This highly interactive program is designed to be used as a student-centred, self-paced learning resource and would occupy students for 3-4 hours. The content is divided into several sections accessible from a menu:

• Introduction -  the basic principles of respiration put into a health context by introducing some of the more common respiratory disorders.
• Structure of the respiratory tract - structure and function of the upper respiratory tract (nose, mouth, pharynx and larynx), trachea, lungs, bronchial tree and alveoli.
• Transport of gases
• transport of oxygen by haemoglobin (normal dissociation curve and physiological factors affecting it),
• carbon dioxide (dissolved in plasma, in combination with haemoglobin, as bicarbonate).
• Mechanics of breathing - introduces respiratory volumes and capacities and covers how the contractions of the respiratory muscles and diaphragm give rise to inspiration and expiration. Muscles involved in forced respiratory movements .
• Control of Respiration
• Nervous control - central respiratory centres, autonomic reflexes and conscious control of breathing.
• Chemical control - central and peripheral chemoreceptors, influence of hydrogen ions, carbon dioxide and oxygen in regulation of breathing.

High quality interactive graphics and animations are used extensively to explain principles such as how the respiratory muscles and diaphragm interact to cause inspiration and expiration. Throughout the emphasis is on problem-based tasks - interpretation of graphical data (e.g. haemoglobin dissociation curves), interpretation of experimental data, calculations (e.g. ventilatory volumes and dead space, volume of oxygen in arterial and venous blood), and exercises to stimulate understanding. There are also self-assessment questions (multiple choice, multiple true/false) in each section.

System Requirements: Windows: Intel Pentium II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent), 128MB of RAM; Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Macintosh: PowerPC G3 500MHz or faster processor, 128MB of RAM; Mac OS X v.10.1.x, 10.2.x, 10.3.x, or 10.4.x

Recommended browser software: Windows: Internet Explorer; Macintosh: Safari or Firefox; Both: Adobe Flash Player plug-in, version 8 or higher.

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