Commodities are raw materials intended for use or consumption. There are three main commodity classifications: Agriculture commodities (often referred to as soft commodities), energy commodities, and metal commodities (referred to as hard commodities). The most commonly traded commodities are crude oil, gold, silver, and copper. Commodity markets can include physical delivery, referred to as a spot contract. Most trades, however, are carried out through derivative trading using futures, forwards, CFD's, and options.
Donna Perrin, RGN, is practice development sister, A&E, Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey. Fluid resuscitation is one of the most important aspects of the acute medical management of critically ill patients.
A sedimentation rate is common blood test that is used to detect and monitor inflammation in the body. The sedimentation rate is also called the erythrocyte sedimentation rate because it is a measure of the red blood cells (erythrocytes) sedimenting in a tube over a given period of time. Sedimentation rate is often abbreviated as sed rate or ESR.