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Map summary

Saying that something has a density of 3.14159265359 ug / dL is useful when we are talking about molecules in solutions and understanding chemical reactions.

Notice that we are measuring pi for mass (in micrograms) and deciliters for volume. Since pi is an irrational number (something that is not well defined and depends on the scale involved ie how many decimal places you want to go before deciding to round the value of pi) the actual value of density depends on the scale used to measure it.

Specific gravity

Because of the scale that we use to measure things in physiology is often different from the scale of atoms and chemistry we need to use specific gravity.

Specific gravity is a DIMENSIONLESS quantity that measures how close the density of your solution is to water (closer to 1 = closer to water). This is useful because dimensionless quantities are scale invariant. Since water is the universal solvent, specific gravity is a pragmatic measurement of how dense a solution is RELATIVE to that of water.

Viscosity

Viscosity measures how much resistance their is to flow.

DENSITY HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH VISCOSITY!!!

Viscosity of a solution (blood in this example) in physiology is mostly dependent on the underlying chemistry (intermolecular forces), since temperature is kept mostly constant.

For example if you have higher than normal red blood cells, plateles, or inflammatory cytokines in your body you will have an increase in the blood viscosity via increasing the intermolecular forces at play in the solution ( proteins in the blood).

Still not clear? if you have any questions feel free to set up a consultation now.

Map summary:

This map is broken down into two parts I. the anti-coagulants used in blood analysis (which for some incredibly stupid reason, finds its way on many exams that healthcare students need to take. Note that calcium precipitates with phosphate which is pretty ubiquitous in the cell therefore EDTA is necessary for any genetic testing. and II: the components of blood that we can observe via centrifugation and their associated components.

There are three main layers of blood after centrifugation (separation by density and viscosity)

-Upper layer (plasma)

-Buffy coat (leukocytes and plateles)

-Lower layer (Red blood corpuscles aka bags of hemoglobin)

In this video you should be able to identify the structure and function of the neuron.

This video tutorial will explain to you the various sub-types of neuroglia that compose the CNS and PNS.

After watching this video you should be able to understand

1. The physiology of the spinal cord
2. The embryonic development of the brain
3. how the embryonic development of the brain leads to the anatomy of the brain

After watching these videos you should have a familiar understanding of the structure, function, and associated signal response with the following neurotransmitters and their subsequent receptors.

Purines, lipids, and gases (video)

Biogenic Amines (video)

Amino acids and peptides (video)

As always if you have any questions or need specific help feel free to book an appointment and I would be happy to help.