• ProBility now offers leading vocational educational materials in 60+ fields, including the electrical, construction, plumbing and security industries
• An overwhelming majority of technical employers are struggling to find workers with the appropriate skills
• Technical high schools are simulating workplaces to prepare students for their careers in historically underprivileged areas

Access to technology-based education resources is becoming open to more people. Even as the National Center for Education Statistics reported about 20.5 million students (fall 2016) were enrolled in colleges and universities throughout the U.S., career training and advancement materials are becoming more available to those looking for jobs requiring skilled labor. ProBility Media Corp. (OTCQB: PBYA) is a growing brand serving the training requirements for several different technical fields. In many of these, 95 percent of employers are having trouble finding workers with the right skills in 2017, based on U.S. Chamber of Commerce data published in a recent report (http://dtn.fm/5JQKg) on skilled labor demand.

Thanks to several recent acquisitions, ProBility can now provide study materials for electricians, construction workers, contractors, and plumbers, as well as many other skilled trades. The company provides access to all the latest NEC National Electrical Codes, with books, reference guides, and digital media available on CD and DVD. It has also reached into the public safety market. The launch of ProBility Safety Academy means training is open to those looking to advance their potential in public safety, private security, criminal justice, and police science.

The need for vocational training services is reaching from coast to coast. High school teachers and students alike are benefiting. In fact, technical high schools are cropping up in places like Huntington, West Virginia, as a recent New York Times article pointed out (http://dtn.fm/BOQ8g). Four teachers at a summer training program worked on a miniature boiler similar to larger counterparts found at power generating plants. The educational programs they’re preparing for will simulate workplaces and include everything from vocational training to random drug testing, to get students familiarized with work environments and prepared for future careers.

Simulated workplaces also have real-world equipment, ranging from drafting tables and welding torches to stethoscopes and 3D printers. Laser engraving equipment and professional software are expected to be used, from leading brands like AutoDesk Inventor. As part of the program, students will also get breaks during the day as employees working for technical organizations do.

ProBility is focused on providing a one-stop resource. Therefore, small- and medium-sized businesses can access e-learning resources, so they can offer employees training and career advancement opportunities. Its efforts to provide a single source of training materials does not stop at the borders of the United States. The recent acquisition of Cranbury International extends the company’s e-learning reach into the Caribbean, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, and other countries in Central and South America.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ProbilityMedia.com

Let us hear your thoughts: ProBility Media Corp. Message Board

• In FY2017, the company’s investor relations business grew 130%, and its subscriptions business rose by 57%
• Warren Wang, founder and chief executive officer of CIIX, sets goal of greater than 100% gain in sales in FY2018 and cost-cutting to achieve profitability
• Company excited about its expansion of auxiliary services into the digital currency industry; Wang says that market will offer long-term opportunities

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) recorded a skyrocketing 76% year-over-year operating revenues increase for its fiscal year ended May 31, 2017. The company’s two divisions exhibited double-digit and triple-digit growth in FY2017. The investor relations business grew 130%, while the subscriptions business rose 57% during the 2017 fiscal year, the company reported (http://dtn.fm/wLt1F). Total sales grew to $1,667,977 in FY2017 compared to $948,385 the prior year.

Warren Wang, founder and chief executive officer of CIIX, says the company’s goal is more than a 100% jump in FY2018 sales, while cutting costs and achieving profitability.

The primary reason for the increase in sales for the two divisions was a decision by management to be more discerning in deciding which companies would receive its investor relations services. Also, the firm placed itself on a more cash compensation basis — resulting in more sales — rather than taking equity compensation.

CIIX has a goal of becoming the primary Chinese medical cannabis publicly traded company. It is focused on the R&D and distribution of legalized, hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) to the global Chinese-speaking community. It maintains an online store in the free trade zone of Shanghai, China, and plans on opening a brick-and-mortar outlet in San Gabriel, California.

Before the end of 2017, CIIX plans to launch a cryptocurrency education and trading subscription service and the first Chinese daily video news broadcast from the NYSE covering digital currency and blockchain technology. It has also established CBD Biotechnology Co., Ltd., as a wholly-owned subsidiary in Shanghai, China. It launched OptHemp, its first hemp oil product line. In the coming months, the company said, it will unveil in China its first hemp-infused skin care product line.

“I am very pleased about the Company’s significant increase in revenue in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2017,” Warren Wang, founder and chief executive officer of CIIX, stated in a news release. “Although the blueprint of our Company’s business strategy has expanded through its entrance into the Hemp Industry, our core subscription and investors relations services remain strong with significant growth rates. I am thankful for the investors who have supported our ongoing development plans and look forward to a prosperous year ahead.”

For its non-industrial hemp-based products, the company has engaged Scottsdale, Arizona-based Launch Haus LLC to help it in its direct response marketing, digital, e-commerce and direct sales channels.

In addition, the company has thus far realized $2 million through August 29, 2017, from its private placement of some 10 million shares of its Series D-2017 convertible preferred stock, priced at $1 per share.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

Let us hear your thoughts: ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. Message Board

• SWRM restructures as one company with two divisions, capitalizing on synergies between MediaPlay and Incubation and Acquisition Development
• Ron Brewer, CEO and director, forecasts significant revenue growth in FY2017, cites strong initial revenues in FY2016
• New management team at SWRM, with extensive acquisition experience, is seasoned in growing emerging companies

AppSwarm, Inc. (OTC: SWRM), under its new management team, has restructured as one company split into two divisions, and management hopes to achieve revenues of $6-7 million by FY2018, Ron Brewer, the company’s CEO and director, noted in a recent news interview (http://dtn.fm/6Wu2I).

AppSwarm is an application acceleration company in the multi-platform games industry that engages in joint ventures, acquisitions and international opportunities. It now has two divisions. One is MediaPlay, targeting opportunities internationally and focused on joint venture efforts and larger projects, such as supplying TV channels with services. MediaPlay is an international multi-platform games publisher and developer acquired in mid-August by SWRM. The other division is Incubation and Acquisition Development (IAD), which is focused on the incubation program and direct acquisitions, as well as gaming opportunities, interactive development and e-commerce business solutions to enhance SWRM’s organic growth.

SWRM’s management team may be new, but it is very experienced in business management, the mobile games market, achieving joint ventures, licensing and aiding games developers as an incubator. Brewer, who joined SWRM last year, has served as managing director of Southbridge Advisory Group since 1990. Southbridge is a boutique firm focused on management services and M&A. John Rabbitt, SWRM’s CFO and director, has an extensive and diverse business background, having held positions at The Pillsbury Company and PepsiCo.

In addition, Chris Gray, president of the studios at MediaPlay, is a 30-year veteran of the video game industry. Steve Wall, president of publishing at MediaPlay, is a 23-year industry veteran who founded or co-founded five game companies and oversaw the launch of greater than 600 games.

“We want to get both divisions fully launched and out in market,” Brewer said in the interview. “We see a possibility, probability, and our managers are wanting to forecast for 2018 somewhere between $6 million and $7 million in revenue.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.App-Swarm.com

Let us hear your thoughts: AppSwarm, Inc. Message Board

• Proprietary biosynthesis process to produce cannabinoids
• Provisional patent application filed
• Cost-effective methodology to produce trace cannabinoids

If you have any doubt that InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CSE: IN) (OTCQB: IMLFF) is on the right track as it moves to protect its biosynthesis technology for cannabinoids, then a word from a famed figure may make you change your mind. Known worldwide for his investing prowess, Warren Buffett has said, “I don’t want a business that’s easy for competitors. I want a business with a moat around it with a very valuable castle in the middle” (http://dtn.fm/9al5F). Naturally, the Sage of Omaha was referring to an economic moat and not its tangible water-filled counterpart. One obvious way of constructing such an economic moat would be by registering a patent, which is exactly what InMed is planning to do. The company, which specializes in the research and development (R&D) of novel, cannabinoid-based drug therapies, has announced the filing of a provisional patent application for its proprietary biosynthesis process for the manufacture of cannabinoids that are identical to those found in nature (http://dtn.fm/I8g3M).

This filing is the first step in setting up defenses. Under U.S. patent law, a provisional patent application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) allows the filer to get a filing date and book a place in the queue. But, just as importantly, it affords protection for up to 12 months without filing a complete patent application. The provisional application may later be converted into a non-provisional one or be replaced by a regular patent application. The process in Canada, although not the same, is very similar.

To obtain protection outside North America, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) offers one streamlined route. The PCT procedure facilitates a patent application in all contracting states that are signatories with one filing, obviously a boon, since 145 sovereign states are members of the PCT. The PCT process allows the filing of an “international patent application,” which acts as an initial application for a patent in any member country. However, an “international patent application” never matures into an “international patent”. No such animal exists. A PCT filing simply reduces the burden of individual filings to contracting states and acts as a patent application to the contracting state in which the patent is meant to go into effect. Patents are issued by sovereign states and are always limited to national boundaries.

InMed’s provisional patent application will protect the biosynthesis process it has developed for the production of cannabinoids. In itself, biosynthetic production of chemicals is nothing new, but it really took off in 1978 after Genentech succeeded in modifying Escherichia-coli (E-coli) bacteria to produce synthetic insulin, a breakthrough credited with saving thousands of lives. Insulin is required by diabetics, whose bodies either do not produce the hormone or handle it inefficiently, in order to absorb glucose. In its absence, blood sugar increases to levels that may damage internal organs. Before biosynthesis, insulin was produced from the pancreas of pigs and cows in a costly, rather inhumane process.

InMed’s biosynthesis technology involves a process that can be applied to manufacture all the naturally occurring cannabinoids, through which the DNA of the cannabinoid to be produced is applied to Escherichia-coli (E-coli) bacteria. The E-coli DNA is then removed, leaving just the cannabinoid DNA, which can then replicate and multiply. This process combines the inherent safety and known efficacy of the natural drug structures with the convenience, control and quality of a laboratory-based manufacturing process.

InMed’s biosynthesis methodology will likely be used to produce the less naturally occurring phytocannabinoids such as delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8 THC), cannabidivarin (CBDv), and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv), although, for the present, the company is not saying. Regardless of which cannabinoid castles InMed decides to build, they will all be protected by a sturdy economic moat.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.InMedPharma.com

Let us hear your thoughts: InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Message Board

• The University of British Columbia (UBC) will conduct a double-blind study of Lexaria’s TurboCBD™ oral ingestion product
• TurboCBD™ masks foul tastes, protects pharmaceutical ingredients during stomach passage and increases intestinal absorption by 5-10x
• The UBC study will include 24 volunteers and test their cognitive and cardiovascular function after single doses and after seven days of administration

Traditionally, cannabidiol (CBD) is ingested via inhalation, which can harm the lungs, and many edible products contain unwanted sugars or sweeteners. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQB: LXRP) has revolutionized oral intake with its TurboCBD™ product. Engineered to increase absorption through the intestinal tract, without active compounds destroyed by stomach acid or broken down by the liver, the product also masks the flavor of compounds with undesirable tastes. In August 2017, the University of British Columbia (UBC) announced (http://dtn.fm/f8UPH) that it will conduct the first clinical study of the high-absorption product while evaluating its effects on cognitive function and cardiovascular health of human volunteers.

Currently, Lexaria is the only company to have been awarded a patent for delivery of ingestible non-psychoactive cannabinoids. It holds patents in the U.S. and Australia, and more are pending in over 40 other countries. The upcoming UBC study will be double-blind and placebo controlled. Researchers will measure the effects after a single dose and after seven days of daily doses. The 24 volunteers will consist of young and old individuals, whose glucose, blood pressure, vascular function, cognition, and physical performance will be measured. Blood samples, exercise tests, heart rate, respiration, and neuropsychological tests, among other measurements, will be conducted as well. These tests will provide a complete set of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic performance data of Lexaria’s TurboCBD™.

Regarding the expected outcome of the study, professor Philip Ainslie, PhD, stated in the recent report, “…To quantify the pharmacokinetics of TurboCBD™ will allow us to make informed recommendations of optimum dosing in order to improve vascular health and performance throughout healthy aging. Once we understand these processes better, the applications to various clinical populations can then be explored…”

Details of the test results are expected to be released once the study is completed and the data are interpreted.

According to Lexaria, its “plant-to-bloodstream” product amplifies intestinal absorption by 5-10x. It uses fatty acids, which combine with the active pharmaceutical ingredient to block them from bitter taste receptors on the tongue. Active ingredients are protected by lipids as they pass through the stomach. In the small intestine, long chain fatty acids are absorbed directly into the lymphatic system, while medium chain fatty acids are absorbed via the liver.

An August 2015 in vitro absorption study, conducted in a third party lab, found a 499 percent increase in CBD bioabsorption in the intestines. A human focus study in March 2016 revealed the onset of THC effects in 15 to 20 minutes, while test subjects praised the taste of the product. The company also entered into a collaborative research agreement with Canada’s National Research Council, which was signed in February 2017.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaEnergy.com

Let us hear your thoughts: Lexaria Bioscience Corp. Message Board

• The holding company, through its subsidiaries, operates in California and permits players to buy, manage their Lotto tickets online, and receive exclusive special lottery news
• Eyeing expansion in the U.S., LTTGF has hired legal contractor to begin due diligence process for launch into other states
• James Morel, president and CEO, said online site has been redesigned, marketing campaigns readied, as company now operates in the $6.3 billion lottery market in California

LottoGopher Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: LTTGF) (CSE: LOTO) (FRA: 2LG) has named William Shatner as its spokesperson, the company announced (http://dtn.fm/h7cPd). One of the world’s best-known actors, in addition to being a director, author, and singer, Shatner is a pop icon figure and Canadian-born personality. Shatner has starred in Star Trek, Boston Legal, and T.J. Hooker, and he has appeared in numerous other TV shows, movies, and plays.

LTTGF, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, operates in California as a lottery messenger service that permits users to not only buy state lottery tickets, but also manage them, using debit or credit cards online. LTTGF users can play alone with a single ticket or join online public or private groups to pool winnings from lotteries, including Powerball, Mega Millions and Super Lotto Plus. LTTGF also enables Californians to keep track of their winnings while participating in multiple lottery contests with multiple tickets. It gives members exclusive lottery news, jackpot alerts and lucky number pickers.

“I am very happy to be joining the LottoGopher team,” Shatner stated in a news release. “Much like Netflix disrupted the movie rental business and Uber hailing a cab, LottoGopher is disrupting the lottery industry for Americans.” He noted that LTTGF enables consumers to buy lottery tickets online in a cost-effective manner and that he looks forward to helping their customers dream big.

In 1997, Shatner teamed with discount travel site Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN). The Nasdaq-listed stock had an IPO price of $16 per share before skyrocketing to $1,868. Today, the company has a market cap of $99 billion.

In a recent news release, James Morel, president and CEO of LTTGF, said, “We are beyond thrilled that William Shatner has agreed to collaborate with us to accelerate awareness of the brand as our spokesperson.” A humorous digital marketing campaign is also being readied.

He added that Shatner would open up a “huge audience base” for LTTGF’s online messenger service. “He is one of the most recognizable celebrities in the world.”

For a direct link to the William Shatner video, go to http://dtn.fm/fs0LD

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LottoGopher.com

Let us hear your thoughts: LottoGopher Holdings Inc. Message Board

• Offering superior online training for small/medium-sized businesses, previously accessible to only larger companies
• Recent acquisitions and joint ventures have expanded ProBility’s offerings to include more products and cover more industries than ever before
• Company now includes Brown Technical Media Corp., Brown Technical Publications Inc., Brown Book Shop, Inc., National Electrical Wholesale Providers, W Marketing, One Exam Prep, LLC, ProBility Safety Academy, ProBility Immersive Technologies, Cranbury International and its partnership with GlobalSim Inc.

ProBility Media Corp (OTCQB: PBYA) has been driven to serve as many customers in diverse fields as possible, and a solid acquisition and growth strategy has helped it become an emerging leader in the eLearning and training segment. It is developing a full-service training and career advancement brand that is benefiting small- and medium-sized companies that can now have access to the same resources as their larger counterparts. Its product offerings include high-tech training that incorporates intensive interactive media such as virtual reality and 3D modeling. Thanks to ProBility, clients can find these products and more without having to resort to gathering them from multiple sources, saving time, effort and money.

Having recently acquired National Electrical Wholesale Providers and W Marketing, Inc., ProBility now serves the electrical industry. A variety of educational courses and exam preparation products are accessible through the company’s website. Any electrical contractor can obtain the training they need and learn how to properly install, maintain, and repair power, lighting, and communication systems. There is also a digital media library of intellectual property animations, plus subscription services that energy/industrial employers can take advantage of.

The EdTech company has expanded its scope as much as its industry reach. With the purchase of Cranbury International, it can now offer the same breadth of service to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. It also now offers heating ventilation and air conditioning training via Brown Technical, plus training materials on ASTM codes and standards, and plumbing and pipefitting training courses, handbooks, and other materials.

Its 1 Exam Prep division enables ProBility to offer access to exam preparation at the state, county, or OSHA level. Many of these are business- and industry-specific, allowing those preparing for such examinations to perfect their test-taking skills ahead of time. There are also numerous resources for employers that want to manage their training on-premises.

An expanding set of training, compliance and career advancement materials are open to businesses in over 60 trades. Electrical, HVAC, plumbing, crane operations and boilermakers are just a few of them. The ProBility Safety Academy, a joint venture with Range Guard and Investigations, extends courses and exam-prep materials to law enforcement, private security and criminal justice segments in a more accessible way than ever before.

ProBility has rapidly become a source of comprehensive online training and exam preparation in multiple industries. Quick and direct access via the Web means that employers don’t have to look far to provide their workforce with industry-leading training that will boost the career potential of their workers and provide these organizations with well-prepared and informed individuals.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ProbilityMedia.com

Let us hear your thoughts: ProBility Media Corp. Message Board

• Partnership between Algae Dynamics and Dr. Steven Laviolette focuses on medical benefits of cannabis and hemp oils for various mental health disorders
• Canada is moving to legalize cannabis throughout the country in 2018, which could radically change research playing field
• Canadian cannabis oil extraction market projected to reach $1.5 billion by 2020

Algae Dynamics Corp. (OTCQB: ADYNF), a Canadian company focused on the development of proprietary research and products derived from cannabis and hemp oils, has begun a collaborative relationship with one neuroscientist who is looking deep within the brain for answers to some of the world’s most pressing mental health problems.

This research agreement with Dr. Laviolette, a neuroscientist at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, is no small thing. The level of human misery and the resulting global economic burden caused by neurological and mental health disorders is hard to fathom. The World Health Organization reports that failure to adequately address and provide effective treatment for depression and other anxiety disorders could cost the world $1 trillion each year, according to research published in The Lancet (http://dtn.fm/8bROv).

“I started working with Algae Dynamics in the spring of this year and it’s going really well, we’re already making quite a bit of progress,” Dr. Laviolette said. “They’re very open-minded and they appreciate the science. They understand the best products come from the best quality science, so I’m very excited to be working with them.”

Algae Dynamics approached Dr. Laviolette, because he was already examining how cannabinoids can treat disorders such as addiction, schizophrenia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We’ve been looking at how we can more effectively utilize different chemicals that are found in marijuana to serve as more effective treatments for some of these devastating illnesses,” Dr. Laviolette says. “Algae Dynamics was taking a holistic approach to this research by not only looking at the specific cannabinoids in marijuana, but they also have a background in the extraction of various nutritional dietary products such as Omega-3 fatty acids. That was very exciting for me.”

Emerging research shows that Omega-3 fatty acids can have very strong interactions with the brain’s natural or biological endocannabinoid system and can also modulate the effects of cannabinoids on the brain. If there is a dietary deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids, the brain’s natural cannabinoid system is not going to work with optimal efficiency, Dr. Laviolette explained.

“By contrast, if you can supplement with Omega-3 fatty acids you see certain improvements in the brain’s cannabinoid system, so that immediately got us interested in how synergies between Omega-3 fatty acids and cannabinoids that are derived from marijuana might serve as potential, novel pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products for treating certain specific mental health disorders.”

The brain’s natural cannabinoid system is involved in a lot of different processes that relate to mental health, including mood regulation, one’s ability to learn and remember, and certain cognitive tasks.

“We know in certain mental health disorders like depression, addiction and schizophrenia, there’s a lot of disturbance in this cannabinoid system,” Dr. Laviolette continued. “So oftentimes people will sort of self-medicate with marijuana and perhaps expose themselves to some of the more negative aspects of it. One compound, in particular, called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), can have negative effects, especially in younger adults, especially adolescents.”

Dr. Laviolette and his team have been comparing and contrasting THC versus other cannabinoids found in marijuana and seek to answer the question of: “What are some of the molecular pathways that they activate and how can we modulate different phytocannabinoids in their formulations and combine them with Omega-3’s to make them less likely to produce some of the negative side effects possible with marijuana exposure?”

“We’re looking at both the positive and negative effects, with the goal of really reducing or eliminating the negative effects and really sort of amplifying the positive chemicals that are found in marijuana in terms of treating some of these illnesses,” Dr. Laviolette said.

One of the biggest concerns of the medical community, and one reason a lot of doctors are not very willing to prescribe their patients cannabinoids in terms of treating mental health symptoms like PTSD, depression or even schizophrenia, relates to the potential negative side effects, he added.

“What we’re really trying to do is tease apart the positive and negative aspects of marijuana. We’ve been able to show CBD can actually be a promising treatment for a variety of mental health disorders like PTSD and schizophrenia,” Dr. Laviolette said. “It’s quite amazing because, when you think about it, it’s the same plant but these two different, competing chemicals are producing different effects in terms of mental health.”

Another major issue associated with using cannabinoids as a medical treatment is that people “aren’t really too keen on the idea of just smoking cannabinoids,” he said. “So, one of the major research directions we’re taking with Algae Dynamics is coming up with more effective non-smoked formats of medical marijuana, which includes oil-based formulations.”

Algae Dynamics’s focus on supporting research directed at the medical benefits of cannabis and hemp oils is providing a critical lifeline to scientists like Dr. Laviolette.

“The other aspect is that it’s very difficult to do this research because of all the different government regulations that you need to go through to, first; get ahold of the actual compounds, and second; get the actual license to perform these sorts of studies,” he said.

Canada is heading toward legalization of cannabis throughout the country in 2018, which could bode well for the research community, investors and companies like Algae Dynamics.

“People are excited. I think there’s a general feeling that cannabinoids are absolutely going to be an emerging biotechnology in the coming decades,” said Dr. Laviolette. “Companies like Algae Dynamics are actually taking this research seriously and are getting in on the ground floor of the development of effective cannabinoid products.”

While solid, quality research takes time, Dr. Laviolette said his team is now moving toward the clinical realm with the goal of collaborating with clinicians sometime within the next few months. Discovering the ideal ratios of THC and CBD and then combining those with a nutritional supplement such as Omega-3 fatty acids is expected to lead to the best formulations for an early stage clinical trial.

“I think there’s tremendous potential for development of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals based on that,” Dr. Laviolette says. “I’ve been doing this research for well over two decades now and what you consistently realize is that the existing drugs available for treating some of these symptoms have some really bad side effects. So, it’s not only the limited effectiveness of a lot of these drugs used to treat depression and anxiety, but the serious side effects that make a lot of people stop taking them. It’s essentially a barrier of sorts to long term treatment.”

Dr. Laviolette’s research is providing early, promising evidence that there are very few side effects associated with cannabidiol, or CBD, which is a non-psychoactive compound in marijuana.

“I think there’s tremendous potential to develop pharmacological treatments that are derived from natural products that are relatively pure. I think they’ll be a much more promising alternative than the more traditional medications that are out there right now,” he added.

Cannabis is a complex plant with well over 100 different phytochemicals, a fact that Dr. Laviolette describes as exciting but also one that means researchers are just barely beginning to “scratch the surface.”

For more information about Dr. Laviolette and his research with Algae Dynamics, visit the company’s website at www.AlgaeDynamics.com

Let us hear your thoughts: Algae Dynamics Corp. Message Board

• More than 5.3 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease, which has no effective cure or substantial treatment
• India Globalization Capital’s IGC-ADI drug candidate targets proteins associated with the buildup of lesions in the brain
• The company acquired exclusive rights to a patent, based on University of South Florida studies supporting THC’s role in inhibiting Aβ plaque production

Alzheimer’s disease now affects over 5.3 million people in the United States, imposing an estimated economic cost of $236 billion. There has been no effective treatment to slow down or reverse its effects. That may be about to change, as India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) launched a press release (http://dtn.fm/w01OQ) detailing its work on a drug candidate, IGC-ADI, that targets the buildup of lesions in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s. Given that the number of cases is expected to double over the next two decades, a lack of a cure or other mitigating therapy is concerning. However, the company expects to soon begin trials that may yield promising new treatments.

The unconventional nature of this drug candidate is that it is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-based. Low doses of THC have been found to inhibit amyloid beta peptide (Aβ plaque) production. This protein is believed to cause plaque to form in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Phosphorylated Tau proteins make up another type of lesion, called a neurofibrillary tangle, that is also linked to AD. The Aβ proteins normally cleared away by biological processes are unregulated in Alzheimer’s patients, and therefore build up into insoluble fibroles. The result is the formation of senile plaques and extracellular misfolded oligomers that are thought to be toxic to nerve cells in the brain.

Now the only publicly traded pharmaceutical cannabis stock that addresses the disease, IGC has developed a drug that inhibits protein production and protein aggregation and reduces the phosphorylation of protein, as explained in the recent Brand Awareness Distribution article, “Alzheimer’s Disease: Cannabis Formulation Shows Promise”. The drug candidate IGC-ADI is believed to also have the potential to restore mitochondria function and redirect the immune system. Studies on genetically engineered cell lines conducted at the University of South Florida (USF) have provided supportive evidence for the company to move forward. At THC concentrations of 25nM, Aβ40 production was cut by 30 percent over a six-hour period, and by 35 percent over 24 hours. When doses of 2.5 μM were introduced, amyloid beta peptide production was reduced by the same level at six hours, 40 percent over 24 hours, and 55 percent over 48 hours (compared to 40 percent at lower THC concentrations).

The patent “THC as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for Alzheimer’s Disease,” was filed based on the findings of the USF studies conducted by Dr. Chuanhai Cao, an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at USF’s College of Pharmacy and an IGC Senior Advisor. Expected to conduct human medical trials, IGC has already acquired exclusive rights to the patent filing, allowing it to use and advance the technology to find potential treatments for Alzheimer’s patients.

IGC-ADI is one of six patents involving cannabis-based combination therapy, providing investors with opportunities to help support potentially revolutionary treatments for Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IGCInc.us

• ORHub is a pioneering cloud-based healthcare solution that can help medical providers eliminate inefficiencies, cut costs and improve quality of care
• ORHub has created a new category of healthcare IT vertical-specific software called surgical resource management (SRM)
• ORHub creates the largest source of intelligent surgical information in the world, opening up a vast pipeline of revenue opportunities
• ORHub is positioned to become the universal SRM platform for improving healthcare efficiency and cutting costs

“Value-based healthcare” is a buzz phrase these days, and surgical procedures are at the center of the issue, with hospitals spending, on average, between 48 and 50 percent of their revenues on surgery while outdated tracking systems cripplingly hold back progress, making it impossible for medical facilities to cut costs without sacrificing quality of care. One pioneering company, ORHub, Inc. (OTC: ORHB), has been working with Microsoft (http://dtn.fm/6zXs5) to break new ground and bring the United States healthcare system into the digital age—an evolution that is sorely needed in order to improve healthcare practices and lower costs in a country that is infamous for having the highest healthcare costs in the entire world.

The key is the ORHub solution, which has created the largest source of intelligent surgical information in the world and provides a suite of products that can better serve the needs of the healthcare industry, patients and the government. ORHub’s cloud-based software solution captures information at the point-of-care, filling a huge void in the surgical information infrastructure by transforming big data into intelligent data.

The ORHub solution replaces various antiquated legacy systems with a 360-degree solution that enables the tracking of healthcare costs from diagnosis to discharge, allowing all parties involved in surgical care to collaboratively organize, deliver, measure and reimburse via one intuitive, uniform program. This helps eliminate inefficiencies, duplication of services, and errors and omissions that currently result from siloed software processes and insufficient hand-offs across the care chain. The result will be substantially lowered healthcare costs and drastically improved patient outcomes.

The ORHub solution was born in a hospital surgery center, where forward-thinking surgeons and administrators realized they didn’t have the information they needed to reduce costs without negatively impacting quality of care. In the past, healthcare organizations have been blindly making decisions about how to improve their processes and redesign care without having a true understanding of the actual costs of care for a patient’s condition and how those costs relate to outcomes. Rather than working synergistically, clinicians have instead been battling over arbitrary cuts. ORHub’s cloud-based software platform is the solution to these inadequacies and inefficiencies.

Through ORHub’s software applications, hospitals and medical device vendors will be able to use any Web-enabled device to generate a detailed anatomical graphic depiction of what happens during surgery. The resulting schematic is then automatically translated into an intelligent electronic operative report that links every detail of a surgery to produce a dynamic new source of comparative data. Through ORHub’s revolutionary solution, hospitals, surgeons and vendors can now make decisions that are real-time and data-driven to improve both profitability and quality of care. Further, costs are resultantly reduced for both hospitals and vendors, accountability is improved, surgical implant registries are automated, real-time advanced analytics are created and compliance is bettered.

ORHub is disrupting archaic industry processes, making it possible for tasks that used to require teams of people working by hand to invest weeks or months to now be done directly at the point-of-care by just one person. For the very first time, surgical data can be utilized to create real-time evaluations, self-generate future statistical ratings, and provide predictive outcomes-of-care.

ORHub’s innovative cloud-based solution has created a new category of healthcare IT vertical-specific software called surgical resource management (SRM), which is a category that enables enhanced capabilities as well as access to valuable analytics. This SRM platform will create the largest source of intelligent surgical information the world has ever seen, simultaneously opening up a pipeline of revenue opportunities for ORHub. ORHub is positioned to become the universal SRM platform for improving efficiency and mitigating costs.

The ORHub story started in 2015, when company CTO Wesley Mitchell was contacted by the Microsoft for Startups Program to help a surgeon who wanted to develop a software program that could help analyze resource allocation for surgical procedures—a project that immediately intrigued Mitchell. Over a period of two months, he and his associates interviewed clinical and administrative professionals in the healthcare field and then applied for BizSpark Plus credit from the Microsoft for Startups Program to develop the ORHub solution. A pilot program was collaboratively developed by the ORHub team and Microsoft at the #5 orthopedic hospital in the nation. The solution was developed on the Microsoft Azure platform, which was already encrypted and built with HIPAA considerations in view. ORHub went from concept to production in under a year.

ORHub’s state-of-the-art, disruptive solution has the potential to drastically and lastingly impact the U.S. healthcare system, improving costs, patient outcomes, resource allocation and more. A brighter healthcare future is now within reach thanks to this pioneering technology.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ORhub.com

Let us hear your thoughts: ORHub, Inc. Message Board