Any changes in the environment affect the living organisms and this detectable change in human or animals bodies is termed as’ Stimulus.’ For example, when you feel cold you wear warm clothes because you felt the stimulation of freezing weather on your skin.
The changes that an organism does on stimulation are called ‘Response.’
All living beings can touch, smell, taste, and feel the external environmental conditions because they have a Nervous system that acts rapidly to any internal and external changes. Therefore, animals and humans respond quickly when they undergo sudden stimulations.
Though Stimulus can also happen to non-living things, they cannot respond as they have not had a nervous system to feel and react.
Trees, herbs, bushes, and other plants can respond, but they reflect it in the behavior of growth.
Stimulus is a singular term, and we use the word ‘Stimuli’ for plural terms.
The Nervous System is made up of complex nerves, neurons, the spinal cord, and cells that send electrochemical signals to bring on any external changes to the body and the environment. It helps in the instant response to stimuli.
Endocrine System consists of a collection of glands that performs internal functions such as metabolism, digestion, breathing, reproduction and many more. It responds slower in the terms of development, hormonal changes, and external body growth.
We often study Polarity, and you must have a good idea about what exactly it is. The atoms and molecules which have both positive and negative charges are Polar. The electrons are shared unequally and the atom having more electronegative force attracts the other atom towards it.
For example, H2O or water is made up of 2 Hydrogen and 1 Oxygen atom. Being more electronegative, the O attracts the H atom and forms a covalent bond. The oxygen atom has six electrons in the valance shell which are more than that of Hydrogen. Due to this, O attracts H strongly and reacts to form water molecules.
From this, O atoms gain slightly negative and slightly positive electrons. These attractions between the molecules are called Intermolecular Forces.
The atoms are covalently bonded, and the charges are distributed unevenly. This results in the attraction of the least negative atom to the highly electronegative atom. In this way, a new molecular structure is formed.
Greater the ionic difference, greater will be the polarity of a species.
In Biology, polar describes how the water molecules interact with other atoms and particles of an organism.
The atom which attracts the atom due to its high electronegative power is known as the ‘Polar atom’.
Carbohydrates are one of the essential nutrients to be maintained in the human diet. We often hear about low carbohydrates and high-carbs. The carbohydrates are digested in the stomach, small intestine, and mouth.
Types of Carbohydrates
The two major types of carbohydrates in food include Simple and complex.
Simple Carbohydrates are known as simple sugar. Sugar is generally broken down into the gastrointestinal tract by the small intestine. There are three types of enzymes present in the mouth, namely Maltase, Sucrase, and Lactase.
Complex carbohydrates are also known as starches. This includes grain products like pasta, rice bread. While talking about the starch, it is broken down through amylase enzymes that are present in the stomach and mouth. Carbohydrates are then absorbed in the small intestine after digestion through minute finger-shaped projections called Villi. However, the carbohydrates chemical digestion starts in the mouth.
However, both complex and simple carbohydrates generally break down into glucose. The only thing to emphasize here is that a simple carbohydrate comprises one or two sugar molecules, whereas a complex one includes three or more sugar molecules.
Several good sources of complex carbohydrates include:
Legumes
Whole grains
Beans
Peas
Lentils
Potatoes
How does our body use carbohydrates?
Whenever individual eats the carbohydrates, the human body breaks them down into the simple sugar that is then absorbed into the bloodstream. Since the sugar level increases in the body, the pancreas releases a hormone known as insulin.
Insulin is essential to move sugar from the bloodstream to the cells, where the same sugar can be utilized as an energy source. And when this process functions fast, you are more likely to get hungry soon. But when it processes slowly, you won’t crave too fast as you did during the fast processing. So, the complex carbohydrates provide energy for a longer time.
The carbohydrates present in several foods make the blood sugar increase more quickly as compared to others.
How are carbohydrates digested?
Every food item you eat generally goes through the digestive system so that it can be further broken down and used by the body. Carbohydrates typically take a long journey starting with the mouth intake and ending with elimination from the colon. However, the process doesn’t end here as a lot more happens between the entry and exit points
Here is how it proceeds
The mouth
An individual generally starts to digest the carbohydrates when food hits the mouth and the saliva secreted from the salivary glands moistens the food as it is consumed and chewed.
The enzyme released by saliva is known as amylase, which initiates the sugar’s breakdown process in the carbohydrates you consume.
The Stomach
You generally swallow the food chewed into smaller pieces. The carbohydrates travel typically through the esophagus to the stomach. Here the food is referred to as chyme, and your stomach plays an essential role in killing the bacteria in the chyme.
The Small intestine, liver, and pancreas
The chime first goes into the small intestine that causes the bacteria to release pancreatic amylase. This enzyme then breaks down this chyme into maltose and dextrin.
From here, the small intestine wall begins to produce sucrose, lactase, and maltase. Then these enzymes further break down the sugars into monosaccharides, and these sugars are finally absorbed.
Once the absorption is done, they are processed by the liver and stored as glycogen, and the other glucose is moved in the body by the bloodstream. The hormone insulin is then released from the pancreas and allows glucose to be utilized as energy.
The Colon
Everything left over these digestive processes generally goes to the colon and is broken down by intestinal bacteria.
In biology, the term Denaturation refers to a process where molecular structure diverges from its original state when bared to a denaturing agent. Examples of biomolecules that denature include proteins and nucleic acids. Talking about denaturing of proteins, Denaturation implies the destruction of the tertiary structure of a protein molecule and the formation of random polypeptide chains.
The Denaturation of proteins results in protein structure and stability disturbances. In short, a protein’s 3D structure disrupts due to exposure to specific physical or chemical factors known as denaturants. However, denaturants may be in the form of acid, solvents, heat, radiation, etc.
When protein is exposed to a denaturant, its structure gets altered, resulting in the loss of its innate biological functions and activities.
These biomolecules are required for the appropriate maintenance of bodies. The protein’s stability and structure depend on chemical and physical conditions.
The several causes include:
pH and temperature affect their stability to a great extent.
Protein’s Denaturation is when a unique 3D structure of a protein gets exposed to some changes.
Due to temperature change, pH, or other chemical activities, the hydrogen bonds present in proteins get disturbed, resulting in the unfolding of globular proteins and helix structure’s uncoiling.
The uncoiling of helix structure affects the protein’s chemistry and leads to the loss of their biological activity.
During protein denaturation, the tertiary and secondary structures get destroyed, and only the primary one is retained.
Covalent bonds are broken, and the interaction between amino acid chains gets disrupted, which results in the loss of the biological activities of proteins.
Protein Denaturation Processes!
The secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structure is easily changed by a process known as Denaturation. However, these changes are pretty damaging.
Exposure to acid or bases, heating, and even violent physical action can cause Denaturation to occur.
The albumin protein in a white egg is denatured by heating to form a semisolid mass.
Denaturation of proteins can be done by bringing in some physical changes or the introduction of chemicals.
The Curdling of milk is another example of the Denaturation of proteins.
Most denaturation processes are irreversible.
A common cause of Denaturation of protein is the coagulation of white eggs when subjected to boiling. Here the Denaturation occurs with a temperature change.
Types of Denaturation!
Denaturation has two types that may be based on the cause:
Biologically Induced Denaturation
Biologically induced denaturation is a form that takes place in biological systems. This incorporates the biologically essential DNA processes, including DNA repair, transcription, and repair. In these processes, a double-stranded DNA unwinds, and the two strands become partially separated, forming a so-called bubble.
Non-biologically induced Denaturation
The non-biologically induced Denaturation involves a process that is not biological. It is caused by other external means that can be physical or chemical. The chemicals like heavy metals and metalloids can disrupt the molecular structures and cause protein denaturation in different ways.
For instance: the proteins are denatured when these chemicals oxidize the amino acid side chains or react through their functional side groups. Also, apart from directly disrupting the protein structure, the chemicals may induce Denaturation by changes in pH.
Phagocytosis is a process that occurs when the living cells try to destroy foreign particles or pathogens like an infected cell or bacteria by engulfing them in lytic enzymes. The phagocytosis process is also observed in single-celled organisms like amoeba during food particles’ ingestion.
While we talk about the human body, these cells protect the body by ingesting harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses, and other infected cells. It is considered the vital aspect of the immune system undertaken by special cells like macrophages and neutrophils.
Types of Phagocytosis!
The particles commonly phagocytosed by White blood cells contain dead tissue cells, bacteria, several dust particles, protozoa, pigments, and other tiny foreign bodies. In humans, in vertebrates, the most effective phagocytic cells are two types of WBCs. One is macrophages that are large phagocytic cells, and the other is neutrophils, a kind of granulocyte.
Macrophages: The macrophages occur in the lymph nodes, lungs, spleen, and liver, where their purpose is to free the airways, bacteria’s lymph, blood, and other particles. These are also found in all the tissues as wandering amoeboid cells. The monocyte, which is a precursor of macrophage, is located in the blood.
Neutrophils: The neutrophils are the smaller phagocytized carried by circulating the blood until they reach an infected tissue’s area. Here they pass throughout the blood vessel wall and lodge in that particular tissue.
Both neutrophils and macrophages are drawn towards infected areas or inflammation using substances given off by bacteria. Neutrophils may also swallow up the particles later than colliding with them unintentionally.
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