Seeing Sounds, Hearing Shapes: a gamified study to evaluate sound-sketches

Sound-shape associations, a subset of cross-modal associations between the auditory and visual domain, have been studied mainly in the context of matching a set of purposefully crafted shapes to sounds. Recent studies have explored how humans represent sound through free-form sketching and how a graphical sketch input could be used for sound production. In this paper, the potential of communicating sound characteristics through these free-form sketches is investigated in a gamified study that was conducted with eighty-two participants at two online exhibition events. The results show that participants managed to recognise sounds at a higher rate than the random baseline would suggest, however it appeared difficult to visually encode nuanced timbral differences

Neuronal migration in the murine rostral migratory stream requires serum response factor

The central nervous system is fundamentally dependent on guided cell migration, both during development and in adulthood. We report an absolute requirement of the transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) for neuronal migration in the mouse forebrain. Conditional, late-prenatal deletion of Srf causes neurons to accumulate ectopically at the subventricular zone (SVZ), a prime neurogenic region in the brain. SRF-deficient cells of the SVZ exhibit impaired tangential chain migration along the rostral migratory stream into the olfactory bulb. SVZ explants display retarded chain migration in vitro. Regarding target genes, SRF deficiency impairs expression of the β-actin and gelsolin genes, accompanied by reduced cytoskeletal actin fiber density. At the posttranslational level, cofilin, a key regulator of actin dynamics, displays dramatically elevated inhibitory phosphorylation at Ser-3. Our studies indicate that SRF-controlled gene expression directs both the structure and dynamics of the actin microfilament, thereby determining cell-autonomous neuronal migration

Beyond the Need to Boast: Cost Concealment Incentives and Exit in Cournot Duopoly

This paper studies the incentives for production cost disclosure in an asymmetric Cournot duopoly. Whereas the efficient firm (consumers) prefers information sharing (concealment) when the firms choose accommodating strategies in the product market, the firm (consumers) may prefer information concealment (sharing) when it can exclude its competitor from the market. Hence, the rankings of expected profit and consumer surplus can be reversed if exit of the inefficient firm is possible. Although the efficient firm has stronger incentives to share information when it shares strategically, there remain cases in which the firm conceals information in equilibrium to induce exit