Press Releases

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- As foundations cut back on their funding and private donors are forced to rethink their charitable giving, The Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness (PCEH) continues to offer support to homeless families and individuals thanks, in part, to proceeds from its holiday card sales.

"Our holiday cards give us the opportunity to engage individuals and local businesses in helping the homeless. We're so encouraged by their support," says Phyllis Ryan Jackson, PCEH's Executive Director.

PCEH was formed in 1982 by a group of concerned citizens who walked the streets of Philadelphia, asking those living there what they needed. Their answers, a place to shower and change clothes, to receive mail and peer counseling, to make phone calls, a place where they would be treated with respect, led to the creation of 802 North Broad, PCEH's day center for homeless individuals.

From the start, the organization has been privately funded and has relied heavily on the generosity of individual donors. In an attempt to bring in its own revenue, PCEH began selling holiday cards.

Homeless men and women from the day center helped to send out advertising brochures to over 3,000 people. Clients were given the option of customizing their greeting, choosing their color of ink and adding their logo. Board members sold packs of cards in shopping malls.

In a few years, large firms were ordering up to 7,000 cards, and PCEH was earning up to $200,000 from their sales, one third of its annual budget.

Ms. Ryan Jackson and a Jesuit Volunteer managed the printing and mailing of hundreds of thousands of cards each year, but the process became too time consuming. This year, PCEH has enlisted the help of Today's Graphics Inc. to set up an online storefront so that customers can choose their greeting and ink colors with a press of the button and view the layout immediately. Bella Vista Graphics continues to print the envelopes.

"Thanks to our new online storefront, we are able to focus more on helping homeless families and individuals while still bringing in much-needed revenue during the holiday season," says Ms. Ryan Jackson.

Over the years, twelve local artists have contributed scenes. This year, PCEH is offering original scenes from Tracey Landmann and Jim McFarlane, the president of The Philadelphia Watercolor Society. The cards showcase the quiet beauty of the more rural sections of Philadelphia.

In 2005, PCEH invested all of its savings in the creation of SafeHome Philadelphia, a Housing First initiative focused on helping homeless and at-risk families to create stable homes. Since then, SafeHome has housed over 100 families and kept over 200 children from entering shelter while achieving 85% success rates. With no money to fall back on in case of dips in donor and foundation giving, the card sales became even more important.

"While the city spends $35,000 a year to keep a family in shelter, we spend $4,000 once to provide them with a safe, affordable home," says Ms. Ryan Jackson. "Many local businesses provide homes for one or more families through their holiday card orders."

In spite of the rising popularity of e-cards, staff at PCEH have been encouraged by recent large orders.

"It's a wonderful thing and people recognize that," says Ruth Holland, SafeHome's Housing Advocate. "By sending holiday cards, local businesses are able to help families and individuals in need."

About The Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness

PCEH is a 501c3 nonprofit located at 802 North Broad Street. Since 1982, PCEH has offered support to those living on the streets through its outreach services and day center. In 2005, PCEH created SafeHome Philadelphia, a Housing First initiative focused on helping homeless and at-risk families to create stable homes. PCEH is privately funded.

About SafeHome

Since its inception in 2005, SafeHome has helped over 100 families, including over 200 children, move from shelters, condemned houses, abandoned buildings, and other unsafe living conditions into safe, affordable homes. Once families are housed, SafeHome visits once every two weeks for the first six months, connecting families to community-based social services and helping them to build stability. In addition to providing families with homes, SafeHome provides furniture and household supplies. SafeHome was recently named a model practice for the Obama Administration's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid ReHousing Program by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

SOURCE The Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness

ADVISORY, Dec. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

 What:
 The Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Inc. will visit the NASDAQ
 MarketSite in New York City's Times Square.

 In honor of the occasion, Ms. Margarita Oliva, Chairman, and Ms.
 Bisila Bokoko, Executive Director, will preside over the NASDAQ
 Opening Bell.

 Where:
 NASDAQ MarketSite - 4 Times Square - 43rd & Broadway - Broadcast Studio

 When:
 Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 9:15 - 9:30 a.m. ET

 Contacts:
 Raquel Diaz
 (212) 967-2170
 rdiaz@spainuscc.org

 NASDAQ MarketSite:
 Robert Madden
 (646) 441-5045
 Robert.Madden@NASDAQOMX.com

Feed Information:

The Opening Bell is available from 9:20 a.m. to 9:35 a.m. on Galaxy 19 C/15, downlink frequency 4000 vertical. The feed can also be found on Ascent fiber 1623. If you have any questions, please contact Robert Madden at (646) 441-5045.

Radio Feed:

An audio transmission of the Opening Bell is also available from 9:20 a.m. to 9:35 a.m. on uplink IA6 C band / transponder 24, downlink frequency 4180 horizontal. The feed can be found on Ascent fiber 1623 as well.

Facebook and Twitter:

For multimedia features such as exclusive content, photo postings, status updates and video of bell ceremonies please visit our Facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NASDAQ-OMX/108167527653

For news tweets, please visit our Twitter page at:

http://twitter.com/nasdaqomx

Webcast:

A live webcast of the NASDAQ Opening Bell will be available at:

http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx

Photos:

To obtain a hi-resolution photograph of the Market Open, please go to http://www.nasdaq.com/reference/marketsite_events.stm and click on the market open of your choice.

About The Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Inc.:

Founded in 1959, the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the premier link for business between Spain and the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the Chamber provides access to influential people, innovative ideas and exclusive opportunities that your business needs to thrive. The Chamber's members are some of the most powerful companies in the world of business, commerce and investment. For more information about The Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce please visit www.spainuscc.org. *Please follow The Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1701967&trk=hb_side_g, Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54107086904 and Twitter http://twitter.com/spainuschamber

About NASDAQ OMX:

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. *Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/NASDAQ-OMX/108167527653) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx).

NDAQA

MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- True Green Energy Group, through Spectrum Blue Steel, and the Biosphere MKV power plant have been cultivating the recovery of garbage and in landfills on a global scale. The Biosphere process of gasification harnesses the combustibility of solid wastes to create a heat source that produces an extremely hot steam that will then generate green electricity.

The Spectrum Blue Steel solutions and technologies allow communities to enhance their sustainability level by turning their waste streams into reusable and valuable resources without polluting the planet with harmful carbon emissions.

Job sectors for True Green Energy Group include waste to energy, solar and wind energy, bio fuels, hydrogen energy and fuel cells, geothermal energy, hydro energy, green building, climate study, energy management and efficiency, and much more. Various jobs within each sector are available such as engineering and technical positions, project management, R&D and sales/marketing.

Today, the President of True Green Energy Group, Mr. John Lamb, along with the founder of Spectrum Blue Steel Ronald Flynn, announced Spectrum Blue Steel's newest partner Mr. Eugene B Jones, who is the Executive Director for Southern Waste Information exchange, Inc. (SWIX), which is a non-profit clearinghouse and repository for businesses and government agencies in the USA.

The Southern Waste Information exchange, Inc. (SWIX), has as a primary objective for recycling and reuse of solid and hazardous waste. Since its inception in 1981, the emphasis of the SWIX has been on encouraging and facilitating sound environmental and cost-effective alternatives to land filling, incineration or treatment of solid waste through direct interaction with waste generators in both the public and private sectors.

Recycled products can be confusing because there is no standard definition of a "Recycled" product. Neither is there a nationally accepted standard for the percentage of recycled materials in these products. As a result, recycled content claims are confusing to consumers and businesses. The goal is to have products manufactured with as much postconsumer recycled materials as possible. In other words, Spectrum Blue Steel will now set the standard and price with clarity and definition, exposing all the benefits of going green and staying clean.

The direct financial benefit from True Green Energy's MRF system is the biosphere waste to energy system that will transfigure and modernize green electricity on the power grid in addition to lowering the price of electricity without producing any harmful hazardous carbons.

Spectrum Blue Steel recently paid for and finished a complete EIA study that was completed by accredited EIA consultants set forth by the department administrative order No.30 series of 2003 for the examination of identified relevant environmental technical experts, agencies and the public in order for the Environmental Management Bureau and other involved agencies of the Philippines to make reasonable and sound decisions for the deployment of the Biosphere MKV and the Material Recycling Facility.

The MRF system reduced operating costs because the garbage is free and unencumbered from debt. Furthermore the cost of electricity created by Spectrum is inexpensive because the material it needs to operate it is free, green and clean. The reality is the most costly part of Spectrum's business is the initial investment of purchasing the Biosphere machine. On the other hand, once the machine goes into operation the only overhead to consider is paying your staff because everything else is free along with a 5 year free tax holiday celebration.

The truth is planet earth is polluted with garbage in epic proportions. The titanic overload of garbage floating and polluting the ocean is incredibly monstrous. The good news for Spectrum Blue Steel is the world in general is suffering from a never ending supply of free garbage that will power the Biosphere system for centuries to come. Also bearing in mind besides the environmental benefits made possible by having the material diverted from landfills and or incinerators through the MRF recycling, use, and reuse center and the Biosphere MKV process, the system creates thousands of gallons of clean drinking water on a daily basis making it a practical and necessary in today's go green world.

Eugene B Jones will assist Spectrum Blue Steel's businesses and help us communicate with American municipalities with waste management issues. Mr. Jones has worked with local, state, and federal agencies, legislative and congressional committee staff, trade associations, and with industries regulated under RCRA, CERCLA, and OSHA. His experience is an invaluable commodity to SBS and is essential for locking down government contracts and deploying Biosphere systems in America.

Mr. Jones has a vast experience in organizing and managing various conferences for agencies and organizations such as the Waste-to-Fuels Conferences, Florida Bio fuels Association, Inc., Recycle Florida Today, Inc., the Florida Brownfield's Association, Inc., the Florida Environmental Assessors Association, Inc., the Florida Hospital Association, Inc., the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, the Florida Department of Education, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the International Society of Technical & Environmental Professionals, Inc., the National Conference on Waste Exchange and Resource Reuse, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ronald Flynn ended the press announcement by saying, "The cost of energy is so much more than it should be and Spectrum Blue Steel is helping countries and governments do what they should have done years ago, and that's to go green and stay clean. Until we learn how to live without an environment, we're going to have to keep this issue at the forefront."

Shaping the new world is not easy and the Stewardship of the earth is a component of many Christian denominations. God's green earth will survive as long as we all chip in and do our part. What many may not know is that planet earth needs our help and what we do may have a significant impact--positive or negative--on the environment if the world does not respond and go green.

Spectrum Blue Steel's strategy is to "de-carbonize" the electric power generation industry by shifting to non-fossil fuel based energy sources, specifically energy-from-waste. This follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which confirmed energy-from-waste is renewable, and the Philippine Renewable Energy Law (RA 9513) of the Philippines.

Spectrum is a domestic corporation duly registered under the laws of the Philippines and holds a license to the Biosphere Technology from Global Environmental Energy Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GEECF). Global is a fully integrated energy company whose interests include electrical power generation, oil and gas exploration and production, clean coal and waste management technologies.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of the 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections.

Contact: Ronald Flynn, +6391-8888-001

SOURCE True Green Energy Group

BOSTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Citysearch posted the Spa and Beauty results for 2009 Best of Citysearch and Bella Sante Spa won 12 Best of Citysearch Awards - which was more awards than any other spa or salon in the entire Spa and Beauty category. In addition, a review of the voters comments posted on the Citysearch Boston website determined that Bella Sante had twice as many voter comments than all other finalists combined. The Spa's long time popularity with clients, the press and multiple prior awards, including winning more Best of Boston Awards from Boston Magazine than any other Spa in Massachusetts, are a result of the Bella Sante management style and the highly skilled staff at Bella Sante. In fact, no spa in Massachusetts has ever won more Best of Citysearch awards in the Spa and Beauty Category than Bella Sante in the history of Boston's Best of Citysearch Awards.

In researching the Boston Best of Citysearch, no spa has ever won more Best of Citysearch awards in the Spa and Beauty Category than Bella Sante since the first Best of Citysearch awards were announced approximately nine years ago

The Bella Sante management style is focused on making sure their clients get the best care at every level. It starts with skilled concierges answering the phones (and not keeping you on hold) to highly trained staff providing services (customized to you) to managers following up with clients (to insure consistent service levels). "We are proud to have won more Citysearch Awards than any other spa and we are touched by the voters overwhelming enthusiasm in their voter comments about Bella Sante. We plan to continue delivering relaxation to our clients every single day," said Tiffany Amorosino, COO of Bella Sante.

The 2009 voting results of Best of Citysearch are only the latest example of how their management and staff produce results that distinguishes Bella Sante as a clear day spa leader in the Boston metro area. Bella Sante won Best of Citysearch Awards in the following 12 categories: Best Deep Tissue Massage, Best Eyebrow Threading & Shaping, Best Facial, Best Hair Removal, Best Hot Stone Massage, Best Massage, Best Nail Salon, Best Pregnancy Massage, Best Skin Care, Best Spa, Best Sports Massage and Best Swedish Massage.

Why is Bella Sante so popular with both the clients and the press? There are many reasons that answer the question but most likely is the consistent reputation of Bella Sante as the Best of Boston.

According to a recent survey, Bella Sante has managed to reduce the average wait time of a caller down to an average of 15 seconds. Their centralized call center takes reservations for the Bella Sante Spa's three locations (Wellesley, Lexington and their location on Newbury Street in Boston) making getting an appointment easy and fast. In addition, the call center takes orders for Gift Certificates which are especially popular this time of year.

Bella Sante Corporate Gift Certificate and individual Gift Certificate purchases this year are likely to be very popular gifts.

The total commitment of Bella Sante management and staff at every level of customer interaction has paid off in 2009 and sweeping the Best of Citysearch Awards is just another indication of their success.

Simply put Bella Sante is continuing their tradition of being the Best of Boston in all regards.

About Bella Sante:

Bella Sante is and has been the premier day spa in the Boston Metro area for more than a decade and has the honor of having won more Best of Boston awards and more Best of Citysearch Awards than any other spa in Massachusetts. Their history is that a majority of their clients are repeat customers because they get consistent, excellent treatment by the highly trained and wonderful staff.

Bella Sante's record with clients is hard to surpass. Bella Sante also has clients from all across the United States that year after year order Gift Certificates for their friends, co-workers, family and loved ones in Massachusetts. Customers can also place orders on line for Gift Certificates or for the outstanding products they use in their spa such Carita-Paris, Phytomer, Cosmedix, Kai and MamaMio.

When it comes to pampering, both the clients, Boston Magazine and Citysearch voters agree that Bella Sante is the Best in Boston. Bella Sante has locations in Wellesley, Lexington and Newbury Street. You can follow Bella Sante on http://twitter.com/BellaSante. You can become a fan on http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=39467892591#/pages/Boston-MA/Bella-Sante-Spas/39467892591.

Media contact
Tiffany Amorosino
tamorosino@bellasante.com
617-594-6669

Vice President of Operations
Sara Lahey
slahey@bellasante.com
617-424-9930

SOURCE Bella Sante

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chicken pox, according to a Kaiser Permanente study in the December issue of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal.

The study, the largest of its kind, used electronic health records to identify more than 170,000 children vaccinated with the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine from 2002 to 2008 in Kaiser Permanente's Southern California region, then followed children for an average of two and a half years to identify the occurrence of herpes zoster.

Researchers found only 122 cases of herpes zoster among the 172,163 vaccinated children, for an estimated incidence of 1 case per 3,700 vaccinated children per year. This is a lower rate compared to what one would expect in the unvaccinated children based on previous experiences.

"The message to parents and pediatricians is: vaccinating your child against the chicken pox is also a good way to reduce their chances of getting herpes zoster," said the study's lead author, HungFu Tseng, Ph.D, MPH, a research scientist and epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif. "More research is needed to identify the virus strains that cause herpes zoster."

This study did not look at side effects of the varicella vaccine.

Herpes zoster is an acute skin viral infection caused by reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus, which remains in certain nerve cells of the body after an infection with either wild-type or the varicella vaccine virus. The wild-type virus is found in the natural infection, in contrast to the virus strain found in vaccine.

Since the vaccine's introduction in 1995, there have been few studies on the incidence of childhood herpes zoster among children vaccinated with the varicella vaccine.

Following licensure in 1995, 1-dose varicella vaccine was recommended for children 12 months to 12 years of age. In 2006, a routine second dose of varicella vaccine for previously vaccinated persons aged 4 years and older was recommended.

Other study authors included: Ning Smith, MS, Lina S. Sy, MPH, S Michael Marcy, MD, and Steven J. Jacobsen, MD, Ph.D., from the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research and Evaluation.

About the Kaiser Permanente Department for Research and Evaluation

The Department of Research and Evaluation conducts high quality, innovative research into disease etiology, prevention, treatment and care delivery. Investigators conduct epidemiology, health sciences, and behavioral research as well as clinical trials. Areas of interest include diabetes and obesity, cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, aging and cognition, pregnancy outcomes, women's and children's health, quality and safety, and pharmacoepidemiology. Located in Pasadena, Calif., the department focuses on translating research to practice quickly to benefit the health and lives of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members and the general population. Visit www.kp.org/research.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente