Revisiting Subprime Pricing Irrationality During the Global Financial Crisis

During the depths of the global financial crisis of 2008-09, many holders of subprime mortgage securitizations and related derivatives were forced to mark their investments to fair values based on observable prices in mortgage index credit default swap markets. Research has generally claimed that crisis pricing of such indices cannot be explained by fundamental analysis of the underlying markets, while marking portfolios to such “irrational” benchmarks may have contributed to severe distress in the financial sector. This paper econometrically demonstrates significant fundamentally-driven components in subprime mortgage index returns throughout the crisis. Our findings suggest that such benchmarks must be considered reasonable, though imperfect, guides for determining fair value

Dopaminergic neurons in the brain and dopaminergic innervation of the albumen gland in mated and virgin helisoma duryi (mollusca: pulmonata)

BACKGROUND: Dopamine was shown to stimulate the perivitelline fluid secretion by the albumen gland. Even though the albumen gland has been shown to contain catecholaminergic fibers and its innervation has been studied, the type of catecholamines, distribution of fibers and the precise source of this neural innervation has not yet been deduced. This study was designed to address these issues and examine the correlation between dopamine concentration and the sexual status of snails. RESULTS: Dopaminergic neurons were found in all ganglia except the pleural and right parietal, and their axons in all ganglia and major nerves of the brain. In the albumen gland dopaminergic axons formed a nerve tract in the central region, and a uniform net in other areas. Neuronal cell bodies were present in the vicinity of the axons. Dopamine was a major catecholamine in the brain and the albumen gland. No significant difference in dopamine quantity was found when the brain and the albumen gland of randomly mating, virgin and first time mated snails were compared. CONCLUSIONS: Our results represent the first detailed studies regarding the catecholamine innervation and quantitation of neurotransmitters in the albumen gland. In this study we localized catecholaminergic neurons and axons in the albumen gland and the brain, identified these neurons and axons as dopaminergic, reported monoamines present in the albumen gland and the brain, and compared the dopamine content in the brain and the albumen gland of randomly mating, virgin and first time mated snails

The United States Federal Government and the Making of Modern Futures Markets, 1920-1936

In 1921, 1924 and 1929-1934, markets for the future delivery of wheat went through periods of extreme volatility and/or significant depression, and in all three cases there were significant and long-lasting changes to both the institutional and regulatory framework of these Chicago-dominated grain markets. There was no real change after these key reforms until 1974, while indeed much of the original regulatory and market innovation remains. The result of the severe depression of 1921 was the Futures Trading Act of 1921. In 1924-25, the so-called ‘Cutten corner’ market turmoil was followed by three key institutional innovations brought about in 1926 by US federal government coercion of the grain futures trading industry in collusion with industry leaders. The Great Depression gave birth to the 1936 Commodity Exchange Act. This Act was based on research done by the government and/or with government-mandated evidence that essentially saw the small grain gambler as needing protection from the grain futures industry, and was pushed through by a coalition of farmers’ organisations and the agency responsible for the 1922 Act’s administration. The government demanded information that was begrudgingly provided, and the studies of this data formed the basis of a political and intellectual justification of the usefulness of futures markets to the marketing of farm products that influenced the Act of 1936 and – more importantly - continues to today. My key thesis is that government worked closely with the futures industry to the extent that the agency was captured by special interests for much of the interwar period, and I claim that government intervention was responsible for the essential changes that assured the dominance of futures markets, with the Chicago Board of Trade as their hub. The lasting institutions created in the 1920s and 1930s continue to immensely influence the financial markets of today, including being incorporated into the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. My study differs from the accepted account that sees federal regulation as an irrational ‘populist’ attempt at controlling or even banning the markets, with the new institutions developed during the interwar period as the result of effective industry self-regulation in spite of state interference. The findings are based on a theory-driven reading of archives of the Chicago Board of Trade, its regulator the Grain Futures Administration, and the other key government agencies engaging with the grain trade, the USDA, the Federal Farm Board and the Federal Trade Commission. The approach here differs from the accepted accounts in that it is based mostly on my archival work, including the newly reorganised (in 2014) Chicago Board of Trade archive, rather than on public sources such as Congressional hearings and newspaper stories

Spatial analysis of biomineralization associated gene expression from the mantle organ of the pearl oyster Pinctada maxima

Background: Biomineralization is a process encompassing all mineral containing tissues produced within an organism. One of the most dynamic examples of this process is the formation of the mollusk shell, comprising a variety of crystal phases and microstructures. The organic component incorporated within the shell is said to dictate this architecture. However general understanding of how this process is achieved remains ambiguous. The mantle is a conserved organ involved in shell formation throughout molluscs. Specifically the mantle is thought to be responsible for secreting the protein component of the shell. This study employs molecular approaches to determine the spatial expression of genes within the mantle tissue to further the elucidation of the shell biomineralization. Results: A microarray platform was custom generated (PmaxArray 1.0) from the pearl oyster Pinctada maxima. PmaxArray 1.0 consists of 4992 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) originating from mantle tissue. This microarray was used to analyze the spatial expression of ESTs throughout the mantle organ. The mantle was dissected into five discrete regions and analyzed for differential gene expression with PmaxArray 1.0. Over 2000 ESTs were determined to be differentially expressed among the tissue sections, identifying five major expression regions. In situ hybridization validated and further localized the expression for a subset of these ESTs. Comparative sequence similarity analysis of these ESTs revealed a number of the transcripts were novel while others showed significant sequence similarities to previously characterized shell related genes

Early Stage Biomineralization in the Periostracum of the ‘Living Fossil’ Bivalve Neotrigonia

A detailed investigation of the shell formation of the palaeoheterodont ‘living fossil’ Neotrigonia concentrated on the timing and manufacture of the calcified ‘bosses’ which stud the outside of all trigonioid bivalves (extant and fossil) has been conducted. Electron microscopy and optical microscopy revealed that Neotrigonia spp. have a spiral-shaped periostracal groove. The periostracum itself is secreted by the basal cell, as a thin dark pellicle, becoming progressively transformed into a thin dark layer by additions of secretions from the internal outer mantle fold. Later, intense secretion of the internal surface of the outer mantle fold forms a translucent layer, which becomes transformed by tanning into a dark layer. The initiation of calcified bosses occurred at a very early stage of periostracum formation, deep within the periostracal groove immediately below the initialmost dark layer. At this stage, they consist of a series of polycyclically twinned crystals. The bosses grow as the periostracum traverse through the periostracal groove, in coordination with the thickening of the dark periostracal layer and until, upon reaching the mantle edge, they impinge upon each other and become transformed into large prisms separated by dark periostracal walls. In conclusion, the initial bosses and the external part of the prismatic layer are fully intraperiostracal. With later growth, the prisms transform into fibrous aggregates, although the details of the process are unknown. This reinforces the relationships with other groups that have the ability to form intraperiostracal calcifications, for example the unionoids with which the trigonioids form the clade Paleoheterodonta. The presence of similar structures in anomalodesmatans and other euheterodonts raises the question of whether this indicates a relationship or represents a convergence. The identification of very early calcification within an organic sheet has interesting implications for our understanding of how shells may have evolved.Coordinated Research Projects CGL2010-20748-C02-01 (AGC, EMH) and 02 (CS) (DGI, Spanish MICINN); the Research Group RNM363 (Consejería de Economía, Investigación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía); and the FP7 COST Action TD0903 of the European Community