BME100 f2014:Group11 L1

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Lab Write-Up 1 | Lab Write-Up 2 | Lab Write-Up 3
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OUR TEAM

LAB 1 WRITE-UP

Independent and Dependent Variables

The inflammatory protein (Inflammotin) is the dependant variable because it is affected by changes in the independent variable: the inflammation inducing agent (lipopolysacchiride).

Experimental Design

Groups
There will be five groups of six subjects each. One group is the control and will be give no dosage.Their results and data will be used to test the effectiveness of LPS. Of the remaining four groups, one will be given 10mg dosage, one 7mg, another 4mg, and the final group 1mg. None of the subjects will be told what dosage they are to receiving, not even the control group, to combat the placebo effect.



Age
Subjects will be between the ages of 65 and 75.


Number of subjects per group
Each group has six subjects, three female and three male. This is important as it allows for an average to be found for each sex and therefore help to eliminate errors that may be gender related.





Subject Selection

The groups will be selected in a way to minimize bias and balance both the known and unknown before treatment. Elderly participants who are between the ages of 65 and 70 years old will be the main subjects. These patients should have a moderate to severe inflammation condition. Aside from high inflammation we will be looking for mostly healthy participants (i.e. none critically ill) so other current or previous medical conditions would not skew the results from the trial. The gender ratio should be 3 female participants and 3 male participants in each trial group to ensure there is no gender bias and there will be consistency throughout all groups.






Sources of Error and Bias

Some potential sources of bias or error that could affect our results are: age, gender, environment, severity of inflammation, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions. A bias could be present if the patient has taken another prescription medication to treat inflammation and they may be comparing the results they receive from Inflammation to the results they had from that prior medication. An error could also be present if this drug reacts with any current medications the patient is on. Current and past medical conditions may also influence the results, but this adds to the randomness of the experiment and will give us more sound results on how the drug will affect people across the board. Environment could also cause an error because elevation causes different reactions with inflammation and the way the patients bodies may react.