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Growth mixture modeling within a coho...
Mplus Discussion
Latent Variable Mixture Modeling
Peter Tice
posted on Thursday, June 01, 2000 - 9:34 am
I'm new to Mplus but thus far have little trouble running basic growth mixture models based on 4 data waves. However, the 4 data waves contain three age cohorts (e.g., age 12, 15, 18 @ Time 1).
I'd like to run growth mixture models that tranform my analyses of four waves into a cohort-sequential design. The data structure I'm looking to build these growth mixture models from looks like:
Orginal data structure:
t1 t2 t3 t4
12 15 18 25
15 18 21 28
18 21 24 31
Cohort-sequential structure:
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7
12 15 18 21 24(25) 28 31
From the manual I understand that multiple cohort designs can be used for growth modeling, but does that extend to growth mixture modeling. I have yet to find an example. Ideally, with the cohort-sequential design I'd like to compare BIC values in a series of growth mixture models delineating the appropriate number of latent classes. In short, my preference is for one growth mixture model integrating the three cohorts into an analysis spanning ages 12-31; instead of estimating growth mixture models for each age cohort separately (i.e., 12-25; 15-28; 18-31)
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, June 01, 2000 - 3:01 pm
At the present time, Mplus cannot handle the model you are interested in because mixture models cannot have missing data. The cohort-sequential structure needs TYPE=MISSING. This will be available for mixture models in Version 2 which we plan to release in the Fall of 2000 if all goes well.
Peter Tice
posted on Monday, May 14, 2001 - 1:17 pm
This is a follow up from my original message dated June 1, 2000. I now have access to version 2.0 and need some guidance in setting up the cohort-sequential design.
I tried using the MCOHORT option but the error message informs me that this does not apply to mixture models. Right now I'm struggling with transforming four observation periods (t1 t2 t3 t4) into seven age categories (12 15 18 21 24/25 31).
I recently tried using my cohort variable (t1age) and setting up some conditional statements in the define command; such as if (t1age EQ 12) then d12 = t1....if (t1age EQ 15) then d15 = t1....if (t1age EQ 18) then d18 = t1....and so on. Under this strategy I did employ ANALYSIS: TYPE = MIXTURE MISSING. I receive a series of warnings telling me that the variable has been assumed to be a Y variable, an error message informing me that at least one variable has been assumed to be a Y variable (check covariances), and "one or more variables in the data set has no non-missing values. check your data and format statement." The output file then proceeds to show me the variables in my data set (original and created). From this I see that I've lost my variance in the del1-del4 (original, continuous outcome) and that my new del12-del31 have 0 observations.
I need some direction on this one, as the manual does not provide an example of mixture modeling using a planned missing data design, and I'm less sure on whether the proper route is to use the COPATTERN option.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2001 - 10:49 am
I would create the data outside of TYPE=MIXTURE. You can use TYPE=MCOHORT BASIC along with SAVEDATA to get a data set with the variables strung out the way you want. Then use TYPE=MIXTURE MISSING on the new data set. Follow example 24.2 in the Mplus User's Guide. Just add BASIC to the TYPE= statement. If you have problems with this, send me your input and data at
and I'll sort it out.
Peter Tice
posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 2:02 pm
Is there any difference in the strategy for selecting start values for growth mixture models that do not have missing data (by design) v. models that do? If so, what strategy tends to work best for growth mixture models based on planned missing data designs?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2001 - 2:48 pm
Following are the strategies we recommend for finding starting values for growth mixture models. We don't differentiate between models with and without missing data.
� Strategy 1
� Do a conventional one-class analysis
� Use estimated growth factor means and standard deviations as growth factor mean starting values in a multi-class model - mean plus and minus .5 standard deviation
� Strategy 2
� Estimate a multi-class model with the variances and covariances of the growth factors fixed to zero
� Use the estimated growth factor means as growth factor mean starting values for a model with growth factor variances and covariances free
Peter Tice
posted on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 1:37 pm
I am able to successfully estimate a 1 class model. However, I am experiencing difficulties finding appropriate starting values for models that include 2 or more classes. I began by letting Mplus estimate the 1 class parameter estimates (intercept, slope, and quadratic) assuming that there is no within-class variation (something to which I want to maintain in all future model estimations - that is, estimates that include 2 or more classes). This strategy, however, does not enable me to estimate variance around the growth factor means. Using the sample means from the 7 observed measures (del12-del31) I estimated an overall mean and standard deviation for purposes of the mean +/- 1/2 sd strategy. This did not help. I received the following error message with the 2 class model:
"The estimated covariance matrix for the Y variables in class 1 could not be inverted. Problem involving variable del31. Computation could not be completed in iteration 4. Change your model and/or starting values...."
I've received a similar error message when trying to use start values from earlier mixture models based on single cohorts (instead of the sequential design as I'm trying to do here). Thus, how can I detect the problem involving variable del31? Does this have to do with a potential data distribution assumption, namely normally distributed data. For I'm using delinquency data with del31 representing delinquency frequency at age 31 (which includes many zero's as expected).
Many thanks,
p.s. the mean +/- 1/2 sd strategy worked well for me when estimating mixture models that were based on single cohorts.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 2:53 pm
It's hard for me to totally understand what you've done. It sounds like a combination of the two stragegies outlined above. If send me the successful one class run and then the next attempt that is not successful, I can take a look at them. We have found that one of the two strategies above work well. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding that will be obvious by looking at your outputs. Please send them to
Jennie Jester
posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 7:45 am
I have a question about a longitudinal study, which I think can be approached as a cohort sequention design. I am studying the development of alcoholism, measured by total number of symptoms of alcoholism at 4 time points. At the first time period, the men range in age from 22 to 48, with most of the men in the age range of 25 to 40. The men were interviewed at 3 year intervals. Because there would be so much missing data if I used actual age of the men, I have grouped them into 3-year intervals. At time 1, I have ages 25-27,28-30, 31-33, . . ., up to 46-48. The endpoint ages have few cases in them. I have been able to run the growth mixture model, by allowing no variance in the growth factors. To try to run the model with variance in growth factors, I have used starting values from the model with no variance in growth factors and I have used the one-class solution +/- 1 s.d. as starting values for the growth factors. Neither of these results in a model that converges.
I have several questions. 1) The alcoholic men were recruited when they were convicted of a drunk driving offense, so in some ways they are similar at time 1 - does it still make sense to group them by ages, or is there something else I should put in my model to model the importance of the event at time 1. 2)What else could I do to get the model to converge if the two different methods of finding starting values does not work? 3) What to do with the endpoints where there are very few people? Should I combine them into a larger age range, or just not use them?
4)Approximately 30% of the sample has no symptoms at any time points (the control group), what to do with these zeros? 5) Do you think it makes sense to group the ages into ranges as I have done? (I also tried grouping into larger age ranges - 5-year spans and I also could only get the 2 class model to converge if I set the variances to zero, unfortunately the results for the growth factors were different for this age grouping than for the 3-year time span, which lowers my confidence in these results. )
Thanks for the help.
posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 6:13 pm
Your approach sounds reasonable. For 1) and 2), have you looked at the individuals' development over the 3 time points to give you ideas of growth curve shapes? Is there a spike in the outcome at the first time point? Do they follow the normative curve, that is a downward slope after 25 (see the Muthen & Muthen 2000 article in JSA)? You mention that a growth model with zero growth factor variances converges - does it seem to fit the observed data well? Regarding 3), this should not be a problem given that you have few parameters specific to those tail ages. But have you checked the covariance coverage for the variables in the missing data output? You don't want too small coverage. Regarding 4), there are emerging methodologies for outcomes with strong floor effects. In the meanwhile, why not analyze only the non-control group to check the difference.
Maria Wong
posted on Wednesday, April 03, 2002 - 7:45 am
Hello, I am doing latent growth curve analyses on children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Data were gathered every three years (wave 1: 3-5 years old, wave 2: 6-8, wave 3: 9-11, wave 4: 12-14). I am using age instead of wave as the indicator of time. Some covariance coverages are 0, e.g., no children were measured both at 3 and 4 years old. In addition, close to 2/3 of the data is missing at each age. I have trouble getting the h1 model to converge
a. Is it OK to have zero coverage on some variables?
b. I tried to sharpen the h1 convergence criterion (I used .00001) but wasn't sure whether I did it right. Any recommendations?
c. If the h1 model doesn't converge, is it reasonable to use wave instead of age as the unit of time?
Thank you very much for your time!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, April 03, 2002 - 8:32 am
Zero coverage is OK. Low coverage can be a problem. The only thing H1 does is give you a chi-square statistic. Perhaps you should run without H1 and seen what the results look like. Using wave instead of age would be OK if it allows you to answer your research question.
Jennie Jester
posted on Thursday, April 04, 2002 - 6:39 pm
I have three more follow-up questions:
1)Can you define what you mean by "low coverage"? Are there particular rules for what values are too low, or a way to figure this out for our particular case?
2)If a latent growth model results in a slope variance that is not significantly different from zero, does this indicate that it does not make sense to do a growth mixture model allowing different slopes across classes?
3)In some examples of growth mixture modeling with latent trajectory classes, I see that you have allowed for different variances of growth factors and residual variances of observed variables across classes, whereas in others these parameters are free(not fixed to 0), but equal across classes. Can you explain the criteria used to decide which of these choices to use in this modeling?
Thanks so much for the help.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Saturday, April 06, 2002 - 8:35 am
1. Each element in the coverage matrix should preferably have coverage greater than 50%. A coverage less than 10% usually gives numerical problems. This is discussed in Joe Shafer's missing data book.
2. That may be true but testing it in practice will answer the question for sure.
3. In some examples there is a class which has lower variability than other classes. For example, in paper #87 (downloadable from the Mplus home page), the students in the low normative class have much less variability than the other classes. You can see this graphically by plotting the individual observed trajectories for each class. See the graphics of paper #82. You can test this by a chi-square difference test where in one model the variances are equal across classes and in the other model one class has its variance free from the others. To get the chi-square difference, take two times the difference of the log likelihood values. We recommend starting with the intercept variance only being different.
Jennie Jester
posted on Friday, January 27, 2006 - 11:22 am
I am (again) working on a growth mixture model of symptoms of alcoholism over ages 12-42. Since the outcome is count data with many zeros, I have been using zero-inflated Poisson model. The syntax I used is like Example 8.5 in the User's guide(3rd ed). When I look at the graphs of estimated means and sample means (or alternatively the Residuals of means in RESIDUALS output), I find that the residuals are quite high as compared to the means (off by 40-50% at times). From prior exchanges with Mplus support, I believe this means that the model is poorly fitting.
I have experimented with freeing intercept and slope variance in individual classes, and this has shown model fit improvement (using difference of loglikelihood, which I hope is acceptable), but hasn't affected the residuals.
1) Is there any overall fit statistic for this model which would tell me if the model is acceptably fitting or not?
2) Do you think that the high residuals of means shows a poor fitting model? (In some cases, I think that I have found that models with a significantly better loglikelihood have worse residuals.)
3) Is the 2 times loglikelihood difference test valid for nested models with these distributions?
4)MOST IMPORTANT: Can you suggest any types of model modifications that would help to give me a better fitting model? I cannot use MODINCES with algorithm = integration, so cannot get them from the software.
Thanks so much,
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Saturday, January 28, 2006 - 9:15 am
1. No overall test of fit is available.
2. This should be the case.
3. Yes.
Please send your input, data, output, and license number to
so we take a closer look at your model.
Delfino Vargas
posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 11:20 am
I have a cohort sequential design with time-varying predictor variables. However, the time varying predictor variables have missing values because of the cohort sequential desgin.
1. MPLUS generates mixtures without time-varying covariates and i am satisfied with the results, but
2.MPLUS refuses to obtain mixtures with a time-varying variable with missing data. How can i overcome this situation?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 11:39 am
You would need to bring the covariates into the model and make distributional assumptions about them. Mention their variances in the MODEL command. If this does not help, send your input, data, output, and license number to
Christian M. Connell
posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 12:39 pm
Is Mplus able to handle a Multiple Cohort Design within a Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) framework (i.e., 3 waves of data collected over 6 years, but with individuals in different grades at Wave 1)?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 4:55 pm
Yes. You can handle that either analogous to the multiple group example 6.18 in the Version 5 UG - replacing multiple groups with KNOWNCLASS due to the mixture aspect, or you can handle that by a missing data approach (all individuals have missing data on some of the different time points).
Mohini Lokhande
posted on Monday, August 04, 2008 - 2:51 am
I have 3 questions and will be glad to receive some advice from you.
1) I have a cohort-sequential design with 3 data waves and 8 age cohorts. For analyses purposes I calculated new variables putting several cohorts together: delinquency at age 15, delinquency at age 16,� I have about 50 � 200 cases for each newly created variable. I then calculated LGMM and estimated the missing values with ML.
Despite that the calculations worked quite well I have a conceptual question: The different cohorts included in one class may differ in specific characteristics (e.g. gender distribution, cohort-effects) and therefore may influence the shape of the trajectory. I wonder if you have an idea how I can deal with this issue. Do you know any paper discussing this issue?
2) Do you consider it as problematic to model quadratic shapes with this data (given that there are only 3 data waves for each case �in reality�)
3) What strategy do you propose to predict latent class membership (LGMM) by one time-varying covariate?
Thank you very much for your answer in advance!
Mohini Lokhande
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, August 04, 2008 - 5:33 pm
1) see the Mplus Version 5 User's Guide ex 6.18 for an analysis that enables testing of equality across cohorts of certain parameters.
2) In a usual, single-cohor design 3 time points is not sufficient to identify all the parameters of a quadratic growth model (there are only 3 covariances to identify 6 growth factor variance-covariance parameters). But depending on the particular arrangement of the multiple cohort design it may be possible to identify more parameters than in a single-cohort design. Try it and see if you get a message of a non-identified model.
3) Without a specific example, I have a hard time imagining a latent class variable predicted by a time-varying covariate - because then the latent class variable changes over time and the analysis would seem better conceptualized in terms of a latent transition model.
Kate Sullivan
posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 1:07 pm
I have been reading through the support forums for Mplus to find some help with setting up the programming for cohort sequential designs and think my problems are similar to the setup Mohini Lokhande mentioned on 08/04/2008.
I am working on a dataset with a cohort sequential design with 5-11 year olds that are measured 3 times on the same variables. So for example, 5 year olds have data at 5, 6 and 7 years while 7 year olds have data for 7, 8, and 9 years. Using this design, there are missing data both at random and by design.
I have tried to control for the data missing by design (using both the DATA COHORT step as well as setting up the variables outside Mplus and using PATTERN IS), but I get the message "NO CONVERGENCE IN THE MISSING DATA ESTIMATION OF THE SAMPLE STATISTICS. THIS MAY BE DUE TO SPARSE DATA LEADING TO A SINGULAR COVARIANCE MATRIX ESTIMATE" and am unable to even get descriptive stats from TYPE = BASIC. It was my understanding that the pattern steps would help account for data that is missing and is supposed to be missing.
I am unclear if I have an insufficient N for the different time points (my overall N is 201 with even distribution across ages 5-11 at wave 1) or if I am not setting up the data properly.
I would be happy to send along my programming if that is helpful and would appreciate all help and guidance you can provide. Thanks in advance!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 2:30 pm
You may want to try the multiple group approach to multiple cohort that is shown in Example 6.18. This can work better with sparse data. If you continue to have problems, send your files and license number to
Anne Chan
posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 4:08 pm
Hello. My research would like to look at how students' interest changes from age 11, age 13, to age 15 . I am working on a dataset with a cohort sequential design with 3 measurement waves. There are 3 cohorts in my dataset. For the youngest cohorts, I have their data from 13 to 15 year old (age 11 data is missing). For the olderest cohorts, I have their data from 11 to 13 years old (age 15 is missing). For the middle cohort, I have all the data.
In this case, can I just treat the missing as "random" and do GMM as if it is a single cohort data (and I will restructure the dataset according to the age of the respondents so as to fit this purpose) or I should do a MULTIPLE COHORT model? If I have to do a multiple cohort GGM model, can you point me to an example?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 6:34 pm
You can do it either way. Example 6.18 shows the multiple group multiple cohort approach.
Anne Chan
posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 1:09 am
May I ask if example 6.18 also applies to general mixture growth modeling (to class student according to their change trajectories)? Thanks a lot!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 9:17 am
This same approach can be used with GMM. You would use the KNOWNCLASS option instead of the GROUPING option.
Jane Smith
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 2:33 pm
I'm running a second order latent basis GMM and get the following error when I free the variances and covariances across classes (I can free the means across classes without a problem): "THE ESTIMATED COVARIANCE MATRIX FOR THE Y VARIABLES IN CLASS 1 COULD NOT BE INVERTED. PROBLEM INVOLVING VARIABLE PCL0....CHANGE YOUR MODEL AND/OR STARTING VALUES. THIS MAY BE DUE TO A ZERO ESTIMATED VARIANCE, THAT IS, NO WITHIN- CLASS VARIATION FOR THE VARIABLE." PCL0 is a manifest variable and has a variance. I tried different start values, but that didn't work. Is there another factor that I'm overlooking that can cause this error?
Thank you.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 2:47 pm
Please send the output and your license number to
Daniel Lee
posted on Monday, February 16, 2015 - 6:52 am
Hi Dr. Muthen,
I have a wide format dataset with the following variables: participant ID, birth year of participant (e.g., 80 = 1980, 81 = 1981...there are 6 different years), and 9 items of depression measured at each wave (1996, 1997, and 2000) - so 27 items of depessions (3 depression assessments) in total for each individual. I'm trying to conduct a cohort sequential design to run factor analysis of the depression measure at each age and eventually a longitudinal factorial invariance test. I was wondering if you could provide some insight on how I could structure the data set on mplus so that I can run a factor analysis for each age group rather than each wave. Thank you for your help as always.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, February 16, 2015 - 5:39 pm
Go by UG ex 6.18.
Jianhua Zhou
posted on Sunday, June 09, 2019 - 12:13 am
Hi Dr. Muthen,
When using an accelerated longitudinal design, how to demonstrate that subsamples can be combined?
Thank you so much.
Jianhua Zhou
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, June 09, 2019 - 4:30 pm
Run the model with the equalities across cohorts and without them to get a likelihood-ratio chi-square test.
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Food & Drink
The 50-cent accessory that could save your trip
By Aimee Cebulski, for CNN • Updated 26th June 2014
View Gallery
5 Pictures
Editor's note: CNN does not offer medical advice. If you have a serious medical complaint please consult a physician.
Long hours sitting in an airport or on a train.
Jet lag.
Miles of walking.
Travel is tough on the body.
About eight years ago I started battling pain whenever I traveled.
The large muscles up and down my leg and hip would get hard and tight, making sitting, standing or even sleeping painful.
Massages, Jacuzzi baths, ibuprofen and yoga alleviated the pain, but temporarily.
While all were helpful, no remedy really provided the "release" I felt I needed to undo those tight spots.
A physical therapist suggested pressure point therapy as a way to help the muscles relax.
She used a device called a
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However, the bulky Thera Cane isn't really travel friendly.
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MORE: Airplane yoga: 18 exercises for healthy flying
I wondered what might work while traveling, even alone?
So simple, so cheap, so effective.
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The ends of the Thera Cane are studded with hard, little plastic balls -- wandering through the aisles of a sporting goods store one day I stumbled across a possible solution: a Wiffle Ball!
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Following the exercises my physical therapist showed me with the Thera Cane, I came up with five "do anywhere" moves for instant tension relief.
MORE: 8 secret acupoints to cure travel ills
1. Foot relief
Sit in a chair or on the edge of a bed, place the Wiffle Ball under your foot (starting in the arch) and slowly roll your foot back and forth over the ball for about two minutes.
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Lay on the floor (better than the bed, which is too soft) and place the ball under your shoulder blade.
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What's your favorite tip for relieving muscle pain and tightness on the road? Share them with readers below.
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There is another G2A Direct Sale running at the moment giving you the chance to score some sweet game deals direct from developers. You have a choice of 20 different games to choose from, you can get one, a couple or all of them with some nice discount off the regular prices… all of the titles included int he sale can be redeemed from Steam with the keys you will get after a successful purchase.
Games in the G2A Direct Sale:
– Typoman: Revised
– Wuppo
– Mini Thief
– Save the Dodos
– VRidge
– Gumboy Tournament
– Inquisitor
– Exoplanet: First Contact
– Herocraft Collection
– The Keep
– 64.0
– Redout
– Epistory – Typing Chronicles
– Dirt: Showdown
– DiRT 3 Complete Edition
– Hue
– Unbox
– Table Top Racing: World Tour
– Syberia
– Syberia II
– To get more details about the currently ongoing G2A Direct Sale…


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Learn about the colleges and their wide-ranging educational programs.
Visit the California Virtual Campus to discover distance education options.
Find out what is required to attend a California community college.
All U.S. residents should use the standard CCCApply admission application.
(Formerly known as the Board of Governors Fee Waiver)
Some colleges offer special admission applications for international students.
Financial Aid
Yes, you can! We'll show you how.
There are many sources of financial aid. We'll help you find them.
There are usually just a few simple steps. We'll lead you through them.


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1,500 Facebook Fan Giveaway: Yo Ho Graphix $15 GC {Worldwide} CLOSED
Written by NPN Reviewers on November 20th, 2010
Activism, Breastfeeding, Cleaning and Organizing, Feeding With Love, Intactivism, Lactivism, Natural Parenting Products, Practical Home Help, Reviews and Giveaways
This giveaway is now closed. View the winner announcement here, along with a special discount code for our fans! Thank you all so much for entering!
To celebrate our wonderful Facebook community, we're hosting a special giveaway to reward our fans.
We have over 1,000 "like"-ers already, and when we reach 1,500 Facebook fans, we'll give one lucky Facebook follower a $15 gift certificate to Yo Ho Graphix, a wonderful store on Etsy that's agreed to sponsor the giveaway!
If you like NPN on Facebook, you're already entered into the giveaway — no further effort needed! But read on to learn more about the prize and garner some bonus entries into the giveaway (under "Win It!").
Yo Ho Graphix offers custom vinyl wall decals, laptop decals, tote bags, and tees and onesies, with sayings ranging from touching to cheeky.
Beautiful decals for a wall, shadow box, or car, available in an array of colors. There are a variety of sayings that would be perfect for the living room, nursery, kitchen, master bedroom, or entryway, and would work well as a gift. ($2-$25)
Funny sayings (like "A clean house is a sign of a misspent life") for the living room, laundry room — even the toilet! ($3-$25)
Modern and chic images to add a touch of style to any fixture, appliance, or wall — decals can be a great way to personalize a rental home! ($20-$25)
For our biggest Facebook fans, we know you love your online community enough to want to declare it to everyone! ($3-$6)
And there are lots of options for crunchy, breastfeeding fans and lactivists:
Totes and onesies that read "Peace Love Breastfeeding" ($6 for a tote bag, $12 for an infant onesie)
T-shirts for parents, like this one that reads "iDonate Breastmilk … Because it could be my baby" ($10-$13)
Decals for walls, laptops, cars, and shadow boxes that raise awareness, such as "Breastfeeding for all — Circumcision for none." ($3-$15)
Decals featuring beautiful breastfeeding portraits and quotes for home or business use, such as if you run a breastfeeding-friendly store ($3.50-$15)
You can buy any of the above decals or other products from the Yo Ho Graphix store on Etsy. There are seriously soooo many more options than the overview we've given here, and for decals, you can choose the color that best fits your decor. Price ranges for selected products are listed above and run from $2 to $25. Most are below $15, and many are below $10. Shipping to the U.S. is generally in the $3-$5.50 range for a single item.
Remember, we'll award the fabulous prize of $15 toward any purchase at Yo Ho Graphix when we reach the magic number of 1,500 Facebook fans, so tell all your friends to like Natural Parents Network on Facebook! You could be the lucky winner when the big number hits.
How do you enter the giveaway?
MAIN ENTRY: Like Natural Parents Network on Facebook! That's it! When we get to 1,500 fans, we'll randomly select one of you to be our winner.
BONUS ENTRIES, to increase your chance of winning. For these, you need to leave a comment on this post for each bonus entry, so we can add these entries to our giveaway pool.
- Like Yo Ho Graphix on Facebook (1 extra entry)
- Visit the Yo Ho Graphix shop on Etsy and tell us one item you love (1 extra entry)
- Heart the Yo Ho Graphix shop on Etsy or your favorite item there and leave your Etsy username in the comment (1 extra entry for each, up to 2 total)
- Follow Yo Ho Graphix on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment (1 extra entry)
- Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can cut and paste the following text: We're giving away $15 to @YoHoGraphix when we hit 1500 FB fans for @NatParNet! Like us today to enter: http://bit.ly/cRSAXr
- Contest open worldwide.
- You must like NPN on Facebook to be eligible, and no comments are necessary for this mandatory first entry. If you win from a bonus entry, we'll need to know your Facebook name (in private) so we can confirm that you're a fan.
- Bonus entries will be combined with the names of the 1,500 Facebook fans for the drawing of a single winner.
- Leave each bonus entry as a separate comment so we can count them all.
- For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let us know in your comment.
- For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
- We will pick the winner through Random.org after the contest closes and send a Facebook notification. Make sure you have a valid email address connected to your Facebook account so we can reach you if you win. If we can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, we'll draw a new name.
- Any questions, let us know: Lauren {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com
Contest closes whenever Natural Parents Network
reaches 1,500 fans on Facebook!
for Natural Parents Network.
We try to seek out only products we think you would find
relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
If we don't like a product, we won't be recommending it to you.
See our full disclosure policy here.
Activism, Breastfeeding, Cleaning and Organizing, Feeding With Love, Intactivism, Lactivism, Natural Parenting Products, Practical Home Help, Reviews and Giveaways


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Agenda, James Woudhuysen
It has always been the duty of graphic designers to challenge conventional wisdom.…
Rick Poynor
An interview with Pentagram's ringmaster of paradox.
Rick Poynor
No printing method is too basic for Jake Tilson. Created with photocopiers, his books, magazines and…
William Owen
Fortune magazine was a visual encyclopedia of American business life
Robin Kinross
St Bride Library is one of the world's best sources of information about type design and typography. Now…
Yvonne Schwemer-Scheddin
Poster design is an instantaneous art. Eye looks at prize-winners from "Typography Germany '90"
Gerard Forde
Jan van Toorn has turned graphic agitation into a fine art


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Tickets are on sale for the annual dance concert at Hope College, Dance 37, which will open on Friday, March 4, followed by performances on Saturday, March 5, and Thursday through Saturday, March 10-12. All performances will start at 8 p.m., and will be at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
The concert will include a diverse group of works choreographed by Hope College's dance faculty with additional pieces created by guest artists including Eddie Stockton, Anne-Rene Petrarca and Dolores Sanchez.
Tickets for Dance 37 are on sale at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, and cost $10 for regular admission, $7 for senior citizens and $5 for students. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
Tickets will also be available at the Knickerbocker Theatre on performance nights directly preceding the performance time.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.


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This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. Please check back later for the full article.
Attitudes refer to our summary evaluations of people, groups, ideas, and other objects, indicating whether we like or dislike them. The study of attitudes takes a central position in social psychology. Since attitudes were described as the most distinctive and indispensable concept in social psychology more than 80 years ago, decades of extensive research have studied attitudes. This research has revealed how attitudes shape our perceptions and behavior.
One of the key aspects of attitudes is their affective, cognitive, and behavioral content. That is, an attitude may associate an attitude object with affective or emotional reactions, cognitions or knowledge, beliefs, and thoughts, and intentions or past actions. The attitude itself may also have a simple (e.g., positive or negative) structure or a more conflicted, ambivalent (e.g., simultaneously positive and negative) structure, and it may serve different psychological functions (e.g., simplification of knowledge, value expression). In more recent decades, scientists have focused on developing diverse techniques to measure attitudes. On the whole, research has shown that attitudes are moderately predictive of future behavior and that the strength of this link depends on diverse factors, such as how strongly the attitude is held, individuals' personality, and the environmental context. Overall, the long history of research on attitudes has shown considerable theoretical and practical relevance.


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Exceptional Looks, Intelligent Content
A Website is Your 24/7 Sales Representative
Websites don't close, take vacation, get sick or put your visitors on hold. Sytek-developed websites are not only custom and tailored to your business, but are also fully Search Engine Optimized and affordable.
Our portfolio of websites is as diverse as ever, from attorneys to auto shops, caterers to construction contractors, florists to furniture dealers, realtors to trucking operations, and everything in between. At Sytek we have planned, designed, coded, and launched hundreds of websites that are still thriving today.
We treat every website project the same. Whether it's a basic informational site or one with animated bells and whistles, our goal is to produce a quality product that represents your business, attracts visitors, and inevitably increases your sales. At Sytek every new website package includes the following:
- A Custom, Professional Design that is Search Engine Friendly
- Use of Professional Stock Images
- Assistance with Photo Taking (If desired - we are not professional photographers)
- Custom Copywriting – we can assist with writing search engine friendly content that is tailored to your business
- 10 Free Email Addresses (More available for a minimal fee)
- Custom Web Form (Optional)
- Embedded Google Map to Your Location (Optional but highly recommended)
- Domain Name Registration Assistance
- Initial Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Take a Glimpse at Sytek's Web Design Portfolio:
Agriculture Related Websites
Attorney & Financial Websites
Auto & Marine Repair Websites
Cabinet / Woodworking Websites
Catering / Restaurant Websites
Concrete Contractor Websites
Construction Contractor Websites
Dentistry Websites
E-Commerce Websites
Elder Care & Health / Wellness Websites
Electrician Websites
Excavation Contrator Websites
Florsit & Nursery Websites
Fuel Related Websites
Furniture & Flooring Websites
Home Improvement / Lumberyard Websites
Insurance Agency Websites
Landscaping / Yard Maintenance Websites
Manufacturing Websites
Meat Locker Websites
Pet Related Websites
Plumbing, Heating & A/C Websites
Real Estate Websites
Recreation Related Websites
Religious / Church Websites
Salon & Spa Websites
Sanitation Websites
Trucking Websites
Miscellaneous Websites


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To access the Commercial Customer RMA Request Form you must be registered with PNY's Partner Program. If you already are registered please click the Log-in button, or Join Now if you would like to sign up.
RMA Form
Learn more about all the benefits of joining the Partner Program by visiting www.pny.com/WhyJoin
Login Join Now!
América Latina y el Caribe (español) Brasil (português)


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Fossil Gallery
Takakkawia lineataA conical sponge with blade-like fins
Demospongea (Order: Monaxonida)
Takakkawia is considered a primitive demosponge (Rigby, 1986). Demosponges, the same group that are harvested as bath sponges, represent the largest class of sponges today.
Species name:
Takakkawia lineata
Described by:
Description date:
Takakkawia – from Takakkaw Falls, a waterfall in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, the second tallest in Canada. From the Stoney First Nation Nakoda word "Takakkaw," for "magnificent," a descriptive name for the waterfall given by Cornelius Van Horne in 1897.
lineata – from the Latin lineatus, "marked with lines," this refers to the distinctive blade-like elements along the length of this sponge.
Type Specimens:
Lectotype –USNM66539, in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
Other species:
Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.
Other deposits: none.
Middle Cambrian, Bathyuriscus-Elrathina Zone (approximately 505 million years ago).
Principal localities:
The Walcott and Raymond Quarries on Fossil Ridge, the Tulip Beds (S7) on Mount Stephen and other smaller sites on Mount Field.
Brief history of research:
Walcott described Takakkawia in his 1920 paper on the Burgess Shale sponges. The genus was redescribed by Rigby in 1986 and again by Rigby and Collins (2004) based on new material collected by the Royal Ontario Museum.
This is an elongate conical sponge with eight stiff bladelike fins that project radially from the wall of the sponge and extends from a sharp root tip. These fins are composed of fine vertical spicules. Internally the fins are connected to long twisted strands of spicules that form ribbon-like structures. These structures are connected by horizontal ladder-like bundles of spicules. Most spicules are monaxial (simple and elongate) but some could have had three spines. The eight blade-like fins form sharp tips and fan outwards at the oscular margin (the hole at the top). This sponge would have had a large central cavity (spongocoel).
Takakkawia is rare in most sites but abundant in the Walcott Quarry and represents 2.61 % of the community (Caron and Jackson, 2008).
Maximum size:
40 mm
Life habits:
Epibenthic, sessile
Feeding strategies:
Suspension feeder
Ecological Interpretations:
Takakkawia would have lived on the sea floor. Particles of organic matter were extracted from the water as they passed through canals in the sponge's wall.
CARON, J.-B. AND D. A. JACKSON. 2008. Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258: 222-256.
RIGBY, J. K. 1986. Sponges of the Burgess shale (Middle Cambrian), British Columbia. Palaeontographica Canadiana, 2: 105 p.
RIGBY, J. K. AND D. COLLINS. 2004. Sponges of the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale and Stephen Formations, British Columbia. Royal Ontario Museum Contributions in Science (1): 155 p.
WALCOTT, C. D. 1920. Middle Cambrian Spongiae. Cambrian Geology and Paleontology IV. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 67(6): 261-365.
Other links:


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High Parts Tour
Tuesday 30th April
14:30 - 16:00
Description:Climb the spiral staircase to walk in the footsteps of Wells Cathedral masons with the behind-the-scenes tours of Wells Cathedral's High Parts; one of the most memorable things to do in Wells! Tour participants will discover hidden spaces, galleries and chambers not always open to the public. The route will take in a walk along the singing gallery, discover Wells Cathedral's trumpet holes, explore the south transept roof space and allow participants to marvel at the nave from a very different perspective!. Tours will run regularly throughout the week and places can be prebooked online. Visitors will need to ensure they are fit and well enough to take part; more details of our terms and conditions of booking are here. Children have to be a minimum of 10 years old and, if they are aged between 10 and 16 years, one adult must accompany every two children. And why not share your photographs with us via the Cathedral's social media pages using the hashtag #hpwells! We're on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
See more Tours events: this week this month all


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Some state laws have changed. See updated speed limits here.
This summer, we're all about road trips. Short trips, long trips … any trip that lets us see more of our beautiful, expansive country. But when traveling across state lines, it's easy to forget that speed limit laws can vary. And nothing puts a damper on a road trip like a speeding ticket.
To help keep your driving record in good standing, here's a handy breakdown of highway speed limits by state. (Giddy up, Texas!). Of course, this is just a guide. It's your responsibility to abide by posted speed limit signs wherever you may find yourself. Happy (and safe) travels!
Related links
Read about one writer's experience driving from Chicago to Los Angeles
Greetings from Esurance: Cape Henry, Virginia
Greetings from Esurance: Highway 1, California
Greetings from Esurance: Mud Creek Hogan Trading Post


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Tokyo cartographers create cycling routes that resemble wild animals.
Japan has a tendency to take existing innovations and bring them to the next level. For instance, Japanese cars have consistently excelled in Western markets. Some say Japanese macarons have surpassed those of traditional French patisseries. Fine dining service in Japan is indisputably supreme. And now it seems that some cartographers in Tokyo came across London's darling Animals on the Underground project—a project that traces line drawings of different wildlife within the famed London Underground map—and thought, "We can do this. Better."
The resulting Tokyo Zoo Project reveals complex cycling routes throughout the city traced into the elaborate shapes of wild animals, from a tediously striped zebra to a mother koala with a child mounted on her back. Working with a host of requests from Twitter, the team of cartographers picked out 15 startlingly realistic geo-glyphs and programmed the routes into a personal bicycle navigation system. Each animal announces the total distance traveled and calories burned while giving a brief summary and a few poetic words of advice about the route. Be warned, "You need guts to draw the stripes of a zebra." Especially if the zebra is 43 miles long.
Via Spoon & Tamago.


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Lexbase have been in the news a lot. Controversially, their online search tool allows you to find people who have, or have had, convictions in your local area. It was down for several months – after intense criticism – and is now up again. Its most recent incarnation boasts a new interface and has provoked the same discussion; that a criminal record can allegedly be shown entirely out of context or, in some cases, incorrectly. Even if this is all publicly available information it's something which is troubling for many, not least Beatrice Ask; the Swedish Justice Minister.
Not only is it an example of a contentious interpretation of Swedish law surrounding 'yttrandefrihet' it's also a great example of what not to do when you install Google Analytics on your site.
The problem is this – run a search on Lexbase using someone's name, personal number and a geographical area and all this data is sent to Google Analytics. This entirely breaks the terms and conditions of using Google Analytics which explicitly state that you cannot do this. The documentation includes the following:
"…prohibits sending personally identifiable information (PII) to Google Analytics (such as names, social security numbers, email addresses, or any similar data)….."
Here's what that looks like – you can see my test search terms being sent as an event, including a personal number and name:
Lexbase's use is an extreme example but sending PII via Google Analytics is something I see happen with websites on a fairly regular basis, usually accidentally or in ignorance of the terms and conditions. Not only does doing so probably betray your website's policy statement on your website, and therefore your customer's trust, but it also risks your Google Account being terminated by Google.


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Content Marketing Specialist
We are looking for a creative, talented, data-driven content marketer to develop and execute a content marketing strategy that will attract, convert, close and delight our customers.
We're always on the look out for hard working, friendly and talented individuals to join our team. If we're not currently hiring in your area but you believe you have something to offer Statcounter please email firstname.lastname@example.com with 'job proposal' contained in the subject line.


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Groupon.com: Internet Fairy Tale or the Next Fabulous Flameout?
Coupons meet social networking.
Sept. 20, 2010 -- On a recent summer day at Chicago's "Kid's Table," manager Anastasia LaBorde found her business inundated with phone calls.
On a typical day at the store, which hosts children's cooking classes, LaBorde receives a handful of calls from curious would-be patrons and clients. But on this day, by midafternoon, she'd received more than 100 calls.
"I can't answer the phones enough," she said, laughing. "By the time I end one phone call, I get another one."
The barrage of new interest in the cooking school came after the Kids Table was featured on the sizzling-hot website Groupon.com. Groupon, a Chicago Internet startup, offers one heavily discounted online deal every day to customers around the globe.
"Every single phone call today has been a Groupon pretty much,'' said LaBorde. "We have only been open for about 3½ years now, so we haven't done too much advertising, and this is the best possible way to go about it. [It's] completely free, and everybody's signed up for Groupon, so it's been great."
By the end of the day, when the Kids Table was showcased on Groupon, the cooking school had sold 3,470 deals through the Groupon site, which offered a class for $12, a steep discount from the regular $25 price. LaBorde said the discount would turn the deal seekers into loyal customers. "We rarely have people who come in once here and don't come back, so I'm sure we're going to have lots more people coming in now."
Not even two years old, Groupon.com, at this stage of its business development, is growing faster than Facebook, Amazon and Google, in terms of total revenue.
With its high-tech twist on an old medium, discount coupons, tweaked for the Twitter set, Groupon has more than 11 million active subscribers and has saved clients more than $488 million, according to the company.
Not Your Grandma's Coupon: Purchase Power Comes in Numbers
"We're launching about 200 cities in this next year,'' said Andrew Mason, the 29-year-old CEO and brains behind Groupon. "We have been called the fastest-growing company ever."
A musician by training, Mason played in a rock band and was working on some struggling websites when he came up with a "killer app" for selling coupons to groups of people.
Groupon was born in the fall of 2008, with seven employees. Barely two years later, it now has about 550 people on its payroll, Mason said, with 25 new hires training at Groupon's headquarters weekly.
The concept is simple. "Every day we e-mail millions of people around the world one deal on a great business in their city," said Mason. "It could be on a restaurant, a spa, theater tickets, a sensory deprivation tank, just about anything that's interesting to try."
Takers buy a voucher through the site, usually for half off the value of the item, and up to 70 percent off. The voucher can be used like cash at the business.
Every Groupon offer has a time limit, usually 24 hours to buy the coupon. Coupons are typically good for a year from the date of purchase.
The catch? Each offer requires a minimum number of customers, a tipping point, before the deal is on.
"If you buy more lettuce, then you get it at a better price," Mason said. "It's the same thing with Groupon -- if we can channel the entire collective buying power of a community behind one deal, then we can negotiate a better price on something than if one person was doing it alone."
Merchants do not have to pay Groupon up-front for the privilege of being featured. The company makes its money by splitting the take from the coupons it sells with the businesses that supply the goods and services.
Erin Donahue, a faithful Groupon customer who buys a deal at least once per month, started using Groupon about a year ago. "A friend was organizing a girls' group dinner out, and she forwarded the e-mail for a sushi Groupon."
Coupons for Sky-diving in Detroit, Chemical Peels in Philadelphia
Donahue, 27, lives in New York and is a typical customer. "We find [our customers] because it's a great experience," said Mason. "[Businesses] love us because it's a great way to get new customers. And it's a type of customer that traditionally is really hard for them to reach."
Seventy percent of Groupon clients are women, age 35 and younger, living in cities, according to the company, which is privately held.
"It was free to sign up," Donahue said. "It was a place we would go anyway, and you know we saved money and it was fun."
For small businesses like Chicago's upscale Spa on Oak, Groupon's appeal is more about advertising, more about reaching new eyeballs. "I would say 60 percent of the people who come in here through the Groupon didn't even know I was here,'' said Richelle Ciluffo, owner of the spa. "It put me on the map."
Groupons have peddled zip-lining in Santa Cruz, Calif., sky-diving in Detroit, chemical peels in Philadelphia and dancing in Dallas.
Culture is a hot-seller, too. From the King Tut exhibit in New York to the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. Last month, Groupon sold its first big national coupon: $25 for $50 worth of clothes at the Gap.
Mason said the Gap coupon got 450,000 takers -- and the volume crashed the Gap's server. Nonetheless, Groupon said the Gap promotion yielded $11 million in sales.
Dotcom Boom Reincarnate?
Like the early dotcoms, Groupon cultivates a hip, funky vibe. The average age of employees is 25. Ping-Pong is encouraged. Headshots of customer service reps -- recruited from Chicago's improv scene -- line the walls.
"They think quickly, but they also have a good sense of humility. They have a good sense of empathy,'' said Dan Jessup, the company's human resources director, of their employees. "They understand how to relate naturally and they do so with a sense of humor."
Meetings are held in a space that strongly resembled an aging teenager's bedroom, which, oddly, included a stationary bicycle that played the Sade song "Smooth Operator" when it was working properly.
Coupons for the Cool Crowd
Groupon advertising reads more like satire you'd find in The Onion, rather what you'd read in typical business copy.
For a hair treatment in Tucson: "How to feel terrible and look great doing it."
For cheap cocktails in Seattle, "A reader challenge: What's in a fireside chat?"
And, "How to order yogurt the rude way."
"The e-mails are hilarious,'' said Donahue. "I think that that's part of their voice, part of their company personality that shines through."
And with the appeal so obvious to so many, the competition is coming on strong, and not just in the United States. In Russia and China, clones have ripped off Groupon's model, right down to the color scheme of its website.
Stateside, companies like yelp.com are moving in on the market.
"We've seen something like 500 businesses clone the exact idea of Groupon," said Mason. "Most of them end up being like a knockoff, you know a Groupon knockoff is a lot like a Gucci knockoff or an i-pod knockoff. It's not the same as the original."
Groupon may be riding high now. But there are many tombstones for dotcom hot properties past, such as Pets.com, eToys.com and Netscape, once promising Internet companies that grew fast and flamed out.
"[I] take it with a grain of salt," said Mason. We're kind of like the 'N Sync of websites, where we might have some record, but we're not better than the Beatles. It's more of an artifact of the times in which we live."
Unlike so many dotcom wonders, Groupon is already turning a profit.
Watch the full story tonight on 'Nightline' at 11:35 ET


text: A Professional Automobile Development and Manufacturer in ChinaChina Big S&T Dev (Group) Co. Limited is an overseas marketing investment development in China, and is one of the subsidiary company of Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. We are a professional automobile development manufacturer, and a professional car assembly plants overseas investor in China. The advantage of our company is to provide technology, equipment and the whole set of spare parts to help you set an automobile assembly factory overseas. We offer assembly plant design, e... [Details]


text:
Previous media releases
UBS's second quarter 2012 results
News Release
UBS second-quarter pre-tax profit CHF 951 million; wealth management businesses' net new money inflows increased to CHF 13.2 billion; industry-leading Basel 2.5 tier 1 ratio strengthened further to 19.2%; phase-in Basel III tier 1 ratio1 target of 13% already surpassed; Basel III RWA1 reduced by CHF 45 billion; Group and Investment Bank RWA targets lowered.
In challenging conditions marked by increased volatility and greater client caution, UBS continued to execute its strategy and to deliver on its enduring commitment to clients, achieving pre-tax profit of CHF 951 million. Costs were managed prudently, keeping UBS on track to deliver its entire planned savings by the end of 2013.
UBS again delivered on its key strategic objective of lowering Basel III risk-weighted assets1 (RWA), with reductions of CHF 45 billion in the second quarter. The firm has already surpassed its RWA reduction targets for 2012 in the Investment Bank and the Group as a whole, and is accelerating towards its 2013 targets. On a fully applied basis, the firm's Basel III tier 1 ratio increased to 8.8% from 7.5%. UBS has reduced its 2016 Group target for Basel III RWA by CHF 30 billion to less than CHF 240 billion. The Investment Bank RWA target for 2016 has been lowered by CHF 15 billion to less than CHF 135 billion, as UBS believes the business can operate successfully within its target performance ranges with lower RWA. UBS is confident it can achieve its targeted RWA and capital ratios without diluting shareholder equity.
Wealth Management attracted increased net new money inflows of CHF 9.5 billion, and Wealth Management Americas delivered resilient net new money inflows of CHF 3.7 billion in addition to recording its highest ever pre-tax profit. Group client deposits increased by CHF 19 billion, partly due to favorable currency effects and including higher levels of deposit inflows in Retail & Corporate: a sign of our clients' continuing trust in UBS. The Investment Bank continued to execute its focused strategy, with pro-forma estimated Basel III RWA1 lowered further to CHF 170 billion.
- Pre-tax profit CHF 951 million; net profit attributable to UBS shareholders CHF 425 million; diluted earnings per share CHF 0.11
- Group operating income CHF 6.4 billion
- Capital, liquidity and funding positions remain strong:
- Basel 2.5 tier 1 ratio rose to 19.2% from 18.7%
- Basel III RWA1 reduced by a further estimated CHF 45 billion to around CHF 305 billion on a fully applied basis, achieving 2012 target of CHF 340 billion ahead of schedule
- Basel III RWA targets reduced to around CHF 270 billion from CHF 290 billion for 2013 and to less than CHF 240 billion from around CHF 270 billion for 2016
- Basel III common equity tier 1 ratio1 rose to 13.1% from 11.8 % on a phase-in basis, reaching this milestone well in advance of the more stringent capital requirements' implementation in 2013
- Basel III common equity tier 1 ratio1 rose to 8.8% from 7.5% on a fully applied basis, maintaining UBS's position as the best capitalized bank in its peer group
- Invested assets CHF 2,163 billion, up CHF 48 billion, including CHF 13.2 billion net new money inflows in the wealth management businesses
- Customer deposits increased by CHF 19 billion to CHF 362 billion, as wealth management businesses and Retail & Corporate continued to attract client money in current accounts as well as personal and savings accounts
- UBS recognized as Best Global Wealth Manager and Best Bank in Switzerland, just two of UBS's six Euromoney Awards for Excellence in 2012
- Wealth Management pre-tax profit CHF 502 million; net new money increased by CHF 2.8 billion to CHF 9.5 billion on strong inflows in Asia Pacific, emerging markets and Switzerland, as well as on a global basis from ultra high net worth clients; annualized net new money growth improved to 4.9%, at upper end of target range
- Wealth Management Americas pre-tax profit increased to a record USD 211 million; net new money inflows USD 3.8 billion; cost/income ratio improved to 86.6%, within target range
- Investment Bank pre-tax loss CHF 130 million, reflecting lower revenues amidst challenging market conditions; Basel III RWA1 reduced to CHF 170 billion, achieving adjusted 2012 target of CHF 175 billion ahead of schedule; RWA targets reduced from around CHF 150 billion to CHF 135 billion for 2013 and 2016
- Global Asset Management pre-tax profit CHF 118 million; CHF 3.4 billion third-party net new money inflows, excluding money market flows
- Retail & Corporate pre-tax profit resilient at CHF 399 million; executed strongly against all its targetranges; net interest margin increased to 161 basis points; strong net new business volume growth; cost base well under control
Zurich/Basel, 31 July 2012 – Commenting on UBS's second-quarter results, Group CEO Sergio P. Ermotti said, "Our strong capital, liquidity and funding positions, as well as our transparency and consistency in communicating these strengths, clearly speak in favor of UBS and reassure our clients in an otherwise adverse environment. Clients recognize this and continue to entrust us with their assets. We reached a key milestone in our strategic execution and we are determined to extend our advantage as the best capitalized bank in our peer group under current and future regulatory requirements. We expect our Basel III tier 1 ratio to be comfortably above 9% by the end of 2012. Continued vigilance on costs is keeping us firmly on track to deliver our entire planned cost savings by the end of 2013 and we continue to explore avenues to improve efficiency. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on prudent liquidity management, further reducing risk-weighted assets and delivering the best possible service to our clients. I have the utmost confidence in our ability to deliver on our firm's strategy by adapting our execution in a changing environment."
Second-quarter net profit attributable to UBS shareholders CHF 425 million
Net profit attributable to UBS shareholders was CHF 425 million in the second quarter of 2012 compared with CHF 827 million in the first quarter. Pre-tax profit declined to CHF 951 million from CHF 1,304 million, primarily reflecting lower trading revenues, excluding own credit, as well as a decline in net fee and commission income and higher operating expenses. These declines were partly offset by an own credit gain of CHF 239 million compared with a loss of CHF 1,164 million in the prior quarter. Tax expense was CHF 253 million compared with CHF 476 million in the prior quarter. In addition, CHF 273 million of the second quarter net profit was attributable to non-controlling interests, mostly reflecting dividends on trust preferred securities, compared with CHF 1 million in the prior quarter. Operating expenses increased by CHF 236 million to CHF 5,457 million. The second quarter included a credit to personnel expenses of CHF 84 million related to changes to a retiree medical and life insurance benefit plan in the US, while the prior quarter included a credit to personnel expenses of CHF 485 million related to changes to our Swiss pension plan. In addition, the second quarter included net restructuring charges of CHF 9 million compared with net restructuring charges of CHF 126 million in the prior quarter. Excluding these items, operating expenses decreased by CHF 48 million to CHF 5,532 million. We employed 63,520 personnel as of 30 June 2012 compared with 64,243 personnel as of 31 March 2012. The decrease of 723 during the second quarter mainly related to our continued focus on cost reduction across most business divisions.
Wealth Management pre-tax profit was CHF 502 million in the second quarter of 2012 compared with CHF 803 million in the previous quarter, primarily as the first quarter included a credit to personnel expenses of CHF 237 million related to changes to our Swiss pension plan. Adjusted for this item and restructuring charges, pre-tax profit decreased by CHF 75 million to CHF 503 million. Total operating income decreased by CHF 35 million to CHF 1,734 million from CHF 1,769 million, due to a decline in non-recurring fees and trading income, reflecting lower client activity levels. Operating expenses increased to CHF 1,232 million from CHF 966 million. The gross margin on invested assets decreased by 4 basis points to 89 basis points, mainly reflecting lower client activity levels. Net new money improved to CHF 9.5 billion from CHF 6.7 billion in the previous quarter. Invested assets increased to CHF 783 billion. The annualized net new money growth rate was 4.9% compared with 3.6% in the previous quarter.
Wealth Management Americas pre-tax profit in the second quarter of 2012 was USD 211 million, a slight increase from the prior quarter's record profit of USD 209 million, as a 1% rise in operating income was only partially offset by an increase in operating expenses. The second quarter's result included USD 63 million of realized gains in the investment portfolio, an increase over the prior quarter, and an increase in net fee and commission income that offset the combined effect of reduced net interest and trading income and higher operating expenses. Operating income increased by USD 19 million to USD 1,587 million from USD 1,568 million. Total operating expenses increased by USD 16 million to USD 1,375 million from USD 1,359 million, primarily due to a 7% increase in non-personnel expenses. Net new money totaled USD 3.8 billion compared with USD 4.6 billion. The annualized net new money growth rate for the second quarter was 1.9%, down from 2.4% in the prior quarter. The gross margin on invested assets decreased by 1 basis point to 79 basis points.
The Investment Bank recorded a pre-tax loss of CHF 130 million in the second quarter of 2012 compared with a pre-tax profit of CHF 730 million in the first quarter of 2012. Revenues declined significantly in the securities business amid challenging market conditions. In addition, revenues were impacted by a loss of CHF 349 million related to the Facebook initial public offering. Pro-forma Basel III RWA1 decreased to CHF 170 billion. Total operating income decreased by 40% to CHF 1,736 million in the second quarter of 2012 from CHF 2,903 million in the previous quarter. Total operating expenses decreased 14% to CHF 1,867 million from CHF 2,173 million. In the investment banking division, total revenues decreased by 6% to CHF 372 million from CHF 396 million, as a reduction in fees was partially offset by lower risk management premiums. Equities revenues decreased 75% to CHF 247 million from CHF 992 million, with declines across most businesses. Results were impacted by the abovementioned loss related to the Facebook initial public offering and the adverse effect of an improvement in the own credit calculation methodology and the correction of own credit items relating to prior periods. Fixed income, currencies and commodities revenues decreased 27% to CHF 1,099 million from CHF 1,501 million as escalating eurozone fears and slower growth in the US created challenging market conditions.
Due to the gross mishandling of Facebook's market debut by NASDAQ we recorded a loss of CHF 349 million in our US Equities business as a result of our efforts to provide best execution for our clients. As a market maker in one of the largest IPOs in US history, we received significant orders from clients, including clients of our wealth management businesses. Due to multiple operational failures by NASDAQ, UBS's pre-market orders were not confirmed for several hours after the stock had commenced trading. As a result of system protocols that we had designed to ensure our clients' orders were filled consistent with regulatory guidelines and our own standards, orders were entered multiple times before the necessary confirmations from NASDAQ were received and our systems were able to process them. NASDAQ ultimately filled all of these orders, exposing UBS to far more shares than our clients had ordered. UBS's loss resulted from NASDAQ's multiple failures to carry out its obligations, including both opening the Facebook stock for trading and not halting trading in the stock during the day. We will take
appropriate legal action against NASDAQ to address its gross mishandling of the offering and its substantial failures to perform its duties. Although as in all such matters there can be no assurance as to the amount of any recovery we may obtain, we intend to pursue compensation for the full extent of our losses.
Global Asset Management pre-tax profit in the second quarter of 2012 was CHF 118 million compared with CHF 156 million in the first quarter, primarily due to lower performance fees, especially in alternative and quantitative investments. Total operating income was CHF 446 million compared with CHF 478 million in the first quarter. Total operating expenses were CHF 328 million compared with CHF 322 million in the first quarter. The annualized net new money growth rate was negative 2.5% compared with negative 5.7% in the first quarter. Excluding money market flows, net new money inflows from third parties were CHF 3.4 billion compared with outflows of CHF 2.9 billion in the first quarter as the level of client portfolio re-alignments seen in the first quarter abated and third party inflows rebounded in the second quarter. The inflows were mainly into traditional investments, particularly indexed equity. Total net new money flows, excluding money market funds, were positive in the second quarter at CHF 1.2 billion. The total gross margin was 32 basis points compared with 34 basis points in the first quarter, mainly due to lower performance fees in alternative and quantitative investments.
Retail & Corporate pre-tax profit was CHF 399 million compared with CHF 575 million in the previous quarter, which included a credit to personnel expenses of CHF 190 million related to changes to our Swiss pension plan. Adjusted for this item and restructuring charges, pre-tax profit increased by CHF 3 million to CHF 395 million. Both our retail and corporate businesses continued to record strong net new business volume growth. Total operating income decreased by CHF 9 million to CHF 927 million from CHF 936 million in the prior quarter. Operating expenses increased to CHF 527 million from CHF 361 million in the previous quarter, which included a credit to personnel expenses of CHF 190 million related to changes to our Swiss pension plan. Adjusted for these changes and restructuring charges, operating expenses were down by CHF 13 million. Annualized net new business volume growth was 3.3% compared with 4.2% in the previous quarter. Both our retail and corporate businesses recorded net inflows, mainly in client assets, but also from loans, in line with our strategy to grow our business in high-quality loans.
Corporate Center – Core Functions pre-tax result in the second quarter was a loss of CHF 19 million compared with a loss of CHF 1,239 million in the previous quarter. The second quarter included an own credit gain of CHF 239 million compared with a loss of CHF 1,164 million in the prior quarter. Treasury income remaining in Corporate Center - Core Functions after allocations to the business divisions was negative CHF 64 million compared with positive CHF 79 million in the prior quarter.
The Legacy Portfolio pre-tax result was a loss of CHF 119 million compared with a gain of CHF 89 million in the previous quarter. The two primary reasons for this were that the value of our option to acquire the SNB StabFund's equity increased by CHF 45 million, CHF 82 million less than the increase in the prior quarter, and that we recorded a loss of CHF 81 million in the remainder of the Legacy Portfolio compared with a gain of CHF 37 million in the prior quarter.
Results by business division and Corporate Center
Capital position and balance sheet
Our Basel 2.5 tier 1 capital ratio continued to improve and stood at 19.2% on 30 June 2012, an improvement of 50 basis points from 31 March 2012. Basel 2.5 tier 1 capital increased by CHF 1.6 billion, mainly due to lower tier 1 deductions, currency effects and net profit. Our pro-forma Basel III RWA1 were estimated to be CHF 305 billion on a fully applied basis at the end of the second quarter, a CHF 45 billion decline from the prior quarter. This decrease was mainly due to a revised treatment of our option to acquire the SNB StabFund's equity, lower securitization uplift due to Legacy Portfolio asset sales and the reduction in credit value adjustment VaR RWA, partially offset by the revised treatment in deferred tax assets. Our balance sheet stood at CHF 1,412 billion on 30 June 2012, up from CHF 1,366 billion on 31 March 2012.
Invested assets
Invested assets were CHF 2,163 billion as of 30 June 2012 compared with CHF 2,115 billion as of 31 March 2012. Of the invested assets, CHF 783 billion were attributable to Wealth Management, CHF 757 billion were attributable to Wealth Management Americas, CHF 569 billion were attributable to Global Asset Management, and CHF 54 billion were attributable to Retail & Corporate.
As in recent quarters, the degree of progress towards achieving sustained and material improvements to eurozone sovereign debt and European banking system issues, as well as the extent of uncertainty surrounding geopolitical tensions, the global economic outlook and the US fiscal "cliff", will continue to exert a strong influence on client confidence and, thus, activity levels in the third quarter of 2012. Failure to make progress on these key issues, accentuated by the reduction in market activity levels typically seen in the third quarter, would make further improvements in prevailing market conditions unlikely and would thus generate headwinds for revenue growth, net interest margins and net new money. Despite these challenges, we remain confident that our asset-gathering businesses as a whole will continue to attract net new money, reflecting our clients' steadfast trust in the firm and their recognition of our continuing efforts to strengthen UBS. We will strive to deliver on our strategy, which focuses on prudent liquidity management, reducing risk and complexity, and improving our position as one of the best capitalized banks in the world. We have the utmost confidence in our ability to deliver on our strategy by adapting our execution in a changing environment.
Die Medienmitteilung ist verfügbar unter www.ubs.com/media und www.ubs.com/investors.
Weitere Informationen zum UBS-Quartalsergebnis unter www.ubs.com/investors:
- Second quarter 2012 financial report
- Second quarter 2012 results slide presentation
- Letter to shareholders (English, German, French and Italian)
The results presentation with Sergio P. Ermotti, Group Chief Executive Officer, Tom Naratil, Group Chief Financial Officer, and Caroline Stewart, Global Head of Investor Relations, will be webcast live on www.ubs.com/media at the following time on 31 July 2012:
- 0900 Uhr CEST
- 0800 Uhr BST
- 0300 Uhr US EDT
Webcast playback will be available from 1400 CEST on 31 July 2012.
Investor contact
Switzerland: +41-44-234 41 00
Switzerland: +41-44-234 85 00
Americas: +1-212-882 58 57


text: This week's best kept secret just got official: The Palm Treo Pro is a Centro-sized Windows Mobile 6.1 phone (whither Palm OS?) with tri-band 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS with a 320x320 touchscreen, exactly like the recent Treo 800w. Powering the show is a 400MHz processor and 128MB of RAM. And yep, the proprietary Palm connector is ditched for micro-USB. Hurray for standards. They're selling it unlocked through the online store for US$549 in the fall. [Palm]


text:
Motorola MOTOTRBO XPR7550, XPR7580, XPR7380, XPR7350, and XPR7550IS portable radio
Accessory Catalogue: PDF
Standard Package IncludesXPR7550 2150mAHr Lithium Ion IMPRES smart Battery PMNN4409
IMPRES single rapid smart charger WPLN4232
Antenna VHF/UHF/800MHz
Clip PMLN7008
Accessory jack dust cover
3 year warranty or 5-year warranty option
Why this model?* XPR7550 is a full featured model. It is the top of the line MOTOTRBO model.
* Optional intrinsically safe models
* Waterproof to IP57 submersible rating
* Digital and analogue by channel
* Supports capacity plus, connect plus, LTR trunking
* Supports IP site connect, roaming
* IMPRES battery and audio standard in the XPR7550
* Third party software applications
* Lone worker timer alarm integrated with emergency
* 4Watts UHF, 5 Watts VHF, 2.5 Watts 800/900MHz
* Dual priority scan
* Many programmable buttons
* Up to 32 channels non display, 1000 channels with display
* It has all the above features of the soon-to-be-discontinued XPR6350/XPR6550/XPR6380/XPR6580 line, plus:
* Voice announcement: The radio tells you what the channel is so you don't have to look at the display.
It can also tell you that a feature has been activated
* Voice to text
* Radio management – over the air programming + allows frequency lists to be managed from Excel
* Option board with motion sensor included
* Display models are bigger and colour
* More memory for added functionality
* Dual capacity direct mode
* Bluetooth
* tne XPR7550 is priced only slightly higher than the XPR6550 model
When this model might not be for you* If price is more important than features try the XPR3500
* If you need a higher tiered public safety grade radio upgrade to the APX7000
* If you need to change encryption keys often
* If you want to load onto a legacy SmartNet system, P25 system or other incompatible system
* If you require the smallest radio possible
Available ModelsXPR7000 series 136-174MHz VHF Models:
* AAH56JDC9KA1_N XPR7350, non-display, GPS, Bluetooth, 5W, 32 channels
* AAH56JDN9KA1_N XPR7550, with colour display, GPS, Bluetooth, 5W, 1000channels
* AAH56JDN9PA3AN XPR7550IS CSA intrinsic rated with colour display, GPS, Bluetooth, 5W, 1000channels
XPR7000 series 403-470MHz UHF models:
* AAH56RDC9KA1_N XPR7350, non-display, GPS, Bluetooth, 5W, 32 channels
* AAH56RDN9KA1_N XPR7550 portable, color display, GPS, Bluetooth, 4W, 1000 channels
* AAH56QDN9PA3AN XPR7550IS CSA intrinsic rated, color display, GPS, Bluetooth, 4W, 1000 channels
XPR7000 800/900MHz models:
* AAH56UCC9KB1_N XPR7380 portable, 800/900MHz, non display, Bluetooth, 2.5Watts, 32 channel
* AAH56UCN9KB1_N XPR7580 portable, 800/900MHz, colour display, Bluetooth, 2.5Watts, 1000 channels
BatteriesPMNN4409 2200mAHr Lithium Ion Battery submersible IP57 (standard default)
PMNN4407 IMPRES smart slim lithium ion 1500mAHr submersible IP57
NNTN8129 IMPRES 2300mAHr FM intrinsic rated submersible IP57
ChargersWPLN4232 IMPRES single smart Charger
WPLN4212 IMPRES 6 pocket charger without status displays – has LED indicators
WPLN4219 IMPRES 6 pocket charger with status displays
WPLN4239 IMPRES 6-pocket charger with only 1 status display
NLN7967 wall mount bracket
RLN5382 single IMPRES display module for bank charger upgrade
NNTN7392, NNTN7677, NNTN8045, HKVN4036, NNTN7676 IMPRES battery management tools
AntennasXPR7550 antenna options
Antenna 136-148MHz 5cm Stubby PMAD4119
Antenna 146-160 MHz 5cm Stubby PMAD4120
Antenna 160-174MHz 5cm Stubby PMAD4121
Antenna 136-155MHz PMAD4117
Antenna 144-165 MHz PMAD4116
Antenna 152-174MHz PMAD4118
Antenna, 403-527MHz UHF whip PMAE4079
Antenna 403-450MHz 4.5cm Stubby PMAE4069
Antenna 440-490MHz 4.5cm Stubby PMAE4070
Antenna 470-512MHz 4.5cm Stubby PMAE4071
Antenna whip 806-970MHz PMAF4011
Antenna whip 896-941MHz PMAF4012
Remote speaker microphones: RSMPMMN4024 intelligent audio, 3.5mm earphone jack, windporting, IP54, FM
PMMN4025 IMPRES, intelligent audio, 3.5mm earphone jack, windporting, programmable orange button, IP54, FM
PMMN4040 intelligent audio, windporting, IP57, FM
PMMN4046 IMPRES, windporting, Volume control + 2 programmable buttons, IP57, larger size FM
PMMN4050 IMPRES, noise cancelling, 3.5mm earphone jack, IP54 larger size
RLN4941 3.5mm plug surveillance clear quick release acoustic tube earphone kit with coiled cord for speaker mic
AARLN4885 3.5mm plug earbud with coiled cord for speaker mic
Carry OptionsPMLN5844 nylon case with belt loop for full keypad model
PMLN5842 leather case with 2.5″ swivel belt loop for full keypad model
PMLN5840 leather case with 3″ swivel belt loop for full keypad model
PMLN5838 leather case with 3″ belt loop for full keypad model
PMLN5845 nylon case with 3″ belt loop for non-keypad model
PMLN5843 leather case with 2.5″ swivel belt loop for non-keypad model
PMLN5846 leather case with 3″ belt loop for non-keypad model
PMLN5839 leather case with 3″ belt loop for non-keypad model
Surveillance earpieces optionsNNTN8459 1-wire listen only kit with acoustic tube (PMLN6125 for no acoustic tube model)
PMLN6129 2-wire IMPRES kit with acoustic tube, black (PMLN6130 for beige; PMLN6127 and PMLN6128 for no acoustic tube)
PMLN6123 3-wire IMPRES kit with acoustic tube, black (PMLN6124 for beige)
PMLN6127 and PMLN6128 for no acoustic tube
RLN4760, RLN4761, RLN4762, RLN4763, RLN4764, RLN4765 silicon gel custom earpiece left or right, small, medium & large
RLN6242 replacement quick release clear acoustic ear tube