BME100 f2014:Group5 L1

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LAB 1 WRITE-UP

Independent and Dependent Variables

The independent variable is the level of ipopolysaccharide.
The dependent variable is the level of Inflammotin protein.

Experimental Design

Groups

The experiment will be conducted with six experimental groups.

Age

The subjects used in the experiment are at least 65 years of age.

Number of subjects per group

Each experimental group contains 100 subjects.

Design

The experiment will include 6 groups of 100 people each. The control group for the experiment is 10 mg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) since previous data has shown it has an affect on the level of Inflammotin protein produced. To test the level of Inflammotin produced the experiment will have 5 various experimental groups. Each experimental group will contain less LPS 9mg, 8mg, 7mg, 6mg, and 5mg. Since Inflammotin is produced in the elderly the test subjects will be at least 65 years old. By having 100 subjects per group the experiment will limit variability and increase the accuracy of data collected.


Once test subjects are randomly selected, experimental groups will be given differing amounts of LPS in order to test how much of the inflammatory protein (Inflammotin) was produced. A baseline test of the Inflammotin protein already present in the body must be conducted before administering LPS. Once enough time has passed to see the effects of LPS on production of Inflammotin protein another test will be administered to be compared to the baseline. Note, the protein is measured in blood samples using ELISA.


Since the experiment contains six experimental groups a one-way ANOVA should be conducted after data is collected. Due to the fact the a t-test is only conducted when there are two experimental groups, a t-test should not be conducted. A power analysis is used to determine the needed amount of test subjects to make this experiment viable. For this experiment, the Pearson’s R could be found by plotting results into 6 different scatter plots, respectively representing each group. Each scatter plot should form some type of correlation which is expressed through a number, R. This number is represented on a scale of -1.0 to 1.0. The control group should show the strongest correlation, closest number to 1.0, and acts as a point of reference for comparison to groups 2-6.

Subject Selection

In this experiment, subjects who are 65 years of age and older will be selected from both genders. They also have to have the same health profile in order to reduce the number of variables in the experiment. In our selection, different ethnicities will be targeted because of the genetic variation between different ethnic groups which might affect the accuracy of the test result.

Sources of Error or Biases

It has been established that 10 mg has an effect on protein levels, and this could serve as a source of bias because we would expect that any amount of LPS close to 10 mg will have the desired effect. The way this can be controlled is if we conducted a double blind experiment, or we simply eliminate 10 mg as our control. We are attempting to maximize the level of Inflammation with the lowest amount of LPS, and an error could arise in our calculation. We would have to run through the calculations more than once to ensure we selected the optimal amount of LPS.

Environment and occupation might be sources of biases therefore, to avoid any variation in the result, environment should be controlled and all subjects should have jobs with same stress level.