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The number of respiratory cycles per minute is the breathing or respiratory rate, and is one of the four primary vital signs of life. [5] Under normal conditions the breathing depth and rate is automatically, and unconsciously, controlled by several homeostatic mechanisms which keep the partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the ...
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary ...
The spinal cord reflex responses include the activation of additional respiratory muscles as compensation, gasping response, hypoventilation, and an increase in breathing frequency and volume. The nasopulmonary and nasothoracic reflexes regulate the mechanism of breathing through deepening the inhale.
The segmental anatomy is useful clinically ... by a different mechanism whereby continued ... as shown in the diagram. [72] During breathing out ...
The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...
The lung structure is important for the mechanism of ventilation-perfusion coupling. Pleura (plural: pleurae) is a single membrane surrounding the lung. It folds back to form two layers, and each layer is called parietal pleura and visceral pleura.
Inhalation of air, as part of the cycle of breathing, is a vital process for all human life. The process is autonomic (though there are exceptions in some disease states) and does not need conscious control or effort. However, breathing can be consciously controlled or interrupted (within limits).
The term diaphragm in anatomy, created by Gerard of Cremona, [5] can refer to other flat structures such as the urogenital diaphragm or pelvic diaphragm, but "the diaphragm" generally refers to the thoracic diaphragm. In humans, the diaphragm is slightly asymmetric—its right half is higher up (superior) to the left half, since the large liver ...