Genetic testing during pregnancy, before pregnancy, or before dating?

Last week, I discussed genetic tests that aim to detect disorders in a foetus during pregnancy. This week, I look at pre-pregnancy or carrier tests. These tests are taken by couples that are considering having a baby, but are worried about the genetic disorders that they may pass on, possibly because there is a history of genetic disease in the family. The couple can then base their decision on how to go ahead with family planning on the test results.

There is an overlap between what pre-pregnancy tests do and the services offered by more traditional genetic counselors and clinical geneticists. In fact, most companies market their preconception tests via genetic clinics, rather than directly to consumers. Whether direct-to-consumer genetic tests should be legal at all is still being debated in many countries.

Two companies that develop sequencing-based preconception tests are Good Start Genetics and Ambry. Counsyl, another company in the sector, uses array-based technology. The number of disorders that can currently be detected with pre-pregnancy tests is higher than what is possible with non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. Whilst Sequenom's prenatal test returns information about a single disorder (trisomy 21), Good Start's test diagnoses 22 disorders, Counsyl's over 100, and Ambry's 90. But even once the providers of prenatal tests catch up, there is still the question if it makes sense to screen for less severe conditions. Do parents really want to know that their baby boy will suffer from pattern baldness once he grows up? The number of conditions that can be diagnosed is likely to be different from the number of conditions that are actionable.

But why stop at genetic counselling for couples? The start-up Gmatch plans to offer genotyping to the customers of an online dating website who want their future partner not only to be compatible socially, but to be a perfect genetic match as well.

Next week, I'll look at the third way besides prenatal and pre-pregancy diagnosis: Pre-implantation diagnosis.

Welcome customers into your business on Google

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long Blog.)

When we initially announced the Business Photos pilot program, we wanted to give business owners an easy way to get customers in the door online using interactive, high-quality, 360-degree images of places on Google Maps and on Google Search results. With thousands of businesses under our belt — from salons to gift shops — we’ve been hearing the same question again and again from both business owners and photographers alike: How can I participate?

Well, with the overwhelming success of the first pilot, we’ve decided to unveil a complementary initiative that will help us reach more interested business owners, more quickly: Trusted Photographers.

View Larger Map

Click and drag to view the inside of Spice Market, New York City.

It’s simple. Visit our new website and search for a Google Trusted Photographer in your area. Either email or call a photographer in your area to schedule a time and agree on a price that you will pay the photographer for a photoshoot of your business. This self-serve model makes for easier scheduling and quicker turnaround, while also supporting the local photographers in your community. During the hour it should take for the shoot, you can collaborate with the photographer about how best to display and capture your business. When finished, the photographer will upload the images to Google, and shortly thereafter, you’ll see 360-degree panoramic views of your business on Google.com, Google Maps and on your Google Places listing.

See how Business Photos has helped Toy Joy of Austin, Texas.

Trusted Photographers are available in 14 U.S. cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France. Don’t see a photographer in your area? Let us know, as that will help us determine where more Trusted Photographers are needed.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps

All You Need To Know About Nursing Education

Unlike in the earlier years when nursing was viewed as apprenticeship that was commonly undertaken by the religious lot and the convents, lately it has become one of the most admired career paths, due to the several benefits attached to the career. For anyone looking for an exciting and rewarding career, you agree with me that nursing is with no doubt one of them. However, one has to go through some intensive training for them to be qualified and certified. Considering the wide range of institutions claiming to offer the best nursing education today, you need to be very careful in choosing the best institution. First, you need to ensure that the online education offered is not mediocre. The only way you can do this is by taking time to find out if the institution you pick on is reputable, not to mention that it should be certified and licensed by the relevant bodies in your area of residence.

You can also get the best schools by seeking recommendations from people who have gone through this career path before. A good institution will make sure that the students are well versed in the medical fields both practically and theoretically. The course takes four years to complete and can be specialized into quite a good number of areas. This includes the nursing specializations in pediatric, mental health and postoperative nursing among many others. The entry levels are quite numerous. One can choose to go for the diploma, undergraduate or the masters program depending on their qualifications, at the time they make the application. Whichever program that you are interested in, you can be sure to reap some good benefits in the long-run. The better news is the fact that, one can take the nursing online education. You can hence let go the worries of a busy schedule that will never let you take the course in peace. From the comfort of your home, you can take the online classes when you are most flexible and become a certified nurse just as long as you meet all the requirements.

To find the best most affordable institutions to take the courses from, one needs to take time to compare the rates of several institutions. This way, they have a chance to settle on the lowest prices school. One also needs to ensure that if they pick on an online school, it is recognized and the online courses are recognized in their area of residence. One cannot afford to have online nursing education in a place where people have no idea that it even exists in the first place. This would be a waste of both time and money.

How to Get a Child Psychology Online Degree

Child Psychology Degree - What is it?

Child psychology is a branch of developmental psychology that focuses on the social, mental and emotional development of children. While developmental psychology focuses on the physiological, cognitive and social development that occurs throughout life, child psychology focuses on the child exclusively. With this degree, you become licensed to treat only children, improving their lives through behavior change.

Child Psychology Online Degree - Education and Training

Most child psychologist's hold a masters or doctorate degree. If you don't like school or don't think you can handle much more than a bachelor degree - maybe a career in child psychology is not for you.

Why should I obtain a Child Psychology Degree Online?

There are many benefits to online education and online degree programs. The number one advantage is flexibility. You are able to work on your studies on your own time and at your own pace. It is easy to study online while having family or/and a full time job. You don't have to attend a scheduled class but instead, participate in online discussions and forums in the evening, early morning, weekends or whenever fits your schedule best. Additionally, you will be able to interact with faculty and students from different parts of the country as well as international. The breath and depth of knowledge you will obtain will be impressive.

Where do you work with a Child Psychology Online Degree?

Child psychologist work in a variety of environments, including day care centers, schools, developmental centers, clinics and pediatric hospitals, advocacy, government, publishing, the arts and research. In these positions they administer IQ and educational assessments, diagnose and treat learning disabilities, and work with children and parents to manage behavior.

Longer Term Trading

There's been a few questions during the last week or so about longer term trading. As I said before, I use options to trade a longer term time frame. I use both debit and credit strategies, depending upon what I want to do.

The pic below shows the $RUT (Russell 200 index - cash market index not tradeable) that I trade options against.

The market is right at the 127Fib point and can either break out or turn back down. My best guess is the down but that's what it is - a guess. I can do a lot of things here but I favour a Put Butterfly: BUY 1 840 Put, SELL 2 780 Puts and BUY 1 730 Put - All march. This is a fairly aggressive position and looks like this:

If I put the position on - it's morning here in France and the options market won't open for another 7 hours or so - it will be be a position that I have to manage and adjust. It's not a set and forget trade. I can make money by time decay as well as by a drop in volatility. The position also is biased for the downside and I can make money like that too. So I have 2 out of 3 possibilities of making money: The market doesn't move or the market moves down. I can take a decent move up before I adjust so the trade is a good probability trade for me once I decide to put it on.

To be continued......

Time flies...

Has it really been over a month since my last blog post? Wow i don't know how i had time to do this every week once upon a time. I hope you all had an absolutely amazing holiday season and are relaxed and revved up ready for another big year. I know i am! I even had a fortune teller walk into the shop the other day and tell me that i was a lucky lady and that this was going to be a great year for me. 


We've had lots of evolution happening at the Hub, especially in The Picnic Room. We had so many people requesting to do birthdays in there that we have gone full steam ahead in promoting it as a venue for all budgets. You can now hire it as space only, custom styled or fully styled with a character host.  I think in the first week of my advertising it we had around 10 bookings so it's great to be able to use that space for such fun events. Mothers groups and play date groups can still use the space for free during the week, you just need to book via phone or email. Here's a graphics pack we put together for a 1 year old bday bash recently. 

More info on our party packages. 

We're also running events like the recent Mosaic Magic Workshop run by one of our fab designers Tania from Squiggle and Stitch which the kids had lots of fun at. 

Our next one coming up is this Sunday and it's our Fairy Flutterby Tea Party and Puppet Show! Great for all ages, buy tickets online here. 

Yet another great new event is GROOVE Dance Fitness on every Thursday night at 6:30pm run by the awesome Miranda. She is also looking to start personal training sessions with mums and the kids can come along for free and play. Email Miranda if you would like some more info mizzfitness@optusnet.com.au

Ahhh after all this hard work i felt i could use a massage. But so could all of you, SO you can also now book Ladies Pamper Nights! More...

Yes there's more. Got a class or workshop you want to run? Hire out the massive Picnic Room for just $50 for one hour or $40 per hour for 2 or more. You can also hire the Atrium Room for just $30 per hour for smaller classes. More...

Some great new products have been arriving on our shelves lately. Check out what designers we think are fab enough to be stocked here on our latest newsletter. More...

OK that blog post is waaaay too long. I will make sure i post again sooner rather than later so i don't bombard you again. 

Happy Designing

Nicole Herrick

Founder

KIDS STYLE HUB

www.kidsstylehub.com.au

 

We HEART Motivating Mum. 

Motivating Mum events are back for the New Year. Join us for Businessmums Clubs, Networking Mornings, Brainstorm sessions and more. In Melbourne, Geelong and Perth and coming soon to Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast. http://motivatingmum.com/business-networking-a-events/current-events

Would you like to gain exposure for your product/service through give away or review with bloggers? Or are you a blogger looking for opportunities to work with Biz Mums? You can now search the Giveaway and Review Directory on Motivating Mum to look for just these women to work with. 

Wednesday is Fed Day

The market anticipates comments from the Fed that U.S. interest rates will stay low for a long time. There's a press conference today in line with the new Fed policy that mirrors that of the ECB.

The DAX chart - 3 point Renko - is a biz as usual type day. The last two trades were outside in and the last trade was a double down of the second last one. The stop on the trade was the high to the left at 6409.5.