1.   With the New Year came the signing of a contract with Surrey Universityto carry out an extensive research project into management skills and knowledge in several EC member states.

2.   And the way Ranford tells it, the signing came just in time.

3.   Now comes the signing of Paul Silas.

4.   The expected signing will come four days after the club lost one of its free agents.

5.   The Nomo signing came the day after the Montreal Expos traded righthanded starter Dustin Hermanson to the St. Louis Cardinals.

6.   The signing came after a week of talks conducted by the commander of U.N. troops in Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose of Britain.

7.   The signing came only after Cordero was interviewed extensively by two team psychologists.

8.   The signing comes after Pittsburgh lost two free agents to the Seattle Seahawks since Friday.

9.   The signing also comes four days after Detroit lost out to the Vancouver Canucks in their bid to sign free agent center Mark Messier from the New York Rangers.

10.   The signing comes after the settlement of a class-action suit brought by hemophiliacs nationwide against the manufacturers of blood products.