This chapter opens with the discussion of vital unity, a problem at the intersection of medicine and philosophy. Broadly speaking, medicine is concerned with the preservation of a living whole, but for many ancient thinkers, like Galen, the practice of medicine was informed by a highly theoretical understanding of the relationship between the parts and the whole. The first section of the Introduction sets out the key preoccupation of the study: Galen’s understanding of the role that different body parts and systems have in maintaining the functioning of the living whole. Subsequent sections contextualise Galen’s work within the phusiologia tradition, as well the debate between empiricism and rationalism, and briefly outline key classifications to be discussed in later chapters, before turning to the content of individual chapters, situating the present study within the existing scholarship and, finally, briefly explaining how this work approaches the much-debated problem of the substance of the soul.

Respiratory regulation comprises respiratory rhythmogenesis, formation of the respiratory motor pattern, control of blood oxygen and carbon dioxide, increase of minute ventilation during physical activity, adaptation of respiration to the sleep-wake cycle, coordination of breathing with swallowing, cough, sneezing, choking and voluntary activity such as speech or singing. Other factors such as growth and maturation, emotion, pregnancy, injury, disease, body temperature, pain and aging lead to changes in respiration. The presence of a respiratory rhythm generator in the brainstem is now known to be a common feature of all vertebrates. Knowledge about respiratory regulation is mainly derived from animal models, but respiratory regulation in humans is subject to an increasing number of physiological, electrophysiological, neuroradiographic, histopathological and genetic studies. This chapter provides an overview of respiratory regulation, focused on neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and clinical apsects.

Comprehensive knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system is crucial in respiratory medicine. A profound understanding of physiology allows the practitioner to deduce pathological processes and initiate therapeutic steps based on rational decisions. The choice of a suitable ventilation mode or setting typically stems from an understanding of the pathophysiological processes. Understanding the respiratory chain at the cellular level, ventilation and perfusion, as well as the delicate interplay of macroscopic and microscopic mechanisms, supports the development of precise and individualized ventilation strategies. Knowledge of mucociliary clearance and the various lung volumes is also crucial to ensure optimal management of tracheobronchial secretions, oxygen supply and CO2 elimination.

In 1995, Roger Bannister, the first man to break four minutes in the mile, gave new life to an old debate. He argued that Black runners had “certain anatomical advantages” that made them all but unbeatable on the track and the roads. Some condemned his remarks. Bannister had, they said, failed to acknowledge the role of culture. Nature or nurture? commentators asked and asked again. The disagreement between the two sides hid a larger consensus: that the Black athlete constitutes a coherent scientific classification, a classification that, in a society that values the natural above the social sciences (and all sciences above the humanities), enters the collective consciousness in biological form. Chapter 1 tells the longer story of that consensus and how science and science writers used a naturalized male/female binary to naturalize a Black/white racial binary – a rhetorical move that the movement to bar trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ divisions has borrowed and reversed.

Pneumothorax is an important complication in anaesthesia, trauma and medicine. This oral will concentrate both on the precise mechanisms by which pneumothoraces occur and on details of recognition and treatment. A pneumothorax can develop rapidly into a life-threatening emergency, and so you must ensure that your management is competent.

This chapter covers respiratory physiology, including lung volumes and mechanics, ventilation and perfusion, compliance, diffusion, oxygen transport, carbon dioxide transport, effects of hypercarbia and hypoxemia, arterial blood gas interpretation, work of breathing, control of ventilation, non-respiratory functions of the lung, and the effects of perioperative smoking. The material is presented in a concise review format, with an emphasis on key words and concepts.

Introduces bacterial biology in an approachable manner for physical scientists.

Chapter 23 sets Goethe’s Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours) in context. Colour had been the subject of intensive study, both aesthetic and scientific, in the eighteenth century, and the chapter reconstructs the many influences on Goethe and his contemporaries, from the recent discoveries of Herschel and Ritter, to earlier figures, above all Newton, but even Aristotle and Hippocrates. The chapter also presents the central tenets of Goethe’s Farbenlehre, with a particular focus on the theoretical first part, which offers a physiological theory of colours and deals with the physical nature of light.

Colloid fluids are crystalloid electrolyte solutions with a macromolecule added that binds water by its colloid osmotic pressure. As macromolecules escape the plasma only with difficulty, the resulting plasma volume expansion is strong and lasts many hours. The clinically used colloid fluids include albumin, hydroxyethyl starch, gelatin, and dextran.

The plasma volume expansion shows one-compartment kinetics. Marketed iso-oncotic fluids are usually composed so that the infused volume expands the plasma volume by the infused amount. Exceptions include hyperoncotic variants such as 20% albumin.

The main indication for colloid fluid is as second-line treatment of hemorrhage. Because of inherent allergic properties, crystalloid electrolyte fluids should be used when the hemorrhage is small. A changeover to a colloid should be performed only when the crystalloid volume is so large that adverse effects may ensue. The only other clinical indication is that dextran can be prescribed to improve microcirculatory flow.

The body fluid spaces consist of the plasma, the interstitial fluid volume, and the intracellular fluid volume. The sizes of these spaces are tightly controlled by hormonal and neuronal mechanisms, but their size may be of interest to assess by scientific methods, as disturbances often occur in the wake of trauma and surgery.

A key approach is to use a tracer, by which the volume of distribution of an injected substance is measured after full distribution. Useful tracers must solely occupy a specific body fluid space. The volume effect of an infusion fluid can be calculated by applying a tracer method before and after the administration.

Guiding estimates of the sizes of the body volumes can be obtained by bioimpedance measurements and anthropometric equations.

The Hb concentration is a frequently used endogenous tracer of changes in blood volume. Hb is the inverse of the blood water concentration and Hb changes indicate the volume of distribution of an infused water volume. Volume kinetics is based on mathematical modeling of Hb changes over time, which, together with measurements of the urinary excretion, can be used to analyze and simulate the distribution and elimination of infusion fluids over time.

We will cover what is CPET and why we perform these tests.Exercise physiology will be explored with focus on oxygen consumption, the concept of the anaerobic threshold, and the Fick principle.