Reflections of a central banker

From the early years of Sproul's presidency until the Treasury-Federal Reserve Accord of 1951, Federal Reserve policy was subordinated to the Treasury's wartime and postwar financing needs. In this 1955 speech, Sproul speaks of the resurgence of flexible monetary policy. He invites the academic economists in his audience to turn their attention to the study of central banking issues and to contribute in this way to informed monetary policy decisions. Sproul's address provides an overview of the structure, techniques, and objectives of the Federal Reserve System and gives particular attention to the policy-making role of the Federal Open Market Committee.Banks and banking, Central ; Monetary policy ; Federal Open Market Committee ; Federal Reserve System - History

Genotype effects contribute to variation in longitudinal methylome patterns in older people

Background: DNA methylation levels change along with age, but few studies have examined the variation in the rate of such changes between individuals. Methods: We performed a longitudinal analysis to quantify the variation in the rate of change of DNA methylation between individuals using whole blood DNA methylation array profiles collected at 2-4 time points (N = 2894) in 954 individuals (67-90 years). Results: After stringent quality control, we identified 1507 DNA methylation CpG sites (rsCpGs) with statistically significant variation in the rate of change (random slope) of DNA methylation among individuals in a mixed linear model analysis. Genes in the vicinity of these rsCpGs were found to be enriched in Homeobox transcription factors and the Wnt signalling pathway, both of which are related to ageing processes. Furthermore, we investigated the SNP effect on the random slope. We found that 4 out of 1507 rsCpGs had one significant (P < 5 × 10/1507) SNP effect and 343 rsCpGs had at least one SNP effect (436 SNP-probe pairs) reaching genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10). Ninety-five percent of the significant (P < 5 × 10) SNPs are on different chromosomes from their corresponding probes. Conclusions: We identified CpG sites that have variability in the rate of change of DNA methylation between individuals, and our results suggest a genetic basis of this variation. Genes around these CpG sites have been reported to be involved in the ageing process

Ring1B compacts chromatin structure and represses gene expression independent of histone ubiquitination

How polycomb group proteins repress gene expression in vivo is not known. While histone-modifying activities of the polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs) have been studied extensively, in vitro data have suggested a direct activity of the PRC1 complex in compacting chromatin. Here, we investigate higher-order chromatin compaction of polycomb targets in vivo. We show that PRCs are required to maintain a compact chromatin state at Hox loci in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). There is specific decompaction in the absence of PRC2 or PRC1. This is due to a PRC1-like complex, since decompaction occurs in Ring1B null cells that still have PRC2-mediated H3K27 methylation. Moreover, we show that the ability of Ring1B to restore a compact chromatin state and to repress Hox gene expression is not dependent on its histone ubiquitination activity. We suggest that Ring1B-mediated chromatin compaction acts to directly limit transcription in vivo

US Secretary of Treasury discusses request by British Government to open up bank accounts

US Secretary of Treasury discusses request by British Government to open up bank accounts at the Federal Reserve of New York

Allan Sproul papers, Bancroft Library

Finding aid dated April 1968 for the Allan Sproul Papers at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, and copied for Everett Cooley of the University of Utah's Marriott Library in 1982. Includes biographical data on Sproul, who served as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1941 to 1956

Covering letter and US report on British owned Federal Reserve Bank accounts

Covering letter and US July 19, 1940 report on Federal Reserve Bank accounts opened for the British government