Università degli Studi di Catania

Chemistry of life

Atoms and chemical bonds. Molecules. Water: characteristics, colloids and suspensions. Salts and buffer systems. Carbohydrates. Proteins. Lipids.

Cytology

The cell and its principal components. Morphology and role of cytoplasmic membrane, nucleus and cytoplasmic organs.

Histology

Covering epithelium and glandular epithelium. Classification of exocrine and endocrine glands. Connective tissue: cells, fibres and amorphous fundamental substance. Classification of connective tissues. Blood and its components: plasma and figurative elements. Muscular tissue: histological characteristics of smooth muscle, striated and cardiac skeletal muscle. Nervous system: neurons, nervous fibres and synapses. Neuroglia. Structure of solid and non-solid organ.

Tegumentary apparatus:

The skin and its annexes. Structure of the epidermis.

Skeletal apparatus

Classification of the bones and macroscopic description of the bones of the head (neurocranium and splancnocranium), the trunk (vertebral column and rib cage), upper limb (shoulder girdle, arm, forearm and hand), lower limb (pelvis, thigh, leg and foot). The joints: classification of synarthroses, amphiarthroses and diarthroses. Morphology and function of the most important joints of trunk and limbs.

Muscular apparatus

Constitution of muscle, muscle belly, tendons, aponeuroses. Different kinds of muscles. Cutaneous and skeletal muscles. Insertion and functional role of the major muscle groups of trunk and limbs.

Vascular apparatus

Heart and blood vessels (arteries, capillaries and veins). Systemic loop and pulmonary loop. Gross anatomy of heart, pericardium and mediastinum. Anatomical conformation of atria and ventricles. The valves of the heart. The electrical conduction system of the heart. Microscopic organization of epicardium, myocardium and pericardium. The major arteries: pulmonary artery and aorta. Branches of ascending aorta, aortic arch, thoracic aorta and abdominal aorta. Microscopic organization of the artery wall. The main veins: the superior and inferior vena cava, the cardiac veins and the portal system of veins. Microscopic organization of the vein wall. Structure of the capillaries.

Lynphatic apparatus

Formation of lymph and course of the lymphatic vessels. The thoracic duct and its tributaries. The haematopoietic organs: marrow, spleen, lymph nodes and thymus.

Digestive apparatus

General considerations and organs that belong to it. The mouth with the teeth and the tongue. The salivary glands: parotid, submaxillary, and sublingual. The pharynx. The esophagus. The stomach. The small intestine and the large intestine. Structural features of the alimentary canal walls (mucous, submucous, muscular, serosa or adventitia layers). The glands of the digestive system: liver and biliary ducts, pancreas. The peritoneum.

Respiratory apparatus

General considerations. The nasal cavities. The larynx. The tracheo-bronchial tree. The lungs. Structural features of the walls of the respiratory tract and of the lung. Pleural serosa.

Urinary apparatus

General considerations on its organs. The kidney: macroscopic description, structure of the parenchyma (medullary substance and cortical substance), the nephron. The renal escretory ducts: calices, pelvis, ureter, bladder, urethra. Structural features of the walls of the renal escretory ducts.

Genital apparatus

The male genital organs: the testis and the spermatic ducts. The female genital organs: the ovary, the uterin tube, the uterus and the vagina.

Endocrine system

General considerations and structural features of the endocrine glands. The hypophysis. The pineal gland. The thyroid. The Parathyroids. The suprarenal glands. The endocrine activity of the gonads. The islets of Langerhans.

Central nervous system

General considerations on the parts of the cerebrospinal axis. Nevrax cavities. The meninges. The spinal cord: general features, structure, sensitive nuclei and motor nuclei, ascending and descending nerve fibres. Functional considerations on the spinal cord fascicles. The rhombencephalon: general features, structure, sensitive nuclei of medulla oblongata and pons. The cerebellum: external morphology, cyto- and myeloarchitectonics. Cerebellar functions. The mesencephalon: general features, cerebral peduncles and corpora quadrigemina. The diencephalon: epithalamus, metathalamus, optic thalamus, hypothalamus. The telencephalon: scissures, lobes, comvolutions and parts of the cerebral hemispheres. The grey matter of the cerebral hemisphere: cerebral cortex and corpus striatus. The white matter of the cerebral hemisphere: corona radiata and internal capsule. Corpus callosum, fornix, septum pellucidum. The pyramidal motor system. The extrapyramidal motor system. The general sensation pathways. The optic pathway. The auditory pathway. The vestubular pathway.

Peripheral nervous system

The spinal nerves and the cranial nerves.

Visceral nervous system:

Sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system.

Organs of the senses

The organs of general sensations. Organs of taste. Organs of smell. Organs of sight: the eyeball and its accessory organs. Organs of hearing and of vestibular propriceptive sensation: external ear, middle ear and internal ear.

ANATOMIA - FISIOLOGIA A - L

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