This table records the proportional presence of specific cell types in a blood sample, as determined by flow cytometric analysis. It contains one row for each analysis of each sample; that is, one row per Dartid-Flow_Date pair.

Because of various practical/logistical minutiae, each flow analysis is not connected to a specific sample in the TISSUE_DATA table. Instead, each analysis is connected to the darting from which the blood sample came. It is certainly possible for a blood sample to be analyzed more than once on the same date, but in practice this does not occur. Based on that assumption, each Dartid-Flow_Date pair in this table is presumed to be sufficient to uniquely identify an analysis.

It is unlikely but possible that a sample from the same Dartid will be analyzed more than once. Because of this, the system will return a warning rather than an error when a Dartid appears more than once in this table.

It is beyond the scope of this document to explain how flow cytometry works, how to interpret its data, etc. For this discussion, suffice it to say that cells are treated with fluorescent antibodies that bind specific cell surface antigens, and a flow cytometer measures their fluorescence to determine which cells have which antigens. With this information, various cell types can be identified according to the presence/absence of specific antigens.

Each of the columns representing a specific cell type — Monocytes, NK, B, Helper_T, and Cytotoxic_T — are percentages indicating what proportion of the provided sample is comprised by that cell type. These columns contain the actual percentage number, not a value that equals the percentage. For example, 25.00% would be represented as 25.00, not 0.2500. Because of the implicit relation between these columns’ values, none of them can be NULL and the sum of those columns must be between 99.9 and 100.1.

The percentages recorded in this table do not represent the percentage of the indicated cell type among all blood cells, nor among all white blood cells. Prior to analysis, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are purified from a whole blood sample, and it is only those PBMCs that pass through the flow cytometer. Thus, the percentages in this table indicate the proportion of PBMCs that are the indicated cell type.

The date of the analysis — the Flow_Date — must be on or after the date the sample was collected—the related DARTINGS.Date. In practice, it is unlikely but not impossible that the two dates will ever be equal, so the system will return a warning whenever they are.

The antibodies and blood cells used in these analyses are rather labile, such that the accuracy of the analysis suffers if performed too long after the sample is collected and/or after antibody treatment. The system will return a warning when the date of analysis is 3 or more days after the darting date. That is, when the Flow_Date is 3 or more days after the related DARTINGS.Date.

Results from white blood cell counting performed on blood smears collected during dartings. Contains one row for each count of a blood smear. Blood smears from a Dartid must first be recorded in the DART_SAMPLES table.

After darting, blood smears are stained using a Giemsa (or similar) stain. This allows for easy identification of different types of white blood cells when viewed under a microscope. The technician systematically scans the slide and counts the number of each cell type present until reaching a high number, usually 100 or 200. The counts are then used to estimate the proportion of each cell type present in the blood.

Occasionally, blood doesn't smear well, and the technician is unable to count even 100 cells before the smear becomes too dense to read. For these cases with lower total counts, users should consider for themselves whether or not enough cells were counted to accurately estimate cell type proportions.

Each row's Count_Date must be on or after the row's related DARTINGS.Date.

The combination of Dartid and Slide_number must be unique.

The Slide_number cannot exceed the number of blood smears recorded in the related DART_SAMPLES.Num.