Visitors of REO Town see the LiveWall living wall as they drive into or exit downtown.

The green wall is a vital part in fulfilling our commitment to the community that the design of the new substation would revitalize the area’s landscape, establish an inviting gateway to REO-Town, and reconnect the area to downtown.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (PRWEB)
October 30, 2019

The Lansing Board of Water & Light’s new Central Substation in the city’s historic REO Town neighborhood features a two-sided, 425-square-foot living wall installed with the LiveWall® Outdoor Living Wall System. Completed in July 2019, the living wall greens up the exterior of the new substation and establishes a visual link to the Scott Sunken Garden.

“The Central Substation provides more reliable, affordable power to downtown Lansing,” said Dick Peffley, general manager, Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL). “The green wall is a vital part in fulfilling our commitment to the community that the design of the new substation would revitalize the area’s landscape, establish an inviting gateway to REO Town, and reconnect the area to downtown.”

“We envisioned the living wall as a green focal point that softens the view of the Central Substation’s brick façade, which people see as they drive into or exit downtown,” said Bob Ford, ASLA, principal, Landscape Architects & Planners, Inc., the landscape architecture firm for the project. “It also serves as a prominent landscape feature that visually connects the substation to the historic Scott Sunken Garden, which was saved and relocated as part of the project.”

“As seen from the Sunken Garden, the living wall is an extension of the garden landscape and unifies the overall landscape,” said Paul Toaz, landscape manager, Lawn Sprinklers Sales, Service & Design, Inc., the project’s landscape contractor and living wall installer. “For example, when you exit from the Sunken Garden parking lot, you face the west section of the living wall and see its natural beauty.”

The LiveWall Living Wall was installed in two sections on the north and west walls of the Central Substation. Each section measures 21’-4” x 10’-3 3/8” and fits into specially recessed frames built into the substation’s brick walls. In total, it includes 330 LiveWall modular planter boxes, which are high-impact, UV-resistant, architectural quality moldings. Manufactured in a cedar color to complement the color of the bricks of the substation’s exterior walls, the planter modules contain re-usable inserts that hold the growing medium for the plants and contain a mix of six different annuals.

The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL)

The BWL is a municipally-owned public utility that provides safe, reliable and affordable utility products and services to more than 97,000 electric and 56,000 water customers throughout the greater Lansing, Mich. area. The BWL owns 2,000 miles of overhead and underground power lines and more than 800 miles of water mains, providing 2.7 million megawatt hours and 7 billion gallons of water to customers annually. To learn more about the history and mission of the Lansing Board of Water & Light, visit http://www.lbwl.com.

LiveWall

Designed with a healthy regard for plants, LiveWall® is the patented living wall system that achieves simplicity and sustainability in harmony with nature. LiveWall is the result of four years of R&D by the professionals who created LiveRoof®, the superior green roof system. LiveWall green wall solutions are engineered with horticultural and structural features specific for indoor and outdoor environments. LiveWall supports plants as nature intended — roots growing down, stems and leaves growing up. With unsurpassed versatility to grow a diversity of plant types, LiveWall transforms ordinary walls into inspiring, thriving vertical landscapes that are simple to install and easy to maintain. Follow LiveWall on LinkedIn, like LiveWall on Facebook, and for more information call 877-554-4065.

Link to Project Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/442yfr7dctiug3o/AADIZj9zom-MWiAewFAfkxpEa?dl=0

Link to Project Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f36xAs-bpw

Media Contacts:        

LiveWall                    

Mike Haynes

LiveWall                            

616-935-1974                        

mikeh@livewall.com

David Aquilina

Strategic Storyteller

612-716-5628

davida@strategicstoryteller.com

Lansing Board of Water & Light

Amy Adamy

amy.adamy@lbwl.com

517-342-1026

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PathSensors’ CEO, Ted Olsen stated, “We are proud and excited to continue being part of the conversation around improving CBRNe defense capabilities.”

BALTIMORE, Md. (PRWEB)
October 30, 2019

PathSensors, Inc. will be showcasing biological detection technology at the 12th Annual CBRNe Convergence in Nashville, TN from Tuesday, November 5, 2019, to Thursday, November 7, 2019. This convergence will focus on merging civilian and military responses to CBRNe (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) and IED (explosive) threats. Delegates and experts from over 30 countries will attend the event to highlight practices and challenges involved with preparing and responding to these threats. The event will feature workshops, panel discussions and research from civil and military organizations regarding current and emerging defense capabilities.

PathSensors’ CEO, Ted Olsen stated, “We are proud and excited to continue being part of the conversation around improving CBRNe defense capabilities. This event allows us to display PathSensors’ solutions to growing threats to national security and public health.”

Stop by booth #154 to learn more about PathSensors’ efforts in biological defense with building protection and mail screening capabilities. PathSensors’ CANARY® technology can detect a wide range of threats, including Anthrax, Ricin, and Ebola, and can be expanded to meet emerging threat detection requirements. The suite of instruments, including the BioFlash and Zephyr, can provide rapid, sensitive and specific identification of threats from aerosol, liquid, and environmental swab samples. PathSensors also offers a MailGuard System that includes a negative pressure hood for large-batch mail screening.

Experts at PathSensors can be contacted before and during the 2019 CBRNe Convergence at info@pathsensors.com.

About PathSensors, Inc.

PathSensors is a leading environmental test company built on CANARY® technology exclusively licensed from MIT-Lincoln Laboratory. CANARY® offers cutting edge pathogen detection capabilities to a variety of industries including food safety, agriculture, and security. PathSensors’ mission is to make the world a safer place by detecting pathogens that can cause sickness and potentially death. PathSensors offers its customers great products and superior service at a fair price in all the markets it serves.

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CUMBERLAND FORESIDE, Maine (PRWEB)
October 29, 2019

LGC Maine Standards releases VALIDATE® UC1 & UC4 linearity and calibration verification kits, for SIEMENS ATELLICA® analyzers, Order Numbers 701sa & 704sa. The kits, in a human-urine matrix, evaluate CA, CL, CREA, ETOH, GLU, K, MG, NA, PHOS, UA, UTP, and UUN.

Each VALIDATE® kit, liquid, ready-to-use, and prepared using the CLSI EP06-A “equal delta” sample preparation, offers five distinct concentrations covering the reportable range. Simply dispense the solution from each dropper bottle, directly into five sample cups, and run in replicates.

Release of VALIDATE® UC1 & UC4 for SIEMENS ATELLICA® users, allows clinical laboratories to complete their required Urine Chemistry linearity and calibration verification, and maximize the reportable range while minimizing manual dilutions. Use of this product, while augmenting daily QC, assists with fulfilling various quality control requirements – such as Reportable Range and Analytical Measurement Range (AMR) – for linearity and calibration verification under CLIA ‘88, CAP, COLA, CBAHI, JCAHO, JCI and ISO 15189.

The addition of VALIDATE® UC1 and UC4, for SIEMENS ATELLICA® analyzers, to the LGC Maine Standards expanding portfolio of products demonstrates a continued commitment to manufacture high-quality linearity and calibration verification products that meet industry needs.

LGC Maine Standards is located in Cumberland Foreside, Maine and manufactures VALIDATE® linearity and calibration verification kits for 140 analytes, including General Chemistries, Urine Chemistries, Body Fluid Chemistries, Enzymes, Lipids, HbA1c, Therapeutic Drugs, Cardiac Markers, Thyroids, Serum Proteins, Vitamin D, Tumor Markers, Anemia, Fertility, Hemostasis and Whole Blood Glucose.

LGC Maine Standards MSDRx® data reduction software is available at no charge for real-time data analysis or a laboratory can send their data to LGC Maine Standards where a technical specialist will complete the data analysis and return a report within five business days. Peer group comparison is also available upon request.

Contact: Maine Standards Company, LLC

221 US Route 1, Cumberland Foreside, ME 04110

1-207-892-1300 x1473

Adriano.Ciccomancini@LGCGroup.com

http://www.mainestandards.com

About LGC

LGC is an international life sciences measurement and testing company with leading positions in growing markets. LGC provides a range of measurement products and services which underpin the safety, health and security of the public, including reference materials and proficiency testing, calibration verification / linearity testing, genomics reagents and instrumentation, and expert sample analysis and interpretation. LGC serves customers across a number of end markets including Pharmaceuticals, Agricultural Biotechnology, Food, Environment, Government and Academia.

LGC’s headquarters are in London and the company employs over 2,000 people, operating out of 22 countries worldwide. Its operations are extensively accredited to international quality standards such as ISO/IEC 17025, GMP, GLP, ISO Guide 34, ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO 13485:2016.

With a history dating back to 1842, LGC has been home to the UK Government Chemist for more than 100 years and is the UK National Measurement Laboratory and Designated Institute for chemical and bio measurement. LGC was privatized in 1996 and is now owned by funds affiliated with KKR. For more information, please visit http://www.lgcgroup.com.

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advancements in vacuum and helium-based technology have enabled our engineering team to improve component configuration and system performance, yielding the most advanced helium leak testing system for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (PRWEB)
October 25, 2019

Leak Detection Associates (LDA), the world’s premier manufacturer of custom built, helium-based leak testing instruments for the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Medical Device and Food Packaging Industries is excited to announce the launch of its newest and most advanced helium leak detection system, the SIMS Model 1915+. The SIMS 1915+ unit is engineered incorporating industry-leading Agilent Technologies components and is custom designed to meet the stringent requirements of clients in FDA-regulated industries. The new unit will replace the SIMS 1284+, marketed by LDA for the past 12+ years, and represents the most advanced and sensitive system available worldwide. With a revised interface and corresponding pump configuration specifically intended for pharma/biotech package testing, clients will see an improvement in instrument performance with more intuitive operation. Notably, the launch of the system coincides with the release of the all-new 21 CFR Part 11 compliant software package developed by the Leak Detection Associates software development team.

“While the SIMS 1284+ has proven to be a workhorse with a global client installation base for over 12 years, advancements in vacuum and helium-based technology have enabled our engineering team to improve component configuration and system performance, yielding the most advanced helium leak testing system for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications. I am confident our clients will appreciate the new features, capabilities, and usability the SIMS 1915+ will offer”, commented Jeff Morrow Lucas Director of Engineering for Leak Detection Associates.

Key features and benefits of the new SIMS 1915+ model include:

• Base Helium Leak Detector powered by Agilent Technologies, globally recognized as a leader in the regulated market industries for laboratory equipment
• An IDP-15 Dry vacuum pump (oil free) rated for 15m3/hour (9 cfm) and a Patented dual pump design for fast clean up and background suppression
• Improved power-off process keeps spectrometer under vacuum and protects the turbomolecular pump, reducing operator dependency and increasing filament longevity
• Maximum Test Port Pressure of 13 mbar (10 Torr, 1333 Pa) and 200 mbar (150 Torr, 2000 Pa) in Gross Leak Mode

The new SIMS Model 1915+ model is available for immediate order and based upon an improved supplier relationship with Agilent Technologies, lead times for custom-built orders will decrease from the previous 12-14 weeks to as short as 4 weeks. As clients have come to expect, each new SIMS Model 1915+ will be customized to client’s specific testing needs whether testing vials, blister cards, cartridges, or pre-filled syringes. Each SIMS 1915+ can be complimented with Leak Detection Associates’ robust service and contract offerings to provide end-to-end leak testing solutions.

About Leak Detection Associates, LLC

For over 20 years, Leak Detection Associates has been the premier manufacturer of custom helium leak detection instruments for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and food packaging industries. LDA’s well-established technology has been incorporated into ASTM and compendia guidance documents. This robust industry experience, combined with the advanced capabilities of its newest model the SIMS 1915+ helium leak detection unit, provides companies with tools to quantitatively evaluate leakage, improve the package development cycle, establish manufacturing controls, and ultimately reduce risk to the product and consumer throughout the lifecycle.

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Leading transplant doctors and pioneering cellular therapy researchers to speak at World Cord Blood Day virtual event

We’re excited to play a role in the research and development of cord blood derivative therapies by providing logistics supply chain solutions to cord blood, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide, said David Murphy, Executive VP of Quick’s Life Science Division.

NEW YORK (PRWEB)
October 24, 2019

World Cord Blood Day (WCBD) takes place on November 15, 2019, and will provide an opportunity for parents, doctors, nurses, and midwives to learn about the current and future uses of cord blood stem cells, and the potential cord blood has to save lives.

Cord blood is now being used to treat and cure over 80 different life-threatening diseases, including leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia. It is also proving critical to new areas of regenerative medicine to potentially treat spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, autism, type 1 diabetes, and much more. Stem cells for transplants come from the blood of the umbilical cord collected after a baby is born.

Quick, the leading transportation provider of cord blood, stem cells, and umbilical cords is sponsoring WCBD for the third year and will host a session on how to safely transport cord blood and derivative therapies. Industry veterans David Murphy and Monroe Burgess of Quick will discuss the critical steps for safe and secure transit of umbilical cord cells. Since babies arrive in the world on their own time frame, the logistics of cord blood collection and transportation must be carefully planned to ensure integrity and viability.

“All of us at Quick are proud to sponsor World Cord Blood Day to help educate the healthcare community and expectant parents about the life-saving value of cord blood cells. We’re excited to play a role in the research and development of cord blood derivative therapies by providing logistics supply chain solutions to cord blood, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide,” said David Murphy, Executive VP of Quick’s Life Science Division.

For more information about World Cord Blood Day, organized by Save the Cord Foundation, visit https://www.worldcordbloodday.org/.

About Quick Specialized Healthcare Logistics

Quick is the trusted logistics leader for the healthcare and life science industry, serving the community for 40 years. Quick safely and quickly transports human organs and tissue for transplant or research, blood, blood products, cord blood, bone marrow, medical devices, and equipment, as well as cell and gene therapies.

Contact:    Marie T. Vigliarolo, SVP Marketing

The Quick Group

+1 (718) 995-3616 ext. 2207

marie_vigliarolo@qintl.com

About Save the Cord Foundation

Save the Cord Foundation (a 501c3 non-profit) was established to advance cord blood education. The Foundation provides non-commercial information to parents, health professionals, and the public regarding methods for saving cord blood, as well as current applications using cord blood and the latest research. Learn more at http://www.SaveTheCordFoundation.org.

Contact: Chris Ober, Executive Director

Save The Cord Foundation

+1 (520) 419 0269

216709@email4pr.com

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Fluorescent black-legged tick, University of Maryland

“Right now, there is absolutely no effective model to study this process,” says Pal, “so these 3-D models are essential.”

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (PRWEB)
October 22, 2019

Utpal Pal, professor in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Maryland, is serving as one of three collaborators on a new innovative grant from the Department of Defense, using 3-D bioengineered models of human blood vessels for the first time to examine how tick-borne pathogens move in and out of blood and tissue to cause infection and diseases like Lyme and Anaplasmosis. The team is combining expertise in tick-borne infectious diseases and bioengineering to study mechanisms that cannot be adequately captured using animal models, thus providing new targets for vaccine development and therapeutic options to protect our troops and civilians alike.

Pal is partnering with principal investigator Dr. John Dumler at the Uniformed Services University and co-investigator Peter Searson at John Hopkins University. “The story starts out with the reports that came out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health documenting the substantial increases in tick-borne diseases in the United States since 2004, and there is evidence that many are growing even faster than reported,” says Dumler.

Between 2004 and 2016, there was a reported four-fold increase in recorded tick-borne diseases, with 80% of vector-borne diseases that affect Americans actually being tick-borne and not mosquito carried. This phenomenon affects everyone in areas where ticks are prevalent, but our troops are disproportionately affected due to their frequent travel across the country and outdoor training exercises. Due to this upswing in tick-borne illness in soldiers and civilians, the United States Department of Defense started the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program as part of their Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, charged with supporting research in tick-borne illness.

The Borrelia burgdorferi pathogen that causes Lyme disease and the Anaplasma phagocytophilum pathogen that causes Anaplasmosis are two prominent pathogens carried by a common tick in the United States, the Ixodes scapularis or black-legged tick (deer tick). Dumler is an expert in Anaplasma and has been working in tick-borne infection for forty years, while Pal is a world-renowned expert in Borrelia. Both Anaplasma and Borrelia, however, have many unknowns in their infection processes, specifically in determining how pathogens move from the skin to the blood and then from the blood to their target tissues and organs like the brain. These processes are profoundly distinct for each organism as each feature different lifestyles, but it is nearly impossible to do this work effectively in animal models.

“Humans, as incidental hosts, are a big part of the disease process in the life cycle of Borrelia,” says Pal. “How the pathogen enters the vasculature is a critical event because the pathogen is still only present in a small number. And you can’t study this using animal models. Human tissues are too different, and Borrelia can’t cross the blood-brain barrier in rodent models the way it can in humans. Dr. Searson’s models allow us to study these molecular events in a human model for the first time.”

Searson is quite well known for developing tissue-engineered models of human blood vessels and systems, particularly for the brain. With recent advances in stem cell technology, these models have become increasingly complex, with the ability to differentiate cells in a way that couldn’t be done before. While 2-D models have been used in the past to examine pathogen dissemination, this is the first time that 3-D vascular structures have been used in tick-borne infection to study how pathogens are transported by the blood and vascular system in real time, and how they can enter organs and tissues like the brain.

“Right now, there is absolutely no effective model to study this process,” says Pal, “so these 3-D models are essential.” Dumler adds, “Being able to study pathogen dissemination in a configuration that mimics what happens in a real tissue will give a much better picture about what happens in real life.”

The researchers are able to visualize this process in real time, tracking pathogens with fluorescent dyes that are easily viewed under the microscope and recorded for processing and analysis. With Searson’s expertise in creating tissue-engineered models, and Pal and Dumler’s extensive expertise in the biology of tick-borne infections, they are able to manipulate the models with different types of cells and structures to visualize how transfer in and out of the bloodstream occurs.

Everyone involved is excited about the collaboration and the future of this work. “This is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with world experts in tick-borne infections on such an important problem,” says Searson.

Pal adds, “This grant is just the beginning to create a unique program that will use these models to help us to address many questions in tick-borne diseases that are unanswered.”

This work is funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s Tick Borne Disease Research Program, United States Department of Defense Award #W81XWH-19-2-0045.

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Cell Mentor™, an educational resource for biology students and researchers is available in China

“Cell Mentor has proven to be a very useful resource for researchers to understand the publishing process, hone their experimental techniques, and help navigate their scientific careers. We are excited to localize this resource to enhance its utility and relevance to the Chinese researchers”

DANVERS, Mass. and BEIJING (PRWEB)
October 18, 2019

Cell Signaling Technology (CST), a leading provider of antibodies, kits, and services, and Cell Press, a leading publisher of over 40 primary research and review journals, today announced that Cell Mentor™, an educational resource for biology students and researchers is available in China. Originally launched at AACR on March 30th, Cell Mentor enables biology students and researchers to easily navigate their careers, get published, and strengthen their laboratory skills to reach experimental success. Scientists in China will now have the ability to utilize Cell Mentor in their native Mandarin language at http://www.cellmentor.cn.

Cell Mentor is full of educational content from both Cell Press and CST and information is presented according to the types of challenges students and researchers face during their careers. It is designed to address real-life quandaries faced by students and researchers in and out of the lab.

To celebrate the new Cell Mentor section, CST will host IUIS 2019 Featured Forum: New Frontiers in Immunology, New Beginnings with Cell Mentor on October 21st at the InterContinental Beijing Beichen Hotel from 18:30- 20:30. In the forum, renowned opinion leaders in immunology will introduce the new frontiers in infection and immunity, NK cell-based immunotherapy of cancer, stem cell research and applications. In addition, Jay Dong, Vice President and General Manager China and Asia Pacific at CST will introduce the origin of Cell Mentor and how it can facilitate scientific experiments, and Peter Lee, Editor-In-Chief of Immunity and Publishing Director at Cell Press, will discuss how to publish papers in Cell, Immunity and beyond.

“In light of the reproducibility crisis, we are excited to provide the scientific community an educational resource intended to improve experimental success. We hope our collaboration with Cell will empower scientists to further their research and careers,” said Benjamin D. Comb, SVP Corporate Strategy at Cell Signaling Technology.

“In a short period since its launch, Cell Mentor has proven to be a very useful resource for researchers to understand the publishing process, hone their experimental techniques, and help navigate their scientific careers. We are excited to localize this resource to enhance its utility and relevance to the Chinese researchers,” said Dr. Peter Lee, Editor-in-Chief of Immunity and Director of Cell Press China Strategy.

Speakers at the forum will include:

• 
  Xuetao Cao, M.D., Ph.D., Academician, Member of the Cell’s editorial board; Secretary-General, Chinese Society of Immunology; Chair of IUIS 2019; President of Nankai University, Director of Immunotherapy Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Science
• Zhigang Tian, M.D., Ph.D., Professor & Director, Institute of Immunology, President, University Medical Center, University of Science & Technology of China
• Hongkui Deng, Ph.D., Professor, Member of the Cell’s editorial board, School of Life Sciences, Peking University

CST will be attending IUIS 2019, October 19-23 in Beijing and will be located at Booth E07. For more information about Cell Mentor, please visit http://www.cellmentor.com

About CST

Cell Signaling Technology (CST) is a private, family-owned company, founded by scientists and dedicated to providing high quality research tools to the biomedical research community. Our employees operate worldwide from our U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts, and our offices in the Netherlands, China, and Japan.

Cell Signaling Technology® and CST™ are trademarks of Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. Cell Mentor is a trademark of Elsevier.

About Cell Press

Cell Press (@CellPressNews), an imprint of Elsevier, is a leading publisher of scientific research and reviews. We drive science forward and promote cross-pollination of ideas with our passion for excellence and commitment to innovation. Our aim is to engage the scientific community by communicating important, exciting discoveries made today that will impact the future of research. Visit: http://www.cell.com. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.

CST Contact

Rebecca J. Reppucci, MBA

Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.

Director of Marketing Communications

Phone: 978-867-2382

Email: marketingpr@cellsignal.com

Editorial Follow-up

Patrick Farrell, Sniper Public Relations on Behalf of CST

Phone: 603-661-0799

Email: pfarrell@sniperpr.com

Cell Press Contact

Joseph Caputo

Cell Press

Senior Media & Communications Manager

Phone: 617-335-6270

email: jcaputo@cell.com

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