Cardiovascular System – Structure and Functions
- Explain the structure of the heart. Make reference in your answer to the different layers of the heart, the different chambers, and vessels and relate the structure to the passage of blood through the heart
The structure of the heart is quite complicated. Blood from heart circulates in three directions with the help of the pulmonary artery, coronary artery and systematic artery (Celik, Guven and Cakir 2020). The coronary circulation is very intrinsic and takes the blood directly to the main artery with the help of the aorta. The pulmonary and the systematic circulation pumps the blood from the heart. The heart comprises of 4 chambers which are left auricle, right ventricle, right auricle and left ventricle. The blood first comes to the right auricle then flows to the right ventricle and is finally forced into the pulmonary arteries of the lungs. The oxygenated blood with help of pulmonary veins travels to the heart and then moves to let atrium and to the left ventricle circulated to the entire body with the help of the aorta.
- Describe the structure of the urinary system, including a description of the structures found in the nephron. Include a discussion of how three different cell types present in the urinary system help with the physiology
Ureters, kidneys, urethra, urinary bladder and renal pelvis make up the urinary system. The nephron is the key functional unit of the kidney. The renal tubule and renal corpuscle make up the urinary system (Soave et al. 2019). Bunch of capillaries which are termed as glomerulus can be seen present in the renal corpuscles. Bowman’s capsule, which has a structure like a cup is present. The capsule is further extended to form a renal tubule.
- Describe the passage of food from the mouth to the anus, naming every organ involved and including specific discussion of the function and structure of three organs within the gastrointestinal system.
The foodstuff moves via the digestive tract by an action called peristalsis. The food is then passed on to the lower oesophagal sphincter. Then the food is passed on to the stomach and get mixed with the digestive juices received from the pancreas, liver and intestine. The food is then passed to the small intestine, where the further digestion takes place after the stomach, then the food is passed to the large intestine and finally to the rectum and the waste gets pushed out of the bowel movement (McClements 2019).
- Describe the three functions of the nervous system and the protective features of the nervous system.
The 3 primary functions of the nervous system are motor output, sensory input and integration. It is important to communicate and control data all throughout the body, and it is done by the nervous system. It is nervous system’s one of the key roles (Yang and Zhou 2019).
Three protection features of the nervous system are protecting the soft neurons, supporting the nervous system’s cells and keeping the chemical and the physical environment relatively stable.
- Describe the mechanisms used to achieve venous return to the heart.
The veins are formed by a thin layer of smooth muscles which can help to squeeze the flow of blood that is flowing at the direction of the heart. At the time of expiration and inspiration procedure, relaxation and contraction of muscles occurs. It causes to change the pressure in the thoracic cavity and as well the abdominal cavities (Schrage et al. 2018). This pressure causes alterations in the veins that are present nearby, and help the blood to come back to the heart.
- Describe the events of the respiratory cycle, referring to the correct sequence of events, correct anatomical structures and applying your answer to the correct gas law.
The method of breathing is known as pulmonary ventilation. The mechanism of breathing describes as the following: the alveolar and the intrapleural pressures are completely dependent on the certain physical features of the lungs (Rocha et al. 2019). As described by Boyle’s law, the volume of gas is inversely proportional to the pressure of gas. This explains that inspiration and expiration are completely dependent on the differences in pressure. The atmospheric pressure is defined as the amount of force that is being exerted on the air’s gases that envelope any given surface.
- Neurons are specialised cells which can transmit an electrical signal. Describe the process of nerve transmission.
Urinary System – Structure and Functions
The neurons or nerve cells are described as special cells which are specialized for conducting nerve impulses. The conduction of the nerve impulses is further aided by the synapse (Yu, Cho and Park 2019). The synapse is a structure which allows a neuron to transfer the electric signals to the consecutive neurons.
- Use your understanding of cell organelles to explain why:
- We inherit mitochondria from our mother
- Nerve cells cannot divide
- Red blood cells have a life span of around 120 days
- The sperm cells’ mitochondria are destroyed by the egg after fertilization takes place hence the mitochondria be inherited from the mother (Zouros and Rodakis 2019).
- In nerve cells or neurones, centrioles are not present which is the major component of the cell division and hence the nerve cells are not able to perform mitosis as well as meiosis which is the essential process of the cell division. Hence, the division of the cells would not or cannot take place.
- Due to the accumulation of alterations over the course of their life cycle, red blood cells have such an average lifespan of around 120 days following which they are removed by phagocytosis by inflammatory cells macrophages. As the maturity of the red blood cells take place in the bone marrow, they additionally lose their nucleus as well as organelles, which allows for more oxygen to be taken up by the cells. Because of the absence of organelles and a nucleus, red blood cells are unable to repair themselves when they are disrupted, resulting in a lifetime of around 120 days (Kaestner and Bogdanova 2014).
- Define homeostasis with reference to feedback loops, giving an example of a positive feedback loop and a negative feedback loop and the hormones involved in these.
The homeostasis condition is described as the propensity to resist alterations in order to preserve a stable and constant environment of the internal. The negative feedback loops are associated with homeostasis (Meizlish et al. 2021). This counteracts alterations of numerous features from their set value, which are known as the set points. The system is shifted from the initiation state due to positive response loops.
- Describe the mechanisms we use to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide around the body and explain how changing carbon dioxide levels can change our blood pH.
The gaseous exchange occurs in between lungs ‘alveoli which are high in number and the capillaries. The oxygen that is being inhaled starts moving to the blood from the alveoli and ultimately reaches the capillaries (Brinkman and Sharma 2018). Similarly, carbon dioxide gets transported to the air present in the alveoli from the capillaries ‘blood.
- Describe what will happen to a red blood cell if you place it in hypotonic solution, referring to cellular transport mechanisms, and explain what this means in terms of infusing pure water into a patient.
When a RBC, also termed as red blood cell, is kept in a hypotonic solution, then free water starts moving into the cell (Sokol et al. 2020). This would ultimately increase the volume within the cell accompanied with a low solute concentration within the cell. The concentration of the solution would therefore end up to be higher.
- Give a definition of trophic and non-trophic hormones and relate these terms to the hormones produced by the anterior pituitary gland.
Endocrine glands are targeted by certain hormones known as tropic hormones. The anterior pituitary generates majority of the tropic hormones (Ostró?ka-Cie?lik and Doli?ska 2020). The feedback control is a term associated with the secretion of the hormones is controlled by some other factor or hormones. When a high level of a particular hormone is inhibited, their further secretion is called the negative feedback. The Thyroid releasing hormone (TSH) hormone prompts thyroid gland’s regular secretion and development. The thyroid is known to exert negative feedback control for both TSH.
References
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McClements, D.J., 2019. Food Gastrology: A Voyage Through Our Guts. In Future Foods (pp. 99-121). Copernicus, Cham.
Meizlish, M.L., Franklin, R.A., Zhou, X. and Medzhitov, R., 2021. Tissue homeostasis and inflammation. Annual review of immunology, 39, pp.557-581.
Ostró?ka-Cie?lik, A. and Doli?ska, B., 2020. The Role of hormones and trophic factors as components of preservation solutions in protection of renal function before transplantation: A review of the literature. Molecules, 25(9), p.2185.
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Soave, I., Scarani, S., Mallozzi, M., Nobili, F., Marci, R. and Caserta, D., 2019. Pelvic floor muscle training for prevention and treatment of urinary incontinence during pregnancy and after childbirth and its effect on urinary system and supportive structures assessed by objective measurement techniques. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 299(3), pp.609-623.
Sokol, Y., Bernadskaya, T., Kolisnyk, K. and Panibrattseva, S., 2020, September. Improving the accuracy of measuring the morphology of red blood cells. In 2020 IEEE 4th International Conference on Intelligent Energy and Power Systems (IEPS) (pp. 279-282). IEEE.
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