This form of membrane transport involves the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide across alveolar and capillary membranes, moving with concentration gradients from areas of high to low concentration.
What is diffusion?
This condition involves the buildup of plaque in arterial walls, leading to reduced blood flow and potential blockages.
What is atherosclerosis?
These are the specialized cells that transmit electrical and chemical signals in the nervous system.
What are neurons?
These chemical messengers are produced by endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream to target specific cells.
What are hormones?
This organ is the first line of defense against pathogens, providing immediate non-specific protection.
What is the skin/physical barrier?
This protein in red blood cells contains four polypeptide subunits and plays a crucial role in oxygen transport by changing its affinity based on partial pressure
What is hemoglobin?
This genetic disorder affects hemoglobin structure, causing abnormally shaped red blood cells that can obstruct blood flow.
What is sickle cell anemia?
This is the chemical messenger that transmits signals across synapses.
What is a neurotransmitter?
This hormone stimulates the development of female secondary sexual characteristics.
What is estrogen?
These white blood cells produce antibodies to fight specific pathogens.
What are B lymphocytes?
These muscular structures at the base of the lungs contract and relax to facilitate breathing, playing a key role in the mechanics of ventilation.
What are the diaphragm and/or intercostal muscles?
These small blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle itself.
What are coronary arteries?
This is the electrical signal that travels along a neuron's axon.
What is an action potential?
This hormone from the pancreas helps regulate blood glucose levels by promoting cellular glucose uptake.
What is insulin?
This process involves white blood cells engulfing and destroying foreign particles or microorganisms.
What is phagocytosis?
This surfactant-producing cell type in the alveoli prevents the collapse of air sacs during exhalation by reducing surface tension.
What are type II pneumocytes (or type II alveolar cells)?
These flaps that ensure one-way blood flow between heart chambers.
What are heart valves?
These are the junction points where neurons communicate with each other or with other cells.
What are synapses?
This complex hormonal mechanism coordinates the monthly reproductive cycle in females, involving intricate interactions between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovaries.
What is the menstrual cycle hormonal regulation?
These specialized proteins in the blood help mark pathogens for destruction by other immune cells.
What are antibodies?
This pathological process involves the gradual destruction of alveolar walls, leading to reduced lung elasticity, increased residual volume, and impaired gas exchange.
What is emphysema?
This node in the heart that generates the initial electrical impulse for heart contraction.
What is the sinoatrial (SA) node?
This region of the brain controls executive functions like planning, decision-making, and impulse control.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
These hormones produced by the corpus luteum maintain the uterine lining during early pregnancy.
What are progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)?
This process allows B cells to remember and quickly respond to previously encountered pathogens.
What is immunological memory?