Report on Determination of Iron Content in Ferritin

This report provides a detailed analysis of the determination of iron content in ferritin. It includes an introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion. The report also provides guidelines for submission and citation. Submit by 9th Jan 2018 for formative feedback.

PP4003 Report on the Determination of iron content in ferritin Practical
What you need to do:
You should already have written up the practical relating to the “Determination of iron content
in ferritin” in your laboratory workbook. This will be your source information for your final word
processed report and the investigation.
Your report will follow the following format:
 Title
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results (including Tables & Figures)
 Discussion
 References (in Harvard Format)
Deadlines:
Submission by 9th Jan 2018 for formative feedback
Final assessed submission 5th March 2018
Use the guidelines below to help you complete each section.
1. Introduction
You need to write an introduction with a maximum word count of 500-800. In it you should
describe the experiments you are performing in the context of the question you have been
asked to address.
In this case you are measuring the amount of iron release by the protein ferritin.
You need to briefly give the background of the project, describe the ferritin role in humans and
the diseases associated to an alteration of its level, the ferritin structure, the spectroscopic
technique, and the reactions involved in the determination of the iron, the linear correlation
given by the Beer Law, examples of the absorbance spectroscopy technique applications.
Within the Introduction you should reference at least 3 external sources of information as
evidence of your literature research and these references should be included in a reference
section at the end of the introduction. The referencing should be made in Harvard format as
described in “Cite them Right” which can be accessed via the following link.
http://www.uel.ac.uk/lls/support/harvard/
The references are not included in your word count
2. Materials and Methods
The Materials and Methods should precisely but concisely describe how you performed the
experiments. There is no need to include a list of the materials used. In this section you
need to use full sentences and paragraphs, NOT numbered or bulleted lists. This is a
professional report not a recipe book.
3. Results
The Results should describe the data you collected from these experiments as well as the
meaning of each data (why using Beer law? Explain the logic behind your calculations in the

determination of the iron value in ferritin).
Mean and standard deviation of your data MUST be reported.
Graphs, tables and the results of any statistical analysis should be included in this section.
We suggest you show
 A table with the absorbance values of your standard solutions with the corresponding
calculated iron Fe(II) concentrations.
 A graph with your standard curve (including the line equation and R2 value).
 A table with the absorbance values of the solutions of ferritin with the corresponding
concentration calculation
Each figure or table should also have a corresponding legend. The Figures and Figure legends
are not included in the word count
Report the calculations for the determination of the moles of iron per mL of solution.
4. Discussion
The Discussion should present a short explanation of your results and what they mean in
terms of the question that was being addressed.
You need to discuss the validity of your methodology. If there were any experimental problems
that might make you question the validity of your results these should also be discussed. You
can refer back to references used in the Introduction or add new ones to support statements
made in the Discussion.
The small print
You should aim for 1200-1500 words with an absolute maximum word count of 1600 for the
entire report. This does not include References and Figure legends.
A draft of the report should be submitted through Turn It In on the PP4003 Moodle site by 9th
Jan 2018 for you to receive formative feedback. There will be a separate Turn It In link for
each practical group. It is in your own interest to submit a draft by 9 th Jan 2017 for feedback
as this will help you improve your final mark.
The final submission the report should be submitted through Turn It In on the BS4003 Moodle
site by 5 th March 2018 this should give you time to incorporate feedback. There will be a
separate Turn It In link for each practical group. The mark will contribute 30% to your final
module grade.
Citations and References
Cutting and pasting text from the internet or copying text from books is plagiarism, an
academic offence that will result in a severe punishment. You must paraphrase, i.e. write
information in your own words and cite the source of the information by referencing.

A more detailed description of how a scientific report should be written is given
below. These guidelines were adapted by Dr. Guiliano from “The Structure of Scientific
Reports” available at:
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/report/2b.html
This online resource gives a good description of how scientific reports should bewritten and I
would suggest you read it in full.
1. Introduction
In your introduction, you need to let the readers (or markers) of your report know why the report
is important and what exactly the report is about. It is essential to establish these things
because it places the reader / marker in a better position to understand thesignificance of the
material presented in the rest of the report. In your introduction, you need to answer questions
such as
 What do you hope to learn from the experiment?
 What question is being asked?
 Why is this research important?
The introduction starts generally by introducing the broad context within which your research
fits. You need to provide a short review of the topic and how it impacts on your research
question. The literature needs to provide the reader / marker of your report with an
understanding of the conceptual and theoretical background, context and justification for the
experiments you are undertaking.
Your literature review uses both the past tense and the present tense. The past tense is used
to refer to a particular experiment and the specific results of a particular experiment that has
been carried out in the past. The present tense is used to refer to information that is not
confined to a particular experiment.
For example,
PAST tense: Reijenga (2013) studied the technique in …, The model predicted that …..
PRESENT tense: Table 1 shows that…..
The introduction ends with a statement of your specific hypothesis or hypotheses. This
statement of the hypothesis should logically follow on from your literaturereview and you may
want to make an explicit link between the variables you aremanipulating or measuring in your
study and previous research.
2. Materials and Methods
The purpose of this section is to precisely describe the method and materials used to conduct
your experiment with enough detail so someone else could repeat the sameprocedure. In the
method section of the report you should use the past tense since you are describing what you
did. For example:
• A dilution series was performed….
• The absorbance was read at…
Furthermore, as the focus in this section is on what was done rather than who did it, the passive

voice is used as it aims to foreground the action, rather than the doer of the action. For
example:
• The absorbance was measured (YES)… as opposed to
• I measured the absorbance (NO)…
You will need to provide the experimental procedures that were followed in full
sentences and paragraphs, NOT in numbered or bullet point list.
3. Results
This section describes but does not explain your results; it provides the reader with a factual
account of your findings. You can, however, draw attention to specific trends or data that you
think are important. Your aim in your results section is to make your results as comprehensible
as possible for your readers / markers
If you are presenting statistical results, place descriptive statistics first (means and standard
deviations). Indicate any transformations to the data you are reporting; for example,
percentages rather than straight values. Raw data and lengthy whole transcripts of qualitative
data should be put in the appendices, only excerpts (descriptive statistics or illustrative
highlights of lengthy qualitative data) should be included in the results section. You should
not require an appendix in this report.
In the results section you will need to use both the past tense and the present tense. The
past tense is used to describe results and analyses; for example,
 The iron content in ferritin was found to be……
 The results indicated ....
The present tense is used with results that the reader can see such as means, tables and
figures; for example,
 The means show that ...
 The values of the samples shown in figure x indicate....
As you describe particular results in the text of your results section, make sure you refer to the
corresponding figure in brackets () after you have mentioned the results. For instance
 The calibration curve related to the standard solutions of Fe(II) is shown in graph below
(Figure 1).
The figures should be inserted into the text as soon as possible after you mention them.
4. Figures
Using figures such as diagrams, tables, graphs, charts or maps can be a very useful way to
show and emphasize information in your report. They can be used to compiledata in an orderly
way or to highlight a point.
Figures essential to the report should be smoothly and correctly integrated and should be
explained and referred to in the main body of the report. A useful way to do this is to lead into
the figure by telling the reader what to focus on in the figure.
The inclusion of tables and figures does not absolve you from making your report coherent.
Regardless of whether the figures are integrated into the text or are in an appendix, it is
important that you discuss the information represented in thediagrams, tables, graphs, charts

and maps and not just let them 'speak for themselves'. A good rule of thumb is to produce
text and figures that can both stand alone: the text should be readable without figures, and
vice versa. In your discussion of theinformation represented in the figures you should highlight
information which you consider significant, point out trends or relationships or compare data
presented in separate figures.
Each figure or table should also have a legend which describes what is contained within the
figure or table. The legend should also contain information on any numerical transformation
or statistical analysis that has been performed and specificexplanatory information needed
to interpret the results shown. For example:
Figure 1. Height frequency (%) of White Pines (Pinus strobus) in the Thorncrag Bird
Sanctuary, Lewiston, Maine, before and after the Ice Storm of '98. Before, n=137,after, n=133.
Four trees fell during the storm and were excluded from the post-stormsurvey.
5. Discussion
Your discussion section has two fundamental aims:
 to explain the results of your study,
 to explore the significance of your study’s findings.
Therefore you need to:
 interpret and explain your results;
 examine whether and how the questions raised in the introduction section have
 been answered;
 show how your results relate to the literature;
 qualify and explore the importance/significance of your results;
 outline any new research questions or areas for future research that your results have
suggested.
The discussion is also the place in a report where any qualifications or reservations you have
about the research should be aired.
Statistically significant results still require analysis and discussion.
The discussion section requires you to use both the past tense and the present tense. The
past tense is used when you need to explain particulars about your results; for example,
 This group achieved this level of performance after less time studying theinstructions,
 The activity of the enzyme increased with temperatures up to 37°C.
The present tense is used when you are expanding on the implications of your results or
drawing conclusions; for example,
 The results show the effectiveness of combination drug therapy as atreatment....
 This research provides evidence that ....
Separating the Results and Discussion sections is one way of organizing this information.

Red: This assignment will fail as it stands, so pay attention to the feedback given to achieve a pass
grade. A good report but one that contains plagiarised material may be given 1 as a warning.
Amber: This assignment is on the borderline of passing but the report can be significantly improved
by following the advice given.
Green: This report would pass as it stands, pay attention to the feedback given to improve your grade.