VIENNA, Va., - On July 14, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Americans for the Arts, and The Aspen Institute gathered experts from around the county in the disciplines of the arts, environmental advocacy, engineering, media, and business, to participate in Wolf Trap’s National Summit on the Arts and Environment held at Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Virginia.

The intensive summit discussions are the beginning of a new movement within the national arts community and an official call to action. In addition, many major environmental organizations came out of the summit ready to begin thinking beyond the arts only in terms of “star power” or potential celebrity spokespersons. Architect of the first new art museum in the world to receive the LEED certification for sustainable design, Kulapat Yantrasast said, “There are artistic ways to look at the environment and at the same time there are environmental ways to look at the arts - how did we not see that before?”

One of the summit’s hosts, The Honorable Norman Mineta helped lead the call for action by stating, “I am making a commitment to be sure the results of today become more than just a discussion document; that this becomes an action plan rather than a plan collecting dust on a shelf.”

Official recommendations resulting from the summit include the following:

– Establishing a national shared vision for the arts and environment.

– Creating a National Council on the Arts and Environment.

– Creating new pools of money for arts and the environment from public and philanthropic sectors.

– Setting up mechanisms to learn from indigenous models of environmental stewardship.

– Encouraging artists and arts organizations to establish an official environmental starting point - a comprehensive energy, water, resource, community impact, and materials flow baseline.

Americans for the Arts, led by President and CEO Robert Lynch, will be moving the results and strategies forward on a national platform, aided by the committed panelists.

According to Terrence D. Jones, Wolf Trap Foundation President and CEO, the future of the movement is in good hands. “When we started the green initiative at Wolf Trap we did it because it was the right thing to do for Wolf Trap, but we knew we would want to share whatever we found with our colleagues in the arts. This summit has taken the conversation to the next level.”

Musician Kathy Mattea and Kateri Callahan, Executive Director of the Alliance to Save Energy, agreed at the summit that, “if artists are encouraging their audiences to go green, they must be sure that their own backstage operations are green as well.”

And activist Philippe Cousteau, Co-Founder of EarchEcho, pointed out that “the arts reach into so many places to touch everyone’s lives, no matter where they are…It’s not that you (the arts) can make a difference, it’s that, for better or for worse, everything that you do already makes a difference.”

Web site: http://www.wolftrap.org/

WASHINGTON - A chart prepared by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) (www.aidshealth.org), which provides AIDS care and treatment services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide, shows how the Senate version of legislation to re-authorize PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), the successful US global AIDS program, will be able to save five to seven million lives over the next five years. The program is on pace to treat two million people by the end of this year. The Senate bill, which requires that more than half of the $39 billion allocated to HIV/AIDS be spent on medical care and lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, passed in the Senate last week in a 60 to 13 vote. The House of Representatives is widely expected to ratify the Senate bill later this week without major changes to the bill.

The Senate bill also includes a requirement that PEPFAR providers strive to deliver lifesaving treatment in a more efficient manner, and that any reductions in PEPFAR spending due to such efficiencies would trigger a corresponding increase in the goal of the number of those on treatment through the program. AHF’s chart demonstrates spending allocations for PEPFAR over the next five years together with the target goal of those on antiretroviral treatment (ART), including the proportional funding increase. The AHF chart also includes two other projections of ART targets including the baseline proportional funding increase as well as stepped-up treatment goals based upon 25% and 50% percent reductions in per-patient-spending.

To view AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s “Cumulative PEPFAR Treatment Target” chart, follow this link: http://www.aidshealth.org/images/pdfs/PEPFARTreatmentGraph072108.pdf

PEPFAR was the result of President Bush’s groundbreaking 2003 State of the Union pledge to bring two million HIV positive Africans and others into treatment and prevent seven million new HIV infections via a five-year, $15 billion US-funded program. It currently operates in 15 focus countries and claims to support antiretroviral treatment for 1.4 million people worldwide. PEPFAR has been one of the most successful global humanitarian programs in recent memory, providing medical care to millions of people with HIV/AIDS, it has given hope to the 33 million people with HIV/AIDS in the world.

About AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the nation’s largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Weather Underground, the nation’s first online provider of weather related content, today announced the availability of a new hurricane-tracking product on its web site www.wunderground.com.

WunderMap(TM) displays the current position, strength and movement of every tropical storm across the world that threatens to become a hurricane, typhoon or cyclone. Users can currently view Tropical Storm Dolly’s historical path, moving across the Gulf of Mexico. The service also displays its projected path and strength as it moves towards land, in addition to the wind radius around the center of the storm.

“Dolly can be tracked in real time, providing valuable information to residents in Mexico and Texas who are threatened by this storm,” said Alan Steremberg, President and co-founder of Weather Underground. “The unique aspect of tracking hurricane activity on WunderMap(TM) is that users can overlay animated radar and satellite layers on top of the storm tracks.”

Users can go straight to the tracker at www.wunderground.com/wundermap/hurricane. Alternatively, one can navigate to it from the homepage by clicking on WunderMap(TM) and selecting the Hurricane layer. The service ingests data from The National Hurricane Center in Miami.

For more in-depth hurricane analysis and commentary, Weather Underground’s Director of Meteorology, Jeff Masters, writes one of the most popular weather blogs on the web at www.wunderground.com/blog/Jeff Masters. People can also view public hurricane advisories on Weather Underground’s Tropical section at www.wunderground.com/tropical.

Durham, NC - CHERUBS, a non-profit organization founded to not only help parents of children born with CDH, but to lead the medical community in finding the cause and prevention of this devastating birth defect, is working to raise funds to help further the organization in its philanthropic endeavors. Encouraging participation from the local community, CHERUBS is hosting two events for the public including, the 2008 Angle Ball and the 1st Annual CHERUBS Golf Tournament.

Founded in 1995 by Dawn Torrence, CHERUBS is the world’s largest CDH organization with over 2400 members in 37 different countries and all 50 states. Dawn is the mother of Shane Torrence (1/28/93-9/11/99), born with left-sided CDH and multiple birth defects.

“I miss my son every single day; CDH took him from me and robbed him of any type of normalcy during his short life. I lost the chance to watch him grow up and grow into a young man; learn to ride a bike or drive a car; go to college or get married or have children of his own,” said Torrence. “No mother’s arms should ever ache for a child she can no longer hold. Shane was an amazing little boy that was always happy even though he spent most of his life in the hospital. CDH robbed me of being a mom, and Shane was and probably will be my only child.”

Immediately after Shane’s death, Dawn searched for a support group, people she could turn to for answers, but there were none available. After spending hundreds of hours in the hospital’s medical library researching CDH and finding support only from parents she met at the hospital, Dawn felt a great need for a CDH support group.

“I wanted to create an organization to help those parents of children with CDH. We work toward saving babies in the future and honoring those we have already lost.” said Torrence. “I know exactly how it feels to be going through everything that they have to deal with and have no one to turn to, and I want them to know that CHERUBS is there for them every step of the way.”

CDH affects 1 in every 2500 babies, representing approximately 1600 babies in the United States each year, half of which do not survive. Some of the other half, like Torrence’s son, who only lived until the age of 6, end up suffering through life with lasting health problems such as feeding aversions, gastrointestinal problems, asthma, allergies, scoliosis, or long-term pulmonary problems.

There are more children born each year with CDH than there are children born with Cystic Fibrosis, and although there is no known cure or typical treatment, there is still a significant lack of research and awareness in the public and medical communities about CDH.

“I had signs in my pregnancy that there was something wrong with the baby, but the doctors were not able to recognize any problems despite my son’s extensive birth defects,” claims Torrence. “If the doctors had been more educated about this birth defect, they could have been more prepared to provide him with the right care.”

To help raise more awareness and money for the organization, as well as funds to continue research and outreach, CHERUBS will be hosting two key fundraising events this summer. The CHERUBS Inaugural 2008 Angel Ball will be a formal event held on July 26 at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham with food provided by several different catering companies, a live band and an auction. Everyone is encouraged to wear white and women are welcome to wear their wedding dresses again to go along with the angel theme.

The other event is the CHERUBS Inaugural 2008 Charity Golf Tournament held on July 28 at Brier Creek Country Club. Special Guest, Eric Lastowka, will be giving demonstrations and there will be a sports memorabilia auction. Proceeds from both events will benefit CHERUBS, and Torrence is hoping that the event will bring out many supporters and media to help gain recognition for both CDH and the organization’s efforts.

“There is still so much research that needs to be done. In 2008 this birth defect should not still exist, much less still have so many unanswered questions and so little research,” said Torrence. “CHERUBS wants to be able to help as many families as possible, because we understand the hurt and confusion that comes along with having a child with CDH. We want to spare other families from the devastating effects of CDH and we will keep fighting, keep researching and keep raising awareness until the cause and prevention of CDH is found.”

About CHERUBS

CHERUBS is a 501(c)3 organization located in North Carolina. CHERUBS serves families of children and adults born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). As of June 2008, CHERUBS has over 2400 members in all 50 states and 33 countries. Board Members include the founding father of in-utero surgery, genetic counselors, epidemiologists, pediatric surgeons and parents of children born with CDH. CHERUBS is a volunteer-run organization and a United States Internal Revenue Service recognized 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization.

WORCESTER, MA - World Energy Solutions, Inc. , a leading operator of online exchanges for energy and environmental commodities, today announced that Jonathan Harvey, VP, Government will present a session on The Art and Science of Implementing Greenhouse Gas Allowance Auctions at this week’s Carbon Counting 2008 (http://www.frallc.com/conference.aspx?ccode=B616) Conference in Chicago.

Session Details - Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - Time: 2:15 p.m. CT - Location: Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown - 511 N. Columbus Drive Chicago, IL Session Agenda - World Energy Overview - Current National Cap and Trade Legislation - Candidates’ Stand on Auctioning Allowances - Current Cap and Trade Programs - Discussion of EU ETS and RGGI - Overview of RGGI - Why Auction Allowances - Historical and Theoretical Perspectives - Economic Rationale - Allowance Auction Formats and Features - Implementation Challenges

World Green Exchange to Host First Mandatory CO(2) Allowance Auction

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (http://www.rggi.org/) (RGGI) announced in April that it has selected World Energy Solutions to provide services related to the design and implementation of a regional allowance auction. Friday, the ten Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States participating in RGGI issued a preliminary release (http://www.rggi.org/docs/20080711news_release.pdf) of technical materials for market participants interested in bidding in the first-in-the nation auction of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) allowances on September 25.

About World Energy Solutions, Inc.

World Energy operates leading online exchanges for energy and environmental commodities. Our proven approach provides market intelligence, promotes liquidity, and creates price transparency for all market participants, enabling our customers to transact with confidence and to seek the best possible price. To date, the company has transacted over 42 billion kwh of electricity, and nearly 1bb kwh of green power and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and one trillion cubic feet of natural gas. For more information, please visit www.worldenergy.com

Ludwigshafen / Dresden, Germany, 11 July 2008 - BASF SE and Transinsight GmbH, a provider of semantic search technologies for Web 2.0, have agreed to establish close cooperation in the area of semantic analyses to search for alternatives to animal testing. Together with the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung BfR), both companies will expand the first specialized semantic search engine for this research area called www.Go3R.org to become a global internet platform. In the future, experts from all over the world will be able to use this platform to bring together their knowledge on alternative and supplementary methods to animal testing.

For over 20 years, BASF has been committed to establishing alternative and supplementary methods. Since 2004, the company has been developing and validating alternatives to animal testing in its own alternatives laboratory with a research budget of 2 million euros per year. Even now alternative methods are employed in 25 percent of all the company’s tests. “We are striving to increase this proportion. Transinsight’s semantic search supports us in this endeavour. With the help of this highly promising technology, we – just like any other potential user – can browse the internet, internal sources, patents and specialized databases much more efficiently than before when searching for information on meaningful approaches to new alternative methods”, explains Dr Robert Landsiedel, Head of the Short Term Toxicology Department at BASF.

Transinsight’s semantic search engine also finds related terms and web pages that are relevant for the respective search term and thus provides considerably more accurate and comprehensive search results than conventional full text search engines. “Go3R will make a tremendous contribution to improving the process of searching for information on alternative methods”, states Dr Michael R. Alvers, CEO of Transinsight. “To achieve this, we are transferring the Wikipedia concept – the largest internet encyclopaedia compiled by the community – to semantic networks of terms. Currently, this is the most efficient way to achieve a large knowledge base within a short period of time and thus to significantly reduce the amount of animal testing in the long term”, Alvers continues. The www.Go3R.org platform is already available online. The service is free of charge.

About Transinsight
Transinsight develops knowledge-based semantic solutions in the Life Sciences. Their flagship products www.Go3R.org and www.GoPubMed.com, renowned biomedical search engines, are the first knowledge-based search systems of the next generation for the Life Sciences on the internet. In acknowledgement of the technologies developed by the company, Transinsight has repeatedly been honoured with international awards. The firm works in close collaboration with the Dresden University of Technology. Selected customers are: Unilever, BASF, BfR, StatoilHydro, Wintershall, AbCam and EMBL. For further information on Transinsight on the internet, see www.transinsight.com.

About BASF
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from oil and gas to chemicals, plastics, performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals. As a reliable partner, BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has more than 95,000 employees and posted sales of almost 58 billion euros in 2007. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

Introducing healthy puppies into Wesley Chapel, Fl families requires more than stocking up on food, treats and toys.

Wesley Chapel, Florida — July 09, 2008 — Routine visits to a veterinarian for health checks and immunizations are key to ensuring puppies grow up to be healthy dogs.
Petland Wesley Chapel, Fl gives puppies a healthy head start by including six months of free follow-up veterinary care at Seven Oaks Pet Hospital in Wesley Chapel, Fl with each puppy it sells, said Vickie Sargent-Kler, who co-owns the Wesley Chapel, Florida pet store with her husband, Joe Kler.
“I think that’s a good value, and as far as I know we’re the only Petland in the state that offers this benefit,” Sargent-Kler said.
She said this health care plan is designed to take care of “any bumps in the road” for new Wesley Chapel pet owners, so that their out-of-pocket expenses can be directed to regular pet maintenance such as fecal examinations, flea preventatives and routine vaccinations.
Why offer such a deal? “Because it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “It’s the best gift that I can give my customers and my puppies- knowing they’re not going to get short-changed on post-sale care.”
Dr. Sree Reddy, who owns Seven Oaks Pet Hospital, said he is unfamiliar with anyone else who offers a veterinary benefit like the one offered by Petland Wesley Chapel.
“Even breeders don’t offer more than a 14-day warranty,” Reddy said.
There also is a realistic reason for the generosity. Young animals, just like babies, are susceptible to ailments because they haven’t yet built up immunities. Since that is a foreseeable possibility, it’s important to approach the situation from a prevention standpoint.
Preparing for Success
Having a healthy puppy begins long before a customer purchases it from Petland Wesley Chapel.
Sargent-Kler hand-selects all of the puppies sold in the store, and has done so for eight years. Having this depth of experience and the contacts that come with it allows Sargent-Kler to offer some of the finest companion animals available.
“I trust in Vickie,” Reddy said. “[The puppies] have good genetics and a good history of breeding.”
Each pet is certified “fit for sale” on a State of Florida Official Certificate of Veterinary Inspection by Dr. Reddy before it can be offered to the public.
When puppies reach Petland Wesley Chapel, they are housed in “see-through” kennels that feature glass walls and “open view” rear doors so customers can see first-hand how they are cared for.
“We have two to four people caring for the puppies behind the scenes always,” Sargent-Kler said. “It’s an ongoing process and we treat it like a baby nursery.”
Every puppy is handled, bathed, cuddled and played with on a routine basis to promote socialization and a favorable pet ownership experience for the puppies and their eventual owners. Reddy also makes weekly visits to perform health certifications and to make sure the puppies are thriving.
“Those are things I’m really proud of,” Sargent-Kler said. “The greater part of my day I spend doing things for my babies.”
One key to having and keeping happy customers is maintaining a good working relationship with a reputable local veterinarian. She has found that in Reddy.
“That relationship is important because with live animals anything can happen,” Sargent-Kler said, “and our truest pleasure is to see puppies go home happy and healthy.”
Puppies need various boosters and vaccines during their first six months. Even the healthiest puppies can experience a bit of stress when being moved to the pet store and eventually to their permanent home, Reddy said.
“Owners are anxious and we want to give them piece of mind that we are here to back them up with any questions or concerns they have,” he said.
Sargent-Kler warns new puppy owners not to be surprised if puppies experience minor colds and cold- like symptoms in the initial adjustment period. The key “is to catch any issues early and treat them before they develop into something else,” she said.
Prior to being purchased, puppies in the store typically have been held by lots of people and their immune systems aren’t yet as strong as they will be when they reach adulthood. Petland Wesley Chapel asks customers to sanitize their hands before holding puppies, but “like everything in life, there is a limit to how much protection we can provide,” Sargent-Kler said. “We encourage customers to handle our pets and help us socialize our puppies and we want to know if the puppy will be a good match for their family.”
Unfortunately people can unwittingly pass along germs that young puppies are susceptible to.
With its emphasis on post-sale health care and its commitments to assisting local charities, it appears Petland Wesley Chapel, Fl is quickly building a good reputation for healthy puppies and excellent customer service.
Learn More
If you would like to learn more about Petland Wesley Chapel’s healthy puppies, visit the Petland Wesley Chapel, Fl Web site: www.petlandwesleychapel.com; call (813) 973-7667; or visit their store at 1926 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
About Petland Wesley Chapel
Petland Wesley Chapel, Fl opened in May 2008. The 4,000 square-foot facility offers a wide selection of exotic birds, puppies, kittens, reptiles and other small animals, as well as a variety of pet supplies. The store’s pet counselors are dedicated to matching the right pet with the right customer and meeting the needs of both. To the customers who already have pets, the pet counselors are dedicated to enhancing their knowledge and enjoyment of the human-animal bond.
© 2008 Sinai Marketing and Petland Wesley Chapel, Fl. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this article is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.
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Petland Wesley Chapel Wesley Chapel

petland1@sinaimarketing.com
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Release Summary:
Petland Wesley Chapel Provides Healthy Start For New Puppies

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