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Anatomy & Physiology Core Concepts

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  • Characteristics of life

    Living organisms carry out processes such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, responsiveness, and homeostasis.

  • Structural levels of organization in the human body

    Levels include chemical, cellular, tissue, organ, organ system, and organism, each building on the previous.

  • Types of anatomy & physiology

    Includes gross anatomy, microscopic anatomy, systemic physiology, and cell physiology.

  • Anatomical position

    Body standing upright, facing forward, feet flat and slightly apart, arms at sides with palms facing forward.

  • Major directional anatomical terms

    Terms like anterior/posterior, superior/inferior, medial/lateral, and proximal/distal describe locations.

  • Body planes

    Include sagittal (divides left/right), frontal (coronal) (divides front/back), and transverse (divides top/bottom).

  • Body cavities and major organs

    Major cavities: cranial, vertebral, thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic. Each contains specific organs.

  • Abdominopelvic cavity divisions

    Divided into four quadrants and nine regions to locate organs precisely.

  • Serous membranes

    Thin membranes lining body cavities and organs, reducing friction via parietal and visceral layers.

  • Homeostasis

    The body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite external changes.

  • Feedback loop components

    Include receptor, control center, and effector, which work together to maintain homeostasis.

  • Negative vs positive feedback

    Negative feedback reverses a change; positive feedback amplifies it. Negative feedback is more common for homeostasis.

  • Relationship between structure and function

    Structure of a body part is directly related to its function.

  • Gradient

    A difference in chemical concentration, electrical charge, temperature, or pressure that drives processes in the body.

  • Cell communication

    Cells communicate via chemical signals to coordinate functions essential for multicellular life.

  • Atoms vs elements

    An atom is the smallest unit of matter; an element is a pure substance made of one type of atom.

  • Four major elements in the human body

    Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen make up most of the body's mass.

  • Ionic, covalent, and hydrogen bonds

    Ionic bonds transfer electrons; covalent bonds share electrons; hydrogen bonds are weak attractions important for water properties.

  • Properties of water

    Water is polar, a solvent, has high heat capacity, and exhibits surface tension due to hydrogen bonding.

  • pH scale and buffers

    pH measures acidity/basicity; buffers maintain stable pH by neutralizing acids or bases.

  • Monomers and polymers

    Monomers are single units; polymers are chains of monomers formed by dehydration synthesis and broken by hydrolysis.

  • Plasma membrane structure

    Composed of a lipid bilayer with embedded proteins and carbohydrates, described by the fluid mosaic model.

  • Simple diffusion vs facilitated diffusion

    Simple diffusion moves solutes down concentration gradients without energy; facilitated diffusion uses proteins but no energy.

  • Osmosis

    Movement of water across a membrane from low to high solute concentration.

  • Hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic solutions

    Hypertonic shrinks cells, isotonic causes no change, hypotonic swells cells.

  • Organelles and their functions

    Examples: nucleus (DNA storage), mitochondria (energy), ribosomes (protein synthesis).

  • Four major tissue types

    Epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous tissues each have distinct structures and functions.

  • Types of epithelial tissue

    Classified by cell shape and layers: squamous, cuboidal, columnar; simple or stratified.

  • Muscle tissue types

    Skeletal (voluntary), cardiac (heart), and smooth (involuntary) muscle tissues.