV  indicates,  9  true  positives  out  of  10  positive.  
10%  NPV  indicates,  1  true  negative  out  of  10  negative.  
So   the   nifty   CalBear   microfluidic   chip   test   has   low   false   positive,   and   high   false  
negative.   The   chip   is   not   suitable   for   screening   testing,   due   to   the   high   chance   of  
false  negative,  which  means  a  high  chance  that  “hiden”  patient  will  not  be  tested  out.  
Therefore,  I  would  suggest  putting  the  chain  of  diagnostic  tests  earliest,  as  the  chip  
is  not  reliable  for  screening.    
 
Question  8  
Murphy’s  law  said,  “Anything  that  can  go  wrong  –  will  go  wrong”.  Low-­‐probability  
events   happen   all   the   time,   especially   when   dealing   with   large   sample   sizes.   For  
example,  winning  the  lottery  is  a  low-­‐probability  event.  However,  a  lot  of  people  buy  
lottery   tickers.   As   a   result,   someone   wins   the   lottery   almost   every   week.   So   low-­‐
probability   doesn’t   mean   it   will   rarely   occur,   as   probability   is   just   an   averaging  
calculation.  
 
Question  9  
The  author  recommends  to  increase  the  scale  for  the  studies,  to  reduce  the  bias  of  
the  research  questions,  and  to  pay  attention  to  the  R  values  to  make  sure  the  data  
you  got  is  related  to  what  you  wanted  to  investigate.