Glossary

Month: August 2020

  • Capacitance Vessels

    Another name for veins because of their distensibility, which enables them to pool large volumes of blood and become reservoirs of blood.  

  • Caloric equivalent

    The number of kilocalories produced per liter of oxygen consumed.  

  • Caloric cost

    Energy expenditure of an activity performed for a specified period of time. It may be expressed as total calo¬ ries (kcal), kilocalories or kilojoules per minute (kcal·min-1 or kj-min-1) or relative to body weight (kcal-kg-1-min-1 or kj-kg-1.min-1).  

  • Caloric balance equation

    The mathematical summation of the caloric intake (+) and energy expenditure (-) from all sources.  

  • Beta oxidation

    A cyclic series of steps that breaks off successive pairs of carbon atoms from FFA, which are then used to form acetyl CoA. Beta-oxidation is the metabolic process in which fatty acids in the mitochondria are oxidized, producing acetyl CoA, NADH + H+, and FADH2.  

  • Arteriovenous Oxygen Difference (a-vO2,diff)

    The difference between the amount of oxygen originally carried in arterial blood and the amount returned in venous blood. The difference between the oxygen content of arterial and venous blood.  

  • Ammenorrhea

    The absence of menses.  

  • Alveolar ventilation

    The volume of air available for gas exchange; calculated as tidal volume minus dead space volume times frequency. The movement of air into and out of the alveoli. It is a function of the size of the tidal volume, the rate of ventilation, and the amount of dead space present in the respiratory system. It…

  • Afterload

    Resistance presented to the contracting ventricle. In cardiac physiology, the forces that impede the flow of blood out of the heart. The heart contracts against a resistance primarily composed of the pressure in the peripheral vasculature, the compliance of the aorta, and the mass and viscosity of blood.  

  • Adaptive Thermogenesis

    Either an increase or decrease in the efficiency of energy utilization. A physiological response of the body to adjust its metabolic rate to the presence of food.