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January, 2010
Advances in 2009 cast light on the mystery that enshrouds the genetics of mental illness. A convergence of scientific insight and increasingly sophisticated technology is allowing scientists to peer deeper into DNA, finding mutations that may help uncover the underpinnings of brain dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.
Several studies during the year revealed genetic mutations that may lead to new ways to approach schizophrenia. Others may help explain why autism is a central feature of many syndromes that in other respects differ greatly. Yet another study showed that adverse experiences in childhood can lead to "epigenetic" changes—actual changes to one's genetic makeup that creep in during the process of converting DNA code into a functional protein—resulting in the seeming paradox of an environmentally induced genetic condition.
"The power of genetics is now so advanced that we can check many pieces of the genome to find rare mutations and variants that, together, may lead to new understanding," said Scharahm Akbarian of the University of Massachusetts. Akbarian compared the advances in recent years to the evolution of Google Earth, which began as a series of satellite images of the planet. "Now you can use Google Earth to find an intersection in a town. In the same way, we can scan larger pieces of DNA faster than ever, finding lots of candidate regions involved in brain disorders. And a very encouraging development is that some of these regions are being replicated in different groups of subjects."
New understanding is sorely needed in a field where no new therapies have emerged for several decades. The medications used to treat psychiatric illness still attempt to adjust the balance of brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. But most take weeks to have an effect and come with severe side effects, not to mention that, always, a significant number of patients fail to find any benefit.
The 1990s saw an intensified search for "culprit genes" involved in brain disorders and many other illnesses. The approach was to identify susceptibility genes among patients with a particular disease, use the genes to develop animal models and identify the molecular pathways involved, thus leading to possible therapies such as developing a custom-designed or "monoclonal" antibody or other therapeutic compound to block the effects of the malfunctioning gene's protein product. In Alzheimer's disease, for example, the discovery of the amyloid precursor and presenilin genes have pointed to molecular pathways involved in the disease, as well as to several potential drug targets.
In general, though, the paradigm has not held up for neuropsychiatric disorders, due to what Harvard University's Steven Hyman calls the "fiendish complexity" of the underlying genetics.1 Similar symptoms can result from different genetic risk factors; or, conversely, individuals with the same genetic variant can have different DSM-IV diagnoses or show no symptoms at all. In one large family, for example, a disrupted gene on chromosome 1 can lead to schizophrenia, the comparatively milder form known as schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder or major depression.
According to Douglas Levinson of Stanford University, some of the first hunts for "culprit genes" in mental illness looked for genes involved with the chemical messengers that were targeted by the available drugs—schizophrenia, for example, is still treated with dopamine blockers—yet none of these genetic dragnets yielded candidate genes of any statistical significance. Now, however, new insights are appearing at levels of precision that would not have been possible without the convergence of knowledge, procedures and technology that enabled researchers to find needles in the haystack of the genome.
Each colored spot on a microarray is associated with a different gene. The different colors represent either healthy (control) or diseased (sample) tissue. The location and intensity of a color shows whether the gene, or mutation, is present in either the control and/or sample DNA, and its level of expression. (National Medical Library)
In 2001, the entire human genome (the complete sequence of human DNA) was published in a worldwide effort appropriately named the Human Genome Project.
"The Human Genome Project sparked an intense wave of competition among biotechnology companies to develop 'microarrays' on which a million or more genetic variants could be tested or assayed," said Levinson. "Meanwhile, clinicians had to find ways to recruit not just hundreds but thousands of people with schizophrenia. Finally, computers had to be sophisticated enough to handle the data. When the first search for schizophrenia genes began, back in the 1990s, the average hard drive was 32 megabytes. Today one of our files wouldn't even fit on a hard drive that size, never mind the software needed to analyze all the data."
Some of the first clues to result from the Human Genome Project were minute changes called single-nucleotide polymorphisms, abbreviated as SNPs and pronounced "snips." A further research push, the International HapMap Project, cataloged about three million SNPs between 2005 and 2007.
SNPs are genetic differences between individuals at the level of one "letter" in the genetic code. This code consists of long chains of four "bases," or building blocks, called nucleotides—adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine, each abbreviated by its first letter—held together in pairs by chemical bonds that twist the chain of DNA into its famous double-helix shape. A SNP is a substitution of one of these four letters with another. These differences are thought to account for genetic diversity as well as susceptibility to disease.
Though other discoveries in recent years show that SNPs are not the whole story, they remain a promising line of research for understanding how a disease works. Three papers published in the July 1, 2009, issue of Nature uncovered a trove of SNPs that may help explain the development of schizophrenia.
Single-nucleotide polymorphisms are genetic differences between individuals at the level of one "letter" in the genetic code. Because of base pairing, both nucleotides must change. In frame 2, the original "CTA" (frame 1) becomes "TTA" and "GAT" becomes "AAT."(Copyright David Hall, used according to the GNU Free Documentation License.)
All three studies, individually and collectively, implicated the MHC—an intriguing finding since infection during pregnancy has long been suspected as one aspect of the prenatal environment that can increase risk for schizophrenia.
In a study by the Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia (MGS) consortium, the SNPs identified were near a cluster of histone protein genes, which form a structure for DNA molecules and can be chemically modified to alter the expression of other genes.2 (Histones have another, lesser-known role in antibacterial defense.)
The MHC was implicated in another study, published by the Sgene Consortium with Kari Stefansson of deCODE genetics, a Reykjavíc, Iceland–based pharmaceutical company, as lead author. A genomewide scan of their own 13,000 patients and more than 2,500 controls, plus meta-analysis of patients from all three studies, detected an even stronger "signal" closest to a specific gene, called PRSS16, which is located in a cluster of histone genes and is involved in immunity. The Sgene study also identified sites on chromosomes 11 and 18 that are involved with brain development and memory.3
"We have to keep an open mind in schizophrenia research," Levinson, a member of the MGS and study coauthor, said. "What if we eventually find that an abnormal response to an infection increases one's risk of schizophrenia, as some researchers have suggested? Maybe that will lead to strategies for preventing schizophrenia in some people by preventing certain infections. But other findings suggested abnormalities in the development of brain cells. We still have a lot to learn."
The third study, presented by the International Schizophrenia Consortium, also pointed to the MHC, finding significant overlap in gene variants that increase the risk for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but it found no overlaps with a host of non-psychiatric disorders, including hypertension and type 2 diabetes—indicating that these SNPs were specific signals for vulnerability to mental illness. This study also described a statistical model for deducing, on the basis of SNPs already identified, that a large set of common SNPs—most of them unknown at present—could account for at least 33 percent of risk.
The authors wrote that their model "suggests that genetically influenced individual differences across domains of brain development and function may form a [predisposition] for major psychiatric illness, perhaps as multiple growth and metabolic pathways influence human height."4
SNPs are providing other clues as well. In the August Molecular Psychiatry, other teams led by Levinson published a genome-wide linkage scan, plus a meta-analysis of a larger population, pointing to several chromosomal regions that might contain genes that play a role in schizophrenia.5,6 Unlike a genome-wide association scan, which compares the genomes of individuals with and without a given disorder, a linkage scan concentrates on families in which two or more people have the disease, looking for "marker" locations that are near disease-causing variants. When a marker is found near another variant in many families affected by a disease, more often than might be expected by chance, this "linkage" is thought to signal a nearby disease-related gene.
Levinson explained that while association studies cast a wider net in terms of finding more of the "common" SNPs (those affecting more than 5 percent of patients), linkage studies might do a better job of finding regions with many different, rarer mutations (affecting fewer than 1 percent). Since rare SNPs often confer a higher risk of disease, the linkage scan remains a powerful tool. The SNPs uncovered in the Molecular Psychiatry paper include a suspect region on chromosome 8, where a gene for neuregulin 1 is also found. The finding supports studies in mice showing that mutations in this gene lead to poorly developed neurons and a schizophrenia-like condition in what would be the mouse's adolescence, tracking with the disorder's time course in humans. Though the linkage study by Levinson and coworkers did not directly implicate the neuregulin 1 gene, the finding hinted at multiple problematic sites in that region, possibly providing a rationale for future studies to re-sequence this area, the authors wrote.
The larger meta-analysis also turned up a possibility on chromosome 2, in an area associated with bipolar disorder and psychosis. A gene on this chromosome, dubbed ZNF8044, was tentatively implicated in schizophrenia in a 2008 Nature Genetics study.7 In 2009, a team of researchers reported in the May 1 issue of Science that they used a SNP in this gene as the basis of an imaging study to determine the SNP's role.8
Schizophrenia is increasingly seen as a disruption of the synchronicity between brain areas, not simply as a deficit in one area or neurotransmitter. To investigate whether the affected gene plays a role, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the University of Heidelberg, along with colleagues at Heidelberg and the University of Bonn, studied 115 otherwise healthy subjects carrying the SNP in question. The researchers asked the subjects to perform tasks designed to challenge two brain areas, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus—both essential for complex thinking and memory, which are impaired in schizophrenia.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor brain activity while the subjects performed the tasks, the researchers found that patients with the SNP showed reduced connectivity between these areas: the brain structures were working, just not coordinating. The authors suggested that future research should examine the role of ZNF8044 in the development of axons (projections along which neurons communicate) and in plasticity (the fine-tuning of connections between axons and neurons).
Another discovery has opened up even more possibilities in understanding the genetics of psychiatric illness. This is a mutation called a copy number variation (CNV). If a SNP is a misspelling of a single letter of the genetic code, CNVs are analogous to whole groups of paragraphs being deleted, duplicated or shuffled.
Many brain disorders are known to result from deletions or duplications of chromosomes: Children born with Down's syndrome, for example, have an extra copy of part or all of chromosome 21. Chromosomes—and extra chromosomes—can be seen with an ordinary microscope. CNVs, however, are deletions or duplications of stretches of nucleotides—often quite long—within a given chromosome. The first genome-wide description of CNVs was reported in 2004 by Stephen Scherer at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and his colleague Charles Lee at Harvard University, and concurrently by Michael Wigler at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, in New York State. Then a team led by Scherer published a "map" of CNVs in worldwide populations in the November 23, 2006, issue of Nature.9
CNVs have been observed between identical twins who otherwise have the same genome. This fact may explain why, in many diseases such as schizophrenia, the twin of an afflicted individual has only a 50 percent chance of having the disease—presumably, with identical DNA, the odds should be 100 percent. Though rare, CNVs are powerful, conferring a high risk of disease. They are already proving informative when it comes to mental illness, Scherer said. "CNVs seem to have a propensity for neuropsychiatric disorders—they're involved in much higher proportions, and early data suggests they play a role in almost all psychiatric illnesses. You don't yet see the same significance with other types of disease, although it is early days."
Among researchers, hopes are high that CNVs will shed new light on autism, which is not so much a distinct disorder as a common factor in many conditions and syndromes—some of which differ widely in other respects. Autism is increasingly described as any of a number of "autism spectrum disorders," which can include impairments in social interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors, hypersensitivity to stimulation and onset before age 3.
Like SNPs, CNVs help to illuminate the process through which a disease unfolds. In the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, Scherer's group reported more than 200 CNVs in families with autism, some of them encompassing half a dozen genes involved in neural development but never thought to play a role in autism—as well as further implicating several genes already suspected.10
A study in the April 2009 Molecular Psychiatry used both SNP and CNV clues to pinpoint several genes that warrant further study.11 All are thought to be involved in the formation of synapses, the points of contact between neurons.
A child is born with far more neurons than he or she will end up with as an adult. Circuits in the brain are sculpted on the basis of the child's experiences, with the density of synapses increasing in areas that are used—music, foreign language, sports, for example—and decreasing in those that are not. Synaptic formation and, eventually, "pruning" are normal stages for the developing brain. Autism, which usually appears between 18 months and 2 years of age, is thought to result from a disruption in this process. Too many or too few synapses are features in several syndromes that include autism.
Anthony Monaco of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford joined with colleagues at 11 centers in the United States and Europe to examine areas on chromosomes 2 and 7, implicated in previous research. Drawing on techniques from both association and linkage studies, the researchers checked for SNPs and CNVs of approximately 250 families, matched against 188 controls. The hot spots that turned up were compared with a European sample representing 300 afflicted families.
Inês Sousa selects a patient DNA sample from the -20 degrees Celsius freezer at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. (Courtesy of Anthony Monaco / Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics)
One gene of interest on chromosome 2, containing a SNP, was ZNF533. This gene encodes for several proteins that attach to DNA molecules and play a role in turning the gene on or off. Deletions in this gene have been found in patients with mental retardation.
The team found CNVs (deletions) spanning two genes on chromosome 7, called IMMP2L and DOCK4, which are prevalent in the fetal brain and active during neural development. A SNP, of the too few synapse commonality mentioned above, also turned up in DOCK4, which is thought to be involved in the growth of dendrites (the "receiving" points on neurons with which axons communicate).
"Taken together, these findings and others point to the synapse as a possible site for genetic effects of autism to occur," said Monaco. He also believes that CNVs will eventually be diagnostic, adding that as microarrays become more sophisticated they are also getting cheaper.
Back-to-back studies in the April 28 Nature also pointed to pathways of brain development. Both were led by Hakon Hakonarson of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, turning up SNPs and CNVs encompassing genes involved in brain development. Some of the affected genes coded for cell adhesion molecules, which are important in order for developing neurons to reach their proper location in the brain.12,13 Others coded for ubiquitin, a neuronal protein that "tags" other proteins to be degraded and disposed of (a necessary step in brain development).
"The findings support imaging studies that suggest a lack of connectivity between brain regions involved in higher-order activities," said coauthor Daniel Geschwind of the University of California, Los Angeles. "The variants seem to be in pathways involved in the brain's wiring during development, but it's not a done deal yet."
Like Monaco, Geschwind is excited about the diagnostic possibilities suggested by both SNPs and CNVs. He added that between 5 and 10 percent of variants are "de novo" mutations, meaning they were not passed on by either parent. "If you can say for sure that your child has a de novo mutation, then subsequent children are at no higher risk than anyone else."
Some copy number variations now emerging are common to both schizophrenia and autism. A CNV on chromosome 15, for example, increases the risk of schizophrenia, autism, mental retardation and epilepsy.
At the National Institute of Mental Health, Anjene Addington and Judith Rapoport have discovered CNVs involved in childhoodonset schizophrenia, a rare form of the disorder in which symptoms appear before age twelve (onset in late adolescence is typical). Like other early-onset diseases, schizophrenia of this type is more severe. Working with a group of 150 patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia, followed by the NIMH for more than twenty years, the researchers replicated findings identifying four susceptibility genes in adult-onset schizophrenia and showed that the same four suspects were found in early-onset disease as well. Reasoning that these might confer especially high risk, the researchers looked for copy number variations in these genes.14 Four patients had a deletion on chromosome 22 that has previously been associated with autism, mental retardation and facial dysmorphy. Two patients showed a duplication in a region of chromosome 16 also found to be disrupted in adult schizophrenia in previous studies. Because two out of one hundred (2 percent) is a far greater rate than was found in adults, the researchers surmise that this CNV may confer exceptionally high risk.
The researchers found CNVs in three other genes involved in neural development and implicated in autism, adult schizophrenia or both. The authors wrote that if all the CNVs impacting the genes identified in their 105-patient group were disease-causing, they could explain the origins of schizophrenia in almost 40 percent of the patients. "This is a huge leap from where we stood just one or two years ago," the authors wrote, adding that studies to re-sequence the target areas are under way.
Some genes malfunction not because of any flaw in their construction, but because the information they encode is never brought into reality. Such alterations in a gene's "expression," rather than its DNA sequence, are increasingly described as "epigenetic" and represent a new way of understanding many kinds of illness, including psychiatric disorders.
A gene's protein is produced in two steps. The first, transcription, occurs when the DNA code is synthesized into an intermediate molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA). The second step, translation, converts the mRNA into the sequence of amino acids (chemical building blocks) that make up the final protein "product." In recent years, small molecules called microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to influence translation, in normal processes as well as in disease. A better understanding of their actions may lead to bettertargeted "gene silencing" therapies that prevent faulty genes from being translated.
miRNAs do not become translated into protein but attach themselves to other stretches of RNA that do—regulating the production of the gene's protein and sometimes even "silencing" the gene. When acting normally, miRNAs elegantly help to control cellular processes. But miRNAs have also been implicated in many diseases, including heart disease and some cancers. Though they do not act on all genes everywhere in the body and brain, miRNAs are prevalent in the prefrontal cortex (the seat of "higher" functions such as reasoning and analysis).
A diagram of microRNA pathways in the vertebrate cell. Within the nucleus, the initial expression, or primary miRNA (pri-miRNA), is digested by a microprocessor, an enzyme called Dicer because it "dices" the pri-miRNA, and becomes precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA). The pre-miRNA is exported to the cytoplasm, where the Dicer protein cleaves it into mature miRNA, which then loads onto RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Carried by RISC, the miRNA then binds to mRNA and either inhibits expression or speeds degradation of the mRNA. (Courtesy of Schahram Akbarian / University of Massachusetts Medical School)
Schahram Akbarian, Nikolaos Mellios and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have shown that in schizophrenia, a specific miRNA, designated miRNA 195, may upset the balance of brain chemicals. In a postmortem study of the prefrontal cortex of twenty subjects with schizophrenia and twenty controls, the researchers found that higher amounts of miRNA 195 led to reduced levels of two important messenger chemicals: gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and a neuron-nourishing compound called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). GABA is an "inhibitory" neurotransmitter that signals neurons to slow down their firing rate. Previous research had shown that this messenger is insufficient in schizophrenia.
"Many researchers believe that GABA acts as a kind of orchestra conductor to coordinate activity among brain areas," Akbarian said. "For this neurotransmitter to be disrupted may be like the conductor becoming distracted and the musicians playing chaotically."
The finding by Akbarian and Mellios, reported in the June 15 Biological Psychiatry, revealed yet another level of complexity but also of specificity, suggesting that miRNA 195 contributes to the disease by reducing these two key chemical messengers.15 The study also points to miRNA 195 as a possible target for gene-silencing therapies still to be developed in the future, perhaps ushering in a day when schizophrenia could be treated by preventing certain genes from being translated into protein.
Many psychiatric illnesses are assumed to result from one or more "susceptibility genes" that are set in motion by some trigger from the environment. But a striking study from McGill University, Montreal, showed just the opposite: environmental trauma in the form of child abuse can actually cause genetic changes—in ways that can lead to suicide.
Reporting in the March Nature Neuroscience,16Michael Meaney and colleagues examined brain tissue taken postmortem from suicide victims with and without histories of childhood abuse, as well as control samples from individuals who had died suddenly of other causes. The researchers focused on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a role in stress, emotion and memory. The hippocampus is studded with receptors for the stress hormones known as glucocorticoids, which play many roles in the stress response.
Glucocorticoid receptors have their own shutoff mechanism, keeping in balance the amount of stress hormones that enter the hippocampus. Some conditions like major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder involve a loss of neurons containing the receptors—which, paradoxically, can lead to high levels of stress hormones in the brain and a host of stress-related disorders. When Meaney and colleagues examined the brain tissue of abused subjects who had committed suicide, the brains of child-abuse victims showed several differences. There were signs that glucocorticoid receptors had decreased in number; the genes encoding the receptors showed alterations in the "promoter" region where the process of gene expression begins; and activation of the promoter region occurred through a different type of chemical process. None of these changes were seen either in the brains of suicides who were not abused or in the controls.
The finding suggests that suicide can be considered a developmental disorder, in the sense that trauma in childhood causes biochemical changes and changes in gene expression that ultimately lead to the tragic event. "Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that early life events can alter the epigenetic state of relevant genomic regions, the expression of which may contribute to individual differences in the risk for psychopathology," the authors wrote.
The explosion of research in the last few years will make it possible to scan the entire genomes of thousands, even tens of thousands of individuals. "The challenge will be to analyze the data and figure out what it all means," said UCLA's Geschwind. The genetic variants now showing up in multiple genes may map out different pathways of disease development that converge at one target site for future medications. This scenario is possible, though unlikely, Geschwind said. More probable is that subsets of psychiatric illnesses will be classified and understood according to their genetic basis and development.
Geschwind added that even though known genetic variants remain rare, still they add up. In autism, for example, the best-known variants affect only 0.5 to 1 percent of patients. "But if you can develop tests for several SNPs or CNVs at once, you might be able to explain 5 or even 10 percent of cases," Geschwind said. "Since schizophrenia affects about one in 100 people, and autism about one in 150, the total number of patients and families is considerable." A genome-wide scan might cost about $1,000, but Geschwind notes that routine tests such as CT scans and MRIs cost as much—with a similarly "low yield" of finding disease in 1 to 5 percent of patients. The same rationale holds true for neuropsychiatric illness, Geschwind said. The power of genetics will be of great benefit for the families coping with these disorders.
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Beyonce Offers New Clothing Range So Fans Can Copy Her Style
Want to dress, and ultimately look and feel, as beautiful as Beyonce? Well, you can, since the singer and fashion plate is sorta opening up her wardrobe via a collection for Rent the Runway. Here, fans can borrow pieces that Bey recommends at a fraction of the cost at retail.
The Beyonce Boutique includes lots and lots of dresses of all shapes, styles and lengths, and by tons of different designers, so her fans can imitate her enviable and always-on-the-cutting-edge style. The rentable items began at the bargain basement price of $50 for a full outfit; accessories are just $10. The boutique includes brand names like Badgley Mischka, Nanette Lepore, Erin Fetherston and more.
So if you weren't feeling Bey's bathing suit partnership and "Beykinis" with H&M and prefer the high-end looks, then you'd want to rent pieces from this set for sure.
The policy for the site is rent, wear, return.
In a statement, the Queen Bey said, "Making women feel confident and beautiful is something I've always been passionate about. That's why joining forces with Rent the Runway was so organic."


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Number of Alaska glaciers is everchanging
There were less than a handful of glaciers in the 1990s; now there are more
A glaciologist once wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska "is estimated at (greater than) 100,000." That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice for a reason, might be correct. But it depends upon how you count.
Another glaciologist saw an example of the confusion when he visited Yakutat Glacier. Yakutat, near the Alaska town of the same name, is a withering glacier that calves into a deep lake of its own making. As it dies, Yakutat Glacier will increase the number of glaciers in Alaska. And it won't take long, said Martin Truffer of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The glacier is melting so fast it is fragmenting into smaller bodies of ice.
"You get into that paradoxical situation where a glacier is retreating and you get more glaciers," Truffer said.
His colleague Regine Hock pointed out a similar situation when pondering a request from a magazine reporter on the number of Alaska glaciers.
"Because of climate warming, the number of glaciers in Germany has increased over the last decades by several hundred percent." she wrote in an e-mail.
There were less than a handful of glaciers in the 1990s; now there are more because these two have fallen apart into mini glaciers.
Another problem in counting Alaska's glaciers arises from the varied names people have assigned to them over the years.
"In Bagley Icefield, it's really crazy," Truffer said, referring to a mass of ice where the Southeast panhandle meets the rest of Alaska.
There's all these different names. Where you separate them, that's a subjective choice.
"(Mapmakers) tend to give different names to several branches of an ice mass, all of which, by our more scientific definition, form part of a single glacier," said the Geophysical Institute's Anthony Arendt.
There are many cases where two glaciers flow from different accumulation areas and merge into a single ice mass at the terminus.
The Agassiz and Malaspina glaciers are good examples of this.
"What most people usually see is the very lowest part of a glacier, the glacier tongue coming down a valley," Hock said. So, this is one glacier.
You drive around the next corner and see another glacier flowing down another valley. So you would think this is two glaciers.
However, if you flew over the ice mass you would see that both glaciers are actually connected in a large ice field.
"The basic problem is that ice often is connected high up but then flows into individual valleys," Hock said. "That's one reason why the number of glaciers is a pretty meaningless number and impossible to determine accurately; what counts is the total area."
In a piece he wrote for the journal Science, Arendt estimated the total area of Alaska's glaciers at about 34,000 square miles of ice.
To put that figure in perspective, that much blue ice would cover the entire state of Maine.
Photo: The number of glaciers in Alaska is dependent upon how you define them. Ned Rozell photo.
Since the late 1970s, the director of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has supported the writing and free distribution of this column to news media outlets. 2014 is Ned Rozell's 20th year as a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.
This column first appeared in 2011.


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Fayette officials hope to use the village's income status to their advantage when it comes to paying for sewer work. The first step is to prove to a state agency that income levels are below average.
Roberta Acosta of the Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) is organizing a village-wide income survey to determine if Fayette is eligible for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the Ohio Department of Development, as well as other low-interest loan and grant programs.
A sewer separation project—separating storm water from septic wastes—has been underway in phases since 1998 and council members voted in 2007 to tackle the remainder of the work in one project.
In order to complete the project in a manner that's affordable for residents, funds must be secured from several federal and state agencies, Acosta wrote in a public notice. If the income survey shows that the village is eligible for CDBG money, up to $600,000 in grant funds could be made available.
Additional county funds also depend on the low-to-moderate status.
RCAP will handle all aspects of the survey and information provided by residents will be kept confidential. Data will be tabulated in the RCAP office in Toledo and will not be available to village officials. The income data will be used only to determine eligibility for state and federal funding.
A previous income survey was taken in 2006, Acosta said, but data must be updated every five years. In 2006, many residents didn't respond to the survey and Acosta had to resort to knocking on doors to obtain information.
The importance of a response is crucial, she said, because only a random sample of addresses will receive the survey.
"If you receive one," she said, "it's really important that you send it back. In the end, it helps everyone."
The survey is scheduled to be taken April 16-28. Less than five minutes should be needed to complete the survey. A pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope will be provided for the return of the survey.
For additional information, call Acosta at 419/724-4155 or Fayette's interim village administrator Thomas Clemensen at 419/237-2116.


text: I am making a "polo shirt" quilt much like a t-shirt quilt. However some of the logos from the shirt are so close to the collar I will have to cut them and appliqué them to the cut polo shirt material that is cut to a 10 " square. My question is..do I appliqué them before or after the stabilizer is applied. I kinda think "after" but not positive. Thanks.


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By now you know we love XR650R. We're taking a liquid cooled XR650R and restoring it with 1985 colours as a tribute to the Legacy... as a supermoto. Black motor, red frame, blue seat, blue fork covers, yellow side panels.
In the performance department: Hi-comp piston, jetted, FMF Powerbomb, Hotcam stage 2, Goldspeed 4 piston caliper with Goldspeed supermoto rotor and Magura master cylinder.
Choice of rims will be Excel 3.5 and 5.0 with RAD Equalizer Cush Drive rear hub and Eagle front.
Ok. We've got our bike. It's a 2000... the oldest of XR650R with still lots of ass kicking to hand out. In for tear down.
This is a low hour bike that's been ridden recreationally.
It is notoriously difficult to get the swingarm bolt that passes through the motor out on an XR650R. The bolt often corrodes and seizes in the bearing journal. To get it out, use liberal amounts of penetrating oil (WD). We used an airgun to spin the bolt before attempting to tap it out with a heavy hammer and a good punch. Be careful not to damage the bolt.
A dirty big red pig. On the bright side the engine is flawless, no leaks or seeps like 99% of the XR's that we see.
Introducing the Goldspeed 4 piston billet aluminum supermoto caliper. Manufactured for Goldspeed by Moto-Master. Chosen for its performance and looks... metallic gun metal rather than Moto-Master orange.
Goldspeed 320mm vented floating supermoto race rotor.
Fighting red frame with brand new gas tank. We're getting pretty excited to put this bad boy together.
The necessary parts to make your XR scream. 11.5:1 compression piston with stock bore making your XR650 more like an XR600. Stage 2 Hotcam with no automatic decompressor.
Look at that cylinder! It looks like it's brand new and it's 8 years old!
2000 XR 650R vs. 2005 KTM LC4 SMC supermoto
Intake valve: XR 650R. BIGGER.
Robust valve train
Dupli-Kote gloss black engine paint
Mock up FMF Powerbomb SS header with modified XR 650R subframe and 2 KTM LC4 SMC stock cans.
Introducing the "Master" at work fitting and fabricating
Reason for the twin pipes? Flow characteristics and muffling. This will be a city bike and will do most of its duty at night when everyone is sleeping. We don't want to wake them up. Not that they would see much anyways...
3.5 & 5.0" Excel rims, RAD Eagle front and Equalizer Cush rear with red nibbles
VSM hi-flow XR 650R intake. When you're done modifying your XR 650 with a stock air box, your bike will run a 180 main jet. With a VSM hi-flow intake, your bike will require a 230 main jet or Edelbrock pumper carb. Bigger jets = more power.
The cleanest wiring... period. VSM Legalizer Warness.
It's a celebration, bitches! The beast is wired.
OEM Pro-Link decal, new swingarm, VSM axle sliders, Goldspeed rear disc brake, Braking 2 pst rear caliper with DID Gold ER non-Oring chain and Goldspeed supermoto precut DOT/E4 slicks.
Extra capacity radiators with sweet looking blue silicone hoses... courtesy of Mike at Motoworld.
RWP at 51.8 but running lean... about 10 jet sizes too lean. Going to Edelbrock pumper carb..


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Tractor Colouring Canvas 30x45cm
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You can print Colouring Canvases in many cute designs at Harvey Norman PhotoCentre! By adding your child's name makes it even more special.
Every child loves to color, what could be more fantastic than coloring your own canvas. Personalised with your child's name, they are perfect for after school activity, birthday party activity, gifts, etc. Each design is printed on high quality canvas and then stretched and wrapped around a quality 30mm wooden frame to ensure a comfortable surface for coloring. All designs are printed on white canvas with black ink and come ready to hang.
To colour in your canvas we recommend you use coloured markers for a fast-drying and streak-free finish. However, we do recommend you test your chosen medium on an inconspicuous area first.
Creating Kids Personalised Colouring Canvases is easy at Harvey Norman PhotoCentre!! Simply choose your favourite design, type in the name or details you wish to have printed, click the 'preview' button to see exactly how your canvas will look then add to shopping cart!
Delivery to store is Free. For Australian domestic delivery to your home or office, you will incur a $8.95 for the first My Home and My Kids product and $1.95 for each additional My Home and My Kids product. Please review all delivery Information here.


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Sasha Suskind Moran and Forrest—March 30, 2012
From: Judge Carol Dean-Porter
First I have to tell you that I am a huge Thoroughbred fan. There is nothing with more heart! I am sure he is super fast across the ground and will be very tough to beat in jump offs. He appears to be well muscled and conditioned.
Forrest seems to really enjoy his job. He has pushed off equally from both hind feet from a slightly longish distance to this little oxer. I have the feeling that Forrest is not very impressed with this jump. His knees are up adequately. He is a bit loose with the lower legs but still clears the rails with room to spare. I think he would love a bigger jump! Be sure to ride him to the base on the oxers to encourage him to snap the front end up. I believe he is very careful and will only jump better.
Your saddle has slipped back a bit despite the breast plate. I think he would appreciate a more snugly adjusted elastic breast plate which will not bind his shoulders. That may be part of the reason he is not snapping those front legs up already. SmartPak has a great selection of my favorites: the 5 point attachment elastic breast plate. These secure the saddle at two points: saddle dees and billets.
Your lower leg has slipped back slightly but that is mostly because you have made an extra effort with your body to stay over his center of balance. If your saddle was adjusted 6 inches farther forward, you would not have to work so hard to stay with his jump.
He is very happy with the light contact release.
I wonder if he really needs the standing martingale? You may like to try him in a running martingale instead. I particularly like the elastic or bungee attachments. Your fuzzy boots are very attractive, but will gather sand and can cause irritation to the leg. I suspect your left front boot may have slipped down slightly.
Do you know his registered name and pedigree?
From: Judge Rob Gage
I love thoroughbreds. This jump just isn't big enough. He just doesn't feel the need to put out a full effort at this height. His front legs are OK, but he hasn't lifted his knees up all the way either. He uses his head and neck nicely, and is well aware of where the rails are….in other words….I doubt he touches the jumps very often.
As for you Sasha, you have a nice long jumpery release. Your body is well positioned above his neck. Your foot may have slipped back….but only a bit. I think your stirrups are the right length. You have done everything to allow your horse to jump his best. I don't know how old he is, but it looks to me that he has a lot more career ahead of him. Good Luck!
Follow up questions from Laura:
#1. What exercises would you suggest to better his jump? (i.e. gymnastics, etc.)
#2. What can I do as a rider to better my leg from slipping back?
From: Judge Carol Dean-Porter
Question #1: First be sure to ride to the base of the jump, don't leave him the "gap". Gymnastic grids are always a good tool to improve technique. Just be sure to not tire him out. Two or three repetitions is better than 10 or 12. These exercises force the horse to engage the hind end and that is hard work! I think this horse has enough natural talent and cares about the rails enough that even if he stays slightly loose, I don't see him getting sloppy and rubbing a lot of jumps. I bet he will love a bigger jump too!
Question #2: Fixing your saddle adjustment will make a huge difference. Riding in 2 point will strengthen the lower leg and of course work without stirrups makes for a super strong leg!
From: Judge Robert Gage
Question #1: I like exercises like bounces, set at 12′ apart…I like 4 of them, and I never make them higher than 3′, as they are somewhat stressful. I also like a grid, that starts with a pole on the ground, 8′ to a X-rail, about 18′ to a vertical, then 19′ to a smallish oxer, then 30′ to another oxer.
Question #2: As for your leg…of course…lots of work without your irons can't hurt. I used to spread "stickum" on the insides of my boots, or down the skirts of my saddle. Saddles tend to get slippery. Best of luck, and keep us posted on his progress. Oh, by the way, 4′ is GREAT!!


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Skydiving - Possibly the most mind-blowing seconds of your life
Most people list skydiving on their bucket lists, but it's way more than just an item to be ticked off.
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There's a neverending list of to-dos in New Zealand. There are so many great walks, amazing swims with dolphins, kayaking around coasts that are nothing short of magnificent, you get the idea. But never say you've been to New Zealand without skydiving. There are many other places in the world to do it, but falling from the sky doesn't get more beautiful than having The Remarkables coming closer and closer to you in Queenstown, New Zealand's adrenaline hub.
I chose to do the 12,000 feet jump with NZONE Skydive in Queenstown, having been seduced by their instagram photos. Although it's really more about the experience than the photos, I did choose the photo + video combo to document this daredevil activity that I thought I'll do just once in my life (but now I really want to do it again). Some skydiving companies have the tandem masters take photos that are more like selfies, so another reason why I chose to go with NZONE Skydive is because the photographer jumps WITH you to ensure you get really good shots of both your expressions as well as the amazing background. They capture the essential moments for you to always look back fondly -- the moment before throwing yourself off the plane; the "face of fear" when you just jumped off the plane; the duration of your freefall; and right after landing. The video is probably hilarious for yourself to watch, but it's a cool snippet to share at your house party or on Facebook. Or to show off to your grandkids.
Skydiving was a terrifying concept for me, and that is exactly why it's absolutely positively the most amazing and memorable 45 seconds of my life. The rush from it was just what I needed to feel -- alive and so happy to be.


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Style Statement is all about fashion world, exclusively trendy and fashionable clothing,accessories, its all about my love for fashion which reflects in my write ups and my personality,my style, my combination of latest styles,designs,and my choice of fashion . visit style statement in see the the fashion world from my eyes,i assure you, you would love it.
Showing posts from November, 2014


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Lancelot looking for a home
My name is Lancelot, Sir Lancelot and I am staying at a place called SAWS.
Some photos of how great Crinkle Cut and Domino are doing at their new forever home!
Stanford Animal Welfare Society is a non-profit organisation that works closely with local volunteers who offer their services at no charge. SAWS offer a safe haven for lost, underprivileged, abandoned and abused animals in Stanford and the surrounding area and also provides shelter for animals hopi...View Profile
Xplorio is your local connection allowing you to find anything and everything about a town.Read More
My name is Lancelot, Sir Lancelot and I am staying at a place called SAWS.
Now that you have met Sir Lancelot it is time to meet me, I am called Arthur and as you can see I am a very handsome gent.
Hi my name is Jinaja and I am a special needs kitty, but I am still a very loving and affectionate cat.
This year Stanford Animal Welfare Society is asking you to contribute to the Santa Paw's Bag's project.


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Lunchbox for T with all his favourite except tomato. Snow peas and tomato are home grown.
Comments :
- Harni said... on
- 11 December, 2007 01:38
Hi Lydia! Been browsing thru ur blog at least once everyday..I'm addicted to your delicious food and gorgeous pics. Currently I'm interested in trying the char siew & sago pudding recipe. Looks very yummy..
Can I link your blog to my fp? Would really appreciate it! Thanks!
- Mat Gebu said... on
- 11 December, 2007 08:13
Macam gambar iklan promosi makanan jepun di pasaraya laa.....
- Lydia said... on
- 11 December, 2007 09:22
Hi Harni, thanks for visiting and supports. :D
Sure, you can link my blog to your FP anytime. Btw, what is the address of your FP?
Allo cik mat, ada promosi hebat utk obento kat sini tau... tapi hari2 lebih kurang menu yg sama. hahaha
kat sini biasa orang bawa bekal gi kerja/sekolah mcm kat Jepun. Klu kat Msia... orang ingat kita nak jimat ke ada special diet.
- Mat Gebu said... on
- 11 December, 2007 11:37
Kat M'sia....makcik kantin yg jadi kaya raya...dan kita silap2 masuk hospital cepat..ye lah mereka masak letak serbuk perasa mesti banyak...ampoonn kat makcik2 kantin semuaa!!!
- Harni said... on
- 11 December, 2007 18:46
Hi Lydia! Thank you so much..really appreciate it!
This is my FP's add : http://harnisafarina.fotopages.com
Feel free to visit anytime. :D
- nhy said... on
- 12 December, 2007 12:41
can i order???
- Lydia said... on
- 12 December, 2007 21:15
harni, thanks for the link... soooooo cute si sara!
nhy, u wanna order the food or the chef? hahahahaha
- Coffee & Vanilla said... on
- 13 June, 2008 05:24
Beautiful, than you for your entry Lydia :)
- HK Choo said... on
- 06 November, 2009 16:45
Nice simple bento!!
- HK Choo said... on
- 06 November, 2009 16:45
- This comment has been removed by the author.


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With sluggish economic rebound, it remains necessary to save costs wherever possible. One area that should be considered is application maintenance services. Cutting back on service levels, negotiating with vendors, and implementing good application maintenance processes can yield short and long-term cost reduction results with minimal consequences on day-to-day business activities.
Before beginning, companies should complete a full assessment of their current application maintenance costs including:
In this slideshow, Info-Tech Research Group highlights a variety of expense reduction techniques and their respective impacts on budget and business. These tactics are classified by the time to realize targeted savings.
Getting More than Just Numbers from Your Web Analytics Make Web analytics more actionable and achieve the associated business benefits.
Why Half of All Social Media Initiatives Fail Avoid these 10 social media pitfalls.
Top 25 Oddball Interview Questions of 2010 Weird and wacky questions job seekers faced in 2010.
Related Topics : A Big Market for Big Data Jobs, Midmarket CIO, IT Management Automation, SharePoint, Technology Markets
The gig economy is clearly disrupting the tech industry, both in positive and negative ways. ... More >>
Is fake news a security issue? Some say yes, as it can be used as a social engineering tool to spread disinformation and conceivably to get unsuspecting users to click on malicious links. ... More >>
Executives at several top tech firms outline the skills they need now and in the near future, including IaaS and IoT security expertise. Other skills listed may surprise you. ... More >>


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Smart marketers know that email is one of the most powerful customer acquisition, engagement, and retention channels out there. Companies with highly robust email lists are able to drive high performance in terms of revenue and long-term customer relationships - in fact, according to The Direct Marketing Association email marketing generates $38 for every dollar invested.
From day one of your marketing program - even before you launch your core product and website, you need to make sure that you have the infrastructure in place to (1) generate sign-ups, (2) keep audiences engaged, and (3) keep your email list growing.
This process is easier said than done.
Advertisers, regardless of whether they realize it, may sometimes overwhelm their subscribers with the number of marketing messages they are targeting them with. This is why, some programs observe higher than expected unsubscribe rates or low open and click-through rates.
Marketers need to realize that today's consumers are self-directed, driven, and information hungry - qualities that the most successful email marketing programs support.
The key to succeeding with email marketing is simple - based around the following goals:
- The ability to reach audiences with the right marketing message at exactly the right time.
- The opportunity to delight and engage consumers, with relevant marketing materials, over the long-term.
- The ability to successfully marry your brand's value proposition with precise user intent.
- The ability to stand apart from the marketing noise out there.
A high quality email marketing strategy needs a healthy mix of these four goals. That's where your list-building process comes in.
When you've built an email list of highly engaged, qualified prospects, your job as a marketer becomes much easier. Open rates will increase, and audiences will be more likely to share your brand's content. Your email marketing program will be exponentially more valuable than, say, if you downloaded a random list of users and immediately started sending them messages.
So how do you build an email list of highly qualified subscribers?
One potentially powerful channel that only a few marketers harness is organic search - audiences who discover your site through Google and Bing, when they're actively seeking information related to your company. The rest of this guide is positioned to (1) help you understand why and (2) empower you with a set of list-building tactics to ensure that you're succeeding in connecting with an audience that is likely to convert.
Why SEO is More Important Than Ever
SEO, as an audience building landscape, has significantly shifted over the last several years.
Some marketing experts have gone so far to assert that SEO is dead, citing Google and Bing's aggressive algorithm changes are key reasons to focus on user experience rather than search rankings.
While it's true that user experience is probably the single most important variable affecting rankings in the search landscape, it's only a part of the marketing equation. SEO still requires careful technical analyses and strategic long-term planning to ensure that your site is fully optimized for the core user experience needs.
The days of only chasing keywords, however, are over. Users are most likely to discover your website, products, and services organically, through referral networks and word of mouth. Websites with strong reputations - signified by strong backlink portfolios - are likely to rank higher in search.
Some website pages rank higher in search than others - and will be responsible for driving most of your traffic. These audiences may not necessarily be ready to buy; rather, they are interested in learning more about your business and what your company has to offer. That's a strong win.
The problem?
Many companies ignore this intent-driven traffic source, measuring success by direct transactions only. If users aren't buying more of your product - or signing up for your service - immediately, it's easy to call SEO an inefficient traffic source.
But there's more to the story.
The fact is that these audiences need more time to decide whether your business is the right fit and whether the price points are worth it - especially if they've just discovered your company for the very first time.
That's why email marketing is so important - newsletters and email campaigns provide low-hanging opportunities to keep the conversation going after the "introductory handshake" that the search engine helped originally facilitate.
Don't let this mid-funnel web traffic fall through the cracks.
The following steps will teach you how to do two main things. First, how to increase your web traffic and SEO ranking. Secondly, you'll find out how to lift up your conversions from the users that have already entered your website, and thus improve your list building processes.
The Action Plan
Step O - Make Your Website SEO-friendly
Let's start with the initial phase i.e. the "introductory handshake". Your first task is to make sure that your target audience reaches and stays on your website. To do so, apart from giving them the direct URL to your site, you need to rank high in the Search Engines. Unfortunately, search engines aren't as sophisticated when it comes to crawling as real users surfing the web. What you need to do is to design your website for both the readers and the search engines.
Rule 1 - Know your keywords
Before you even start optimizing your website you should specify what keywords you will be targeting. Thanks to them, your audience will be able to find your site when typing up queries in the search engine, and search engines will know how to index your page.
If you're unsure what keywords you should be using (other than the brand name), think of how your target audience may want to search for your services. Use your own gut feeling, experience and keyword research tools like Wordtracker, Bing Keyword Research Tool or Google AdWords Keyword Planner. These should give you some insight into how users may encounter your brand and in consequence, what keywords you may want to target.
Word of caution: There are different theories as to how frequently one can use a particular keyword on their page. It's not a best practice to put it everywhere on your page, as both humans and crawlers - will realize that the content doesn't seem natural. Also, you should be targeting keywords that are truly related to what you're doing. Targeting every single keyword in the world isn't probably going to make sense and is not likely to generate high results.
Rule 2 - Place your keywords strategically
It's not only about knowing your keywords but also using them the right way. Using the same keyword in various parts of your website may have a different effect on its strength and chance of ranking high in the search engine results. According to a very useful resource - The MOZ Beginner's Guide to SEO -you should use the keyword phrase in the following parts of your site:
- In the title tag at least once. Try to keep the keyword phrase as close to the beginning of the title tag as possible.
- Once prominently near the top of the page.
- At least two or three times, including variations, in the body copy on the page. Perhaps a few more times if there's a lot of text content. You may find additional value in using the keyword or variations more than this, but in our experience adding more instances of a term or phrase tends to have little or no impact on rankings.
- At least once in the alt attribute of an image on the page. This not only helps with web search, but also image search, which can occasionally bring valuable traffic.
- Once in the URL. Additional rules for URLs and keywords are discussed later on in this section.
- At least once in the meta description tag. Note that the meta description tag does not get used by the engines for rankings, but rather helps to attract clicks by searchers reading the results page, as the meta description becomes the snippet of text used by the search engines.
Rule 3 - Adjust your Title tag
Your title tag is meant to be a description of your page and the content that it holds. Showing a title tag to search engine bots is like shaking hands for the first time. Just as you have about 7 seconds to make a good first impression on a human being, you have maximum 70 characters to make a good first impression on a search engine spider.
Don't be shy and put your main keyword in your title tag, so the poor creature will know the subject of your landing page right away. If you still have some space left, you can throw some additional keywords there, too. Just don't exceed 70 characters. In fact, it's better not to cross 65 characters line (5th point) and your landing page should be fine.
Rule 4 - Don't forget the Meta description
Don't forget about the meta description tag - it's a free sign board for SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) alley shown usually right below a website title and the URL. Although search engines will display whatever they want within their results instead of your meta (for example part of text from your website), a good written description has a fair chance to appear before users' eyeballs.
Keep it simple - describe the page subject with 150 - 160 characters. Include your main keyword (search engines can put it in bold type making it more conspicuous) and end your description with a carefully crafted call to action, so that the user is tempted to see your landing page. Bear in mind that you are writing the meta description rather for the user (a living person) than the bot.
Rule 5 - Tune up your URL
Just like a cherry on top can make a cake look more attractive (and more tasty as we eat with our eyes), a page URL containing a keyword can be more alluring for search engines. Put your main keyword in the landing page's URL if possible - you don't want it to look too long and spammy as this will harm the user experience, so don't push it.
What you have to do is to make sure you're designing the URL for humans.
What this means is that you may want to avoid using long ID numbers and stick to the readable words instead. On top of that, using punctuation between words (tip: use hyphens instead of underscores as Google prefers them) may prove useful as well.
If you want to find out more about the proper link structure, check out this explanation from Google.
Rule 6 - Give visitors the information they're looking for
Google puts a big emphasis on the quality of the content on your website.
What you include there has to be valuable and helpful to your visitors. And this refers to all pages - especially your homepage. There are no dirty tricks or ways around - only information-rich sites get the chance to rank high in the search engine results.
Rule 7 - Make the content indexable and crawlable
Every piece of content you place on your site should ideally be in HTML text format. That's because images, videos, Flash files, and other non-text content are often ignored by search engine crawlers.
Step 1: Learn What Your Audiences Want
Having made your website more SEO-friendly, you can now proceed and focus on forming a relationship with your newly acquired audience. But before you launch an email marketing program, you need to determine what your users want. It may be the case, for instance, that a newsletter campaign will have no value to your audience. You'll simply waste time - and valuable screen space - setting up a signup form that drives zero conversions.
Don't make this mistake.
Instead, take a step back to learn what your audience cares about. Would they enjoy receiving your emails? What are the qualities of the email campaigns they love? This process begins with an open dialogue. Talk to some of your existing customers and prospects. Talk to your target audience. You may even consider launching a Qualaroo survey to get some useful feedback:
The research and discovery phase should be short-lived and to the point. Instead of looking for a minimum, statistically significant set of responses, look for patterns that are related to what your company is seeking to achieve.
If you launched an email marketing program, would audiences want to sign up?
At this point, you may decide to run an A/B test on your landing page, showing a newsletter sign-up form to a small portion of your website traffic. Analyze test results and create different variations of your messages to see what resonates more with your audience.
What you need to know about list building through SEO is that the majority of your users are entering your website with a specific search intent in mind. Pay attention to these contextual details. What blog posts are driving the most organic search traffic?
This user intent will influence how and why the audience responds to your email marketing program.
Step 2: Identify Incentives for Driving Sign-Ups
Virtually every company has an email list. What makes yours different? What is your company's unique value proposition that would make people want to sign up? The more you speak to your prospects' exact needs, the more likely they are to sign up. To that end, you will want to create a set of incentives to inspire sign-ups. Here are a few examples:
No matter what incentive you choose, make sure that the value proposition clearly speaks to the research that you did in Step 1.
If you're not sure where to get started, take a look at what similar companies are doing. Read between the lines to see which blog posts and content topics are driving the most SEO volume. Chances are - especially in SEO - that if someone is researching a particular topic, he or she will want even more content to keep learning and be likely to sign up.
Which brings us to Step 3.
Step 3: Align Incentives with Audience Intent
Organic search, as a marketing channel, is just as powerful for research as it is for traffic acquisition. That's because audiences who find your business through search engines are seeking out a very specific piece of information about a particular topic.
If you start to notice that a few of your blog posts are generating significant traffic and ranking well in search results you can try experimenting with targeted offers. Test out content related to your top SEO drivers.
For instance, people who read the "Are You Making These 9 Unforgivable Mistakes On Your About Page" post are also likely to be interested in landing page design and conversion.
Depending on the SEO traffic volumes, it may be worthwhile to give readers the option to sign up for a related e-book or to participate in a relevant course.
If you're new to content marketing or running a website with very little web traffic, targeted content may not be worth the extra effort (because you'll be investing in personalization technologies without corresponding data or meaningful ROI). The key to getting started is to build a simple forecasting model based on your business's unique goal. This analysis can help you decide whether personalization is worthwhile.
Step 4: Make It Insanely Easy for People to Sign Up
Human attention span is getting shorter and shorter. If email list building is part of your company's conversion optimization engine, you'll need to make it ridiculously easy for people to sign up.
That means:
- Not requiring people to fill out a complex form
- Asking for fewer rather than "just enough" details
- Making your sign-up calls to action extremely obvious and visible (but without being overbearing)
- Consistently analyzing your heatmaps to fully understand where your audience's attention is going
Put yourself in your customers' shoes instead of following the "traditional" marketing practices. Take yourself back to the research you did in Step 1 to make sure your value proposition is more than just clearly defined - it needs to be obvious.
Notice the short and easy-to-follow email sign-up design that Social Media Examiner has put together: all that the user needs to do is enter their first name and email address. The barrier to sign-up is extremely low and the absolute bare minimum that's needed to reach audiences.
An additional tip: make sure that your email sign-up flows are optimized for mobile. When people browse your content on a small screen, they absolutely do not want to fumble with lengthy forms. The less information they have to provide the more likely they are to sign up for your email list.
Remember that mobile viewing space is limited. Did you notice an extremely low subscriber rate on your homepage? Don't sweat it, reserve that limited real estate for a value proposition that is more likely to speak to your mobile users' needs.
Step 5: Target Exit Intent
We mentioned previously that human attention spans are fleeting. That's an understatement. It may be the case that audiences are leaving your blog or website before they even have a chance to notice your email marketing efforts. That's where exit intent notifications come in.
Using tools like OptinMonster or Evergage (or other custom-built solutions), you can target audiences with a "last but not least" value proposition.
Keep in mind, however, that when it comes to pop-ups, there's a fine line between effective and spammy. Prepare your popup messaging with respect. Understand the user behavior so that you don't target your audiences with aggressive messaging.
Even with pop-ups targeting exit intent, you need to make sure that your audiences are fully empowered (like in the example from Clarity.fm below).
Step 6: Optimize Your Post Conversion Messaging and Flow
Honestly, this step deserves a separate e-book. Conversion optimization and marketing automation are individual fields of study. We'll take a crack at explaining the basics and if you're hungry for more, please reach out!
Traffic acquisition is not the only part of the marketing equation. In addition to encouraging sign-ups to your mailing lists, you need to make sure that your audiences have the resources that they need to take the desired action.
That's where your email marketing automation software comes in to deliver the right messaging at exactly the right time throughout your audience's buying journey. It will help you respond to the specific patterns and drive sales without being annoying or salesy.
Marketing automation is one of the most precise customer acquisition and engagement tactics out there. As your business's presence grows, you can refine your marketing funnels to target very specific user intents.
Long story short, don't leave your audience hanging. You're building your lists in order to generate repeat engagement. In addition to adding people to your list, figure out a way to track where they are coming from (e.g. by tracking email list sign-ups by traffic source in Google Analytics).
The fact that your audiences are trickling in through organic search may provide insight into what your follow-up messaging should be. For instance, if your website visitors are looking for B2B SaaS analytics software, you'll want your follow-up messaging to address that very specific need.
Step 7: Ensure that Your Analytics Is Spot On
Your analytics strategy is something that you will build in tandem with your growth strategy. In addition to piecing your list building strategy together, you'll need to make sure that your analytics is optimized to support your goals.
Especially when working with organic search traffic, you'll need to keep tabs on specific topics and articles that are driving traffic to your website. This information will help you determine where to invest your time and attention in building an effective conversion optimization and marketing automation plan.
The more you understand your users, the more effective your messaging and incentives will be. But don't let analytics deceive you with potentially misleading data.
For instance, you may notice that your audience is spending a long time on your site. You're likely to feel excited by these engagement levels until you realize that the users are lingering because they're confused and unsure what step they should take next.
In addition to capturing analytics, make sure to place equal emphasis on contextual information through (1) consistent user feedback and (2) tools that help you read between the lines (e.g. heat mapping software).
This analytical process will help you tie your SEO back to your organization's bottom line revenue metrics. And as a result, you'll be a few steps closer towards your goal.
Final Thoughts
As we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, SEO is a powerful marketing channel because it is user-intent-driven. Think about it from a user experience perspective - if a website visitor has a question or is looking for a specific piece of information, he or she is likely to use a search engine.
The opportunities for list building and marketing automation, as a result, is that you will be well positioned to create a highly focused, incentive-driven email marketing program. The more you understand your audience's search intent, the better you are prepared to share compelling ideas for solutions.
If you're running a high traffic company blog, you could start building your list with SEO right away. So what are you waiting for? Let's get to it!


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To experience the Cape to the fullest, why not try a vacation rental instead of a hotel? From a romantic rental cottage in Truro to a roomy condo in the middle of all the action in Provincetown, or even a luxurious rental house in Hyannis, there is sure to be a vacation rental to suit your needs. Come back from whale watching, biking, or any of the many activities to do in Cape Cod to a place that truly feels like home sweet home – and costs less for more space than most hotel rooms.
For a vacation destination with no shortage of things to do, Cape Cod is the way to go. With its beautiful shoreline, historic lighthouses, unique shopping and restaurants, and distinctive local flavor it is sure to be an unforgettable experience whether as a beachfront fantasy romantic getaway or a fun family trip. Staying in one of our various Cape Cod vacation rentals will make it an even more versatile experience and feel like your home away from home when you come back from all the action of the day.
When traveling with a large group, why pay for each individual hotel room when you can rent a three bedroom cottage on the beach or even a huge 5+ bedroom house for less? The Cape is perfect for families, with great activities from the Cape Cod Children's Museum to the Pilgrim Monument – and the faces of adults and children alike will light up when spotting a whale on one of the Cape's famous whale watching tours. The privacy and space of a rental house or condo as opposed to a hotel room will make even the youngest of children feel more safe and secure, and parents can sleep well knowing that they made the right choice when choosing a vacation rental.
Cape Cod is a unique destination with many small shops and restaurants like you will never see anywhere else. From quirky gift stores to candy shops and art galleries, there is bound to be something to catch your interest. Saving money by using a Cape Cod vacation rental instead of a hotel means that you can splurge on that interesting gift or amazing seafood dinner. One thing is sure, no matter what you decide to do on your Cape Cod vacation, you will take a part of it with you when you leave and it will be an unforgettable good time.


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Federer a major threat
Diane Pucin
A year ago I didn't think Roger Federer had another major tournament win in him. But with the way he played at the French Open, making the finals, Federer stamped himself as the man most likely to win Wimbledon.
Federer will turn 30 next month, and his occasional crankiness lately after losses seems to show that the man who already owns the most Grand Slam titles in history — 16 — needs to win another.
It's always difficult to pick against a Williams sister at Wimbledon. But Serena has played two matches since she won here last year and Venus not much more. Maria Sharapova has won Wimbledon once and was a healthy and aggressive hitter at the French Open. This might be her time to take a stand against the Williams Wimbledon wall.
Sharapova looks sharp
Harvey Fialkov
Sun Sentinel
The Williams sisters, winners of nine of the last 11 Wimbledons, will add drama and glamor. But Serena has played one event since winning here last year, while Venus is just as rusty.
On-paper No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has struggled on grass, and true No. 1 Kim Clijsters is hurt again. The smart money is on a razor-sharp Maria Sharapova to repeat her 2004 run.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal, a finalist or winner in his last four Wimbledons, has a minefield to dodge just to reach the semis. Andy Murray can't overcome the British curse. Andy Roddick will be a bridesmaid for the fourth time, only this time he'll lose to Novak Djokovic, who will take out six-time Wimbledon king Roger Federer in the semis.
No stopping Nadal
Hartford Courant
While it would be fun to see Andy Murray excite the home crowd or Novak Djokovic distinguish himself on the hallowed lawn, we're not ready to look past the Big Two.
Roger Federer proved at the French Open that he's still a force. And Rafael Nadal proved he's still the best in the world. That's why we expect the longtime rivals to advance. And we won't pick against Nadal, not after he's won 14 consecutive matches at Wimbledon.
On the women's side, all eyes will be on defending champion Serena Williams. She's back as the No. 7 seed, and smart tennis analysts believe she can win the tournament.
If Serena shakes off the rust and is on her game, she can buzz through the field.
Stick with Serena
Tarek Hamada
Yes, Serena Williams has just returned to the tour after nearly a year's absence. But so what? She still has the best serve and the fiercest will to win in women's tennis. She'll play her way into top shape — just as she did when she won the Australian Open in 2007 after a long absence.
The dark horse among the women is French Open champion Li Na, who is playing much better with a new coach.
On the men's side, Roger Federer has regained his mojo after he beat Novak Djokovic and nearly downed Rafael Nadal at the French Open. Federer wagged his finger and shouted for joy after he beat Djokovic because he sensed he had finally overcome his yearlong slump.


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Audi S1 Sportback
Dynamic photo
Colour: Vegas Yellow
Consumption data:
Audi S1 Sportback
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 7.2 – 7.1 (32.7 – 33.1 US mpg); Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 168 – 166 (270.4 – 267.2 g/mi); Figures on the fuel consumption and the CO2-emissions vary in case of given ranges depending on the used combination of wheels/tires.
Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions data as well as the efficiency classes are dependent on the choice of wheels and tyres.


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On a largely party-line vote, the House of Representatives approved an amendment reaffirming the Defense of Marriage Act as part of the defense appropriations bill, reports the Washington Blade.
Lawmakers voted in favor of the amendment, which was introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), by a margin of 248-175 as part of the fiscal year 2012 defense appropriations bill. The amendment would prohibit the use of Pentagon funds in contravention to the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.
The measure comes on the heels of guidance the Navy issued in April stating military facilities could be used for same-sex marriages in states where it's legal and chaplains could officiate over these ceremonies, if they so chose, in their official capacities. The Navy has since rescinded this guidance and said further review is necessary.
The anti-gay Virginia Foxx made headlines in 2009 when she slammed the proposed federal hate crimes bill on the House floor, describing Matthew Shepard's muder as a "hoax" and not a hate crime. More on Foxx at Pam's House Blend ...
Six Republicans voted against the amendment: Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), Mario Diaz-Balart, Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Additionally, 19 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment: Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), John Barrow (D-Ga.), Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), Dan Boren (D-Okla.), Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), Mark Critz (D-Pa.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Tim Holden (D-Pa.), Larry Kissell (D-N.C.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), James Matheson (D-Utah), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Nich Rahall (D-W.V.), Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.).
The largely symbolic vote comes at the same time DOMA is being challenged in the federal courts ... and after the Administration announced it would no longer defend a key provoision of DOMA in challenges.
The House version of the defense authorization bill—passed in May—also contained similar anti-gay amendments including a DOMA re-affirmation. Those were later stripped in the House-Senate conference.


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August 20, 2011 (Plano, Texas) – The joy of a Lionel electric train set lives on for generations! Join the Train Collectors Association Lone Star Division for their annual show and sale in Plano on Saturday, August 20th from 10:30am to 4:00pm. Vintage and new Lionel trains will be on display, along with choice pieces for sale to the public by the Association's members.
Bonus: Activities will include operating model train layouts of various scales and a special layout for children to operate!
The Museum of the American Railroad will host a table at the show, displaying the latest plans and images of the new museum currently under construction in Frisco. Museum staff will be available to answer questions and make memberships available to guests.
The event will be held at the Plano Holiday Inn Select at 700 Central Parkway East, Plano, TX 75074 (off North Central Freeway / US 75, just south of East Park Blvd).
Beat the heat and join us for this indoor family activity! Admission is $6 for adults / $9 per family.
For more information, contact Mr. Ron Spinek at 214-383-9478 or visit their website at http://www.tca-lonestardivision.org/
All aboard for indoor family fun!


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KLRU-TV, Austin PBS Celebrates Black History Month KLRU announces an expansive slate of events and programs profiling the rich history, culture and contributions of African-Americans in honor of Black History Month. The programs air as part of KLRU's celebration of Black History Month, February 2012<http://pressroom.pbs.org/Programs/Black-History-Month-2012.aspx>.
With new programs that delve into the archives of history, this year's schedule provides an in-depth look at a variety of historical events from the post-Emancipation era to the rise of the black power movement.
Additionally KLRU will host two free community events. Information is listed below.
*Events:* *KLRU Community Cinema*
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 7 p.m.
KLRU and the Windsor Park Library present monthly film screenings and discussions afterwards. The February event is in conjunction with Black History Month. Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African American filmmaker, is on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month.
Through this tongue-in-cheek journey, *More than a Month,* investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a "post-racial" America. Join us for a free screening and discussion afterwards.
Location: Windsor Park Library, 5833 Westminster Drive.
*Arts In Context:* The Relatives with The Isaac Sisters Saturday, February 11 at 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m.
Join us for this very special taping of Arts In Context. Formed in the early 1970s by the Rev. Gean and Tommy West, the Relatives' cut three genre-bending singles during their decade-long run that were too freaky for the church and too righteous for R&B radio. Though pioneers of an utterly singular sound, the Relatives never made a splash outside of Dallas and have remained virtually unknown even among serious record collectors. But all of that is changing with recent performances at ACL Music Festival in 2010 and backing Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears on the PBS television series Austin City Limits last year. Joining them will be The Isaac Sisters in their very first television appearance.
Location: KLRU Studio 6A, 26th and Guadalupe *On Air:* *Below is a list of programs on KLRU during February to commemorate Black History Month. All programs are broadcast on KLRU 18-1 unless otherwise noted.* *February 2 at 9 p.m.* *Independent Lens "Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock" *This film tells the story of Daisy Bates' life and public support of nine black students who registered to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
*February 6 at 9 p.m. *
*Underground Railroad: TheWilliam Still Story *This film explores one man's mission to help slaves escape to freedom. The inner workings of the Underground Railroad are explored through detailed records, diaries and other written accounts of the freedom seekers who made their way across the U.S. border to Canada.
*February 6 at 10 p.m.*
*Up from the Bottoms: The Search for the American Dream *This documentary tells the story of the massive migration of African Americans from the rural south to the prosperous north during the World War II years and beyond. They left behind the legacy of slavery and segregation and set out to find the American dream. Narrator Cicely Tyson guides us through these touching, thoughtful and often funny stories as told by fifteen residents of Muskegon, Michigan.
*February 7 at 7 p.m.*
*Freedom Riders: An American Experience *An encore presentation of the powerful and inspiration story of the more than 400 black and white men and women who, using non-violent tactics, risked their lives to challenge segregated travel facilities in the South in 1961. Repeats Sunday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m.
*February 9 at 9 p.m.*
*Independent Lens "Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975" *In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Swedish television journalists came to America to document the burgeoning black power movement. The program includes interviews with seminal black power leaders such as Stokely Carmichael and Eldridge Cleaver as well as author/activist Angela Davis.
*February 11 at 7 p.m.*
*Austin** City Limits featuring Jimmy Cliff* Jimmy Cliff first found fame as a teenager, with a string of hit singles in his native Jamaica. By the late 60s, reggae was in full flower and Cliff became one of its first international stars with "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam,"
which Bob Dylan called "the best protest song I've ever heard." Cliff continues to record and tour all over the world, collaborating with Sting, Wyclef Jean and the Rolling Stones along the way. As popular now as he ever was, Jimmy Cliff is the international face of reggae and Austin City Limits presents this legend in a full-hour concert.
*February 13 at 8 p.m.*
*Slavery By Another Name * A Sundance Film Festival selection for 2012, this new documentary examines the concept of "neoslavery," which sentenced African-Americans in the post-Emancipation South to forced labor for violating an array of laws that criminalized their everyday behavior.
Laurence Fishburne narrates the film.
*February 14 at 8 p.m.*
*Frontline "The Interrupters" *Documentary follows a group of former gang leaders in Chicago who try to "interrupt" shootings and protect their communities from the violence they themselves once committed. It is a compelling observational journey into the stubborn, persistent violence that plagues American cities.
*February 16 at 8 p.m.*
*Harpist's Legacy: Ann Hobson Pilot and the Sound Change* This program profiles the inspirational life and distinguished career of the revered harpist. This compelling documentary follows Ann Hobson Pilot's trailblazing journey as the first black female principal player in a major symphony orchestra and also as an international soloist, teacher, mentor and driving force behind music-education programs for underserved minorities *. A Harpist's Legacy uses* her professional journey to explore the increasing racial diversity and shift in attitudes toward musicians of color in the classical music world.
*February 16 at 9 p.m.*
*Independent Lens "More Than A Month" *An African-American filmmaker is on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Through this tongue-in-cheek and thought-provoking journey, the film investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a "post-racial" America.
*February 20 at 10 p.m.*
*An Evening with Valerie Simpson * Gwen Ifill interviews Valerie Simpson, who for more than 40 years wrote hit-making songs with her husband, the late Nick Ashford. As performers, their best-known duets are "Solid" and "Found a Cure." This is an intimate tribute to their artistry, with performances by Patti Austin, Kindred The Family Soul and Valerie Simpson.
*February 23 at 9:30 p.m. *
*Haunted Texas * Ghost sightings are reported at an abandoned settlement made by former slaves after the Civil War. This program explores the history of the Peyton Colony, Texas, also known as Freedman's Colony, a settlement established by former slaves after the Civil War.
*February 24 at 9 p.m.*
*Great Performances "Memphis"* Turn the radio dial back to the 1950s for the tale of a black singer, a white DJ, forbidden love and the birth of rock 'n' roll. The original Broadway cast members of the 2010 Tony Award-winner for Best New Musical reprise their roles in this roof-raising celebration of music.
*February 27 at 10 p.m.*
*American Masters "Cab Calloway: Sketches" * Cab Calloway, one of the first black musicians to tour the segregationist South and a regular performer at Harlem's famous Cotton Club is profiled. Film showcases this exceptional figure in the history of jazz, a bandleader and singer who charmed audiences around the world with his boundless energy, bravado and elegant showmanship.
*February 27 at 11 p.m.*
*In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues *President and Mrs. Obama host this music special from the East Room. The all-star concert celebrates the great figures of the Blues genre and the songs they made famous – from John Lee Hooker to Muddy Waters.
*About KLRU-TV*
KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, reflects, celebrates and inspires Central Texas through creative excellence, community engagement and lifelong learning. In addition to providing locally produced and quality national television programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through educational workshops, community engagement projects and public events. Known as the producing station of the longest-running live music television show AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, KLRU has also worked on several other national productions including the documentaries CITIZEN ARCHITECT and LAST BEST HOPE. Get more information about KLRU at klru.org.
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McGovern's Ashes to be Buried in DC Early 2013
MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - Family members of the late Sen. George McGovern say his cremated remains will be buried early next year in a historic Washington, D.C., cemetery.
Nephew Matt McGovern tells the Daily Republic that the remains are currently in Sioux Falls, where McGovern died in October at the age of 90.
Matt McGovern says the family is looking at a mid-February burial.
When McGovern's wife, Eleanor, died in 2007, she was originally interred at City Cemetery in Mitchell. but her remains were moved to Rock Creek later that year. One of the McGovern's daughters, Terry, is buried in Rock Creek.
McGovern had considered being buried in Mitchell, the town where he grew up and attended college. The community's Dakota Wesleyan University hosts his library and center for leadership and public service.
Meanwhile, feeding South Dakota has received more than $70,000 in donations in memory of the late Sen. George McGovern.
Executive director Matt Gassen tells the Daily Republic (http://bit.ly/RvxKVb) that as McGovern grew gravely ill, his family asked that donations be given to the organization in his memory.
Gassen says he was overwhelmed then and still is today.
Feeding South Dakota through offices in Sioux Falls, Pierre and Rapid City provides food and money to 450 organizations across the state. The organization's annual budget is $4 million, so Gassen says $70,000 is significant.
McGovern's family asked for the dollars donated in McGovern's honor to be used for food backpack programs for needy school children in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


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Latest WFMU show
D:O RadioTune into D:O Radio every Monday 12-3pm EST, on one of WFMU's internet streams, Give the Drummer Radio. New, live shows every week. OUR SHOWS ARE ARCHIVED OVER HERE. Have a listen!
What?An mp-free jazz blog focusing on rare or out-of-print music. We generally publish once a week. Songs will be available for a limited time, and are for evaluation purposes only. Attend concerts. Buy music.
Who?Chilly Jay Chill (aka Jeff Jackson) and Prof. Drew LeDrew (aka Jeff Golick). Requests, rants, and rights issues to: destination.out [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com.
How?Just be yourself.
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The Unheard Ornette
Welcome to LOST TONES, a series featuring tracks from hyper-rare recordings that aren't available anywhere else on the web. These treasures are courtesy of George Scala, who runs the invaluable Free Jazz Research site. He's generously shared them from his… Continue reading


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Tree Tyler Day – Volunteers Needed
Barbara Bass, the mayor of the City of Tyler, has a goal of planting 5000 trees within the city in five years and the city is on track to meet that goal, but is in need of volunteers to help obtain it though.
Saturday, is Tree Tyler Day and the City of Tyler along with Mayor Bass is asking for the publics help to plant around 100 trees Saturday morning. If you'd like to help make Tyler a greener community, you'll need to show up at Harvey Convention Center on Front St. Saturday at 10a, where you'll enjoy a catered breakfast and then be teamed up and head out to plant some trees. You will though need to bring your own shovel and gloves but the heavy work, like digging a big hole to put the tree in will be done by city crews ahead of time.
The ultimate goal is to plant 5000 new trees and so far more than 4000 have been registered within the city limits and registered through the mayors office.