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Last fall, as many high school seniors drafted their college application essays and took the SATs one last time, the economy plunged into crisis. Home values dropped, retirement savings accounts dried up and unemployment rates edged ever upward.
Perhaps more than ever before, decisions about where to apply were about money -- sticker price, potential for merit scholarships, and whether financial aid formulas would favorably treat a family's changing economic realities.
Colleges couldn't help but worry. At the height of last fall's chaos, the worst-case scenario seemed like imminent reality. Private institutions anticipated fewer applicants, as those who couldn't afford to pay out of pocket chose not to apply, or perhaps more applications as students searched out generous aid packages. Public colleges, especially two-year institutions, feared that state budgets would coincide with growing demand from students, especially from unemployed adults and bargain-hunting traditional-age students, stretching their resources to (or past) the breaking point.
With the dark autumn of 2008 now a year in the past, it's possible to look back at the admissions cycle that led into this fall and examine the local and national trends that drove application and enrollment decisions in the midst of the toughest year in recent memory. Hoping to explore the patterns across sectors and between regions, Inside Higher Ed asked dozens of colleges in the Pittsburgh and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas to provide data on their undergraduate applications and enrollments for fall 2008 and fall 2009.
Though catastrophe seemed a distinct possibility last fall, most colleges and universities in both regions benefited from a rising enrollment tide, which, along with institution-by-institution strategic changes, made it possible to survive the fall 2009 admissions cycle.
On average, applications to private and public selective institutions were up in both cities. Overall enrollments were up, too, by 3 percent in private-heavy Pittsburgh and 10.5 percent in Dallas-Fort Worth, which is dominated by public colleges and universities and is in a fast-growing state. Public institutions, particularly community colleges, saw dramatic growth, while most private colleges struggled to meet enrollment targets and often increased their use of institutional financial aid to end up with a freshman class about the same size as last year's.
As at many private institutions surveyed, applications were way up for Carlow University's fall 2009 freshman class. The Pittsburgh college received 15 percent more applications than it did in 2008, but struggled to get students on campus. "Cost was the driving force in final decisions," says Judith Bolsinger, director of enrollment management. "Students shopped around a little bit more than they have in the past, they compared financial aid packages."
Carlow admitted a greater percentage of applicants -- from 63.7 percent to 74.4 percent -- but the proportion of admits who enrolled dropped by nearly six points, from 37.1 percent to 31.2 percent. The freshman class totals 261 students, 30 larger than last year's, but only because Carlow accepted so many more students than it did in fall 2008.
Freshman applications to Texas A&M University-Commerce, a comprehensive public institution 60 miles northeast of Dallas, grew by a less-dramatic 7.3 percent, but the university persuaded a far larger number and percentage of its admitted students to attend. Forty-four percent of admitted first-time freshmen chose to enroll this fall, up from 38 percent last year. The result: a freshman class that grew from 591 to 787.
Mary Hendrix, vice president for student access and success at Commerce, says the university "worked hard to get a higher yield, to show how affordable and high-quality we are." The economic realities of students priced out of private institutions played a role, too.
Whether in discouraging students from enrolling at private institutions (at least without generous packages), driving recent high school graduates to less expensive institutions with plans to eventually transfer to a pricier one, or luring out of work adults to vocational training programs, the driving factors were economic. "The broad trend is money does matter," says Laura W. Perna, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.
Shifts toward less expensive institutions were "definitely a domino effect," says Jack Maguire, chairman of Maguire Associates and former dean of admissions at Boston College. More than usual, applicants to private colleges looked at public universities, and applicants to publics considered community college a viable place to begin working toward a bachelor's degree.
But few institutions saw situations quite as bad as they had feared, in large part because the economy swelled enrollments overall, true to higher education's countercyclical nature. In Dallas and Pittsburgh and, indeed, across the nation, few tuition-dependent colleges and universities suffered debilitating budget shortfalls -- or at least have acknowledged so publicly. (Virginia's Sweet Briar College is one exception. [1])
"What we anticipated happened in some sense," says Kim Reid, a senior analyst at Eduventures, who has kept tabs on national enrollment trends at her firm's member institutions. "But everything was a little less dire than we thought it might be."
What Is and Isn't Included
Once dominated by steel and other manufacturing industries, Pittsburgh has tried to reinvent itself as a health care and education center at the nexus of the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Unemployment was at 7.7 percent in October, far lower than the national average [2] but well above the 5.0 percent of a year earlier.
So much of the city's taxable land is owned by nonprofit institutions that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has proposed a 1 percent tax [3] on college tuition. The University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and La Roche College are among the dozen institutions located within city limits. Close to two dozen more are less than an hour's drive outside the city.
Dallas-Fort Worth was the country's fastest-growing metropolitan area during the year ending in July 2008, the most recent data that's been released by the Census Bureau. Population trends have for decades shown people leaving the Northeast for open land and new industrial development throughout the south. Immigration (legal and not) continues to spur population growth. Unemployment was at 5.3 percent in October 2008 and rose to 8.3 percent [4] this fall.
For-profit institutions generally don't provide campus-by-campus enrollment data, and several of the companies that operate campuses near Dallas and Pittsburgh declined to provide enrollment data for this survey. But, nationally, enrollments for the sector are way up.
In the quarter that ended Aug. 31, Apollo Group -- which runs the University of Phoenix -- reported enrollments totaling 443,000, a gain of more than 22 percent over the same period in 2008. Enrollments at institutions owned by ITT Educational Services were up 28.7 percent to 79,208. The parent company of Argosy University, the Art Institutes and other for-profits is Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corporation, which reported a total enrollment of 136,000 earlier this year. Same-school growth averaged 22.0 percent.
Community College Boom
The economic downturn was anything but discouraging for community colleges in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Pittsburgh metropolitan areas.
Enrollments at the six districts and freestanding colleges surveyed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area all grew by more than 10 percent. The four community colleges surveyed in and around Pittsburgh had enrollments 2.7 to 10.7 percent larger this fall than they did last fall.
The biggest trends at these institutions were the same ones pushing up community college enrollments nationally: an increasing number of recent high school graduates hoping to save money before transferring to four-year institutions and the inevitable recession-era boom in unemployed and underemployed adults in search of additional training.
"It's just what we'd predict in this economic situation," says Penn's Perna. "Younger, traditional students and older, nontraditional students at once turning to community colleges, hoping for different things and putting different demands on the system."
Nationally, though, there is no way to gauge the degree to which each group has stimulated community college enrollment growth. The Pew Research Center polled 18-to-24 year-olds and found that 3.4 million -- 11.8 percent -- were enrolled at two-year colleges in fall 2008. "It's tough for us to know how much of this growth is happening nationally in each age group," Perna says. "Most of the data we have is institution by institution."
The Collin County Community College District, with campuses about 20 miles to the north of Dallas, saw the most dramatic expansion, with enrollment up 23.5 percent to 25,935 this fall. Students aged 23 and older made up about 40 percent of the student population during both semesters. Trinity Valley Community College, 30 miles to the southeast of the city, had nearly 1,200 more students this fall than it did in fall 2008, an increase of 17.5 percent.
The greatest growth in raw headcount was at the Dallas County Community College District's seven colleges, which saw more than 7,000 new students this fall. Enrollment was up 11.4 percent, to 69,047. Chancellor Wright Lassiter says "the economy was a big piece" of what drove the district's headcount up, among both adults and traditional-age students, populations that grew at about the same rate this fall.
Laid off adults, with and without postsecondary educational experience, turned to the district's colleges for training. "We had a significant element of adults with bachelor's, master's degrees who are coming and enrolling in allied health, nursing, culinary arts," he says. Those fields, as well as "green" programs in transportation, logistics and nanotechnology, are popular with adults. "They want to learn skills that will get them jobs."
As for traditional-age students, Lassiter says, the district has seen 15 percent more who enrolled this fall planning to transfer than it did in 2008. "There's no doubting we're getting more recent high school graduates looking to us as an option before transferring somewhere else."
Westmoreland County Community College, in Youngwood, Pa., experienced its largest-ever year-to-year growth between fall 2008 and fall 2009, up 10.7 percent, from 6,416 students to 7,103.
Daniel Obara, the college's president, points to the same two major factors at play in Dallas. The college's traditional-age population has been growing for the last four or five years, but this fall in particular, "affordability was a huge reason recent high school grads chose to come here over somewhere else," he says. "Families that would otherwise be looking at more expensive four-year schools and had students who could be admitted to one of reasonable rigor said, 'Let's look at community college, you can transfer somewhere else later on.' "
Mary Lou Kennedy, dean of student development at the Community College of Allegheny County's North Campus, says her institution, which typically has a large nontraditional population, has seen growth in all groups. "People are losing their positions and coming to us for retraining" in fields like nursing, allied health and automotive repair, she says. "But we're also seeing more and more students fresh out of high school whose parents lost a lot in savings and came to us because they know they're using their dollars more wisely."
'Unprecedented' Struggles at Privates
The forecast for non-elite independent colleges and universities was especially grim a year ago, in large part because admissions experts weren't quite sure what to expect.
David McFarland, director of admissions at La Roche College in Pittsburgh, faced an "unprecedented" challenge in attracting new students to apply and enroll at the Roman Catholic liberal arts college for this fall. "There was really no going back and looking at how we'd done things before because there had never been another year like this."
La Roche started out the admissions cycle last fall down on staff, having lost two or three information technology workers who were key in getting promotional materials and applications to potential students. Freshman applications for fall 2009 fell to 914, from 1,345 the year before. "We were just behind all year," McFarland says. "We just couldn't get students to apply in the same numbers as in the past."
The college typically has a large contingent of students from New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, but the downturn seemed to persuade many potential applicants to stay closer to home, he says. Local students looked elsewhere, too. "Instead of coming here, they were saying, look at the value at Slippery Rock or Cal U.," referring to public colleges -- Slippery Rock University and California University of Pennsylvania -- that are part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Some considered community colleges instead.
Though freshman applications were way down, La Roche officials opted not to respond by taking in students of dramatically lower quality than they had in the past, McFarland says. The college admitted 57.2 percent of applicants for fall 2008 and 58.8 percent for fall 2009, which translated to 769 admits in 2008 and 537 for 2009, with a target freshman class of about 200.
The tuition-dependent college was able to avert a potentially disastrous fall by aggressively pursuing admitted students, particularly by offering substantially more merit aid. Its overall discount rate -- the percentage of tuition and fees covered by institutional grants -- was about 40 percent, which McFarland characterizes as "higher" than the year before.
"We couldn't throw up our arms and say we're going to have a bad year because of the economy. We had to keep our noses to the ground," McFarland says. "But it was just a slow, arduous process of convincing families. Financial aid officers were showing families how they could afford it, admissions officers were talking about the value of a liberal arts education."
One deciding factor for some students and their families was a sort of admittee's remorse. After declining offers from La Roche in favor of a public institution, "some students whose parents had said, 'No, you need to go to a state school,' changed their minds when they saw how full the state schools were," McFarland speculates. The calculus changed and families of traditional-age students changed their minds: "If we tighten up here and there we can afford to put you through." In all, about 10 students migrated from publics to La Roche.
La Roche drew 190 freshmen, down from fall 2008's 227. Yield, though, rose from 29.5 percent to 35.4 percent on the backs of admission and aid officers' aggressive pursuit of admitted students.
Maguire, of Maguire Associates, says La Roche's strategy was typical in building freshman classes at all but the most selective private institutions. "No tuition-dependent school wants excess capacity," he says. "If they don't want empty seats, they've got to discount at a much higher rate." Though their revenue per student will fall, "net revenue won't necessarily fall if they're able to draw in more students."
The strategy at Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, an independent Roman Catholic institution, was based on the philosophy Maguire describes: get students in seats.
The admission cycle began with a clear indication that enrolling more freshmen was a real possibility. First-year applications soared from 5,715 in fall 2008 to 6,626 for fall 2009. The reasons, says Reid of Eduventures, are likely a mix of college application lists formulated before last fall and families looking for the best possible aid packages from privates.
"When the economic crisis hit last fall, most students already had a set of schools they wanted to apply to. They may have added more publics to the list at the last moment, but many still applied everywhere they planned," she says. "They were just prepared to shop around for the best deals come the spring."
Paul-James Cukanna, Duquesne's associate vice president for enrollment management and director of admissions, says he saw applicants "aware that it would be a competitive market place" for privates to enroll freshmen to start this fall. Students positioned themselves as "in need or in fear" of needing greater institutional aid to be able to enroll.
Though Duquesne had no real change in capacity for its freshman class, Cukanna and his staff chose to admit 734 more students for fall 2009 than they had for 2008.
"We're dependent on tuition revenues, so we need students in the classroom," he says, "and we really didn't know how many we'd end up getting, just that we were unwilling to give up on the quality of our students." The university raised its discount rate by one percentage point and "worked with students and their parents trying to negotiate better aid packages," he says. "They know when there's more competition in the market place it becomes more fierce for colleges to get them. We tried not to feed into that."
The result: freshman classes of about the same size, 1,437 in 2008 and 1,458 in 2009. But the yield of admitted students was way down, from 33.3 percent to 28.8 percent. In other words, Duquesne gave in to market pressures a bit, but couldn't match others on price. "We simply cannot compete with the state schools," Cukanna says. "And discounting at private colleges creates somewhat of a complicated scenario ... it's an art and science."
The situation was much the same at Dallas Baptist University. Freshman applications rose from 1,305 to 1,601, and though the admitted total rose, the overall acceptance rate dropped from 47.4 percent for fall 2008 to 45.6 percent in 2009. But more admitted students didn't signal a substantially larger freshman class. Out of 618 admits last year, 350 enrolled. This year, 351 of 730 admits enrolled.
Not all privates saw their applications rise. Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, and Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, both had 2 percent fewer freshman applications for fall 2009 than they had for fall 2008. Both also saw drops in their transfer application totals. They responded by upping their admit rates, from 47.7 to 52.4 percent at SMU and from 50.4 percent to 58.9 percent at TCU. Admitting more students didn't mean the same result for both institutions. SMU's freshman headcount is 1,329, 69 fewer than it was in 2008. TCU's is 1,821, 191 students larger than last year's class.
Victor J. Boschini, TCU's chancellor, summed up the situation facing many privates [5] in his September convocation speech: "The number of applications has risen consistently and dramatically. However, the choices of applicants and their families are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Many apply to numerous schools, then try to negotiate with competing universities for the best financial aid package."
Less Dramatic Rise at 4-Year Publics
Public universities and state colleges are the middle link in the chain of enrollment trends. With sticker prices higher than community colleges but generally lower than private institutions, publics saw some of their typical freshmen look toward community colleges, just as would-be students at private institutions considered public institutions more seriously.
The University of Texas at Arlington was one institution that benefited from being in the middle. "Our numbers were up across the board," says James D. Spaniolo, the university's president. "More in-state students, more out-of-state students, more freshmen, more transfers."
Overall undergraduate headcount at Arlington grew 12.6 percent, to 21,374 this fall. First-time freshmen totaled 2,674, 15.8 percent larger than fall 2008's cohort of 2,309. The population of new transfers grew even more dramatically, up 23 percent to 3,850 students. The overall undergraduate student headcount is 12.6 percent larger this fall than it was a year ago, now totaling 21,374.
Though the economic factors at play throughout higher education have certainly been significant in driving students to Arlington this fall, Spaniolo says he in part attributes his institution's growth to active efforts at expanding access and persuading applicants of its affordability. "We've been quite aggressive in reaching out to high school and community college students," he says. "We've been working hard over the last few years to tell our story and to share more about the university with the public. I think it's begun to have an impact."
One major initiative drawing students to Arlington is Maverick Promise, [6] a program that offers full grant aid for students coming from families with incomes below $65,000. (The previous threshold was $40,000.) "We're really making serious efforts to make attending as affordable as possible and it's showing in our enrollment numbers," Spaniolo says. "UT Arlington's growth is among the highest at four-year institutions in Texas. And we're still looking at growth of a couple thousand more students in the next few years."
The story is similarly dramatic 40 miles to the north at the University of Texas at Dallas, in Richardson. There, this year's freshman class is 18 percent larger than last year's, totaling 1,319. New transfers total 1,630, up 16.7 percent.
Freshman applications were up 14.5 percent, says Curt Eley, vice president for enrollment management, but "what we saw as a general rule was that students from the Dallas area applied for admission a little later for fall '09 than they did for fall '08." Because many students held off on applications until they were more certain they'd be able to attend, "our yield was way up," from 42.2 percent of admitted students for fall 2008 to 46.2 percent for this fall.
Though tuition is lower at UT-Dallas than it is at private institutions, it is the most expensive public institution in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, Eley says, and that has translated into losing students not just to community colleges but to less expensive public institutions. "We're the most expensive by a long shot and students who might've come here two years ago are choosing the University of North Texas or the University of Texas at Arlington instead."
Students transferring out of community colleges, he adds, were deterred by UTD's comparative expense among publics. "We heard definite hesitation about taking on the expense of a four-year school. Students wanted to stay at community colleges as long as possible to save money and avoid getting themselves in trouble in case their parents lost their jobs or their economic situations otherwise got worse."
Application and enrollment growth at public universities in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area was far less dramatic, likely because of the demographic differences between the two regions. The University of Pittsburgh, the largest public in the region, saw freshman applications tick up five percent to 21,737.
Freshman and overall undergraduate enrollments at the three Penn State branch campuses in the area -- Beaver, Greater Allegheny and New Kensington -- didn't change very much. Some numbers were up, some down, but nothing changed too dramatically. Combined freshman headcounts on the three campuses fell by 14 students, to 916. and combined undergraduate headcounts fell 55 students to 2,420.
More substantial growth happened at the three members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in the Pittsburgh area -- California University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock University. Enrollments at each of the three institutions rose between 2 and 4 percent, still not nearly as dramatic as the change that happened at Dallas-Fort Worth's publics.
Going Forward
Though most institutions were able to avoid peril this fall, the forecast for fall 2010 suggests widely different results by sector.
Community colleges, says Jerome A. Lucido, vice provost for enrollment policy and management at the University of Southern California, "will continue to swell and swell rapidly, particularly in those areas of the country with larger lower income or immigrant populations."
Reid, of Eduventures, says she expects to see more "evidence of shifting enrollment," as students flock toward community colleges and public universities. "There's a lot of movement of enrollment that hasn't happened before," she says. "This whole notion of fluidity -- start at a community college or a state university and then transfer to another or to a private -- is new and is likely to only expand."
Kevin Crockett, president and CEO of enrollment management consulting firm Noel-Levitz, says he sees "the coming year [as] really challenging to predict" individually, institutionally or nationwide. Applications will probably be up (and many preliminary data show that), but it will be hard to know whether applicants are truly interested in an institution or just hoping for a good aid package.
Independent colleges are "left with sort of a lingering question of whether what happened this year is sustainable," whether highly competitive institutional aid packages are the best way of attracting students, Reid says. "Is this a blip? As the economy turns around, are they going to move back on their discount rate a bit? Or, is this a sea change?"
Lucido, who is also executive director of USC's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice, thinks private institutions will "continue to compete very hard" for next fall's freshmen. "Messages are more about value than about strict price and discounting," he says. "And applicants and their families have more time to sit down and think, ponder the economy, and figure out what's best for us."
The table below presents data on the fall's enrollment picture in the Pittsburgh and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas.
Undergraduate Enrollments, Fall 2008 and 2009
|2008 total undergraduate enrollment
|2009 total undergraduate enrollment
|% change
|Dallas-Fort Worth institutions
|Amberton University
|Dallas County Community College District College
|Collin County CC
|Dallas Baptist University
|Dallas Christian College
|Grayson County College
|Southern Methodist University
|Southwestern Christian College
|Tarrant County College
|Texas A&M-Commerce
|Texas Christian University
|Trinity Valley CC
|University of Dallas
|University of North Texas
|University of Texas at Arlington
|University of Texas at Dallas
|Pittsburgh institutions
|Butler County CC
|California U. of Pennsylvania
|Carlow U.
|Carnegie Mellon U.
|CC of Allegheny County
|CC of Beaver County
|Duquesne U.
|Indiana U. of Pennsylvania
|La Roche College
|Penn State U.-Beaver
|Penn State U.-Greater Allegheny
|Penn State U.-New Kensington
|Point Park U.
|Robert Morris U.
|Saint Vincent College
|Seton Hill U.
|Slippery Rock U. of Pa.
|U. of Pittsburgh
|Washington & Jefferson College
|Waynesburg U.
|Westmoreland County CC


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This post is a bit personal because I'm about to share the activities, experiences, lessons learned, freedom and fun I've gained in the year that passed since I've created "Live Life to the Fullest".
I've been blogging about "Live Life to the Fullest" for more than a year now, and to tell you honestly, when I started "Live Life to the Fullest" in 2009, Living Life to the Fullest was a dream, a goal.
Back to early days of "Live Life to the Fullest", I was living a busy and stressful life. I was an accountant working on a graveyard shift. Most of the time, I had to stay beyond the normal 8hours shift. I always find myself working alone in the whole 31st floor on Sundays and Holidays. I didn't have much time to spend in other things in my life, except for working. Invites from friends are always turned down because of the time differences and work responsibility at hand. I can still remember how stressed I looked in those days. To give you some idea, I'll attach a picture of myself here…plus, I'll give you a glimpse of what my work area looks like…
(My Old Stressful Look)(My Old Busy Work Area)
At that time, I have gone through a very depressing moment in my life that I've told myself to just focus on succeeding in life. This is why I give my whole time to just working, plus it was my way of diverting my heart aches. But a moment came when I've started to reflect on what was wrong in my current state. And since the moment I've recognized I needed some change in the way I spend my time, that's when I've started to create a personal change and a purpose of spreading "Live Life to the Fullest". That was the start of my journey of creating positive changes in my mindset, attitude, and habits, how I deal with people, and my life as a whole. All my experiences, realizations and lessons learned were all written down here in Live Life to the Fullest.
Now, after a year giving birth to "Live Life to the Fullest", my life is completely different and I can honestly say I'm living it to the fullest. And I want to share with you some of those changes…
1) FULL-TIME ENTREPRENEURSHIP (Mental Aspect)
What's an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon him a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome.
From being a Professional Accountant working on a big firm, I've decided to become a Self-Employed Accountant, Entrepreneur and Personal Development Blogger/Coach. Below is how I look like now..
(This How I look Now.. I hope there's a big difference *wink* =D)
I won't go in detail on what I do now. I want to share what is the BIG DIFFERENCE? And it all comes down to "mindset". Being an entrepreneur makes you independent and open to more things in life. You have the time in your hands but at the same time, the responsibility of what happens with how you handle your time rest upon you.
It's very similar to life, when you live life blaming the result to other people or entity, you end up being taken and driven by what other people decides in your life. And when you let other people drives your life, you end up unhappy with your life.
The lesson I want to share here is that you don't need to become a full-time entrepreneur for you to realize that what happens to your life lies in you. It is your choice. Your decisions and actions create your life. It's not your parents, family, husband, children, boss, co-workers or your company's responsibility, your life is your own responsibility.
So stop blaming the world for your unhappiness and miseries. Start living a conscious life, taking full responsibility to your choices and actions.
2) Spent More Time With People (Social Aspect)
When we are focus on our career and earn for a living, we tend to work really hard and give our whole priority to our time spent in the office. We are likely to become too workaholic that we lay all our eggs in one basket chasing for success, career progression, prestige and material wealth we are aiming for. We totally forget all other important things and aspects of our life, such as our family/friends, our health, and even our time to reflect or meditate.
Below here are some glimpse of the time I've spent with significant people (family, friends, co-workers) in my life.
Have you ever felt you were too depressed and down but you do not have anyone to run to or talk to? Have you ever felt lonely that you do not have anyone to care for you? Well, my friend, maybe it's because you neglect to take care of the people around you. You've focused too much on other things in your life that you forgot what matters most in life.
This year, I've come to realize the real value of maintaining great memories and relationships with people important in your life, such as your family, close friends, co-workers and all other people in your community. The best investment you'll ever have in life is your relationships with people around you.
In the end, people won't remember how much power or wealth you've gained in your life, they'll remember how good you've treated them.
3) Getting Out of Comfort Zone and Trying Out Physical Sports (Physical Aspect)
In the past, I seldom try out new things because I was too focus on my career and earning for a living. But during the first year I consciously seek to "Live Life to the Fullest", I have come to try so many different things in the process. That includes enrolling to fitness institution and have a personal trainer to help me gain weight, trying out physical activities I've always wanted to do, like ice skating, kart racing, river rafting and zip lines. (I even did some compulsary cheer dancing.) To give you idea of each physical activity, I'll attach an image below:
What I've learned in this experience is that, Life has so many wonderful things outside the four corners of my office. Each experience made me experience how simple and beautiful life is, if only I'll take a moment to have a break and enjoy it to the fullest.
Also, I've realized you don't need to be multi-millionaire to do these things. It's a matter of choice and priority. The time you want to spend to buy a new expensive suit, cellular phone or other expensive things, why not ask yourself to try spending it trying out new things in life? All you need are great friends to go with and enjoy this fun adventure that life has to offer.
Life is a wonderful adventure to only waste it in a four-corner room. You only pass this journey once, live it fully.
4) Rejuvenate through Relaxation, Meditation and Discovering New Places (Spiritual Aspect)
Spirituality is not all about religious activities. For me, spirituality is a time you reflect, meditate, refresh and rejuvenate your soul to open a better life.
Personally, the best way to rejuvenate my soul is through relaxation. When I relax, my mind, body and soul renews that afterwards, I'm all set and ready to walk back to the clutter of life. My relaxation is always through travelling to new places. A lot of people travel to places to have fun, but for me, travelling is a way for me to see new people, culture and scenery that creates an ambiance of self-realization and renewal. Whenever I travel to a place I've never been, I feel so relaxed and renewed. Below are some of the places I've been the past year of Live Life to the Fullest:
Find time to be alone and rejuvenate. It may not be as time consuming as going out of town or abroad; it can be as simple as walking or jogging in the morning alone. Or going to the park alone. Take this time to smell the flower around you, the beautiful scenery, and the sound of the place or anything outside what you usually think. For once, forget the past and the future, just appreciate the current moment. Give a time in your life to refresh, rejuvenate and appreciate the simple things life has to offer. The more you can spend time alone and refresh, the more aware you are of your own needs and how you'll able to create a world according to what's going to make you happy and live life to the fullest.
Some may have tried one aspects, but seldom do they achieve to give time in all four aspects.
And that's the key to Living Life to the Fullest, when you are able to spend time in all aspects of your life.
I hope this can motivate you to try at least one of the activities (or aspect) I've took time to do in the past year of Live Life to the Fullest. To start to Live Life to the Fullest, take one step at a time until it becomes a part of your whole life.
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subset: commoncrawl


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I finally understood the purpose of this life and all future lives. It is 'satisfaction'. 'Satisfaction' can be for the Physical Body or the Spiritual Soul.
Physical Body can be satisfied by fulfilling your biological needs like food, procreation and sleep.
Spiritual Soul can be satisfied by connecting with the supreme soul, which can be done by bringing 'others well being' in your 'thoughts', 'words' and 'actions'. Spiritual satisfaction has the power to overwrite the need of physical satisfaction and give eternal bliss and happiness.
The ultimate objective is the dissolution of sould with the supreme soul, so instead of wasting time on physical satisfaction we should put all our energies on Spiritual satisfaction.


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KIPP NYC is a non-profit network of free, public charter schools that prepare students for success in college and life. In 1995 we started our first middle school, KIPP Academy, in the Bronx. Our goal was to graduate students with the strength of character and academic abilities needed to succeed in high school, college and beyond – and in so doing, to prove what is possible in urban schools. Today, our New York City network is comprised of five middle schools, four elementary schools, one high school, and KIPP Through College, a comprehensive support program for our alumni. KIPP NYC currently serves 5700 students and alumni, have a staff of more than 700 and a budget of over $98M. At full growth, we will serve nearly 6300 students and alumni.
Position Overview
The intern to the Summer Institute Team will play a critical role supporting and executing the five week summer training for all KIPP leadership and teachers (700+ people). This position will work with the Summer Institute leadership team and other interns executing the logistics of training, summer events and celebrations.
Duties and Responsibilities could include:
- Assist planning and coordinating logistics for 700+ trainings, including writing and maintaining a schedule and staff plan for the training
- Organize and assemble materials for the summer training
- Help with set-up and breakdown of events
- Serve as a point of contact to help assist during trainings
- Work with the Summer Institute team to evaluate training execution and think about ways to improve each day
- Maintain the regional PD website to communicate summer institute information
- Help plan and execute summer celebration events (games, happy hours)
- Assist with other special projects as needed
- A passion for the mission of KIPP NYC and commitment to being part of a team-oriented, mission-driven organizational culture
- Exceptional organizational, planning and project management skills
- Detail oriented self-starter
- Ability to work with a sense of urgency and under pressure
- Strong computer skills is a plus, including high level of proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
- Ability to manage multiple priorities within established timeframes and demonstrates flexibility
- Strong interpersonal skills that contribute to a collegial working environment and a healthy measure of the character traits we value: zest, grit, self-control, hope, love, social intelligence, gratitude, and a sense of humor.


text: Quick question for you veterans.Yesterday I smoked for the 4th, I pulled it this morning (had it resting in a cooler overnight-6hrs, hot to the touch this am). Anyway, I need it Saturday noon. Its fine in the fridge until then right? I figured if I froze it probably by tomorrow morning I would need to begin fridge thawing at the latest (15.5 precooked, probably cooked down to about 9 lbs.) It is currently in the fridge in a large heavy foil roasting pan, sealed with heavy foil. dmack


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"First they ignore you
then they laugh at you
then they fight you
and then..you win…"
-Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 – 1948)
They gave me a white cotton shirt to wear over my t-shirt and told me not to tuck it into my jeans. That way the jeans wouldn't be noticed. They said I could take the shirt home as a memento if I liked and I did. I'd have preferred to take Candice Bergen home with me instead. She had played the role of the beautiful blonde prize-winning photographer for Life Magazine, Margaret Bourke-White.
It was 1982 and I am referring to Sir Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi' in which I had the privilege of working as an extra. The scene was the part of the story that depicted his time in South Africa. For two days, I was in the thick of the filming, as a guy in a crowd of spectators, watching the Mahatma (Ben Kingsley) delivering a rousing speech, exhorting Indians in South Africa to resist being treated as second class citizens.
Candice Bergen was not in the scene being shot but she was present on the set, watching the filming. She wasn't a very well-known actress, at least not in India, so no one took any notice of her, beyond the usual gawking at a pretty gora woman. In fact, most of the actors on the set were not well known, so there were no stampedes for autographs or hordes of awestruck fans. The only recognizable face was Amrish Puri's and he sat through the whole thing with poise.
The scene was being filmed inside the N.M.Wadia amphitheater of the 100-year old Ferguson College in Pune – inside a massive wood paneled hall with tiered seats. I was 26 and my vivacious girlfriend, Meghna Kulkarni, was also an extra. A petite BA (performing arts) student, Meghna was also a gifted actress herself and a member of Dr Mohan Agashe's theater group. The producers had approached Dr Agashe for a bit part as well as help in organizing crowds for the filming and he had in turn 'sub-contracted' the crowd gathering chore to Meghna and her friends.
Every time Gandhi/Kingsley spoke, Meghna would be overcome with emotion and vigorously wipe her tearful face on my shirt. My repeatedly whispered 'take it easy, this is just a movie, yaar' did nothing to stop her. Other extras standing next to us began turning their heads to stare at Meghna and all this while the camera was rolling.
It got so bad that, at one point, while Kingsley was speaking the lines, "They can break my bones but they cannot break my will….." Attenborough said 'cut', walked up the tiers of seats to where we were standing and confronted Meghna. Both of us thought this is it. We were going to be chucked out on our tushes.
Instead, the director's face, ruddy from the heat and glistening with sweat, softened and he said words to the effect," You know, I have been crying ever since I started reading up on the Mahatma. Cry all you want, just keep it down". He gave Meghna a quick hug and his eyes twinkled mischievously as he added," Or I'll have to send you the bill for the delay".
The unit had broken for lunch and everyone had dispersed. Meghna and I had nowhere to go so we hung around the set, tripping over wires and stuff, till we set ourselves down on the ground and leaned back against a large box filled with sound equipment. Silence had fallen over the set. Those days there were no hulking security guys with wires coming out of their ears to manhandle you, so no one asked us to leave.
As we sat by the box, I heard a shuffle and looked over my shoulder. Seated cross-legged alone, barely an arm's length away, next to a bunch of klieg lights, on the dirt floor was a barefoot Ben Kingsley. For the shot, he had been wearing a coat and pants but now he had on just a kurta. He sat there soaked in sweat. There was a thali (ordered from the nearby Roopali restaurant) perched on his lap and on the floor by him stood a glass of mango lassi.
As Meghna and I gawked, Kingsley noticed us staring. He smiled and cleared his throat. Almost instantaneously, a whispered hum rose from his lips, exquisite in its melody and so soft that we could just barely hear him….
"Raghupati raghava rajaram,
patita pawana seeta ram…
(Hail, oh Lord and Master, Rama
Hail Seeta and Rama, who make even the fallen, pure)
He paused and looked at us gaping at him dumbstruck. Meghna shivered and clung on to me. His diction and tone pitch perfect, Kingsley dropped the chapati on the thali and raised his palms together in Hindu supplication, his eyes drawn shut and his head swaying from side to side. Very softly, as if setting free something very fragile, he let out the rest of the words…
"Ishwar e allah tero naam
sab ko sanmati de bhagwan"
(You can be Ishwar or you can be Allah
Your benevolence is toward all)
What Kingsley hummed so beautifully was a Bhajan (Hindu devotional song) that used to be Mahatma Gandhi's favorite. The bhajan appears multiple times in the movie.
Kinglsey paused and opened his eyes and gave us another terrific smile. The spell broke and he resumed devouring his chapatis and veg pulao. And he chewed and chatted. He told us that he had been walking around barefoot for the past year or so. At first he had blisters but now he didn't feel anything. In his Blue Diamond Hotel suite, the A/C knob was left at zero. Instead of ordering room service, he subsisted on the fruit basket that room service left on a side table.
Shortly after being told that he'd been picked to play the role of Gandhi, Kingsley had turned a teetotaler and he intended staying that way for the rest of his life. At night in his hotel room, he read from a paperback concise translation of the Bhagwad Gita and after a while, he curled up on the floor and slept. "I'm trying to get them to remove the carpet…..one can make do with so little actually……," he told us, breaking into that Gandhi smile every now and then. There was no question about it – the actor had been touched by the Mahatma.
It was getting late. We didn't stay for the pass-burning scene which was shot at the playground outside the amphitheater later on that afternoon. Meghna and I stopped by the Vaishali snack restaurant to have a bite and then I walked her home. She lived on Tilak Road, across the Mutha river. As we walked hand-in-hand, not a word passed between us. I tried to make light of it by saying, hey, we forgot to take autographs, but I gave up and fell silent. Usually there was a fixed pattern by which our evenings together seemed always to end – with a long canoodle. That evening it was going to be a nocandoodle, looked like.
We had just witnessed something very special. For a brief moment, our lives too had been touched by the Mahatma.


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Heat the butter in a pan and melt until the butter starts slightly bubbling, add the blended ingredients into it.
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Comforia Harajuku
Apartment in Harajuku, Jingumae, Omotesando, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
The property is located in a quiet environment that is away from buzz of Harajuku Sta. area. The entrance lobby has a spacious reception area with a sofa. It also provides extensive facilities such as delivery boxes in the public area, a bathroom heater dryer combo, etc. The stylish and functional, Italian closet unit is also installed.
|Property Name
|Comforia Harajuku
|3, Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
|Line, Station
|JR Yamanote Line, Harajuku Station : 4 min.-walk
Chiyoda Line, Meiji-jingumae Station : 6 min.-walk
Ginza Line, Omote-sando Station : 15 min.-walk
Fukutoshin Line, Kitasando Station : 8 min.-walk
|March, 2005
|Reinforced Concrete 7 stories & 1 basement floor
|Auto-locking Entry, Video Intercom, Security Camera, Day-shift Custodian, Elevator, Parcel Lockers
Close to Kita-Sando Station, Harajuku Station, Meiji-Jingumae Station, walking distance to Omotesando.
'Designer Apartment' Comforia Harajuku is located in this popular location.
Stylish studio - 2BR type available.
Ample facilities: Dehumidifier-equipped bathroom, high-speed internet access, parcel-keeping box, etc.
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Hot topics!
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Category Archives: Symposiums
Protected: Deeper understanding starts with a single cell
Protected: A cost effective 5′ selective single cell transcriptome profiling approach
Protected: High resolution single cell analysis in complex adult tissues
Protected: Computational analysis of single-cell RNA-seq profiles identifies lineage choice and graded transitions in myeloid progenitors
Comparative procedures for sample processing and development of qPCR assays for the rapid detection of grapevine and citrus pathogens
Emir Hodzic 1,
1School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California at Davis, United States;
Different instruments and methods were used for tissue homog- enization, RNA extraction and qPCR based detection of grapevine and citrus RNA viruses were evaluated. Semi-automated and auto- mated homogenization techniques were compared to process samples from grapevine and citrus. Four different high throughput automated nucleic acid extraction platforms were compared with the RNeasy plant extraction kit for their capacity and efficiency of extracting viral RNA from grapevine and citrus infected tissues. The RNA prepared from each extraction platform was then used as tem- plate for a comparative analysis. The study showed that a thorough homogenization of grapevine and citrus tissues using the Tissue Lyser as well as DNase digestion of the purified RNA prior to cDNA synthesis improved the virus detection and yielded the lowest Cq values in RT-qPCR. Comparison of different RNA extraction meth- ods showed that methods implementing the magnetic bead-based technology were superior to other methods used.
The development of diagnostic systems to effectively detect multiple targets in a single assay has provided a constant techno- logical challenge. The main goal of this study was to develop a rapid, sensitive and specific multiplex RT-qPCR assays for the detection and quantification of viruses in grapevines and citrus that can be incorporated into routine virus detection protocols. The proposed approach can then be used as a robust diagnostic tool for grapevine and citrus germplasm screening programs and for the certification program to ensure clean plant material for propagation.
A single real-time multiplex qPCR assay for the simultaneous detection of Grapevine virus A, B and D (GVA, GVB and GVD) was developed, using three different fluorescently labeled minor groove binding probes. This multiplex RT-qPCR was compared to singleplex RT-qPCR designed specifically for each virus and a con- ventional multiplex RT-PCR. The results showed that the developed multiplex RT-qPCR assay was a cost-effective diagnostic tool that could streamline the testing of grapevine viruses, and replace the singleplex RT-qPCR assays, thus reducing time and labor while retaining the same sensitivity and specificity.
For detection of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV), Citrus psorosis virus (CPsV), and Citrus leaf blotch virus (CLBV) a single multiplex RT-qPCR was developed and validated using the same approach as above. To increase the detection reliability, coat protein from large number of different isolates of CTV, CPsV and CLBV were sequenced and multi- ple sequence alignments were generated. No significant difference in detection limits was found and specificity was not affected by the inclusion of the three assays in a multiplex RT-qPCR reaction.
Adopting compatible multiplex RT-qPCR testing protocols for grapevine and citrus viruses as well as other RNA and DNA regulated pathogens will provide a valuable alternative tool for pathogen detection and efficient program implementation.
|Back to qPCR Data Analysis
COMplementary Primer ASymmetric PCR (COMPASTM-PCR), a counter intuitive primer design for PCR
Marc Anglès d'Auriac 1,
1Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Norway;
Since it was developed in the mid 80', the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has established itself as a central tool for molec- ular biology. Instrumentation, reagents as well as methodology have regularly improved and expanded the capabilities of this technology. Limitations inherent to DNA and kit chemistries have generated guidelines for PCR-assay development. For instance, non-target amplification and in particular primer complementarity leading to Primer Dimer formation is a well-known limiting fac- tor to be reckoned with. Although various strategies have helped improved general robustness of PCR assays, primer complemen- tarity usually is carefully avoided when designing PCR by using ad hoc software. Indeed, 3′-complementarity will extend the primers during PCR elongation using one another as template, conse- quently disabling any possible further involvement in traditional target amplification. However, a 5′-complementarity will leave the primers unchanged during PCR cycles, albeit sequestered to one another, therefore also competing with target amplification.
In this work we show that 5′-complementarity between primers may be exploited in a new asymmetric PCR method, the COMplementary-Primer-Asymmetric (COMPASTM )-PCR, to achieve effective double strand target PCR amplification. More- over, such a design may paradoxically reduce spurious non-target amplification by actively sequestering the limiting primer. Using asymmetric primer concentration is not a new approach but has, to our knowledge, only been previously used for enhancing the production of single strand amplicon from a target sequence, i.e. for probe detection assays. In the presence of the target sequence, COMPAS-PCR initiates target linear amplification with the excess primer, hence progressively changing the stoichiometry of the reac- tion so that priming of the limiting primer to the target strand and target extension of the complementary strand is gradually favored. This general principle was developed using 5S rDNA direct repeats as target sequences to design a species-specific assay for identify- ing Salmo salar and Salmo trutta using almost fully complementary primers overlapping the same target sequence. This initial applica- tion, published in PLoS One (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165468), was designed so that both primers are complementary to the same genomic sequence target. This approach may in principle be applied to any tandem direct repeats DNA motifs of interest as target sequences. Ribosomal genes and in particular the 5S rDNA tandem direct repeats are found in all eukaryotic cells and are there- fore suitable for developing new specific complementary-primer assays. We believe that further understanding and modelling of these COMPAS-PCR principles could be incorporated in primer design software.
This small paradigm shift, using highly complementary primers for PCR, should help develop or improve PCR assays, increasing design possibilities available to the molecular scientist.
|Back to qPCR Data Analysis
A new paradigm in genetic data analysis on the thermo fisher cloud
Nivedita Majumdar *,Puneet Suri, Gloria Lam, David Woo, Shakila Pothini
Thermofisher Scientific, USA;
In this day and age, computation, storage and collation of information, collation of analysis results from the large variety of experiments, are becoming vital to any biologically relevant discov- ery. This translates to millions of records in databases, requiring sophisticated algorithmic processing, cross-application analysis, interactive visualizations and infrastructure for collaboration. The Thermo Fisher Cloud platform offers such a solution with more than ten qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) and CE (capil- lary electrophoresis) apps for gene expression, genotyping, melt analysis and Sanger sequencing. We are building an ecosystem to eventually connect across all types of genetic analysis including NGS (next generation sequencing) and MS (mass spectrometry) on a single platform, with a data or scientific question centric organi- zation of your information.
This talk will demonstrate the capabilities of our current plat- form with a case study doing gene expression and genotyping analysis. We will demonstrate the tools we provide for reviewing and making sense of large volumes of data, with emphasis on ampli- fication curves. We will present tools such as the outlier wheel that come together to enable the user to identify outliers, to identify trends and patterns in their data, in order to make scientifically relevant and reliable conclusions.
|Back to qPCR Data Analysis
Development of an HRM-based tool for the automated identification of nucleotide sequences in large datasets
Jean-Christophe Avarre 1,*,Matthieu Vignoles2, Mathieu Laffont2, Lise Grewis2, Christelle Reynes 3,4
1Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, UMR IRD-CNRS-UM-EPHE, Montpellier, France
2 IDVet Genetics, Montpellier, France
3 Institute of Functional Genomics, UMR CNRS-INSERM-UM, Montpellier, France
4 Laboratory of Biostatistics, Informatics and Pharmaceutical Physics, UFR Pharmacy, University of Montpellier, France;
Nucleic acid characterization by High Resolution Melting (HRM) is a simple, flexible, low-cost and powerful technique for identify- ing sequence variations, making it attractive for a broad range of diagnostic and research applications including infectious diseases, oncology, epigenetics and even metabarcoding. Current procedures for analyzing HRM curves mostly rely on unsupervised methods, principally via subtraction (difference) plots against a known con- trol sample, and less commonly on supervised methods through the use of discrimination analyses. If these procedures have proven useful for discriminating a small number of variants, they are yet limiting for analyzing large HRM data sets and do not provide pre- cise feedback to the user.
In this context, we have developed an innovative method that enables the simultaneous discrimination of a large number of variants from their HRM profile. This method relies on the estab- lishment of a melting profile library, computes new descriptors from the HRM curves for an optimal discrimination and offers a fully automated analysis of melting profiles. The output consists in the possibility to assign a given melting profile to an existing group included in the reference library (assorted with a confidence index) or to reject any assignment in case of an unknown profile.
This method was first validated on a set of 19 nontuberculous mycobacterial species. Each species was represented by 3–20 bio- logical samples consisting of genomic DNA extracted either from animal tissues or from cultivated isolates. Each sample was ampli- fied with a unique pair of primers targeting the 16S-ITS region and yielding amplicons with sizes ranging from ∼230 to ∼350 bp. Melt- ing profiles of the corresponding amplicons were generated using 3-9 replicates per sample. On a total of 95 samples, 91 were allot- ted to the right species. Automatic group rationalization led to split two species into two subgroups, suggesting that this method is able to integrate intraspecific sequence variations.
The method was then applied to develop a diagnostic tool tar- geting five different pathogens responsible for abortive diseases in cattle. Each pathogen was represented by 10 to 22 different biological samples consisting of genomic DNA extracted from dif- ferent matrices (e.g. feces, swabs, whole blood). Each biological sample was amplified and melted in 4 replicates with a ready-to- use mastermix containing 5 sets of primers, specific to the targeted pathogens. The limit of detection of this multiplex test was equiva- lent to that of the current individual tests using hydrolysis probes, around 10 copies/PCR. Moreover, all samples containing at least 10 copies of pathogen(s) were correctly identified with high confi- dence.
These results underline the high potential of this novel HRM- based method for the simultaneous detection and identification of a large number of nucleotide sequences, in both simplex and multiplex formats.
|Back to qPCR Data Analysis
Methods and technologies for analysis digital PCR experiments – Lessons we learned from the qPCR technology
Stefan Rödiger 1,*,Andrej-Nikolai Spiess 2 , Michał Burdukiewicz 3
1Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany
2 University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
3 University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland;
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and digital PCR (dPCR) are widely employed DNA quantification methods in diagnostic and foren- sic applications. Both have proven to be precise and robust. In qPCR, both parameters quantification cycle (Cq) and amplification efficiency (AE) are estimated from the amplification curve data to quantify the DNA amount [1,2]. dPCR, which astonishingly predates qPCR, allows copy number quantification based on parti- tioning a PCR bulk reaction into multiple smaller reaction entities. Quantification is then achieved by assessing the distribution of tar- get molecules within the sample by Poisson statistics [3]. Unlike qPCR, dPCR does not require a calibration curve for quantifica- tion. Moreover, according to recent reports, dPCR offers a more precise and reproducible quantification as well as sensitive detec- tion of minority genetic targets. Numerous platform technologies (e. g., droplet-based, chamber-based, microbead-based) have been developed so far, however their accompanying dPCR software mod- ules are exclusively tied to the platform and therefore lack general applicability [4]. As the analysis of the dPCR and qPCR data is still matter of ongoing research, others and we have recently investi- gated different software frameworks to fill this gap [5,6]. This talk will discuss novel and specific advances within the field of dPCR and qPCR data analysis, which have been made available to the sci- entific community. The talk will focus on open source software and selected algorithms that can be used to build customized desktop and remote browser applications.
[1] S. Pabinger, et al., A survey of tools for the analysis of quantitative PCR (qPCR) data, Biomol. Detect. Quantif. 1 (2014) 23–33, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bdq. 2014.08.002.
[2] A.-N. Spiess, et al., Impact of smoothing on parameter estimation in quantitative DNA amplification experiments, Clin. Chem. 61 (2015) 379–388, http://dx.doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2014.230656.
[3] M. Burdukiewicz, et al., Methods for comparing multiple digital PCR experiments, Biomol. Detect. Quantif. 9 (2016) 14–19, http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.bdq.2016.06.004.
[4] S. Rödiger, et al., R as an Environment for the Reproducible Analysis of DNA Amplification Experiments, R J. 7 (2015) 127–150, http://journal.r-project.org/archive/2015-1/RJ-2015-1.pdf.
[5] A.-N. Spiess, et al., System-specific periodicity in quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction data questions threshold-based quantitation, Sci. Rep. 6 (2016) 38951, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep38951.
[6] S. Rödiger, et al., chipPCR: an R package to pre-process raw data of amplification curves, Bioinformatics. 31 (2015) 2900–2902, http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1093/bioinformatics/btv205.
|Back to qPCR Data Analysis


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Annoying Atoll.
Published by Londoner in the blog Londoner's blog. Views: 60
Wake up 8.30ish. Decadence. Tea biscuits and dogs in bed. I have to get up. I need baccy. The Toowowah who normally just doesn't do mornings wants to come. Damn. I can't leave her outside the shop. In spite of what my sons say I know she is a highly desirable valuable animal. Check to see what neighbours are home. Phone Val. Answerphone.
Me: I know you're home Val, I can see your car. Get up you lazy cow - answer your phone.
Just to be sure she's got the message, I call her mobile. No answer. Decide to give up smoking.
Ten minutes later, my phone rings. Its Val. She's apparently broken a couple of ribs, and suffering from vertigo. Yeah. Right. She really needs to lay off the juice. I tell her to ring me if she needs anything and put the phone down quickly.
Put the Toowowah in a rucksack, the rucksake in the bike basket, and pedal over to the corner shop. If anyone asks, she is not a dog. She is a guffin. The Collie stays outside to guard the wheels.
Luckily - there is a man in a suit, Atoll is obviously trying to impress him. He glares at me, but can't say anything, not without drawing the man's attention to the Toowowah. Rose serves me with a dirty look.
I'm thinking of getting a tame doctor to swear blind I'm a hopeless agrophobic and need the dog to enable me to sallie forth.
Home again. Now what - housework or polish the novel?
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Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KidrobotKRonikle/~3/AsHSLTe3xPY/


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Join forces with legendary heroes to brave the many dangers of a cavernous dungeon. Wield potent weapons and magic. Conquer hordes of vile monsters. Discover fabulous treasures.
Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game is a cooperative game of heroic dungeon adventures for one to four players. Players assume the roles of some of the Old World's most iconic heroes, then venture into the shadows to battle ghouls, Goblins, Skaven, giant bats, swarms of rats, and other monsters.
Can you survive their relentless onslaught? Can you press deeper into their lair to find the evil villain that drives them forward? There are only two ways for your quest to end—in death or in glory!
Players 1-4
Playtime 30-60mins
Age 14+
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The Flowerman Invites You to: A BEGINNER-LEVEL PRACTICE CLASS!
When: Sunday, March 27th, from 2 – 5 PM
Where: The Flowerman Columbus, 842 Busch Court, 43229
How Much: $39.99 per person (Two dozen roses and all supplies are included!)
Who: Anyone interested in learning basic floral skills
What: This 3-hour class will be taught by our Columbus Do-It-Yourself coach. Students will participate in hands-on lessons for bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, rose petaling, cleaning, and beginner floral care. Demonstrations will be shown of cake toppers, pomander balls, centerpieces, and other basic floral pieces. Not sure if you have what it takes to be a DIY bride? Just want to practice a bit with the tools and flowers before your actual construction party? This is the class for you!!
Space is limited… reserve your spot today!
R.S.V.P. by March 23rd. Call 614-935-5832 or email email@example.com to sign up.


text: This monthly budget planner can be purchased and downloaded right away for immediate use. This pdf file contains 3 sheets. If you want a personalized monthly budget, I expect your email at email@example.com. Just let me know the name you'd like for the planner personalization. Your personalized pdfs will be emailed to you in 24-72 hours! The files are meant to be printed on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. You may print as many copies as you need. I can't offer a refund once the files have been sent. If you preffer a different color, please let me know. I am always glad to help in any way I can. Please, do not resell or share this planner. BASIC SKILLS NECESSARY You need to know how to open a ZIP file, a PDF file and print.


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Birth Certificates
View Single Post
March 26th, 2009, 12:26 PM
Zane & Jude's mama
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 23,138
It's probably a bit different in every state...but here in CA....After DS was born I called the vital records place where you get the birth certificate from and scheduled an appointment. (it was for 2 months later!!!)
We needed:
A letter from the mw stating my care starting date and my LMP and where I gave birth and his vitals
A letter from a pedi saying he was healthy and his vitals
A bill/mail in my name with the birth address from the month of birth
And of course driver licenses or passports of DH & I
Gave the lady this, she made copies and then I had to fill out about 6 applications/paperwork. Then we paid and got his birth certificate that day
We had to see a pedi after his birth for a letter to be able to get his birth certificate (normally the pedi does all that in the hospital) so when DS was 2 days old we took him to the pedi. I think you have 2-3 days after birth here to see a pedi. We would have rather taken him at 3 days old but of course the 3rd day for us was a Saturday not open and couldn't wait till Monday at 5 days old.
Research your county where you'll be birthing governmental vital record website and that should give you info with more specifics
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Find all posts by CameraLinds


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Vanderbilt's Zander Wiel enjoying familial feel during tourney run
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As Zander Wiel grew from promising baseball prospect to standout first baseman for 20th-ranked Vanderbilt, both parents followed him every step of the way.
Thing is, mother Connie Wiel became the "baseball mom" that drove son to all the practices and games, home and away. She was there to congratulate the successes and console the failures. Meanwhile, Zander's father, Randy Wiel, had to keep up with his son from halfway around the world. During those spring baseball seasons, he was coaching professional basketball in The Netherlands and China from 2004-13.
Notice there's no year 2014 to add to that that decade-long run of coaching overseas for Wiel, the former UNC-Asheville and Middle Tennessee head coach who played for and was assistant coach under legendary coach Dean Smith at North Carolina.
Despite having an offer to return to China to coach professionally this season, the elder Wiel decided enough was enough. Indeed, he was going to stay home this winter and spring and watch his son play an entire season of baseball, whether it be college or high school, for the very first time.
"It has been awesome just having him here to watch me because he hasn't been able to see me play on a regular basis probably since summer ball when I was 13," said Wiel, whose Commodores host one of 16 NCAA Tournament regionals. "Having my father home for the games is cool, but I like it more just because he is able to be here with my mom. She has been on her own a lot."
Not that the Wiels weren't in constant contact while continents apart. Connie and Randy talked on the telephone nearly every day, while all three communicated often via Skype and e-mail. Mother and son traveled to Holland once or twice a year, while husband/father would also come home during the season while coaching teams in the Dutch Basketball League in search of the Europe Cup title.
"My biggest regret is that I missed him playing basketball and baseball at Blackman High School (in nearby Murfreesboro, Tenn.)," said Wiel, who is a native of Curacao and speaks six languages. "Everybody was telling me how great he was. As a father you want to see your kid develop and all that. I missed him playing basketball, especially. He did very well in basketball, but chose baseball. North Carolina and Tennessee wanted him for baseball, but (Vanderbilt) coach (Tim) Corbin developed a strong relationship with Zander. He does a great job with his kids."
After redshirting as a freshman in 2012, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Wiel burst on the Vanderbilt baseball scene late last year and was named to the All-Southeastern Conference Freshman Team. His home run in the heartbreaking NCAA Super Regional finals loss to visiting Louisville was the team's only run of the game.
This season, as a third-year sophomore, he ranks top five in five different offensive categories for the Commodores, including a team-high five home runs. He is also fifth in batting average (.274), fourth in runs scored (34) and third in RBI (35) and slugging percentage (.447)
"I sense the normal growth (in Zander) that takes place with a young man that has been in the program for three years," said Corbin, whose team is hosting an NCAA Regional for the third time in four years and fourth time overall. The Commodores' only trip to the College World Series came in 2011. "I could probably sense more that (his father) wasn't around when he was younger. The influence was strictly his mom, and the males that were around him that had a voice to him were his high school coach and myself at the time. But a great deal of maturity has taken place from that time."
For that, Corbin and Randy Wiel not only credit Zander, but Connie Wiel as well.
"It's really great having Randy around so I don't have to drive home by myself after the games," she said with a laugh. "It is great for Zander. He just likes having his dad there. Having him home all the time makes it a little more normal."
It has also become normal for the Commodores to be among the elite teams in college baseball while competing in the difficult SEC, which had a record 10 teams get NCAA Regional bids this year.
Last season, the Commodores were ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the year and ran roughshod through the SEC en route to the regular-season title. That included matching a school record in wins with a 54-12 overall record, but more impressive was the league-record 26-3 finish in conference play. The Commodores won every series during the regular season. But after breezing through the NCAA regional at home, the Commodores were denied a trip back to the College World Series in the Super Regional upset loss to Louisville.
"The fortunate or unfortunate thing about this whole college baseball dynamic here at the end," Corbin said, "you can have the best team, and if you go sour for a short time, you're done. That's it. And you can be a team like (NCAA tourney entry) Youngstown State and win 16 games and you feel good about yourself. And the next thing you know, you can go on this tremendous run that can captivate the college audience."
Although it fell short of the standards set by last year's team, Corbin feels good about this year's model heading into NCAA tourney play. Though the Commodores went 1-2 at last week's SEC Tournament and were outscored 18-3 in consecutive losses to LSU and Ole Miss, Corbin seems .
"I think we needed to get away from the SEC," Corbin said. "It's like having the in-laws at the house for a long period of time and you say, âHey, when are they going to leave?' I think it is a refresher to get away from that tournament. We had a great resume, but I think it is understated in a lot of different ways. I hope we can prove that point as we go forward."
Zander Wiel, with both parents looking on, will likely help in that regard for Corbin's Commodores.
FOX Sports Go


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text: Three weeks ago, it looked like the final Edlam game of the season would be a clunker. Edmond Santa Fe was rolling and Edmond Memorial was reeling. Southmoore's Peirce Spead gts by Edmond Memorial's Charlie Dutton during the high school football game between Edmond Memorial and Southmoore at Wantland Stadium in Edmond, Okla., Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman Multimedia Photoview all 17 photos Article Gallery: Plenty on the line in final Edlam showdown NewsOK Related Articles High school notebook: Wellston snaps losing streak 10/20/2012 The Tigers broke a 21-game losing streak by defeating Holdenville, 21-14, in a game where Wellston rallied from a 14-0 first quarter deficit. Week 8 high school football rankings: Deer Creek falls to No. 4 in 5A; Jones enters 3A rankings at No. 10 10/20/2012 After losing to Guthrie in overtime Thursday, Deer Creek dropped to No. 4 in the Class 5A rankings. In Class 3A, Jones is No. 10 after crushing Tuttle on... Memorial seemed destined for a second consecutive season outside the playoffs after an 0-5 start, while Santa Fe was playing like it was expected to before the season — as one of the top teams in Class 6A. Three weeks later, Air Max 95Santa Fe continues to roll after Friday's big win against Norman that pushed the Wolves to the brink of a district championship. Memorial, though, has turned things around in a big way. The Bulldogs have won three consecutive games, beating Mustang, Choctaw and Southmoore to get to the brink of a playoff berth. With two games left — including Friday's Edlam matchup against Santa Fe at Wantland Stadium — Memorial is in a three-way fight with Southmoore and Lawton for two playoff spots. "Finally in the Mustang game, we had some momentum and we were able to get rolling," Memorial coach Justin Meredith said. "We were able to keep that going, and once we won that game, we got on a roll." Meredith expected his young team to have some growing pains early in the season, especially with a schedule that included Edmond North, Deer Creek, Lawton and Norman in the first half of the season. "They're really playing well right now," Santa Fe coach Lance Manning said. "They've been on a huge roll lately." Manning doesn't expect a letdown from his team, though, even if Memorial's recent success hadn't heightened their awareness of the Bulldogs' explosiveness. "I understand why it would be easy to think that, but I don't think that would be a problem with this team," Manning said. "They didn't have a letdown last year in games like this, and Memorial is a big game no matter what is at stake." There is plenty at stake in this one, though, on both sides. For Santa Fe, it's a district championship. The Wolves need one win over the last two weeks — they finish the season at Choctaw — to claim a second consecutive district title. For Memorial, it's a chance at its first playoff berth since 2010. The Bulldogs can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Santa Fe and one to close the season against a one-win Putnam City West team, although winning one of the two gives the Bulldogs a solid chance to get in on a tiebreaker. "It's my goal to keep them calm, keep it in perspective and keep doing what we've been doing so we can give ourselves a chance to win this game," Meredith said. "Of course, it's a huge game to our kids. Edmond is such a competitive city and school district."


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By Thobani Ngqulunga
Mortuary attendants in Durban were shocked this week when a man, who had been declared dead by paramedics and taken to a government mortuary, suddenly started breathing and woke up in front of them.
Gale Street Mortuary Unit Commander Thegran Moodley said: "The man had been involved in a car accident somewhere in the Umbumbulu area at the weekend. After the paramedics had certified him dead, my staff were called in to fetch the body."
After arriving at the mortuary the attendants had been preparing to label the body when the man had started breathing heavily and had woken up.
"The attendants ran away because they were shocked," said Moodley.
"We called the paramedics to come and attend to this person who had regained life. They took him to King Edward VIII Hospital for treatment."
Hospital staff confirmed on Thursday night that a man had been sent to the hospital from the Gale Street mortuary, but refused to give any details.
Moodley said the attendants were being treated for shock.


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Comcast threw a life preserver to struggling TiVo yesterday, agreeing to pay the pioneer of digital video recorders to develop a service...
PHILADELPHIA — Comcast threw a life preserver to struggling TiVo yesterday, agreeing to pay the pioneer of digital video recorders to develop a service for Comcast's 21.5 million cable-TV customers.
The agreement will bring TiVo innovations to Comcast's digital video recorders, or DVRs, including software that can anticipate what a viewer wants to see.
But the TiVo technology will come only as a premium service, Comcast said, at a yet-to-be-determined fee on top of the regular monthly cable bill.
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"Comcast will find it a lot easier to sell TiVo than to sell its own generic recording service, and that is what this is all about," said Josh Bernoff, a cable-industry analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.
"When customers say your DVR isn't as good as TiVo, they can say, 'We have TiVo.' "
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but access to such a large market for TiVo heartened investors who drove the company's shares up $2.87, nearly 75 percent, to $6.70 yesterday. Comcast's shares were down 8 cents at $33.91.
TiVo has been struggling since last fall to maintain market share versus cable operators that have begun offering DVR technology.
That technology, along with video-on-demand, is helping change the way many people watch TV, letting them watch programs on their own schedule, rather than on schedules imposed by broadcasters.
Many TiVo users scoffed at the cable companies' DVRs, complaining they lacked the functionality of a TiVo box.
But yesterday's deal will bring many of those functions to Comcast's DVRs in mid- to late 2006, Comcast said.
It will take that long for TiVo to develop the necessary software and make it work with Comcast's networks, said Mark Hess, a Comcast senior vice president for technology development.
Among those services are "WishList" searches that will seek program listings for shows related to a specific topic, such as cooking or scuba diving. TiVo's software can find all the shows that match that topic and record them for the viewer to watch at any time.
The system also can make program recommendations to customers based on the shows they elect to record, and it allows users to schedule recordings when they are away from home, via the Internet.
"There's a lot we can learn" from TiVo, Hess said. "You think about it, they've been at this … longer than we have."
DVRs — from TiVo and from cable and satellite companies — have been popular. They found a place in 6.5 million households last year, up from 1.9 million in 2002, according to Forrester Research. By 2009, Forrester predicted, the devices will be in 49.6 million homes.
TiVo, which has never reported a profit, was also said to be desperate to strike a deal with a major cable-TV company after its biggest distributor, satellite-TV provider DirecTV, announced last fall that it would start offering its own DVRs to subscribers.
"With limited options" for its product, "we feel that TiVo held its nose and signed a tough deal with Comcast," cable-industry analyst Alan Bezoza of Friedman Billings Ramsey in New York wrote in a research note to clients yesterday.
In January, TiVo founder Mike Ramsay said he would step down as chief executive but remain chairman of the board. His decision closely followed his failure to reach a distribution agreement with Comcast, according to a report that month in The New York Times.
TiVo's vice chairman, Thomas Rogers, told The Associated Press that the deal with Comcast would likely be the first in a series of pacts with cable-TV companies.
"I've done a lot of deals with the cable industry, and when you do a deal with the largest cable operator, it's very helpful in opening up other doors in the industry," said Rogers, former executive vice president for cable at NBC.
In Washington state, Comcast has more than 1 million cable-TV subscribers and more than 400,000 high-speed Internet subscribers.


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Antique Sewing Scissors With a Clip of Vintage Ribbon
One of my dearest friends celebrated her birthday last weekend. She's collected antique sewing notions as long as I can remember. Therefore, I thought I'd create a distinct paperweight that would add a touch of home to her office.
I purchased these antique sewing scissors years ago because I loved the patina of the metal and the delicate design of the handles. When I placed them on a decorative background and added a clip of vintage ribbon, the scissors were transformed into something truly special.
This project required the Large Rectangle paperweight because of the area required to display the scissors. I also used K&Company's 'Teal Floral & Letter Flat Paper' from their ancestry.com collection. (Most craft stores like Michaels and Jo-Ann Fabrics carry more than 100 different paper designs sold by the sheet.) To add a little more interest to the design, I added some vintage ribbon.
The photo above shows the mounting board (included in each paperweight kit) with the decorative paper applied. I used Liquid Fusion, a clear urethane glue, to adhere the scissors to the background. The piece of ribbon was added last.
Here are a few tips:
Prior to gluing items to your background, arrange them a few different ways and view them under the paperweight before commiting to a layout.
There are a few things to consider when it comes to selecting the right glue for your project. You should use an adhesive that's designed for the materials you're working with (metal, wood, glass, plastic, etc.). You should also consider damage the glue may cause to the items you're displaying if they have monetary or sentimental value.
I hope this paperweight will inspire you to look for a small treasure the next time you're at an antique shop or a tag sale. Perhaps you already have something hidden in a box or a drawer.
What kind of curiosities can you think of that would look great in a paperweight? We'd love to hear your ideas!


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By Benjamin Lochmann
This app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
You want to keep track of your physical progress? Then this jogging-app is perfect for you.
Just start the app before your run. It will monitor your movement during your workout.
The data will be analyzed and presented to you in a clear fashion.
The graphics include:
- the way you took (satelite image or map)
- your average speed
- the total lenght of your run
- your specific speed during your run (explained in a diagram)
A history of your previous workouts will be saved for you, to compare and monitor your progress at any time.
This app can also run in background-mode, so that you are able to listen some music while you are jogging.
Attention: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
What's New in Version 1.3
iPhone Screenshots
- Category: Health & Fitness
- Updated: 04 October 2012
- Version: 1.3
- Size: 1.4 MB
- Languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
- Seller: Benjamin Lochmann New Media GmbH
- © Benjamin Lochmann New Media GmbH
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.


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Traveling Luck for Six Section Windmill, Texas, United States
Where is Six Section Windmill?What's around Six Section Windmill?
Wikipedia near Six Section Windmill
Where to stay near Six Section Windmill
The timezone in Six Section Windmill is America/Rankin_Inlet
Sunrise at 07:28 and Sunset at 17:46. It's Dark
Latitude. 32.0597°, Longitude. -102.6689°
Weather near Six Section Windmill; Report from Odessa, Odessa-Schlemeyer Field, TX 39.2km away
Weather :
Temperature: 13°C / 55°F
Wind: 5.8km/h Southwest
Cloud: Sky Clear
Weather :
Temperature: 13°C / 55°F
Wind: 5.8km/h Southwest
Cloud: Sky Clear
Satellite map around Six Section Windmill
Loading map of Six Section Windmill and it's surroudings
Geographic features & Photographs around Six Section Windmill, in Texas, United States
- Local Feature;
- A Nearby feature worthy of being marked on a map..
- Six Section Windmill (0km)
- Three Section Windmill (2.4km)
- Five Section Windmill (4.5km)
- Embar Ranch (4.7km)
- East Nine Windmill (5.1km)
- Bum Windmill (5.7km)
- West Red Windmill (7.1km)
- East Red Windmill (7.6km)
- Cole Ranch (7.9km)
- Conger Ranch (8km)
- Terry Windmill (8.6km)
- Rich Uncle Windmill (8.7km)
- South Windmill (9.5km)
- Alley Oople Windmill (9.5km)
- Wyche Ranch (9.7km)
- Green Windmill (10.6km)
- West Windmill (11.3km)
- New Windmill (11.7km)
- Goldsmith Plant (12km)
- Northeast Windmill (12km)
- Windmill Number Four (12.5km)
- South Windmill (13.4km)
- Flagg Ranch (14.8km)
- White Windmill (14.8km)
- West Windmill (15.1km)
- East Windmill (15.3km)
- Gulf Camp Windmill (15.7km)
- Burma Windmill (16.4km)
- Giffon Windmill (16.4km)
- Conger Windmill (17km)
- Line Windmill (17.2km)
- North Clyde Windmill (17.3km)
- County Windmill (18.6km)
- Flynt Ranch (18.8km)
- Slator Ranch (18.8km)
- Comanche Trails Camp (18.9km)
- West Windmill (19.5km)
- Northwest Windmill (19.6km)
- East Windmill (19.7km)
- Wolf Windmill (20.4km)
- Trap Windmill (20.5km)
- West Windmill (20.6km)
- lake;
- a large inland body of standing water.
- Bum Lake (5.2km)
- Embar Lake (12km)
- Northwest Lake (16.4km)
- Cheyenne Lake (18.6km)
- Antelope Lake (20.2km)
- James Lake (20.4km)
- Plover Lake (20.7km)
- oilfield;
- an area containing a subterranean store of petroleum of economic value.
- Andector Oil Field (6.6km)
- North Cowden Deep Oil Field (10.1km)
- Emma Oil Field (12.6km)
- East Goldsmith Oil Field (12.8km)
- Embar Oil Field (13.4km)
- Goldsmith Oil Field (13.7km)
- populated place;
- a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work.
- Coyote Corner (9.6km)
- Turnbaugh Corner (11.6km)
- Goldsmith (13.2km)
- well;
- a cylindrical hole, pit, or tunnel drilled or dug down to a depth from which water, oil, or gas can be pumped or brought to the surface.
- H Well (11.3km)
- Northwest Well (17.9km)
Accommodation around Six Section Windmill
- tower;
- a high conspicuous structure, typically much higher than its diameter.
- KMGP-FM (Monahans) (18.4km)
Wikipedia entries close to
Six Section Windmill
- Goldsmith, Texas city city o
- Gardendale, Texas city city o
- West Odessa, Texas city city o
- Andrews (Texas)
- Odessa, Texas city city o
- Odessa Meteor Crater landmark impact crate
- Midland International Airport airport airport
- Kermit, Texas city city o
- Lea County-Jal Airport airport airport
- Jal, New Mexico city city o
- Midland (Texas) city city f
- Monahans, Texas city city o
- Wink, Texas city city o
- Thorntonville, Texas city city o
- Eunice, New Mexico city city o
- Wickett, Texas city city o
Airports close to Six Section Windmill
Midland international(MAF), Midland, Usa (59.8km)
Winkler co(INK), Wink, Usa (76.9km)
Lea co rgnl(HOB), Hobbs, Usa (112.1km)
Cavern city air terminal(CNM), Carlsbad, Usa (198.8km)