adaptation

Examples of adaptation in the following topics:

• Overview of Adaptive Immunity

  • The adaptive immune system works to protect and heal the body when the innate immune system fails.
  • The adaptive immune system starts to work after the innate immune system is activated.
  • The adaptive immune response occurs a few days after the innate immune response occurs.
  • The major functions of the adaptive immune system include:
  • A typical adaptive immune response includes several steps:

• Adjustments at High Altitude

  • The human body can adapt to high altitude through immediate and long-term acclimatization processes.
  • The human body can adapt to high altitude through immediate and long-term acclimatization.
  • Full hematological adaptation to high altitude is achieved when the increase of red blood cells reaches a plateau and stops.
  • The length of full hematological adaptation can be approximated by multiplying the altitude in kilometers by 11.4 days.
  • For example, to adapt to 4,000 meters (13,000 ft.) of altitude would require 45.6 days.

• Types of Adaptive Immunity

  • The adaptive immune response is mediated by B and T cells and creates immunity memory.
  • The adaptive immune system mounts a stronger, and antigen specific immune response after the innate immune response fails to prevent a pathogen from causing an infection.
  • There are two subdivisions of the adaptive immune system: cell-mediated immunity, and humoral immunity.
  • Humoral immunity refers to the component of the adaptive immune response that is caused by B cells, antibodies, and type 2 helper T-cells (Th2), as well as circulating mast cells and eosinophils to a smaller extent.

• Life Functions

  • An organism is a living system capable of growth, reproduction,metabolism, response to stimuli, adaptation and homeostasis.
  • Nonliving things are not capable of growth, reproduction, response to stimuli, adaptation, or homeostasis.
  • They are capable of reproduction (within a host) and adaptation, but they are not capable of homeostasis or metabolic functions.
  • Many organisms can adapt to intolerance in their environment through seasonal migration, hibernation, or other adaptations.
  • Many microorganisms have evolved adaptations that allow them to survive in zones that are intolerant for most other organisms, such as extreme heat or cold, dehydration, starvation, or high levels of radiation.

• Tactile Sensation

  • They can be categorized by morphology, by the type of sensation they perceive, and by the rate of adaptation.
  • Meissner's corpuscles detect changes in texture (vibrations around 50 Hz) and adapt rapidly.
  • The Ruffini ending (Ruffini corpuscle or bulbous corpuscle) is a class of slowly adapting mechanoreceptors thought to exist only in the glabrous dermis and subcutaneous tissue of humans.
  • They are rapidly adaptive receptors.
  • They are classified as slowly adapting type I mechanoreceptors.

• WBC Function

  • Leukocyte functions may be classified as either innate or adaptive immune system, based on several characteristics.
  • The adaptive immune system is specific to each pathogen on the basis of antigens, which are molecular components of pathogens that are used by leukocytes to recognize that specific pathogen.
  • Compared to the innate immune system, adaptive immune functions work much faster and have a memory component to them as well, which prevents reinfection by the same pathogen, but more time typically passes before the adpative immune system is functional.
  • The T cells will then start the adaptive immune response by rapidly proliferating and differentiating.

• Exercise and Bone Tissue

  • Bones adapt to the muscle force loads placed on them, becoming thicker and stronger under stress/use and weaker and thinner when unused.
  • According to Wolff's law, bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under.
  • The internal architecture of the trabeculae undergoes adaptive changes, followed by secondary changes to the external cortical portion of the bone, perhaps becoming thicker as a result.

• Exhaustion

  • Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted.
  • Exhaustion is the third and final stage in the general adaptation syndrome model.

• Lymphocytes

  • The term lymphocytes refers to the B and T cells of the adaptive immune system.
  • B and T cells have many functions that are part of the adaptive immune system, and have many subdivisions.
  • T cells are a major component in cell-mediated adaptive immunity, because they provide a pathway for the direct killing of pathogens by the T cells.
  • B cells are involved in humoral adaptive immunity, and produce the antibodies that circulate through the the plasma.
  • B cells are important to adaptive immune function, but they can also cause some problems as well.

• Immunological Memory

  • When B and T cells begin to replicate during an adaptive immune response, some of the offspring that they produce will end up becoming long-lived memory cells.
  • The name "adaptive immune system," is considered to be adaptive because it is a result of an adaptation to an infection with the pathogen during the individual's lifetime and continues to prepare the immune system for potential future pathogens.
  • As the infant matures, their thymus and bone marrow will work to raise a stock of mature lymphocytes that will form the foundation for the infant's personal adaptive immune system.