The economy is chock full of natural forward positions. An American company orders a Swiss machine for delivery in three months, payable in Swiss Francs. This order involves a natural forward exchange position, the ultimate value of which depends on the spot exchange rate between dollars and Swiss Francs three months from now.
The same company plans to finance its purchase by issuing dollar-denominated 90-day commercial paper three months from now. This plan involves a natural forward interest-rate position, the ultimate value of which depends on the spot rate of interest three months from now. If over the course of the next three months the exchange value of the dollar falls or the spot rate of interest rises, the company will lose on its natural forward positions, possibly so much so that the planned purchase no longer seems a wise business decision.
Transporter trafficking regulators can play an important role in maintaining the transporter density necessary for effective function. I determine interactions that confine GAT1 at the membrane by investigating GAT1 lateral mobility through fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). I find that the mobility of GAT1 can be increased by depolymerizing actin or by blocking the GAT1 PDZ interacting domain. I also identify ezrin as the GAT1 adaptor to actin. Through fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), the distance between GAT1-YFP and Ezrin-CFP is calculated as 64--68 Å, and it can be significantly increased by disrupting the actin cytoskeleton. Altogether, my data reveals that actin confines GAT1 to the plasma membrane via ezrin, an interaction mediated through the GAT1-PDZ interaction domain.
Jordan is a small Arab country in the Middle East region, with a population of 5.3 million and a population growth rate of 2.4%. The majority (62.6%) reside in the central region, while 27.7% and 9.7% of the population reside in the Northern and Western regions respectively. The total area of Jordan is 89.3 thousands sq. km; approximately 7.8% is agricultural land (Department of Statistics, 2005).
After gaining its independence, Jordan was confronted with many problems relating to social and economic development. The lack of financial resources has hindered its efforts and ambitions to achieve a sustainable economic growth and development, increasing its dependency on external income flows in the form of grants from other countries in the region and remittances from Jordanians working, mainly, in rich Arab oil countries. Like other developing countries, Jordan has chosen a state–sponsored route for development with the Jordanian private corporate sector playing a minor role. Therefore, many development banks have been established to meet its investment financing requirements.
