Liquid Assets: Water Testing for Household Well Owners A Snap

Testing one’s drinking water can be intimidating to a household well owner, but it can be easy if you know a few basic steps, says the National Ground Water Association (NGWA).

If you are concerned about your well water, these three steps can help get owners the appropriate tests for contaminants that might present a health risk — or create taste, odor, or appearance problems:

1. Determine what you should test for in your water.

2. Obtain a reliable water test.

3. Get an interpretation of your test results so you can take any appropriate action.
An excellent place to start learning more about these three steps is the NGWA website,
www.WellOwner.org.

What to test

NGWA recommends that well owners test annually for bacteria, nitrate, and anything of local concern: for instance, naturally occurring hazards, such as arsenic, or man-made, such as chemical or heavy metals from industrial or waste sites.

Most county health departments do some water testing, and many well owners are within a reasonable distance of a drinking water testing lab. Both are good places to start in finding out whether there  might be a local issue.

Getting a water test

Knowing where to start in getting a water test isn’t difficult. Go to www.WellOwner.org, and “click” on the “Water Testing” tab near the top of the page.

Next, use these buttons:

• Click for county health department contact info” — This takes you to a webpage where you can access contact information for local health departments nationwide. Ask your health department if it tests water, and if so, for what and how much it costs.

• “Find a certified testing lab” — This takes you to a map where you can navigate to your state agency webpage to obtain information about certified drinking water testing labs.

Interpretation of your water test results

For an interpretation of test results, start with the agency or lab that did the test. If you need additional help, www.WellOwner.org links to an online water test interpretation tool located under the “Water Testing” tab. Type the values from your water test results into the appropriate fields in the online tool and it will provide an explanation of the results — usually including the risks to health, any warranted actions, and appropriate water treatment technologies.

Top Spring Trends for Lips, Skin, and Nails

 

 If the monochrome of winter has you dreaming of brighter days ahead, you’re not alone. Thankfully, the spring beauty forecast is in, and it’s all about color, shimmer and glow for nails, lips and skin.Vogue published a feature highlighting all the biggest beauty trends stemming from the Spring 2022 runways, and among them was "high-gloss pouts." Now, maybe it’s the two years of near-constant mask-wearing that makes this such a welcome trend, but the fact that lips are back in the spotlight is something to get excited about.

• GET THE LOOK: To achieve that high gloss effect at home, look no further than the Lipgasm™ Lipglosses by female-owned brand Trust Fund Beauty (TFB). Simply swipe across your lips for a sexy and moisturizing finish to your lipstick or lip liner, or use it on its own for a glossy shine.

  Spring’s emphasis on sparkle doesn’t stop at a glossy lip. As the runways previewed, glitter is in for hair and skin as well. So how can you pull off a head-to-toe shimmer for everyday without looking like a disco ball? It’s easy with the right liquid and powder products.

• GET THE LOOK: TFB’s That Glo Tho™ Liquid Highlighter can be used on its own or mixed with foundation, primer or moisturizer for a subtle sheen. It comes in two shades: champagne (Lit AF) and bronze (Glowy AF). The powder version of each shade is designed with a buttery soft lightweight texture that blends seamlessly into the skin for a healthy glow.

  Toss those winter gloves, and get ready to flaunt your nails, because vibrant tips are coming back in a big way. Snapshots from Fashion Week show spring nails in a range of colorful shades, playful patterns and artistic designs. Boring nails? Don’t know her.

• GET THE LOOK: Known best for their 21-free Nail Lacquers, all made in the USA, TFB offers bold AF shades for every style and personality with an array of spring colors, including aqua blue (Spill the Tea), pink coral (CEO of Wellness) and a buttery yellow (Never Boring).

  Spring is the perfect time to experiment with your beauty products and go bold with your skin, lips and nails. With its selection of vibrant hues and its ever-evolving, cruelty-free product line, TFB is the brand to take your look (and your attitude) to new heights.

"We are on a mission to redefine the meaning of non-toxic and vegan beauty, making it more accessible, inclusive, loud and proud," says Amanda Zweig, Co-Owner, Creative Director of Trust Fund Beauty. "We’ve been a trailblazer in beauty since our 2013 launch, and we’ve only continued to elevate our standards."In addition, the company is committed to sustainability by partnering with organizations such as Pachama and TerraCycle to offset carbon emissions and plastic consumption. All Trust Fund Beauty products are non-toxic, cruelty-free and vegan.Visit trustfundbeauty.com for more information

How to Boost Your Business in A Digital Environment

  Now more than ever, businesses need to explore how to best serve their customers in the digital marketplace. That means finding ways to stay relevant and keep their audiences engaged. A professional development webinar series from the National Kitchen & Bath Association shows businesses how to develop and maintain a strong online presence.The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is a non-profit trade group for the kitchen and bath industry.The series opens with Jim Nowakowski, a marketing and marketing communications specialist with more than 20 years of experience, notably in the manufacturing and publishing industries. Mr. Nowakowski brings his considerable expertise in communications and business-to-business advertising purchasing patterns to the webinars. The series kicked off on January 10 with "Staying in Front of Your Customers in a Digital Environment."Positive feedback from attendees emphasized Mr. Nowakowski’s enthusiasm and business acumen, with comments about his material and delivery such as, "his examples were detailed and easy to understand, with stories that made a point," and "he was the best presenter I have seen in a while, very engaging and entertaining.""It’s always an honor to present my business topics to designers, showroom consultants, architects and manufacturers," Nowakowski said after the presentation."When I received the feedback, I was thrilled that the audience walked away with knowledge they can use," he adds.The webinar focuses on providing the audience with information on digital disruption in the marketplace and what strategic tools can keep a business relevant and valuable in servicing customers.For example, participants learn how value comes from differentiation, and the importance of what makes a business unique."What do you do that your competitor doesn’t do? What does your competitor do that you don’t?" Mr. Nowakowski asks.Mr. Nowakowski also emphasizes how business basics never change, even in the age of disruption, and reviews tactics on how to stay in front of customers in a digital environment that includes using advertising, phone surveys, and quality service.The full presentation of Staying in Front of Your Customers in Digital Environment is available. 

School Choice Week Celebrates ‘Magic’ of Education

(NewsUSA) – Celebration is on the horizon. Americans are gearing up for the twelfth annual National School Choice Week, the nation’s largest celebration of opportunity in education on January 23-29. As president of the Week, I know firsthand that exploring your K-12 education options can change the trajectory of your family.This annual public awareness week celebrates great schools and empowers families to find the right fit. This year there’ll be more than 25,000 events and activities planned by schools and homeschool groups. Participants celebrate the Week however they like: Some host open houses, some plan multi-school fairs, some run student showcases.The reason so many people celebrate the Week is the same reason I’ve worked in education so long: Because learning is magical. It fuels children’s natural curiosity and allows them to unleash their talents and gifts into the world.What’s especially magical is kids finding a learning fit where they excel. Whether it’s at their neighborhood public school, a public charter school, a magnet school, a private school, an online school, or through homeschooling, it is ever-exciting and awe-inspiring to see kids who love learning and are fulfilling their potential. And it’s a tragedy when that fails to happen.Too often the happy "magic" of learning falls to the wayside as we become preoccupied with the stress of school searches or classes that aren’t the best fit. School Choice Week helps families rediscover the positive in education, bringing them support and a time to celebrate their choice, whatever it may be. Those who celebrate it believe that every child, given the right environment, can succeed. They believe that great teachers always deserve a "thank you!"After two disrupted school years, this School Choice Week is a much-needed moment for families to take a deep breath and rediscover the magic of learning.So, here are three simple ways you can be involved in the Week. First, start a conversation with your child about what they like about school and what they wish were different. Second, learn more about educational choices at schoolchoiceweek.com/state-guides, or share that information with a friend. Third, show appreciation for your school by volunteering at it or saying thank you to a teacher during Jan. 23-29.By working together, we can help more children experience the magic of an educational fit where they thrive. And when students experience that magic, their futures are so much brighter. Andrew Campanella is president of National School Choice Week and the author of "The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child."

Five Designers Share 2022’s Hottest Trends for Hardwood in the Home

(NewsUSA)https://trackit.newsusa.com/track.gif?id=36988" alt="" /> – With its beautiful looks and remarkable durability, Real American Hardwood™ has long been a beloved material in American home interiors. "Homeowners are always looking for fresh and exciting ways to use wood," says Linda Jovanovich of the American Hardwood Information Center. "They often find inspiration in the work of the best architects, designers, and decorators, sought-after talents who offer trendsetting ideas on using oak, maple, walnut, and other classic species." So, we checked in with five of the most accomplished residential designers in the business to uncover the top trends in hardwood for the year ahead — and beyond.

These Three Facts about Sudden Cardiac Arrest Could Help Save a Life

(NewsUSA) – This February, American Heart Month, you can learn critical information about sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) that could help you save a life. Three key things to remember:1. SCA is not a heart attack: SCA is an "electrical" problem affecting the heart rhythm, and a heart attack is a "plumbing" problem affecting blood flow.It’s a very common misperception that a heart attack and SCA are the same thing. However, they are very different.A heart attack occurs when part of the heart’s blood supply is reduced due to a partial or complete blockage, and the heart muscle becomes injured or dies.SCA, on the other hand, is related to the heart’s internal electrical system. When this system fails, it may trigger a dangerously fast heartbeat causing the heart to quiver and stop pumping blood to the body and brain. This can cause a victim to pass out suddenly — this is SCA."A heart attack victim is usually awake and can seek help, but a sudden cardiac arrest victim typically passes out immediately and must rely on others to provide immediate treatment," says Mary Newman, president and CEO of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation."The two conditions require vastly different treatment. The chance of survival following a sudden cardiac arrest decreases 10 percent with every passing minute."Though a heart attack and SCA are different, they are sometimes linked.Brent Miller, 50, survived both. Brent knew something wasn’t right when he started to experience frequent severe crushing chest pain in early 2021. He was an avid runner, so a heart problem may not have seemed likely. However, Brent knew to not ignore his symptoms. He went to the hospital and learned he was having a heart attack.Brent’s doctors implanted a stent in his heart to restore blood flow. The quick medical attention saved his life, but the heart attack weakened his heart’s pumping ability. This condition put him at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. As part of his recovery, his doctor recommended he wear a lifesaving wearable defibrillator known as LifeVest for protection. Watch Brent’s story on the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation website.2. SCA is sudden by its very nature; often the first sign a person has this condition is that they collapse and experience cardiac arrest.SCA has no warning signs. However, there are factors that may indicate someone is at risk for SCA. For example, certain heart patients may be at increased risk, including those who have suffered a heart attack or have been newly diagnosed with heart failure.Anyone who feels they might be at risk should see a cardiologist for evaluation. If you are at risk for SCA, a doctor may recommend a wearable defibrillator, implantable cardioverter defibrillator, medications, or other measures to prevent sudden death.In Brent’s case, following his heart attack, his doctors determined he was at high risk for SCA and prescribed LifeVest, a wearable defibrillator designed to detect certain life-threatening rapid heart rhythms and automatically deliver a lifesaving treatment shock."My SCA was very immediate; I did not feel it was coming on at all," says Brent. "I was talking to my wife, and I collapsed." Learn how Brent survived sudden cardiac arrest on the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation website.3. An SCA victim requires immediate emergency care, including CPR and a defibrillation shock — and you can help.If you witness what you think is sudden cardiac arrest, the first thing to do is to call 911 immediately before administering urgent and immediate care. After calling 911, start CPR compressions: Push hard and fast on the center of the chest. An SCA victim requires defibrillation and bystanders should seek an AED (automated external defibrillator) to provide treatment.If a patient is wearing LifeVest, which does not require third-party intervention, the device is designed to prompt bystanders to step aside while treatment is delivered. When Brent experienced SCA, he was at home in his bedroom. He suddenly lost consciousness. LifeVest detected the abnormal heart rhythm and delivered a treatment shock that saved his life."If I wasn’t wearing LifeVest that day, I have no doubt that I would have died," Brent says. "I’m just extremely grateful."With appropriate therapy, cardiac patients can often return to doing many of the things they enjoy. After experiencing both a heart attack and SCA, Brent has recovered and undergone cardiac rehab. He continues to run and is now training for a half-marathon in April.Learn more:

Welcome to The Future of Diagnostic Tests

(NewsUSA) – If you have a chronic or recurring infection, getting accurate results of diagnostic tests can make a big difference in your quality of care and quality of life. Patients with infections value the resolution that comes from accurate testing, diagnosis, and good treatment that MicroGenDX’s Next-Generation DNA Sequencing (NGS) enables.When a patient is infected, they will usually be prescribed an antibiotic or antifungal by their healthcare provider. These antimicrobials are often chosen based on culturing, growing the specimen in a petri dish. There are limitations to this 150-year-old technology that MicroGenDX is helping to solve.MicroGenDX uses DNA sequencing technology to identify all bacteria and fungi in a sample from an infected patient, no growth required. NGS detects many microbes that cultures often miss. This provides a patient’s physician with a more comprehensive result enabling appropriate and optimized therapy."Our mission at MicroGenDX is to improve clinical outcomes by offering clinicians and their patients the most informative and impactful microbial diagnostic tests that science can provide," says CEO Rick Martin. MicroGenDX makes a difference for patients like Kelsey, who struggled with a urinary tract infection so painful that it left her bedridden. When Kelsey finally received the correct antibiotic to treat her infection based on MicroGenDX test results, she was able to recover and return to a pain-free life."What makes MicroGenDX unique is our curated database of over 50,000 microbes, our improved turnaround time, our patient-friendly price point, and our clinical research data that strongly supports the clinical utility of Next-Generation Sequencing," Martin emphasizes.Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a technology that allows for more specific identification of disease-causing organisms than the traditional cultures and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic tests used by many labs. Although the technology itself is not new, MicroGenDX, which has been in business for 12 years, has made NGS possible for use in an everyday clinical setting. In the past, NGS technology was expensive and time-consuming. Today, NGS is used by a variety of major companies and research institutions, including NASA, through MicroGenDX, and MicroGenDX is helping to open the door for the use of NGS in clinical medicine.MicroGenDX provides results for diagnoses related to urinary tract infections (UTI), prostate infections, hip and knee infections, wound infections, sinus infections, lung infections and more. The company continues to conduct research to expand the evidence base for the technology, with more than 35 published clinical studies and more than 40 ongoing clinical trials.MicroGenDX’s NGS has a number of benefits over traditional culture and PCR labs:- Accuracy. The MicroGenDX test matches patient samples against its microbial database of 50,000 species for maximum accuracy in the NGS results.- Affordability. The MicroGenDX offers low rates for both qPCR and NGS to help clinicians and patients control costs without sacrificing quality.- Speed. MicroGenDX has the quickest turn around time of any NGS provider on the market at 3-5 business days for most NGS samples.- Variety. The MicroGenDX lab accepts a broad range of samples and can provide information on hard to culture and uncommon bacterial and fungal species, including Mycobacterium and Molds.- Antibiotic Resistance: MicroGenDX recognizes the threat that antimicrobial resistant organisms present to current medicine and the over 35,000 deaths a year it causes. The use of NGS allows for targeted antibiotic treatment that helps combat the growing issue of antibiotic resistance. MicroGenDX also detects the presence of 17 antibiotic resistance genes allowing clinicians to avoid ineffective treatments.Visit microgendx.com for more information about the company’s services, and check them out on social media via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.