A comparative study of complement activation.

Antisera to sheep erythrocytes (E) were raised in cattle, rabbits, mice, hamsters, guinea-pigs, ferrets, badgers, hedgehogs and fowls. Cross activation of total haemolytic complement (THCA) examined all combinations of sensitized sheep E and normal sera (including human); kinetic assays examined the lysis of E sensitized with rabbit antibodies. From the same species, all combinations of normal serum and xenogeneic E were used to measure total alternative pathway activity (TAPA); TAPA was also activated by rabbit and sheep E in titrations and in agarose gels, and examined kinetically against rabbit E. Ox, rabbit and fowl sera were low in THCA, guinea-pig complement was universally active, while human complement showed marked selectivity; ferret, badger and hedgehog sera were activated to high titres but probably via the alternative pathway. In studies of TAPA an inverse relationship existed between serum complement activities and the activating abilities of E from the same species. The most efficient activators of alternative pathway were E from rabbits and laboratory rodents, while the sera with broadest response were badger, ferret and fowl. Kinetic studies of TAPA showed that initiation of lysis and subsequent completion of lysis could occur with different efficiencies, suggesting these events reflected separate events in complement activation.

The acquisiton of time properties associated with a sequential motor skill.

Three experiments are reported that examined the relative importance of phasing and duration training in the motor learning of a sequential task. In all three experiments, the task involved knocking down three barriers in a specified order. The Phasing task required the subject to contact each of the barriers in a particular goal time interval, that is, each segment had a particular movement-time goal. The Duration task required the subject to contact the final barrier in a total elapsed-time goal defined by the experimenter. Following training, half of the subjects in each training condition transferred to either a novel Duration or a novel Phasing task. Phasing-trained subjects, compared to Duration-trained subjects, produced equivalent transfer performance on the Duration transfer task but superior performance on the Phasing transfer task. These results suggest that phasing serves as a higher-order source of information for the performer in a sequential motor task. in addition, these experiments complement and extend previous work by Shapiro (1977) and Summers (1975) which demonstrated that learned phasing patterns were not modified despite changes in the overall rate of performing a motor sequence. Our experiments indicate that phasing training increases the performer's sensitivity to phasing patterns such that novel temporal patterns can be produced when they are well-defined.

Examining the personal experience of student skill learning: a narrative perspective.

Examining the meaning of student skill learning from the learner's perspective is a valued but understudied topic in physical education. This paper investigated the learner's perspective as a storied experience and used narrative theory to interpret the meanings students derived from their learning experiences. Four narrative accounts were presented involving university students enrolled in a beginning level bowling class. The narratives centered on describing student goals and the conflicts and resolution of conflicts experienced by these students during skill learning. Two sources of generating meaning from experience were delineated: (a) an individual's active construction of meaning and (b) the enculturing influence of the social context. These narratives provided an opportunity for teachers and researchers to examine the realities constructed by students as a result of their learning experiences.

Exploring practical knowledge: a case study of an experienced senior tennis performer.

The purpose of the study was to explore sport-related practical knowledge through the perceptions and experiences of a senior adult competitive tennis performer. Practical knowledge was defined as goal oriented, experiential knowledge developed within particular physical activity settings. Data were collected through formal interviews and participant observation and analyzed through narrative inquiry and conventional coding techniques. The data suggest that the tennis environment was perceived in terms of the opportunities afforded by that environment. Specifically, the participant's practical knowledge centered on performance capabilities and strategic planning that revealed opponent limitations. This knowledge appeared to be developed and expressed within the relationships among individual capabilities, the task, and the situated context of game play.

Activity of the alternative complement pathway during mycobacterial infections in inbred mice.

The relationship between kinetic activity of the alternative pathway (AP) of complement and susceptibility to Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) and M. fortuitum was examined in inbred mice. After subcutaneous injection of BCG, the organisms were mostly contained by the draining lymph nodes, with minimal effects on spleen and no apparent relationship with serum AP. After intravenous injection of BCG or M. fortuitum, male mice, which had a more effective AP than female mice, showed lower spleen bacterial counts. AP kinetics became faster in mice with high spleen bacterial counts and slower in mice with low counts, suggesting that infection or inflammatory processes affected AP. These experiments suggest that if tuberculosis is confined to tissues and draining lymph nodes AP plays no part in pathogenesis or host resistance, but AP might reduce the infectivity of low numbers of organisms spreading by blood or lymph from a primary focus of infection.

Examination of the envelope glycoprotein of yellow fever vaccine viruses with monoclonal antibodies.

Two panels of envelope glycoprotein reactive monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were prepared against yellow fever (YF) 17D vaccine viruses. Five mAbs were prepared against the World Health Organization 17D-204 avian leukosis virus-free secondary seed virus and eight mAbs against 17DD vaccine manufactured in Brazil. The majority of these mAbs were type-specific and displayed differing reactions in neutralization tests. One, B14, would only neutralize YF vaccine virus grown in invertebrate cells. Others would differentiate 17D-204 and 17DD vaccines, from different manufacturers, in neutralization tests when the viruses were grown in vertebrate cells. The data indicate that heterogeneity exists between the epitopes that elicit neutralizing antibody on YF vaccine from different manufacturers.