Biophysics
Code: 101892 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2501230 Biomedical Sciences | FB | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Josep Bartomeu Cladera Cerdà
- Email:
- josep.cladera@uab.cat
Teachers
- Josep Bartomeu Cladera Cerdà
- Nuria Benseny Cases
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Students should have achieved a basic knowledge in general Physics, mastering concepts such as pressure, energy, power and intensity. It is important to have a previous knowledge of mechanical waves and optics. That is, to have acquired the theoretical knowledge and problem solving capacity as it is implemented for Physics in the ‘Batxillerat’ (Spanish/Catalan) program.
Objectives and Contextualisation
First year Biophysics for Biomedical Sciences students aims at explaining the structure-function of living organisms, especially the human body in its health and disease states, from the point of view of the application of the fundamental laws and principles of Physics. Emphasis is made on the use of tools to solve numerical problems and for the acquisition of a critical capacity to evaluate scientific results.
Competences
- Describe biomedical problems in terms of causes, mechanisms and treatments.
- Display knowledge of the bases and elements applicable to the development and validation of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.
- Display knowledge of the basic life processes on several levels of organisation: molecular, cellular, tissues, organs, individual and populations.
- Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
- Read and critically analyse original and review papers on biomedical issues and assess and choose the appropriate methodological descriptions for biomedical laboratory research work.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Work as part of a group with members of other professions, understanding their viewpoint and establishing a constructive collaboration.
Learning Outcomes
- Describe the biophysical bases for molecular interactions and balances in healthy or pathological states.
- Describe the physical bases for the functioning of the organs and systems of the healthy human organism such as: sight, speech and hearing, respiration and blood circulation.
- Discern the effects of the interaction of radiations and particles with living beings, in accordance with physical bases.
- Estimate the importance of the scientific method in the analysis of a complex system like the human body.
- Make changes to methods and processes in the area of knowledge in order to provide innovative responses to society's needs and demands.
- Recognise and identify the mechanisms and physical bases of the technologies that use radiations and particles in diagnosis and therapy.
- Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Understand and critique scientific articles on physics.
- Understand the functioning of the organism, at both cell and tissue level, its physicochemical bases and its physical bases.
- Work as part of a group with members of other professions, understanding their viewpoint and establishing a constructive collaboration.
Content
1. RADIATIONS I. FUNDAMENTALS (5 hours theory + 1 hour classroom practicals)
1.1. Nature and some properties.
1.2. X-rays.
1.3. Radioactive emission.
1.4. Interactions with living beings.
1.5. Biological effects.
1.6. Dose.
2. BIOPHYSICS OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM (5 h theory + 1 h classroom practices + 2.5 h laboratory)
2.1. Fundamental principles of fluid statics and dynamics.
2.2.Energetics of laminar flow. Bernoulli equation.
2.3 Laws of circulation of real liquids. Traffic regimes. Viscosity. Pressure loss. Poiseuille Law. Hydrodynamic resistance.
2.4. Tension in the vascular wall. Laplace's law.
2.5. Effect of gravity on blood circulation.
3. FUNDAMENTALS OF MECHANICALS WAVES: VOICE PRODUCTION, AUDITION AND ULTRASOUNDS (5 H THEORY + 1 h classroom practical + 3 h laboratory practical)
3.1. Sound quality: intensity, tone and timbre. Ultrasounds.
3.2. Voice production.
3.3. Auditory transmission mechanisms. The middle ear as an impedance adaptor. Frequance discrimination and localization in the inner ear. Sound sensation thresholds.
4. BIOPHYSICS OF VISION (5 H THEORY + 1 h numerical problems + 3.5 h lab teaching)
4.1 The eye as an optical system. Ocular Dioptric. Resting eye power. Accommodation. The crystalline. Image formation in the retina. Presbyopia. Refraction defects: Myopia, hypermetropia. Correction. Visual acuity.
4.2 The eye as a sensory receptor.
Visual fototransduction. Cones and rods. Rhodopsin and iodopsines. Transduction and signal amplification. Membrane hyperpolarization. Retina sensibility. Photopic and Scotopic vision. Sensibility curve. Light/darkness adaptation.
4.3 Color vision. Visual trivariance. Iodopsines absorption curves. Color vision anomalies.
5. BIOPHYSICS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. (5 hours of theory + 1 hour of classroom practices)
5.1 Structure of the respiratory tract.
5.2 Types of breathing. Effects of the external environment on respiration. Temperature and relative humidity regulation.
5.4 Respiratory mechanics.
5.5 The pulmonary surfactant.
5.6 Alveolar diffusion. Henry's law. Fick's law. Oxygenation of the blood in the states of health and disease.
6. RADIATIONS II. DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING (4 hours theory + 2 hours classroom practicals)
6.1. Tomographies.
6.2. Gammagraphy.
6.3. Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
6.4. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA).
6.5. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
7. TRANSPORT PHENOMENA (6h theory + 2h numerical problems + 4h lab teaching)
7.1. Simple diffusion
7.2. Diffusion through membranes.
7.3 Osmosis and dialysis phenomena.
7.4. Biomedical examples.
Laboratory teaching program.
Practice 1.- Application of the laws of circulation of real liquids and elasticity to the blood circulation. Check for the loss of pressure throughout the circulatory system, blood pressure and venous, effect of the elasticity of the vessels on the arterial and venous pressures. Establish the relationships between the elasticity of the vessels, flow, pressure and hemodynamic resistance.
Practice 2.- Medical applications of ultrasounds - ecography
Practice 3.- Optics of the eye. Formation of images in an eye model. Ametropic simulation: myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia.
Practice 4.- Diffusion through membranes: dialysis and osmosis. Experimental verification of the laws of diffusion
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Laboratory teaching | 10 | 0.4 | 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 |
| Problems seminars | 9 | 0.36 | 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 |
| Theory lectures | 35 | 1.4 | 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Programmed mentoring sessions | 8 | 0.32 | 13, 4 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual study. Bibiolgraphy handling. | 49 | 1.96 | 14, 13, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 15 |
| Problem resolution | 30 | 1.2 | 14, 13, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 15 |
The student acquires the knowledge of the subject attending the theory lectures where it will be also guided on how and where to look for the formative complements to reach the objectives of the subject.
Through the seminars the student will be able to solve exercises and problems previously presented, with a closef interaction with the teacher.
Finally, the abilities related to this knowledge will be carried out in the practical teaching in the laboratory.
The theory lectures will be given with the whole group. Partitions of the group will be maced for problem seminars (2 groups) and for laboratory taeching (3 groups).
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partial and recovery exams of the knowledge acquired in the laboratory practices and in solving written problems | 40% | 4 | 0.16 | 14, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 15 |
| Partial and recovery tests: theory and problems | 60% | 5 | 0.2 | 12, 14, 13, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 10, 9, 7, 8, 6, 15 |
Evaluation and qualification of the course
The course will be evaluated continuously throughout the course in two partial exams (P1 and P2) eliminatory of matter. It is necessary to obtain a grade equal to or greater than 4.5 in each partial to be able to do average. Each of these exams will have the same weight in the final grade of the course: 50% P1 + 50% P2. To pass the course, an average score of the 2 partial exams equal to or greater than 5.0 is required.
The characteristics of these exams will be similar and will consist of two different types: a multiple choice test where theoretical knowledge and short-resolution problems will be evaluated; and another written part where the knowledge acquired in laboratory practices and problem solving will be evaluated. The qualification of each of these parts will be:
- Evaluation of the multiple-choice typology: 60%. It will consist of multiple-choice questions, with 4 answers, of which 1, 2 or 3 may be true. The wrong answers will subtract proportionally.
- Evaluation of the written typology of the knowledge acquired in the laboratory and in problem solving: 40%.
Final recovery exam: In the case of not passing the course through continuous evaluation, there will be a final recovery evaluation of the partial exam with a grade lower than 4.5, mandatory to make average. Students with a mark higher than 4.5 and lower than 5.0 may choose to make the partial (or partials) they consider, knowing that, to pass the course, the final average must reach a minimum mark of 5.0. This exam will have similar characteristics to the ones carried out during the course. The student can perform this recovery exam as long as he has been previously evaluated for at least one of the partial exams. In this recovery exam, a score equal to or greater than 4.5 is necessary to average P1 and P2. In the case of recovering the entire course (P1 and P2), a grade ≥ 5.0 must be achieved to pass it.Students, who have passed the two eliminatory tests and want to improve their grade, will be able to take a final exam of the entire course (P1 and P2). In this case, the final grade will always be the one obtained in the last exam.
Evaluation result: Numerical note with one decimal, from 0 to 10. Qualification: failed, approved, remarkable, outstanding, honors.
Non-evaluable student: the student who does not meet the requirements to recover will be classified as "non-evaluable". The qualifications of "not evaluable" will be obtained when the student has not taken any of the partial evaluation exams (P1 or P2).
From the second enrollment: the student has the option of taking the final recovery exam directly, with no partials.
Exam review procedure: one day will be scheduled after each exam to review it. The review will be done individually with the students who request it.
Single evaluation.
The single evaluation will consist of a synthesis test that will have two parts: (1) an objective test-type exam that will assess theoretical knowledge and short problem-solving; and (2) a written part that will assess the knowledge acquired in laboratory practices and problem-solving. The grading for each of these parts will be as follows:
Evaluation of the objective test-type section: 60%. It will consist of multiple-choice questions, with 4 possible answers, of which 1, 2, or 3 may be correct. Incorrect answers will be penalized proportionally.
Evaluation of the written section on the knowledge acquired in laboratory practices and problem-solving: 40%.
To pass the subject, an average score of 5.0 or higher is required for both sections combined.
The single evaluation will take place on the same date as the scheduled second partial exam of the continuous evaluation.
Students who have not passed the subject through the single evaluation will have the opportunity to take a final recovery exam that will have the same characteristics as the recovery exam of the continuous evaluation.
Bibliography
- BIOFÍSICA (tercera edició) A.Aurengo, T. Petitclerc. (2008), McGrawHill and digital version
- BIOFÍSICA (3a edició) A.S. Frumento. (1995), Mosby/Doyma Libros.
- FÍSICA PARA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA (llibre de problemes) D. Jou, J.E. Llebot, C.Perez-García. (1994), Ed. McGraw-Hill.
- SPEECH SCIENCE PRIMER L.J. Raphael. (2007), Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
- RADIOBIOLOGY FOR RADIOLOGIST E.J. Hall, AJ.Giaccia. (2006) Ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Software
No specific software is required.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 511 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 512 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 511 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 512 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 513 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 51 | Catalan/Spanish | first semester | afternoon |