Anatomy and Physiology is a dynamic textbook for the two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body system and covers standard scope and sequence requirements. Its lucid text, strategically constructed art, career features, and links to external learning tools address the critical teaching and learning challenges in the course. The web-based version of Anatomy and Physiology also features links to surgical videos, histology, and interactive diagrams.

• Explain how the properties of blood qualify it as a connective tissue
• Describe the various functions of blood
• Distinguish among the three major categories of formed elements
• Describe the shape, structure, and contents of an erythrocyte
• Know what hematocrit test determines, and what are the normal lab values
• Describe the differences between agranulocytes and granulocytes
• Visually differentiate each of the leukocytes on a normal blood smear
• Visually identify platelets, describe their function, and explain what coagulation tests are used to determine

This video shows scanning a Wright's stained blood smear slide with pauses to view leukocytes. The video was taken at 630X under a brightfield microscope. This video is compatible with a laboratory lesson in which students observe, categorize, and count leukocytes. More than 100 leukocytes are viewed in this video. Note, this video does not have narration.Video credit: Emily Fox

This sequence explores the elements of innate and acquired immune defense mecahnisms, the cells involved, their development and maturation, and biomolecular cellular communication mechanisms required to successfully fight off infection.

This patient education program explains what leukemia is and reviews the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. This resource is a MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine, designed and developed by the Patient Education Institute.

Monocytes are the largest leukocytes. They have a large indented nucleus, few granules and constitute about 5% of circulating leukocytes. Monocytes are precursors to a number of cells that make up the mononuclear phagocytic system. Developing in the bone marrow, monocytes migrate into the circulation where, after approximately three days, they migrate into tissues and differentiate.

Neutrophils represent up to 70% of all leukocytes in the blood stream (in humans there are approximately 4.4 million neutrophils / millilitre of blood) and are distinguished by their irregular multi-lobed nucleus and indistinct granular appearance. They are 10-12ľm and circulate in the blood for minutes to hours (average 6-8 hours) and lasting for 1-2 days in tissue. Although the most abundant leukocyte in the blood, the vast majority of neutrophils are found in the bone marrow (5x more) mostly as functionally immature precursor cells, although this varies between species with mice having a large pool of functional neutrophils in their bone marrow.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Rapamycin is a promising candidate as an anti-aging drug. Normally used to fight cancer, rapamycin has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice. But what about humans? To find out, researchers monitored the effect of rapamycin on test tubes of human coronary artery endothelial cells. These cells are integral to the structure and homeostasis of blood vessels in the heart but tend to harden with age, posing a looming threat to older individuals. Experiments showed that while rapamycin suppressed the expression of certain senescence-related proteins, it actually promoted endothelial cell differentiation into mesenchymal cells through morphological changes by activating autophagy, causing a functional modification. Because heart function is supported by the vascular network, induction of the endothelial–mesenchymal transition can drive the pathogenesis of heart disease..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.