MAT 2379 [A], Introduction to Biostatistics.

Course Instructor: Oleksii Volkov

Assignment 1 (5 questions)

Due date: Friday, September 27 at 15:00

Late assignments will not be accepted

You can deposit your completed assignment into the corresponding box on the
second floor of the STEM building. Please make sure you choose the one
that says MAT 2379 [A] (your section) on it.

Note: You can also hand in your completed assignment in class or during the
office hour no later than Wednesday, September 25, 14:30.
1. (1.6) Epistasis is a process that explains how gene interaction can affect
phenotypes. Consider the following example. The color of the flower of a
pea plant can be purple or white and is affected by two genes 𝐶 and 𝑃 which
control the biochemistry of the plant. The flower is purple only if the
dominant allele for both genes 𝐶 and 𝑃 are present
(a) List all the possible genotypes for a pea plant with white flowers.
(b) Use the Punnett square and the tree diagram to illustrate all the possible
genotypes and phenotypes (and the associated probabilities) of the
offspring resulting from the cross of two pea plants with genotype 𝐶𝑐𝑃𝑝.
What is the probability that the offspring has purple flowers?
2. (2.10) Some parents are permissive regarding the alcohol consumption and
the cigarette use by their adolescent children. Assume that 13% of the
parents permit the cigarette use in the house, 8.5% of the parents permit the
alcohol consumption in the house and 6% of the parents permit both,
cigarette use and alcohol consumption in the house. In randomly chosen
house, what is the probability that parents permit:
(a) The use of at least one of the two substances;
(b) The cigarette use but not the alcohol consumption;
(c) The consumption of alcohol but not the cigarette use?
3. (3.4) B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) is a substance secreted from the
ventricles of the heart. Patients with a heart failure tend to have BNP blood
levels which are higher than normal. A blood BNP level about 750 pg/mL
seems to be associated with congestive heart failure (CHF). In the study [21]
there were 321 patients who went to the emergency department with acute
dyspnea (shortness of breath) had the BNP blood test. Among the 134
patients with CHF, 120 had BNP levels higher than 750 pg/mL. In the
remaining group of 187 patients who did not have CHF, only 49 had BNP
blood levels higher than 750 pg/mL.
(a) Calculate the rates of the BNP blood test (i.e. the sensitivity, specificity,
false positive rate, false negative rate, PPV and NPV)
Hint: Assume that a patient with CHF is a true positive and a BNP blood
level higher than 750 pg/mL is a positive test.
(b) What is the probability that a patient will have a CHF, if their BNP blood
level is higher than 750 pg/mL?

𝑈+ 𝑈− Total
𝑇+

𝑇−

Total
4. (3.8) Consider a multiple-choice question on an exam with 5 choices.
Assume that about 15% of the students will simply guess the answer, i.e.
pick one of the 5 choices randomly. If a student attempts to find the correct
answer without guessing, then the probability of choosing the correct answer
is 80%.
(a) What is the probability that a student chooses the correct answer?
(b) What is the probability that a student was not guessing, given that this
student chose the correct answer?
5. The Nuchal Clarity Test is a test to detect the Down syndrome (trisomy).
The test measures the liquid under the skin behind the neck of the fetus. The
following table summarizes the data obtained from a sample of 1,000
pregnant women between 35 and 40 years old:

Down syndrome present Down syndrome absent Total

(𝑈+ ) (𝑈− )
𝑇+ 5 55 60
𝑇− 3 937 940
Total 8 992 1000

(a) Calculate the false positive rate and the false negative rate of the test.
(b) Calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the test.