A collophore is a tube-like structure on the ventral side of the first abdominal segment of the body of springtails (collembolans). It used to be believed that it served to stabilise the animal when it jumped by sticking to the surface on which it moved. However, the current scientific consensus is that it plays a role in osmoregulation, water intake, and excretion. [1]
Dietary fiber or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by their solubility, viscosity, and fermentability, which affect how fibers are processed in the body. Dietary fiber has two main components: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber, which are components of plant-based foods, such as legumes, whole grains and cereals, vegetables, fruits, and nuts or seeds. A diet high in regular fiber consumption is generally associated with supporting health and lowering the risk of several diseases. Dietary fiber consists of non-starch polysaccharides and other plant components such as cellulose, resistant starch, resistant dextrins, inulin, lignins, chitins, pectins, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides.
A body cavity is any space or compartment, or potential space, in an animal body. Cavities accommodate organs and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid.
The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the pancreatic duct to aid in digestion. The small intestine is about 5.5 metres long and folds many times to fit in the abdomen. Although it is longer than the large intestine, it is called the small intestine because it is narrower in diameter.
In physiology, body water is the water content of an animal body that is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones and elsewhere. The percentages of body water contained in various fluid compartments add up to total body water (TBW). This water makes up a significant fraction of the human body, both by weight and by volume. Ensuring the right amount of body water is part of fluid balance, an aspect of homeostasis.
Renal physiology is the study of the physiology of the kidney. This encompasses all functions of the kidney, including maintenance of acid-base balance; regulation of fluid balance; regulation of sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes; clearance of toxins; absorption of glucose, amino acids, and other small molecules; regulation of blood pressure; production of various hormones, such as erythropoietin; and activation of vitamin D.
Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality in absorption of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Impairment can be of single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality. This may lead to malnutrition and a variety of anaemias.
Toxicokinetics is the description of both what rate a chemical will enter the body and what occurs to excrete and metabolize the compound once it is in the body.
The dorsal nerve cord is a unique feature to chordates, and it is mainly found in the Vertebrata chordate subphylum. The dorsal nerve cord is only one embryonic feature unique to all chordates, among the other four chordate features-- a notochord, a post-anal tail, an endostyle, and pharyngeal slits. The dorsal hollow nerve cord is a hollow cord dorsal to the notochord. It is formed from a part of the ectoderm that rolls, forming the hollow tube. This is important, as it distinguishes chordates from other animal phyla, such as Annelids and Arthropods, which have solid, ventral tubes. The process by which this is performed is called invagination. The cells essentially convolute into the body cavity, arranging themselves on the dorsal plane above the notochord, as mentioned above. The evolutionary explanation to this adaptation from a solid cord to hollow tube is unknown. In vertebrates, the dorsal nerve cord is modified into the central nervous system, which comprises the brain and spinal cord.
The tegmentum is a general area within the brainstem. The tegmentum is the ventral part of the midbrain and the tectum is the dorsal part of the midbrain. It is located between the ventricular system and distinctive basal or ventral structures at each level. It forms the floor of the midbrain (mesencephalon) whereas the tectum forms the ceiling. It is a multisynaptic network of neurons that is involved in many subconscious homeostatic and reflexive pathways. It is a motor center that relays inhibitory signals to the thalamus and basal nuclei preventing unwanted body movement.
The bulbus cordis is a part of the developing heart that lies ventral to the primitive ventricle after the heart assumes its S-shaped form. The superior end of the bulbus cordis is also called the conotruncus.
Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi and soil bacteria. Saprotrophic microscopic fungi are sometimes called saprobes; saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called saprophytes, although it is now believed that all plants previously thought to be saprotrophic are in fact parasites of microscopic fungi or other plants. The process is most often facilitated through the active transport of such materials through endocytosis within the internal mycelium and its constituent hyphae.
Paracellular transport refers to the transfer of substances across an epithelium by passing through the intercellular space between the cells. It is in contrast to transcellular transport, where the substances travel through the cell, passing through both the apical membrane and basolateral membrane.
Insect physiology includes the physiology and biochemistry of insect organ systems.
The development of the reproductive system is the part of embryonic growth that results in the sex organs and contributes to sexual differentiation. Due to its large overlap with development of the urinary system, the two systems are typically described together as the urogenital or genitourinary system.
The respiratory center is located in the medulla oblongata and pons, in the brainstem. The respiratory center is made up of three major respiratory groups of neurons, two in the medulla and one in the pons. In the medulla they are the dorsal respiratory group, and the ventral respiratory group. In the pons, the pontine respiratory group includes two areas known as the pneumotaxic centre and the apneustic centre.
The intestinal epithelium is the single cell layer that form the luminal surface (lining) of both the small and large intestine (colon) of the gastrointestinal tract. Composed of simple columnar epithelial cells, it serves two main functions: absorbing useful substances into the body and restricting the entry of harmful substances. As part of its protective role, the intestinal epithelium forms an important component of the intestinal mucosal barrier. Certain diseases and conditions are caused by functional defects in the intestinal epithelium. On the other hand, various diseases and conditions can lead to its dysfunction which, in turn, can lead to further complications.
A branchiostegal lung is a respiration organ used by some air-breathing arthropods. It is one of the most significant adaptations of some crabs and hermit crabs such as the coconut crab to their terrestrial habitats.
In insect anatomy, a cryptonephridium is a structure present in most larval Lepidoptera and in other insects inhabiting relatively arid environments.
Robert Kellogg Crane was an American biochemist best known for his discovery of sodium–glucose cotransport.
TNO (gastro-) Intestinal Models (“TIM”) are model systems mimicking the digestive tract. The models are dynamic computer controlled multi-compartmental systems with adjustable parameters for the physiological conditions of the stomach and intestine. Temperature, peristalsis, bile secretion, secretion of saliva, stomach and pancreas enzymes are all fully adjustable. The TIM systems are being used to study the behavior of oral products during transit through the stomach, the small intestine and large intestine. Commonly performed studies concern the digestibility of food and food components, the bioaccessibility for absorption of pharmaceutical compounds, proteins, fat, minerals and vitamins.
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