News from Gonder Public Relations
Touch of Life Technologies Announces A Major International Sale of Its Medical Education Products
Touch of Life Technologies (www.toltech.net), a Colorado medical education and research company, has sold its interactive software products to the 19 campuses of Universidad del Valle de Mexico (UVM). The sale includes the foundational VH Dissector™ program and complementary instructional software for use in its programs preparing students for medical, nursing and allied health professions at campuses throughout Mexico.
Based on data from the US National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project®, the VH Dissector is a complete interactive atlas of gross anatomy presenting more than 2,000 structures through integrated 3D and cross sectional views. Educators use the VH Dissector in combination with the relevant software tools developed for medical and dental students, medical residents, and students studying for careers in physical therapy, nursing and other health fields.
“The VH Dissector will help address the need to train more medical and healthcare providers throughout Mexico and Latin America by providing real experience in human anatomy in a virtual environment,” said Touch of Life Technologies CEO Vic Spitzer, Ph.D. “Faculty and students can view anatomical structures in various relationships and from angles that advance understanding and streamline learning.”
Facilitating this substantial sale of Touch of Life Technologies’ medical education software was e-Technology Solutions, Corp., a company that for 20 years has provided electronic databases and informational solutions to its customers in Mexico and Latin America. In 2007 e-Technologies launched e-Tech Simulation, which uses simulation as a training method.
“As a provider of information products to academic and scientific institutions in the Caribbean, Central and South America, our partnership with Touch of Life Technologies provides valuable and unique resources to the organizations that we serve,” said Jairo Leiva, president of e-Technology Solutions.
About Touch of Life Technologies
Touch of Life Technologies is a medical education company that develops and sells interactive software and medical procedure simulators. Touch of Life Technologies products provide a virtual learning environment combining state-of-the-art interactive technology with real anatomy from the National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project® as well as higher resolution images. In business more than a decade, Touch of Life Technologies collaborates with professional medical societies, educators and practicing professionals to create and test next-generation tools to educate and train a wide range of healthcare professionals and students. For more information, visit www.toltech.netor call 720-859-4140.
About e-Technologies Solutions
e-Technologies Solutions Corp. is a Florida-based company with core competence in e-content, e-learning & innovation technologies in the e-Libraries Industry. The company promotes creative solutions in the academic and corporate market. Recently e-Technologies Solutions Corp launched a division that uses simulation as a method to train apprentices and improve the work of experienced staff. e-Tech Simulation develops and manufactures simulators in the fields of shipping, construction, mining, forestry, transportation, welding and many others. eTech also represents companies recognized internationally for their simulation products. To learn more, please visit www.etechwebsite.comand www.etechsimulation.comor call 561-697-3222.
Colorado Expert Comments on Rise of Autism Rates
Autism rates have skyrocketed in the United States – from 1 in 10,000 just 10 years ago to 1 in 91 today. For boys ages 6-11, the number is 1 in 63. Four out of five children diagnosed with autism are males.
What is the cause of this growth?
“Studies indicate that the cause of neurobehavioral disorders like autism and Asperger’s syndrome are the result of the environment influencing genetic expression or epigenetics,” said Dr. Tamara Eslich, owner of Brain Balance Achievement Center of Golden, who has been working with children with neurobehavioral disorders for more than 10 years.
Dr. Eslich began studying with Dr. Robert Melillo, an internationally known doctor, researcher and expert on childhood neurological disorders. She learned that students with autism, AD/HD, dyslexia and other neurological disorders shared a common problem – a functional disconnection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
More than 2,000 children with neurobehavioral disorders have been helped at Brain Balance Achievement Centers, a nationwide, research-based supplemental learning program founded by Dr. Melillo. The Brain Balance Program® offers a comprehensive, individualized program that integrates physical, sensory, motor and academic exercises along with dietary change. The goal is to build bridges between the two sides of the brain correcting a fundamental imbalance that results in a “communication breakdown” and a range of negative symptoms and behaviors. Brain Balance conducts an extremely comprehensive evaluation of more than 1200 functions to identify the child's functional weakness.
"There is no brain damage in these children,” Dr. Eslich explains. “One side of the brain matured faster than the other; therefore the brain cannot work as a whole."
Dr. Tamara Eslich completed a fellowship in chiropractic pediatrics and entered private practice in 1998. She now operates a Brain Balance Achievement Center in Golden with her husband, Eric, a sensory motor coach at the center.
About Brain Balance™ Centers:For more than ten years, the Brain Balance Program® has helped thousands of children become more focused, improve their academic performance and enhance their communication and social interaction skills. The Brain Balance Program® is an integrated approach that has helped children afflicted with such neurobehavioral disorders as AD/HD, dyslexia, autism and other learning disabilities. Brain Balance™ Centers do not rely on drugs, medical procedures or psychotherapy. For more information, call Colorado’s only Brain Balance Achievement Center at 303-278-1780 or visit www.BrainBalanceCenters.com.
ExpandOSTM packaging reduces damage for fragile products
A new high performance packaging material is cutting breakage and labor costs for shippers of fragile products, including semi-conductors, medical equipment, lighting fixtures, dinnerware and office supplies. The paperboard pyramids from ExpandOS™ (www.expandos.com) are 100% recyclable and made from post-industrial waste paper, which has earned ExpandOS™ the endorsement of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (www.sfiprogram.org).
“Here at Ten Strawberry Street, we ship ceramic dinnerware to some of the largest retailers in the nation,” said Gregg Sciez, distribution manager. “Reducing breakage was important to keep our customers happy. Since switching to ExpandOS, our breakage rate was cut in half. Our employees enjoy the ergonomic design of the machines and our customers are delighted we are not using petroleum-based peanuts and bubble wrap or wadded kraft paper that would end up in landfills or offer a lack of protection.”
ExpandOS, which stands for “Expand On-Site”, is delivered to shippers in pre-cut bundles of thin paperboard that contain 38 “fingers” designed to cling together using all three sides of the pyramid. A machine called the Expander™ cuts each row apart and folds them into highly-engineered interlocking and protective pyramids that fall by gravity into packing boxes, dramatically reducing packing time compared to foam-in-place and other options. Each Expander can produce up to 1,000 cubic feet of material in a typical shift.
The patented ExpandOS system, invented by FoldedPak™, has been engineered to provide maximum protection. The pyramids are settled during packing to protect the product, absorb shock and eliminate migration during shipment. The coated paperboard can be stamped with the customer’s logo.
A California-based lighting fixture manufacturer switched to ExpandOS from chemical foam, which was expensive, labor-intensive and not environmentally friendly. During a four-week test with 2,500 outbound packages, there was zero reported damage. Packing time fell one-third, from 60 to 40 seconds per box. Cost of packing material fell from $1.58 to $1.34 per box. For the full case study, visit http://expandos.com/case_studies.asp.
“ExpandOS has a very low carbon footprint when compared to otherpackaging materials,” said Jeff Boothman, president of the company. “The product is made from 100% post-industrial waste. Carbon is only generated through energy used to die cut sheets of ExpandOS pyramids.”
Each 1,000 pounds of post industrial waste ExpandOS uses averts the need to re-pulp the paper, saving 888 lb of CO2 that would otherwise be produced in the re-pulping process.That’s the equivalent of taking 3.9 cars off the road for a week
For more information and to see a video demonstration of the product, visit www.expandos.com or call 303-329-8477.
Flood Alert System receives first major upgrade in 30 years
The National Hydrologic Warning Council (NHWC) has released ALERT2™, a new standard for transmitting data designed to significantly improve accuracy and performance in systems and software used for early detection of floods and other water hazards around the world.
ALERT, which stands for Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time, uses remote sensors to transmit environmental data via radio to receiving base station computers. The National Weather Service developed this standard in California in the 1970s. Communities now rely upon ALERT systems extensively across the U.S. and around the world as an affordable way to enhance local flood warnings. The United Nations-recognized ALERT standard is also used in automated systems for stormwater quality monitoring, energy production, reservoir operations and dam safety.
ALERT systems are popular for real-time environmental data collection because of their reliability and low cost. The original protocol had no error detection. “ALERT message handling can overload during high intensity events, such as extremely heavy rainfall associated with hurricanes and flash floods, when you need the information most,” said NHWC President Kevin Stewart. ALERT2™ retains the cost and reliability benefits of legacy ALERT systems, while providing data 10 times faster with higher accuracy and precision.
The open standard protocol has been deployed in Denver, CO, as well as in Overland Park, KS, and Kansas City, MO. “Our performance assessments have shown significant improvement in the quality of the data, including less data loss,” said Ilse Gayl, chair of the ALERT2™ Technical Work Group of the NHWC Standards and Guidance Committee. The recommended upgrade path is to make initial changes to repeater sites and then replace individual gauge sites over time; the first two systems have taken this path.
The ALERT2™ Final Draft Version 1.0 standard documentation is available for public comment on the NHWC website at www.hydrologicwarning.org. Feedback is requested and needed. The comment period will remain open until Feb. 28, 2011.
The National Hydrologic Warning Council is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to help officials keep communities safe and manage water resources effectively. The 9th Biennial NHWC Training Conference and Exposition--the only national conference focused on hydrologic warning--will be May 9-12, 2011 at the Hilton San Diego at Mission Bay in San Diego, CA. Information on the conference, Hydrologic Warning for a Changing World, is available at the NHWC website.
Learn how to engage audiences on education reform
Compensation Innovations is hosting a free webinar March 31 at noon MT with tips and strategies on engaging key leaders and organizations to shape a successful reform initiative. Peggy Gonder is one of 3 panelists, describing her communications work with Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Assn. The other panelists are Julia Koppich, Ph.D, and Lynn Nordgren of Minneapolis. Koppich specializes in public-sector labor relations and education policy analysis. Nordgren is president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and is an education management consultant. To register for "Don't Be Sorry Later! Engaging the Right People for Educator Compensation Reform," visit http://www.compinnovations.org.
Colorado DAR selects Gonder PR to create new web site
The Colorado State Society of Daughters of the American Revoultion (DAR) has selected Gonder PR to create a new web site that showcases the many services provided to veterans, teachers and other citizens by their members. The Colorado DAR has been in existence more than 100 years and has more than 40 chapters throughout the state.
The state society selected Gonder PR to create a more engaging contemporary site as part of State Regent Charlotte Hubb's project to increase awareness of the good workds Colorado DAR provides in the state. Colorado DAR offers college scholarships, sponsors essay contests on citizenship for elementary and high school students and offers speakers on a number of historic topics. The mission of the DAR is to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism.
Executives learn how PR can grow market share, crisis and media tips
Gonder PR recently conducted a three hour seminar on how public relations can increase market share and preserve a company's reputation for several executives of the Elmore Companies, who operate service and manufacturing businesses in the Midwest. Through case studies, a mock interview and other interactive techniques, the executives learned how to apply PR principles to advance their business goals.
Research Probes Attitudes on Teacher Compensation in Florida
Gonder Public Relations is partnering with BG Communications to conduct focus groups and interviews with Florida teachers, administrators and parents. The goal is to increase teacher effectiveness and increase student growth through alternative compensation and evaluation.
Research Probes Attitudes on Teacher Compensation in Florida
Gonder Public Relations is partnering with BG Communications to conduct focus groups and interviews with Florida teachers, administrators and parents. The goal is to increase teacher effectiveness and increase student growth through alternative compensation and evaluation. The Florida Department of Education will use the results and our recommendations in revising compensation and communicating about their deliberations.
General Services Administration Selects GonderPR For Media Training
Gonder Public Relations is helping staff members of the General Services Administration with media training and messaging. The sessions include tips on working with the media, an overview of social media and ideas for developing relationships. We can customize training for 1-2 people or a roomfull with coaching, a handbook, videotaping and feedback.
Physician Health Partners Selects GonderPR For Crisis Planning
Gonder Public Relations has been retained by Physician Health Partners (PHP) to develop a crisis communications plan. Such plans identify situations that might generate media interest, the leaders and partners to be involved in the response, policies and procedures as well as messaging about the organization and the specific situation.
Physician Health Partners manages services for groups of doctors and, through its Correctional Health Partners division, it manages services for three government agencies to help them provide high-quality, cost-effective healthcare for their patients. PHP represents three independent practice associations ( IPAs) of physicians and specialists in metro Denver, managing delivery of care for nearly 800 physicians.
Correctional Health Partners (CHP) coordinates the healthcare provided for incarcerated adults and youth outside of state correctional facilities as well as outside care for the psychiatric patients at Fort Logan Mental Health Institute.
Gonder & Associates is Now Gonder PR
Gonder & Associates, a public relations and marketing firm that has been serving clients for more than 20 years, has rebranded itself as Gonder Public Relations. “While we have provided both public relations and marketing to clients, our new name reflects our core business, which is public relations consulting and services,” said agency owner Peggy Gonder, APR.
