Author: trainitright

TOPS Recognizes Weight-Loss Royalty

State and Provincial Royalty and International Division Winners Help Organization Surpass 2017 Million Pound Challenge

MILWAUKEE, WI – A key element in any journey to better wellness is recognition, no matter if it’s for a small victory or you have reached the final goal. Members of TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds SensiblySM), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, were recently honored for their weight-loss endeavors at the organization’s annual International Recognition Days (IRD) event.

This year’s IRD, with a theme of “Vive TOPS,” took place Fri., July 13, and Sat., July 14, at the Palais des congrès de Montréal (Montreal Convention Center) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The festivities recognized TOPS® award winners who, with determination, perseverance, and support from fellow members, achieved the greatest weight loss in 2017.

Jeffery Yersich of Chicago, was named the 2017 International King, losing a total of 348 pounds. Vena Dickinson of Caldwell, Idaho, was crowned 2017 International Queen with a total weight loss of 159 pounds. TOPS® royalty are men and women who, at the end of the year, have officially recorded the largest weight loss from their starting weight, regardless of the time taken to reach their goal.

Although Dickinson was successful at losing 159 pounds through TOPS®, her experiences before joining weren’t without a few trials and tribulations. “Over the years I tried all kinds of diets with no success,” she said. “Once, I even went to a doctor who put me on a plan that included injections, and I lost weight. Unfortunately, I didn’t change my eating habits. When I married my husband, I stopped the shots and I regained all the weight plus more. Again, I experimented with any new diet that promised miracles.”

It wasn’t until Dickinson reached a point where life’s obligations filled her day-to-day, that she made the decision to join TOPS®, so that she could set aside some time to better herself. “My husband, a preacher in a local church, became ill,” she said. “In between caring for him, working a full-time job, and keeping the church going, my weight continued to soar. I had no time left to take care of myself. After the death of my husband, I joined a TOPS® chapter near me and have never regretted that decision.”

Dickinson fully understands the time and effort that are necessary while on the road to weight loss, giving her a newfound sense of appreciation for her accomplishments and future success. “It has taken me 27 years to reach my goal,” she said. “I finally figured out the magic formula – eat less and you lose weight, move more and you lose weight, don’t eat after 6 p.m. and you’ll keep the weight off. It is a daily struggle, but with the help of my TOPS® friends and family, I will continue to fight and win the battle.”

Yersich’s struggle with his weight began in childhood. “As a kid I was always big, always overweight, yet I played every sport there was,” he said. “After high school, I got a great job, but in 2007 I was critically injured while working. Luckily, I was able to go back to work and play some sports, but I kept getting bigger. I stopped socializing with my friends. By the time I was 25, I felt my life was pretty much over.”

At the strong urging of his grandmother, whom he was living with at the time and who was also a TOPS® member, Yersich decided to join TOPS®. Shortly thereafter, Yersich realized that his hard work was paying off. “The numbers started coming down,” he said. “Once I saw that, I was encouraged to join a gym. The small losses I had at first started adding up – 50, 100, 150 pounds lost and more. It seemed like I was 19-years-old, and now I’m 30.”

Yersich is so thrilled with his incredible 348-pound weight loss through TOPS® that he has completely changed his lifestyle and future aspirations. “I’m playing softball again, and just made plans to go on a cruise,” he said. “I actually have a life! I have goals; I want to do a marathon, I want to learn yoga, in addition to many other things that I would like to accomplish.”

“It was wonderful to celebrate our members’ weight-loss successes at IRD,” said Rick Danforth, TOPS® President. “Recognizing their achievements is a crucial component to the TOPS® weight- management philosophy. It demonstrates that ‘regular people,’ just like you and me, can make astonishing modifications to their health—without special foods or stunts.”

International Runners-up, and their respective amounts of weight lost, are as follows:

  • Runner-up to Queen: Joyce Webb, Thunder Bay, ON, 154.5 pounds
  • Runner-up to King: Martin Aune, Pahrump, NV, 144 pounds

International Division Winners are members who lost the most weight of all TOPS® members in their weight division during 2017. Each member was entered into a weight division with others in a similar starting weight range:

Division 1: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was at least 300 pounds but less than 400 pounds.
First Place:
Candy Haslam, Sturgeon Bay, WI, 122.4 pounds
Randy Sherman, San Diego, CA, 129.5 pounds

Second Place:
Tricia Sornberger, Kitchner, ON, 113.6 pounds
Zachery Burr, Conneaut, OH, 109.6 pounds

Division 2: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was at least 250 pounds but less than 300 pounds.
First Place:
Dori Schwartz, San Antonio, TX, 107.6 pounds
Martin Aune, Pahrump, NV, 85 pounds

Second Place:
Zenner Haasch, Mequon, WI, 97.5 pounds
Gerald Hennig, Leduc County, AB, 79.5 pounds

Division 3: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was at least 200 pounds but less than 250 pounds.
First Place:
Barbara Pammer, Oak Forest, IL, 91 pounds
Clifford Clark, Broadview Heights, OH, 65.5 pounds

Second Place:
Mary Anderson, Rochester, NY, 87.4 pounds
Dan Blackmore, Gabriola, BC, 57.5 pounds

Division 4: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was at least 150 pounds but less than 200 pounds.
First Place:
Millie Jones, St. Thomas, ON, 61.5 pounds
Ivan Welsh, Grand Falls Windsor, NL, 37 pounds

Second Place:
Rebecca Zainos, Warren, MI, 59.25 pounds
Robert Green, Detroit, MI, 32.4 pounds

Division 5: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was less than 150 pounds.
First Place:
Robina Storm, Manistee, MI, 50.2 pounds

Division 6: a child’s age at their starting weight for the year was at least 13 years but less than 18 years.
Names withheld for privacy. Inquires will be considered.

Division 7: an adult member’s starting weight for the year was at least 400 pounds.
First Place:
Jennifer Loreman, Brookpark, OH, 112 pounds
Richard Ireland, Grand Bay, AL, 64.6 pounds

Second Place:
Connie Adaire, Perry, OK, 85 pounds
Joe Koehl, Waynesville, OH, 61.25 pounds

Division 8: a child’s age at their starting weight for the year was at least 7 years but less than 13 years.
Names withheld for privacy.

Division 9: an adult member’s weight-loss surgery is still in effect.
First Place:
Sarina Kledzik, Crestwood, IL, 142.25 pounds
Bob (James) Spencer, Red Bluff, CA, 147.25 pounds

Second Place:
Nicol Ramsey, Kennewick, WA, 124.75 pounds
Robert Cliché, North Haverhill, NH, 128 pounds

State Royalty and their respective amounts of weight lost, includes:

Alabama King: Clayton Schwind, Coden, 32 pounds

Alaska Queen: Chrystle Henderson, Kenai, 42 pounds Alaska King: Ted Parsons, Anchorage, 30.6 pounds

Arizona Queen: Ilene Rosenheim, Tucson, 100 pounds
Arizona King: Stephen Malloy, Glendale, 127 pounds

Arkansas Queen: Sharon Lusk, Russellville, 57 pounds
Arkansas King: William Schroeder, Holiday Island, 40 pounds

California Queen: Mary Krueger, Orangevale, 120 pounds

Colorado Queen: Roberta Baker, Westminster, 82 pounds Colorado King: Ed Richmond, Fort Lupton, 28.8 pounds

Connecticut Queen: Kathleen Brooks, Westbrook, 74.2 pounds

Delaware Queen: Linda Mecke, Lewes, 53.25 pounds

District of Columbia Queen: Betty Steward, Washington, 39 pounds

Florida Queen: Debbie Baker, Cape Coral, 144.2 pounds
Florida King: Travis Monsalvatge, Temple Terrace, 56.25 pounds

Georgia Queen: Jan Godwin, Douglas, 77 pounds
Georgia King: Dan Goldman, Covington, 55 pounds

Hawaii Queen: Anna Nicolas, Makawao, 16.5 pounds

Idaho Queen: Vena Dickinson, Caldwell, 159 pounds
Idaho King: Robert (Bob) Henderson, Kuna, 44.2 pounds

Illinois Queen: Barbara Pammer, Oak Forest, 123 pounds
Illinois King: Jeffrey Yersich, Chicago, 348 pounds

Indiana Queen: Betty Michna, Pekin, 108 pounds
Indiana King: Robert Wickware, Plainfield, 88.4 pounds

Iowa Queen: Dixie Lee Johnson, Denison, 116.5 pounds
Iowa King: Bernard Tucker, Bondurant, 41 pounds

Kansas Queen: Carolyn Alley, Winfield, 92 pounds

Kentucky King: Donald Vachon, Louisville, 26.8

Louisiana Queen: Rose Richard, Thibodaux, 70 pounds
Louisiana King: John Waggoner, Olla, 74 pounds

Maine Queen: Rhonda Conley, Alfred, 108 pounds
Maine King: Steve Mannion, Westbrook, 78.8 pounds

Maryland Queen: Doris Martin, Charlotte Hall, 105 pounds
Maryland King: Dana Ed Sprecher, Baltimore, 24 pounds

Massachusetts Queen: Eva Peterson, Falmouth, 66.5 pounds

Michigan Queen: Marilyn Housley, Detroit, 121.25
Michigan King: Archie Moore, Flint, 101.6

Minnesota Queen: Kim Brimer, Fergus Falls, 71 pounds
Minnesota King: John Stoessel, Meadowlands, 34 pounds

Mississippi Queen: Bertha Walker, Hattiesburg, 42 pounds
Mississippi King: Fred Counts Jr., Carriere, 25.75 pounds

Missouri Queen: Tammy Prier, Ironton, 118 pounds
Missouri King: Alvin Hill, Pleasant Hope, 85.4 pounds

Montana Queen: Judie Stewart, Kalispell, 85 pounds

Nebraska Queen: Charlene Meyer, Herman, 105.5 pounds

Nevada Queen: Sharon McDonald, Pahrump, 139.5 pounds
Nevada King: Martin Aune, Pahrump, 144 pounds

New Hampshire Queen: Brenda Demary, Penacook, 66 pounds

New Jersey Queen: Linda Pickens, Whiting, 79.6 pounds

New Mexico Queen: Emily Hoffman, Albuquerque, 46.1 pounds

New York Queen: Mary Anderson, Rochester, 107.6 pounds
New York King: Ed Pitcher, Morristown, 106.25 pounds

North Carolina Queen: Helen O’Reilly, Winnabow, 71.75 pounds
North Carolina King: James Searcy, Hendersonville, 33.6 pounds

North Dakota Queen: Julie Hoffner, Fargo, 45 pounds

Ohio Queen: Cindy Casciato, Ravenna, 90.5 pounds
Ohio King: Josiah Grove, Newark, 38 pounds

Oklahoma Queen: Diane Harrison, Miami, 70 pounds
Oklahoma King: Vernon Krebs, Poteau, 35.4 pounds

Oregon Queen: Barbara Murphy, Bend, 127 pounds

Pennsylvania Queen: Janet Kiehl, Titusville, 102 pounds
Pennsylvania King: Charles Turner, Greencastle, 118.25 pounds

Rhode Island Queen: Madeleine Cavallaro, Cumberland, 132 pounds
Rhode Island King: Aldo Cavallaro, Cumberland, 65 pounds

South Carolina Queen: Darlene Powell, Moncks Corner, 102 pounds
South Carolina King: David Moss, Florence, 32.2 pounds

Tennessee Queen: Anita Patterson, Elizabethton 86.8 pounds
Tennessee King: Gerald Sullivan, Knoxville, 19.5 pounds

Texas Queen: Dori Schwartz, San Antonio, 111 pounds
Texas King: Jim Neddo, San Angelo, 53.75 pounds

Utah Queen: Debbie West, Tooele, 80.60 pounds
Utah King: Dale Mackay, Provo, 68 pounds

Vermont Queen: Sally Reynolds, Jeffersonville, 31 pounds

Virginia Queen: Theresa Wright, Bluefield, 77.5 pounds

Washington Queen: Marion Harmon, Federal Way, 111 pounds
Washington King: Ronald Smith, Centralia, 37 pounds

West Virginia Queen: Micki Rose, Troy, 78.5 pounds

Wisconsin Queen: Kathy Maxwell, Nekoosa, 84.75 pounds
Wisconsin King: Wyman Drake, Sheboygan Falls, 53 pounds

Wyoming Queen: Jeanette Decker, Casper, 20 pounds

Provincial Royalty, and their respective amounts of weight lost, includes:

Alberta Queen: Susan King, Stony Plain, 104.25 pounds

British Columbia Queen: Lynda Halpin, Arras, 93.75 pounds
British Columbia King: Dale Partridge, Nanaimo, 59.2 pounds

Manitoba Queen: Margaret Trupp, Winnipeg, 88 pounds
Manitoba King: Darcy Rollo, Miniota, 33 pounds

New Brunswick Queen: Monique Fournier, Maisonnette, 97 pounds
New Brunswick King: Harry Logue, New Castle Creek, 44.4 pounds

Newfoundland & Labrador King: Ivan Welsh, Grand Falls Windsor, 34 pounds

Northwest Territories Queen: Gwyneth Davis, Yellowknife, 17.75 pounds

Nova Scotia Queen: Kathy Way, Halifax, 94.5 pounds

Ontario Queen: Joyce Webb, Thunder Bay, 154.5 pounds
Ontario King: David Weber, Cambridge, 59.5 pounds

Prince Edward Island Queen: Jean Willcock, St. Louis, 50.4 pounds
Prince Edward Island King: Joseph Gerard Gaudet, Alberton, 63.2 pounds

Quebec Queen: Georgette Piche, Bryson, 79.5 pounds
Quebec King: Ivan Asselin, Pointe-des-Cascades, 31 pounds

Saskatchewan Queen: Esther Walters, Regina, 70 pounds
Saskatchewan King: Robert Spencer, Carnduff, 64.5 pounds

Yukon Territory Queen: Joy Wickett, Whitehorse, 40 pounds

Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS® meeting free of charge. Membership is affordable at just $32 per year in the U.S. and $44 per year in Canada, plus nominal chapter fees. To find a local chapter, view www.tops.org or call 800-932-8677.

About TOPS®
TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds SensiblySM) is the original weight-loss support and wellness education organization. Founded in 1948, TOPS® is the only nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization of its kind. TOPS® promotes successful weight management with a “Real People. Real Weight Loss.®” philosophy that combines support from others at weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise and wellness information. TOPS® has over 100,000 members – male and female, age seven and older – in its network of thousands of weight-loss support chapters throughout the United States and Canada.

For the First Time Ever, FDA Approves ‘Natural Family Planning’ App: But is This a Good Idea?

Sex educator/sex therapist Dr. Laura Berman explains the possible issues with this app and the rhythm method

 

For the first time in history, the Food and Drug Administration has cleared a natural family planning method as a form of contraception. While natural family planning (also known as the “rhythm method”) has been around for thousands and thousands of years, in the modern era this method has gotten an update in the form of apps for a woman’s smartphone. And, now, one of these apps (Natural Cycles) has won the FDA’s stamp of approval as a method of preventing pregnancy. But is this a wise choice for women who don’t want to add to their family?

 

“There is no denying that our current options for birth control can be quite problematic,” says Dr. Laura Berman, leading sex educator, popular television personality, radio host, and New York Times bestselling author. “Birth control pills come with a bevy of side effects, condoms are not foolproof and methods like the diaphragm can come with user error and other issues.”

 

On the other hand, natural family planning requires no hormones. It’s free, it’s accessible for everyone and it doesn’t require any doctor’s visits. “For many women, that’s temptation enough to try the plan,” says Dr. Berman. “No costly or painful shots or pills. No implants in the arm or IUDs to contend with. It’s easy to see why this ‘new’ method of birth control is gaining in popularity.”

 

However, Dr. Berman fears that a lack of sex education and accurate knowledge of female anatomy could make this choice of birth control problematic. “There is a shocking lack of sex ed in this country. Many women grew up in schools where things like menstruation and ovulation were simple not discussed at all, hence, they are pretty much in the dark now when it comes to their own bodies.  This could pose a major roadblock when trying natural family planning.”

 

Before encouraging widespread use of natural family planning, Dr. Berman thinks that the country first needs to overhaul its sex-education programs and reach out to those teens who are most at risk of pregnancy. She also points out that consent is a huge topic which is currently missing from this natural family planning debate.

 

“All the apps in the world aren’t going to prevent pregnancy if you have a partner who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer or who berates his partner into having intercourse, even when she’s ovulating. Until we really start prioritizing messages about consent and bodily autonomy in our schools, then apps like Natural Cycles aren’t going to be very useful for at-risk populations,” says Dr. Berman.

 

New Take on Fighting Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria

UH Researchers Receive $3.5 M to Find Best Combinations of Antibiotics

HOUSTON, Aug 29, 2018 – Two UH researchers have won a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop technology that will quickly suggest the most promising combinations of antibiotics to kill certain resistant bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health.”

“People are dying, there’s no question about that. And it’s because bacteria - time and again - have come up with ways to fight back against the antibiotics we are throwing at them and survive,” said College of Pharmacy professor Vincent Tam who, along with Michael Nikolaou, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, intends to even the score with bacteria by optimizing clinical use of antibiotic combinations to combat resistance.

“In the war of people versus bacteria, bacteria are winning,” said Tam. It’s not just because they reproduce every 20 minutes and outnumber all of us (estimates propose five million trillion-trillion bacteria), they also have become more sophisticated and resistant. Thirty years ago, the chances of bacteria being resistant to ampicillin, a common antibiotic, was 5 percent. Today it is more than 50 percent.

Combining antibiotics has emerged as a typical practice to treat infections caused by virulent strains of bacteria resistant to a single antibiotic. But quickly choosing the correct combination is tricky. For instance, the antibiotic prescribed for a wound infection is not the same one prescribed for strep throat or a myriad of other infections.

“A robust method to guide rational selection of effective antibiotic combinations is crucial to help prevent returning to the pre-antibiotic era of untreatable infections,” said Tam. The team is working with an external company, BacterioScan, to develop a rapid diagnostic device that will test bacterial responses to several drug combinations. Clinicians will place bacteria samples in the device, a box, which will monitor bacterial growth in the presence of different antibiotics and will automatically process collected data to spit out predictions of the best combinations in short order.

“I don’t have the time and luxury to take days, if not weeks, to figure this out when a patient is dying. The device we are developing will only take hours,” said Tam, who envisions these monitors in every hospital lab. The box will deliver a raw signal, or string of numbers, that Nikolaou’s algorithms will interpret to deliver a predicted ranking system of the best combinations.

Initial testing will include bacteria P. aeruginosa, which cause pneumonia, A. baumannii which cause urinary tract infections and meningitis, and the superbug Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can cause all three illnesses and others. They will test different structural classes of antibiotics to hit the bugs at different sites.

Since bacteria are different from person-to-person, this approach is a personalized solution to a problem that cannot be solved with a one-size-fits all prescription.

“It is tailor made and customized to deliver results for a specific bacterium for a specific patient,” said Tam.

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated Hispanic- and Asian-American-Serving institution with enrollment of more than 45,000 students.

 

Venezuela’s natural gas deal with Trinidad and Tobago, strengthens Shell’s LNG value chain whilst providing much needed revenue, says GlobalData

Following the recent signing of a deal between Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd (NGC) and Shell that will allow for Trinidad and Tobago to process natural gas from the offshore Dragon field in Venezuela,

Adrian Lara, Senior Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view on the impact on the upstream sector:

“In a way Shell has probably benefited the most from the troubled situation in both countries. As operator of both fields, Dragon in Venezuela and Hibiscus in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), the company is now in a position of strengthening its complete Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) value chain in Trinidad. In fact they are also involved in developing a plan to move gas from the Loran-Manatee field located across the maritime border.

‘‘Obviously the deal is also quite important for both countries because Venezuela desperately needs additional sources of revenue and T&T has had trouble in supplying enough gas to their LNG and petrochemical plants. Somehow Venezuela’s need for cash made this deal possible more quickly. Actually now, even the Loran-Manatee gas field, a cross-border asset and one on which the two governments have been trying to agree for years on how to develop jointly, is looking plausible.

“What is also interesting is that two other fields nearby the Dragon field, Mejillones and Patao, have been awarded to the Russian gas company Rosneft with the right to export the production as gas or LNG. Regardless of what the development strategy is for exporting the production, having takeaway capacity installed to move it to T&T can add a positive dynamic to these undeveloped gas offshore fields.”

Rock Solid Research On How To Prevent Dementia And Maintain A Healthy Brain

Chattanooga, TN, August 29, 2018 ― Dr. Timothy R. Jennings speaks expertly on a subject that concerns over 5.5 million people across the nation: how to prevent dementia and keep our mind sharp as we age. A psychiatrist and international speaker, Jennings introduces his new book, recently rated #1 by Amazon in books on dementia, The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind.

Dr. Jennings prescribes simple, everyday actions we can take to stave off disease, promote vitality, and prevent dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's. "The choices we make now can help us to keep our minds sharp and maintain our independence as we age,” says Jennings.

An easy-to-use guide to maintaining brain and body health throughout life, The Aging Brain is based on solid, up-to-date scientific research, and the interventions discussed can prevent progression toward dementia, even in those already showing signs of mild cognitive impairment. The recommendations also may help reduce disability and depression.

"This book isn't just for people hoping to slow the aging process,” says Jennings. "It's also for anyone who is a caregiver to someone at risk of or already beginning to suffer from dementia. It offers a hopeful, healthy way forward.”

Jennings, who maintains a private practice in Chattanooga, TN, has authored several books, including The God-Shaped Brain and The God-Shaped Heart. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association, and is president and founder of Come and Reason Ministries.

For more information about Dr. Jennings, please visit the website: https://www.agingbrainbook.com.

To connect with Dr. Jennings, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/DrTimJennings/ and https://twitter.com/timjenningsmd.

The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind
Baker Books
Released: June 2018
ISBN-10: 080107522X
ISBN-13: 978-0801075223

Gripping Memoir Details Life Before And After Debilitating Stroke

Trevose, PA, August 28, 2018 ― For Mary Reid-Hill, the word "no” means surrender. It means life on the couch. It means dying a slow death. So never tell Mary that she can't do something. Because she'll do everything in her power to prove you wrong.

Mary entered "adulthood” with a load of problems to unpack, including a twisted, abusive childhood; a misguided teen marriage; and a cancer diagnosis at the tender age of 22. Somehow, in spite of it all, she used her skills as a visual artist to carve out a career in the male-dominated world of sign design and installation.

But life wasn't done testing her. At age 38, at the peak of her success, she suffered a major stroke which left her with essentially half her brain and body capacity. For more than 15 years, she has defied doctors, therapists, and even friends and family to stubbornly and relentlessly find her own equilibrium and happiness, "in spite of” all of her health challenges, psychological roadblocks and spiritual upheaval.

But that's just Mary.

And now, she's sharing her remarkable story in her inspirational memoir, In Spite Of . . . How I Survived Abuse, Cancer, and a Giant F@#%ing Stroke, as told to David Tabatsky—author, co-author and/or editor of more than thirty books, covering a vast range of subjects. For more information on David, please visit his website at: www.tabatsky.com.

Mary's approach is refreshingly candid and infused with humor as she chronicles a series of life events that would emotionally cripple most people, including her messed- up childhood, two bad marriages, the devastating stroke, her battles with weight and insurance companies, and the death of her husband. Through it all, her no-nonsense prose underscores why she's become a living example of what the human spirit is ultimately all about and how, in spite of it all, she's still here.

Mary was born and raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and still lives there today, on the corner of Hope and Humor. For the past 17 years, Mary has been unable to hold down a job, due to a disability stemming from her stroke. However, she remains as active as possible, renovating her home, refinishing furniture and continuing her main passion––drawing. Her memoir includes 15 original drawings, some of which she created before the stroke, and several after, when she had to teach herself to draw all over again, this time with her left hand. On top of that, Mary cares for two dogs and occasionally her two closest sisters.

For more information, please visit the website at: www.inspiteof.life.

In Spite Of . . . How I Survived Abuse, Cancer, and a Giant F@#%ing Stroke
Legacy Projects
Release Date: August 2018
ISBN–13: 978-1722983352
ISBN–10: 1722983353

Suite on the Sixth 2018

Alchemy Candle Co., BOGS°, Casper, Crump’s Naturals, FIJI Water, Hudson’s Bay, Lindt, L’Oréal Paris, Penguin Random House Canada, The Perth Soap Co., Rosen’s Cinnamon Buns, SimplyProtein, Tonic Blooms and more to participate in 14thannual gifting lounge

rock-it announces LOVE as charity of choice and a $10,000.00 donation

Toronto, ON – Canada’s original and most coveted gifting lounge, Suite on the Sixth (formerly Tastemakers), today announced its return from September 5 – 8 to showcase the hottest and most coveted products and services on the market. To celebrate its 14th anniversary, the popular lounge will take place in the home of rock-it promotions, one of Canada’s leading boutique lifestyle PR agencies.

Debra Goldblatt-Sadowski, president and founder of rock-it promotions, founded the lounge in 2005 with each year seeing the property grow and evolve into the highly-sought after and anticipated event it is. This year’s lounge welcomes a diverse group of notable and global brands who will showcase their products and services to some of the nation’s most recognizable media, talent and social influencers.

“This is the most exciting time of the year to be in Toronto. Suite on the Sixth is the perfect event to showcase what our clients and partners have to offer,” says Goldblatt-Sadowski. “We’ve had so much success in the past with our gifting lounge that we cannot wait to open our doors once again.”

Throughout the four-day event, guests will be invited to explore and take part in each brand’s activation, fully immersing themselves into each product and service offering. SimplyProtein will fuel guests with healthy, protein packed natural snacks including bars and chips to get them through their busiest of days. Non-GMO, high protein, free from artificial sweeteners and flavours, 4g of sugar or less, every guest will be sure to keep their energy up during one of the busiest weeks of the year. The Perth Soap Co. will return to the lounge to share their popular collection of luxury cleansing bars, body lotions and liquid soaps. Suitable for all skin types and made in Canada, guests will enjoy scents such as Moroccan Spice, Milk & Honey and Sparkling Champagne. Rosen’s Cinnamon Buns will serve their fresh, homemade cinnamon buns on opening day. However, every lucky guest will also leave with a jar of their irresistible cinnamon bun spread to use for French toast, swirled into ice cream or used to make delicious cinnamon buns at home.

BOGS° will display their leading family footwear brand delivering technology of enduring comfort. Each guest will take home a voucher to redeem a pair of boots of their choice including winter, rain, work and farm boots. Crumps’ Naturals will be offering guests and their pets the opportunity to try their new premium dehydrated dog food, called “Gutsy.” Gutsy is made with organic fruits and vegetables, antibiotic and hormone free fish or chicken and novel ingredients geared specifically to prevent and protect “gut” health. With all products made in Canada, guests can take home a sample of Crump’s Naturals’ one-ingredient treats along with a full size box of the new Gutsy food.

L’Oréal Paris will showcase their latest Colour Riche Shine Lipsticks, Infallible 24HR Mono Eye Shadows, True Match Lumi Glotion and some of their bestselling mascaras. The on-site beauty stand will have a built-in mirror for guests to test and try the products, with the opportunity to take home a few of their favourites. Casper will be gifting every guest with one of their unique pillows made for both soft and supportive sleeps. ‘The Pillow’ is a unique pillow-in-pillow that is designed to satisfy all sleepers and will ensure that every guest’s sleep is more restful than ever before.

FIJI Water will offer their 700ml bottles to guests, perfectly sized to take on-the-go. The luxury water brand has significantly more electrolytes than other brands and will keep visitors hydrated throughout the week. Lindt, the leader for premium quality chocolate, will be offering a selection of their finest chocolates for guests to enjoy including a bag of NEW Lindor 70% Cacao truffles. Indulge in a masterfully balanced blend of the finest cacao, and drift away with the darkest Lindor yet. Guests will also receive a Lindt Excellence 78% Cacao bar, the newest addition to the Excellence cocoa range. Alchemy Candle Co. is more than just a beautiful product for your home. Their candles are made from 100% natural coconut wax and essential oils, along with alcohol free oil diffusers. Products are made in Toronto and New York, however they use the most exquisite oils from all over the world. Each guest will leave with a beautiful 75ml oil diffuser for their home. Penguin Random House Canada will gift various book titles, sure to be the perfect accessory for the plane or taking a break from long days at the computer.

The rock-it promotions office will be blooming beautifully with floral arrangements provided by Toronto’s Tonic Blooms, while attendees will also take home a Hudson’s Bay tote bag with their iconic stripes.

Continuing the event’s charitable mandate, Suite on the Sixth is proud to give back to Leave Out Violence (LOVE), an organization devoted to helping youth who are challenged by many forms of violence to build the skills and confidence necessary to change their lives and communities. Guests will have an opportunity to show their support by autographing a large display board that will later be given to LOVE for auction. Suite on the Sixth will also donate $50 for each signature on the board, up to $10,000.

"Our charitable partner this year, LOVE, comes at a time when the world needs to come together more than ever. With the large increase of violence in Toronto, we are proud to be able to lend our support to a local cause trying to make some real change,” says Goldblatt-Sadowski. “We look forward to welcoming friends into our space and introducing them to this organization, as well as all the amazing brands that are participating.”

“We are thrilled to be part of Suite on the Sixth this year,” says Harriet Velazquez, LOVE Chair of the Board. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to share the work we do within the community. With the difficult times we are experiencing with violence in our city, it is heartening to see the support and dedication to helping break the cycle of violence for youth. We are so grateful to receive this funding to provide more youth programs.”

Suite on the Sixth will run from Wednesday, September 5 through Saturday, September 8. Guests are invited by appointment only.

To book an interview, request photography or additional information:
Ciara Dalziel, ciara@rockitpromo.com or 416.656.0707 ext. 110

To RSVP for talent:
Lauren Campbell, lauren@rockitpromo.com or 416.656.0707 ext. 119

Hashtags: #SOT6, #werockit
Facebook: Tastemakers


Cynthia Loyst and Marci Ien signing the Suite on the Sixth’s autograph board in 2017


Tom Hardy tries out Tweezerman products at the Suite on the Sixth Lounge in 2015

About Tastemakers:
Launched in 2005, Tastemakers was the first full-service, Canadian-owned and operated product placement company specializing in gifting lounges and swag bags owned by rock-it promotions. Tastemakers has had a major presence at Canada's JUNO, Genie and Gemini awards shows, plus broadcast network, sporting and corporate fundraising events. Hundreds of talent have visited the lounge or received gift bags including Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet, Brie Larson, Salma Hayek, Liam Hemsworth, Elle Fanning, Tom Hardy, Ethan Hawke, Ellie Goulding, Woody Harrelson, Geoffery Rush, Freida Pinto, Elias Koteas, Kat Dennings, Eric McCormack, Tim Robbins, Viggo Mortensen, Perez Hilton, Forest Whitaker, Shirley MacLaine, Ellen Burstyn, Kathleen Robertson, Joshua Jackson, Christian Slater, Sigourney Weaver, Samuel L. Jackson, Joaquin Phoenix and many more. Tastemakers has garnered press in media outlets such as Us Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, ET Canadaand more.

Participating Brands:

Alchemy Candle Co.
Alchemy Candle Co. is more than a pretty product: they are luxury line of natural coconut wax candles and alcohol-free oil diffusers. They source oils from all over the world, but their products are made in Canada and United States. Their mission is to light up more than just homes. Their Light a Life program donates from every purchase made to ‘canartchangetheworld.net’. The vision is to improve the lives of children in the marginalized favelas of Rio through art, culture, and education and then continue this model into other disadvantaged communities everywhere. When shopping at Alchemy Co, customers are certainly getting a beautiful product made with love, an ordinary purchase, an extraordinary gift for a child, and truly participating in the art of living well, the art of giving.

Instagram: @alchemy.candleco

BOGS
BOGS° is built on a legacy of enduring comfort. Their roots go back to providing Oregon farmers with the functional shoes to weather the harsh conditions of the Pacific Northwest. Their vision has evolved to deliver their technology of enduring comfort to the casual outdoor consumer. In BOGS°, they guarantee that you will work, play and live better.

Twitter: @bogsfootwear
Instagram: @bogsfootwear
Facebook: BogsFootwear

Casper
Casper was created to re-imagine sleep from the ground up, beginning with its obsessively engineered, outrageously comfortable mattress. All of Casper’s sleep products — including its pillow, bedding, and bed frames — are developed in-house by the company’s award-winning R&D team. Casper was recently named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World and its eponymous mattress was crowned one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions.

Twitter: @casper
Instagram: @casper
Facebook: Casper

Crumps’ Naturals
Crumps’ Naturals products have built their reputation throughout the pet specialty market with products that are high quality, innovative, made with minimal ingredients, free from additives, colours and preservatives sourced and manufactured in North America. The company’s growth can be largely attributed to consistently developing new products that support the Crumps’ brand of natural, tasty treats for dogs and cats. Their products are available at over 1200 pet specialty locations across North America. As a growing number of consumers continue to seek out healthy alternatives for their furry family members, Crumps’ Naturals’ commitment is to continue to develop nutritionally sound solutions that are of great value to their customers.

Twitter: @CrumpsNaturals
Instagram: @crumpsnaturals
Facebook: CrumpsNaturals

FIJI Water
FIJI® Water, natural artesian water bottled at the source in Viti Levu (Fiji islands), is the No. 1 imported premium bottled water in the United States. FIJI Water, known for its iconic square bottle, soft mouth feel and unique mineral profile, is the water of choice among discerning consumers and top chefs.  Widely available at fine restaurants and hotels, all major retail channels and through a convenient home/business delivery service, FIJI Water has expanded globally to more than 80 countries.

Twitter: @FIJIWater
Instagram: @fijiwater
Facebook: fijiwater

Hudson’s Bay
Hudson's Bay, incorporated in 1670, is North America’s oldest company. Hudson’s Bay has grown to become Canada’s most prominent department store, today operating 89 full-line locations and thebay.com. For the first time since the banner’s inception, Hudson’s Bay opened outside of Canada with 10 new stores in the Netherlands in 2017, and an online shopping destination at hudsonsbay.nl. This expansion introduces a new and exciting shopping experience in the Netherlands, catering to the Dutch market. Hudson’s Bay has established a reputation for quality, service, and style by offering well-edited assortments of exclusive and popular fashion, beauty, home and accessory designers and brands, as well as exclusive food concepts.  It is part of the HBC brand portfolio. The signature stripes are a registered trademark of Hudson’s Bay Company.

Twitter: @hudsonsbay
Instagram: @hudsonsbay
Facebook: hudsonsbay

Leave Out Violence
LOVE was founded with the belief that youth challenged by violence can be agents of change, capable of transforming their own lives, investing themselves in their communities, and making the world a safer place. Since 1993, Leave Out Violence (LOVE) has helped youth challenged by the many forms of violence to build the skills and confidence necessary to change their lives and communities. Leave Out Violence (LOVE) was founded in Montreal, and now has grown across Canada, with programs in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.

Twitter: @Ont_LOVE
Facebook: loveleaveoutviolence

Lindt
Lindt & Sprüngli has been recognized as a leader in the market for premium quality chocolate – known worldwide for their incomparable, unique taste and fine melting texture.  Founded in 1845, in the almost 175 years of Lindt's existence it has become regarded as one of the most innovative and creative companies making premium chocolate. Today Lindt offers a large selection of products in more than 120 countries worldwide, with twelve own production sites in Europe and the US as well as distribution and sales companies around the world.

Twitter: @LindtCanada
Instagram: @lindtcanada
Facebook: lindtchocolatecanada

L’Oréal Paris
L’Oréal Paris is a division of L’Oréal Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of L’Oréal Group, the largest cosmetics company in the world. Headquartered in Montreal, L’Oréal Canada had sales of $1,192 billion in 2017 and employs more than 1,300 people. The company’s prestigious portfolio of 39 brands encompasses all aspects of beauty. L’Oréal Paris is a total beauty care brand dedicated to empowering women by offering the most luxurious and innovative products and services available in the mass market. The brand’s signature tagline, “Because I’m Worth It” celebrates the beauty and intrinsic self-worth of women. L’Oréal Paris provides women and men around the world with products in four major beauty categories: hair colour, hair care, skincare and cosmetics.

Twitter: @lorealparisCAN
Instagram: @lorealmakeup, @lorealhair
Facebook: lorealpariscanada

Penguin Random House Canada
Penguin Random House Canada is the Canadian division of Penguin Random House. The Canadian imprints include Allen Lane, Anchor Canada, Appetite by Random House, Bond Street Books, Doubleday Canada, Hamish Hamilton Canada, Knopf Canada, McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Canada, Penguin Teen, Portfolio Canada, Puffin Canada, Random House Canada, Signal, Strange Light, Tundra Books, Viking Canada and Vintage Canada. In addition to trade publishing under these imprints, Penguin Random House Canada also distributes books from our sister imprints in the U.S. and the U.K.

Twitter: @PenguinRandomCA
Instagram: @penguinrandomca
Facebook: PenguinRandomCA

The Perth Soap Co.
The Perth Soap Co. was started conceptually in 2011 by two friends and colleagues with a dream of making a cleansing bar that would live up to their definition of how a luxury product should look, feel, smell, and most importantly, perform. With their ideas and concepts, they teamed up with a manufacturing facility located in Perth, Canada, that offers more than 100 years of soap making expertise and experience.  After two years of development and collaboration, their team has created high-quality, beneficial products that perform the way luxury products should.

Twitter: @theperthsoapco
Instagram: @theperthsoapco
Facebook: ThePerthSoapCo

Rosen’s Cinnamon Buns
Rosen’s Cinnamon Buns sells homemade hot-out-of-the-oven buns at their Toronto bakery, and now everyone can get a taste of their crave-worthy buns any time, with their brand new Rosen’s Cinnamon Bun Spread. The decadent spread turns your morning toast into a cinnamon bun!

Twitter: @RosensBuns
Instagram: @rosenbuns
Facebook: Rosensbuns

SimplyProtein
Wellness Foods is a female founded company that was started in 2002 by Cathy Richards after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. After struggling to find a filling and nutritious snack with a short list of ingredients, she created SimplyProtein. With a mission to make healthy snacks for busy people, SimplyProtein® now produces a range of great tasting, wholesome snacks that help you stay fuller longer. SimplyProtein products are high protein, contain only 4g of sugar or less and are free from artificial sweeteners and flavours.

Twitter: @simplyproteinca
Instagram: @simplyproteincanada
Facebook: SimplyProtein

Tonic Blooms
Tonic Blooms is Toronto’s on-demand flower delivery service with the simple goal of bringing joyfulness back to sending flowers. By rethinking the flower delivery business model, Tonic Blooms are devoted to ensuring that those who send and those who receive Tonic Blooms are delighted from start to finish. They start with selecting blooms of the highest quality and freshness, so that their flowers last as long as they should. Then, they curate and offer a selection of seasonal designs that are sure to impress and delight. Tonic Blooms also designs and decorates weddings & events and offers customized installations. They help make someone's day or bloom your event!

Far From Theoretical, Suicide Prevention Treatment Is Available Now

Henderson, NV, August 27, 2018 — You have watched your nephew slide into a depression that seems irreversible. Your spouse wakes up each night with night terrors brought on by post-traumatic stress. A student in your class has gone from shy to reclusive, refusing to go outside his home. Despite caring families that have tried everything, the problems remain.

Matthew D. Dovel has dedicated his life's work to understanding and preventing suicide, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress, and believes he has found the solution. Dovel, the founder and president of the nonprofit International Suicide Prevention, has developed a noninvasive, nonmedical treatment program called Nu-Rekall® which trains individuals to rid themselves of emotional suffering and suicidal thoughts.

"In 2005, I delivered suicide intervention training at the Cree Reservation in Ouje-Bougoumou, Canada,” he says. "The 4 Phase technique reduced suicides from one nonfatal event and one fatal outcome per month to zero fatal outcomes in the subsequent six months.”

Dovel's system, called Zero Suicide System/Nu-Rekall®, is based on an understanding of how traumatic memories, ranked according to intensity, are stored in the brain. By altering this hierarchy and assigning an intense memory a lesser "rank” on the scale, the sufferer causes the memory to slip from the conscious mind. Dovel has been lecturing and training his method since 2015.

"I want to propagate this information to create a global shift in humanity and save as many lives as possible before my time here has ended,” Dovel says.

For more information on Matthew Dovel and Nu-Rekall®, please visit:
www.supportisp.org
www.facebook.com/matthew.dovel.3
www.linkedin.com/in/suicidepreventionexpert/

Powerful Story Shares One Woman's Struggle To Overcome Abandonment And Abuse

Raleigh, NC, August 27, 2018 ― Deja' was dealt a losing hand, and no one would have blamed her for simply accepting her fate. Her father died before she was born, and her mother chose drug addiction over her daughter. With loneliness consuming her, Deja' could have folded. Should have folded. But instead, she learned how to recycle her pain, and she began drawing from every source of positive influence that entered her life: a God-loving grandmother, a supportive godmother and a street-savvy godfather who taught her how to redirect her pain and survive in this world.

But the challenges just kept coming, and Deja' encountered countless betrayals and abuses along the way, which lead to an unhealthy marriage, and ultimately, a pattern of unhealthy relationships with men that lasted for several years. Aware that she is repeating a family cycle of poor choices, Deja' needs to rally what's left of her strength and determination to break that cycle. Will her fortitude be enough? Or will this final test break her spirit once and for all?

Overcoming the Hand You Were Dealt is the powerful new book from Kisha Taylor. Cultivated from her personal experience with abandonment, Overcoming weaves an authentic and captivating story of struggle, pain, hope and faith that culminates in a heartwarming climax of healing and restoration.

In addition to the book, Taylor's website, lifeunlimited1.com, enables her to continue her passion for women's emotional health, with courses that tap into the warrior in every woman, that cover abandonment issues and that help survivors understand why they act and feel the way they do. The website also houses inspirational items like T-shirts and mugs with messages of empowerment, and a blog with videos and messages of encouragement.

Author Kisha Taylor was born in Brooklyn, NY, and from a young age, she learned how to navigate the real world of hard knocks. She attended Binghamton University and Baruch College, where she studied accounting and psychology. She became counsel to many, sharing principles on surviving abuse, overcoming life's challenges, healthy ways of handling personal mistakes and how to not surrender to self-defeat.

She is most proud of the lives her journey has impacted, as well as the happiness, confidence and emotional health she now has, which enables her to be a testament of, "You can, if you just don't give up.”

To read more from Taylor, or to view her motivational videos, please visit www.lifeunlimited1.com.

Overcoming the Hand You Were Dealt
Pendium publishing
Release date: February 5, 2018
ISBN-10: 1944348409
ISBN-13: 978-1944348403
Available at www.lifeunlimited1.com, Amazon.com, and all other online outlets.

LimaCorporate Awarded With Two New ODEP Ratings for Physica ZUK

 

SAN DANIELE DEL FRIULI, Italy, Aug. 28, 2018 /CNW/ - LimaCorporate is proud to announce that another milestone has been reached following the SMR Reverse ODEP Ratings in March 2018. Physica ZUK has been awarded by the Orthopaedic Data Evaluation Panel (ODEP) in the UK with the following two ratings (latest ODEP ratings can be found at www.odep.org.uk):

  • 10A ODEP Rating - Physica ZUK with a Metal Back Tibial Baseplate component;
  • 7A ODEP Rating - Physica ZUK with an all-Polyethylene Tibial Baseplate component.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/637371/Lima_Corporate_Logo.jpg)

The ODEP was set up in the United Kingdom in 2002 and provides an ongoing assessment of arthroplasty implants to benchmark Hip, Knee and Shoulder prostheses, providing a standard rating for their survivorship and data submission quality.

Unicondylar Knee Replacement ratings are awarded according to the strength of the evidence and the quality of the data provided. The main criteria are the survivorship of the implants, the number of patients and the length of follow-up. Many countries outside the United Kingdom now use these ratings to assist in their approval of products into the market place. ODEP ratings provide a simple, independently verified assessment of the performance of an implant, assessed against best clinical practice guidelines.

LimaCorporate is proud to remark that Physica ZUK was awarded an ODEP 10A rating in 2018 and it is currently one of the only unicondylar knee replacement prostheses to be awarded with a 10A benchmark. The awarding of the ODEP 10A rating corroborates the evidence provided by several international orthopedic registries, assessing that Physica ZUK is one of the best performing unicompartmental knee prostheses available on the market. ZUK was acquired by LimaCorporate from Zimmer Biomet in 2015 and then was denominated Physica ZUK as LimaCorporate became the legal manufacturer of this device within the European Economic Area, Switzerland and Japan. In compliance with EU Antitrust Authorities and pursuant the Asset Purchase Agreement executed with Zimmer Holdings Inc, LimaCorporate acquired, "Intellectual property rights and know-how, transfer of licences, permits and authorizations, transfer of access to CE marks, customer contracts, leases, commitments, orders and records". Therefore ZUK & Physica ZUK are identical prostheses, implant combination is allowed, and the historical clinical data referred to ZUK is also applicable to Physica ZUK.

"I have been a ZUK user for the past nine years. My patients' experience has been extremely positive and as a surgeon carrying out over 100 unicompartmental knee replacements a year, I am pleased with the new ODEP rating for the Physica ZUK. The surgeon-friendly instrumentation and the unrivalled long-term survival figures make it easy for me to continue to offer it to my patients," said Mr. Guido Geutjens, Derby Hospital, UK.

To reinforce the strong position held by Physica ZUK, during the second half of 2018 new Physica ZUK instruments will be launched in Europe, Switzerland and Japan. Physica ZUK also provides patient-specific cutting guides and the unique OrthAlign® hand-held surgical navigation technology for precise alignment and positioning.

"The achievement of the 10A ODEP rating for the Physica ZUK is yet another recognition for LimaCorporate, following the 10A ODEP rating received for the SMR Reverse in March, demonstrating our commitment to provide reliable and high-performing implants to Orthopaedic surgeons. On behalf of all of LimaCorporate, I would like to thank the surgeon community that believed in Physica ZUK to help achieve this ODEP rating and the excellent registry results", said Luigi Ferrari, Chief Executive Officer of LimaCorporate.

About LimaCorporate

LimaCorporate is a global medical device company providing reconstructive and custom-made Orthopaedic solutions to surgeons who face the challenges of improving the quality of life of their patients. Based in Italy, LimaCorporate is committed to the development of innovative products and procedures to enable surgeons to select ideal solution for every individual patient. LimaCorporate's product range includes large joint revision and primary implants and complete extremities solutions including fixation.

SOURCE Limacorporate S.p.A.