Hyaluronan Synthesis and Myogenesis: A requirement for hyaluronan synthesis during myogenic differentiation independent of pericullular matrix formation

Background
The role endogenously synthesized hyaluronan plays in myogenesis is not yet known.

Results
Hyaluronan synthase genes were expressed during skeletal muscle growth and regeneration; inhibiting these synthases prevents myoblast differentiation and fusion.

Conclusion
Endogenous hyaluronan synthesis is required for myogenic differentiation.

Significance
The necessity for hyaluronan in myogenesis has implications when considering promoting muscle growth or regeneration.

How sensitive are bargaining outcomes to changes in disagreement payoffs?

We use a human-subjects experiment to investigate how bargaining outcomes are affected by changes in bargainers’ disagreement payoffs. Subjects bargain against changing opponents, with randomly drawn asymmetric disagreement outcomes that vary over plays of the game, and with complete information about disagreement payoffs and the cake size. We find that subjects only respond about half as much as theoretically predicted to changes in their own disagreement payoff and to changes in their opponent’s disagreement payoff. This effect is observed in a standard Nash demand game and a related unstructured bargaining game, in both early and late rounds, and is robust to moderate changes in stake sizes. We show theoretically that standard models of expected utility maximisation are unable to account for this under-responsiveness, even when generalised to allow for risk aversion. We also show that quantal-response equilibrium has, at best, mixed success in characterising our results. However, a simple model of other-regarding preferences can explain our main results.

Lying about the price? Ultimatum bargaining with messages and imperfectly observed offers

We introduce the taxicab game, related to the ultimatum game and Gehrig et al.'s (2007) yes/no game. The proposer makes an offer, and simultaneously sends a cheap talk message indicating (possibly falsely) the amount of the offer. The responder observes the message with certainty and the offer with probability p before accepting or rejecting the offer. We investigate versions with p=. 0 and p=. 0.5 along with the ultimatum game as a baseline. Intuition and a model comprising both standard economic agents and others who dislike inequity, lies and lying provide clear predictions that our experimental results support. As the likelihood increases of offers being seen, the offers themselves increase, messages over-state them less, and responders are more likely to accept (even when the offer is unseen). Also, responders are more likely to accept after truthful messages than after lies or when no message is sent.

Comparing bargaining solutions in the shadow of conflict: how norms against threats can have real effects

In many economic environments agents make costly and irreversible investments (in ``guns'') that may enhance their respective threat payoffs but also shrink the utility possibilities set. In such settings, with variable threats and a variable utility possibilities set, it becomes possible to rank different bargaining solutions in terms of efficiency. We compare bargaining solutions within a class in which the influence of the threat point on the bargaining outcome varies across solutions. Under symmetry, we find that the solution in which the threat point is least influential the equal sacrifice solution Pareto-dominates the other solutions. Since the equal sacrifice solution puts the least weight on the threat point, norms against threats (that can be seen in many seemingly rhetorical pronouncements in adversarial relations) can mitigate some of the costs of conflict and therefore have efficiency- enhancing effects.

Optimal sensing requirement for slippage prevention in robotic grasping

This paper presents a new theoretical development and modelling related to the requirement of the minimum number of sensors necessary for slippage prevention in robotic grasping. A fundamental experimental investigation has been conducted to support the newly developed postulate. A series of basic experiments proved that it is possible to evaluate the contributions of various sensors to slippage prevention and control in robotic grasping. The use of three discrete physical sensors, one for each of the three sensing functions (normal, tangential and slippage), has been proven to be the most reliable combination for slippage prevention in robotic grasping. It was also proven that the best performance from a two-sensor combination can be achieved when normal grasp force and tangential force are both monitored in the grasping process.