How Does the Eye Breathe?

How does the eye breathe? Evidence for neuroglobin-mediated oxygen supply in the mammalian retina.

Visual performance of the vertebrate eye requires large amounts of oxygen, and thus the retina is one of the highest oxygen-consuming tissues of the body. Here we show that neuroglobin, a neuron-specific respiratory protein distantly related to hemoglobin and myoglobin, is present at high amounts in the mouse retina (approximately 100 microm). The estimated concentration of neuroglobin in the r...

How does a hopping kangaroo breathe?

We developed a model to demonstrate how a hopping kangaroo breathes. Interestingly, a kangaroo uses less energy to breathe while hopping than while standing still. This occurs, in part, because rather than using muscle power to move air into and out of the lungs, air is pulled into (inspiration) and pushed out of (expiration) the lungs as the abdominal organs "flop" within the kangaroo's body. ...

How locusts breathe.

Insect tracheal-respiratory systems achieve high fluxes and great dynamic range with low energy requirements and could be important models for bioengineers interested in developing microfluidic systems. Recent advances suggest that insect cardiorespiratory systems have functional valves that permit compartmentalization with segment-specific pressures and flows and that system anatomy allows reg...

To understand how babies breathe...

Effective Aid for Hitting the Bull’s Eye; Comment on “It’s About the Idea Hitting the Bull’s Eye”: How Aid Effectiveness Can Catalyse the Scale-up of Health Innovations”

This article studies how six key aid effectiveness principles for “Hitting the bull’s eye” can bring about the scale up of maternal and newborn health (MNH) interventions. These key principles are based on accepted international agreements such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The results indicate that the six principles should be a guide for recipient countries to take ownership ...