Basic processes in living organisms

A brief overview of the basic processes in living organisms is presented in this introductory chapter. The goal is to provide the reader with information about fundamental physiological processes, which are modeled by computational methods in subsequent chapters. The text gives an insight into the complexity of biological systems and background for understanding the approximations used further in the mathematical interpretations and generation of numerical results. Mass transport is first described, as the vital process mostly governed by diffusion and then is given basic information about the transport of matter within the circulatory system, tissue, and cells. Finally, the role of the heart, lung, liver, and brain as body organs is outlined, with reference to specificities of the tissue microenvironment of these organs.