BME100 s2014:Group31 L1

BME 100 Fall 2013	Home People Lab Write-Up 1 | Lab Write-Up 2 | Lab Write-Up 3 Lab Write-Up 4 | Lab Write-Up 5 | Lab Write-Up 6 Course Logistics For Instructors Photos Wiki Editing Help
OUR TEAM Name: Jimmy Xu Name: Andrew Liu Name: Andy Chang Name: Charles Bolton Name: Afshin Isadvestar Name: Michael Chatarachanwong LAB 1 WRITE-UP Independent and Dependent Variables Independent Variable: Dosage of lipopolysaccharide (mg) The dosage of lipopolysaccharide is the independent variable because it is the quantity being altered in order to see what the effect of its change will be. Dependent Variable: Amount of Inflammotin The amount of Inflammotin protein within the blood stream of test subjects is the dependent variable because it is the quantity that is being measured after varying levels of lipopolysaccharide in order to draw conclusions from. Experimental Design Groups There will be up to 6 groups, randomly selected from an elderly population, who will be given varying dosages of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 milligrams of lipopolysachride. Our experimental groups will be given the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 milligram dosage and our control group will be given 10 mg of lipopolysaccharide, which was already determined to increase protein levels. After measuring the Inflammotin levels in each subject after they take their doses, it will be determined which dose increased the protein levels the most among the elderly. Age The ages of the subjects will be 65 years old and older. This will ensure that our subjects are elderly. Number of subjects per group Each group will have 10 subjects. 10 subjects is a big enough sample size and will help ensure that any extremes will be accounted for. Subject Selection Among the population of people aged 65 or older (anyone younger will be excluded), a simple random sample will be conducted, which will make the experiment unbiased. Once six groups of ten are randomly selected though the use of drawing names though a hat, each group will be assigned a random dose of lipopolysaccharide. One group will be assigned the control, which is the 10 mg dose of lipopolysaccharide. Sources of Error and Bias The people selected for the study might not be representative of the population as a whole. It could be controlled by picking from a larger pool of test subjects, which would make it more likely it represents the population we want to test for as a whole. Another source of error is that some subjects could already have high levels of Inflammotin, so taking a dose of lipopolysaccharide could have a minimal effect. This could be controlled by measuring the subjects' protein level beforehand, and assigning the subjects with high levels to a control group. A final source of error could be that the lowest possible dose of lipopolysaccharide could lie between two whole numbers, but it couldn't be determined since the doses being administered are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 milligrams. Controlling this would be difficult as the lab is low on money, so administering more doses could end up costing too much. The lowest dose that is found to increase Inflammotin would then not be the absolutely most precise amount.