The Urban Unbanked In Mexico And The United States

This paper examines the ways in which lower-income households obtain basic financial services in urban communities in Mexico and the United States. And it discusses the efforts that private sector and government organizations are making to lower the cost or improve the quality of those services. The paper summarizes available information on these issues and assesses the rationale and challenges facing the strategies that both countries are using to improve the financial services available to lower-income households, giving particular attention to unbanked households, meaning households that do not have deposit accounts with any regulated deposit-taking institution, and also to lower-income households in large urban areas. In comparing the experiences of the two countries, the paper reviews the extent to which lower-income households are unbanked, their use of non-bank financial services, and strategies for improving financial services to the unbanked. The underlying differences between the countries\u27 typical household incomes-national income per capita in Mexico in 2002 was US$8,540, compared with$35,060 in the United States (World Bank 2003)-may also influence the difference in percentage of unbanked-9.1 percent of families in the United States compared with 76.4 percent found in a recent study in Mexico City

Stratigraphic Relations Of Members Of The Needles Range Formation At Type Localities In Southwestern Utah

The Needles Range Formation is one of the most extensive of the middle Tertiary ash-flow sheets in the Great Basin of Nevada and western Utah. The original definition of the formation by Mackin (1960) named two members and mentioned three type localities. Our recent studies have shown that this published information now requires revision. To provide a firm basis for stratigraphic studies of the Needles Range Formation, this paper presents geologic maps, measured sections, and paleomagnetic data for three type localities in southwestern Utah. These include the northern Needles Range and Wah Wah Springs localities previously mentioned by Mackin, plus a new locality, northwest of Lund, Utah. The sequence of members at these localities, from oldest to youngest, is: Cottonwood Wash Tuff (new name), Wah Wah Springs Turf, Lund Tuff (new name), and Wallaces Peak Tuff (new name). We recommend abandonment of the name Minersville Tuff. © 1973 Geological Society of America

Cloning and expression of a mammalian peptide chain release factor with sequence similarity to tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases

The termination of protein synthesis is encoded by in-frame nonsense (stop) codons. Most organisms use three nonsense codons: UGA, UAG, and UAA. In contrast to sense codons, which are decoded by specific tRNAs, nonsense codons are decoded by proteins called release factors (RFs). Here we report the cloning of a mammalian RF cDNA by the use of monoclonal antibodies specific for rabbit RF. Functional studies showed that, when expressed in Escherichia coli, the protein encoded by this cDNA has in vitro biochemical characteristics similar to those of previously characterized mammalian RFs. DNA sequencing of this eukaryotic RF cDNA revealed a remarkable sequence similarity to bacterial and mitochondrial tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases, with the greatest similarity confined to the synthetase active site, and no obvious similarity to bacterial RFs

Narrow 0\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e state in \u3csup\u3e20\u3c/sup\u3eNe and 0\u3csub\u3e6\u3c/sub\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e and 0\u3csub\u3e7\u3c/sub\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e rotational bands

A reanalysis of old data removes the (0+,2+) ambiguity for a very narrow state at Ex(20Ne)=11.55 MeV and gives a unique 0+ assignment. Such a 0+ state corresponds well to a predicted state at 11.494 MeV of unusually small reduced widths for decay to both the ground and first excited state of 16O. This new 0+ state is a better 06+ band head for the 8p-4h states at 15.159 MeV (6+) and 18.538 MeV (8+) than the currently accepted 0+ state at 12.44 MeV. Possible 2+ and 4+ members are considered. The higher 0+ level at Ex=12.44 starts a new 07+ band, and candidates for this band are critically discussed

Evolved orthogonal ribosome purification for in vitro characterization

We developed orthogonal ribosome−mRNA pairs in which the orthogonal ribosome (O-ribosome) specifically translates the orthogonal mRNA and the orthogonal mRNA is not a substrate for cellular ribosomes. O-ribosomes have been used to create new cellular circuits to control gene expression in new ways, they have been used to provide new information about the ribosome, and they form a crucial part of foundational technologies for genetic code expansion and encoded and evolvable polymer synthesis in cells. The production of O-ribosomes in the cell makes it challenging to study the properties of O-ribosomes in vitro, because no method exists to purify functional O-ribosomes from cellular ribosomes and other cellular components. Here we present a method for the affinity purification of O-ribosomes, via tagging of the orthogonal 16S ribosomal RNA. We demonstrate that the purified O-ribosomes are pure by primer extension assays, and structurally homogenous by gel electrophoresis and sucrose gradients. We demonstrate the utility of this purification method by providing a preliminary in vitro characterization of Ribo-X, an O-ribosome previously evolved for enhanced unnatural amino acid incorporation in response to amber codons. Our data suggest that the basis of Ribo-X’s in vivo activity is a decreased affinity for RF1