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THE SKEWNESS OF VOLUME DISTRIBUTION CURVES OF ERYTHROCYTES
Author(s) -
Winter H,
Shieard RP
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1965.54
Subject(s) - skewness , skew , population , distribution (mathematics) , skew normal distribution , volume (thermodynamics) , distortion (music) , mathematics , coincidence , scale (ratio) , physics , statistics , mathematical analysis , thermodynamics , medicine , amplifier , demography , optoelectronics , alternative medicine , cmos , pathology , quantum mechanics , astronomy , sociology
Summary Volume distribution curves of erythrocytes, obtained by automatic cell counting, are skew, the right side being flatter than the left one, indicating a greater than normal population of larger cells. This is in contrast to the familiar Price‐Jones curves which show a more symmetrically bell‐shaped distribution, as expected from a normal homogenous population. So far the skewness has been attributed to presence of white cells, mathematical distortion due to change from linear to cubic scale, and to coincidence, when two cells are counted as one larger one. The present investigation has shown that white cells and change of scale do not cause skewness, while coincidence is only a relatively small contributing factor. After excluding the possibility of inherent bias of the celluscope, the skewness has been attributed to younger, and therefore larger, erythrocytes superimposed on a population of normally distributed, more mature cells. These cells, being relatively thicker than the fully nature erythroeytes, have a greater volume than indicated by their diameters. As automatic cell counters are sensitive to volumes and not merely to diameters, the curves obtained give a more accurate picture of cell size distribution. Accuracy is also Improved by the increased number of points on the curves compared with Price‐Jones technique, where the diameter of 1000 × the enlarged cells can be measured only In the nearest half millimetre.