Tag Archive for Helps

Polycom Video Collaboration Helps NHS Cumbria & Lancashire Cardiac and Stroke Network (CSNLC) Speed Treatment and Save Lives

January 26, 2012 admin Colleges And Universities

Polycom Video Collaboration Helps NHS Cumbria & Lancashire Cardiac and Stroke Network (CSNLC) Speed Treatment and Save Lives










London, UK (PRWEB UK) 17 January 2012

Polycom Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC), today announced that the NHS Cumbria & Lancashire Cardiac and Stroke Network ( CSNLC) is saving the lives of stroke victims by connecting patients with remote doctors in the time-critical early intervention stage of stroke using Polycom RealPresence high-definition video collaboration solutions. Polycom video solutions include mobile Practitioner carts* in each of the six Acute Trusts in Cumbria and Lancashire and personal video collaboration software* running on laptops in each of the consulting physician’s homes.

The need for an around the clock stroke service was the key driver behind the project. The combined NHS Trusts of Lancashire & Cumbria selected Polycom RealPresence video solutions as part of a new state of the art ‘telestroke’ service. Installed at the end of July 2011, the service has already positively impacted the treatment of 26 stroke patients in Cumbria and Lancashire by providing access to Thrombolysis treatment around the clock. “In addition to huge patient benefits, the service is anticipated to save Lancashire & Cumbria NHS Trusts over £8million a year,” said Kathy Blacker, Director of the CSNLC.

With Polycom video collaboration, patients get round-the-clock, on-demand, face-to-face access to expert specialist care – no matter where the patients or the consulting doctors are located. Fifteen consultant stroke physicians are on call from home covering the service out of hours and supporting clinicians in each of the eight hospitals, servicing approximately 2.2 million people across the region. Polycom video collaboration software for laptops are used by the 15 consulting stroke physicians that are on call from their homes. Each consultant has a laptop equipped with Polycom videoconferencing software, which they use to connect to any of the six hospitals via a Polycom Practitioner Cart* at the patient’s bedside. Controlling a camera remotely, the specialist can see the detailed clinical examination performed by the clinician at the bedside. This results in more effective and productive use of scarce medical expertise through video, faster treatment times and improved outcomes for patients.

After reviewing the requirements for the area and considering all options, the CSNLC selected MultiSense Communications, a Polycom Healthcare Solution Provider, to deploy Polycom video solutions, along with other key technology partners including Virgin Media and Imerja to support the service. Funding was made available by the NHS to cover the cost of the equipment which included high-speed broadband technology to remotely connect eight Polycom Practitioner carts to each of the eight hospitals.

Dr. Mark O’Donnell, Stroke Consultant at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Lead for the CSNLC said: “If a patient arrives in hospital with a stroke, outside the normal working day, a Telestroke consultation will then be commenced. The Polycom Practitioner cart contains a screen so the patient can see the consultant remotely and a camera for the consultant to view the patient. The consultant is then able to perform an examination with the help of the team in the hospital to decide whether the symptoms experienced are due to a stroke and whether Thrombolysis (the use of drugs to break up or dissolve blood clots) treatment is appropriate.”

“Thrombolysis treatment,” added Dr. O’Donnell, can only be given to patients within four hours of the onset of their stroke – so time is crucial, and Telestroke helps improve the speed of patient diagnosis. We are using Polycom video collaboration technology to take the stroke specialists to the patient, rather than moving the patient long distances, around rural areas, to where the specialists work. In an acute stroke, time is of the essence and the sooner treatments can be provided, the better.”

Notes to Editors

To see the full video on how Polycom is helping NHS Cumbria and Lancashire to save lives, please visit http://www.polycom.co.uk/industry_view/healthcare

The six Trusts participating in the Telestroke Network and providing consultants for the service are:

    Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
    Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Southport and Ormskirk Foundation Trust
    University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
    North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust

Of the Trusts involved, Telestroke will be at the following eight hospital sites:

    Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle
    West Cumberland Hospital, Whitehaven;
    Furness General Hospital, Barrow;
    Royal Lancaster Infirmary;
    Blackpool Victoria Hospital;
    Royal Preston Hospital;
    Royal Blackburn Hospital
    Southport General Hospital..

*Polycom® Practitioner Cart™ HDX® Unit

Polycom Practitioner Cart mobile healthcare solutions bring high definition video, audio and image sharing to medical professionals and patients no matter where they are located

**Polycom® Video Collaboration Software for laptops

Polycom® video collaboration software for laptops delivers HD-quality audio, video, and content sharing to users of Microsoft® Windows® OS. Its intuitive and simplified interface lets users search directories for colleagues and click a name to call, discuss projects, and share virtually anything from their desktop with remote participants and teams.

About Polycom

Polycom is the global leader in standards-based unified communications (UC) solutions for telepresence, video, and voice powered by the Polycom RealPresence Platform. The RealPresence Platform interoperates with the broadest range of business, mobile, and social applications and devices. More than 400,000 organizations trust Polycom solutions to collaborate and meet face-to-face from any location for more productive and effective engagement with colleagues, partners, customers, and prospects. Polycom, together with its broad partner ecosystem, provides customers with the best TCO, scalability, and security – on-premises, hosted, or cloud delivered. Visit http://www.polycom.co.uk or connect with Polycom on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

NOTE: The product plans, specifications and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied.

© 2012 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom “Triangles” logo and the names and marks associated with Polycom’s products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Contacts:        

Sarah Brambley         

Polycom, Inc. (UK)

+44 (0)1753 723130

Sarah.Brambley(at)polycom(dot)com

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.







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New Professional Writing Website Helps Aspiring Writers to Launch Their Career

January 6, 2012 admin Colleges And Universities

New Professional Writing Website Helps Aspiring Writers to Launch Their Career











(PRWEB) March 6, 2010

Literary agents, TV executives and bestselling authors have given their support to an innovative new website from MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, which helps aspiring writers to develop their work and launch a career.

Profwriting.com offers affordable online writing courses, a space to showcase manuscripts and have them critiqued by peers, and a three-month mentoring scheme pairing new writers with an expert in their field. There are masses of insider tips and interviews with successful authors plus constantly updated news from the worlds of publishing, copywriting and screenwriting. With a range of short courses and private forums for pitching ideas and services for those looking for a writing mentor, it’s everything an aspiring writer could need.

Literary Agent Mark Lucas — who represents bestselling writers including Kate Mosse and Andy McNab — says the site offers new writers the opportunity to serve a writing apprenticeship before going public with their work: “Nowadays if a new writer doesn’t get it right first time, they are history. What this kind of opportunity offers is the chance to serve a kind of apprenticeship.”

John Yorke, Controller of Drama Production and New Talent at the BBC, adds: “Writing is such a lonely profession and it seems so hard to get a job; anything that takes away some of the mystery and fear can only be a good thing.”

The site has been developed by the team behind MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, whose approach to teaching writing is so successful that graduates get published and work across the writing industries, running magazines, script editing, reinventing brands such as Sky and HMV, even penning librettos for operas…

Profwriting.com allows aspiring writers to share that expertise and get noticed, too, wherever they live and whichever genre they are working in. Industry scouts are combing the site already and the team have lined up an impressive roster of experts to offer advice and judge regular writing competitions. They include bestselling author Patrick Gale, Simon van Booy, winner of the prestigious Frank O’Connor Award for short stories, and docudrama producer Hannah Sim.

Associate of the site, Radio 4 scriptwriter and producer Paul Dodgson, sums it up:

“It will be a great place for scriptwriters to go as well as fiction writers. I like to think that every genre of writing will find its place on the site.”

Watch a short film of the profwriting.com launch event here: http://www.profwriting.com/launch

Notes to editors:

The MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth has built a strong reputation for giving talented writers the focused skills they need to make successful careers in many different areas of the media. It can be studied full-time over one year or part-time by distance learning over two years. Several alumni have published books, while others are working as magazine and website editors, freelance features journalists, scriptwriters, creative copywriters, and in a wide range of publishing and corporate communications roles.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.







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Survival Guide Helps Gifted Teens Take Charge of Their Education and Their Lives

November 2, 2011 admin Colleges And Universities

Survival Guide Helps Gifted Teens Take Charge of Their Education and Their Lives











New survival guide for gifted teens


Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) October 03, 2011

From the experts who pioneered books for gifted kids’ social and emotional needs comes the revised and updated fourth edition of THE GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE: SMART, SHARP, AND READY FOR (ALMOST) ANYTHING (Free Spirit Publishing, $ 15.99)—the ultimate guide to thriving in a world that doesn’t always support or understand high ability.

Written by experts in gifted education Judy Galbraith, M.A., and Jim Delisle, Ph.D., THE GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE has been the go-to resource for gifted teens since the first edition was published in 1983. For the update of the fourth edition, Galbraith and Delisle surveyed nearly 1,400 gifted teens to find out what they are interested in reading about. According to the survey . . .


    70% of respondents said they want to know more about brain development and how the brain works.
    66% of respondents want to know what IQ and achievement test scores do—and do not—mean.
    50% of respondents want to know how to get teachers to be more flexible (for example, letting students test out of material they already know, skip some repetitive assignments, and/or pursue alternatives to traditional assignments).

Based on the survey results, the book has been revised to include new topics and information on twice-exceptionality, emotional and social intelligence, intensities, creativity, teen brain development, study habits, perfectionism, International Baccalaureate programs, college financing, STEM careers, internships, social networking, cyberbullying, existential crises, and more.

THE GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE comes at a time when gifted education in the United States and other parts of the world is under fire or being ignored. Many school districts, faced with shrinking budgets and cutbacks, have dropped their gifted programs altogether. Tighter budgets mean fewer qualified teachers and heavier workloads, and that means fewer opportunities to give gifted kids the individualized and challenging education they need and deserve. Galbraith and Delisle help teens take charge of their education, with information on understanding content standards, knowing their rights as students, relating to teachers, and exploring options such as homeschooling and virtual learning. Full of surprising facts, real quotes from teens, and new expert essays, the book gives readers the tools they need to appreciate their giftedness as an asset and use it to reach their full potential.

With more than a quarter-million copies of prior editions in print, THE GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE is essential reading for gifted teens, their parents, teachers, counselors, and anyone who cares about smart, talented, curious young people.

Softcover and eBooks versions are available at http://www.freespirit.com.

Note: Previous editions of this book were titled The Gifted Kids’ Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook.

About the authors

Judy Galbraith, M.A., has a master’s degree in guidance and counseling of the gifted. She has worked with and taught gifted children and teens, their parents, and their teachers for over three decades. In 1983, she started Free Spirit Publishing, which specializes in Self-Help for Kids® and Self-Help for Teens® books and other learning resources. She is the author of numerous books, including The Gifted Kids’ Survival Guide: For Ages 10 & Under. Judy lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jim Delisle, Ph.D., has taught gifted children and those who work on their behalf for more than thirty years, including twenty-five years as a professor of special education at Kent State University. The author of more than 250 articles and sixteen books, he is a frequent presenter on gifted children’s intellectual and emotional growth. Jim lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

About Free Spirit Publishing

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Free Spirit is the leading publisher of learning tools that support young people’s social-emotional health and their educational needs. Free Spirit’s mission is to help children and teens think for themselves, succeed in life, and make a difference in the world. For more information, visit http://www.freespirit.com.

THE GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE: SMART, SHARP, AND READY FOR (ALMOST) ANYTHING (REVISED & UPDATED 4TH EDITION)

ISBN 978-1-57542-381-4 / $ 15.99 / Softcover / 272 pp. / two-color, illust. / 7″ x 9″ / Ages 11 & up

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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.







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Employer Health Management Program Helps Companies Succeed in Consumer Driven Healthcare Market

August 10, 2011 admin Self Employment

Employer Health Management Program Helps Companies Succeed in Consumer Driven Healthcare Market










(PRWEB) June 29, 2005

Self Well Systems®, an Employer Health Management program, has developed a cost-effective program for employers to reduce their healthcare expenses while retaining their valued employees who are feeling the increasing financial weight of skyrocketing healthcare costs.

According to the Employment Policy Foundation, in 2003 a typical company’s healthcare cost an average of $ 3.80 per hour for each employee participating in healthcare coverage. By 2004, healthcare premiums increased by over 11%, four times the rate of inflation.

To stem the flow of these costs, many employers have chosen to allow employees to invest in Consumer Driven Health Plans with Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA). Almost 50% of employers are using or seriously considering a Consumer Driven Health plan in the near future for their employees.

The most successful companies who currently use consumer health plans are those that actively help their employees make healthy lifestyle and behavioral changes. Self Well Systems Employer Health Management Program provides decision-making tools to help assess and implement these changes.

“By sponsoring an Employer Health Management program like Self Well Systems, a company can help its employees focus on prevention and health improvement, not just reactively treating an illness,” says Belinda Shover, President of Patient Prognostix Inc. and an industry veteran in the Florida HMO market. “Our user-friendly program profiles the health risks of the user into five prognostic categories. With personalized interventions and health target goals, the employee and their physician can better map out a treatment plan suited to one’s own personal healthcare needs,”

The Self Well Systems comprehensive Employer Health Management program consists of:

An online health risk appraisal (Self Well Assessment)

A health risk scoring system identifying the employees most pressing health needs (Self Well Index)

A proactive intervention guide with personalized target goals (Self Well Guide)

Custom tailored health tracker reports (Self Well Tracker, which includes Action Plans, Appointment Planners, and Medication Managers)

Multiple interactive tools and reports designed to allow the user to better understand how to navigate the Self Well healthcare system.

Employees using the Self Well Systems Employer Health Management program receive immediate online reports with instructions and suggestions about how they can better manage their health. Companies who use the program receive a quarterly Corporate Report, analyzing the collective health of their workforce and suggestions on where to focus their health and wellness efforts. Better employee health and wellness will also lead to lower healthcare costs, improved employee morale, less absenteeism, and higher productivity.

As Consumer Driven Healthcare expands its reach into the business world, the effectiveness of one’s preventive programs will be key in reducing out-of-control health insurance costs. For more information about the Self Well Systems Employer Health Management Program, please visit http://www.SelfWellSystems.com.

About Self Well Systems®

Self Well Systems was created by Patient Prognostix Inc., a Florida based corporation. It is a user-friendly, personal health management program designed to direct consumers to an intervention driven approach to self-management by giving the user more comprehensive information about their own personal health care status. The instructions and interventions follow commonly accepted clinical practice guidelines from relevant medical organizations and associations. The intent of Self Well Systems is not to supplant the patient/doctor relationship, but to enhance it.

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

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Online Tax Software Site Posts Tax Deadlines and Helps Tax Filers Living Abroad Meet June 15th Deadline

December 3, 2010 admin Upcoming Deadlines

Online Tax Software Site Posts Tax Deadlines and Helps Tax Filers Living Abroad Meet June 15th Deadline











A few important tax deadlines listed on tax software site Tax-Compare.com are coming up this month.


Austin, TX (Vocus) June 12, 2009

Although tax filing season for the 2008 tax year officially ended on April 15th, the tax filing and payment process has not actually ended for a sizeable group of remaining tax filers. In fact, a few important tax deadlines are coming up this month that online tax software review site Tax-Compare.com aims to highlight.

Tax-Compare.com features a new page on the website, under Tax Resources, that lists the remaining tax deadlines this year, one of which is the deadline for U.S. citizens living abroad to file their individual tax returns. By this Monday, June 15th, these tax filers must choose to either submit their 1040s or request a filing extension that lasts until October 15th.

“It isn’t too late for tax filers living abroad to file their taxes by the deadline,” says Tax-Compare.com creator Leo Welder. “Using Tax-Compare.com, they will be able to quickly select the tax software product that fits their needs and can help them claim the maximum number of deductions and/or tax credits, such as the Foreign Tax Credit.”

Offering review and comparison information for tax software products from the leading tax software brand names, Tax-Compare.com has helped over 10,000 individuals and business owners compare tax software products on features, price, customer support and guarantees. The website also features a simple form that site users can quickly fill out in order to view tax software products that are the most relevant to their tax filing situations.

In addition to tax software reviews and comparison information, Tax-Compare.com offers tax resources, such as the list of “Upcoming Tax Deadlines,” a list of downloadable “Tax Forms”, a discussion of “Online Tax Service v. Downloadable Tax Software”, and “Last Minute Tax Tips”.    

For more information on tax software comparison and reviews, please visit http://www.Tax-Compare.com.

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Orion Health Helps Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Deliver an Enhanced Electronic Patient Record

June 8, 2010 admin Colleges And Universities

Orion Health Helps Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Deliver an Enhanced Electronic Patient Record











Reading, UK (Vocus) May 5, 2010

Orion Health™, a leading provider of integration technology for the health care sector world-wide, has won a significant contract to deliver a future-proof solution at one of the UK’s largest NHS Foundation Trusts. The project at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust will integrate Orion Health’s solution while keeping existing IT systems in place, allowing for the timely delivery of a considerably richer Electronic Patient Record. Orion Health, in partnership with Initiate and Oracle, will help the Trust by delivering concise patient data to clinical users enabling them to make more informed decisions and improve quality of care.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest geographical trusts in England and one of the North East’s biggest healthcare employers, appointed Orion Heath to implement a two-phased Clinical Integration Framework©. The solution from Orion Health will mitigate duplication of records and ensure patient demographics are complete, accurate and consistent in the Trust’s major clinical systems, improving patient care and operating efficiency.

The two phase project is already under way and due to be completed by mid 2010. Phase 1, which started in October 2009, involved the implementation of Orion Health’s Rhapsody™ Integration Engine. This stage provides the Trust with a fully-integrated landscape that supports their information strategy, providing a basis for improved data quality and integrity. In addition, an Enterprise Master Patient Index (cEMPI), will assist with data cleansing as well as enabling the Trust to leverage new workflow processes that will ensure that data quality is not degraded in the future.

Phase 2 will involve the introduction of the Concerto™ Clinical Portal, which will provide a single patient view to allow clinicians to access a complete patient record. The enhanced record view will consist of data from all relevant sources, focusing initially on those systems that deliver the most clinical benefit. The Trust will gain from clinical efficiencies including reduced clinic preparation and consultation times, greater clinical engagement and better patient safety and confidentiality.

Bob Telford, Deputy Director of Finance at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “Orion Health’s solution works with our existing applications so this will be a very cost effective and time efficient way of upgrading our systems. This will streamline our Electronic Patient Record; when something works well, staff engage with it more and use it properly. This solution will help us move away from paper based records in an effective way that will also benefit patients. The phased approach put forward by Orion Health means we can be sure that the first element of the programme is working effectively before embarking on the next stage.”

Charles Scatchard, Orion Health’s President of International said: “It’s great to be working with a prestigious Trust such as Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. We have a strong track record in delivering large scale, transformational solutions to healthcare institutions who want to take information systems to the next level. We will deliver a progressive programme that will ultimately drive process change, improvement and better clinical outcomes.”

About Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest healthcare employers in the North East, with over 6,000 staff working in 10 hospitals throughout Northumberland and North Tyneside. Northumbria serves a population of half a million people. The Trust manages three general hospitals in North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham and seven community hospitals situated in Berwick, Alnwick, Rothbury, Haltwhistle, Blyth, Morpeth and Wallsend.

Over the past year (2007/08) the Trust has dealt with more than 160,000 patients through Accident and Emergency departments and Minor Injuries Units (MIU) within their hospital network, almost 300,000 outpatient appointments and admitted over 100,000 patients to hospital.

Northumbira Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has had Foundation Trust status since August 2006 and this has enabled the Trust to have greater control to respond to the needs of the local community. This Trust remains fully integrated within the NHS being inspected by the Healthcare Commission and overseen by the independent regulator, Monitor. Governors represent the eight constituencies the Trust covers and the public are invited to become members of the Trust.

About Concerto® Clinical Portal

A single sign-on clinical portal, Concerto™ connects multiple health information systems to provide a unified view of patient data across a department, facility, Trust, region or even a nation. Through its user-friendly graphical interface, Concerto allows clinicians to present data to patients in order to better explain, inform and share health records securely and reliably. Improved access to information allows staff to make better clinical decisions leading to improved healthcare and better health outcomes.

About Rhapsody™ Integration Engine

Rhapsody™ is a powerful integration engine that delivers advanced inter-system messaging capabilities to health organisations of all kinds. Rhapsody is designed for rapid, effortless installation and use, and enables quick accurate and efficient exchange of electronic data to populate electronic health records.

About Orion Health

Orion Health’s easy-to-use solutions and applications improve patient care and clinical decision-making by providing integrated health data in a single, unified view. By enhancing existing healthcare information systems, Orion Health’s Rhapsody™ Integration Engine, Concerto® Clinical Portal, and workflow solutions provide healthcare workers with easy access to patient data and trends, and reduce errors and omissions by streamlining information transfer.

Worldwide, Orion Health solutions have been implemented in health information communities involving over 35 million patients with tens of thousands of active users. Orion Health’s partners include leading health system integrators and IT vendors such as Accenture, IBM, LogicaCMG, Fujitsu, Oracle Corporation, Initiate and others. Orion Health has more than 1,000 clients around the world, including the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Alberta Health Services, New South Wales Health, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, Maine HealthInfoNet, New Zealand Ministry of Health and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More information can be found at http://www.orionhealth.com.

Orion Health, Rhapsody, Concerto, and Symphonia are registered trademarks of Orion Health Inc, its parent/or its affiliates. Other names used may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.







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