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. Although this test measures a general state of inflammation, it is not specific to what causes the inflammation. It is elevated in inflammatory diseases, including arthritis as well as in autoimmune diseases such as lupus.
Earth spins because of the way it was formed. Our Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a huge cloud of gas and dust started to collapse under its own gravity. As the cloud collapsed, it started to spin. Some of the material within this cloud gathered into swirling eddies and eventually formed into planets.
The Earth rotates (spins) counter-clockwise as viewed from above the North Pole, which is also from above the ecliptic plane of the solar system. This is the arbitrary up and down convention that allows us to say which direction the Earth is spinning. Most other objects in the solar system spin and orbit counter-clockwise as well. Depending on your location on the planet, the Earth's spin (west to east) could be seen as clockwise or counter-clockwise. In the Northern Hemisphere, looking south toward the equator, the Earth turns counter-clockwise.