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Hong Kong Q2 2018 Exports Index at 7-year High

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HKTDC Director of Research Nicholas Kwan (centre), HKTDC Assistant Principal Economist (Global Research) Louis Chan (L) and HKTDC Economist Doris Fung (R) today announce the HKTDC Export Index for the second quarter of 2018 and discuss the latest global market outlook.
Georgia Seen as a Potentially Important Trading Partner

HONG KONG, Jun 20, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The HKTDC Export Index for the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18) climbed to a 29-quarter high and indicated positive sentiment among local exporters for the first time in 12 months, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) announced today. The 2Q18 reading stood at 54.1, up from 49.4 in 1Q18. The results suggest that Hong Kong exports are likely to sustain their growth momentum over the near term. However, exporters' optimism is laced with caution, given the current trade issues between the Chinese mainland and the United States. HKTDC economists forecast Hong Kong exports to grow six per cent in 2018.

The HKTDC Export Index monitors the current export performance of Hong Kong traders and gauges their near-term prospects. Readings above and below 50 indicate positive and negative sentiment respectively.

Among major sectors, the indices for electronics and machinery performed exceptionally well, reaching 55.2 and 54.9 respectively in 2Q18, their highest levels since early 2013. Toys continued its uptrend seen in the last two quarters, rising to 53.2. Clothing, while staying in contractionary territory, also showed signs of improvement in 2Q18 with a 17-quarter high reading of 43.6. Meanwhile, prospects appeared relatively less strong for timepieces (49) and jewellery (41.3), which posted lower readings than in 1Q18.

"Overall, Hong Kong exporters have shown a strong reversal in sentiment," HKTDC Director of Research Nicholas Kwan said at today's press conference. "Despite the mixed performances across sectors, exporters were generally positive about the outlook for major export markets."

Further confirming the improving overall export sentiment, the Trade Value Index (54.6), Procurement Index (57.3) and Employment Index (53.2) all stayed above the watershed of 50.

Exporters cautiously optimistic about global markets

The European Union returned into expansionary territory for the first time since 2011, outperforming other major markets with the highest reading of 54 in 2Q18, up from 49.1 in 1Q18. Close behind was the Chinese mainland, with its reading rising further to a 29-quarter high of 53.8. Similarly, exporters showed strong confidence in the Japan (51.3) and US (51.2) markets, with both indices at their highest in recent years.

HKTDC Economist Doris Fung noted that exporters' optimism was laced with caution, given the current trade issues between China and the US. The 2Q18 survey revealed that about half of the respondents (55.4%) remained confident that the trade dispute would not have any impact on their exports, whereas 35.8 per cent expected it to have a slightly negative impact.

According to the survey results, any impact of the Sino-US trade friction has yet to materialise. More than 70 per cent of respondents (77.4%) said the dispute has not affected their exports so far, while about one-fifth of the exporters believed they would have achieved better performances if the trade dispute had not occurred.

Continued export growth in early 2018

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's total exports grew by 9.3 per cent year-on-year in the Jan-April 2018 period, following an eight per cent growth for the whole of 2017. As regards traditional markets, exports to the US (+8.5%) and EU (+10.2%) increased strongly while the growth of exports to Japan (+5.3%) moderated in the first four months of 2018.

"Following a strong rebound in 2017, Hong Kong's total exports continued to perform well in the first four months of 2018 given the solid and broad-based recovery in the world economy. Both private consumption and business investment in developed markets have continued to support growth," Ms Fung noted.

Georgia: a potential trading partner

In view of the new business opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative, Georgia, an economy in the Caucasian region of Eurasia participating in the Initiative, is becoming more important as Hong Kong's potential trading partner, according to a recent HKTDC Research study. Louis Chan, Assistant Principal Economist (Global Research), HKTDC, said Georgia, with its strategic location at the crossroads between China and Europe and its being an open, business-friendly country in the region, can bring business opportunities for Hong Kong.

"Georgia's GDP [gross domestic product] has grown at an average annual rate of almost six per cent in the past two decades, thanks to its business-friendly environment, liberal trade policy as well as low corruption and crime rates," said Mr Chan. The country has free trade agreements (FTAs) with the Chinese mainland (effective since 1 Jan 2018), Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members, European Union (EU) countries and Turkey, while it also enjoys Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) preferential treatment by Canada, Japan and the US. Mr Chan added that with the upcoming conclusion of a Hong Kong-Georgia FTA, the country would present further opportunities for Hong Kong businesses as an export market and a logistics hub.

In 2017, the CIS, EU, and Turkey accounted for 75 per cent of Georgia's trade, while the Chinese mainland was fast gaining a foothold, accounting for 9.2 per cent of its imports and 7.6 per cent of its exports, according to statistics from the National Statistics Office of Georgia.

During a recent trip to Georgia, HKTDC Research found that the country's four-point reform plan -- which covers mainly energy, roads, agriculture and municipal and regional infrastructure -- is key to its transformation from a transit hub into a logistics and industrial centre, which will in turn support the development of start-ups and start-up financing mechanisms. The Anaklia Deep Sea Port construction, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project and the expansion of the country's East-West highway are some of the milestones of Georgia's international connectivity enhancement efforts.

"Businesses in the country are ready to export their unique fashion items, food and wine. Hong Kong businesses are advised to capitalise on Georgia's potential as a trading partner and an investment destination," said Mr Chan.

Reference
HKTDC Research website: http://research.hktdc.com/
2018 Mid-Year Export Review: https://bit.ly/2K178rQ
Hong Kong Export Index 2Q18: https://bit.ly/2yqIsYr
Photo Download: https://bit.ly/2takmMs

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.
- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council

Contact:
HKTDC's Communication and Public Affairs Department Angel Tang, Tel: +852 2584 4544, Email: angel.hc.tang@hktdc.org Beatrice Lam, Tel: +852 2584 4049, Email: beatrice.hy.lam@hktdc.org

Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Stream Ideas Group Limited Announces FY2017/18 Annual Results

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Builds on Listing on GEM of SEHK to Increase Penetration of Online Advertising Market in Southeast Asia

HONG KONG, Jun 20, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Stream Ideas Group Limited ("Stream Ideas" or the "Group"; Stock Code: 8401), a digital media company that specialises in providing online advertising services to brand owners and advertising agencies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore, today announced its results for the year ended 31 March 2018 ("FY2017/18", "the review year"), the first annual results since its listing on GEM of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") on 28 March 2018.

During the review year, the Group's revenue rose by 9.9% to HK$28.9 million (2017: HK$26.3 million). Gross profit after reversal of JAG Points moderately rose to HK$19.2 million, while gross profit margin was maintained at 66.5% despite the higher cost of sales incurred from the Group's entry into new markets and a decrease in reversal of JAG points during the year. After taking into account the initial investment made in new markets, the Group was able to achieve adjusted net profit of HK$9.5 million (excluding one-off listing expenses of approximately HK$19.3 million and one-off non-cash fair value loss on convertible bonds of approximately HK$16.5 million) (2017: HK$12.3 million).

Mr Garlos Lee, Executive Director of Stream Ideas said, "We are delighted that Stream Ideas listed its shares on GEM of the SEHK this year, which is a significant milestone in its development. Moving forward, we will continue further penetration of the online advertising market in Southeast Asia, building on our successful entry in the Malaysia and Singapore markets."

Social Viral Service
Via the Group's platforms, social viral service shows clients' advertising content in the form of videos, images and website links to members matching with the demographics of clients' target audience. During the review year, revenue from social viral service was HK$17.0 million, accounting for 58.6% of the Group's total revenue, and gross profit margin was stable at 64.8%.

Engager Service
Engager service helps clients achieve their marketing objectives by engaging the Group's members, who are a client's target audience, to take part in that client's advertising campaign by completing certain missions to receive JAG Points. Due to increasing demand among advertisers to engage target consumers, revenue from engager service increased by a significant 38.9% to HK$9.1 million and gross profit margin of the business was 63.0% for the year ended 31 March 2018.

Mass Blogging Service
Mass blogging service allows members to try out and review clients' products or services and share their feedback with friends on social media platforms. Through this service, clients can benefit from word-of-mouth marketing, using peer influence to sway and shape consumer interest and purchase intention. During the review year, revenue from the business decreased slightly to HK$2.1 million, mainly due to a decline in project number. Gross profit margin was 64.3% for the review year.

Market Performance
By market, the Group has well-established presence in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and during the review year, has made successful entry into the Malaysia and Singapore markets. It has accumulated over 560,000 members in all in the four markets at the end of the review year. During the review year, revenue from the Hong Kong market was up by 24.4% year-on-year from HK$13.1 million to HK$16.3 million, making up 56.3% of the Group's total revenue. As for the Taiwan market, revenue was stable at HK$11.9 million, accounting for 41.0% of the Group total revenue. The two new markets, Malaysia and Singapore, also contributed revenues and managed to attract more members during the review year.

Prospects
In recent years, retailers are increasing their budget for online advertising to allow them to enhance brand value and exposure, as well as drive sales among the steadily growing global Internet and mobile device user population. As a result, the online advertising industry will be expanding fast in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia in the near future. Moreover, the online advertising industry is still relatively fragmented in these markets, which means the Group has significant room to grow in them and enlarge its market share.

Looking ahead, the Group will continue to enhance the user interface and functionality of its mobile applications and websites, work with more brands that have significant market influence, and continue to strengthen presence in the Malaysia and Singapore markets. To help it achieve those objectives, the Group will recruit more talent, especially to support business development, and build a yet more competent workforce. This will in turn enable the Group to better satisfy the ever-changing needs of various industries, as well as those of existing and potential clients. In addition, the Group will focus on enhancing its membership base in terms of age group, interest and lifestyle preference, so that it may attract more clients with a more diverse target audience base.

Mr Garlos Lee emphasised, "Capitalising on the promise of a booming online advertising industry, we will continue to boost our core competitive strengths, such as, our strong membership base and reputable clientele built over the past decade, to maintain our market leadership and continue to strengthen our presence in the Malaysia and Singapore markets. Moving forward, we will also explore cooperation and acquisition opportunities where suitable in the pursuit of growth, as well as keep looking for new opportunities to reach more potential clients, thereby enhance the Group's overall profitability and create greater value for shareholders. We will stay true to the vision of becoming the preferred online marketing partner of advertising agencies and brand owners."

About Stream Ideas Group Limited
Founded in Hong Kong in 2010, Stream Ideas is a digital media company that specialises in providing online advertising services to brand owners and advertising agencies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. It helps clients deliver marketing information more effectively on the interactive Platforms it operates. The Group offers online advertising services, namely (i) social viral service; (ii) engager service, and (iii) mass blogging service. As at 31 March 2018, the Platforms have over 560,000 members in the four geographical markets of the the Group.

Media Enquiries:
Strategic Financial Relations Limited
Angelus Lau Tel: (852) 2864 4805 Email: angelus.lau@sprg.com.hk
Jessica Siu Tel: (852) 2114 2820 Email: jessica.siu@sprg.com.hk
Website: www.sprg.com.hk


 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

HKSAR Chief Executive encourages French companies to leverage opportunities in the Guangdong-HK-Macao Bay Area

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HONG KONG, Jun 20, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mrs Carrie Lam, called on French businesses to take on the unique business opportunities arising from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area (the Bay Area) at a seminar jointly organised by Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao governments in Paris today (June 20).

The "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area" seminar was the latest joint promotion bid by the three places to promote business opportunities in the Bay Area development. Apart from Mrs Lam, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas Yang, and Director-General of Investment Promotion, Mr Stephen Phillips, also attended.

The event began with addresses by Mrs Lam, Vice Governor of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, Mr Ouyang Weimin, and President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Mr Jackson Chang, followed by brief remarks by Charge d'Affaires a.i., Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in France, Mr Wu Xiaojun.

Mrs Lam told the seminar that President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress mentioned that the Central Government will continue to support Hong Kong and Macao in integrating their own development into the overall development of the country, and priority will be given to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area. She said that the 'One Country Two Systems' allows Hong Kong to cooperate with other cities within the Bay Area while playing its unique functions in terms of independent judiciary, status as the international financial and trade centre and the world's freest and most competitive economy, quality professional services and talent pools, plus free flow of capital and information, amongst other things.

Meanwhile, enhanced connectivity with the imminent Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link would add to the flow of people and goods within the Bay Area, putting it on par with some of the renowned bay areas in the world.

She added that Hong Kong's strong research and development capacity when combined with Shenzhen's advanced manufacturing creates good synergy conducive to the Bay Area's goal to become a significant innovation and technology hub. The latest policy announced by the Central Government to allow universities and research institutions in Hong Kong and Macao to bid for funding to undertake central fiscal science and technology projects, demonstrated the country's determination in boosting innovation development.

Mrs Lam said that Hong Kong is putting focus on driving innovation and technology, citing the 87-hectare Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park project at Lok Ma Chau Loop and the recent change of the listing rules by Hong Kong Stock Exchanges to attract new economy enterprises and biotech companies without income yet to list in Hong Kong.

Mr Ouyang said that the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area was signed on 1 July 2017 under the President witness. In March this year, the President told the province to capitalize the opportunities from the Bay Area by working closely with Hong Kong and Macao, in order to create a world-class bay area and an integrated world city. He added that Guangdong as the biggest provincial economy in China plays a key role as the world manufacturing base and the technology education centre in Southern part of the country. It strives to offer investors the best regulated environment with the most efficient service and the lowest cost of doing business. He called for global stakeholders like France to take part in the Bay Area plan, amid the province's three-prong approach aiming to lift bilateral trade, innovation and technology cooperation and enhancing exchanges with France.

Mr Chang said that France is a major trading partner of Macao. In 2017, the trade volume between France and Macao reached 720 million US dollars. French imports to Macao mainly included cosmetics, food, leather products and wine. He added that with the deepening of the Belt and Road construction and the forthcoming opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the continuous optimization of the business environment at Macao will bring more growth opportunities to investors at home and abroad, and will significantly assist French companies entering the mainland market. He appealed French companies to make use of the Macao platform to expand their businesses.

Other speakers at the seminar included the Executive Vice President, International Operations, Schneider Electric, Mr Luc Remont; Group Senior Executive Vice President, SUEZ, Mr Bertrand Camus; President and Founder, SURYS, Mr Hugues Souparis and President of CGN Europe Energy, Mr Lu Wei.

About InvestHK

InvestHK is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established in 2000 to attract foreign direct investment and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong's vibrant economy. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.

Note to editors:
The "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area" refers to the PRC government's scheme to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.

Photo https://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_investhk180620.jpg
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam (fourth left), called on French businesses to take advantage of the unique business opportunities arising from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area at a seminar jointly held by the Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao governments in Paris today (June 20, Paris time). Pictured are (from left) the President and Founder, Surys, Mr Hugues Souparis; the Group Senior Executive Vice President, SUEZ, Mr Bertrand Camus; the President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Mr Jackson Chang; Mrs Lam; the Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Ouyang Weimin; the Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in France, Mr Wu Xiaojun; the Executive Vice President, International Operations, Schneider Electric, Mr Luc Remont; and the President of CGN Europe Energy, Mr Lu Wei.

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

CLX Ranked Best Messaging Vendor in North America

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STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Jun 21, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - CLX Communications AB (XSTO: CLX), the leading global CPaaS provider has received a Tier One rating and ranked as the number one A2P SMS Messaging Vendor in North America, in the A2P SMS Messaging Vendor Performance Report 2018, published this week by the Roaming Consulting Company (ROCCO).

The report ranks the industry's leading A2P SMS Messaging Vendors, based on scores and feedback provided by over three hundred global mobile network operators (MNOs). Each vendor is ranked in one of three tiers, with only those scoring higher than four out of five in every category receiving a Tier One rating.

For the North America region, CLX received an overall score of 4.55 out of five - the highest score of any A2P SMS provider in the region and significantly higher than the rest of the competition.

Overall, CLX has been ranked second in this year's report with a combined score of 4.4 out of 5 missing the number one spot by a statistically insignificant amount. CLX performed particularly strongly in key areas including quality of service (4.71), reputation (4.65), reliability (4.73) and technical expertise (4.66).

CLX remains the most consistent global vendor and undisputed A2P messaging market leader, as the only provider to have ranked consistently in the top three in each of the last four annual ROCCO reports.

Robert Gerstmann, Chief Evangelist and Co-Founder of CLX Communications, said: "In a highly-competitive global market such as enterprise messaging, it's the intangibles such as reputation, trust, technical expertise and reliability that help to delineate which companies are the market leaders.

"Therefore, to be ranked as the number one A2P Messaging Vendor in North America and the most consistent vendor overall by the global operator community is a fantastic achievement."

Jason Bryan, CEO of ROCCO, added: "Since we published the A2P SMS Messaging Vendor Performance Report back in 2014, CLX has always ranked in the top three of the global Tier One providers.

"As a result, it's no surprise to see CLX emerging as the number one provider in North America, as the feedback we receive from mobile network operators is always incredibly positive."

Press enquiries
Steve Green
Giant PR
steve@giantpr.co.uk
+44 (0) 7775 677 101

About CLX Communications

CLX Communications (CLX) is a leading global CPaaS provider to enterprises and mobile operators. CLX's mobile communication services enable companies to quickly, securely and cost-effectively communicate globally with customers and connected devices - Internet of Things (IoT).

CLX's solutions enable business-critical communications worldwide via mobile messaging services (SMS), voice services and mobile connectivity services for the IoT. CLX has grown profitably since the company was founded in 2008. The Group is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a presence in a further 20 countries.

CLX Communications' shares are traded at NASDAQ Stockholm - XSTO:CLX.

To learn more please visit: www.clxcommunications.com

About ROCCO

ROCCO is the Roaming Consulting Company and produces annually its A2P SMS Vendor Performance reports as well as Market Intelligence Reports into A2P SMS and SMS Firewalls. ROCCO is an independent research company started in 2012 that does not use sponsors for its research and prides itself on providing unique neutral data into the A2P SMS Market as well as many other areas. ROCCO also provides reports in Roaming.

To learn more please visit: https://www.roamingconsulting.com/

Press Release (PDF): http://hugin.info/173289/R/2200379/853319.pdf

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This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: CLX Communications AB (publ) via Globenewswire

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Integrating MathWorks MATLAB and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Using Hitachi's Lumada IoT Platform

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Integration of MATLAB and Microsoft Dynamics 365 on Lumada
Simplifying business Kaizen based on advanced OT data analytics using Node-RED

TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced the development of technology enabling MATLAB and Simulink(1) a tool provided by The MathWorks, Inc. and widely used for modeling and simulation in industrial settings, and Microsoft Dynamics 365(2) a cloud business application of Microsoft Corporation, to collaborate through Hitachi's Lumada IoT platform. The technology will facilitate the development of solutions using both advanced OT(3) data analytics and enterprise IT system by automating the collaboration between OT systems and enterprise IT systems that in the past stood alone. This will realize the increased productivity and the prompt delivery of innovative digital solutions.

In recent years, there is an expectation that with progress in IoT technology, the digital data collected from various types of sensors can be analyzed and used to resolve a wide range of management issues such as improvement in productivity and reduction in failure rate. Amidst this growing need, Hitachi has developed its Lumada IoT platform to provide a wide range of digital solutions to resolve the challenges faced by our customers. A GUI(4)-based programming tool "Node-RED"(5) was employed to facilitate the analytic operational flow from collecting data to analysis. Furthermore, in August 2017, Hitachi announced the development of Flow Connection Gateway,(6) a technology that enables integrated management of connecting interfaces between systems on Node-RED to simplify the processing and data coordination between systems.

To accelerate the delivery of digital solutions using Lumada, Hitachi collaborated with MathWorks and Microsoft, to demonstrate that by linking MATLAB and Simulink with Microsoft Dynamics 365 using Node-RED, a collaborative solution integrating advanced data analytics with a work management system could be quickly and easily achieved. Specifically, a MATLAB data analytics algorithm, "wear condition estimation model" was controlled from Node-RED and combined with service and item data on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service, to realize the automatic registration of information related to maintenance items based on wear-related failure prediction.

Hitachi intends to expand the range of analytics algorithms and connectable work systems through open innovation, to promote the technology development of innovative digital solutions based on IoT technology. Further, Hitachi will continue to actively collaborate with and contribute to OSS(7) communities.

A part of the technology described in this release will be presented at the Open Source Summit Japan to be held at the Tokyo Conference Center Ariake from 20th to 22nd June, in Tokyo, Japan.

Comment from Mr. Kris Borchers, executive director of the JS Foundation(8)
"The JS Foundation is excited to see continued enterprise adoption of Node-RED in production environments. What started as a useful prototyping tool has grown to be adopted by many organizations as part of their product development tool chain and is shipped in their customer-facing products. This collaboration between Hitachi, Microsoft and MathWorks is a great example of that growing enterprise adoption trend for Node-RED and illustrates the importance of open source software in enabling these types of collaborations which provide major benefits to customers and partners. We look forward to continued collaboration with and contribution from Hitachi within the Node-RED project and the broader Node-RED and JavaScript ecosystems."

Comment from Mr. Satoru Abe, Industry marketing manager of MathWorks Japan
"In collaboration with Hitachi, MATLAB and Simulink provide advanced algorithms and apps for data analytics and machine learning that can be used directly as the analytics engine for maintenance operation business systems. We expect this integrated platform to enable our customers to quickly implement wear and remaining useful life (RUL) estimation, failure prediction, predictive maintenance and other critical maintenance operations and deploy them across the enterprise."

Comment from Mr. Yoshinami Takahashi, Executive Managing Officer, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd
"Microsoft Japan cordially welcomes Hitachi's development and global marketing of a new technology to interact with BSS(9) powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 as part of our partnership in Hitachi's Lumada Project. To help our customers accelerate digital transformation, a reliable cloud platform that leverages existing investments on open source and hosts them is required. Particularly, the industrial sector is in need of operational efficiency enhancement based on the IoT technology, and the technology developed by Hitachi, its innovativeness as well as fusion of existing applications and data is highly expected to drive forward digital transformation of our customers. Microsoft Japan will continue to contribute to further development of our customers' business through our collaboration with Hitachi in the global partnership framework."

(1) MATLAB and Simulink are registered trademarks of The MathWorks, Inc. MATLAB and Simulink are data analytics and simulation platforms.
(2) Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a cloud business application that supports activities necessary for cooperative operations.
(3) OT: Operational Technology
(4) GUI: Graphical User Interface, the interface which utilizes visual images in displaying information from computers to users.
(5) Node-RED is a "coding-less" programming tool developed by IBM which was donated to the JS Foundation, a project of the Linux Foundation, a non-commercial organization that provides support for a variety of open-source activities. The Node-RED website
(6) Hitachi News Release dated 9 August 2017, "Technology development to enhance the functionality of the Node-RED programming tool for easier system collaboration."
(7) OSS: Open Source Software
(8) JS Foundation
(9) BSS: Business Support System

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2014 (ended March 31, 2015) totaled 9,761 billion yen ($81.3 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes power & infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at www.hitachi.com.

Contact:
Hitachi Ltd Corporate Communications Tel: +81-3-3258-1111

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

AbbVie and Eisai Announce the Launch of HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 20 mg Syringe 0.2 mL

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A New Pediatric Formulation of HUMIRA

TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - AbbVie GK and Eisai Co., Ltd. announced that HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 20 mg Syringe 0.2 mL, a new pediatric formulation of HUMIRA (generic name: adalimumab [recombinant]), a fully human anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody formulation, has been launched today after being listed in the National Health Insurance reimbursement price list on June 15.

HUMIRA has an indication of "treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)" that develops in pediatric patients.

HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 20 mg Syringe 0.2 mL is a higher-concentration formulation, which is produced by removing some excipients, and has the same active ingredient as that of, HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 20 mg Syringe 0.4 mL that has been commercially available since September 2011. It has also the same formulation and concentration as those of HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 40 mg Syringe 0.4 mL and HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 80 mg Syringe 0.8 mL that were launched in November 2016. Outside of Japan, two phase 2, randomized, single- blind, two-period crossover studies were conducted with HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 40 mg Syringe 0.4 mL, to compare injected site-related pain between this higher- concentration formulation and the former formulation, using a visual analog scale (VAS). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a significantly lower VAS pain score after injection of the higher- concentration formulation, as compared with the former formulation.

JIA is an autoimmune disease that generally affects children under 16 years of age and is an umbrella term used to define a group of conditions occurring among children that include some form of chronic arthritis. In Japan, JIA affects 10-15 persons per 100,000 children, and is designated as an incurable disease by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Polyarticular JIA is a type of JIA which involves five or more joints. Symptoms include painful and swollen joints, limping, morning stiffness, decreased activity and the reluctance to use an arm or leg.
AbbVie and Eisai will continue to promote and provide information on the proper use of HUMIRA while making further contributions to improve the quality of life of patients including children.

About HUMIRA

HUMIRA is a fully human anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody formulation. In Japan, it is approved for the indications of "the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (including inhibition of the progression of structural damage), the treatment of plaque psoriasis, arthritic psoriasis, pustular psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis*, intestinal Behcet's disease, and non-infectious uveitis, posterior uveitis or panuveitis, induction and maintenance therapy for moderate to severely active Crohn's disease (limited to patients who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy), and treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (limited to patients who have had an inadequate response to conventional therapy ).

*HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 80 mg Syringe 0.8 mL and HUMIRA for Subcutaneous Injection 80 mg Pen 0.8 mL are yet to be approved for this indication.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world's most complex and critical conditions. The company's mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience. In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com.

About Eisai

Eisai Co., Ltd. (TSE:4523; ADR:ESALY) is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three therapeutic areas: integrative neuroscience, including neurology and psychiatric medicines; integrative oncology, which encompasses oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments; and vascular/immunological reaction. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.

Contact:
Public Affairs Division AbbVie GK Public Relations Department +81-(0)3-4577-1112 Eisai Co., Ltd. +81-(0)3-3817-5120

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

HKBU scholars invent award-winning medical device for safe growth of neural stem cells using nanotechnology

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Professor Ken Yung (right) and Dr Jeffery Huang (left) jointly invent the award-winning medical device for safe growth of neural stem cells using nanotechnology. Dr Huang is holding a piece of device.
(Left) A diagram showing neural stem cell differentiation: the neural stem cell placed on the nano-matrix becomes a functional cell; and (right) it shows the structure of the lightning type ("Z" shape) of the nano-matrix.
HONG KONG, Jun 21, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - The research team of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) invented a medical device with a specific nanotechnology layer for the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro. Compared with traditional methods, the team's novel matrix can reduce the risk of carcinogenesis or inflammation in stem cell therapy - a treatment that offers hope of a cure for incurable diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, chronic systemic diseases and degenerative joint diseases. This pioneering invention won the team the Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury at the 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva held in Switzerland in April 2018. The application for a US patent has been filed.

The team was jointly led by Professor Ken Yung Kin-lam of the Department of Biology and Associate Professor Dr Jeffery Huang Zhifeng of the Department of Physics.

Professor Ken Yung said, "With the global population aging rapidly, neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease) are regarded as the main threat and burden to global healthcare. Recently, scientists have turned their focus on cell replacement therapies, including stem cell therapy, which have shown huge promise in treating neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cell therapy is a treatment using stem cells to cultivate new and normal cells, tissues or organs and then transplanted to people to restore physiological function by replacing damaged or dead cells."

"Traditional methods for proliferation and differentiation of NSCs require a large number of additional growth factors in a culture medium, which are kinds of polypeptides and can regulate many aspects of cellular function that may stimulate the growth of cancer cells and increase the risk of developing tumours in vivo after transplantation," Professor Yung added.

Dr Jeffery Huang said that the layer of nanostructure of their new invention is made of biocompatible materials, and avoids the use of additional growth factor or other biochemical for cultivating cells. After growth and cell differentiation, it is hoped that the mature cell can turn into a therapeutic agent for stem cell therapy.

Dr Huang said, "The NSCs are under 'physical massage' when they come into physiological contact with the matrix we developed. Owing to the appropriate design and choice of materials and structure of the matrix, the 'physical massage' resembles the Chinese medicine acupuncture technique which causes the cells to differentiate into functional cells that are in urgent demand in cell replacement therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases, cancers and tumours. Importantly, the physical massage, which minimises the use of growth factors, should substantially reduce the risk of carcinogenesis in clinical trials."

Professor Ken Yung said, "The novel matrix enables scientists to cultivate NSCs by adopting the usual method, however with the added advantage of organic compounds (like Polylysine and Polyornithine) being excluded from the process, thereby reducing the potential risk of carcinogenesis or inflammation in stem cell therapy. It could provide a safe platform for research into stem cell therapies using the latest, novel nanotechnology, and also help boost the development of regenerative medicine."

Making use of the proprietary invention, the team has established Mat-A-Cell Limited with the aim of providing an advanced device to research institutions and companies that develop cell therapy.

For more details, please refer to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Hi-fusocY

Press release distributed by ResearchSEA for Hong Kong Baptist University.

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Tubatu, China's No.1 online home renovation platform may seek listing in Hong Kong soon upon Qeeka Home's IPO

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HONG KONG, Jun 21, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Hong Kong stock market may welcome two online home renovation en-terprises which are booming in China's Internet home renovation in-dustry, a blue-sea market now worth RMB4 trillion (c.USD620 billion): Qeeka Home, which has commenced global roadshow from this Tues-day, and the other one is Tubatu, the No.1 player of the industry.

Having passed the hearing of the HKEX on 15 June, Qeeka Home will be officially listed in the Hong Kong capital market next month at the earli-est. Market news indicates that Tubatu intends to seek IPO on the HKEX soon. In just a few months, the two industrial leaders in China's online home renovation market are seeking listings in Hong Kong where the two giants will compete directly in the capital market.

According to the industrial statistics from various third parties, for in-stance, the "2018 China Household and Health Consumption White Pa-per" by ebrun.com suggests that in terms of online home renovation, a sector developing with strong momentum in China's enormous home renovation market, Tubatu has the largest user base followed by Qeeka Home. According to statistics from Analysys.com, a consultant providing big data analysis, Tubatu and Qeeka Home ranked first and second re-spectively in terms of market share. While Qeeka Home started its busi-ness on the basis of home expo and collective purchase of construction materials and subsequently made a move to the internet interior design and construction sector, Tubatu was born with internet development gene from the very beginning.

Since 2008 till now, Tubatu has been committed to building its platform model, from an information service platform to trading service platform in the early phase and has evolved into today's empowerment plat-form.

In the information service platform stage, Tubatu bridge the information gap by matching trades. With the launch of Yun Kou Bei evalua-tion system, Tubatu revolutionized the traditional marketing and client acquisition method of interior design and construction companies as well as ways to find renovation companies for property owners. "Zhuang Xiu Bao" marks another milestone made by Tubatu, upon which Tubatu partnered with third party financial institutions to launch supply chain financing services in order to resolve the cash flow prob-lems encountered in the operation of renovation companies.

At present, Tubatu plays an empowerment role. On one hand, it contin-uously improves users' decision making scenarios and trading scenari-os through renovation Q&A, renovation tips and renovation insurance products etc., so as to offer users a sense of trust and security in their renovation process; on the other hand, through big data analysis, Tuba-tu accurately matches property owners with 80,000 quality renovation companies and assists renovation companies in implementing accurate marketing strategy. Meanwhile, the establishment of Yun Kou Bei eval-uation system enables renovation companies to accumulate reputation and to make breakthroughs with their reputation while further lowering their costs in client acquisition.

Is Tubatu, the online home renovation platform with the largest user base and market share and valued at over US$2bn in its C round financ-ing, a much better investment target?

Home renovation market in China, a RMB4 trillion (USD620 billion) blue sea

There is no giants in home renovation industry.

According to the official data of China Building Decoration Decorate As-sociation (CBDDA), China's construction and decoration industry amounted to 3 trillion in total in 2014, with nearly 150,000 participants. In 2015, with the expansion of the "new middle class", the total scale of the home renovation industry had exceeded trillion.

However, in such a typically "scattered" market, hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized renovation companies and construction teams, which are the main force providing home decoration services, competing for that multi trillion Renminbi market. According to the data of CBDDA , there were approximately 132,000 companies in the con-struction, decoration and renovation industry in 2016, and Dong Yi Ri Sheng, an established company in traditional renovation market, rec-orded an operating revenue of approximately RMB3 billion in 2016, ac-counting for only 0.2% of the entire domestic renovation market.

In face of the scattered industrial landscape, it is easy to understand why BAT, though launched business covering almost all aspects of our daily life in the past decade, still hesitates to get a toehold in the interior ren-ovation field.

Currently, the growth in the online home renovation market is accelerat-ing. Its expansion is not only facilitated by the current new renovation market volume, but is also driven by second renovation and even reno-vation for rented houses. According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, it is expected that in the next four years the CAGR of China's online home renovation market will reach 58.4% and the penetration rate of internet domestic renovation in the entire home renovation industry can reach 38.1%.

Throughout the development of internet, Tencent and Baidu dominated the market, but now Alibaba and JD.com are taking the lead. As the whirlwind storming from "light model" to "heavy industry", online home design and construction market will embrace a blossom since 2018.

The internet dividend benefits the home renovation industry in the year 2015 which marks the "birth of internet home renovation" market. Yet, it is also regarded as the watershed for the industry. According to the data from iResearch, the fund raising projects in the internet home reno-vation industry in 2015 increased to 123 from 41 in the prior year. The self-operation model ushered in by iKongjian has become a new fashion followed by a flock of internet home renovation companies. However, in the end of 2015, only half of over 200 internet home renovation plat-forms survived.

The growing pains last. In 2017, there were only 19 fund raising projects launched by internet home renovation platforms, accounting for just one-fifteen of that in 2015. Nevertheless, the market has been growing bigger and bigger under the combined effect of political policy sup-ports and rising market demand. Many enterprises, in the mean time, stand out in industry reshuffle, such as Tubatu and Qeeka Home, enjoy-ing another wave of internet dividend in the industry. .

Industry transformation in 3620 days by Tubatu

Reviewing the development progress of the home renovation industry, the history of Tubatu reflects how the internet has been influencing and revolutionizing home renovation industry.

In its progress of becoming a nationwide online one-stop home renova-tion platform, first of its kind, Tubatu has undergone three major trans-formations, from matching information to trades, from building mutual trust to supervising the use of fund subsequently (including quality in-spection and supervision services), from focusing on product manage-ment service of supply chain to providing one-stop interior design and construction services. Tubatu provides solutions to all demands related to home renovation.

Tubatu, in the beginning, tried to improve how the industry connects, in order to re-balance the information asymmetry. At that time, Tubatu was very similar to 58.com, a information sharing website. Tubatu was the first company that rolled out the platform model, establishing Yun Kou Bei based on trade matching services. By breaching the information gap, the original method of marketing and client acquisition of renova-tion companies and the traditional ways of property owners to find renovation companies thus transformed.

In 2012, the launch of "Zhuang Xiu Bao" is the second milestone achieved by Tubatu, the Alibaba of the home renovation industry. Zhuang Xiu Bao also earned the name of "Alipay-like system for Home Renovation Sector", on which users can entrust their funds and Tubatu will transfer the money to renovation companies batch-by-batch based on the construction progress. After solving the safety issue of renova-tion funds, Tubatu partnered with third party financial institutions to launch supply chain finance, such as financial loan products, renovation loan products at consumption end and insurance extension products co-launched with insurance companies, so as to resolve the cash flow prob-lems encountered in the operation of renovation companies.

Tubatu now serves as the infrastructure service provider of the industry, and supply chain-related services have also evolved at this stage. On one hand, it continuously improves users' decision making scenarios and trading scenarios through renovation Q&A, renovation tips, renova-tion insurance products etc., so as to offer users a sense of trust and se-curity in their renovation process; on the other hand, through big data analysis, Tubatu accurately matches property owners with 80,000 quality renovation companies and assists renovation companies in implement-ing accurate marketing strategy.

From this perspective, Tubatu is more than a data platform but a Tecent-like open platform on which both upstream and downstream partici-pants are able to integrate and achieve win-win situation.

That is how Tubatu differs from other internet home renovation plat-forms. When other interior renovation industry participants are still op-erating in form of direct-sale stores, Tubatu is ready to develop from a whole industrial chain angle to establish infrastructure for the home ren-ovation industry.

Tubatu defines future and transformation

The development of mobile internet has redefined many industries in more than a decade. Information asymmetry and unsatisfactory services are regarded as "growing pains" by the "pioneers" who ushered in a new era. During this period, WeChat, Toutiao and DiDi emerged, revo-lutionizing traditional industries.

While the internet was undergoing re-organization, two important data platforms, Alibaba and Tencent, were born. Meanwhile, Tubatu was do-ing the same thing -- focusing on constructing a platform ecosystem. It took Tubatu ten years to explore the chain in the "deep water area" and construct infrastructure in the "deep water area". After the com-pletion of the platform infrastructure, the new direction and strategy of Tubatu have been transformed into online, data intelligence and net-work synergy.

The "Hundred Million Plan", proposed by Wang Guobin, the chairman and CEO of Tubatu, targets to "nurture 1000 enterprises with annual revenue exceeding RMB100 million and 10,000 enterprises with annual revenue exceeding RMB10 million" in the next five years. As an industry empowerment plan proposed after the upgrade of its platform strategy, Tubatu will enable all market participants gain the ac-cess to resources on the platform and create an empowerment pan-home renovation platform with all the service providers in the home renovation industry, and further re-construct the relationship between enterprises and consumers.

"Empowerment" is the key to realize the plan, which is also the platform value reaffirmed by Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com on various occasions. In order to realize the "Hundred Million Plan", Tubatu has upgraded the three major systems of the empowerment platform, including a new credit system, a new efficiency system and a new organ-ization system.

In these three major systems, Tubatu will gather a large amount of UGC through this platform for content accumulation and social interaction and will effectively match the supply of enterprises with the demand of consumers by changing the connection of home renovation, and enter-prises with good reputation will be recommended to and known by more customers. Moreover, through the Tumax3D cloud design system, Tubatu will be deeply engaged in each of every phase of design, prod-ucts and construction, consolidate the construction and operation sys-tem, and forward the demand feedback data to B end and F end via big data analysis and consumption behavior data of users, thus enhancing operating efficiency. After the empowerment in aspects of credit and ef-ficiency Tubatu will provide marketing, IT technology, quality inspection, procurement, logistics and installation services, further improve the service capability and renovation quality of enterprises by facilitating en-terprises to concentrate on design and construction only.

In the future, the online home renovation platform will become an eco-system that empowers outstanding designers and renovation companies in the industry. At this stage, Tubatu will serve as a platform to assist business startups and innovation in the industry. Independent IPs such as some famous designers will emerge from the platform when VR, AR and other technologies will be widely used.

With such an ecosystem, Tubatu will become a hub and engine connect-ing multiple ends while expanding the boundary and capability of the platform and eventually achieving network synergy. The future of net-work synergy will be relocation costs growing without a ceiling. In the same case as WeChat, when user group is large enough, the platform can hardly be replaced by other instant communication tools.

China's online home renovation market reveals a huge potential, and therefore giving rise to unlimited possibilities in the future. Today, Qeeka Home makes the first attempt in the capital market, while in future online home renovation market, especially industrial leaders will defi-nitely attract more attentions of an increasing number of investors . If Tubatu files for Hong Kong IPO in the near future as market news indi-cates, it will, undoubtedly, be an event more worth waiting for in the capital market.


 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Mitsubishi Corporation Named Preferred Bidder for Offshore Transmission Asset in the UK

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TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Diamond Transmission Corporation (DTC), has been selected as the preferred bidder for a new, offshore electricity transmission link in the UK. This marks the sixth electricity transmission project for MC in the UK. The new offshore electricity transmission asset connects the Race Bank Offshore Windfarm (generation capacity of 573MW), situated approximately 27 km off the country's eastern coast, with the Walpole substation which is owned by National Grid. The transmission line is composed of subsea cable, land cable, and offshore and onshore substations, and is valued at GBP 500.9 million, making it one of the largest among operational offshore transmission link assets in the UK.

MC will execute this electricity transmission business for a 20-year period starting around March 2019, following successful acquisition of the asset and the granting of an Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) license by the UK's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem).

With the acquisition of the Race Bank Offshore Windfarm transmission link, DTC will be operating six out of 18 offshore transmission assets in the UK. Combined with four others held in Germany, the number of power transmission assets held by DTC in Europe will add up to ten, with a gross transmission length of approximately 960 km and an electricity transmission capacity of around 5 GW.

DTC holds a highly qualified in-house professional technical and accounting team, in addition to the support of professionals dispatched from MC. Ever since entering the offshore power transmission business in 2011, MC has actively worked on the acquisition and management of assets in Europe. Through DTC, MC seeks to further expand its investments in offshore transmission assets in Europe.

A European Commission roadmap suggests that by 2050, the EU will aim to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of levels in 1990. In line with that target, the EU expects to generate some 50 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030. The expansion of renewable energy, which depends on surrounding environmental conditions for power generation, creates increasing importance for stably operated power transmission systems. MC sees its participation in offshore transmission as an opportunity to realize MC's vision of simultaneously generating economic, societal and environmental value through its businesses.

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC; TSE: 8058) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry, including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, and daily living essentials. MC's current activities have expanded far beyond its traditional trading operations to include investments and business management in diverse fields including natural resources development, manufacturing of industrial goods, retail, new energy, infrastructure, finance and new technology-related businesses.

With over 200 offices and subsidiaries in 90 countries and regions worldwide and a network of approximately 1,300 group companies, MC employs a multinational workforce of over 70,000 people.

For more information, visit https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/

Contact:
Mitsubishi Corporation Telephone: +81 3 3210 2171 Facsimile: +81 3 5252 7705

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

Fujitsu Completes Post-K Supercomputer CPU Prototype, Begins Functionality Trials

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An update on the development status of post-K

TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited and RIKEN today announced that the joint development of post-K, a supercomputer that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has set forth as a successor to the K computer, is moving forward, with the goal of beginning full operations around 2021. Fujitsu has now completed the prototype CPU chip that will serve as the core of post-K, commencing functionality field trials. With post-K, Fujitsu and RIKEN aim to create the world's highest-performing supercomputer, capable of tackling a broad range of applications to solve problems not only in the area of science and technology, but to play a role in a wide variety of issues in society. To realize this goal, Fujitsu has adopted the widely used Arm instruction set architecture (ISA) in the CPU, while implementing expanded instructions newly formulated for supercomputers. In addition to further enhancing the high memory bandwidth and double-precision arithmetic performance implemented in the K computer, Fujitsu has also added support for half-precision arithmetic, which remains critical to fields like AI. Now, by verifying the initial operation of prototype CPU chips meeting these design standards, Fujitsu and RIKEN have smoothly cleared an important milestone in system development. Moving forward, Fujitsu and RIKEN will continue development with an eye toward completing post-K and commencing full operations. The post-K prototype will be exhibited at ISC 2018, a significant international conference and exhibition for high performance computing, which will be held in Germany from June 24-28.

Background

Fujitsu and RIKEN began joint development of the K computer in 2006, which was completed and commenced full operations in 2012. The K computer continues to deliver world-leading performance on major indicators of practical supercomputer performance, operating as an indispensable R&D platform for cutting-edge research. As a successor to the K computer, post-K is also expected to simultaneously serve as a cutting-edge R&D platform for resolving a variety of scientific and society-wide issues, as well as an important platform supporting the attainment of "Society 5.0"(1), a new, human-centric society envisioned by the Japanese government. Fujitsu began basic design work with RIKEN in October 2014, undertaking co-design work with application developers in a variety of fields while pushing forward with prototyping and detailed specifications.

Development Status of Post-K

Fujitsu and RIKEN have adopted the widely used Arm architecture, envisioning utilization by a broader user base. In addition to this, Fujitsu worked with Arm to contribute to the Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) in the Armv8-A architecture, which significantly extends the vector processing capabilities for HPC systems, and adopted the results. Post-K is also expected to see expanded use in the AI field, delivering support for half-precision arithmetic, important in workloads such as deep learning, as well as the double-precision arithmetic essential for use cases including computer simulations. Now that Fujitsu has completed CPU chip prototypes and verified their initial operation, it will commence with functionality trials. Going forward, it will continue further development with RIKEN.

Overview of the Post-K System

Fujitsu and RIKEN continue to improve on the technology first introduced in the K computer, which has a proven record for availability and real-world performance, developing post-K as a supercomputer that offers top-class, real-world performance for a wide variety of application software. The CPUs, which form the core of the system, utilize the Arm8-A SVE architecture, building on the microarchitecture hardware design experience Fujitsu has cultivated through previous supercomputer development projects, including the K computer. With the memory bandwidth delivered by high performance stacked memory computational performance, the post-K system is optimized to achieve high-level, real-world application performance. Moreover, by utilizing cutting-edge semiconductor technology and by incorporating an energy-saving design and power control functionality, the CPUs deliver excellent energy savings for its performance. Fujitsu will continue to provide compatibility with the K computer in the system software for post-K, including in the program development environment. By maintaining continuity in language specifications and microarchitecture, the program assets built up for the K computer can be reliably migrated by recompiling them, which can preserve performance standards. In addition, system software developed by RIKEN, including McKernel, XcalableMP, and FDPS ("Framework for Developing Particle Simulator"), can also be used. Fujitsu anticipates that these assets will prove useful in further improving the real-world performance and convenience of the system. The Arm architecture used in post-K has been accepted by a wide range of developers and users. Joining this community will make it possible for post-K to utilize a wide range of software assets, including open source software. By simultaneously feeding back the results and technology attained through the development of post-K into the community, Fujitsu also hopes it will contribute to the creation of an ecosystem around the Arm architecture. Fujitsu and RIKEN are continuing development with the goal of generating cutting-edge research results through the use of post-K. This includes resolving scientific and society-wide issues in areas such as health and longevity, disaster prevention and mitigation, energy, and manufacturing, to effectively contribute to enhanced industrial competitiveness.

System Characteristics

Post-K will be a system featuring world-leading capabilities in (1) energy consumption performance, (2) computational capability, (3) ease of use and convenience for users, and (4) generating groundbreaking results, surpassing other systems around the world in overall strength. Moreover, Fujitsu and RIKEN are collaboratively developing both the system and its applications, aiming for the world's highest level of versatility, up to one hundred times the application execution performance of the K computer, and a power consumption of 30-40 MW (compared with 12.7 MW for the K computer).

Research Topics Using Post-K

Post-K is expected to generate world-leading results, particularly in scientific and society-wide issues that should be the focus of efforts (priority issues and emerging issues), as shown below. For this reason, Fujitsu and RIKEN are undertaking co-design work with application developers for these issues in post-K system development, with the goal of delivering outstanding performance in a wide range of fields of use.

Priority Issues

1. The creation of a revolutionary drug discovery platform through functional control of biomolecular systems
2. Integrated computational life sciences supporting individualized and preventative medicine
3. The creation of integrative prediction systems for compound disasters caused by earthquakes and tsunamis
4. Improved predictions of the climate and global environment using observational big data
5. The development of new foundational technologies for the efficient creation, conversion, storage and use of energy
6. The development of practical implementations for revolutionary green energy systems
7. The creation of high performance materials and devices offering new functionality supporting next-generation manufacturing
8. The development of revolutionary design and manufacturing processes leading near future manufacturing
9. The elucidation of evolution and the fundamental laws of the universe

Emerging Issues

1. Taking on the challenges of the outermost frontiers of foundational science
2. The building of models of the interactions of multiple socioeconomic phenomena, and research into their applications
3. Clarifying the processes surrounding the formation of extra-solar planets (new earths), and of environmental change on planets in this solar system
4. The elucidation of the mechanisms of the neural circuitry that produces thought, and its application to artificial intelligence

Comments from Fujitsu, RIKEN, and Arm

Comment from SEVP Akira Kabemoto, Head of the Service Platform Business at Fujitsu Limited

We are extremely pleased to announce genuine progress in the development of the post-K computer. Fujitsu has been developing and delivering the world's top level supercomputers for over 40 years. The use of supercomputers has expanded beyond contributing to the development of science and technology through simulation to encompass areas like AI, emphasizing their importance as part of the infrastructure of society. With post-K, I believe we've combined all the various, cutting-edge technologies we have developed until now to create the world's leading supercomputer. We hope this will ultimately contribute to the achievement of an abundant, human-centric future filled with dreams.

Comment from Satoshi Matsuoka, Director, RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS)

Because an architecture suited for high performance computing was co-designed by Fujitsu and R-CCS, the post-K processors are expected to (1) deliver performance far surpassing that of existing general-purpose server processers for many supercomputer applications, and (2) considerably raising the system's usability by using a broad software ecosystem through the adoption of the Arm instruction set, while at the same time (3) delivering top-class performance not just in simulations, but also in a wide range of fields related to Society 5.0, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, security and blockchain technology, big data, and IoT. In this way, I am certain that post-K will not only contribute world-leading performance to meet the concerns of the people of Japan, it will also be a sign of the revitalization of Japan's semiconductor technology. Having now verified the operation of the prototype CPU as planned, we have cleared a major step in the path to full operation of post-K around 2021, as well as toward subsequent developments. Going forward, R-CCS intends to even more vigorously pursue research and development, in collaboration with other related parties, in order to begin operations using post-K, the world's top supercomputer, as soon as possible. Please look forward to it.

Comment from Drew Henry, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm

Arm has been deeply engaged with both Fujitsu and RIKEN, working to build an HPC ecosystem for the Armv8-A SVE architecture, opening a new chapter for Arm technology to scale the levels of vector processing. Our collaboration with Fujitsu and RIKEN represents our ongoing commitment to maximizing the success of the post-K design and marks a significant step toward deploying Arm-based technologies for HPC and potentially for a broader set of emerging applications.

(1) Society 5.0 A human-centric society that delivers both economic development and resolutions to societal issues through systems that fuse cyberspace (virtual spaces) and physical space (the real world) at a high level.

About Fujitsu Ltd

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

* Please see this press release, with images, at:
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/

Contact:
RIKEN Center for Computational Science Computational Science Promotion Office E-mail: r-ccs-koho@ml.riken.jp Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

NEC Establishes NEC Laboratories India

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- Developing "solutions for society" for provision throughout the world -

TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) today announced the establishment of NEC Laboratories India (NLI), a solutions and technology research and development site in Mumbai, India, aiming for the global expansion of its solutions for society business.

The new laboratories will be established in July 2018 within NEC Technologies India Private Limited (NECTI), where Akihiko Iketani, senior manager, Central Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, is slated to lead operations. By employing highly skilled IT talent and conducting joint research with academia, customers and partners, NLI will promote the agile development and commercialization of solutions for India and other emerging countries in collaboration with NECTI's Centers of Excellence(1) (NECTI CoE).

Aiming to launch new business utilizing local know-how and big data, which are acquired through existing business and partnerships, such as the system integration for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in India and logistics visualization services, NLI will engage in the creation of new solutions in the fields of public transportation and logistics, public safety, digital government and cashless payment.

The annual growth rate of GDP in India is between +7 to 8% on average, and the country's ICT market is expected to achieve annual revenue of 51 billion USD by 2020, becoming the largest market in the Asia-Pacific region(2). Moreover, in support of developing a livable and sustainable society, the Indian Government is looking to invest 50 billion USD annually in smart cities projects. Coupled with this, the increasing need for anti-terrorism measures has caused a sharp rise in demand for public safety solutions.

Positioning the safety business as a global growth engine in its "Mid-Term Management Plan 2020," covering the three-year period until FY2020, NEC aims to promote the expansion of "NEC Safer Cities" business, including public safety, digital government and smart transportation.

As part of these efforts, NLI will accelerate and strengthen the development of solutions for society and promote the spread of solutions from India to other emerging countries, while blazing a successful path of reverse innovation to markets throughout the world.

"We need to take a long-term perspective and address community-based research and development activities to win the confidence of local customers and partners. The establishment of a research and development site in India, where there is a wealth of IT talent, will enable us to create solutions that are valuable for the whole world through agile research and development," said Motoo Nishihara, senior vice president, NEC Corporation.

Please see the following URL for more information on NEC Safer Cities:
https://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/safercities/

(1) NECTI Center of Excellence:
A development site with advanced know-how that operates in a wide array of fields, including Biometrics, Analytics and Retail
(2) According to NEC research as of June 19, 2018

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.

Based on its Mid-term Management Plan 2015, the NEC Group globally provides "Solutions for Society" that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company's corporate message of "Orchestrating a brighter world," NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.

Contact:
NEC Seiichiro Toda s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com +81-3-3798-6511

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

Furuya Metal to Invest in Enhancing the Ruthenium Refining Capability of Tsuchiura Plant

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Exterior view of Tsuchiura Plant (as of May 2014)
Planning to Increase Capability to Approximately 60 Tons Per Year by December 2019 in Response to Growing Demand for High-Purity Ruthenium for Hard Disks Within and Outside Japan

TOKYO, Jun 21, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Furuya Metal Co., Ltd. announced that it will invest in enhancing the ruthenium (Ru) refining capability of its Tsuchiura Plant (located at Sawabe in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki).

Furuya Metal's Tsuchiura Plant has refining and recovery lines for high-purity ruthenium targets (thin film materials), catalysts, and other products, and is able to carry out high-purity refining within short time frames.

This capability-enhancement investment is in response to the growing demand, both within Japan as well as overseas, for high-purity ruthenium targets used in hard disks. The scale of the investment is 1.6 billion yen, with the first phase of 600 million yen planned to be invested by the end of December 2018. Through the first phase of investment, the refining and recovery capability for ruthenium will be increased by approximately one ton monthly, from the current 2.4 tons monthly to 3.5 tons monthly. This increases the annual capability by 12 tons.

Furthermore, the remaining one billion yen will be invested by December 2019 during the second phase of the investment. The plan is to put in place a system to handle the growing demand for targets as well as chemical products such as catalysts. Through the second phase of investment, ruthenium refining and recovery capability will be further increased, bringing it up to five tons per month. This will bring refining and recovery capability to approximately 60 tons each year, which is almost double the current capability.

Overview of Tsuchiura Plant
- Location: Tsuchiura Plant (located at Sawabe in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki), Furuya Metal Co., Ltd.
- Floor area: Approximately 6,400 m2
- Business scope: Refining and recovery of ruthenium and iridium

Background of the investment for enhancing ruthenium refining capability
With systems moving to the cloud, the spread and sophistication of smart phones, big data utilization, progress in IoT and AI, and coupled with other factors such as autonomous driving of cars, data centers are rapidly increasing around the world to record and store the enormous and rapidly-expanding data. Most of the data is stored on hard disk drives (HDD). Each hard disk drive contains several pieces of hard disks, and the number of hard disks within a drive continues to grow each year. High-purity ruthenium targets are essential for hard disks, and it is expected that there will be a long-term increase in demand for them. In addition, the demand for solid state drives (SSD) is also expected to increase, but hard disks can be said to have an advantage from cost and other aspects. Moving forward, it is expected that segregation based on their respective functions will be carried out while responding to the rapid expansion of data storage.

Furthermore, Furuya Metal's ruthenium targets have received high recognition in mass-production prototypes for the next-generation semiconductor memory known as spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory (STT-MRAM)*1. The increase in demand for ruthenium targets is expected to further grow together with the establishing of the market for STT-MRAM from 2020 onward. In addition, the demand for highly-functional chemical catalysts is also expected to increase with their use as an environmental measure. These and other factors make it essential to increase the refining and recovery capability for ruthenium, which led to the capability-enhancement investment this time.

*1 STT-MRAM refers to magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) which utilizes a technology known as spin-transfer torque (STT) for writing data.

Press release (PDF): http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/598/180621_EN.pdf


Overview of Furuya Metal Co., Ltd.
Furuya Metal manufactures industrial-use precious metal products utilizing precious metals with high scarcity value included among platinum group metals (PGM) such as platinum (Pt), iridium (Ir) and ruthenium (Ru). Due to the extreme difficulty in processing these precious metals, the number of industrial-use precious metal manufacturers specializing in PGM is limited even on a worldwide level. Industrial-use precious metals centered on PGM, could be considered to be materials with a vital role in supporting advancements in the fields of electronics, optical glass, clean energy, environment and medicine because of their excellent characteristics such as heat resistance, chemical stability and good electrical conductivity.

The Company specializes in PGM with particularly excellent properties among precious metals, and manufactures and sells industrial-use precious metal products such as crucibles (heat-resistant containers), thin film materials and thermocouples (thermometers).

Headquarters: MSB-21 Minami Otsuka Bldg., 2-37-5 Minami Otsuka, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Takahito Furuya, President
Founded: March 1951
Incorporated: August 22, 1968
Capital: 5,445 million yen
Listed exchange: JASDAQ Standard (Securities code: 7826)
Employees: 305 (as of June 30, 2017)
Sales: 14,742 million yen (as of June 30, 2017)
Areas of business: Manufacture and sales of industrial-use precious metal products such as iridium and platinum, and thermosensors. Sales of electronic materials and semiconductor-related products. Manufacture and sales of thin film components.
Website: http://www.furuyametals.co.jp/english/

Press inquiries
Furuya Metal Co., Ltd.
America, Europe & Southeast Asian Markets, Sales Division
Hideki Kuwabara
E-mail: kuwabara@furuyametals.co.jp

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Verisk Acquires Validus-IVC

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Acquisition positions Verisk as leading UK provider of data-driven solutions for the life of a claim

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jun 21, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK), a leading data analytics provider, today announced it has acquired Validus-IVC, a top provider of claims management solutions and developer of the leading subrogation portal in the UK, verify(TM). Validus-IVC has offices in Norwich and Bath, United Kingdom.

The integration of Validus-IVC's verify platform with Verisk's industry-leading global claims analytic services will allow customers to take advantage of enhanced analytic and technology tools to help improve and automate the claims settlement process. With the addition of a well-established subrogation platform to its existing claims solution set, Verisk is uniquely positioned to support the UK insurance market at every stage in the life of a claim.

"We're pleased to offer our UK customers access to our distinctive cloud-based platform that enables the exchange of claims information in real time and provides automated processing for reduced expenses and greater claims outcome consistency," said Mark Anquillare, chief operating officer of Verisk. "With the acquisition of Validus-IVC, we look forward to the growth of our combined analytical products for the benefit of the UK insurance market."

"We're excited to join Verisk because this will provide us additional opportunities to accelerate our momentum in the UK claims market," said Edwyn van Rooyen, chief executive officer of Validus-IVC. "We look forward to adding our offerings to Verisk's comprehensive suite of data-driven claims solutions."

About Validus-IVC
Validus-IVC Ltd. was established in May 2007 to provide claims management and analysis services to the UK motor insurance industry. Since then, the business has evolved significantly, with a proprietary software platform, verify(TM), now providing settlements for a sizable volume of motor repair and mobility claims both in the UK and overseas. For more information about Validus-IVC, please visit www.validus-ivc.co.uk.

About Verisk
Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) is a leading data analytics provider serving customers in insurance, energy and specialized markets, and financial services. Using advanced technologies to collect and analyze billions of records, Verisk draws on unique data assets and deep domain expertise to provide first-to-market innovations that are integrated into customer workflows. Verisk offers predictive analytics and decision support solutions to customers in rating, underwriting, claims, catastrophe and weather risk, global risk analytics, natural resources intelligence, economic forecasting, and many other fields. Around the world, Verisk helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets.

Headquartered in Jersey City, N.J., Verisk operates in 30 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's S&P 500(R) Index. In 2017, Forbes magazine named Verisk to its America's Best Mid-Size Employers list and to its World's Most Innovative Companies list. Verisk is one of only seven companies to appear on both lists. For more information, please visit www.verisk.com.

Contact:
Investor Relations
Lee Shavel
Chief Financial Officer
Verisk
201-469-2073
IR@verisk.com

Media
Rich Tauberman
MWWPR (for Verisk)
202-600-4546
rtauberman@mww.com

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This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Verisk Analytics Inc. via Globenewswire

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

NANOBIOTIX announces positive phase II/III topline data in soft tissue sarcoma with NBTXR3

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- Trial achieved its primary endpoint of pathological Complete Response Rate
- Trial achieved its secondary endpoint in operability (R0 rate)
- NBTXR3 demonstrated significant superiority and clinical benefits for patients versus standard of care
- Safety profile confirmed
- Randomized trial validated the first-in-class mode of action of NBTXR3

Paris, France and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Jun 22, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - NANOBIOTIX (Euronext: NANO - ISIN: FR0011341205), a late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering new approaches in the treatment of cancer, announced today positive topline results of the Phase II/III act.in.sarc trial evaluating NBTXR3 in Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS).

"Data are exceptional and show without any doubt an improvement of radiation therapy impact with a significant number of complete response. NBTXR3 can bring real benefit to patients and it can change the standard of care. This innovation will play a role in many other indications and particularly where radiotherapy is used alone."
Pr. Sylvie Bonvalot, MD, Head of Sarcoma and Complex Tumor Surgery Unit at Institut Curie, Paris, France and Global Principal Investigator of the PII/III study

NBTXR3 is a first-in-class product with a new mode of action physically destroying cancer cells when activated by radiation therapy. NBTXR3 is designed to directly destroy tumors and activate the immune system for both local control and systemic disease treatment.

The Phase II/III study was a prospective, randomized (1:1), multinational, open label and active controlled two-armed study of 180 patients with locally advanced STS. The objective of the Phase II/III trial was to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of NBTXR3 activated by radiotherapy compared to the standard of care (radiotherapy alone). Patients have been treated with the standard dose of radiation (25x2 Gy) and efficacy endpoints have been measured on surgically resected tumors.

Primary endpoint achieved in the intend-to-treat population (ITT)
The primary endpoint is the pathological Complete Response Rate (pCRR) defined as the rate of patients showing less than 5% of residual viable cancer cells in the tumor post treatment. This primary endpoint is related to NBTXR3's mode of action and product efficacy. Twice as many patients (16.1% vs 7.9%) achieved a pathological Complete Response (pCR) with NBTXR3 compared to the control arm (p = 0.0448). The significant difference observed between both arms validates the superiority of the treatment with NBTXR3 versus radiation alone.

Secondary Endpoint achieved in the ITT - Resection margins status and operability
The main secondary endpoint is the resection margin status evaluating the quality of surgery. The main objective is to achieve compartmental clean margins (negative margin defined as R0) i.e. no more cancer cells found within the surgical margins. NBTXR3 demonstrated a statistically significant increase in R0 surgical margin rate compared to radiotherapy alone (relative increase of 20%, p = 0.042). The resection with negative margins is a validated surrogate endpoint for systemic and long-term benefit for patients such as local progression free survival (PFS) and distant PFS.

Pr Jean-Yves Blay, MD, Director of the Centre Leon Berard, Lyon, France, commented, "I am amazed by the difference of Response Rate, it is extremely uncommon to double the Rate of Complete histological Response and I do not see any other strategy able to accomplish that. Even more impressive is the R0 rate, which is increased by more than 20% compared to an average rate of 64%. This difference is really impressive, considering that R0 impacts patients relapses and survival."

Safety and feasibility
NBTXR3 demonstrated a good local tolerance among this patient's population. Findings showed a very similar radiation-related safety in both arms. The patients in both the control and tested arms of the study received the planned radiotherapy (dose and schedule).

Notably, feasibility and follow-up of surgery were also equivalent. Acute immune adverse events of short duration observed in 7.9% of patients.

The Injection site caused pain in 13.5% of patients. In addition, 6.7% of patients experienced grade 1 injection site hematoma / ecchymosis.

Regarding long-term toxicity, less serious adverse events were reported for NBTXR3 arm.

Regulatory strategy and CE mark
The positive results from this study support and further validate the European regulatory strategy of the previously submitted CE marking application in STS. The company will submit the new data as a supplement to the European Notified Body in a timely manner.

Next steps
The Company will present the results at an upcoming international medical conference.

The clinical validation of NBTXR3's physical mode of action in a very heterogeneous and hard-to-treat disease strengthens the universal profile of the product and confirms the development strategy in multiple indications.

Currently, the company is evaluating NBTXR3 in seven clinical trials with a focus on head and neck cancers and Immuno-Oncology programs.

David Raben MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Cancer Center, CO, USA, commented, "These results from a Phase III study are impressive in a notoriously difficult disease like Soft Tissue Sarcoma. These cancers are generally less sensitive to radiation and previous attempts to improve local control with chemo-radiation regimens were considered too toxic. This study substantiates the medical benefit of safely enhancing the effect of radiation therapy with novel physics-based approaches delivered locally within the cancer. In addition, this product may potentiate a pro-inflammatory environment suitable for immune enabling or DNA damage inhibitor drugs. These findings set the foundation for additional studies in areas such as head and neck cancer and perhaps in areas such as high-risk prostate, bladder or pancreas cancer."

Webcast and dial-in (English) June 22 at 4pm Paris time: https://origin.yuca.tv/en/nanobiotix/press-conference-2018

For more information about the STS study: www.clinicaltrial.gov (Identifier: NCT02379845) http://www.actinsarc.com/

About PII/III clinical trial (act.in.sarc study)
Nanobiotix and its partner, PharmaEngine recruited 180 patients in 43 sites across 13 countries in Europe and Asia. The Global Principal Investigator is Pr. Sylvie Bonvalot, MD, PhD (Institut Curie, Paris, France).

Primary endpoint
Pathological complete response rate (pCRR): A pathological Complete Response is defined as the presence of less than 5% of residual malignant viable cells in the surgically removed tissue. The primary endpoint compared the proportion of patients presenting pathological Complete Response (pCR) between the two arms. This was determined by an independent pathological central review according to EORTC score (Wardelmann et al., 2016).

Main secondary endpoint
Resection margin status: The resection margin status is evaluating the quality of surgery. Surgery remains the mainstay of care for locally advanced soft tissue sarcoma. The primary surgical objective is the complete removal of the tumor with negative resection margins (R0). Several retrospective studies suggest that surgical margin status predict the risk of local and distant recurrence. In particular, negative surgical margins are significantly correlated to increased patients' survival.

About NBTXR3
NBTXR3 is a first-in-class product designed to destroy, when activated by radiotherapy:
- tumors through physical cell death
- metastasis due to immunogenic cell death leading to activation of the immune system.

NBTXR3 has a high degree of biocompatibility, requires one single administration before the whole radiotherapy treatment and has the ability to fit into current worldwide standards of radiation care.

NBTXR3 is actively being evaluated in head and neck cancer with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx in elderly and frail patients unable to receive chemotherapy or cetuximab with very limited therapeutic options. The Phase I/II trial has already delivered very promising results regarding the local control of the tumors.

Nanobiotix is running an Immuno-Oncology development program. In the U.S., the Company received the FDA's approval to launch a clinical study of NBTXR3 activated by radiotherapy in combination with anti-PD1 antibodies in lung, and head and neck cancer patients (head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer).

The other ongoing studies are treating patients with liver cancers (hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastasis), locally advanced or unresectable rectal cancer in combination with chemotherapy, head and neck cancer in combination with concurrent chemotherapy, and prostate adenocarcinoma.

The first market authorization process (CE Marking) is ongoing in Europe in the soft tissue sarcoma indication.

About NANOBIOTIX: www.nanobiotix.com
Incorporated in 2003, Nanobiotix is a leading, late clinical-stage nanomedicine company pioneering new approaches to significantly change patient outcomes by bringing nanophysics to the heart of the cell.

The Nanobiotix philosophy is one rooted in designing pioneer physical based approaches to bring highly effective and generalized solutions to address high unmet medical needs and challenges.

The Company's first-in-class, proprietary lead technology, NanoXray, aims to expand radiotherapy benefits for millions of cancer patients. Furthermore, the Company's Immuno-Oncology program has the potential to bring a new dimension to cancer immunotherapies.

Nanobiotix is listed on the regulated market of Euronext in Paris (Euronext: NANO / ISIN: FR0011341205; Bloomberg: NANO: FP). The Company's Headquarters are based in Paris, France, with a U.S. affiliate in Cambridge, MA, and European affiliates in Spain and Germany.

Contact

Nanobiotix
Sarah Gaubert
Director, Communication & Public Affairs
+33 (0)1 40 26 07 55
sarah.gaubert@nanobiotix.com / contact@nanobiotix.com

Noel Kurdi
Director, Investor Relations
+1 (646) 241-4400
noel.kurdi@nanobiotix.com / investors@nanobiotix.com

Ricky Bhajun
Investor Relations Europe
+33 (0)1 79 97 29 99
ricky.bhajun@nanobiotix.com / investors@nanobiotix.com

Media relations
France - Springbok Consultants
Marina Rosoff
+33 (0)6 71 58 00 34
marina@springbok.fr

United States - RooneyPartners
Marion Janic
+1 (212) 223-4017
mjanic@rooneyco.com

Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Nanobiotix and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Nanobiotix considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be verified, which estimates are subject to numerous risks including the risks set forth in the reference document of Nanobiotix filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des Marches Financiers) under number D.17-0470 on April 28, 2017 as well as in its 2017 annual financial report filed with the French Financial Markets Authority on March 29, 2018 (a copy of which is available on www.nanobiotix.com) and to the development of economic conditions, financial markets and the markets in which Nanobiotix operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Nanobiotix or not currently considered material by Nanobiotix. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements of Nanobiotix to be materially different from such forward-looking statements.

This press release and the information that it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe for, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for, Nanobiotix shares in any country. At the moment NBTXR3 does not bear a CE mark and is not permitted to be placed on the market or put into service until NBTXR3 has obtained a CE mark.

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This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: NANOBIOTIX via Globenewswire

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Autolus Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering

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LONDON, Jun 22, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Autolus Therapeutics plc ("Autolus"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering in the United States of 8,823,530 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") representing 8,823,530 ordinary shares at an initial public offering price of $17.00 per ADS for total gross proceeds of approximately $150.0 million. All ADSs sold in the offering were offered by Autolus. The ADSs are expected to begin trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 22, 2018 under the ticker symbol "AUTL." In addition, Autolus has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,323,529 ADSs at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The offering is expected to close on June 26, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Jefferies LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and William Blair & Company, L.L.C. are acting as lead managers.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the final prospectus related to the offering can be obtained from either of the joint book-running managers for the offering, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, or by telephone at +1 866 471 2526 or by email at prospectusgroup-ny@ny.email.gs.com; or Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by email at Prospectus_Department@Jefferies.com or by telephone at + 1 877 821 7388. For the avoidance of doubt, such prospectus will not constitute a "prospectus" for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including Directive 2010/73/EU, to the extent implemented in each relevant EU member state) and will not have been reviewed by any competent authority in any EU member state.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with, and declared effective by, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Copies of the registration statement can be accessed through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

Investor Contact:
S.A. Noonan Communications, LLC
Susan A Noonan
+1 212 966 3650
susan@sanoonan.com

Media Contact:
JW Communications
Julia Wilson
+44 (0)7818 430877
juliawilsonuk@gmail.com

About Autolus

Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, the company is engineering precisely targeted, controlled and highly active T cell therapies that are designed to better recognise cancer cells, break down their defence mechanisms and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of haematological malignancies and solid tumours.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements with regard to Autolus' expectations regarding the commencement of trading of ADSs on The Nasdaq Global Select Market and the completion of the proposed securities offering. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "projects," "anticipates," and "future" or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions and no assurance can be given that the proposed securities offering discussed above will be consummated on the terms described or at all. Completion of the proposed offering and the terms thereof are subject to numerous factors, many of which are beyond the control of Autolus, including, without limitation, market conditions, failure of customary closing conditions and the risk factors and other matters set forth in Autolus' filings with the SEC. Autolus undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

 
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

Fujitsu Enhances Cloud Services Portfolio to Support the Digital Transformation of Customer Businesses

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Bolsters support for hybrid IT and multi-cloud environments

TOKYO, Jun 22, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announces enhancements to its existing portfolio of cloud services. Under these service enhancements, Fujitsu will offer cloud services with strengthened functionality to promote migration of mission critical systems to the multi-cloud, and will realize the hybrid IT environments needed by customer businesses. Moreover, Fujitsu will also expand its collaborations with top-tier cloud vendors, and will strengthen its multi-cloud services to provide integration and operation of multiple cloud services, offering rapid build out and high quality operations of diverse ICT environments. This will enable Fujitsu to provide cloud services tailor-made to the business of respective customers, and offer robust support for their digital transformation.

Background

Digital transformation, with AI, IoT, Analytics and other technologies, has in recent years moved at dramatic speed. Amidst this, there is a rising trend toward building hybrid IT systems that realize streamlined operations by combining cloud and on-premises mission critical systems migrated to the cloud. It has also become possible to flexibly choose an ICT environment suited to a customer's business, such as with multi-cloud landscapes that combine an array of cloud services. At the same time, challenges have arisen as a result of the need to modify existing applications associated with migrating mission critical systems to the cloud, as well as the increasing complexity of management operations due to the use of different cloud services for various processes, leading to a heavier cloud management burden.

Enhanced Functionality to Promote Migration of Mission Critical Systems to the Cloud

Based on Fujitsu's proven track record in operating cloud platform-based systems for over 10 years, both its own and for customers, from June 29, 2018 it will steadily roll out and start to provide cloud services with strengthened functionality for the migration of mission critical systems to the cloud, so as to provide hybrid IT environments suited to customers' businesses. Being first made available in Japan, the newly offered bare metal server service, which simplifies the deployment of physical servers from a customer's portal site, enables customers to deploy OS and applications suited to their existing on-premises environments. This will minimize the need to modify applications and make changes to operational processes, simplifying migration of existing systems to the cloud. Furthermore, the addition of disaster recovery and other functions to minimize system downtime in emergencies and elevate business continuity boosts cloud platform reliability to a level on par with on-premises environments, with Fujitsu providing cloud services suited to the phased migration of mission critical systems in hybrid IT environments.

Expanded Lineup of Multi-Cloud Services

Fujitsu is enhancing its integration and operations services that deploy hybrid IT and multi-cloud environments, leveraging its long-accumulated system integration know-how and experience with the latest cloud services. Fujitsu will provide rapid deployment and high-quality operations for diverse hybrid IT and multi-cloud environments through the use of technology that automates infrastructure setup for multi-cloud systems and that provides unified management of multi-cloud environments. Fujitsu will roll out the services enhanced with this technology from October 1, 2018.

Expanded Collaboration with Cloud Vendor Partners

Fujitsu is strengthening and expanding its collaboration with partners globally, particularly focusing on major cloud vendors and contributing to the digital transformation of customers. By developing and delivering high value-added services that combine Azure services from Microsoft, especially SAP on Azure, with Fujitsu's system engineer insights, Fujitsu is providing cloud migration that meets operational requirements and facilitates the growth of customer businesses. Fujitsu is also collaborating with VMware, Inc. to develop and provide services based on VMware's private and public cloud services, specifically VMware Cloud Foundation and Hybrid Cloud Extension. Moreover, Fujitsu is also endeavoring to build solutions utilizing VMware's network virtualization technology, including VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud.

Strengthened Cloud Service Promotion Structure

By conducting training for approximately 10,000 employees engaged in cloud-related businesses globally on cloud-related services provided by partners, Fujitsu is substantially increasing the number of personnel who support the building and operation of hybrid IT and multi-cloud systems to suit its customers' business requirements. Fujitsu is simplifying its cloud service portfolio with "Fujitsu Cloud Service for OSS", "Fujitsu Cloud Service for Microsoft Azure", and "Fujitsu Cloud Service for VMware" and will continue to expand its lineup going forward.

Comment from Gavriella Schuster, CVP, Microsoft Corporation

Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and core to this mission are deep partnerships with companies like Fujitsu. We welcome Fujitsu's hybrid IT multi-cloud strategy and its focus on the acceleration of open source and enterprise cloud services. Our collaboration with Fujitsu expands our range of worldwide solutions and helps our customers thrive in this era of digital transformation.

Comment from Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware, Inc.

VMware is pleased to partner with Fujitsu, as we help mutual customers accelerate their digital transformations through a software-defined approach to business and IT. VMware creates a consistent and flexible digital foundation, and common cloud infrastructure and operating environment, that enables businesses to reap the benefits of speed, scale and reduced complexity offered by leading cloud providers such as Fujitsu. VMware and Fujitsu collectively empower our mutual customers' journeys through Fujitsu Cloud Service and VMware technologies.

About Fujitsu Ltd

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

* Please see this press release, with images, at:
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/

Contact:
Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

Eisai Selected for Membership in MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN)

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TOKYO, Jun 22, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today that it has been selected for the first time for membership in the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN), an index developed for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment. This index is one of the indices adopted by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) for selecting investments based on ESG initiatives as an indicator of non-financial value.

The MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN) is developed by MSCI Inc., the industry leader in ESG research who offers various tools to support the investment decisions of major investors around the world. For the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index, MSCI selects industry leading companies in terms of attracting, retaining and promoting women, as well as advancing gender diversity. Selection is based on data regarding female employment disclosed according to the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace as well as information publicly disclosed by companies such as company policy on gender diversity. In 2012, Eisai issued the Eisai Diversity Declaration, and implements various initiatives aimed at developing an organizational climate for utilizing diverse values as well as promoting the advancement of women.

Eisai has also been selected for inclusion in the FTSE Blossom Japan Index as well as the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index, which now means that Eisai has been selected for all three ESG indices for Japanese stocks adopted by the GPIF.

Eisai's corporate philosophy is to give first thought to patients and their families, and increase the benefits that health care provides as well as address diverse healthcare needs worldwide. By strengthening its ESG initiatives and increasing non-financial value, Eisai is striving to sustainably enhance corporate value based on this corporate philosophy.

About Eisai

Eisai Co., Ltd. (TSE:4523; ADR:ESALY) is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three therapeutic areas: integrative neuroscience, including neurology and psychiatric medicines; integrative oncology, which encompasses oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments; and vascular/immunological reaction. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide healthcare system. For more information about Eisai Co., Ltd., please visit www.eisai.com.

Contact:
Media Inquiries: Public Relations Department, Eisai Co., Ltd. +81-(0)3-3817-5120

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

Toyota Rolls Out First Fully Redesigned Century in 21 Years

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Century
Carrying on the tradition of master craftsmanship, evolving into Japan's cutting-edge chauffeur-driven model

- Modern, state-of-the art design embodies tradition and dignity
- Luxurious cabin space befitting VIP rear seat passengers, delivering a serene and premium comfort ride
- 5.0-liter V8 hybrid system offers outstanding fuel efficiency
Newly equipped with advanced safety technologies, including Toyota Safety Sense

Toyota City, Japan, Jun 22, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announces the launch of its completely redesigned Century in Japan and the start of sales at all nationwide dealers (including Toyopet and Tokyo Toyota dealers).

The Century debuted in 1967, and was released to commemorate the 100th birthday of Sakichi Toyoda, founder of the Toyota Group. For more than 50 years the Century has served as the chauffeur-driven model of choice for Japan and remains a favorite among executives across all industries.

The new 3rd generation Century sees its first full redesign in 21 years. The development theme blends the concepts of legacy and evolution. It carries on the tradition of master craftsmanship and high-quality monozukuri (all-encompassing manufacturing) while the hybrid system realizes high-demand environmental performance, and an interior and exterior design injects new charm into the Century in line with its heritage. The new Century features advanced equipment and comfort amenities suitable for a luxury car, and numerous improvements have been made to achieve serenity and cruising stability.

Monthly sales target for Japan
- 50 units

Assembly Plant
- Higashi-Fuji Plant, Toyota Motor East Japan Inc.

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price
- 19,600,000 yen (Includes consumption tax and does not include recycling fees. Separate pricing applies for Hokkaido and Okinawa.)

Vehicle Outline

1. An attractive external design that infuses tradition and dignity
- The outline reflects the Japanese aesthetic of passive symmetry while employing a proprietary ideology that focuses on creating a regal rear seating space. The silhouette is easily recognizable as a chauffeur model. By straightening the slope of the C pillar, the design focus of the cabin shifts to the rear, heightening the importance of the rear in appearance.
- The side design achieves a beautiful curvature to the doors enhanced by a surface treatment used in Heinz period (794-1185 C.E.) room partitions on the character line of the shoulder portion. Two distinguishing lines have been polished at an angle with only a slim space between them so that they appear as a single, prominent line, lending the body an air of dignity and excellence.
- Heritage prevails in the phoenix emblem, carefully engraved over a six-week period by a craftsman. The unmistakable emblem portrays the vibrant movement of the wings and delicate feathers, while the grille serves as an ornate backdrop, featuring an infinite loop crown pattern(1) that exudes a dignified panache.
- The newly developed color is an eternal black, dubbed Kamui. The rich coating consists of seven layers, including a clear coating containing black paint to give the impression of a black lacquer finish. Sanding and polishing, based on traditional Japanese lacquer craftsmanship, give the car its deep luster and shine. A wet sanding technique is carried out three times to smooth out the minute unevenness. The body then receives a mirror finish to ensure there is not the slightest cloudiness or dullness in color.

2. Elegant cabin space befitting VIPs
- An increase of 65 millimeters in wheelbase creates a more spacious rear seat and ample leg room. The height difference between the scuff plate and floor has decreased by 15 millimeters to ensure the floor mats(2) lay flat when installed. This also improves ease of entering and exiting the car.
- The interior features wood trim to create a distinct rear seating space, a raised ceiling(3) design, and exclusive fabric with a slanting lattice motif(4) to create a refined, rich look.
- The step-less adjustable power leg rest and massage function (in the left rear seat) ensure a comfortable ride.
- The 11.6 inch rear seat entertainment system, 12 channel audio amp, and 20 optimally positioned speakers create the perfect ambiance. Also equipped with a 7-inch touch panel in the center armrest which enables passenger control of the audio system, air conditioning, massage function(5), and curtains.

3. Powered by a 5.0-liter V8 hybrid system for a most serene riding experience achieved through master craftsmanship
- Newly equipped with a 5.0-liter V8 hybrid system, the Century offers a smooth, spacious ride worthy of a chauffeur-driven model and first-rate environmental performance. The vehicle delivers 13.6 kilometers per liter(6) fuel efficiency (under the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's JC08 test cycle).
- Skilled craftsmen dedicate time and effort to ensure optimized noise-proof measures, including seamless installation of noise-proofing materials. The active noise control system(7) additionally reduces noise and vibration when the engine starts and achieves smooth acceleration and utmost serenity in the cabin.
- In addition to an electronically controlled air suspension with an AVS(8) function, body rigidity was improved through the use of structural adhesives. Both driving stability and premium ride comfort are fine-tuned using newly developed tires, suspension arms, bush, mount, and other rubber parts specialized for ride comfort and reduced road vibration.

4. Advanced safety functions suitable for a top-class car
- The Century comes newly equipped with Toyota Safety Sense and also features a Blind Spot Monitor to detect oncoming vehicles in adjacent lanes, as well as Parking Support Alert(9), which helps parking by detecting the surrounding conditions.
- Pre-Collision System (PCS), which helps prevent and mitigate collisions with vehicles and pedestrians ahead.
- The Lane Departure Alert (LDA) system uses a warning buzzer and display to alert the driver when the vehicle is about to deviate from its lane, and includes an added steer assist capability.
- Radar Cruise Control (with All-speed Tracking function) helps maintain proper distance from the vehicle ahead.
- The Adaptive High Beam System (AHS) shields against excess light from preceding vehicles and oncoming vehicles, automatically turns the high beams on and off, and is equipped with a 24 LED light array on the side.
- The vehicle boasts two new additional features. HELPNET(10) is an automatic emergency reporting system that activates if the airbag is deployed. In such cases, a HELPNET system operator automatically contacts the authorities (police and fire departments). The D-Call Net(11) service can make swift decisions to dispatch air and ground ambulances if the accident is estimated to be severe based on vehicle data.

(1) A traditional Japanese design. Infinite loop design quartered off into sections that symbolizes harmony, prosperity, and flourishing posterity.
(2) Dealer option
(3) The raised ceiling is an architectural ceiling design with additional height in the center area.
(4) The manji design symbol represents perpetual prosperity for the home and longevity.
(5) The massage function is in the left rear seat. An air bladder is embedded in the back of the seat. When it inflates it applies the appropriate level of pressure to the shoulders and lower back.
(6) Values based on MLIT testing
(7) The system uses anti-phase noise reduction
(8) Adaptive Variable Suspension System
(9) Rear Cross Traffic Alert uses radar to detect vehicles approaching from behind. Clearance sonar and rear sonar use ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles at the front corners of the vehicle and behind the vehicle while driving at a slow speed.
(10) HELPNET is a registered trademark of Japan Mayday Service Co., Ltd. The service needs to be activated prior to use.
(11) D-Call Net is the registered trademark of Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Network (HEM-Net). For details please visit: http://hemnet.jp/

About Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 29 countries, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.

Contact:
Public Affairs Division Global Communications Department Toyota Motor Corporation Tel: +81-3-3817-9926

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

Mitsubishi Motors: New Eclipse Cross Awarded 5-star Adult Occupant Protection Rating in 2018 Latin NCAP

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TOKYO, Jun 22, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced today that the new Eclipse Cross compact SUV model has been awarded a maximum 5-star rating for Adult Occupant Protection in the 2018 Latin NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) which evaluates the safety performance of new models introduced in the Latin America and Caribbean regions.

Eclipse Cross uses MMC's RISE reinforced impact safety evolution body and seven SRS airbags in a safety specification which has already been awarded a maximum 5-star rating in the European NCAP, the Australian and New Zealand ANCAP, and the ASEAN NCAP.

The Eclipse Cross is a coupe-like SUV that fuses a stylish form with dynamic SUV go-anywhere ability. It features a design that motivates the driver to experience the world, connectivity that inspires new fun adventures, and all-wheel control technology that delivers an enjoyable, reassuring feel that elevates the driving experience.

Eclipse Cross is currently sold in some 60 countries, including in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN, North America and Japan, with plans to market it in a total of 100 countries.

For additional information on the Eclipse Cross, please follow the link below.
https://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/showroom/eclipse_cross/

About Mitsubishi Motors

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is the sixth largest automaker in Japan and the sixteenth largest in the world. It is part of the Mitsubishi keiretsu, formerly the biggest industrial group in Japan, and was formed in 1970 from the automotive division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. From October 2016, Mitsubishi is one-third owned by Nissan, and a part of the Renault - Nissan - Mitsubishi Alliance. For more information, please visit www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/index.html.

Contact:
Mitsubishi Motors Public Relations Department http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com +81-3-6852-4275

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com

MHPS Ships Coal Gasification Furnace Pressure Containers to Nakoso IGCC Power GK

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- For 540 MW IGCC Project in Iwaki, Fukushima -

- First unit produced at new coal gasification furnace plant completed in June 2017
- First shipment of pressure container, core equipment of coal gasification furnace slated to go into operation in Iwaki in September 2020
- Commemorative ceremony held at Nagasaki Works

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Jun 22, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Today Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) commenced shipment of components of a coal gasification furnace that will serve as the core of the 540 megawatt (MW) Nakoso IGCC (integrated coal gasification combined cycle) plant under construction by Nakoso IGCC Power GK(1) in Iwaki, Fukushima. The components are the first of their kind produced at MHPS' new coal gasification furnace plant at Nagasaki Works. The gasification unit and auxiliary equipment will also be shipped going forward.

A ceremony was held at the Nagasaki Works to commemorate the maiden shipment with Yoshiyuki Wakabayashi, Executive Vice President, and Shiro Ishise, Senior Vice President, MHPS in attendance.

Coal gasification furnaces consist of two basic components together enabling the efficient gasification of coal: a gasification unit capable of withstanding high temperatures and a pressure container to maintain high pressure levels. Today's shipment contains the pressure container; the gasification unit and auxiliary equipment will be shipped when ready. MHPS completed construction of its new coal gasification furnace plant at its Nagasaki Works and began manufacture there in June 2017.

To produce gasification units that accommodate high temperatures and pressure levels, the production system utilizes welding and other technologies nurtured through the production of boilers for conventional coal-fired power generation systems, as well as proprietary technologies such as automated welding machines and ICT systems.

In an IGCC system, coal is gasified in a gasification furnace and power is generated using a high-efficiency combined cycle system integrating gas and steam turbines.

Compared to conventional coal-fired power generation systems, IGCC is a revolutionary system that delivers approximately 10-15% higher power generation efficiency and also helps reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Nakoso IGCC plant is a cutting-edge coal-fired power plant which will go into operation in September 2020, and will help drive the redevelopment of industrial infrastructure in Fukushima Prefecture, as it continues to recover from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

This project is also important for MHPS to promote the adoption of IGCC-a technology that offers the highest levels of efficiency-as a way of contributing to environmental conservation by advancing low-carbon energy.

(1) Nakoso IGCC Power GK was established with capital from five partners: Mitsubishi Corporation Power, Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., and Joban Joint Power Co., Ltd.

About Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) was formed on February 1 2014, integrating the thermal power generation systems businesses of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Hitachi, Ltd. in a quest to further enhance their social response capabilities in all respects. These include the technological strength to create new products of outstanding quality and reliability, the comprehensive strength in engineering to oversee projects in regions across the globe, and finely honed sales and after-sale servicing capabilities. MHPS aims to come out a winner in global competition and achieve a solid position as a world leader in thermal power generation systems and environmental technologies. For more information, please visit www.mhps.com.

Contact:
Joseph Hood, PR Manager Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Email: mhi-pr@mhi.co.jp Tel: +81-(0)3-6716-2168 Fax: +81-(0)3-6716-5860

Copyright 2018 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.com
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