Kidney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Kidney (disambiguation).

Kidney

Human kidneys viewed from behind with spineremoved

Details

System

Urinary system and endocrine system

Artery

Renal artery

Vein

Renal vein

Nerve

Renal plexus

Identifiers

Latin

Ren

Greek

Nephros

MeSH

A05.810.453

TA

A08.1.01.001

FMA

7203

Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs that serve several essential regulatory roles in vertebrates.
Their main function is to regulate the balance of electrolytes in the blood, along with
maintaining pH homeostasis. They also remove excess organic molecules from the blood, and it is
by this action that their best-known function is performed: the removal of waste
products of metabolism. Kidneys are essential to the urinary system and also
serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes (including salts), maintenance
of acidbase balance, maintenance of fluid balance, and regulation of blood pressure (via the salt
and water balance). They serve the body as a natural filter of the blood, and remove water-soluble
wastes which are diverted to the bladder. In producing urine, the kidneys excrete nitrogenous wastes
such as urea and ammonium. They are also responsible for the reabsorption of water, glucose,
and amino acids. The kidneys also produce hormones including calcitriol and erythropoietin. An
important enzyme, renin, is also produced in the kidneys; it acts in negative feedback.
Located at the rear of the abdominal cavity in the retroperitoneal space, the kidneys receive blood
from the paired renal arteries, and drain into the paired renal veins. Each kidney excretes urine into
a ureter which empties into the bladder.
Renal physiology is the study of kidney function, while nephrology is the medical specialty
concerned with kidney diseases. Diseases of the kidney are diverse, but individuals with kidney
disease frequently display characteristic clinical features. Common clinical conditions involving the
kidney include the nephritic and nephrotic syndromes, renal cysts, acute kidney injury, chronic
kidney disease, urinary tract infection, nephrolithiasis, and urinary tract obstruction.[1] Various cancers
of the kidney exist. The most common adult renal cancer is renal cell carcinoma. Cancers, cysts, and
some other renal conditions can be managed with removal of the kidney. This is known
as nephrectomy. When renal function, measured by the glomerular filtration rate, is persistently
poor, dialysis and kidney transplantation may be treatment options. Although they are not normally
harmful, kidney stones can be

Body mass index

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A graph of body mass index as a function of body mass and body height. The dashed lines represent
subdivisions within a major class.[note 1]

The body mass index (BMI) or Quetelet index is a value derived from the mass (weight) and
height of an individual. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body
height, and is universally expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height
in metres.
The BMI may also be determined using a table[note 2] or chart which displays BMI as a function of mass
and height using contour lines or colours for different BMI categories, and which may use other units
of measurement (converted to metric units for the calculation).[note 3]
The BMI is an attempt to quantify the amount of tissue mass (muscle, fat, and bone) in an individual,
and then categorize that person as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese based on that
value. However, there is some debate about where on the BMI scale the dividing lines between
categories should be placed.[2] Commonly accepted BMI ranges are underweight: under 18.5 kg/m2,
normal weight: 18.5 to 25, overweight: 25 to 30, obese: over 30. People of Asian descent have
different associations between BMI, percentage of body fat, and health risks than those of European
descent, with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at BMIs lower than the
WHO cut-off point for overweight, 25 kg/m2, although the cutoff for observed risk varies among
different Asian populations.[3]

Leg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the weight bearing and locomotive structure. For legs in humans, see Human
leg. For other uses, see Leg (disambiguation).
"Legs" redirects here. For other uses, see Legs (disambiguation).

Diagram of an insect leg

A leg is a weight bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape.
During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts".[1] The combination of movements at all joints

can be modeled as a single, linear element capable of changing length and rotating about an
omnidirectional "hip" joint.
As an anatomical animal structure it is used for locomotion. The distal end is often modified to
distribute force (such as a foot). Most animals have an even number of legs.
As a component of furniture it is used for the economy of materials needed to provide the support for
the useful surface, the table top or chair seat.

Brain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the brains of all types of animals, including humans. For information specific to
the human brain, see Human brain. For other uses, see Brain (disambiguation).

Brain

A chimpanzee brain

Identifiers

TA

A14.1.03.0025

FMA

50801

Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and
most invertebrate animals. The brain is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs
for senses such as vision. The brain is the most complex organ in a vertebrate's body. In a human,
the cerebral cortex contains approximately 1533 billion neurons,[1] each connected by synapses to
several thousand other neurons. These neurons communicate with one another by means of
long protoplasmic fibers called axons, which carry trains of signal pulses called action potentials to
distant parts of the brain or body targeting specific recipient cells.
Physiologically, the function of the brain is to exert centralized control over the other organs of the
body. The brain acts on the rest of the body both by generating patterns of muscle activity and by
driving the secretion of chemicals called hormones. This centralized control allows rapid and
coordinated responses to changes in the environment. Some basic types of responsiveness such
as reflexes can be mediated by the spinal cord or peripheral ganglia, but sophisticated purposeful
control of behavior based on complex sensory input requires the information integrating capabilities
of a centralized brain.
The operations of individual brain cells are now understood in considerable detail but the way they
cooperate in ensembles of millions is yet to be solved. [2] Recent models in modern neuroscience
treat the brain as a biological c

cExecutive functions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neuropsychology
Topics[show]
Brain functions[hide]

Attention
Consciousness

Decision making

Executive functions

Arousal

Natural language

Learning

Memory
Motor coordination

Perception

Planning

Problem solving

Thought

People[show]
Tests[show]
Mind and brain portal

Executive functions (also known as cognitive control and supervisory attentional system) are
a set of cognitive processes including attentional control, inhibitory control, working memory,
and cognitive flexibility, as well as reasoning, problem solving, and planning that are necessary for
the cognitive control of behavior: selecting and successfully monitoring behaviors that facilitate the
attainment of chosen goals.[1][2][3] Executive functions gradually develop and change across the
lifespan of an individual and can be improved at any time over the course of a person's life.
[2]
Similarly, these cognitive processes can be adversely affected by a variety of events which affect
an individual.[2]
Cognitive control and stimulus control, which is associated with operant and classical conditioning,
represent opposite processes (i.e., internal vs external or environmental, respectively) that compete
over the control of an individual's elicited behaviors;[4] in particular, inhibitory control is necessary for
overriding stimulus-driven behavioral responses (i.e., stimulus control of behavior). [2]The prefrontal
cortex is necessary but not solely sufficient for executive functions;[2][5][6] e.g., the caudate
nucleus and subthalamic nucleus are also involved in the inhibitory control of behavior.[2][7]
Cognitive control is impaired in both addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.[2][7] Stimulusdriven behavioral responses that are associated with a particular rewarding stimulus tend to
dominate one's behavior in an addiction.[7]
Contents
[hide]

1Neuroanatomy

2Hypothesized role

3Historical perspective

4Development

4.1Early childhood

4.2Preadolescence

4.3Adolescence

4.4Adulthood

5Models
o

5.1Top-down inhibitory control

5.2Working memory model

5.3Supervisory attentional system (SAS)

5.4Self-regulatory model

5.5Problem-solving model

5.6Lezak's conceptual model

5.7Miller & Cohen's (2001) model

5.8Miyake and Friedman's model of executive functions

5.9Banich's (2009) "Cascade of control" model

6Assessment

7Experimental evidence
o

7.1Context-sensitivity of PFC neurons

7.2Attentional biasing in sensory regions

7.3Connectivity between the PFC and sensory regions

7.4Bilingualism and executive functions

8Future directions

9See also

10References

11External links

Northeast Africa[edit]

Djibouti[edit]
Main article: DjiboutiSomalia relations
As the headquarters of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional body, Djibouti has
been an active participant in the Somalian peace process. It hosted the Artaconference in 2000,[1] as
well as the 2008-2009 talks between the Transitional Federal Government and the Alliance for the
Reliberation of Somalia, which led to the formation of a coalition government.[2] In 2011, Djibouti
joined the African Union Mission to Somalia.[3] Following the establishment of the Federal
Government of Somalia in 2012,[4] a Djibouti delegation also attended the inauguration ceremony of
Somalia's new president.[5]

Ethiopia[edit]
Main article: EthiopiaSomalia relations
Relations between the peoples of Somalia and Ethiopia stretch back to antiquity, to a common origin.
The Ethiopian region is one of the proposed homelands of the Horn of Africa's various AfroAsiatic communities.[6]
During the Middle Ages, Somali Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (Ahmad Gurey or Gragn) led
a Conquest of Abyssinia (Futuh al-Habash), which brought three-quarters of the Christian Ethiopian
Empire under the power of the Muslim Adal Sultanate.[7][8] With an army mainly composed of Somalis,
[9]
Many historians trace the origins of tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war.[10]
In the 1960s and 1970s, a territorial dispute over the Ogaden region led to various armed
confrontations between the Somalian and Ethiopian militaries. The tensions culminated in
the Ogaden War, which saw the Somali army capture most of the disputed territory by September
1977, before finally being expelled by a coalition of communist forces.
With changes in leadership in the early 1990s brought on by the start of the Somali Civil
War and Ethiopian Civil War, respectively, relations between the Somali and Ethiopian authorities
entered a new phase of military cooperation against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) rebel group and
its more radical successor Al-Shabaab. In October 2011, a coordinated multinational
operation began against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia; the Ethiopian military eventually joined
the Transitional Federal Government-led mission the following month.[11]
The Federal Government of Somalia was later established on August 20, 2012, [4] representing the
first permanent central government in the country since the start of the civil war.[4] The following
month, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected as the new Somali government's first President, with
the Ethiopian authorities welcoming his selection and

Harsdorff House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harsdorff House
Harsdorffs Hus

The Harsdorff House viewed from Kongens Nytorv

General information

Architectural

Neoclassicism

style

Location

Copenhagen

Country

Denmark

Coordinates

554047.92N123512.56ECoordinates:
554047.92N 123512.56E

Construction

1779

started
Completed

1780

Owner

Karberghus
Design and construction

Architect

Caspar Frederik Harsdorff

The Harsdorff House is a historic property located on Kongens Nytorv in

central Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built by Caspar Frederik Harsdorff in 1780 and was in the
same time to serve as inspiration for the many uneducated master builders of the time.Contents

[hide]

1History

2Architecture

3Today

4References

5External links

History[edit]

The Harsdorff House photographed in 1866

Harsdorff House photographed by Kristian Hude

Caspar Frederik Harsdorff became professor of perspective at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts in 1766. In 1770 he succeeded Nicolas-Henri Jardin as royal building master and the following
year he took over his residence in the south wing of Charlottenborg Palace.The Royal Academy's
secretary, C. E. Biehl, had a residence next to the palace. His daughter, Charlotte Dorothea Biehl,
spend some of her childhood in the building. After Biehl's death the worn-out building was
designated for demolishion and Harsdorff was consuted on the matter. He proposed that the site
was given to him and he would then build a house which could serve as inspiration for the builders of
the increasing number of bourgois houses in the city. Architects who had studied at the Academy
were in general only used by the state and members of the aristocracy. The king accepted the offer.
[1]
Construction began in 1779 and was completed in 1780.[2]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was based in the building from 1864 until 1923, hvor 1983 when it
relocated to Christiansborg Palace and the Yellow Mansion in Amaliegade.[3] The building was
restored by Fogh & Flner in 1999.[4]

Architecture[edit]

As Jardin's successor,c. f. Harsdorff favoured French classicism inspired by ancient Greece and
Rome.[4]
The odd-shaped corner site inspired Harsdorff to build a property with three different model facades.
The more monumental, central section is decorated with Ionic order pilasters and crowned by a
triangular pediment with relief decoration.
The house came to serve as inspiration for hundreds of houses in the rebuilding of Copenhagen
during the years after the Great Fire of 1795.[5]

Today[edit]

Memory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Memory (disambiguation).

Neuropsychology
Topics[show]
Brain functions[hide]

Arousal
Attention
Consciousness

Decision making

Executive functions

Natural language

Learning

Memory

Motor coordination

Perception
Planning

Problem solving

Thought

People[show]
Tests[show]
Mind and brain portal

Memory is the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Encoding allows
information from the outside world to be sensed in the form of chemical and physical stimuli. Storage
is the second memory process and allows for the creation of a stable, more permanent record of
encoded information. Finally, the third process is the retrieval of information that has been stored.
Such information must be accessed and returned to consciousness or working memory. Depending
on the type of information stored, retrieval may be effortless or it may require a more cognitively
demanding search through memory.
From an information processing perspective there are three main stages in the formation and
retrieval of memory:

Encoding or registration: receiving, processing and combining of received information

Storage: creation of a permanent record of the encoded information in short term or long
term memory

Retrieval, recall or recollection: calling back the stored information in response to some cue
for use in a process or activity

The loss of memory is described as forgetfulness or amnesia.

Overview of the forms and functions of memory in the sciences

Contents
[hide]

1Sensory memory

2Short-term memory

3Long-term memory

4Models
o

4.1AtkinsonShiffrin

4.2Working memory

5Types
5.1By information type

5.1.1Declarative

5.1.2Procedural
5.2By temporal direction
6Study techniques

6.1To assess infants

6.2To assess older children and adults

7Failures

8Physiology

9Cognitive neuroscience

10Genetics

11In infancy

12Aging

13Effects of physical exercise

14Disorders

15Influencing factors

16Stress

17Sleep

18Construction for general manipulation

19Improving
o

19.1Levels of processing

20See also

21Notes

22References

23Further reading

24External links

Sensory memory[edit]
Main article: Sensory memory
Sensory memory holds sensory information less than one second after an item is perceived. The
ability to look at an item and remember what it looked like with just a split second of observation, or
memorization, is the example of sensory memory. It is out of cognitive control and is an automatic
response. With very short presentations, participants often report that they seem to "see" more than
they can actually report. The first experiments exploring this form of sensory memory were precisely
conducted by George Sperling(1963)[1] using the "partial report paradigm". Subjects were presented
with a grid of 12 letters, arranged into three rows of four. After a brief presentation, subjects were
then played either a high, medium or low tone, cuing them which of the rows to report. Based on
these partial report experiments,Sperling was able to show that the capacity of sensory memory was
approximately 12 items, but that it degraded very quickly (within a few hundred milliseconds).
Because this form of memory degrades so quickly, participants would see the display but be unable
to report all of the items (12 in the