Flashcards: Physiology

In science and engineering, the weight of an object is usually taken to be the force on the object due to gravity.

In biology, an adaptation, also called an adaptive trait, is a trait with a current functional role in the life of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection.

Virilization or masculinization is the biological development of sex differences, changes that make a male body different from a female body.

Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse.

Hypertrophy (IPA /haɪˈpɝːtrəfi/, from Greek ὑπέρ "excess" + τροφή "nourishment") is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells.

A sneeze, or sternutation, is a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa.

In the peripheral nervous system, an afferent nerve fiber is the axon of an afferent sensory neuron.

("Physiological stress" redirects here. It is not to be confused with physical stress.) Physiological or biological stress is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition.

Hypoxemia (or hypoxaemia in British English) is an abnormally low level of oxygen in the blood.

In biology, immunity is the balanced state of having adequate biological defenses to fight infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion, while having adequate tolerance to avoid allergy, and autoimmune diseases.

Sun tanning or simply tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned.

Exocrine glands are glands that produce and secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct.

Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below 35.

Bone resorption is resorption of bone tissue, that is, the process by which osteoclasts break down the tissue in bones and release the minerals, resulting in a transfer of calcium from bone tissue to the blood.

A sphincter is a circular muscle that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological functioning.

Electroreception is the biological ability to perceive natural electrical stimuli.

Refractoriness is the fundamental property of any object of autowave nature (especially excitable medium) not to respond on stimuli, if the object stays in the specific refractory state.

Nitric oxide (nitrogen oxide, nitrogen monoxide) is a molecular, chemical compound with chemical formula of ·NO.

Nitrogen fixation is a process in which nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia (NH3).

In renal physiology, reabsorption or tubular reabsorption is the process by which the nephron removes water and solutes from the tubular fluid (pre-urine) and returns them to the circulating blood.

G-force induced loss of consciousness (abbreviated as G-LOC, pronounced 'JEE-lock') is a term generally used in aerospace physiology to describe a loss of consciousness occurring from excessive and sustained g-forces draining blood away from the brain causing cerebral hypoxia.

Vasodilation (or vasodilatation) refers to the widening of blood vessels.

(Not to be confused with xenobiology.) A xenobiotic is a foreign chemical substance found within an organism that is not normally naturally produced by or expected to be present within.

The word is also often used metaphorically.

In biochemistry, a cholinesterase or choline esterase is an esterase that lyses choline-based esters, several of which serve as neurotransmitters.

Acclimatization (UK also acclimatisation; US also acclimation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a gradual change in its environment (such as a change in temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions.

Orthostatic hypotension, also known as postural hypotension or shortened to orthostasis and colloquially called head rush, occurs when a person's blood pressure falls when suddenly standing up from a lying or sitting position.

The normal electrical conduction in the heart allows the impulse that is generated by the sinoatrial node (SA node) of the heart to be propagated to, and stimulate, the cardiac muscle (myocardium).

(For the industrial process, see anaerobic digestion. For the treatment of precipitates in analytical chemistry, see Precipitation (chemistry) § Digestion.) Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-soluble food molecules so that they can be absorbed into the watery blood plasma.

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in endotherms.

Acrocyanosis is persistent blue or cyanotic discoloration of the extremities, most commonly occurring in the hands, although it also occurs in the feet and distal parts of face.

Hyperaemia or hyperemia is the increase of blood flow to different tissues in the body.

Appetite is the desire to eat food, sometimes due to hunger.

Muscle is a soft tissue found in most animals.

An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state.

Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiological functions primarily using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will.

Ependyma is the thin epithelial lining of the ventricular system of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord, made up of ependymal cells.

In biology, motility is the ability to move spontaneously and actively, consuming energy in the process.

The epithelial sodium channel (short: ENaC, also: amiloride-sensitive sodium channel) is a membrane-bound ion-channel that is selectively permeable to Na+ ions and that is assembled as a heterotrimer composed of three homologous subunits α, β, and γ or δ, β, and γ.

Oogenesis, ovogenesis, or oögenesis /ˌoʊ.

Nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite followed by the oxidation of the nitrite to nitrate.

Miosis or myosis, /maɪˈoʊ sɪs/, from Ancient Greek μύειν, mūein, "to close the eyes", is a term with various definitions, which generally include constriction of the pupil.

In physics, the Young–Laplace equation (/ˈjʌŋ ləˈplɑːs/) is a nonlinear partial differential equation that describes the capillary pressure difference sustained across the interface between two static fluids, such as water and air, due to the phenomenon of surface tension or wall tension, although usage on the latter is only applicable if assuming that the wall is very thin.

Hyperthecosis is hyperplasia of the theca interna of the ovary.

The voltage clamp is an experimental method used by electrophysiologists to measure the ion currents through the membranes of excitable cells, such as neurons, while holding the membrane voltage at a set level.

The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB) was founded in 1969 as the Biofeedback Research Society (BRS).

The body mass index (BMI) or Quetelet index is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of an individual.

Muscle atrophy is defined as a decrease in the mass of the muscle; it can be a partial or complete wasting away of muscle, and is most commonly experienced when persons suffer temporary disabling circumstances such as being restricted in movement and/or confined to bed as when hospitalized.

The European Calcium Society is a non-profit society that aims to develop relationships between different generations of scientists in Europe working in the field of calcium signaling and the proteins involved in the Calcium Toolkit.

Wound contracture is a process that may occur during wound healing when an excess of wound contraction, a normal healing process, leads to physical deformity characterized by skin constriction and functional limitations.

The P-type ATPases, also known as E1-E2 ATPases, are a large group of evolutionarily related ion and lipid pumps that are found in bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes.

Healing (literally meaning to make whole) is the process of the restoration of health from an unbalanced, diseased or damaged organism.

Magnesium transporters are proteins that transport magnesium across the cell membrane.

Irritation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage.

Thermogenesis is the process of heat production in organisms.

Ecophysiology (from Greek οἶκος, oikos, "house(hold)"; φύσις, physis, "nature, origin"; and -λογία, -logia), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the adaptation of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions.

Homoeriodictyol is a bitter-masking flavanone extracted from Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum) a plant growing in America.

Eriodictyol is a bitter-masking flavanone, a flavonoid extracted from Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum), a plant native to North America.

Duodenal cytochrome B (Dcytb) has been identified as the reductase enzyme which catalyzes the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ in the process of iron absorption in the duodenum of mammals.

Earl H. (Howard) Wood (c. January 1, 1912 – March 18, 2009) was a cardiopulmonary physiologist who helped invent the G-suit and much more.

The sartorius muscle (/sɑːrˈtɔəri.əs/) is the longest muscle in the human body.

Iodine is an essential trace element for life, the heaviest element commonly needed by living organisms, and the second-heaviest known to be used by any form of life (only tungsten, a component of a few bacterial enzymes, has a higher atomic number and atomic weight).