The Proliferation Of Pawnshops And Check Cashing Outlets: Can Regulation Be To Blame?

Regulation, particularly in banking, is often meant to protect the consumer.  The Community Reinvestment Act, codified in 1977, was intended to protect low-income depositors by encouraging banks to extend loans to such depositors.  Unfortunately, there are some important unintended consequences of the act that actually harm, rather than protect, low-income individuals.  Using panel data from the first quarter of 2000, this paper illustrates that the implementation of the 1977 act may actually explain the growth in pawnshop and check cashing outlets both of which are extremely expensive forms of intermediation for consumers

Instructional Models for Course-Based Research Experience (CRE) Teaching

The course-based research experience (CRE) with its documented educational benefits is increasingly being implemented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. This article reports on a study that was done over a period of 3 years to explicate the instructional processes involved in teaching an undergraduate CRE. One hundred and two instructors from the established and large multi-institutional SEA-PHAGES program were surveyed for their understanding of the aims and practices of CRE teaching. This was followed by large-scale feedback sessions with the cohort of instructors at the annual SEA Faculty Meeting and subsequently with a small focus group of expert CRE instructors. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the survey data were analyzed for the aims of inquiry instruction and pedagogical practices used to achieve these goals. The results characterize CRE inquiry teaching as involving three instructional models: 1) being a scientist and generating data; 2) teaching procedural knowledge; and 3) fostering project ownership. Each of these models is explicated and visualized in terms of the specific pedagogical practices and their relationships. The models present a complex picture of the ways in which CRE instruction is conducted on a daily basis and can inform instructors and institutions new to CRE teaching

Troubling Times for the Commercial Banker: Exploring the Recent Wave of Failures

Abstract That the United States and the world experienced a major financial crisis and is still struggling to recover comes as no surprise to most. Less well known is the fact that over 400 commercial banks and thrifts have failed in the U.S. since 2008. This paper attempts to understand why so many banks are failing and why they are failing in an uneven pattern across the country. Indeed, over 65 percent of all commercial bank failures since 2008 are concentrated in only six states. Contrary to popular perception, we do not find evidence that mortgage-backed securities or the performance of real estate loans contributed to the probability of failure. We do find that banks in those six states failed because of inadequate capital, off-balance sheet activity, falling core deposits and an increased reliance on brokered deposits. Further, local population growth, unemployment and falling home prices also explain the probability of failure. We also find that the twenty-first century failed banks were younger and larger than surviving banks. Taken together, it appears that banks today are failing largely because of the local market conditions and demographics regarding the age and size of the institution. JEL classification numbers: G01, G2

A highly penetrant ACTA2 mutation of thoracic aortic disease

Abstract Background The role of ACTA2 mutations in Familial Aortic Disease has been increasingly recognized. We describe a highly penetrant variant (R118Q) in a family with aortic disease. Case report A patient presented to us for elective repair of an ascending aortic aneurysm with a family history of his mother expiring after aortic dissection. Genetic testing revealed he was a heterozygous carrier of the ACTA2 missense mutation R118Q. Subsequently, all living family members were tested for this variant and a full medical history was obtained to compile a family tree for the variant and penetrance of an aortic event (defined as lifetime occurrence of aortic surgery / dissection). In total 9 family members were identified and underwent genetic testing with 7/9 showing presence of the ACTA2 R118Q mutation or an aortic event. All patients over the age of 50 (n = 4) had an aortic event. Those events occurred at ages 54, 55, 60, and 62 (mean event at 57.8 ± 3.9 years). Three family members with the variant under the age of 40 have not had an aortic event and most are undergoing regular aortic surveillance via CT scan. Conclusions Existing studies of known ACTA2 mutations describe a 76% aortic event rate by 85 years old. The R118Q missense mutation is a less common ACTA2 variant, estimated to be found in about 5% of patients with known mutations. Prior studies have predicted the R118Q mutation to have a slightly decreased risk of aortic events compared to other ACTA2 mutations. In this family, however, we demonstrate 100% penetrance of aortic disease above age 50. In today’s era of excellent outcomes in elective aortic surgery, our team aggressively offers elective repair. We advocate for strict aortic surveillance for patients with this variant and would consider elective aortic replacement at 4.5 cm, or at an even smaller diameter in patients with a strong family history of dissection who are identified with this mutation

Angelman syndrome: Consensus for diagnostic criteria

The Scientific and Research Advisory Committee of the Angelman Syndrome Foundation recently solicited input from scientists involved in the study of Angelman syndrome to establish consensus about the clinical pro- file and diagnostic criteria of Angelman syndrome

Report of the wwPDB Small-Angle Scattering Task Force : data requirements for biomolecular modeling and the PDB

This report presents the conclusions of the July 12–13, 2012 meeting of the Small-Angle Scattering Task Force of the worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB; Berman et al., 2003) at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The task force includes experts in small-angle scattering (SAS), crystallography, data archiving, and molecular modeling who met to consider questions regarding the contributions of SAS to modern structural biology. Recognizing there is a rapidly growing community of structural biology researchers acquiring and interpreting SAS data in terms of increasingly sophisticated molecular models, the task force recommends that (1) a global repository is needed that holds standard format X-ray and neutron SAS data that is searchable and freely accessible for download; (2) a standard dictionary is required for definitions of terms for data collection and for managing the SAS data repository; (3) options should be provided for including in the repository SAS-derived shape and atomistic models based on rigid-body refinement against SAS data along with specific information regarding the uniqueness and uncertainty of the model, and the protocol used to obtain it; (4) criteria need to be agreed upon for assessment of the quality of deposited SAS data and the accuracy of SAS-derived models, and the extent to which a given model fits the SAS data; (5) with the increasing diversity of structural biology data and models being generated, archiving options for models derived from diverse data will be required; and (6) thought leaders from the various structural biology disciplines should jointly define what to archive in the PDB and what complementary archives might be needed, taking into account both scientific needs and funding