The Rho family GEF FARP2 is activated by aPKC iota to control tight junction formation and polarity

The elaboration of polarity is central to organismal development and to the maintenance of functional epithelia. Among the controls determining polarity are the PAR proteins, PAR6, aPKCι and PAR3, regulating both known and unknown effectors. Here, we identify FARP2 as a ‘RIPR’ motif-dependent partner and substrate of aPKCι that is required for efficient polarisation and junction formation. Binding is conferred by a FERM/FA domain–kinase domain interaction and detachment promoted by aPKCι-dependent phosphorylation. FARP2 is shown to promote GTP loading of Cdc42, which is consistent with it being involved in upstream regulation of the polarising PAR6–aPKCι complex. However, we show that aPKCι acts to promote the localised activity of FARP2 through phosphorylation. We conclude that this aPKCι−FARP2 complex formation acts as a positive feedback control to drive polarisation through aPKCι and other Cdc42 effectors

Escherichia coli O157 prevalence in different cattle farm types and identification of potential risk factors

Although the prevalence of Escherichia coli 0157 on cattle farms has been examined extensively, the relationship between this pathogen and farm type has been established only rarely. A large-scale study was designed to determine the prevalence of E. coli 0 157 in the Flemish region of Belgium on farms of dairy cattle, beef cattle, mixed dairy and beef cattle, and veal calves. The effect of various factors on the occurrence at the pen level also was evaluated. In 2007, 180 farms were randomly selected based on region, farm size, and number of animals purchased and were examined using the overshoe sampling method. When possible, overshoes used in areas containing animals in three different age categories (30 months) were sampled on each farm. In total, 820 different pens were sampled and analyzed for the presence of E. coli 0157 by enrichment, immunomagnetic separation, and plating on selective agar. Presumptive E. coli 0157 colonies were identified using a multiplex PCR assay for the presence of the rfb(O157) and fliC(H7) genes. The statistical analysis was carried out with Stata SE/10.0 using a generalized linear regression model with a log it link function and a binomial error distribution. The overall farm prevalence of E. coli 0157 was 37.8% (68 of 180 farms). The highest prevalence was found on dairy cattle farms (61.2%, 30 of 49 farms). The prevalences on beef, mixed dairy and beef, and veal calf farms were 22.7% (17 of 75 farms), 44.4% (20 of 45 farms), and 9.1% (I of I I farms), respectively. A significant positive correlation between age category and E. coli 0157 prevalence was found only on mixed dairy and beef farms and dairy farms. No influence of farm size or introduction of new animals was demonstrated

An International Study of Management Perceptions of the Working Capital Process

Working capital literature is rather limited and the process of managing short‐term resources is not understood well by he academicians. In contrast the corporate managers are continuously involved in the working capital decision-making process, but their perspective is limited to the practice of their firm. In order to fill this gap in the working capital literature, a study of management perceptions of the working capital process was undertaken. A survey was used to collect the information from the sample of marketing, production, and financial executives in large corporations in Belgium, France, India and United States. The study intercepts management ranking of working capital objectives and indicates the need to improve finacial planning models to include explicitly short–run objectives; further, predictability of cash inflows and outflows is examined and the potential factors affecting the predictability are evaluated. Finally, this study examines the management perceptions of long-range objectives in order to provide a proper perspective to the short-run financial planning.© 1979 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1979) 10,28–38

Nonparametric analysis of financial time series by the Kernel methodology

Efficiency, Random walk process, Kernel methodology, Functional autoregressive process, Forecasting, Cliometrics,