The purpose of peristalsis is to:
break apart chunks of food and mix it in digestive juices.
propel food forward along the GI tract.
absorb food.
enable swallowing.
The Correct Answer is B
A. break apart chunks of food: This describes segmentation, which is a mixing movement rather than a forward-moving wave.
B. propel food forward: Peristalsis is a wave-like contraction of smooth muscle that pushes the "bolus" or "chyme" forward through the digestive system.
C. absorb food: Absorption is the chemical/physical transport of nutrients into the blood, not the movement of the food mass itself.
D. enable swallowing: Swallowing (deglutition) involves peristalsis in the esophagus, but the purpose of peristalsis as a whole is movement throughout the entire tract.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. usually involves the endocrine or nervous system: This describes extrinsic control, where signals come from outside the specific organ.
B. operates at the cellular level: While it involves cells, intrinsic control is specifically defined by an organ or tissue regulating itself.
C. is sometimes called autoregulation: Intrinsic control refers to "built-in" mechanisms within an organ that allow it to adjust its function without outside help (e.g., blood flow regulation within the heart).
D. operates at the system or organism level: This describes extrinsic or systemic regulation.
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. hemoglobin: This is the iron-containing protein within the cell that carries oxygen, not the cell itself.
B. osteons: These are the structural units of compact bone, unrelated to blood cell production.
C. erythroblasts: These are the immature, nucleated cells in the red bone marrow that eventually synthesize hemoglobin and eject their nuclei to become reticulocytes and then mature erythrocytes.
D. hematopoietic stem cells: While all blood cells originate here, the specific maturation sequence for red blood cells specifically identifies erythroblasts as the intermediate nucleated stage.

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