Carlsbad, Calif. (MMD Newswire) May 18, 2012 — With the recent announcement of the much anticipated GSA/PBS Fast 50 Award, Realcomm Conference Group, LLC, a global leader in providing technology education and networking opportunities for the commercial, corporate, institutional and government real estate industry, announced an important milestone today – the transformation of a paper based, disparate industry to a more seamless, energy conserving, operationally efficient, financially optimized and more tenant friendly model.

The Realcomm journey on this topic started in earnest in April of 2002 with the publication of the article, “Network Appliances – Connecting Buildings Processes to the Net!” The GSA/PBS contract that will build their Automated Building Analytics and Measurement (ABAM) platform (formerly dubbed the “Fast 50″) substantiates that the industry is well on its way to completely change how commercial space is managed, operated and used.

IBM was awarded the contract to develop and install advanced smart building technology in 50 of the federal government’s highest energy-consuming buildings. Part of GSA’s larger smart building strategy, this initiative will connect building management systems to a central cloud based platform, improving efficiency and saving up to $15 million in taxpayer dollars annually. Commercial buildings account for nearly 40% of the United States’ primary energy use and GSA owns nearly 182 million square feet of office space nationwide.

Assistant Commissioner Larry Melton, Phil Klokis, Frank Santella and their entire team, committed the last three years to making this vision realty. Phase 1 of this project will be to create “data driven buildings” which involves gathering, analyzing and acting on data from building systems, initially in the 50 most energy intensive buildings and ultimately across the entire portfolio.

“It is with much anticipation that the GSA/PBS Fast 50 Award was announced today. After many years of traveling the world, looking at the smartest, most connected, high performance, intelligent buildings, I am confident that the combined team of IBM and its subcontractors, along with the vision and commitment of GSA/PBS will result in a world-class methodology for owning and operating commercial space,” said Jim Young, Co-Founder and CEO of Realcomm. “This is much more than just an announcement about a project award, starting today we are much closer to 1) creating real green jobs, 2) operating buildings with extraordinary efficiency, 3) reducing our reliance on energy exports, 4) significantly lowering carbon emissions and 5) creating a solution set that is ‘Made in the USA’ and sold to the rest of the world, showing once again that innovation is alive and well in America!”

About Realcomm

Realcomm Conference

Article source: Source

Perth, Australia (MMD Newswire) May 18, 2012 — Argon Executive Chairman Paul Deuchar nominated in 2012 Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

The regional nominees were announced yesterday for the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year awards presented annually by Ernst Young. Among the western region nominees was Paul Deuchar, Executive Chairman of Argon, who has been recognised once again for his business achievements.

“Inclusion in these awards is well-deserved recognition of the significant contribution these passionate and innovative individuals make to the West Australian business community” said Ernst Young Perth managing partner Michael Anghie.

Argon is a West Australian company that specialises in delivering robotics and automation solutions, engineering consulting and mining analysis assay services. In 2009 Mr Deuchar was recognised as WA’s Young Engineer of the Year for his efforts in developing Argon into an internationally recognised and accredited company.

Earlier this year Mr Deuchar was again recognised for his pioneering efforts in mining robotics with his inclusion in the WA Business News’ “40 Under 40″ business leaders awards. http://www.40under40.com.au/40under40Winners/40under40WinnerDetails.aspx?WinnerID=414

The regional finalists for the Ernst Young Entrepeneur will be named at a ceremony in Perth on August 8.

Argon, info@argon.com.au

http://www.argon.com.au

Phone: +61 (8) 9418 8626

###

Article source: Source

Increases Firm’s Focus on Real Estate, Environmental and Land Use Law

Lyndhurst, NJ (MMD Newswire) May 18, 2012 — Scarinci Hollenbeck has announced the arrival of Donald M. Pepe as a Partner of the firm. Mr. Pepe’s addition will further strengthen the firm’s growing Ocean, New Jersey office.

“Mr. Pepe brings with him a wealth of expertise in real estate law, and his representation of high-ranking developers, lenders and businesses speaks to his reputation as a top attorney in this field,” said Managing Partner Ken Hollenbeck. “His specialization in this area will strengthen both our real estate practice and the firm overall.”

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Pepe was Division General Counsel of the nation’s largest residential real estate developer, wherein he reported directly to the Division President. His responsibilities included the management of the approvals department, including targeting acquisitions, land purchase negotiations, managing and evaluating due diligence. He also represented corporate interests before local, state and federal approval authorities and secured land use and administrative approvals. He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey.

Mr. Pepe has considerable experience securing development approvals and overseeing the closing of commercial real estate transactions. His practice has included a broad range of transactions – including acquisitions and sales, financing and leasing – across multiple property types, including office, retail, industrial and residential.

“I’m pleased to join Scarinci Hollenbeck’s prestigious practice as a partner,” said Pepe. “I am eager to take on more responsibility in the practice, and confident that my experience will contribute to this growing firm.”

About Scarinci Hollenbeck

Scarinci Hollenbeck (www.scarincihollenbeck.com; @S_H_Law) is a New Jersey/New York Metropolitan area law firm that serves a diverse group of clients in numerous industries. The full service, general practice law firm retains a highly trained legal team with expertise in several areas, including Corporate Transactions and Business Law, Bankruptcy and Creditor’s Rights, Environmental and Land Use Law, Litigation, Public Law, Commercial Real Estate, Sports and Entertainment Law, and Tax, Trust and Estate Law. Top-tier personnel, innovative technology and superior client service adds to Scarinci Hollenbeck’s reputation as one of the most highly ranked law firms in the New Jersey area.

Article source: Source

Educational leaders at major universities have begun to explore the teaching potential behind online courses. As the online education industry expands and develops, students all over the globe are receiving instruction from professors located at completely different points. Almeda University is one such web-based institution that believes these methods will continue to grow and benefit students everywhere.

San Juan, PR (MMD Newswire) May 17, 2012 — Online education has had a shaky start, but with on-going support from some of the most intelligent educators, the business is starting to prove its worth. A recent report expressed the benefits of online education, especially in terms of international outreach. Almeda University is one such online university that offers a wide variety of courses to students all over the globe.

The report detailed the recent efforts of California-based professor, Sebastian Thrun. As he outlined his curriculum for an artificial intelligent course at Stanford, he decided to make it available to students through the Internet. He designed the course to offer assignments, student interaction via e-mail and a “statement of accomplishment” to those who completed it. The most unique part of this experiment was that it cost nothing to online students. For many in the academic community, offering a Stanford-level course for free was a very bold move on Thrun’s part.

The course saw an immense response, including students from all over the globe. One of Thrun’s students, Michael Bewley completed coursework all the way from Australia. Although many cite online classrooms as a detriment to face-to-face instruction, Bewley claims he learned a lot through online methods. To him, the offer was highly enticing, because he could learn from some of the most respected minds in his field, thousands of miles away. The experience affected Bewley so greatly that he said, “I definitely plan to do more of them, both while I’m doing a PhD, and working full-time later on.”

With encouragement from both the educators and the educated, institutions like Almeda University are on the rise. Richard Smith, Almeda University Executive, says, “We continue to grow with support from the academic community.” According to Smith, as far as the development of the online university goes, the “possibilities are endless.” Thrun is on the same page, as he believes that Internet-based classrooms can reach more students through minimal, less exhaustive means.

“The development of online education reaches more students,” Smith comments, “but it also gives Almeda University the means to add more intensive programs to our already diverse course listing.” If students like Michael Bewley can benefit from advanced engineering

Article source: Source

Stimpod NMS450 offers accurate 3D monitoring of neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs)

FDA-approved device helps reduce post-anesthesia weakness, improves patient safety and comfort

Pretoria, South Africa (MMD Newswire) May 17, 2012 – Xavant Technology, a medical device company specializing in the development and manufacturing of nerve stimulators, has launched a breakthrough nerve stimulator, the Stimpod NMS450. The Stimpod NMS450 accurately monitors neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs), or muscle relaxants, that are used in many surgical theater procedures. The device offers a marked advance over other methods of NMBA monitoring, thus improving patient safety and comfort

Xavant Technology is the first medical device company to use a three-dimensional accelerometer for monitoring NMBAs. This allows the anesthetist to begin monitoring immediately, with virtually no setup required, and to obtain accurate, consistent audiovisual feedback throughout the operation.

NMBAs are necessary to induce paralysis during certain surgical procedures, but often result in unpleasant muscular symptoms, such as extreme weakness or difficulty in moving, as the patient awakens. Because the Stimpod NMS450 allows the anesthetist to more accurately monitor the NMBA levels during the operation, adjustments can be made as needed, ultimately making things easier as the patient recovers from general anesthesia.

In order to monitor NMBAs, nerve stimulators are used to excite the patient’s ulnar nerve, with a specific stimulation waveform called a train-of-four (TOF). As its name implies, the TOF consists of four impulses, and the twitching of the patient’s thumb in response to these electrical impulses gives the anesthetist an indication as to the effectiveness of the NMBA drugs being administered. Traditional clinical assessment of these reactions consists of visually monitoring and/or feeling the reaction of the thumb, but this has been proven to be inaccurate by as much as 40%. Xavant’s 3D accelerometry takes the guesswork out of the process, allowing accuracy rates within 3-4%- with noticeable benefits to the patient.

Says Roche van Rensburg, chairman of Xavant Technology “Studies have shown that quantitative acceleromyography monitoring reduces the incidence of residual blockade and symptoms of overall muscle weakness and improves patient satisfaction. With the introduction of our unique three-dimensional accelerometers, Xavant Technology makes ease-of-use objective NMBA monitoring a reality in the theater setting.”

The Stimpod NMS450 is the only nerve stimulator featuring programmable repeat timers that allow the anesthetist to set up the unit for continuous monitoring. The device also features refractory period timers to ensure that the nerves are only stimulated at intervals allowing for proper nerve recovery. Without these refractory timers, the nerves

Article source: Source