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Dear PBAT-user, Thank you for your continued use and support of PBAT. It’s because of you and other faithful PBAT-users that PBAT has become such a success - beyond my expectations. However, due to its success, my team and I have been inundated with technical support requests and side projects that are making it difficult for us to continue serving your needs. Therefore, I am excited to announce that we have teamed up with Golden Helix to help ensure your research needs are exceedingly met. Golden Helix is a software company led by Christophe Lambert, PhD. from Duke University. Christophe and his team are committed to the success of PBAT and supporting a vibrant PBAT community. By working together we will make PBAT easier to use, increase its functionality for family and population based studies and ensure user support related issues are handled in a personal and timely manner. Working with Golden Helix will also help me focus on my research, developing needed new analysis methods for your benefit and the advancement of genetic association studies. So what does working together entail? Here are few key points from our arrangement (more detailed information about each point is provided at the end of this email): 1. Golden Helix recently released a commercial version of PBAT with a graphical user interface which it has incorporated as a module into its proprietary HelixTree software. This version is available for sale at a modest price. 2. A major portion of royalties from sales of the commercial version will go towards the development of needed new analysis methods and provide financial assistance for students from developing countries. 3. PBAT v.3.3 and all subsequent releases will incorporate enhancements and bug fixes developed jointly by me and Golden Helix. This will allow us to release updates more frequently with increased functionality. 4. Golden Helix is now responsible for all user support issues, which it offers as a service to those who purchase the commercial version. Golden Helix works hard to resolve support issues within 24 hours – most likely the same day. 5. The commercial version will be the one used for all PBAT short course workshops. Furthermore, Golden Helix will give scholarships, time and resources to support these workshops. Taking all this into consideration, I have decided to no longer support new updates of the freely available version of PBAT, but PBAT 3.2 will remain available on my web-page. Golden Helix and I understand that this may be inconvenient for you and others because of insufficient funds. So to help bridge the funding gap, Golden Helix has implemented a program called the Grant Anticipation Program (GAP) that enables you to use the commercial version at a much smaller upfront cost. All you have to do is provide proof that the purchase of PBAT has been included as a line item in a recently applied for grant. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding the content of this email, I encourage you to email me. You can also contact Golden Helix. I have provided their contact information below. With best wishes, Christoph ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GUI version of PBAT available With my guidance, Golden Helix recently released a commercial version of PBAT with a graphical-user-interface (GUI). The GUI version has been incorporated as a module into Golden Helix’s proprietary product, HelixTree® v5.0. It is exceptionally user-friendly and can be used as a stand-alone application or optionally combined with a comprehensive set of other genetic analysis tools for family and population-based association studies. Other important highlights include: • HelixTree has a Project Navigator so you can now easily import, merge, and analyze your data (pedigree/genotype/phenotype) as well as store and annotate your results. • HelixTree is Affymetrix GeneChip-compatible™ which allows you to directly import Affymetrix .CHP files. You can also directly import a number of other file formats including Illumina, HapMap and marker map data. • HelixTree has a sparse storage mechanism making it more memory efficient to store and analyze whole-genome datasets, even with extended pedigrees. • Golden Helix can now make improvements to PBAT and we will continually work together to improve functionality and fix software bugs. In order to use the HelixTree/PBAT version you will need to purchase it from Golden Helix. Discounted pricing is available for academic and non-profit organizations and is actually pretty inexpensive relative to other commercial software. For more information and to download a free evaluation copy, please visit: www.goldenhelix.com/pbat.html. User support services User-support will now be handled by Golden Helix which it offers as a service to those who purchase the commercial, GUI version of PBAT. By purchasing the commercial package, you will now have access to a comprehensive set of support services including: • Personal and timely tech support (most tech support issues are answered the same day they are received) • Onsite and live webinar training • Analysis consulting to help you design your studies and analyze your data • Custom software development to help you rapidly integrate PBAT and other methods into your workflow For support related issues please contact: [log in to unmask] Software availability and updates PBAT v3.3 is due to be released on August, 17 and will include the following new features: • Fully supported power calculations for population-based studies. • Estimation for gene-environment interactions and main effects. (The estimation is robust against confounding due to population stratification.) PBAT v3.3 and all subsequent updates will include improvements and bug fixes developed jointly by me and Golden Helix. With Golden Helix’s help we will be able to release more frequent updates making it possible for you to experience a more user-friendly, efficient and powerful PBAT. FBAT&PBAT Short Courses The next PBAT short course will be held at the University of Ghent, Belgium (September 11-13, 2006.) For this and all future short courses we will be using the commercial version of PBAT. If you do not currently have access to the GUI version, we will provide you with a free limited-time demo. Short course attendees will also be eligible for a one-time, 10% discount on the purchase of this new version. Golden Helix’s contact information Golden Helix, Inc. 716 S. 20th Avenue, Suite 102 Bozeman, MT 59718 Phone: 406-585-8137 Fax 406-522-1503 Homepage: www.goldenhelix.com Support: [log in to unmask] Information: [log in to unmask] --------------------------------------------- Golden Helix welcomes your comments and suggestions on additional ways they can help support the PBAT community. If you feel inclined, please write to them at [log in to unmask] or call them at the number above.