05181 - Physiology

Academic Year 2012/2013

  • Docente: Monica Forni
  • Credits: 2
  • SSD: BIO/09
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Environment and Workplace Prevention Techniques (cod. 8487)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will understand the operation of major apparatus that constitute the living organism and have the skills necessary to relate their functions.

Course contents

Course contents BLOOD AND HEMOSTASIS.
Composition of blood. Haemostasis. Coagulation.

DIGESTIVE APPARATUS
Salivary secretion. Gastric secretion. Control of salivary and gastric secretions. Composition and functions of pancreatic juice. Composition and functions of bile. Functions of digestion and absorption of the various sections of the digestive system. The integrated control of energy metabolism. Body temperature and regulatory mechanisms.

CARDIO-CIRCULATORY APPARATUS
Elastic properties and functions of the great arteries. Functions of arterioles, precapillary sphincters and metarteriole. Function of the capillaries. Water exchanges between plasma and interstitial fluid. Structure and function of lymphatic vessels. Cardiac cycle. Stroke volume and cardiac output.

RENAL APPARATUS
Body water compartments. Mechanisms of control of body fluid osmolarity. Control mechanisms of extracellular fluid volume. Ultrafiltration. Rate of glomerular ultrafiltration. Renal clearance. Mechanisms of tubular reabsorption and secretion. Transport of water and solutes in the nephron. Adjusting the reabsorption of water and NaCl.

RESPIRATORY APPARATUS
Functions of the respiratory tract. Inspiration. Exhalation. Dead space. Pulmonary ventilation and alveolar ventilation. Air flow along the respiratory tract. Airway resistance: its measurement and determinants. Composition of alveolar air. Diffusion of gases through the alveolar-capillary barrier. Pulmonary diffusing capacity.

Readings/Bibliography

"Elementi di anatomia e fisiologia dell'uomo" Elaine N. Marieb Seconda edizione italiana condotta sulla nona edizione americana Traduzione di Anna Maria Casali 2010, Zanichelli editore isbn 978-8808-06315-1"

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Office hours

See the website of Monica Forni