Question | Answer |
amylase | digestive enzyme found in saliva and pancreatic juices |
esophagus | an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach |
peristalsis | successive waves of involuntary contraction passing along the walls of a hollow muscular structure (as the esophagus or intestine) and forcing the contents onward |
epiglottis | a thin plate of flexible cartilage in front of the glottis that folds back over and protects the glottis during swallowing |
pepsin | a protease of the stomach that breaks down most proteins to polypeptides |
small intestines | the part of the intestine that lies between the stomach and colon, consists of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, secretes digestive enzymes, and is the chief site of the absorption of digested nutrients |
bile | a viscid alkaline fluid secreted by the liver and passed into the duodenum where it aids especially in the emulsification and absorption of fats |
gall bladder | a membranous muscular sac in which bile from the liver is stored |
villus | one of the minute finger-shaped processes of the mucous membrane of the small intestine that serve in the absorption of nutriment |
rectum | the terminal part of the intestine from the sigmoid colon to the anus |
endocrine gland | a gland (as the thyroid or the pituitary) that produces an endocrine secretion |
hypothalamus | a basal part of the diencephalon that lies beneath the thalamus on each side, forms the floor of the third ventricle, and includes vital autonomic regulatory centers |
parathyroid | any of usually four small endocrine glands that are adjacent to or embedded in the thyroid gland and produce parathyroid hormone |
neurons | a granular cell with specialized processes that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue |
dendrites | any of the usually branching protoplasmic processes that conduct impulses toward the body of a neuron |
axon | a usually long and single nerve-cell process that usually conducts impulses away from the cell body |
synapse | the point at which a nervous impulse passes from one neuron to another |
neurotransmitters | a substance (as norepinephrine or acetylcholine) that transmits nerve impulses across a synapse |
peripheral | the part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system and comprises the cranial nerves excepting the optic nerve, the spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous system |
central nervous system | the part of the nervous system which in vertebrates consists of the brain and spinal cord, to which sensory impulses are transmitted and from which motor impulses pass out, and which coordinates the activity of the entire nervous system |
cerebrum | an enlarged anterior or upper part of the brain |
cerebellum | a large dorsally projecting part of the brain concerned especially with the coordination of muscles and the maintenance of bodily equilibrium, situated between the brain stem and the back of the cerebrum |
medulla oblongata | the part of the vertebrate brain that is continuous posteriorly with the spinal cord and that contains the centers controlling involuntary vital functions |
trachea | the main trunk of the system of tubes by which air passes to and from the lungs in vertebrates |
alveoli | a small air-containing compartment of the lungs in which the bronchioles terminate and from which respiratory gases are exchanged with the pulmonary capillaries |
plasma | the pale yellow fluid of whole blood that consists of water and its dissolved constituents including especially proteins |
red blood cells | any of the hemoglobin-containing cells that carry oxygen to the tissues and are responsible for the red color of vertebrate blood |
platelets | a minute colorless disklike body of mammalian blood that assists in blood clotting by adhering to other platelets and to damaged epithelium |
hemoglobin | any of numerous iron-containing respiratory pigments of various organisms |
white blood cells | any of the blood cells that are colorless, lack hemoglobin, contain a nucleus, and include the lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils |
antigens | any substance foreign to the body that evokes an immune response either alone or after forming a complex with a larger molecule and that is capable of binding with a product of the immune response |
antibodies | protiens in the blood plasma produced in reaction to antigens that react with and disable antigens |
arteries | any of the tubular branching muscular- and elastic-walled vessels that carry blood from the heart through the body |
capillaries | any of the smallest blood vessels connecting arterioles with venules and forming networks throughout the body |
venae cavae | any of the large veins by which in air-breathing vertebrates the blood is returned to the right atrium of the heart |
blood pressure | force at which the blood exerts or blood vessels |
kidneys | bean-shaped organs lying behind the peritoneum in a mass of fatty tissue, and consist chiefly of nephrons by which urine is secreted, collected, and discharged into a main cavity whence it is conveyed by the ureter to the bladder |
ureter | a duct that carries away the urine from a kidney to the bladder or cloaca |
urinary bladder | a membranous sac in many vertebrates that serves for the temporary retention of urine and discharges by the urethra |
nephron | a single excretory unit of the vertebrate kidney |
urethra | the canal that in most mammals carries off the urine from the bladder and in the male serves also as a passageway for semen |
innate immunity | (blank) |
antibiotic | a substance produced by or a semisynthetic substance derived from a microorganism and able in dilute solution to inhibit or kill another microorganism |
phagocytes | a cell that engulfs and consumes foreign material and debris |
macrophages | a phagocytic tissue cell of the immune system that may be fixed or freely motile, is derived from a monocyte, functions in the destruction of foreign antigens and serves as an antigen-presenting cell |
inferferons | any of a group of heat-stable soluble basic antiviral glycoprotein cytokines of low molecular weight that are produced by cells exposed usually to the action of a virus, sometimes to the action of another intracellular parasite |
lymph node | any of the rounded masses of lymphoid tissue that are surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue, are distributed along the lymphatic vessels, and contain numerous lymphocytes which filter the flow of lymph passing through the node |
vaccine | a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease |