title: Importance of convection to the enhancement of erythrocyte sedimentation rates in inclined tubes.
abstract: Erythrocytes were settled from whole blood in standard 200 x 2.5 mm erythrocyte settling rate tubes placed vertically and at various angles from 85 degrees to 15 degrees from the horizontal. In all cases sedimentation rates measured along the slope increased with decreasing angle from the horizontal. Vertical settled distances rapidly increased down to an angle of 70 degrees and then changed very little even down to angles as shallow as 30 degrees. Evidence is presented that convection plays a significant role in the inclined settling of erythrocytes, as has already been demonstrated with clay, or glass bead suspensions in water. Inclined settling enhancements obtained are quite similar to those observed under similar conditions with yeast cells in aqueous glucose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hocking
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D004867:Equipment Design; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010825:Physics; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000502:physiology; D013696:Temperature