Hole in the wall: informed short selling ahead of private placements

Companies planning a private placement typically gauge the interest of potential buyers before the offering is publicly announced. Regulators are concerned with this practice, called wall-crossing, as it might invite insider trading, especially when the potential investors are hedge funds. We examine privately placed common stock and convertible offerings and find evidence of widespread pre-announcement short selling. We show that pre-announcement short sellers are able to predict announcement day returns. The effects are especially strong when hedge funds are involved and when the number of buyers is high. We also observe pre-announcement trading in the options market

Co-hydrolysis of hydrothermal and dilute acid pretreated populus slurries to support development of a high-throughput pretreatment system

Background The BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) developed a high-throughput screening method to rapidly identify low-recalcitrance biomass variants. Because the customary separation and analysis of liquid and solids between pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis used in conventional analyses is slow, labor-intensive and very difficult to automate, a streamlined approach we term 'co-hydrolysis' was developed. In this method, the solids and liquid in the pretreated biomass slurry are not separated, but instead hydrolysis is performed by adding enzymes to the whole pretreated slurry. The effects of pretreatment method, severity and solids loading on co-hydrolysis performance were investigated. Results For hydrothermal pretreatment at solids concentrations of 0.5 to 2%, high enzyme protein loadings of about 100 mg/g of substrate (glucan plus xylan) in the original poplar wood achieved glucose and xylose yields for co-hydrolysis that were comparable with those for washed solids. In addition, although poplar wood sugar yields from co-hydrolysis at 2% solids concentrations fell short of those from hydrolysis of washed solids after dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment even at high enzyme loadings, pretreatment at 0.5% solids concentrations resulted in similar yields for all but the lowest enzyme loading. Conclusions Overall, the influence of severity on susceptibility of pretreated substrates to enzymatic hydrolysis was clearly discernable, showing co-hydrolysis to be a viable approach for identifying plant-pretreatment-enzyme combinations with substantial advantages for sugar production

CalDAG-GEFI deficiency protects mice in a novel model of FcγRIIA-mediated thrombosis and thrombocytopenia

Platelet activation via Fcγ receptor IIA (FcγRIIA) is a critical event in immune-mediated thrombocytopenia and thrombosis syndromes (ITT). We recently identified signaling by the guanine nucleotide exchange factor CalDAG-GEFI and the adenosine diphosphate receptor P2Y12 as independent pathways leading to Rap1 small GTPase activation and platelet aggregation. Here, we evaluated the contribution of CalDAG-GEFI and P2Y12 signaling to platelet activation in ITT. Mice transgenic for the human FcγRIIA (hFcR) and deficient in CalDAG-GEFI(−/−) (hFcR/CDGI(−/−)) were generated. Compared with controls, aggregation of hFcR/CDGI(−/−) platelets or P2Y12 inhibitor-treated hFcR platelets required more than 5-fold and approximately 2-fold higher concentrations of a FcγRIIA stimulating antibody against CD9, respectively. Aggregation and Rap1 activation were abolished in P2Y12 inhibitor-treated hFcR/CDGI(−/−) platelets. For in vivo studies, a novel model for antibody-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis was established. FcγRIIA-dependent platelet thrombosis was induced by infusion of Alexa750-labeled antibodies to glycoprotein IX (CD42a), and pulmonary thrombi were detected by near-infrared imaging technology. Anti-GPIX antibodies dose-dependently caused thrombocytopenia and pulmonary thrombosis in hFcR-transgenic but not wild-type mice. CalDAG-GEFI-deficient but not clopidogrel-treated hFcR-transgenic mice were completely protected from ITT. In summary, we established a novel mouse model for ITT, which was used to identify CalDAG-GEFI as a potential new target in the treatment of ITT

The role of information arrival for the Australian dollar trading volume and volatility

This study investigates the impact of scheduled and unscheduled information arrival on realized volatility and volume in the USD/AUD exchange rate. The authors find that trading outside of Australian business hours dominates and this is mostly due to the higher frequency of information arrivals during the offshore trading period. Where the different sources of information are considered, our findings reveal that it is offshore money market news that is the most important determinant of AUD volatility. Fixed income and, to a lesser extent, foreign exchange related news however, were found to be the most important determinants of AUD volume. Finally, while Australian macroeconomic announcements were found to have a more consistent impact on AUD volatility, US macroeconomic news had a considerably larger impact.17 page(s

Multimodal probes : superresolution and transmission electron microscopy imaging of mitochondria, and oxygen mapping of cells, using small-molecule Ir(III) luminescent complexes

We describe an Ir(III)-based small-molecule, multimodal probe for use in both light and electron microscopy. The direct correlation of data between light- and electron-microscopy-based imaging to investigate cellular processes at the ultrastructure level is a current challenge, requiring both dyes that must be brightly emissive for luminescence imaging and scatter electrons to give contrast for electron microscopy, at a single working concentration suitable for both methods. Here we describe the use of Ir(III) complexes as probes that provide excellent image contrast and quality for both luminescence and electron microscopy imaging, at the same working concentration. Significant contrast enhancement of cellular mitochondria was observed in transmission electron microscopy imaging, with and without the use of typical contrast agents. The specificity for cellular mitochondria was also confirmed with MitoTracker using confocal and 3D-structured illumination microscopy. These phosphorescent dyes are part of a very exclusive group of transition-metal complexes that enable imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Triplet excited-state phosphorescence was also utilized to probe the O2 concentration at the mitochondria in vitro, using lifetime mapping techniques

Water-fat magnetic resonance imaging of adipose tissue compartments in the normal third trimester fetus

BACKGROUND: Assessment of fetal adipose tissue gives information about the future metabolic health of an individual, with evidence that the development of this tissue has regional heterogeneity. OBJECTIVE: To assess differences in the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) between fetal adipose tissue compartments in the third trimester using water-fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Water-fat MRI was performed in a 1.5-T scanner. Fetal adipose tissue was segmented into cheeks, thorax, abdomen, upper arms, forearms, thighs and lower legs. PDFF and R2* values were measured in each compartment. RESULTS: Twenty-eight women with singleton pregnancies were imaged between 28 and 38 weeks of gestation. At 30 weeks\u27 gestation (n=22), the PDFF was statistically different between the compartments (P CONCLUSION: Fetal adipose tissue accumulates lipids at a similar rate in all white adipose tissue compartments. PDFF variances between the compartments suggest that accumulation begins at different gestational ages, starting with cheeks, followed by extremities, trunk and abdomen. Additionally, MRI was able to detect differences in the PDFF between fetal brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue

Bandwidth-controlled Mott transition in κ−(BEDT−TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]BrxCl1−x\kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2 Cu [N(CN)_2] Br_x Cl_{1-x} I. Optical studies of localized charge excitations

Infrared reflection measurements of the half-filled two-dimensional organic conductors $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Br$_{x}$Cl$_{1-x}$ were performed as a function of temperature ($5 {\rm K}<T<300$ K) and Br-substitution ($x=0$, 40%, 73%, 85%, and 90%) in order to study the metal-insulator transition. We can distinguish absorption processes due to itinerant and localized charge carriers. The broad mid-infrared absorption has two contributions: transitions between the two Hubbard bands and intradimer excitations from the charges localized on the (BEDT-TTF)$_2$ dimer. Since the latter couple to intramolecular vibrations of BEDT-TTF, the analysis of both electronic and vibrational features provides a tool to disentangle these contributions and to follow their temperature and electronic-correlations dependence. Calculations based on the cluster model support our interpretation.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure