ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences · India · NTA for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersHow blood, heart, lungs and kidneys keep the internal environment stable in mammals and birds. Acid-base and fluid balance here underpin fluid therapy in the clinic.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 08; ICAR AIEEA-PG 14 (Physiology); PRC 10%; Nepal NLEV 6; China basic paper 13; AVE Paper 1 at least 5
ICAR AIEEA (PG) (Code 14 Animal Sciences: Physiology) and ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF core group 08
Mechanism and definition questions: Nernst potential and membrane transport, compartment markers, clotting factors and vitamin K, cardiac action potential phases, ECG classes across species, baroreceptor and chemoreceptor pathways, oxygen dissociation curve shifts and 2,3-DPG by species, CO2 transport, clearance and PAH, countercurrent mechanism, avian respiration and excretion, and Henderson-Hasselbalch arithmetic.
How our questions for ICAR AIEEA spread across the units of Veterinary Physiology I: Body Fluids, Blood, Circulation, Respiration and Excretion. Difficulty: 9 easy, 31 medium, 2 hard.
| Cardiac cycle | 5 | |
| Renal function | 5 | |
| Body fluids | 4 | |
| Control of the cardiovascular system | 4 | |
| Acid-base balance | 4 | |
| Cellular basis of physiology | 3 | |
| Blood composition and function | 3 | |
| Control of respiration | 3 | |
| Gas exchange and transport | 3 | |
| High-altitude physiology | 3 | |
| Osmoregulation | 3 | |
| Haemostasis and coagulation | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Extracellular potassium is 4 mmol/L and intracellular potassium 140 mmol/L. Using the Nernst equation at body temperature (61.5 mV x log10[out/in]), what is the potassium equilibrium potential?
C. About -95 mV
E = 61.5 x log10(4/140) = 61.5 x log10(0.0286) = 61.5 x (-1.544) = -95.0 mV, about -95 mV. The inside is negative because potassium leaks out. +95 mV is a sign slip (in/out inverted); -219 mV comes from using the natural log with the log10 constant; -61.5 mV is the constant alone.
Further reading: Hall JE, Hall ME, Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology, 14th ed.
A dog is given 10 mg of Evans blue. After mixing, the plasma concentration is 0.004 mg/mL. Its haematocrit is 40 per cent. What is its blood volume?
B. About 4,170 mL
Plasma volume = 10 / 0.004 = 2,500 mL. Blood volume = plasma volume / (1 - Hct) = 2,500 / 0.60 = 4167 mL. 2,500 mL is the plasma volume only; 6,250 mL comes from dividing by the haematocrit instead of by (1 - Hct); 1,670 mL is the red cell volume (4,167 x 0.40).
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
Serum differs from plasma mainly in that serum lacks:
B. Fibrinogen
Serum is the fluid left after blood clots, so the fibrinogen and clotting factors consumed in the clot are absent. Albumin, immunoglobulins and glucose remain.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
An animal has mean arterial pressure 100 mmHg, right atrial pressure close to 0 and cardiac output 5 L/min. What is its total peripheral resistance?
A. 20 mmHg.min/L
TPR = (MAP - RAP) / CO = (100 - 0) / 5 = 20 mmHg.min/L. Multiplying instead of dividing gives 500; inverting gives 0.05; adding CO to the pressure gives 105.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
Antidiuretic hormone raises blood pressure by vasoconstriction through which receptor?
D. V1 receptors on vascular smooth muscle
V1 receptors act via Gq to constrict vessels, which matters in severe hypovolaemia. V2 receptors mediate water reabsorption through aquaporin-2.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
Which adaptation of the yak protects it from high-altitude pulmonary hypertension?
A. Thin-walled pulmonary arteries with weak hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction
The yak's pulmonary arteries are thin-walled and respond weakly to hypoxia, so pulmonary pressure stays close to normal at altitude. Extreme polycythaemia would increase viscosity and worsen the problem.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
In tubuloglomerular feedback, increased sodium chloride delivery to the macula densa causes:
C. Constriction of the afferent arteriole and a fall in GFR
The macula densa signals (largely through adenosine) to constrict the afferent arteriole, returning GFR and distal delivery to normal. Increased NaCl at the macula densa suppresses, not stimulates, renin release.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
The natural antidiuretic hormone of the pig differs from that of most mammals, and birds use a different peptide. Which pairing is correct?
B. Pig: lysine vasopressin; birds: arginine vasotocin
Pigs (and some related species) have lysine at position 8 of vasopressin; birds, reptiles and amphibians use arginine vasotocin. Most other mammals use arginine vasopressin.
Further reading: Scanes CG (ed), Sturkie's Avian Physiology, 6th ed.
A calf has plasma bicarbonate 12 mmol/L and PCO2 30 mmHg. Using the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation, what is its pH?
B. About 7.22
pH = 6.1 + log10[HCO3 / (0.03 x PCO2)] = 6.1 + log10(12 / 0.9) = 6.1 + log10(13.3) = 6.1 + 1.125 = 7.22. Forgetting the 0.03 solubility factor gives 5.70; using a pKa of 6.4 gives 7.52; 7.40 assumes compensation is complete. The calf has a metabolic acidosis with partial respiratory compensation.
Further reading: DiBartola SP (ed), Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice, 4th ed.
Approximately what hydrogen ion concentration corresponds to a pH of 7.10?
C. About 79 nmol/L
[H+] = 10^-7.1 mol/L = 79.4 x 10^-9 mol/L, about 79 nmol/L, roughly double the 40 nmol/L at pH 7.40; 20 nmol/L halves instead of doubles it (that is pH 7.70). A 0.3 unit fall doubles hydrogen ion concentration because log10(2) = 0.3.
Further reading: Reece WO et al. (eds), Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.
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