Advice about the data interpretation questions

General

The Systems 2 data interpretation questions will be based on material covered

practicals, tutorials or the lectures in Systems 2. If you are trying to guess the sort of
questions, think about exercises/topics that have involved manipulating data, using an
equation, interpreting physiological measurements, or recognising simple clinical
symptoms and interpreting hormone measurements.

There are no trick questions, so don’t worry if you find the answer blindingly
obvious. The next part may be more challenging! Conversely don’t panic if you get
flummoxed by one particular part of a question. Remember you can usually still get
marks on other parts. Above all look at the graphs, tables or other data carefully
before you start to answer the question.

Advice related to the Endocrinology Reproduction Element

Below is listed the sorts of questions you could be asked and examples.

Conversion of concentrations given in weight/volume into molar concentrations.

For example: If the concentration of progesterone in plasma is 9 ng/ml, what is the

molar concentration of progesterone (assume the Molecular Weight of progesterone
is 300)? Express you answer in nmol/L.

Calculation:
9 ng/ml = 9000 ng per L = 9 µ g/L

If the molecular weight of progesterone is 300 then a 1 molar solution is 300 gm/L or
300 x 1000 mg/L = 300,000 mg/L = 300,000,000 µ g/L

So molar concentration of progesterone in plasma = 9/300,000,000 M/L which =

9/300 µ g/L which 3/100 µ M/L which = 0.03 µ M/L which = 30 nM/L

Making up or diluting drug solutions to achieve a particular concentration

For example: how much water needs to be added to 1 g of a drug powder to make up
a 20 mg/ml solution?

Calculation:

1 g = 1000 mg. 1 ml to one gram gives a solution of 1000mg/ml. So 1 x 1000/20 = 50

ml to one gram gives a solution of 20mg/ml

[Tip: When doing the manipulations try to think, as a check, whether your
manipulation is sensible. In the example above, suppose you did the first step, and
worked out that 1 ml is needed for 1000 mg/ml, but then mistakenly decided to
multiply the answer by 20/1000 rather than 1000/20 giving an answer of 0.02 ml.
Would it be likely that you would need a smaller volume of water to reduce the
concentration from 1000 mg/ml to 20 mg/ml?]

Conversions of concentrations that are given in one unit to another

For example: If the value for the plasma progesterone concentration is 20 ng/ml what
is the concentration in mg/dl?

Calculation:

20 ng/ml = 0.02 mg/ml.

0.02 mg/ml = 2 mg/dl

[Here are some useful prefixes to remember:

Deci = one tenth (e.g. dl, or 10-1 litre, or 100 ml)
Centi = one hundredth (mainly used for distance - i.e. cm)
Milli = one thousandth (e.g. milligramme, or mg, = 10-3 g, or 0.001g)
Micro = one millionth (e.g microgramme, or µ g, = 10-6 g, or 0.000001g)
Nano = one thousand millionth (e.g. nanogramme, or ng, = 10-9 g, or 0.000000001g)
Pico = one million millionth (e.g. picogramme, or pg, = 10-12 g, or 0.000000000001g
)]

Calculation of drug dosage

For example: A doctor needs to give 20 mg/kg of a drug to a patient. The drug is
available in a solution containing 50mg/ml and the patient weighs 100 kg. What
volume of drug solution needs to be injected?

Calculation:

If the patient weighs 100 kg, then the dose needs to be 20 x 100 = 2000 mg.
The volume of drug solution required is 2000/50 = 20 ml