Trading European sovereign bonds: the microstructure of the MTS trading platforms

We study the microstructure of the MTS Global Market bond trading system, which is the largest interdealer trading system for Eurozone government bonds. Using a unique new dataset we find that quoted and effective spreads are related to maturity and trading intensity. Securities can be traded on a domestic and EuroMTS platform. We show that despite the apparent fragmentation of trading, both platforms are closely connected in terms of liquidity. We also study the intraday price order flow relation in the Euro bond market. We estimate the price impact of order flow and control for the intraday trading intensity and the announcement of macroeconomic news. The regression results show a larger impact of order flows during announcement days and a higher price impact of trading after a longer period of inactivity. We relate these findings to interdealer trading and to the structure of European bond markets. JEL Classification: F31, C32Bonds markets, Microstructure, order flow

Thermochemical energy storage for a lunar base

A thermochemical solar energy storage concept involving the reversible reaction CaO + H2O yields Ca(OH)2 is proposed as a power system element for a lunar base. The operation and components of such a system are described. The CaO/H2O system is capable of generating electric power during both the day and night. Mass of the required amount of CaO is neglected since it is obtained from lunar soil. Potential technical problems, such as reactor design and lunar soil processing, are reviewed

Cloning of a Carcinoembryonic Antigen Gene Family Member Expressed in Leukocytes of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients and Bone Marrow

The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene family belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and can be subdivided into the CEA and pregnancy-specific glycoprotein subgroups. The basic structure of the encoded proteins consists of, in addition to a leader, one IgV-like and 2, 3, or 6 IgC-like domains. These domains are followed by varying COOH-terminal regions responsible for secretion, transmembrane anchoring, or insertion into the membrane by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol tail. Here we report on the characterization of CGM6, a new member of the CEA gene subgroup, by complementary DNA cloning. The deduced coding region comprises 349 amino acids and consists of a leader, one IgV-like, two IgC-like domains, and a hydrophobic region, which is replaced by a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol moiety in the mature protein. CGM6 transcripts were only found thus far in leukocytes of chronic myeloid leukemia patients, in normal bone marrow, and in marginal amounts in normal granulocytes. The CGM6 gene product might, therefore, represent a myeloid marker. Analyses of CGM6 protein-expressing HeLa transfectants with monoclonal antibodies strongly indicate that the CGM6 gene codes for the CEA family member NCA-95

Conceptual Challanges to the Paradigms of Comparative Media Systems in a Globalized World

National media systems are the central units of analysis in comparative mass communication research. In times of growing globalization, however, it is increasingly difficult to treat national media systems as isolated cases — a dilemma that undermines the traditional logic of comparative research. A careful examination of the core conceptual challenges leads this article to conclude that global processes of diffusion do by no means spell the end of the comparative research of media systems. Global processes of diffusion do however demand for comparative designs that account for the fact that national media systems are becoming increasingly interconnected. This article makes three practical suggestions to tackle these challenges: The first suggestion is to include additional levels of analysis below and above the nation state level; the second suggestion is to incorporate theories from the field of International Communications; and the third is to remain cautious about the extent to which globalization penetrates national media systems. There is still reason to presume that media systems can be compared along the lines of national boundaries. We are required to modify and extent our tools though

An Investigation of the Effects of Categorization and Discrimination Training on Auditory Perceptual Space

Psychophysical phenomena such as categorical perception and the perceptual magnet effect indicate that our auditory perceptual spaces are warped for some stimuli. This paper investigates the effects of two different kinds of training on auditory perceptual space. It is first shown that categorization training, in which subjects learn to identify stimuli within a particular frequency range as members of the same category, can lead to a decrease in sensitivity to stimuli in that category. This phenomenon is an example of acquired similarity and apparently has not been previously demonstrated for a category-relevant dimension. Discrimination training with the same set of stimuli was shown to have the opposite effect: subjects became more sensitive to differences in the stimuli presented during training. Further experiments investigated some of the conditions that are necessary to generate the acquired similarity found in the first experiment. The results of these experiments are used to evaluate two neural network models of the perceptual magnet effect. These models, in combination with our experimental results, are used to generate an experimentally testable hypothesis concerning changes in the brain's auditory maps under different training conditions.Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National institutes of Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R29 02852); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-98-1-0108

Combining Commerce and Culture

It seldom happens that new firms, new industries, and new business systems need to be developed simultaneously. This, however, is the situation in transition economies such as China. Irrespective of product and technology used, incentives and governance structures need to be formulated that give business endeavours an organisational form. The survivability of firms depends further on the ability to start and maintain long-term business relations between contracting parties, while only a broad consensus within the community of entrepreneurs and firms on the procedures that co-ordinate business relations and sanctions transgression promises a decline in transaction costs sufficiently enough to trigger off the quick expansion of markets