Internal Representations of Temporal Statistics and Feedback Calibrate Motor-Sensory Interval Timing

Humans have been shown to adapt to the temporal statistics of timing tasks so as to optimize the accuracy of their responses, in agreement with the predictions of Bayesian integration. This suggests that they build an internal representation of both the experimentally imposed distribution of time intervals (the prior) and of the error (the loss function). The responses of a Bayesian ideal observer depend crucially on these internal representations, which have only been previously studied for simple distributions. To study the nature of these representations we asked subjects to reproduce time intervals drawn from underlying temporal distributions of varying complexity, from uniform to highly skewed or bimodal while also varying the error mapping that determined the performance feedback. Interval reproduction times were affected by both the distribution and feedback, in good agreement with a performance-optimizing Bayesian observer and actor model. Bayesian model comparison highlighted that subjects were integrating the provided feedback and represented the experimental distribution with a smoothed approximation. A nonparametric reconstruction of the subjective priors from the data shows that they are generally in agreement with the true distributions up to third-order moments, but with systematically heavier tails. In particular, higher-order statistical features (kurtosis, multimodality) seem much harder to acquire. Our findings suggest that humans have only minor constraints on learning lower-order statistical properties of unimodal (including peaked and skewed) distributions of time intervals under the guidance of corrective feedback, and that their behavior is well explained by Bayesian decision theory.     

Enzymic synthesis,chemical characterisation and Sda activity of GalNAcß1-4[NeuAcα2-3]Galß1-4GlcNAc and GalNAcß1-4[NeuAcα2-3]Galß1-4Glc

The tetrasaccharides GalNAcß1-4[NeuAc2-3]Galß1-4Glc and GalNAcß1-4[NeuAc2-3]Galß1-4GlcNAc were synthesised by enzymic transfer of GalNAc from UDP-GalNAc to 3-sialyllactose (NeuAc2-3Galß1-4Glc) and 3-sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine (NeuAc2-3Galß1-4GlcNAc). The structures of the products were established by methylation and¹H-500 MHz NMR spectroscopy. In Sd^a serological tests the product formed with 3-sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine was highly active whereas that formed with 3-sialyllactose had only weak activity.     

Immunological comparison of the in vitro and in vivo labeled victorin binding protein from susceptible oats

The fungus Cochliobolus victoriae causes victoria blight of oats and produces the host-specific toxin victorin. The reaction of oats to the fungus and its toxin is controlled by a single dominant gene whose product has been hypothesized to function as the site of action (receptor) of the toxin in susceptible oat genotypes. Previously, using a biologically active ¹²⁵I derivative of the toxin, we identified a 100 kilodalton victorin-binding protein (VBP) which binds victorin in a ligand-specific manner and binds in vivo only in susceptible oat genotypes. However, a VBP in both the susceptible and resistant oat genotypes was identified by in vitro binding experiments. One interpretation of the lack of genotype-specific binding in vitro is that the 100 kilodalton protein detected in vitro is not the same 100 kilodalton protein detected in vivo. To clarify the relationship between the 100 kilodalton protein(s) labeled in vivo and in vitro, we developed antisera to the in vitro-labeled VBP from the susceptible genotype and demonstrated that these preparations react with the in vivo-labeled VBP from the susceptible genotype. This finding coupled with previous observations strongly suggest that the VBP observed in vivo is the same protein detected in vitro. Furthermore, the results support our previous observations which suggest that the VBPs labeled in vitro in susceptible and resistant genotypes are closely related or identical.     

Development of left/right handedness in the chick heart.

The chick heart tube develops from the fusion of the right and left areas of precardiac mesoderm and in almost all cases loops to the embryo's right-hand side. We have investigated whether any intrinsic difference exists in the right and left areas of precardiac mesoderm, that influences the direction of looping of the heart tube. Chick embryos incubated to stages 4,5 and 6 were cultured by the New method. Areas of precardiac mesoderm were exchanged between donor and host embryos of the same stage and different stages to form control, double-right and double-left sided embryos. Overall, double-right sided embryos formed many more left-hand loops than double-left sided embryos. At stages 4 and 5 a small percentage of double-right embryos formed left-hand loops (13%) whereas at stage 6 almost 50% of hearts had left-hand loops. Control embryos formed right-hand loops in 97% of cases. The stability of right-hand heart looping by double-left sided embryos, may be related to the process of 'conversion', whereas the direction of looping by double-right sided embryos has become randomised. There is some indication that an intrinsic change occurred in the precardiac mesoderm between stages 5 and 6 that later influenced the direction of looping of the heart tube. The direction of body turning is suggested to be linked to the direction of heart looping.     

The development of asymmetry: the sidedness of drug-induced limb abnormalities is reversed in situs inversus mice

We are studying the development of handedness, in particular the relationships between handed structures with bilateral symmetry, for example the limbs, and those with lateral asymmetry, such as the heart, lungs and gut. Asymmetric (unilateral) developmental limb abnormalities can be induced by chemical treatment of mouse embryos, either in utero by acetazolamide, or in culture by misonidazole. We have examined these effects in mice homozygous for the iv gene. The development of bilateral symmetry in iv/iv mice is normal, but the control of asymmetry appears to be random, that is 50% develop normally (situs solitus), 50% with laterally inverted viscera (situs inversus). We find that the handedness of induced asymmetric limb defects is highly correlated with embryonic visceral situs. Right limb defects are induced in situs solitus embryos, left-sided defects in situs inversus. This suggests that the mechanism of induction of asymmetric defects is not related to any intrinsic difference between the development of left and right limbs, but is connected to visceral asymmetry. In addition, the high correlation of limb defects with situs was observed in culture as well as in utero suggesting that the maternal environment plays no role in the development of asymmetry.     

Resistance to H-2-restricted but not to allo-H2-specific graft and cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in lymphoma mutant

The lymphoma mutant RMA-S escaped graft rejection after transplantation over a minor histocompatibility barrier, whereas it was rejected in H-2 allogeneic mice. The parental control line was rejected in both situations. The mutant, which had been selected against MHC class I molecules retained 5 to 10% of the wild-type H-2Db, Kb, and beta 2-microglobulin expression on the cell surface. It remained sensitive to allo-H-2b CTL in vitro, but was completely resistant to minor histocompatibility antigen-specific, H-2b-restricted CTL. It was equally resistant to other H-2b-restricted responses against internally derived Ag, such as tumor-specific CTL or a CTL clone specific for the influenza virus nucleoprotein. The results indicate a target cell defect that selectively abolishes the sensitivity to H-2-restricted CTL directed against internally processed Ag. This appears sufficient to shift the transplantation response over a minor histocompatibility Ag barrier from rejection to acceptance. There are two possible explanations for the results: 1) a block in the MHC class I-directed pathway for internal Ag processing, and 2) subthreshold H-2/Ag ligand density in relation to triggering requirements of restricted CTL. Regardless of the type of defect, the results demonstrate a difference between allo-H-2-specific and H-2-restricted CTL recognition at the level of the target cell.     

Transfection of beta 2-microglobulin restores IFN-mediated protection from natural killer cell lysis in YAC-1 lymphoma variants

A beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m)-deficient variant of YAC-1, A.H-2-, was transfected with a genomic beta 2m clone. Transfected cells were used to investigate the role of beta 2m in IFN-induced protection from NK cell lysis. IFN-gamma treatment of the NK-sensitive murine YAC-1 lymphoma results in reduced sensitivity to NK cell-mediated lysis in parallel with increased expression of its constitutively low MHC class I expression. It was previously shown that the A.H-2- variant had lost both these capacities, although it retained other responses to IFN-gamma. Here beta 2m transfection restored the YAC-1 phenotype with respect to an inducible expression of MHC class I molecules and a concomitant protection from NK cell lysis after treatment with IFN-gamma. In the absence of IFN-gamma the NK sensitivity of the transfectants did not differ significantly from A.H-2-. A similar protection from NK cell lysis, in parallel with enhanced MHC class I expression, was observed for in vivo-passaged beta 2m transfectants whereas no protection was found for in vivo-passaged A.H-2- cells. The present study provides evidence that the IFN-gamma-mediated protection from NK cell lysis is dependent on beta 2m expression in the YAC-1 lymphoma. Restoration of MHC class I assembly, transport, and concomitantly an IFN-gamma augmentable cell surface expression of MHC class I molecules is a possible explanation for the effect of beta 2m.