text: Financial services updater - international edition Publication | 30 April 2012 Introduction Banking Capital adequacy Collective Investment Schemes FSA Handbook Insurance Market abuse Money Laundering Regulation & compliance Retail Seminars Introduction Welcome to the latest edition of our financial services updater.Highlights this week include:FSB letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors regarding progress of financial regulatory reformsFinal report - ESMA's technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swapsARROW visit coming up? It is important that firms properly prepare themselves for an ARROW visit. There are many ways in which we can assist in this preparation to ensure that the process runs smoothly. For further information please contact either Jonathan Herbst or Peter Snowdon. Banking Commission acts to ensure implementation of EU rules in the area of electronic money activitiesThe European Commission has issued a press release stating that it has asked Belgium, Spain, France, Cyprus, Poland and Portugal to notify it within the next two months of the measures they are taking to update their national legislation in conformity with the latest Directive on e-money.The deadline for implementing the measures was 30 April 2011. The Commission's request takes the form of a reasoned opinion. If the national authorities do not notify the necessary implementing measures within two months, the Commission may refer the Member States to the Court of Justice of the EU and may request the Court to impose financial penalties.View Commission acts to ensure implementation of EU rules in the area of electronic money activities, 26 April 2012EPC response to the European Commission Green Paper 'Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments'The European Payments Council (EPC) has published its response to the European Commission Green Paper, Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments.The EPC does not support a number of related assumptions and suggestions that have been put forward in the Green Paper. In particular it states that a thorough factual analysis of the EU payment landscape is a prerequisite for any conclusion that further regulatory action may be required.View EPC response to the European Commission Green Paper 'Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments', 26 April 2012 Capital adequacy Policy Statement 12/7: Regulatory Prudent Valuation ReturnThe FSA has found that firms' accounting approaches to fair valuing assets vary substantially. The fair values in firms' annual reports do not provide substantial information on the degree of uncertainty in the valuations of financial instruments, such as derivatives.GENPRU 1.3 sets out requirements for firms to use prudent valuation principles when valuing trading books (and other assets and liabilities held at fair value) and to disclose the difference between that prudent valuation and the fair valuation used in their financial statements.From December 2010' relevant firms were asked by the FSA to produce quarterly reports that show these differences. These were produced in a free format. However, to aid comparability between firms and over time, the FSA sought to introduce a consistent format for the return.In December 2011 the FSA published Consultation Paper 11/30: Proposed Regulatory Prudent Valuation Return (CP11/30) in which it consulted on the proposed format for the return. The major properties of the proposed return are to show the net and gross balance sheets for a defined list of asset classes, together with the potential downside and upside that could exist through the inherent uncertainty in the valuation process.The FSA has now published Policy Statement 12/7: Regulatory Prudent Valuation Return (PS12/7). In PS12/7 the FSA sets out feedback to CP11/30 and the subsequent changes to the FSA's rules. The requirement to produce the new regulatory return comes into force on 30 June 2012 and the return will be required for reporting periods ending on or after that date.View Policy Statement 12/7: Regulatory Prudent Valuation Return, 27 April 2012 Collective Investment Schemes IOSCO consultation - Principles of liquidity risk management for collective investment schemesThe Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions has published a Consultation Report that sets out principles against which both the industry and regulators can assess the quality of regulation and industry practices concerning liquidity risk management for collective investment vehicles.The principles are structured according to the time frame of a collective investment scheme's life. They start with principles which should be considered in the design (pre-launch) phase of a collective investment scheme. They then outline the principles that should form part of the day-to-day liquidity risk management process.The deadline for comments on the Consultation Report is 2 August 2012.View Consultation Report - Principles of Liquidity Risk Management for Collective Investment Schemes, 26 April 2012ESMA begins AIFMD co-operation discussions with non-EU supervisorsThe European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced that it will begin discussions with non-EU supervisors of entities subject to the requirements of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) about supervisory co-operation issues.The announcement follows agreement by ESMA's Board of Supervisors to follow a common policy in relation to the co-operation arrangements under the AIFMD, which should be in place between EU and non-EU securities supervisors by July 2013.ESMA will lead on the negotiation of co-operation arrangements with non-EU authorities on behalf of EU supervisors. While ESMA will negotiate on behalf of the EU competent authorities, the final signature of individual Memorandum's of Understanding will be the responsibility of each EU competent authority.View ESMA begins AIFMD co-operation discussions with non-EU supervisors, 26 April 2012EFAMA report on EFC categoriesThe European Fund Categorisation Forum (EFCF) was formed by a group of fund management companies and data vendors for the specific purpose of defining the parameters for a pan-European classification system of investment funds.By agreeing to work together, these firms recognised that they had a common goal - increasing transparency in fund comparison within a classification system that could be endorsed by a core group of cross-border firms and data vendors. By pooling their expertise, the EFCF members could reach mutual understanding of the difficulties involved in fund categorisation and accelerate the convergence towards a common European standard.This goal prompted the EFCF to join forces with the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) to facilitate broad acceptance of the European Fund Classification (EFC) across Europe.The EFAMA has now published a report detailing the categories to facilitate the use of the EFC by all industry stakeholders. Under the categorisation system detailed in the report funds are split into six types:Equity, bond, multi-asset and money market funds. These funds typically aim to achieve returns higher than a benchmark index, within a universe that is segmented according to eight criteria: country/region, sector, market capitalisation, currency, credit quality, interest rate, emerging market exposure and asset allocation.Absolute Return Innovative Strategies (ARIS) funds. These funds are managed with the objective of generating a positive return over a cash benchmark, irrespective of market movements. In general, these funds make extensive use of derivatives to short-long securities or the market as a whole.Other funds. These funds fall outside the main EFC categories because they use specialist investment strategies such as capital protected, real estate and convertibles.The report is accompanied by a spreadsheet showing in which EFC categories 3,296 cross border funds (13,048 share classes) belong to. These funds are promoted by 125 fund managers, including many belonging to the largest fund management groups.View EFAMA report on EFC categories, 23 April 2012 FSA Handbook Handbook Notice 119The FSA has published Handbook Notice 119. This Handbook Notice introduces the FSA Handbook and other material made by the FSA Board under its legislative powers on 23 February 2012, 21 March 2012 and 26 April 2012. In this period the FSA published instruments which:Improves rules for with-profits businesses and enhances governance by mandating an increased role for the with-profits committee (FSAS 2012/10).Covered the maintenance of information relating to clients' safe custody assets and client money (FSA 2012/20).Approved the making, by the Board of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) of case fees for the FOS and voluntary jurisdiction levy rates (FOS 2012/1).Set minimum qualification standards that advisers have to meet under the Retail Distribution Review (FSA 2012/21).Update the technical assumptions and guidance on pension transfer value analysis (FSA 2012/22).Amend data items and guidance for clarification of reporting requirements in the Supervision manual (FSA 2012/23).Improve firms reporting around the prudent valuations of financial instruments (FSA 2012/24).Apply a master-feeder regime for non-UCITS retail schemes (FSA 2012/25).There were no changes outside the FSA Handbook this month.View Handbook Notice 119, 27 April 2012FSA confirms traded life policy investments should not generally be promoted to UK investorsTraded Life Policy Investments (TLPIs) - also known as Traded Life Settlements or Senior Life Settlements - are complex products with a number of risks. They are pooled investments into US life assurance policies. They can be sold either directly or indirectly through other investments such as funds of funds.The FSA has published finalised guidance in which it strongly recommends that TLPIs should not reach the vast majority of retail clients. The FSA has found significant problems with the way in which many TLPIs are designed, marketed and sold to UK retail clients. Many TLPIs take the form of unregulated collective investment schemes, which cannot lawfully be promoted to retail investors in most cases, but have often been marketed inappropriately to retail customers.The finalised guidance is an interim measure. The FSA will shortly be consulting on new rules which will impose significant restrictions on the promotion of non-mainstream investments, including TLPIs, to retail investors.View FSA confirms traded life policy investments should not generally be promoted to UK investors, 25 April 2012View Finalised Guidance 12/2: Traded Life Policy Investments, 25 April 2012 Insurance Smaller wholesale insurance intermediaries newsletter (issue 8)The FSA has published a new issue of its Smaller wholesale insurance intermediaries newsletter (issue 8). In this newsletter the FSA briefly covers:EU Gender Directive update.Regulatory fees and levies.Gender diversity.Retail Conduct Risk Outlook 2012.Tracing Employers' Liability Insurance.Improving standards in consumer contracts.SUP 15 obligations.Regulatory reporting.View Smaller wholesale insurance intermediaries newsletter (issue 8), 27 April 2012 Market abuse EESC opinion on the MAD revision legislative proposalsThe European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has published an opinion concerning the European Commission's legislative proposals which revise the Market Abuse Directive (MAD).The EESC agrees in principle with the Commission's proposals but has a number of concerns in relation to the specific structure of the proposals being in the form of a Regulation and a Directive. In particular the EESC believes that the vague wording of many offences in the proposal for a recast Directive on market abuse, and the delegation of further detail to the European Securities and Markets Authority and/or the Commission at Level 2 are likely to cause significant legal uncertainty.In its opinion the EESC sets out a number of specific remarks on the legislative proposals. In particular it welcomes the extension of the scope to include over-the-counter financial instruments. However, the EESC states that it is unclear as to how these are to be covered by the proposals. The EESC also broadly welcomes the inclusion of highly sophisticated technology for implementing trading strategies within the scope of the rules on market abuse. However, the EESC states that it should be remembered that algorithm-based trading is not per se a bad thing, but is also used by credit institutions to process day-to-day orders from private clients. The EESC states that those applying the law therefore need further clarification as to what is legally permissible.View Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on insider dealing and market manipulation and the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market manipulation, 28 March 2012ESMA report - Actual use of sanctioning powers under MADThe European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a report on the use of administrative and criminal sanctions by EU national regulators under the Market Abuse Directive. The report provides a comparison of the use of administrative sanctioning powers across 29 EEA Member States for 2008-2010. The report compares Member States' market abuse regimes across a number of categories, which are:The type of sanctioning powers available to competent authorities (CAs) and against whom and for which offences they were applicable.The resources allocated by CAs to this issue.The actual use of sanctioning powers available - settlement, administrative and criminal sanctions and publication.The results of the report will provide input to the legislative process on the new market abuse regime.View ESMA report - Actual use of sanctioning powers under MAD, 26 April 2012 Money Laundering JMLSG revised guidance on electronic moneyThe Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) has published an updated version of chapter 3 of its guidance which concerns electronic money.The purpose of the guidance is to provide clarification to electronic money issuers on customer due diligence and related measures required by law. The guidance may be used by all electronic money issuers (as defined in Regulation 2(1) of the Electronic Money Regulations 2011), including authorised electronic money institutions, registered small electronic money institutions, and credit institutions with a Part IV permission under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to issue electronic money. It may also be relevant for EEA authorised electronic money issuers who distribute their products in the UK.The revised guidance must be read in conjunction with the JMLSG main guidance set out in Part I and the specialist guidance set out in Part II.View JMLSG electronic money guidance, 18 April 2012 Regulation & compliance Final communiqué - Meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governorsThe G20 finance ministers and central bank governors have issued a final communiqué following their meeting in Washington DC.The communiqué looks ahead to the G20 leaders' summit which will be held in Los Cabos, Mexico on 18 and 19 June 2012 and the work scheduled to be finalised for that summit.In the communiqué G20 finance ministers and central bank governors:Reaffirmed their commitment to common global standards by pursuing the financial regulatory reform agenda.Noted the work carried out to date by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on the modalities for extending the systemically important financial institutions framework to domestic systemically important banks.Welcomed the FSB progress report on strengthening the oversight and regulation of the shadow banking system.Supported the work coordinated by the FSB to provide safeguards supportive of a global framework for central counterparties (CCPs) as an important element in achieving the agreed over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives reforms, so that authorities can make informed decisions on the standards and requirements of CCPs to meet by end 2012 their commitment that all standardised OTC derivatives be centrally cleared in CCPs with the appropriate safeguards.Supported the work of the FSB on the global governance framework for the legal identifier and looks forward to its recommendations in June on establishing a global LEI system.Supported work on developing for consultation, internationally consistent standards on margining for non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives by June 2012.View Final communiqué - Meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, 19 April 2012FSB letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors regarding progress of financial regulatory reformsThe Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors concerning the progress of the financial regulatory reforms agreed by G20 leaders at Cannes. The areas covered in the letter include:Building resilient financial institutions. The FSB notes that financial institutions are making progress strengthening their balance sheets. It also notes that a recent assessment by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) shows that banks largely meet the new minimum Basel III requirements of 4.5 per cent for common equity Tier 1 capital, net of the adjustments for the quality of capital that will be phased in beginning next January.Ending "too-big-to-fail". The FSB and the BCBS are leaning towards a set of principles as a minimum framework for domestic systemically important banks, covering both the methodology for assessing the systemic importance of domestic institutions, and the policy tools that national authorities could apply to contain the systemic risks they pose.Strengthening the oversight and regulation of shadow banking activities. The FSB has put on track a number of initiatives including developing, with other standard setting bodies, regulatory recommendations: (i) to mitigate the spill-over effect between the regular banking system and the shadow banking system; (ii) to reduce the susceptibility of money market funds to "runs"; (iii) to assess and mitigate systemic risks posed by other shadow banking entities than money market funds; (iv) to assess and align the incentives associated with securitisation to prevent a repeat of the creation of excessive leverage; and (v) to dampen risks and pro-cyclical incentives associated with securities lending and repos that may exacerbate funding strains at times of shocks to confidence. A full set of recommendations will be issued by the end of 2012.Creating continuous markets - OTC derivatives reforms. The FSB notes that work is well advanced to establish a safe environment for clearing over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives through a global framework of central counterparties. The FSB is also on course to meet the mandate from the G20 leaders' summit in Cannes to provide recommendations on the governance framework for a global legal entity identifier to the G20 summit in Los Cabos, as well as providing proposals for the implementation of the system.Convergence of IASB-FASB accounting standards and strengthening of IASB governance. Important improvements to the IASB and FASB standards on financial instruments, fair value and off-balance sheet entities were finalised in 2011. The IASB and FASB will conduct further consultations in the second half of 2012, and the FSB expects them to issue final converged standards in a number of key areas by mid-2013.Timely and consistent implementation of reforms. The FSB will report to the G20 summit in Los Cabos on progress across the range of reforms. The reporting will include separate progress reports on the three priority areas where the reforms are furthest advanced (Basel III, OTC derivatives and compensation practices), together with an overall overview progress report.View FSB letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors regarding progress of financial regulatory reforms, 16 April 2012FSB report on extending the G-SIFI framework to domestic systemically important banksThe Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a progress report to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors concerning extending the global systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs) framework to domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs).The framework which is being considered for D-SIBs is complementary to that for G-SIFIs, namely that of assessing the impact of the failure associated with the local presence of a bank in a given jurisdiction, whether a national or an internationally active bank.The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the FSB are considering a minimum framework for D-SIBs, based on a set of principles, covering both the methodology for assessing the systemic importance of domestic institutions, and the policy tools that national authorities could apply to contain the systemic risks they pose.The principles being considered for D-SIBs seek to establish a minimum framework that is intended to ensure compatibility with the framework for global significantly important banks (G-SIBs), address cross border externalities that the failure of a D-SIB may pose, and preserve a level playing field within and across jurisdictions. The principles would include guidelines for national authorities to assess the systemic importance of banks in a domestic context, as well as an agreed appropriate unit of analysis, i.e. the entity that is being assessed for systemic importance at the domestic level.The BCBS and the FSB intend to finalise the principles in the autumn. The principles would then be submitted to the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in November.View FSB report on extending the G-SIFI framework to domestic systemically important banks, 16 April 2012FSB report on strengthening the oversight and regulation of shadow bankingThe Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a progress report to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors concerning strengthening the oversight and regulation of shadow banking.The FSB published initial recommendations concerning shadow banking in its October 2011 report Shadow Banking: Strengthening Oversight and Regulation. Following the initial recommendations five work streams have been launched to advance the work to develop proposed policy recommendations in the following areas:Banks' interactions with shadow banking entities.Money market funds.Other shadow banking entities.Securitisation.Securities lending and repos.The first, second and fourth of the above work streams will prepare their recommendations by July 2012. The recommendations from the other work streams are expected by September 2012, while the securities lending/repo work stream is to prepare recommendations by the end of 2012.View FSB report on strengthening the oversight and regulation of shadow banking, 16 April 2012Final report - ESMA's technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swapsThe Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps (the Regulation) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 24 March 2012 and comes into effect from 1 November 2012.ESMA has now published a final report setting out technical advice on a number of delegated acts concerning the Regulation. The final advice is set out as follows:Section 1 covers the definition of when a natural or legal person is considered to own a financial instrument for the purposes of the definition of short sale (Article 2(2) of the Regulation).Section 2 relates to the net short position in shares or sovereign debt covering the concept of holding a position, the case when a person has a net short position and the method of calculation of such a position including when different entities in a group have long or short positions or for fund management activities related to separate funds (Article 3(7) of the Regulation).Section 3 sets out advice in instances where a credit default swap (CDS) transaction is considered to be hedging against a default risk or the risk of a decline of the value of the sovereign debt and the method of calculation of an uncovered position in a CDS (Article 4(2) of the Regulation).Section 4 defines the initial and incremental levels of the notification thresholds to apply for the reporting of net short positions in sovereign debt (Article 7(3) of the Regulation).Section 5 specifies the parameters and methods for calculating the threshold of liquidity on sovereign debt for suspending restrictions on short sales of sovereign debt (Article 13(4) of the Regulation).Section 6 contains ESMA's proposal of advice on what constitutes a significant fall in value for various financial instruments and also specifies, in the form of a draft regulatory technical standard, the method of calculation of such falls (Article 23(7) and (8) of the Regulation).Section 7 sets out criteria and factors to be taken into account by competent authorities and ESMA in determining when adverse events or developments arise (Article 30 of the Regulation).View Final report - ESMA's technical advice on possible delegated acts concerning the Regulation on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps, 19 April 2012European Financial integration and stability reportThe European Commission has published this year's integration and stability report. The report:Presents a comprehensive account of the main market trends and developments in 2011 that had a direct impact on financial stability and integration.Sets out the major policy steps taken in 2011 to redress the crisis situation and provide the foundations for more stable and sustained growth.Provides an overview of broad trends in the evolution of the structure of the EU banking sector.Gives an assessment of the impact of the crisis and regulation on the insurance sector.Considers how household sector financial wealth and household borrowing evolved in the crisis.View Post-crisis policy measures in the financial sector give way to longer-term growth goals Commission report finds, 26 April 2012Financial Services Bill - First day of the report stageThe Financial Services Bill (the Bill) was introduced into the House of Commons on 26 January 2012 and received its second reading on 6 February 2012. The Bill was considered in a Public Bill Committee between 21 February to 22 March 2012. On 23 April 2012, the House of Commons held the first day of the report stage for the Bill.A motion passed in the House of Commons allocates only one further day for the report stage and third reading of the Bill. These stages will occur in the 2012-13 Parliamentary session.View Financial Services Bill - First day of the report stage, 23 April 2012View Financial Services Bill (Programme) (No.3), 23 April 2012Liquidity and the regulation of marketsThe FSA has published a speech by David Lawton (Acting Director, Markets, FSA) entitled Liquidity and the regulation of markets.At the start of his speech Lawton sets out why liquidity matters to regulators and how they think about it. Lawton reminds his audience that regulators often state that their objective is to ensure fair, resilient and efficient markets and encompassed within that is the notion of liquid markets. Insufficient liquidity in financial instruments can lead to:Issuers, including governments, not being assured of raising sufficient funds.Investors being exposed to very wide spreads or, at worst, being locked into their investments.Corporate hedgers being exposed to increased costs.Market-makers being exposed to increased risks.Lawton then discusses some of the trade-offs that policymakers are confronted with when considering how to strengthen confidence in the trading environment. For example policymakers need to get the balance right between enhancing transparency and not damaging liquidity. Policymakers are also concerned about the impact on orderly trading and market resilience that may arise if market participants rapidly withdraw from providing liquidity.Lawton then rounds off his speech by touching on some of the specific regulations currently on the table that will potentially have an impact on the trading and liquidity of financial instruments. For example:The proposed Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) proposes a new type of trading venue, the organised trading facility (or OTF). The FSA believes the introduction of this new type of venue category is a necessary part of the revised regulatory structure, and supports extending the scope of regulation - such as organisational requirements and access obligations - to some of the trading that currently takes place outside organised trading venues. However, the FSA feels that as a regulator it needs to ask itself whether it is in the best interests of end users - such as investors and corporations - to go further and prohibit certain structures without considering explicitly the impact on liquidity.Another important issue in relation to MiFIR is that further reflection is needed on whether firms deploying algorithmic trading should be subject to continuous market-making obligations. In particular consideration needs to be given on the potential impact such market making obligations might have on trading participants if the law prohibits them from stopping trading when they experience losses.The European Securities and Markets Authority is currently working on technical standards which will be used to determine which over-the-counter products will be subject to the mandatory clearing obligation under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. Two consultation papers have so far been published, with final standards required by September and national implementation from January 2013.The proposals in MiFIR only allow firms from outside the EU to solicit business in the EU where their home jurisdiction is deemed to have equivalent regulation and offers reciprocal access rights to all EU firms. The proposals also require third country firms that wish to provide investment services to professional clients to do so through the establishment of a physical branch presence in the EU. In light of the global nature of activity carried out in the EU's international financial centres, the FSA feels that this restriction is potentially very harmful to market end users that rely on non-EU firms on a daily basis for their funding and investment needs.The FSA and other international regulators have concerns about aspects of the draft US Volker rule which prohibits banks and their affiliates from engaging in bond trading for their own account. The rule is extraterritorial in its application in that it also imposes itself on non-US banks with a US presence.At the end of his speech Lawton mentions that negotiations among Member States and the EU institutions are well underway in the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the proposed MiFIR text. The European Parliament has produced a draft report and amendments from MEPs are to be tabled by 10 May. The Council of the EU is also working to produce a compromise text in May. However, the FSA expects that negotiations will continue into the Cypriot Presidency.View Liquidity and the regulation of markets, 26 April 2012Delivering effective corporate governance: the financial regulators roleThe FSA has published a speech given by Hector Sants (CEO, FSA) entitled Delivering effective corporate governance: the financial regulators role.At the start of his speech Sants explains that the financial crisis exposed significant shortcomings in the governance and risk management of firms and the culture and ethics which underpin them. This is not principally a structural issue but in fact a failure in behaviour, attitude and in some cases, competence. While the issue of good governance is primarily for firms and shareholders to address the financial crisis has demonstrated that regulators should play a role.In relation to the regulator's role in delivering effective corporate governance Sants then addresses three questions:What do we mean when we say we want firms to have 'effective boards'?What does this mean for the regulator's Significant Influence Function (SIF) process?To what extent can the regulator incentivise the right behaviour and culture in firms?In relation to the first question Sants explains that when you analyse those firms that failed during the financial crisis, one or more of five key indicators were evident: a dysfunctional board, a domineering CEO, key posts held by individuals without the required technical competence, inadequate 'four-eyes' oversight of risk and an inadequate understanding of the aggregation of risk. He then discusses effective governance, highlighting three key components:There needs to be an effective board that 'sets the right tone' from the top. An effective board is one which crucially, understands the circumstances under which their firm would fail and constantly asks the 'what if' questions.It is the chair's role to construct and manage a board that has the appropriate and relevant skills and experience to enable it to function effectively. In relation to technical skills the FSA is assessing whether the board collectively understands and can address the breadth of the business. It does not expect all non-executive directors to be technical experts in financial services and it does not expect every member of the board to have the same degree of technical knowledge.The importance of the board's role in signing off the strategic plan and ensuring that the executive team execute that plan. In order to do this effectively, the board needs to see and demand management information that relates to that plan directly.In relation to the question concerning the SIF process Sants states that in his view the financial crisis exposed the fact that there were many senior executives and non-executives in key board positions who lacked the technical skills to manage the risks of their firms. He argues that the current concerns around whether the SIF interview process has become too intrusive and cumbersome should not obscure this fact.He explains that in the process firms need to help themselves and do more to explain, at an early stage, where and how an individual adds to the collective skill of the board. According to Sants too frequently the FSA still sees applicants who:Do not understand what the job entails and have no job description.Have done no due diligence into the firm they are proposing to join.Are unable to discuss the risks/issues facing the sector in a proportionate way to the role they are applying for.Often significantly underestimate the commitment required to perform the role effectively.When discussing the extent to which a regulator can incentivise the right behaviour and culture in firms Sants refers to the current European banking Directive, the CRD III, which is designed to incentivise effective risk management. However, he argues that there is more that can be done to incentivise the right long-term behaviour and culture and that too often reward structures encourage short term gain and excessive risk taking.On this topic Sants also adds that it is for boards, not the FSA, to determine individual levels of remuneration. The FSA's remuneration framework is designed to promote sound and effective risk management and greater symmetry between the economic incentives of individuals and shareholders.At the end of his speech Sants makes two observations on the governance of individual accountability for decision making:That it would be preferable if there is a presumption that if you are on the board of a bank that fails then you should not be allowed to carry out that role in the future. The onus should be on the individual to demonstrate otherwise.It is important that regulators operate a credible enforcement regime for individual wrongdoing, particularly in the conduct area. In this area much progress has been made but Sants believes it is vital that penalties are raised above the current level so that the momentum in this area is maintained.View Delivering effective corporate governance: the financial regulators role, 24 April 2012Consultation Paper 12/8: Changes to the Training and Competence SourcebookThe FSA has published Consultation Paper 12/8: Changes to the Training and Competence Sourcebook (CP12/8).In CP12/8 the FSA proposes to:Add three qualifications to the 'appropriate qualification tables' in the Training and Competence (TC) sourcebook.Amend the details for three qualifications on the 'appropriate qualification list' in the TC.The proposed changes are of interest to firms and individuals who are subject to the TC requirements, including where the FSA's professionalism requirements under the Retail Distribution Review apply.The deadline for comments on CP12/8 is 31 May 2012.View Consultation Paper 12/8: Changes to the Training and Competence Sourcebook, 24 April 2012FSA enforcementThe FSA has published a Final Notice concerning Equifund Limited (Equifund) cancelling its permission to carry on regulated activities.The FSA believes that Equifund is not conducting its business soundly and prudently and in compliance with proper standards and that it is not a fit and proper person. In addition it appears to the FSA that Equifund is failing to satisfy the threshold conditions set out in Schedule 6 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.This is because despite repeated requests by the FSA Equifund has failed to:Pay fees and levies totalling £1,891.22 owed to the FSA.Submit the Retail Mediation Activities Returns for the periods ended 31 October 2010, 30 April 2011 and 31 October 2011.View Final Notice - Equifund Limited, 23 April 2012An oil company (Exillon Energy plc (Exillon)) has been fined £292,950 for failing to identify approximately £930,000 of payments for private expenses to its former Chairman and beneficiary of the major shareholder (Mr. Arip) as related party transactions, and failing to disclose them to the FSA in a timely manner.In the year following its listing, Exillon made a series of payments to Mr. Arip pursuant to an informal arrangement which had been in place before Exillon listed, whereby Exillon paid Mr. Arip's private expenses and set off those payments against his unpaid salary. Mr. Arip would then pay or receive the net balance.The aggregate amount of these payments exceeded 0.25% of the aggregate market value of all Exillon's ordinary shares and triggered the requirements for related party transactions under the Listing Rules. Exillon breached Listing Principle 2 by failing to take reasonable steps to establish and maintain adequate procedures, systems and controls to enable it to comply with its obligations. The FSA did not find that Mr. Arip acted improperly in relation to the payments made to him.View Exillon Energy plc, 26 April 2012Bahrain: Collective Investment Undertakings Module of the Central Bank of Bahrain Consultation PaperThe Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) issued a consultation paper on 5 January 2012 with respect to proposed revisions and new regulations in respect of the Collective Investment Undertakings (CIU) Module of the Central Bank of Bahrain Rulebook Volume 6. The purpose behind the intended changes is to introduce a new framework for the rules under this Module, new requirements for Bahrain funds in line with international standards and launch two new types of funds. The CBB has stated that these new rules will be incorporated into Volume 6 of the Rulebook in the near future.The key changes under consultation include:The introduction of new corporate governance requirements such as specific director's duties for fund companies.The CBB have introduced revised reporting requirements for new CIUs and made revisions to the reporting requirements of existing CIUs.Clarifying the requirements of the three existing categories of CIU: A retail CIU needs authorisation by the CBB prior to offering to all types of investors. There are no financial qualifications on who may apply for such a fund and there is no minimum investment. This CIU type is subject to detailed requirements, in particular, restrictions on asset classes into which the CIU may invest.An expert CIU needs to be authorised by the CBB prior to offering to expert investors. Expert investors must have financial assets of US$100,000 and the minimum initial investment is US$10,000. This type of CIU is designed to attract moderately sophisticated investors and offers greater investment flexibility by having fewer restrictions on asset classes in which the CIU may invest compared to a retail CIU.An exempt CIU needs registration (not authorisation) by the CBB prior to offering to accredited investors. Accredited investors must have minimum assets of US$1,000,000 and the minimum initial investment is US$100,000. This type of CIU has no restriction on the asset classes in which the CIU may invest but has more onerous reporting and disclosure requirements.The introduction of rules and regulations to govern a new type of fund being Bahrain real estate investment trusts (B-REIT) specifically introduced to directly or indirectly acquire, hold administer, manage and sell local and foreign income generating property.The introduction of rules and regulations to govern a new type of fund called a private investment undertaking (PIU) which needs registration by the CBB prior to offering high net worth investors. Such investors must have financial assets of US$25,000,000 and the minimum initial investment is US$3,000,000. There are no restrictions on the asset classes in which this fund may invest.For further information please contact Jane Clayton or Rayhana Kapadia SheikhHong Kong: Detailed proposals for trust law reform releasedOn 22 March 2012, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government released a consultation paper seeking comments on the detailed legislative proposals for the reform of Hong Kong trusts law. The proposals encompass amendments to the Trustee Ordinance to bring Hong Kong's regulatory regime in line with other comparable common law jurisdictions (such as the UK and Singapore) and to cater for the needs of modern-day trusts.If implemented, the proposals will provide clarification of trustees' duties and powers, including imposing a statutory duty of care on trustees and improving the law relating to delegation of trustee duties. The proposals also provide for better protection of beneficiaries' interests (including a mechanism under which beneficiaries may remove trustees) and make various modernisation suggestions, including one to abolish the rule against perpetuities.The deadline for comments on the proposals is 21 May 2012.View Detailed Legislative Proposals on Trust Law Reform - Consultation Paper, 22 March 2012For further information please contact Charlotte Robins.Hong Kong: New short position reporting regime to become effective June 2012Hong Kong's new Securities & Futures (Short Position Reporting) Rules and the related Securities & Futures (Offences and Penalties) (Amendment) Regulation 2012 were gazetted on 23 March 2012 and will be brought into effect on 18 June 2012.The new legislation requires a person who has a net short position in specified shares which equals or exceeds a certain threshold, to report that position to the SFC. Failure to report is a criminal offence.View Securities & Futures (Short Position Reporting) Rules, 23 March 2012For further information please contact Charlotte Robins.Singapore: Proposed changes to registration of negotiated large tradesThe Singapore Exchange (SGX) is consulting the public on the following proposed changes for negotiated large trades (NLTs) in the derivatives market:New functionality to enable registration of NLTs through the QUEST Application Programming Interface (API) - providing an alternative to the existing eNLT system and offering more convenience to market participants whose order management system is already connected to the SGX trading engine via API.Extension of registration hours on the eNLT system to 8.00 p.m. for all SGX-DT contracts - allowing market participants greater flexibility to execute their options strategy and futures hedges and bringing SGX-DT in line with the current NLT registration practice on SGX AsiaClear.The changes are intended to be implemented in the third quarter of 2012.For further information please contact Daniel Yong.Singapore: SGX introduces dual currency tradingThe Singapore Exchange (SGX) has introduced dual currency trading which allows listed securities to be traded in two different currencies. This aims to give greater cost efficiency to investors through allowing them to trade securities in another currency regardless of the currency in which such securities were first traded.For further information please contact Daniel Yong.The Netherlands: Report Committee De WitOn 11 April 2012, the Parliamentary Committee De Wit (Commissie De Wit) published the outcome of its assessment of the measures taken by the Dutch government during the financial crisis which were designed to stabilise the financial system and restore trust in the financial sector. The report criticizes the previous Dutch government for paying too much to rescue the bank ABN Amro and its then-owner, Fortis, in 2008. It also criticizes the oversight undertaken by the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank) in relation to measures taken with respect to ING. According to the report the risks the Dutch state took upon itself were large and not transparent. The report includes a list of recommendations.The report of Committee de Wit (in Dutch) can be found here.For further information please contact Floortje Nagelkerke.Netherlands: AFM on investments in bullionOn 19 April 2012, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) published a warning on its website in relation to investments in bullion, mostly gold and silver. The AFM notes that the offer of these commodities has increased enormously. If the commodity will be saved by the seller or a third party after the sale, it can qualify as an investment object (beleggingsobject). In principle an offeror of investment objects requires a licence from the AFM. The AFM advises that before accepting an offer persons should check whether the offeror has a licence or would need a licence. In addition they should investigate the economic risks connected to the investment in these commodities.The publication (in Dutch) can be found here.For further information please contact Floortje Nagelkerke.Netherlands: AFM on compliance with 'best execution' obligationOn 23 April 2012, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) published the outcome of its review of whether Dutch banks and investment managers comply with the best execution obligation. The AFM has generally concluded that these entities do in fact comply with the obligation.The publication of the AFM (in Dutch) can be found here.For further information please contact Floortje Nagelkerke. Retail FSA fact sheet for investment advisers - Exchange Traded ProductsThe FSA has published a fact sheet for investment advisers concerning Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). Most ETPs structured as funds comply with the UCITS Directive and are called Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).The fact sheet explains:The key features of ETPs and the differences between them.The investment strategies ETPs use to generate a return, and the risks these strategies pose to investors.The transactions which the fund enters into with third parties to improve the investment return, including where this involves collateral.The mechanisms by which ETPs are traded and the risks that investors face when trading.The potential for conflicts of interest in ETP structures.In January 2012' the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a Consultation Paper concerning draft guidelines for ETFs and other UCITS issues. The deadline for comments on the Consultation Paper was 30 March 2012. The FSA states that certain aspects of the fact sheet may change following ESMA's consultation.View FSA fact sheet for investment advisers - Exchange Traded Products, 23 April 2012 Seminars 40 minute briefing series - May to September 2012We are pleased to announce that the invitation for the next series of 40 minute briefings is now available.If you can not access this link, please copy and paste the address below into your web browser.www.nortonrose.com/invitations/2012/your-guide-to-the-key-regulatory-challenges-in-2012-65614.aspxFinancial services regulatory products: Phoenix, Pegasus and OTC OracleHaving difficulty keeping up with the pace of the Government's regulatory reform proposals?Phoenix is our new financial services product that is an online resource designed to help those who are starting their UK regulatory reform projects. It sets out the latest developments and timing of the Government's reform programme plus the key resource papers from the Treasury, Bank of England, FSA and the ICB. The latest Norton Rose LLP briefing notes, videos and webcasts are also available.The Phoenix main page can be found here.Behind the curve on the MiFID review?We have launched a second online resource product called "Pegasus". Pegasus is a new financial services product that is an online resource designed to assist those starting work on MiFID review projects. The Pegasus main page can be found here.G20 commitment on clearingOur third online resource product is OTC Oracle. OTC Oracle is designed to assist clients track the implementation of the G20 commitment to have all standardised OTC derivatives traded on exchanges or electronic trading platforms, where appropriate, and cleared through CCPs by the end of 2012. OTC Oracle sets out the latest developments and timing plus the key resource papers from each of the EU, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.The OTC Oracle main page can be found here.Financial services Fireside FridaysPlease click on the links below:FSA Business Plan - 2012/13 (27 April 2012)EMIR Part II (5 April 2012)Twin Peaks - The FSA operational changes (16 March 2012)AIFMD Update (2 March 2012)EMIR (17 February 2012)AIFMD Update (3 February 2012)The regulatory year ahead (20 January 2012)The regulatory year in review (16 December 2011)MiFID review and third country issues (25 November 2011)The MiFID Review (21 October 2011)The regulatory regime for energy and commodity companies (7 October 2011)The final report of the Independent Commission on Banking (23 September 2011)Financial services & markets webinarsWe are currently experiencing significant changes in the European financial services regime that could have a particular impact on both financial firms and non-financial firms that trade energy, commodities and emissions. To assist our clients we have produced a series of short webinars which will look at the forthcoming regulatory changes and their impact on the financial regulation of trading.Capturing commodities (February 2012)Financial services webcastsPlease click on the links below:Financial services 40 minute briefing entitled 'Domestic reform: The RDR final countdown'(1 February 2012)Financial services 40 minute briefing entitled 'European reform: AIFM Directive - the latest on implementing measures' (7 December 2011)Financial services 40 minute briefing entitled 'European reform: MiFID and MAD: tying the legislative proposals together (November 2011)Financial services 40 minute briefing entitled 'European reform: MiFID and MAD: The next pieces in the puzzle' (July 2011)Financial services webcast directory Top


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ERIC KANDEL: THE AGE OF INSIGHT: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, From Vienna 1900 to the Present. A conversation with Paul Holdengräber
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THE AGE OF INSIGHT: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, From Vienna 1900 to the Present
In turn of the century Vienna, an extraordinary mix of scientists and artists—Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Alois Riegl among others—gathered and collectively began exploring a fertile new territory: the unconscious. In his forthcoming book The Age of Insight, Nobel Prize-winning neuropsychiatrist Eric Kandel brings to life this pivotal time, when the Modernist age was born and a new model for the human brain and creativity was forged.
In conversation with Paul Holdengräber, Eric Kandel will discuss the book already praised by Oliver Sacks as "a tour-de-force that sets the stage for a twenty-first century understanding of the human mind in all its richness and diversity."
FRIENDS of the NYPL receive discounted tickets and special pre-sales to LIVE events.
LIVE from the NYPL is made possible with generous support from Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.

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NEWPORT NEWS — The losses keep coming, most by margins of greater than 50 points. But when you're the head coach of a winless basketball team whose character and perseverance far outweigh its talent level, you stress the small victories.
Like three that came Friday night against Gloucester, for example. The Denbigh girls lost again, but the final score was 51-21. And Patriots coach Earl Hester pointed out to his players that ...
*The 30-point margin was the smallest of the season.
*The Dukes had beaten them by 57 four weeks earlier.
*For only the second time all season, they outscored an opponent for a quarter (10-7 in the third).
OK, none of the above call for a parade down Denbigh Blvd. But for a program that has lost 21 straight games dating back to last season, small victories mean something.
"I always talk family, and with family you go through hard times," Hester said. "You always keep battling for family. Out of our six varsity players, four have never played before. And to compete in this district, that's kind of tough. It takes experience.
"This is a great bunch of kids. They have such great character. They have to have persevered to done what they've done this year. I can't say enough about them."
Ditto assistant Shelly Jackson.
"I've been coaching a long time," Jackson said. "This is one of the more pleasurable seasons I can remember."
Denbigh is 0-18 overall, 0-15 in the district. The average losing margin is 49 points. Five times this season, the Patriots have lost by at least 70. Seven times, they scored 12 points or less.
"It's difficult at times, but we always come back and try harder to get a win," senior guard Chaz Bradford said. "We have that motivation."
The attitude in practice and on game nights remains positive. Of course, there is always the occasional hallway critic.
"You start to feed off the negativity," junior guard Vontisha Redmond said. "It gives you motivation to come out and show people otherwise."
Whatever it is — love of the game, mental fortitude, a desire to prove the doubters wrong — they show up every day. And they go into every game trying to win, even if all logic tells them it won't happen.
"It would be easy for them to quit," Denbigh athletic director Bryan Weaver said. "But they don't, and the question is why. The answer is that they believe in what they see in front of them. These girls have great moral fiber.
"The fact that Earl is so passionate helps. What's the old cliché? They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Earl spends a lot of time with them showing he cares."
It's a small but tight group. Along with Jackson, who is also the JV coach, Hester has former William and Mary player Jalen Boone as an assistant. Together, the coaches and team spend time together off the court. Thursday night, they went to Norfolk to watch Old Dominion beat Drexel.
Hester, a former assistant and JV coach at Warwick under Ben Moore, is Denbigh's fourth different coach in four years. He guarantees there won't be a fifth in five.
"Just last night, I had a couple of young ladies, two juniors, ask me on the bus if I was coming back next year," he said. "And I told them, 'Ladies, my youngest daughter is in the 3rd grade. I'm going to be here until she graduates, if not longer.'"
Last year, in Jimmie Gerald's one season as head coach, the Patriots went 2-16. They had a legitimate scoring threat in Taj Baldwin, a transfer from Florida who averaged 19.5 points a game — nearly 57 percent of the team's total. But she graduated — she now plays at the University of the District of Columbia — leaving the cupboard just about empty.
Hester was hired in July. For the first workout he scheduled, four of the 505 female students enrolled at Denbigh showed up. For the first official day of practice in October, 12 came out. That's for both varsity and JV, and even that took some work.
"I happened to be at a rec league tryout, and there was this young lady there," Hester said. "I found out she went to Passage Middle School, which feeds this school. I told her, 'Well, if you want to play high school ball, I've got a spot for you.' The next day, she was here. She's on the JV team now.
"I've got another kid out there who was the manager with the boys' team. Today's her first day out here. She wants to give it a shot."
Of the six players on varsity (eight are on JV), only Redmond and Bradford played last season. Redmond is the Patriots' top scorer at 8.2 points a game; Bradford is next at 3.4 ppg. Together, account for 60 percent of Denbigh's offense.
Most on the team are like Jessica Kaewnork, a junior who literally could not make a layup in August. But she's scored 15 points this season and is the team's most improved player.
"It's been a great experience and I've learned a lot," she said. "I'm thankful to be playing on a team."
Yet tradition is a hard thing to overcome. Denbigh's last winning season came in 1997-98, when Wanda Marinke coached the Patriots to records of 14-6 overall, 13-5 in the PD.
Since then, Denbigh has had 15 consecutive losing seasons. That's the longest current drought in the Peninsula District.
But there's always hope. Kecoughtan went into the weekend with 17 wins and tied for first place in the district standings. Four years ago, the Warriors finished 1-20 and didn't have enough girls in the program for a JV team.
"We've had 15 years of losing seasons, and that won't change overnight," Weaver said. "It's a process. It'll take one season at a time and the girls understanding what we're doing."
As for now, even with loss after loss, there's the thrill of competing. And small victories.


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Hello fellows!
I just made a fresh install of SL, and everything was working fine. Updated my package management system (don't remember the name, duh) through equo, got everything up to date through sulphur and restarted my comp.
But now, my mouse has gone mad. Everytime i move it my cursor goes to the very bottom of the screen. That doesn't happens if I don't move the mouse nor if i move it through the keyboard.
No, It's not a mouse problem, it works just fine on Windows.
Using 5.0 SL, 2.6.31-sabayon kernel, KDE 4.3 (it doesnt works on the other window managers too, neither on the login screen).


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Friday, June 02, 2006
Monday Gets His Man
Turns out, Monday always gets his man.
Saw on Deadspin that, as a result of Monday's story, Cooper was arrested and charged with public indecency for his library activities (as opposed to being charged with indecency for wearing that god-awful Tosu sweatshirt).
Only bad news about the arrest is that this might be the last time we hear about Mr. Cooper. Which bums us out. Because that means this might be the last chance we get to run this picture with a link to the original story.
6 comments:
The MZone's loss will be the penitentiary's gain. Although MZone readers may not see more of that tOSU sweatshirt, it will be regularly re-inserted and re-discovered by the amateur proctologist doubling as his cell mate.
- June 02, 2006 1:04 AM
Oh I'm sure MZone will have a way to rehash this story plus the pedo story throughout the next couple of weeks, months ect.
At least until fall.
- June 02, 2006 1:25 AM
The guy is a mustachioed Buckeye fan who lives with his parents. Hasn't he suffered enough?
- June 02, 2006 5:00 AM
- BaggyPantsDevil said...
free mike cooper
Saw this link over at Deadspin.
And I say, ride this story until every aspect has been fully explored--the trial of the century! the sentencing, his first public sexual act with another person in the prison showers, returning to his parent's house to play more Halo after he's released--or the 2006 college football season begins whichever comes first.
- June 02, 2006 9:57 AM
- June 02, 2006 9:15 PM
- Can't spell Lloyd without 2 "L's" said...
He wasn't good enough for the band, so he had to find his own way to "Dot the I".
- June 05, 2006 10:02 AM


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When complete, the University Link project will connect UW and Capitol Hill to downtown Seattle with 3.1 miles of new underground light-rail service.
The overall $1.9 billion project is about halfway complete and scheduled to open in 2016. The expansion with stations in the heart of Capitol Hill and the University of Washington will provide speed and reliability through Seattle's most dense neighborhoods. A trip from Husky Stadium to Westlake will take six minutes and is expected to add 70,000 riders to the system, which today runs from downtown to south Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport by 2030.
The corridor includes three major universities/colleges: The University of Washington, Seattle University and Seattle Central Community College, with a combined enrollment of more than 50,000 students. A trip from the UW to downtown is projected to take six minutes.
The contractor launched the TBM on its two-mile underground journey from the University of Washington Station site near Husky Stadium in May, 2011. The machine, nicknamed "Togo" passed beneath the Montlake Cut and Montlake, Interlake, Volunteer Park and north Capitol Hill neighborhoods. A second TBM, named "Balto," is still mining the second tunnel between UW and Capitol Hill and is expected to arrive in April. Meanwhile, a third TBM is mining the second tunnel between Capitol Hill and downtown. That machine is expected to arrive in June.
Each of the TBMs:
• Weighs more than 1 million pounds
• Stretches more than 500 feet long, including the conveyor system that removes spoils from the cutterhead to the surface
• Places 21-foot diameter pre-cast concrete tunnel liners as it mines through the earth
• Was built in Germany especially for this job and assembled and tested at the Port of Tacoma
With major tunneling work wrapping up, contractors have begun mining 20 cross passages between the north and southbound tunnels. With that work complete, contractors will build a new track bed in the tunnels and begin laying the rail and communications systems for light rail operations. At the same time, contractors will finish the stations at Capitol Hill and the University of Washington.


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Student or Learner
If I were asked what trait of character is the most striking about me, I would say thats my ability to take challenges. One may say that it is not worth speaking about, but I think that in our changing word with it unsteady economy and dangerous social clashes, this quality can be called one of the most valuable things. I like to try new things and Im not afraid to participate in different areas of life.
I remember when I studied at school we had classes called Management Engineering, which taught us, teenagers, to take an active position in life, work or social activities, to be able to manage risks and overcome them and finally to make real aims and use effective strategies to reach them in order to subsequently conquer new heights. A lot of time passed, but that subject became the most memorable thing about my school education. Afterwards I became a huge fan of Shedrovitskij and Ruts, famous USSR Methodists, whose publications about effective management strategies and techniques put a great impact on my further development and I tried to put some of their methods in life. During my university years I was a representative of Student Union and I did my best to enrich the students lives though organizing interesting extracurricular sport and science activities, charity events and assisting in the development of student educational and travel programs.
That time Ive already understood that the huge problem of our society is inequality or unwillingness of our leaders to look around, find out and analyze the source of urgent public problems. Being a witness of election campaigns in Regional Soviet of Peoples Deputies which will take place in a month, every day I see huge banners with photos of candidates and delegations of people asking to vote for their candidate, but what I dont see is what these candidates do right now. I think it is not so difficult to promise to do something, but it worth a lot of courage and smartness to start to act right now.
And now I should ask myself, am I differ from these people who simply vaporize, but do nothing? I want to believe that I have some advantage. First of all Im young and it is easier for me to learn, find disadvantages and make changes in a system Im not still used to. Second, despite the fact I am just 22, Im proud of the level of education I received. I studied in the most prestigious school in my city and one on my teacher was a man, who takes an active part in establishing social policy of my region. Then, I received diversified education at university; though my major was philology and pedagogics, I succeed in writing few publications about significant features of American public discourse and my thesis Euphemisms as a Mean of Expressing Ideological Appraisal in Public Discourse was recommended by university educational board for further PhD research and it was a great honor for me. I suppose that deep analysis of public discourse made me curios about public sector and problems if faces nowadays. Being currently involved in financial sector I could say that the shortage of money often prevent promising individuals to reach their goals and this, effectively, slows down the development of the society. Even now I try to use and enhance management skills I acquired at school and university by making my own contribution and increasing the effectiveness of consumer crediting sector Im currently employed now. Third, Im proud that I have the opportunity to be among brilliant candidates of Public Policy and Management program at Carnegie Mellon University. I think that my country needs a new generation of young and ambitious policy makers, who will be able to analyze and accurately estimate urgent social problems as well as find effective means of interaction of public and private sector. And I want to be among the people who can make these changes, but first, I need to systematize and enhance my knowledge of public policy management. Thats why I perceive studying the public policy program as preparing my board to ride this wave of change.
In conclusion I would like to say that my desire to study in one of the most recognized universities was a matter of the high priority for me during the last few years and only recently I got to know that it is possible to apply for a scholarship, which can fully or partly cover study and tuition expenses. Unfortunately I do not earn enough to be able to pay for education myself and thats why I want to apply for an additional scholarship. It will be a great honor for me to be recognized by the admission board as a worth candidate. For my part I can promise that I will do my best to contribute to widely known excellence of your university.
This is an essay for a scholarship, they asked the additional essay.. i must send it today, if someone has some free time i will be greatful!!!!! i may pay for work, the only thing i need is an urgent help.. thank u
Thank u for the answer.. But at least could u say is there a lot of mistakes? I wrote it early in the morning and now i couln't cocentrate ad check the mistakes :(
it is very important for me.....


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Career Game-by-Game Stats in PDF Format
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Media Guide Bio in PDF Format
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After providing depth off the bench her freshman year, looking to see action at guard this season.
AS A FRESHMAN (2006-07): Saw action in 18 games, scoring 12 points (0.7 avg) and collecting 10 rebounds (0.6 avg)...picked up first career bucket against Rhode Island, adding two rebounds in 11 minutes (11/29)...had first career assist and steal in six minutes against Cal State Northridge (12/22)...also had an assist and a steal...had a bucket and a season-high three rebounds against Indiana (12/28)...converted on a traditional three-point play at Maryland (1/6)...had an assist in nine minutes at Iowa (1/14)...made first career 3-pointer and added two rebounds in 11 minutes against Penn State (2/1)...recorded two points and a steal in five minutes of action against Illinois (2/4)...grabbed three rebounds in six minutes against Northwestern (2/8).
HIGH SCHOOL: Led team to a 41-10 record in last two seasons...earned Flint Journal's Area Player of the Year as a both a junior and senior...finished senior season by averaging 18.9 points per game, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game...was named the league MVP and also earned all-state honors...helped Northern to three City Championships and three Saginaw Valley titles...appeared in the Mott Bruins Classic All-Star Game...was also a member of the track and field and softball teams...played AAU basketball with Flint's Finest...was a three-time MVP of the team.
PERSONAL: Born Feb. 3, 1987...daughter of Walter Fortner and Beverly Gordan...majoring in psychology.


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Damn i wish this would come out for the ipod. Definitely recommended for everyone having an ipad. Classic gaming at it's best!!
Check Out My Youtube Channel Maelef's Place Comment rate and subscribe!!
CrazyMikes Apps http://www.youtube.com/user/crazymikesapps
Join the Countdown Of The Month Club. You never know what new surprises await you in that great group!


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Kindergarten through eighth grade students who are new to Colorado Springs School District 11 for the 2013-2014 academic year can register for school July 8-31 at the enrollment office, 1033 N. Franklin St. The hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The enrollment form can be accessed online at www.d11.org. Parents can fill out the form in the enrollment office or access it at home, print it out and bring it to the office. Parents also need to bring a birth certificate, immunization records and proof of residence, such as a utility bill or lease agreement.
New students who will be in high school in the fall should contact the high school they want to attend for summer registration dates and hours.
All individual school offices will begin registering new students starting Aug 1. The first day of school for all D-11 students is Aug. 19.


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Regarding the Ravens offense, any conclusion is in play. For one series at least, the first-team offense looked every bit as crisp as anyone could hope -- far better than it had at any point the previous week. Ray Rice (pictured) ran powerfully behind what is likely to be the starting offensive line, with Marshal Yanda back at right guard and Gino Gradkowski at center. Joe Flacco expertly varied the pace and moved the ball around the field with sharp underneath passes. When Rice glided into the end zone after nine plays and 69 yards, the anxiety from a ghastly performance against the Atlanta Falcons felt long gone. And then everything blew up. Flacco threw two interceptions, again looking out of sync with an unfamiliar receiving corps. The running game lost its snap with Yanda out of the game. The offense essentially handed the Panthers 17 points without giving the defense a chance. Come the second half, however, Flacco again found his rhythm, especially with receiver Marlon Brown, an undrafted rookie free agent who wasn't even considered a sure thing to make the team. So what to make of this whiplash-inducing performance? You got me. The Ravens have never been a week-in-week-out offensive juggernaut in the Flacco years. And at the very least, it seems consistency will remain elusive this season.
Karl Merton Ferron / Baltimore Sun
Copyright © 2018, Sun Sentinel


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Good news for people who spent money on plugins for Aperture.
Having to buy Imagenomic's plugins again for Lightroom makes me super happy. Not.
Well, Aperture doesn't stop functioning in an instant and plugins can still be developed for it. Plugin production will continue for some time because of the user base.
What about RAW support for new cameras?
Every Aperture user will have to change after X months.
I'm lucky to be a Lightroom user, but I'd be really pissed if I had to change the software I use and love every day since 2007.
It would be like having to learn and use Emacs after 10 years of vim.
RAW support is independent from Aperture and is installed via mini-updates to the system.
No change whatsoever. Aperture uses won't have to switch.
Every Aperture user will have to change after X months.
Is it going to stop working? I still use a version of paint shop pro from 1998!! (I'm not a graphics pro obviously) It still works fine on windows 7!
It might on newer versions of OS X. Microsoft is spending a lot of effort on backwards compatibility (to the point that Windows recognizes applications depending on bugs that have since been fixed and emulates the buggy behavior), whereas Apple indiscriminately fixes APIs, updates them, and removes legacy APIs. This is in particular the case for internal APIs (which is why they hit hard for that on the app stores). Aperture being a 1st party app makes use of internal APIs, and is very vulnerable to this.
Every Aperture user will have to change after X months.
Is it going to stop working? I still use a version of paint shop pro from 1998!! (I'm not a graphics pro obviously) It still works fine on windows 7!
It's a racket. (Mutter...)
RAW support in Aperture is done via OS level filters, nothing Aperture specific. So there will be little effect on RAW support as RAW support is included in other apps which Apple is still supporting, like Preview a core application. You get RAW updates even without Aperture installed.
Well, you sort-of do. Adobe doesn't provide raw updates for older versions of lightroom "for ever". I try to keep Lightroom up to date because it's fairly cost-effective -- my current problem is that I use "edit in Photoshop" occasionally for things Lightroom isn't that good at, and my copy of CS4 apparently doesn't support Nikon D610 raw format. I can't afford a more recent version right now, and the "cloud" version of Photoshop is out of the question, because I sometimes work in the field where there i
the "cloud" version of Photoshop is out of the question, because I sometimes work in the field where there is no internet.
"Cloud" is just a marketing term that can mean a wide variety of things. In the case of Adobe Creative Cloud, it means you're licensed on a subscription basis, and need to connect to Adobe's servers periodically to verify that your subscription is still active. It doesn't mean you run Photoshop in a web browser--it's still installed on your hard drive like traditional programs. As the F [adobe.com]
Well, Ive was one of the most outstanding executive officers this company's ever produced. He was brave, outstanding in every way. And he was a good man, too, humanitarian man, a man of wit and humor. He joined the Software Engineering Group. After that, his... uh... ideas... methods... became... unsound... unsound.
Now he's crossed into California with this mountaineered army of his that... worship... the man... like a god, and follow every order, however ridiculous...
If only someone had terminated Mehdi Ali and Irving Gould.
The notion that I should budget "extra" for using Apple products is actually almost comical, in a world where Adobe has moved to a cloud model and eliminated the concept of software ownership from its business.
Cloud apps make sense in scenarios with shared workflows and collaborative users. A single user application like Aperture/Lightroom...no.
Actually, you're budgeting less - because Creative Cloud is cheaper than paying for a CS upgrade annually.
The laughability of this depends entirely on what you are using the word "safe" to refer too.
For the average consumer, their photos are "safe"r from accidental loss in most cloud storage tools than they are on a hard drive.
If you're discussing the potential for having your photos stolen, that's an entirely different matter.
I've been using Aperture since it first came out.I never liked how Lightroom worked - it certainly has powerful capabilities, but you have to do things exactly the way it wants you to do them. Aperture seemed better at getting out of my way.
If the new Photos app doesn't have all of Aperture's tools, though, I may not have a choice. And, with Aperture gone, I imagine Lightroom will quickly switch to the subscription model Adobe is trying to force down our throats with all their other titles. But I'm going to wait and see what the new app is like before committing, one way or the other. Adobe's "double down on Lightroom" statement can be seen two ways - and one of them is they may be worried about what's coming.
And, with Aperture gone
Ok, its another terrible idea from Apple made with absolutely no regard to their very supportive and loyal user base, but you're exaggerating tremendously.
Let me remind you that, although most users seem to be compulsive in how they click "update" whenever there is one available, its is a really dumb thing to do blindly and unnecessary except for three reasons and only three reasons: 1) you have security concerns and the update patches security holes; 2) the update has bug fixes of bugs you keep bumping i
"and are afraid it will disappear forever, well, again, relax, that is impossible"
You are wrong. You see you cant buy a disc with aperture on it, only via the app store... and if they remove it from the app store you cant reinstall it when your hard drive crashes. Therefore they CAN make it disappear. All they have to do is wait a short few years for that hard drive to fail.
Yes, but you can't GET a backup installer, if you bought from the App Store. Oh, and the most recent versions, you could ONLY buy from the App Store. As soon as Apple removes it from the store, you can't re-install. You are not only responsible for the data you own, but the installers you use -- and you can't get access to them in this case.
Not quite. Tried it, but it is still linked back to the App Store. If you copy it to a computer that doesn't have a sub to the app in the App Store, it won't run. It wants you to login to the App Store. When it doesn't find it, it won't run.
It's linked to an Apple ID via a certificate. Whether or not it's still in the app store is irrelevant.
I see. So if I sell you my Mac and all the software therein, that contains an Aperture install, you could never use it. And being as you post on Slashdot, you are very respectful of software licensing, and you've never heard of The Pirate Bay [thepiratebay.se].
You see you cant buy a disc with aperture on it,
Oh? then wtf is this? [ebay.com]
There is a trend in Apple about going mass market and streamlining software, and in their minds this means removing features for the sake of being 'family friendly'. This is happening at all levels from the OS itself (remember spaces?) to any Apple-brand apps (Final Cut, Aperture, iWorks). In some cases Apple will simply discontinue their software overnight and leave their users in the dust, but in other cases it is actually worse. The Pages desktop word processor was discontinued and substituted with a port of the iPhone version, which doesn't support any of the advanced features, with the whole operation was masqueraded as an 'upgrade'. The new app actively destroyed user documents it didn't understand (most of them), overwriting them by default (no 'save' operation required, simply opening a document would destroy it, keep in mind 'save' is regarded as an advanced operation now).
You would expect a big corporation to be slow, clumsy but conservative and safe, with extremely long lines of support for their products. As you may remember, 'nobody gets fired for choosing IBM'. Well, Apple is slow and clumsy, but unpredictable and extremely unsafe. Betting your business in any kind of Apple hardware or software is an extremely stupid move. You should, and will be fired for choosing Apple.
Apple won't be happy until they've reimplemented MS Bob but with a little more style.
You got some stuff right, but you also loaded in a load of simply untrue stuff. Where to start?
Aperture hadn't been updated since 2012. They merely announced that they won't be updating it any longer so that people know to not bother waiting around. It's been poorly supported from the start. No one was left in the dust here. Lightroom has been doing the same job better for years now.
Spaces? It's still around as a part of the bigger Mission Control feature. They even made it more powerful than it used to be,
My buddy GLaDOS would have some words with you.
*Pulls out a portal gun*
How do you get to charge your customers for the same program again? You kill the app and re-release it as a "new product". Apple is just now realizing that the app store model doesn't keep the customer paying for upgrades.
That's an interesting read - thanks for the link. The author makes some compelling arguments, but there's little in the way of hard facts in that article.
I'd also note that the author seems to have a bias against Adobe, as evidenced by his dismissive comments regarding Adobe's response to the Aperture news. [adobe.com]
Of course there are no 'hard facts' - nothing has happened yet and both Adobe and Apple are renown for not being especially forthcoming.
Yes, Hogan (along with half the planet) doesn't like Adobe. He's been pretty negative about the whole Creative Clown, er Cloud, thing. But his underlying premise is interesting - that this is the first step in Apple rationalizing a photography workflow. It's not 'the' photography workflow and may not fit many professional / prosumer goals - but that doesn't appear to be
Well, it's mostly opinion, but while this user thinks there are MANY reasons to be dismissive of Adobe and Lightroom, the fact that Lightroom is monolithic isn't one of them--that's a pro, not a con. If I shoot a 5 shot HDR that's 90GB of RAW files before the working TIFF is generated. I'm going to store and manipulate them by pulling and pushing every byte to the cloud? Who's the winner there? Apple with more people paying for iCloud storage? Comcast and the cell phone carriers with data overages?
I'm curious, what camera produces 18GB RAW images? Also, The "serious/professional photographer" doesn't do 5 shot HDR's and neither does Lightroom.
Stack 5 shots of a raw file from a D800 and you'll get to 2 GB, not quite 90
Sorry, brain fart. 18MB images. And you apparently don't know what serious/professional photographers do. There's more to HDR than creating garish colors...
Some telescopes are around that resolution or higher. Darpa started working on cameras that are mobile (can be mounted on a satellite) or airplane that are higher resolution (50 gigapixel) years ago and there certainly are working prototypes. Though I suspect he meant 18mb.
Lightroom doesn't have to keep track of multiple-shot HDR's. I have Photomatix set up as my second alternative editor in LR, to be called when needed. My first alternative editor is the last cloudless version of Photoshop.
"With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere"
I'm going to have my 70GB Aperture library in the cloud? I'm going to replicate a RAW workflow in the cloud? I've NEVER had a desire to access that on my iPhone, nor can I imagine anyone did. If one had the desire to export to iCloud they could; no one was forced to. There's got to be something else going on here that we're not privy to, but based on what I've heard they'd be better off selling the product to Nik/Google than letting it die (and trust me, that was hard to type).
You only have a 70GB library? Hell, I usually shoot 30 - 90GB each and every shoot I do. And I'm probably on the low end in my studio...
90 GB per shoot? Hopefully you're doing 4K video, otherwise you need to work on shot discipline a bit. With that many files you'll never get out of the basement. It's just not healthy at all.
I usually only edit about 1/4 to 1/8 of the shots I take -- sometimes less depending on the client. Each one takes at most 5 minutes to edit -- usually closer to 2 minutes. Each day of shooting takes a day of editing. But RAW does chew up LOTS of space with a good camera.
Yes, RAW does. A Nikon D800 RAW file is 36 MB or so. I use 16 GB cards in my cameras and really have trouble filling them in a whole day shooting. If you're shooting between 2 and 5 16 GB cards for still images on a daily you might want to review that. You're shooting too often. Slow down and look. Even if you're only editing 10% of that you have 9 GB of files - that's roughly 250 edited images on a daily basis.
You'll never get out of the basement alive.
It all depends on what you are shooting. I'm paid to cover an event (concert, wedding, conference, etc), and don't second chances -- let alone much time to setup the shot -- so I take two or three exposures per "shot". It's easier to discard later than it is to miss the shot. When I shoot a concert, I'm shooting the entire 3 or 4 hours. A wedding, I'm shooting for usually a 12 hour period, at least. A conference may be over 4 days, and a runner's race might be over the course of a full day. Each event usually produces just as many shots.
If I only was shooting a potted plant I might only need three exposures because I can carefully plan the shot, adjust the lighting, and edit the shot thoughtfully for an extended period of time. A senior photo shoot might only need 20 exposures. But when you are working events with moving lights, moving people, and instantly changing emotions, the difference between 1/3 of second between exposures can make the photo while the next one is too dark, missing the person, or doesn't show what I want it to show.
I don't deal with film anymore. Space is cheap. Exposures only cost power. In this day and age there is no reason to not take too many photos and throw out or ignore the ones you don't want.
You only have a 70GB library? Hell, I usually shoot 30 - 90GB each and every shoot I do. And I'm probably on the low end in my studio...
That's the working library size.
Sucks.. Cloud as an additional option, ok.
So i assume that this new 'version' will be geared towards the home market and not professional. That seems to be the trend for apple.
So a FREE app (#1) for a small subset of people will soon be replaced by another FREE app (#2) for a small subset of people and the author thinks that #2 will have less features than #`1 but of course it will only affect a small subset of people.
Well tea in China may get expensive next year too.
Don't be beholden to one company, be it Apple, ChinaTeaCo, or anyone. Then you don't have to whine when one app you didn't pay a dollar for FREE app (#1 or #2) you don't feel like wadding up tissues and crying. Man
So a FREE app (#1) for a small subset of people will soon be replaced by another FREE app (#2) for a small subset of people and the author thinks that #2 will have less features than #`1 but of course it will only affect a small subset of people./p>
Of course app #1 wasn't free....
So apple is retiring a photo editing software product and expects their customers to switch to their cloud photo editing service. They're replacing images stored locally with images stored externally.
Ignoring Snowden and the NSA for the moment, let's look at LEGAL seizure of your pictures to be used as evidence by government agencies, in rule enforcement, investigation, and criminal prosecution.
Not only are files under your physical control y'harder to get to physically than those transmitted over the Inte
I was already making the switch to Lightroom from Aperture. Apple's last update of Aperture really started messing it up, so I saw the writing on the wall, and will fully move my library to Lightroom.
It is a shame, because when I first started using Aperture, it was awesome, about 1/2 the price of Lightroom at the time, and it was lightyears ahead of iPhoto.
With my MacBook Air, I thought I would just use iPhoto, but gah, after not using it for 6 years or so, it still sucks tool.
The next person to mention spaghetti stacks to me is going to have his head knocked off. -- Bill Conrad


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Oracle Broadens PaaS Reach With Engine Yard Partnership
Oracle's budding platform-as-a-service plans received a shot in the arm this week when the vendor announced a partnership with PaaS up-and-comer Engine Yard.
Oracle says the Engine Yard tie-up will help expand the scope of its services.
"Developers building new web applications in Ruby, PHP and Node.js to meet growing demands associated with mobile and social computing need a robust web PaaS offering," Thomas Kurian, executive vice president, Oracle Development, said in a statement. "We are looking forward to integrating the Oracle Cloud with Engine Yard's platform to further extend our PaaS capabilities for web application development."


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Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (QRT-PCR or qRT-PCR) is a PCR technique used to determine the amount of cDNA in a sample. It is the most commonly used form of quantitative PCR (qPCR). This technique is also called real-time reverse transcriptase PCR.
- 1 Comparison of normalisation methods
- 2 Reference mRNAs
- 3 Primer selection
- 4 Quantification methods
- 5 Sources of variability
- 6 Notes
- 7 Appendix
Comparison of normalisation methods
There is an ongoing debate what is the best way to normalise qPCR data. Reference genes are the most common method, although single unverified reference genes invalidate the qPCR data generated. Total RNA, ribosomal RNA, and genomic DNA have been suggested as alternative methods.
Reference genes
Most common method. Best practise is a panel, e.g. [1] not just a single reference gene and including data on suitability as reference genes. Often housekeeping gene is used here instead of reference gene but the term is poorly defined and can be misleading.
Total rRNA [2] [3], or total RNA. Drawback: rapidly dividing cells will have more rRNA and different rRNA/mRNA ratio which will complicate comparison; difference in cDNA synthesis not taken into account.
Genomic DNA
Genomic DNA or cell number. Drawbacks: RNA degrades faster than RNA which can distort the data; sample cannot be DNase treated; efficiency of cDNA synthesis not taken into account.
Reference mRNAs
- Main article: Choosing reference genes for qPCR normalisation
Picking reference genes will make or break your quantification via qPCR (real time PCR). If you pick only one reference gene and your pick is not constant across different conditions or samples, your results will be skewed. Choose several reference genes and check whether they satisfy the criteria for a good reference gene. Some commonly used reference genes, like 18S and GAPDH, are known to be problematic but continue to be used.
- Ajeffs 06:55, 21 April 2007 (EDT): Screen a handful of ref genes, select the most stable using genorm, bestkeeper etc, use at least 2 reference genes for subsequent reactions and normalisation. Inlcude your genorm M values when publishing qPCR data.
Primer selection
- Main article: Choosing primers for qPCR
Choosing suitable primers is an early crucial step in your qPCR experiment. Reusing a tested primer pair from a repository or publication can save you some time. Otherwise primer selection from scratch is similar to that for a standard qualitative PCR experiment but the product size is typically much smaller (below 200nt) and the amplification characteristics of the primer have to be rigorously tested.
Quantification methods
There are 3 common quantification methods. The standard curve method is the only one that gives you are absolute concentration. Both the Pfaffl method and the ΔΔCt method produce relative data with the Pfaffl method being superior.
Standard curve method
- requires template at known concentration (e.g. cDNA or TA cloned PCR product)
- requires dilution series of known template for standard curve (more wells)
- yields absolute concentrations by comparing unknown samples to known
Pfaffl method
- requires that primer efficiency be known but needs to be determined only once with a standard curve
- produces relative amount (e.g. treated is 2x untreated)
(named after the inventor; see Pfaffl 2001 PMID 11328886)
ΔΔCt (delta delta Ct)
- easiest, oldest, least reliable
- assumes that primers for unknown and reference gene have very similar efficiency
- or that v little correction is necessary (i.e. reference gene almost same level)
- yields relative amounts
(Ct = cycle threshold; point when fluorescence reading surpasses a set baseline)
Sources of variability
Due to the small amount of liquid handled and the sensitivity of the technique, operator variability is high. Bustin reports that the same qPCR experiment repeated by 3 people using the same reagents lead to very different copy number estimations [Bustin 2002 PMID 12200227, figure 3]:
- person A: 8·7 × 105
- person B: 2·8 × 105 different by a factor of 3!
- person C: 2·7 × 103 different by a factor of 300!!
Reagent lots/age
Different lots of reagents can lead to different results. Experiment repeated by same operator 5 times, same RNA sample, different kits; values are copies/μg total RNA:
- kit 1: 13±32 × 107
- kit 2: 5.4±1.6 × 107 - different by a factor of 2.4
Similar experiment with old (9 months 4°C) and new probe (3 months 4°C), values are copies/μg total RNA:
- old: (5.6 ± 1.3) x 103
- new: (3.8 ± 0.6) x 108 - different by a factor of 100'000!!
both experiments above from [Bustin 2002 PMID 12200227, figure 4]
- The most commonly used specialist reverse transcriptase enzyme for cDNA production is AMV reverse transcriptase. It has RNase H activity (so that RNA molecules are only transcribed once) and has a high temperature stability (to reduce RNA secondary structure and nonspecific primer annealing) [1].
- Since RNA can degrade with repeated freeze-thaw steps, experimental variability is often seen during successive reverse transcription reactions of the same RNA sample [1].
- Reverse transcriptase enzymes are notorious for their thermal instability. Repeated removals from the freezer can degrade the efficiency of the enzyme [1].
- Producing total cDNA from total RNA can be advantageous because
- To make total cDNA
Specific protocols
- Endy:Real-time RT-PCR (in progress)
- qRT-PCR/Two tubes (in progress)
- qRT-PCR/Single tube
See also
External links
- venerable qpcrlistserv. Anyone doing qPCR should be subscribed to this list.
- excellent, detailed Q-PCR tutorial with many figures by Margaret and Richard Hunt, University of South Carolina
- qPCR (real-time PCR) backgrounder without figures but with many links by Tevfik Dorak
- 15 page comparison of PCR vs qPCR with several figures by Applied Biosystems
- short qRT-PCR summary by Ambion