Gene mapping for everyone? Study says not so fast

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[ [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28809898', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

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Exactly what do you understand United states of america Speaking ...

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Ceton's Q DVR companion app for Windows Phone gets detailed tour (video)

Ceton's Q DVR companion app gets detailed tour (video)

You might recall Ceton's Q DVR making its debut at the start of the year and now the beans have been spilled on the multiroom recorder's companion app. The Windows Phone 7 version separates out into home, television and recent screens. The home section houses galleries and search, while television will display scheduled recordings, channel guides and management options for those upcoming shows. Finally, the recent screen keeps tabs on what you've been watching or recording last, all done in that inimitable metro style. There's no launch date yet, but Android and iOS versions are also being readied for release. You can take a video tour of the features right after the break.

Continue reading Ceton's Q DVR companion app for Windows Phone gets detailed tour (video)

Ceton's Q DVR companion app for Windows Phone gets detailed tour (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Missing Remote  |  sourceCeton  | Email this | Comments

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avoid diabetes with proper food and drink

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Writing and Publishing News - Matilija Press

How does one establish credibility as an expert? One way is to write a book. If it is a viable product and useful to a segment of readers, this is one good way to position yourself as an expert in your area of interest, industry or field. But you have to somehow reach your audience to let them know about your book.

One way is to write articles for magazines. If you are an author who is promoting a book or if you are writing a nonfiction book, you should be getting your name in front of your audience through your industry magazines, ezines and newsletters. Whether you want to be known in the area of kite-making, dog grooming, coupon-shopping, public speaking, business management, feral cat rescue, dressmaking, quilting, woodworking, writing, cooking, dieting, art, horseback riding, etc., start NOW submitting useful articles to publications in your field or area of expertise. This is how you get word out about your book. This is how you build credibility as an expert. This is how you establish a following?your customer base.

Start with the magazines and ezines you currently subscribe to or are familiar with. Study Writer?s Market for listings of additional magazines. Of course, do Internet searches to locate others. Look at listings under consumer magazines as well as trade magazines.

Build a useful website. On that note, let me invite you to my websites this week. These might be good examples for you on many levels. We?ve done some updates and revisions throughout, including revising and updating the Resource List.

If you haven?t checked out the Resource List at the Matilija Press website and, if you are seeking experts in the field, a publicist, warning sites, conferences, book reviewers, newspaper databases, legal help, books on various publishing topics, publishing statistics, grammar help, editors, etc., visit http://www.matilijapress.com/forwriters/resources.html

I also offer around 200 articles on writing and publishing at this site. And then there is this blog, which archives over 1,400 posts on the topics that interest you related to writing, publishing.

You?ll also find my articles in the following magazines and newsletters fairly regularly:
Publishing Basics
Book Promotion Newsletter
Book Marketing Matters
Freelance Writers Report

Perspiring Writer (archives)
Writer?s Journal (archives)

And occasionally in:
SLO Night Writers
Working Writer Newsletter
Writing for Dollars
Writing World
Vision Newsletter
Writer?s Magazette
New Writer?s Magazine
OC Writer
Pen Wheels
IBPA Independent Newsletter
Inkspotter, News
Cisco Writer?s Club Newsletter
Advanced Christian Writer
Arizona Authors Literary Magazine

Learn more about book promotion in my two latest books: Publish Your Book and Promote Your Book. Both available at Amazon and most other online and downtown bookstores. You can also order them from my website or the publisher?s website. Publisher is Allworth Press.
http://www.matilijapress.com

Visit the Patricia Fry website for information about me and my services. http://www.patriciafry.com

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UK planning second snooping bill, proxy servers to sell out shortly

Image
The UK Government revealed on April Fools' Day that it's planning to offer law enforcement agencies unprecedented access to private communications. British Cellphone operators and ISPs will be required to harvest packet data -- containing the parties to all calls, emails and social media communication, as well as the time and duration of each message. The proposals will be officially unveiled on May 9th, as part of the Queen's Speech, despite a similar bill being opposed by the current administration whilst it was in opposition. It has already drawn bitter criticism from backbench members of the Government, civil liberties advocates and privacy experts, who believe the move is fundamentally flawed. It's currently timetabled to be added to the statute books by 2013, unless, you know, common sense gets in the way.

UK planning second snooping bill, proxy servers to sell out shortly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGuardian, (2)  | Email this | Comments


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Researchers uncover new clues to the development of blood and other cancers

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Diana Quattrone
Diana.Quattrone@fccc.edu
215-815-7828
Fox Chase Cancer Center

Latest findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center reveal that targeting inflammatory pathways may lead to new therapies

CHICAGO, IL (April 2, 2012)Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center have uncovered more details about how defects in components of the machinery that makes new proteins can lead to blood and other cancers. The findings, which will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Monday, April 2, may one day lead to new targeted therapies that address those problems.

"These findings help explain how mutations in one class of proteins can trigger the development of cancer," says Shuyun Rao, Ph.D., a scientific associate in the lab of David L. Wiest, Ph.D., also a co-author on the study, at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "If we find a way to block the pathway activated by these mutations, this may cause tumors to regress."

The research focused specifically on ribosomal proteins. Previous research has linked mutations in ribosomal proteins to cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which can lead to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). However, this study represents the first insights into how mutations in ribosomal proteins might increase cancer risk.

To investigate further how an individual ribosomal protein might trigger cancer, Rao, Wiest and their colleagues focused on one known as L22. To begin, they looked at blood samples from a small number of leukemia patientsapproximately 50 and found that in 9%, L22 was either mutated or deleted entirely. This suggested that problems in L22 may have played a role in the development of their cancers.

Next, they deleted L22 in mice that were bred to be prone to develop lymphomas, and saw that their tumors developed faster, and the mice died faster than those who had intact forms of L22 further evidence of its important role in the disease.

Finally, in a sample of cells in the lab, the researchers inactivated L22 and saw that the cells experienced changes, signaling the early stages of lymphoma. Specifically, cells without L22 showed more activity in a pathway associated with inflammation known as NFkappaB, which other research has linked to cancer. "In theory, if we could find a way to block this pathway, we could add this to existing therapies to help treat the tumors it triggers," says Rao.

Although L22 is a ribosomal protein, and therefore helps build new proteins, previous research has found that eliminating L22 does not affect the rate with which cells make new proteins suggesting L22 has additional functions, says Rao.

Previous research has found that L22 expression is strikingly reduced in a number of liquid and solid tumors including breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and ovarian carcinoma. "These findings don't just have implications for people with leukemia," Wiest says. "It is likely that L22 repression or inactivation will play a role in other cancer types as well"

###

Co-authors on the study include researchers at Fox Chase, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; and the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation's first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center's nursing program has received the Magnet status for excellence three consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, visit Fox Chase's Web site at www.foxchase.org or call 1-888-FOX CHASE or (1-888-369-2427).


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 2-Apr-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Diana Quattrone
Diana.Quattrone@fccc.edu
215-815-7828
Fox Chase Cancer Center

Latest findings from Fox Chase Cancer Center reveal that targeting inflammatory pathways may lead to new therapies

CHICAGO, IL (April 2, 2012)Scientists at Fox Chase Cancer Center have uncovered more details about how defects in components of the machinery that makes new proteins can lead to blood and other cancers. The findings, which will be presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 on Monday, April 2, may one day lead to new targeted therapies that address those problems.

"These findings help explain how mutations in one class of proteins can trigger the development of cancer," says Shuyun Rao, Ph.D., a scientific associate in the lab of David L. Wiest, Ph.D., also a co-author on the study, at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "If we find a way to block the pathway activated by these mutations, this may cause tumors to regress."

The research focused specifically on ribosomal proteins. Previous research has linked mutations in ribosomal proteins to cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which can lead to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). However, this study represents the first insights into how mutations in ribosomal proteins might increase cancer risk.

To investigate further how an individual ribosomal protein might trigger cancer, Rao, Wiest and their colleagues focused on one known as L22. To begin, they looked at blood samples from a small number of leukemia patientsapproximately 50 and found that in 9%, L22 was either mutated or deleted entirely. This suggested that problems in L22 may have played a role in the development of their cancers.

Next, they deleted L22 in mice that were bred to be prone to develop lymphomas, and saw that their tumors developed faster, and the mice died faster than those who had intact forms of L22 further evidence of its important role in the disease.

Finally, in a sample of cells in the lab, the researchers inactivated L22 and saw that the cells experienced changes, signaling the early stages of lymphoma. Specifically, cells without L22 showed more activity in a pathway associated with inflammation known as NFkappaB, which other research has linked to cancer. "In theory, if we could find a way to block this pathway, we could add this to existing therapies to help treat the tumors it triggers," says Rao.

Although L22 is a ribosomal protein, and therefore helps build new proteins, previous research has found that eliminating L22 does not affect the rate with which cells make new proteins suggesting L22 has additional functions, says Rao.

Previous research has found that L22 expression is strikingly reduced in a number of liquid and solid tumors including breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and ovarian carcinoma. "These findings don't just have implications for people with leukemia," Wiest says. "It is likely that L22 repression or inactivation will play a role in other cancer types as well"

###

Co-authors on the study include researchers at Fox Chase, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; and the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation's first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center's nursing program has received the Magnet status for excellence three consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, visit Fox Chase's Web site at www.foxchase.org or call 1-888-FOX CHASE or (1-888-369-2427).


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


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Advantages of Fitted Bedroom Furniture | Home Improvement Grants ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The many advantages of fitted furniture over free-standing vary from the people who simply want to plan their own individual design, look and finish, different to that of their friends and neighbours, to those tight on space who ...

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Racetrack breakdown: Owners, officials counter claims that horse racing in New Mexico isn't safe

?? View photos: New Mexico horse racing

SANTA FE -- For one muddy but glorious afternoon, when a 50-1 shot from New Mexico named Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby, the state's horse-racing industry was on top of the world.

Last week, it might have fallen to the bottom.

An investigative analysis and 6,000-word story by The New York Times showed that five of the seven U.S. tracks with the highest rates of horse breakdowns -- injuries serious enough to need treatment -- and deaths are in New Mexico.

Ruidoso Downs had the worst record of all from 2009 to 2011, at 13.9 incidents per 1,000 starts, according to the Times.

Perhaps more damning, the Times report said New Mexico's racetracks and regulators had been "unusually slow in responding to the safety alarms."

Vince Mares, a retired police chief and first-year director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, said the methodology used by the Times exaggerated rates at the state's five tracks, in part because of their careful ways.

An exerted horse might be moved from a track in a van, but that precaution does not necessarily

mean the animal is hurt, Mares said in an interview. He said the Times' analysis appeared to combine incidental cases with breakdowns or catastrophic injuries.

But Mares also said the story was correct on its main points. It pinpointed drugs, deception and differing regulations from state to state as industrywide problems that endanger horses and jockeys.

Mares said he favors a national regulatory system for horse racing.

"Honestly, I'm glad this is coming to light. There are problems, but

they are national problems," he said.

Like Mares, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said a patchwork of different industry regulations by the states does not serve the industry, its riders or horses.

"The Times expos? has shined a glaring light on the need for national standards in a sport that reaps gambling profits, but has lacked proper oversight for decades," Udall said.

No track faced tougher scrutiny by the Times than Ruidoso Downs, where horses run at an altitude of almost 7,000 feet. Bruce Rimbo, president of that track, faulted the story as oversimplified.

He said nearly 16,000 horses started at Ruidoso in the three years the Times analyzed. Three-tenths of 1 percent received injuries leading to their being euthanized, Rimbo said.

"In a perfect world there would be no injuries, but in the world of sport that is just not a reality," he said.

As for Ruidoso's particular conditions, Rimbo says the track's high altitude can weigh on racehorses, leading to short-term troubles such as dehydration, headaches and difficulty breathing.

"Oftentimes those same horses will come back in their next start just a few weeks later after acclimating to the altitude and perform at a very high level," he said.

Salvador Martinez, a jockey, mostly in quarter-horse races, said Ruidoso had become a symbol for industry problems for another reason.

"Everyone seemed to start paying attention to the situation after Jacky Martin was injured," Martinez said.

Martin, a champion jockey, was paralyzed from the neck down at Ruidoso in September after his quarter horse faltered and broke a leg at the finish line.

What happened to Martin was a tragedy, to be sure, but not a case of negligence or dangerous conditions, Martinez said.

"The Sunland (Park) track is one of the best tracks anywhere, and it's safe. Ruidoso is safe as well," Martinez said.

Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino issued a brief statement after the Times story, saying its commitment to safety was established by attaining accreditation from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance.

Sunland Park is the only accredited track of the five in New Mexico.

Michael Ziegler, executive director of the alliance, said 23 tracks, or about one-third of those operating across the country, are accredited.

Tracks that have not gone through the process may do a good job with safety, Ziegler said in an interview. But the ones that commit to meeting accreditation standards demonstrate that safety is their priority, he said.

Accreditation covers myriad concerns, such as making certain that a track is systematically reporting equine injuries, monitoring racing surfaces for safety and checking small but important details, such as padding in starting gates.

Ziegler said the Times story was an eye-opening profile of an industry's failings.

"They did a thorough job," he said.

Joel Marr, who trains about 80 racehorses near Sunland Park, mostly thoroughbreds, works at all five tracks in New Mexico.

Some, he said, are better than others in terms of safety, but he declined to name names.

Likewise, Marr said that doping of horses is "a bigger problem in some places than others."

He said he found "a lot of truth" in the Times investigation, but also an omission that might have presented a misleading portrait of the industry.

"If you're a horseman, you dedicate your life to horses," Marr said. "Most people in the industry have nothing but compassion for the horse."

The Times' chilling anchor photo of a fallen horse bothered him in that regard. The caption said: "A 2-year-old quarter horse named Teller All Gone broke a front leg in a race on Sept. 3 at Ruidoso Downs Race Track in New Mexico and was euthanized. His body was then dumped in a junkyard next to an old toilet at Ruidoso, a short walk from where he had been sold at auction the previous year."

Marr said that area was merely the place where the horse's body was temporarily held after it was euthanized. Yet the tone of the story, he said, made it seem as if the fallen animal mattered to no one, a casualty of a ruthless business.

"There's abuse in every sport," said Marr, who added that he had confidence in the New Mexico tracks.

Perhaps no part of the Times' investigation was more explosive than accounts of drug use.

On that count, New Mexico racing executives say they have been proactive, working on the problem well before the story broke.

"I am hopeful, and I think we're headed in the right direction," said Mares, the racing commission director. "Our medication committee is looking at what needs to change to make sure everything is fair, that we have an even playing field."

Scott Darnell, press secretary to Gov. Susana Martinez, also said the five-member state Racing Commission was making progress. She appointed four of the members after taking office in 2011, keeping only one holdover.

"The governor is greatly concerned about the safety of horses and jockeys on racetracks in New Mexico," Darnell said. "She supports recent moves by the racing commission to, for example, temporarily ban Clenbuterol while examining whether it can be completely removed from New Mexico racing, seek opportunities to increase the number of horses that are able to be tested, and issue tougher penalties for those who violate the New Mexico Horse Racing Act."

Clenbuterol is a legal bronchial medicine for horses if administered within prescribed dosages and within established time frames before race days. The commission's worry is that the drug could give a horse a steroidlike advantage if a trainer or veterinarian administered it in a higher dosage.

Darnell said Gov. Martinez would ask the commission for a report on the most serious problems, along with the potential remedies.

Rob Doughty, an Albuquerque lawyer chosen by Martinez to head the racing commission, said he considered the state's operation stronger after it removed the previous director and installed Mares, the former police chief of Raton, as its administrator. Mares worked as an investigator at the racing commission for three years before being promoted.

Doughty said the commission had also made progress on particulars, such as its focus on Clenbuterol and pressing for necropsies on fallen horses.

These changes are intended to make racing safer. But money, as always, is an obstacle in policing the industry, Doughty said.

Mares said races in New Mexico average eight horses. The winner and typically one other horse picked at random are tested for illegal drugs, he said.

The cost of two tests per race runs about $250, so the price of enforcement escalates quickly.

Marr, the trainer, said the commission historically was ponderous and prone to inaction on disciplinary matters involving drugs. He said long-standing problems had not been resolved.

"Things don't ever get done," Marr said.

He cited a challenge he made to elevate his second-place horse to a winner's designation because of a competitor's doping violation. That case has lingered for more than a year, including court appeals, he said.

Marr said a weakness of the Times' account was the jumbling of details about legal and illegal drugs.

For instance, the story said: "Without a national law regulating drugs in racing, New Mexico regulators can be as lenient as they wish in disciplining drug violators.

"Trainers in New Mexico who overmedicate horses with Flunixin get a free pass on their first violation, a $200 fine on the second and a $400 fine on the third, records show."

Marr said Flunixin is a anti-inflammatory drug that is legal for horses in prescribed doses. Flunixin is used at horse tracks across America, and a host of variables can skew a test result to make an honest use of the drug seem improper, he said.

The use of Flunixin is far different from a drug intended to enhance a horse's performance, just as an Olympic sprinter who takes an aspirin for a headache stands apart from a rival on steroids, he said.

Mares said unscrupulous owners or trainers will give horses cocaine, Viagra, steroids and muscle-building drugs, all in hopes that their animal will gain an advantage.

Such abuses are the challenge for regulators everywhere, Mares said, and that is why a consistent national enforcement system might be the most sensible approach.

State Rep. Zach Cook, R-Ruidoso, said the intense interest in the racing industry due to the Times story had created an opportunity.

"I'd like to hear from the track and what their response is," Cook said. "I don't want to just be reactionary or try to stick out my chest on this and say, 'By God, this is where we're going to go.' "

Lonnie Barber, director of racing at SunRay Park in Farmington, said safety is the watchword at every track.

"The worst thing that could happen to us is for a jockey to be hurt or a horse to be crippled," Barber said.

For Ruidoso Downs, the worst has happened, placing it on the front page of one of the world's most respected and widely read newspapers.

Yet those in the business reject the idea there is a sinister explanation behind jockey Jacky Martin's injuries. Illegal drugs or the malevolence of few bad people may have nothing to do with a catastrophe on the track, they say.

"I think all the tracks try hard on safety. This is their business, and they want things to go well," said Chris Zamora, a thoroughbred and quarter-horse jockey.

Sometimes, he said, the raw and thunderous power of horses is explanation enough.

"When you have quality horses going as fast they as they do, things can happen," Zamora said.

Nothing was ever finer for New Mexico horse racing than the day Mine That Bird, an undersize, overlooked gelding, stormed back from 30 lengths to win the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

He passed 18 horses in 21 seconds, left them as though they were running in place, to stride home in electrifying fashion.

"An impossible result," the Churchill Downs track announcer said of Mine That Bird's victory.

Now, the state's fortunes have been reversed.

Leonard Blach, a veterinarian and co-owner of Mine That Bird, called the Times article "terrible for horse racing and slanted against the state of New Mexico."

But Blach also said: "Some of the data in their story I can't deny, and there are points in the story that have to be addressed."

Horsemen, racing commissioners and even Congress may try to supply the solutions.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich may be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com

Contributing: Felix Chavez in El Paso, and Terrance Vestal, Mike Curran and Jim Kalvelage in Ruidoso.

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Funding Circle, a Kickstarter for SMBs, Picks Up $16M From Index, Union Square Ventures

Some great news for small business owners, and perhaps a sign of more crowdsourced funding coming to the U.S.: the UK-based Funding Circle ? a kind of Kickstarter for lending to smaller enterprises ? has just announced that it has raised a $16 million round to further build up its business of enabling non-bank lending to small enterprises.

The investment included participation from existing investor Index Ventures as well as new investor Union Square Ventures ? a sign of how Funding Circle may have its sights set on taking advantage of new crowdfunding laws and expanding to the U.S. This Series B round takes the total raised by Funding Circle to $21 million.

Funding Circle has made some impressive strides since launching in the UK 18 months ago: it?s facilitated lending to 670 small businesses in the UK, with funds totaling ?28 million ($45 million), representing annual growth of over 400 percent. More than 10,000 people have registered on the site to date; the company claims ?inflation-beating average yields of 8.4 percent? for investors.

Funding Circle says it is collectively currenty lending ?1 million ($1.6 million) to small businesses per week through its site.

The startup is a sign of the times not only in its crowdsourced, P2P roots, but also in the fact that it is aimed at bypassing banks, the subject of so much? criticism for their practices over the last several years ? the thinking goes: why give them the benefit of making money off of lending when you can find others to do that instead?

And there is something decidedly more efficient-sounding about Funding Circle compared to banks: whereas it can take months to finalize a bank loan and get the money flowing, Funding Circle claims that a deal can be secured and funded through its site within days.

There is also a big opportunity there to take some business away from the banks:? Funding Circle notes that currently some 90 percent of small business lending in the UK still goes through the traditional bank channel.

There is some state impetus behind Funding Circle in the UK that is somewhat similar to what we?ve been seeing in the U.S. Whereas the Senate in Washington has been trying to make it easier for crowdfunding to become a more legitimate way of kick-starting small business enterprises, in the UK the government has also proposed a plan in its most recent Budget to create facilities to lend ?100 million ($160 million) through ?non-bank channels.?

Funding Circle has not said whether it plans to take its business outside of the UK at this point, but the fact that they?ve signed on USV ? which funds Kickstarter, among others ? as a backer is a strong vote of confidence that this project may try to grow beyond its current borders.

For now, Funding Circle is saying that the capital from this round ?will be used to continue to innovate around Funding Circle?s service, increase marketing presence and drive recruitment.? The company wants to double headcount in the next year.

Interestingly, Funding Circle has chosen to keep any references to Kickstarter completely out of its own statements on the new round of investment:

?This deal represents the next step in the growth of Funding Circle and will help us to create a lasting alternative to banks for small business loans. Index has been a prominent supporter and advocate of what the business is trying to achieve, and we are delighted to continue our partnership together. We are also excited to welcome Union Square Ventures as co-investors. They bring with them a wealth of expertise and experience having worked with some of the most recognisable technology businesses in the world, including Twitter, Zynga and Foursquare,? Samir Desai, co-founder of Funding Circle, said in a statement.

Another co-founder, James Meekings, meanwhile, says that the UK small business lending market is currently worth about ?70 billion in total. ?I don?t see a reason why we couldn?t eventually get to a stage where we had about 10% of that market,? he told the Sunday Times (behind paywall).

Funding Circle offers a couple of basic models to would-be users of the service, taking a ?1,200 transaction fee in the process: one person can fund many different projects; and one business can borrow from several people based on what interest rates people are offering in an auction/bidding process. The loans can cover working capital, expansion capital, asset finance and one-off business expenses and range in value from ?5,000 to ?250,000.

?We believe this approach of financing businesses ? away from banks and towards a marketplace model ? is powerful and more beneficial to all participants,? Andy Weissman, partner at Union Square Investment, added in the statement.

Other participants in this most recent rounded included existing angel investors Jon Moulton (founder of Better Capital), Edward Wray (co-founder of Betfair) and Charles Dunstone (founder of The Carphone Warehouse).


Funding Circle is an online marketplace where people can directly lend to small businesses in the UK. People lend small amounts to multiple creditworthy businesses to spread their risk. In turn, those businesses borrow from a multitude of people through an auction mechanism to get a lower interest rate. Lenders are able to loan specifically to businesses in their community or businesses that meet certain criteria, such as being environmentally friendly. Small businesses will initially be able to apply for unsecured loans...

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Index Ventures is a leading venture capital firm specializing in investments in information technology and life sciences companies. The firm invests in seed, early and growth stage start-ups across US and Europe. Since its inception in 1996, Index Ventures has backed visionary entrepreneurs who have taken on incumbents and built seminal companies in a number of growth sectors including: open source software companies such as MySQL, Trolltech, Zend and Pentaho; broadband and VOIP companies such as Virata, Skype, FON and...

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?Union Square Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm based in New York City. We invest in young companies that use information technology in innovative ways to create high growth business opportunities in the Media, Marketing, Financial Services, Telecommunications, and Healthcare industries. Our venture capital firm was conceived as a place where a small number of very experienced investment professionals, working collaboratively from a single office, could build a portfolio of promising startup companies and then put our experience...

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