Author Archives: Carrie Furet

By Original Sprout

In today’s world, it can be challenging to determine which skincare products are actually safe for our families and ourselves. With so much conflicting information out there, sorting through everything to find good ingredients is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

At Original Sprout, we understand the difficulties families can face when it comes to finding safe skincare products – so we have made it our mission to help customers identify the best skincare ingredients, as well as the ones to stay away from.  

One thing people are increasingly paying attention to is the pH balance in their skincare products. pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. It’s measured on a scale from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral, lower numbers indicating acidity, and higher numbers indicating alkalinity.  

Knowing the pH level of your skincare products can help you determine if they are suitable for your skin type and if they will be gentle enough for regular use. Not convinced? Here’s why pH levels matter – especially for your little ones.

OUR SKIN’S PH LEVELS PROTECT US 

When choosing a new skincare product, a basic knowledge of your skin’s pH balance can come in handy and help you pick a safe product. 

Our skin is naturally designed to protect us from bacteria and other pathogens. One of the ways it does this is by maintaining a slightly acidic pH balance, usually around 5.5. This acidic environment helps prevent bacteria from growing and multiplying on our skin, keeping us safe from infection and other skin problems.

The importance of maintaining a balanced pH on our skin cannot be overstated. Not only does it protect us from bacteria, but it also keeps our skin healthy and glowing by preventing dryness and irritation. That’s why it’s essential to use safe skincare products that are specifically formulated for your skin type so they don’t disrupt its natural pH balance.

When we ignore pH levels and use products with certain ingredients, we can weaken our skin’s natural defenses. Commonly-used skincare ingredients that can jeopardize your pH defenses include…

• AHAs
• Retinoic acid
• BHAs

Unfortunately, many of the products that are used to treat acne can actually damage your skin’s pH levels, leading to further irritation and breakouts. To avoid this, opt for “pH-optimized” skincare products. These products are designed with your skin’s natural pH levels in mind, so they won’t disrupt the delicate balance of your skin and cause further damage. 

Does Your Skin’s pH Level Affect Your Acne Breakouts?

In many cases, yes. If your skin’s pH balance is off, it increases your chances of inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and eczema – especially when the pH level is too acidic.

Can Other Things Besides Skincare Affect Your pH Balance?

Your skin’s pH levels can be affected by a number of things outside of the products you use, including your genetics, age, diet, and environment’s humidity. 

What Happens When Your Skin’s pH Gets Too High?

If your skin’s pH is too high (alkaline), it increases the chances of dry and irritated skin. The lipid layer of the skin may be compromised, which can also result in an overgrowth of acne-causing bacteria (propionibacterium acne). 

CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND PH LEVELS 

Many parents are unaware that off-the-shelf soaps can be harmful to their young children’s skin. Many soaps contain harsh ingredients that can strip away the natural acid mantle of the skin and raise its pH levels, which can lead to a variety of skin issues. 

To ensure the safety of your children’s delicate skin, look for safe skincare products specifically designed for young children.

Infants and babies have particularly sensitive and delicate skin that is thinner than adult skin, making them more vulnerable to the harsh chemicals found in many skincare products. This is why it’s essential for parents to be aware of the pH levels of their baby’s skin and to select safe skincare products 

The ideal pH level for a baby’s skin should be higher than that of adults, as this will help protect their delicate skin from irritation and other potential harm.

Not only should you use a pH-balanced soap, but you should also use a safe moisturizer on babies and toddlers after bath time. By choosing safe and natural products, parents can ensure that their baby’s delicate skin stays healthy and protected.

To read the full article visit: https://originalsprout.com/blogs/news/products-and-ph-why-it-matters

Through Sue Grant’s leadership in 2022, The Literacy Project raised enough funding to scale to four additional states – New Mexico, Texas, Philadelphia and Washington – targeting thousands of other under resourced children in low-income families. The reading program is offered “free of charge” to students performing far below proficiency standards and at-risk of illiteracy.  Sue Grant collaborated with her team to successfully produce their first two in-person fundraisers since the pandemic and conduct several digital online fundraisers. All of the proceeds went directly to fund the #1 item on their wish list which is to bring the gift of literacy to additional school districts that have been identified in the “2022 OC Report of the Conditions of Children.” Additionally, Sue Grant led the charge to see The Literacy Project hire more exceptional talent to lead these reading programs. To date, the organization has helped over 10,500 children learn to read while promoting and supporting over 47,250 family members in pursuit of elevating family literacy.

To learn more about The Literacy Project or to get involved, please visit: https://www.literacyproj.org/ 

Connect with Sue Grant on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suegrantforliteracy

Tompkins Solutions, a leading supply chain consulting and material handling integration firm, recently partnered with Loko AI, a pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) company. This strategic new partnership will help usher in a new era of AI automation technology to logistics operations worldwide. 

 

“We are immensely proud to be working side-by-side with Tompkins Solutions and their amazing leadership team to fill a huge gap and demand in the supply chain and logistics industry,” said Joseph Zaki, founder and CEO of Loko AI. 

 

Loko AI’s automation platform, “Caretaker,” offers a complete suite of AI software, dashboards and camera sensors that autonomously monitor, collect and report production metrics for large 3PL, distribution and fulfillment operations. The flexible system can be configured to monitor a wide range of tasks, including:

• Worker optimization
• Worker safety 
• Space efficiency
• Productivity 
• Warehouse management software integration

 

“We are very excited to partner with Joseph and his team at Loko AI,” said David Latona, CEO of Tompkins Solutions. “This groundbreaking technology will help logistics operations across the world increase efficiency and productivity while creating a safer and more secure environment for their workforce.”

 

The market demand for Loko AI’s Caretaker is clear evidence that the industry is in the middle of an AI revolution. With their innovative solutions and combined decades of experience, Loko AI and Tompkins Solutions are uniquely positioned to fully unlock the possibilities of AI in the supply chain and logistics space.

 

Latona and Zaki will both be at Manifest 2023, January 31 to February 2 at the Caesars Forum in Las Vegas. Zaki will also be participating in the panel, “Cyber Threats – Navigating Challenges We Face as an Ecosystem,” in room 208-210 at 2:35pm on Thursday, February 2.

The Complex Appellate Litigation Group has announced that accomplished appellate lawyer Mary-Christine (“M.C.”) Sungaila has joined the firm, further raising the firm’s national profile and expanding its California footprint to Orange County. Sungaila previously led or co-led national appellate practice groups at AmLaw100 and AmLaw150 firms. Her move has been widely reported in the legal press, from Law360 to California’s The Recorder and Daily Journal legal newspapers.

 The arrival of Sungaila follows other high-profile hires in recent years, including that of Rex Heinke – former co-head of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s nationally renowned Supreme Court and Appellate practice. 

 Recognized by the Daily Journal as one of the state’s top boutique law firms, the Complex Appellate Litigation Group has a deep bench of experienced practitioners who specialize in appeals, appellate writs, amicus briefs, state and U.S. Supreme Court petitions and briefs, and litigation consulting.

 “M.C. is a strategic thinker and talented practitioner with a track record of briefing and arguing complex appeals that have addressed groundbreaking and fundamental business issues,” said Ben Feuer, chairman and co-founder of the Complex Appellate Litigation Group. “Her work in California and on the national stage is a perfect fit for our firm as we continue to serve clients across the country and eye expansion beyond California. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the team.”

 Sungaila’s work involves handling cutting-edge issues in employment, class action, product liability, franchisor, probate, and constitutional law. She has also developed special expertise in appeals involving Holocaust art recovery. She has handled appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, multiple state supreme courts, numerous federal and state appellate courts, and even the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. 

 “In just 10 years, the Complex Appellate Litigation Group has assembled an all-star team of practitioners, many of whom are fellow bar leaders,” Sungaila said. “I’m excited to join the firm at this time of growth and look forward to supporting the firm’s national expansion.”

 Sungaila has been recognized by Chambers and Partners for the past 11 years, is regularly recognized by the Daily Journal as one of California’s 100 Leading Women Lawyers, and has been recognized twice with a California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) award. Her work includes arguing before the California Supreme Court in the precedent-setting franchisor vicarious liability case Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza and filing an amicus brief in the current U.S. Supreme Court case In re Grand Jury on behalf of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel.

 Sungaila has earned the respect of a wide range of industry peers. “There’s no finer appellate lawyer than M.C., whether it’s writing persuasive briefs, persuading the court at oral argument, or guiding trial counsel on strategy that could impact a possible appeal,” said Jennifer L. Keller, a nationally recognized trial lawyer and partner at Keller/Anderle LLP. “She is respected and admired by a wide range of people in the legal community, including appellate judges. And M.C.’s humanitarian and pro bono work has made a huge impact on many lives.”

 Outside of her appellate practice, Sungaila is regularly recognized for her commitment to community service and pro bono work. She was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor – whose recipients include seven U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners and others.

Tompkins Robotics, a global leader focused on the robotic automation of distribution and fulfillment operations, has named Lauren Fiochetta to the role of Senior Marketing Manager. In this new role, she will develop and implement omnichannel marketing campaigns designed to attract and qualify customers across a wide range of industries, according to Tompkins Robotics President and CEO Mike Futch.

“We are excited to welcome Lauren to the team at Tompkins Robotics at a time when the warehouse and retail automation industry is poised for dramatic growth,” said Futch. “She is a marketing powerhouse with extensive B2B experience and an existing track record of success in the logistics and robotic automation space.” 

Prior to joining Tompkins, she held marketing management roles for global manufacturing companies in the logistics, industrial materials and beverage industries, directing data-driven marketing campaigns encompassing advertising, public relations, social media and a variety of other digital marketing channels.  

Fiochetta graduated from Westminster College in Utah with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.

About Tompkins Robotics

Tompkins Robotics is a global leader focused on the robotic automation of distribution and fulfillment operations. Our primary system, tSort, consists of autonomous mobile robots that sort a wide range of items and parcels to consolidation points for order fulfillment, store replenishment, returns, parcel distribution – virtually any process in the supply chain. tSort is a truly modular, scalable, and portable robotic sortation system that helps build world-class supply chains while providing unmatched flexibility and throughput.  Tompkins Robotics’ solutions maximize performance, making our clients more agile, adaptable, profitable, and successful in today’s dynamic marketplace.  For more information, visit https://tompkinsrobotics.com.

By Doug Frederick, CEO, HealthCues

The Great Resignation is a problem for many companies going into 2023. Businesses are facing high employee turnover and low staffing, and it is driving them to reevaluate how they attract and keep workers.

 

Today, over a third of employees are looking for new jobs. The question:

How can companies entice these workers to join their teams and stay? What gives them that crucial leg up on the hiring competition?

That is where better health and welfare benefits come into the picture.

Successful employers are focusing on benefits that boost workplace health and engagement, especially in the wake of COVID-19. This includes much-needed preventive healthcare offerings that help with hiring and retention by:

To read the full article, visit: https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2022/12/20/preventative-healthcare-benefits-how-they-help-retain-and-engage/

Helio Genomics, the creator of the HelioLiver test, recently evaluated its Multimodal Epigenetic Sequencing Assay (MESA) for colon cancer detection. Their findings suggest that combining cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation features and cfDNA fragmentomics-derived features can improve the ability to identify patients who have colon cancer. 

In the past decade, alterations in cfDNA methylation patterns have gained wide acceptance as powerful biomarkers for early cancer detection. Helio Genomics specializes in studying and incorporating these biomarkers into their own products. They were one of the first of cfDNA methylation analysis for cancer detection and have incorporated it into their revolutionary products and platform. 

The company evaluated MESA for colon cancer detection, which combines cfDNA methylation with features derived from cfDNA fragmentomics, such as nucleosome occupancy, to improve diagnostic performance. 

Their study indicated that MESA’s combined approach is superior at distinguishing between colon cancer patients and healthy individuals compared to methods that use just cfDNA methylation alone or cfDNA fragmentomics alone.

To conduct this study, blood specimens drawn from 64 subjects with colon cancer and 67 subjects without cancer (as control) were processed using Helio Genomics’ advanced wet-lab platform, ECLIPSE, which consists of molecular techniques for cfDNA extraction, conversion, library generation and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS).

Custom bioinformatics pipelines and algorithms were then used to process sequencing data, generate features, and train models.

Helio Genomics’ study indicates that cfDNA fragmentomics-derived features may carry complementary and additive information to the cfDNA methylation signal. By utilizing improved molecular techniques and analysis methods, it is possible for Helio Genomics to evaluate both cfDNA methylation and cfDNA fragmentomics features that reflect the underlying DNA chromatin structure within a single assay. 

“Most cfDNA methylation sequencing-based tests are unidimensional in their approach, focusing on methylation patterns alone,” said Shivani Mahajan, Director of Computational Biology at Helio Genomics. “As a result, they fail to capture the vast depth of epigenetic information present in the cfDNA fragments. Our multimodal approach provides us with a more complete picture of the epigenetic landscape of cancer and enhances our ability to detect cancer early, when curative treatment is possible.”

In summary, it is predicted that this newfound multimodal approach will allow for the development of diagnostic tests with superior performance characteristics compared to current testing methods.

Read the MESA study abstract here: https://heliogenomics.com/news-and-events/multimodal-analysis-of-cfdna-methylation-sequencing-improves-early-colon-cancer

This holiday season, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival Association Board of Directors was honored to take part in bringing joy, hope and the holiday spirit to TWO families in Garden Grove. With lists in hand, shopping was completed for all members of each family. 

Additionally, an angel donor donated clothing and other items, and thanks to the Garden Grove Elks #1952, each family received all the fixings for a Christmas Dinner, plus additional canned food items.

Tangram, a curator of highly creative commercial interior environments headquartered in Southern California, is pleased to announce the interior furnishings are complete in the new Chapman Swenson Family Hall of Engineering located on the Chapman University campus in Orange, Calif.

The original Keck Center for Science and Engineering received a 31,000 square foot interior build-out for the new engineering school. The new wing celebrated its grand opening in  November of 2021. The state-of-the-art space is designed to push engineering boundaries through new class offerings, research programs with unique spaces to conduct research and students ready to create, design and build.

Tangram was engaged by Architect AC Martin to provide contract furniture and technology throughout the three stories. The space includes a social hub encouraging students and faculty members to come together to merge ideas, share thoughts and collaborate. The Design/Create/Innovate (DCI Lab) is a central point in the school for experimenting and building. The DCI Lab is fitted with operable partitions, flex seating and a modular design to encourage ideation. The second and third floors hold the Dean’s office, faculty office space, instructional teaching labs, active learning classrooms along with a variety of labs.

Tangram provided thoughtful furniture suited for workstations, meeting rooms, huddle spaces, research, lab and study pods and larger lounge spaces – both indoor and out. Many cutting-edge selections were from Steelcase, including movable chairs, screen displays, privacy partitions and island seating spaces that are best for diverse, informal and collaborative settings. 

“The creative spaces and equally interchangeable settings throughout the new Swenson Hall made furniture incorporation exciting and the Tangram team was really able to push the envelope with our selections,” said Kimberly Wiggs, Director of Education for Tangram. “Through close collaboration with AC Martin and Steelcase, we developed beautiful spaces that support education, collaboration, innovation and above all, functionality for all faculty and students.”

Tangram curates destinations that empower people to work, learn and heal. These creative interior solutions foster workplace satisfaction, collaboration and productivity while enhancing the client’s brand and culture. In addition to its core contract furniture offering, the company operates multiple additional business units for a comprehensive approach to commercial interiors. This range of services allows for top-to-bottom involvement that integrates each aspect of planning, design and installation.

For information on Tangram Interiors and its full capabilities, go to www.tangraminteriors.com

By Todd Rustman

Having money doesn’t make people happy. It’s what we do with it that matters. And yet the wealth-generating industry of investing and financial planning focuses almost exclusively on using wealth to create more wealth.

Is that really the point of life? To see how rich you can be when you die?

In Memory Royalties, Todd Rustman shines an evocative light on the very concept of investing, inviting you on a journey to change the way you look at wealth itself—not as a goal, but as the tremendous potential to generate a life of depth and meaning.

Invest in memories, not just assets. Diversify your experiences as well as your portfolio. Use your wealth to live intentionally and embrace your loved ones.

If you want to live a more fulfilling life, Memory Royalties shows you how to do more with your money than watch it grow—investing it in memories that will last a lifetime.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.