HONG KONG, March 30 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” of China Taiping Insurance (Macau) Co., Ltd. (CTIM) (Macau). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect CTIM’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as adequate, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect the lift the company receives from its parent, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Company Limited (CTIH).
CTIM’s risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), dropped to the adequate level at year-end 2017 due to significant additional reinsurer credit risk related to reinsurance recoverables from Typhoon Hato – a 1-in-50-year storm that struck in August 2017 – and major losses in the following month from the SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace fire. Given that the company’s reinsurer panel is highly rated and the vast majority of the typhoon claims are expected to be settled and closed within one year, A.M. Best expects the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization to return to the strongest level within the next two years.
CTIM maintains a leading market position in Macau, with strong operating performance and a five-year average return on equity of 22.3% from 2012 to 2016. The company achieved net profits in 2017 due to investment income, despite the occurrence of two severe underwriting events.
Offsetting rating factors include the uncertainty surrounding CTIM’s liquidity and risks that it will be unable to comply with regulations regarding technical reserves, which could require the company to set aside a material additional amount of assets by April 2018 to back part of the ceded reserves arising from the two events. A.M. Best expects CTIH will provide necessary financial and capital support to CTIM in that case.
Negative rating actions could occur if CTIH does not provide necessary financial support to CTIM in order to comply with the technical reserves regulations. Negative rating actions also could occur if there is a reinsurance dispute or delayed payment on reinsurance receivables, which would lead to liquidity issues for CTIM.
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases.
A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180329005919/en/
Contact
A.M. Best
Christie Lee
Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3413
christie.lee@ambest.com
or
John Andre
Managing Director, Analytics
+1 903 439 2200, ext. 5619
john.andre@ambest.com
or
Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
or
Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com
Source : A.M. Best
--BERNAMA
Friday 30 March 2018
GLYCOTOPE SELECTS CROWNBIO AS A PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT PARTNER TO ADVANCE THEIR IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC PIPELINE
SAN DIEGO, March 29 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Bioscience, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crown Bioscience International (TWSE:6554) and a global drug discovery and development services company providing translational platforms to advance oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disease research, announces that it has been chosen by Glycotope GmbH as a partner to accelerate their immuno-oncology drug discovery pipeline.
CrownBio offers the world’s largest collection of patient derived xenograft (PDX) models and is a leading provider of humanized solutions for immuno-oncology drug development. Leveraging these exclusive capabilities, CrownBio will engraft cell line-derived cancer models as well as PDX models selected by Glycotope into CD34 humanized mouse models. These customized, humanized models will be used to accelerate Glycotope’s innovative immuno-oncology drug discovery pipeline.
CrownBio offers the world’s largest collection of patient derived xenograft (PDX) models and is a leading provider of humanized solutions for immuno-oncology drug development. Leveraging these exclusive capabilities, CrownBio will engraft cell line-derived cancer models as well as PDX models selected by Glycotope into CD34 humanized mouse models. These customized, humanized models will be used to accelerate Glycotope’s innovative immuno-oncology drug discovery pipeline.
Wednesday 28 March 2018
PREFERRED NETWORKS TO LAUNCH "MN-1B" PRIVATE SECTOR SUPERCOMPUTER ADOPTING NVIDIA TESLA V100 32GB GPUS
Will expand NTT Com Group’s multi-node GPU platform
TOKYO, March 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Preferred Networks, Inc. (PFN), a provider of IoT-centric deep learning systems, NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group, and NTT Com subsidiary NTT PC Communications Incorporated (NTT PC) announced today that PFN will launch an expanded version of its MN-1 private sector supercomputer equipped with NTT Com and NTTPC’s next-generation GPU platform by July. The new MN-1b supercomputer will adopt the NVIDIA® Tesla® V100 32GB, that was announced at GTC 2018 on March 27, 2018 (U.S. time).
PFN plans to enhance MN-1 by adding 512 NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB GPUs and have them up and running by July, with the added GPUs having a theoretical peak performance of about 56 PetaFLOPS1, a massive 56,000 trillion floating-point operations per second, based on a mixed precision floating-point operation2 used in deep learning. This means the expansion alone will contribute to a roughly threefold increase from the current peak.
PFN expects the new supercomputer’s extra high speed and massive processing environment leveraging the latest GPUs will accelerate the real-world applications of its research and development in deep learning and related technologies and thereby strengthen PFN’s global competitiveness. NTT Com and NTT PC will build and operate the multi-node platform leveraging the latest GPUs that meets PFN’s requirements, using their knowledge of intra-GPU communication and waste heat processing.
"We are truly honored that Preferred Networks has chosen NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB, most advanced data center GPU with 2X the memory, for its next-generation private supercomputer’s computation environment, “MN-1b”. With NTT Com Group’s experience of establishing and managing highly reliable data center services, combined with NVIDIA’s latest high-speed GPUs for deep learning, we sincerely look forward to R&D results in the fields of transportation systems, manufacturing and biotech/healthcare," said Masataka Osaki, Vice President of Corporate Sales and NVIDIA Japan Country Manager.
Emmy Chang, Board Director, Supermicro KK and VP of Strategic Sales, Supermicro said, “Preferred Networks is the first in the world to deploy our SuperServer® 4029GP-TRT2 equipped with the latest version of Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and supporting eight NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB GPU accelerators,” “Preferred Networks has developed the world-class private supercomputer through cooperative work with NTT Com Group, and Supermicro continues to support them with our latest innovative hardware and solutions. We are confident that Preferred Networks will achieve new heights with its new private supercomputer.”
PFN will use the new MN-1b to raise the speed of its ChainerTM open source deep-learning framework and further accelerate its research and development in fields that require a huge amount of computing resources, namely transportation systems, manufacturing, bio-healthcare, and creativity.
Going forward, NTT Com expects to increasingly support the delivery of AI technologies and related platforms for advanced research and commercialized deep learning, including the AI business initiatives of PFN.
Related links:
Chainer
Enterprise Cloud
Nexcenter
Notes:
1 A unit measuring computer performance. Peta is 1,000 trillion (10 to the power of 15) and FLOPS is used to count floating-point operations per second. So, 1 PetaFLOPS means that a computer is capable of performing 1,000 trillion floating-point calculations per second.
2 Mixed precision floating-point operation is a method of floating point arithmetic operations with combination of multiple precisions.
ChainerTM is a trademark or a registered trademark of Preferred Networks, Inc. in Japan and other countries. Other company names and product names written in this release are the trademarks or the registered trademarks of each company.
About Preferred Networks, Inc.
Founded in March 2014 with the aim of promoting business utilization of deep learning technology focused on IoT, PFN advocates Edge Heavy Computing as a way to handle the enormous amounts of data generated by devices in a distributed and collaborative manner at the edge of the network, driving innovation in three priority business areas: transportation, manufacturing and bio/healthcare. PFN develops and provides Chainer, an open source deep learning framework. PFN promotes advanced initiatives by collaborating with world leading organizations, such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Fanuc Corporation and the National Cancer Center.
https://www.preferred-networks.jp/
About NTT Communications Corporation
NTT Communications provides consultancy, architecture, security and cloud services to optimize the information and communications technology (ICT) environments of enterprises. These offerings are backed by the company’s worldwide infrastructure, including the leading global tier-1 IP network, the Arcstar Universal One™ VPN network reaching over 190 countries/regions, and over 140 secure data centers worldwide. NTT Communications’ solutions leverage the global resources of NTT Group companies including Dimension Data, NTT DOCOMO and NTT DATA.
www.ntt.com | Twitter@NTT Com | Facebook@NTT Com | LinkedIn@NTT Com
NTT PC Communications Incorporated
NTTPC Communications Incorporated (NTTPC), established in 1985 is a subsidiary of NTT Communications, is a network service and communication solution provider in Japanese telco market, The company has been the most strategic technology company of the group throughout of years. NTTPC launched the 1st ISP service of the NTT group, so called “InfoSphere” at 1995, and also launched the 1st Internet Data Center and server hosting services of Japan so called “WebARENA” at 1997. NTTPC have always started something new in ICT market.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180327006439/en/
Contact
Preferred Networks
pfn-pr@preferred.jp
or
NTT Communications
Ms. Yuko Miyamoto, Ms. Aoi Funagoshi, +81 3 6700 4010
Public Relations
Corporate Planning Department
pr-cp@ntt.com
or
NTT PC Communications Incorporated
Mr. Sato, Mr. Hayashi, +81 50 3388 1664
Public Relations
pr@nttpc.co.jp
Source : NTT Communications Corporation
--BERNAMA
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31540
TOKYO, March 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Preferred Networks, Inc. (PFN), a provider of IoT-centric deep learning systems, NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group, and NTT Com subsidiary NTT PC Communications Incorporated (NTT PC) announced today that PFN will launch an expanded version of its MN-1 private sector supercomputer equipped with NTT Com and NTTPC’s next-generation GPU platform by July. The new MN-1b supercomputer will adopt the NVIDIA® Tesla® V100 32GB, that was announced at GTC 2018 on March 27, 2018 (U.S. time).
PFN plans to enhance MN-1 by adding 512 NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB GPUs and have them up and running by July, with the added GPUs having a theoretical peak performance of about 56 PetaFLOPS1, a massive 56,000 trillion floating-point operations per second, based on a mixed precision floating-point operation2 used in deep learning. This means the expansion alone will contribute to a roughly threefold increase from the current peak.
PFN expects the new supercomputer’s extra high speed and massive processing environment leveraging the latest GPUs will accelerate the real-world applications of its research and development in deep learning and related technologies and thereby strengthen PFN’s global competitiveness. NTT Com and NTT PC will build and operate the multi-node platform leveraging the latest GPUs that meets PFN’s requirements, using their knowledge of intra-GPU communication and waste heat processing.
"We are truly honored that Preferred Networks has chosen NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB, most advanced data center GPU with 2X the memory, for its next-generation private supercomputer’s computation environment, “MN-1b”. With NTT Com Group’s experience of establishing and managing highly reliable data center services, combined with NVIDIA’s latest high-speed GPUs for deep learning, we sincerely look forward to R&D results in the fields of transportation systems, manufacturing and biotech/healthcare," said Masataka Osaki, Vice President of Corporate Sales and NVIDIA Japan Country Manager.
Emmy Chang, Board Director, Supermicro KK and VP of Strategic Sales, Supermicro said, “Preferred Networks is the first in the world to deploy our SuperServer® 4029GP-TRT2 equipped with the latest version of Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and supporting eight NVIDIA Tesla V100 32GB GPU accelerators,” “Preferred Networks has developed the world-class private supercomputer through cooperative work with NTT Com Group, and Supermicro continues to support them with our latest innovative hardware and solutions. We are confident that Preferred Networks will achieve new heights with its new private supercomputer.”
PFN will use the new MN-1b to raise the speed of its ChainerTM open source deep-learning framework and further accelerate its research and development in fields that require a huge amount of computing resources, namely transportation systems, manufacturing, bio-healthcare, and creativity.
Going forward, NTT Com expects to increasingly support the delivery of AI technologies and related platforms for advanced research and commercialized deep learning, including the AI business initiatives of PFN.
Related links:
Chainer
Enterprise Cloud
Nexcenter
Notes:
1 A unit measuring computer performance. Peta is 1,000 trillion (10 to the power of 15) and FLOPS is used to count floating-point operations per second. So, 1 PetaFLOPS means that a computer is capable of performing 1,000 trillion floating-point calculations per second.
2 Mixed precision floating-point operation is a method of floating point arithmetic operations with combination of multiple precisions.
ChainerTM is a trademark or a registered trademark of Preferred Networks, Inc. in Japan and other countries. Other company names and product names written in this release are the trademarks or the registered trademarks of each company.
About Preferred Networks, Inc.
Founded in March 2014 with the aim of promoting business utilization of deep learning technology focused on IoT, PFN advocates Edge Heavy Computing as a way to handle the enormous amounts of data generated by devices in a distributed and collaborative manner at the edge of the network, driving innovation in three priority business areas: transportation, manufacturing and bio/healthcare. PFN develops and provides Chainer, an open source deep learning framework. PFN promotes advanced initiatives by collaborating with world leading organizations, such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Fanuc Corporation and the National Cancer Center.
https://www.preferred-networks.jp/
About NTT Communications Corporation
NTT Communications provides consultancy, architecture, security and cloud services to optimize the information and communications technology (ICT) environments of enterprises. These offerings are backed by the company’s worldwide infrastructure, including the leading global tier-1 IP network, the Arcstar Universal One™ VPN network reaching over 190 countries/regions, and over 140 secure data centers worldwide. NTT Communications’ solutions leverage the global resources of NTT Group companies including Dimension Data, NTT DOCOMO and NTT DATA.
www.ntt.com | Twitter@NTT Com | Facebook@NTT Com | LinkedIn@NTT Com
NTT PC Communications Incorporated
NTTPC Communications Incorporated (NTTPC), established in 1985 is a subsidiary of NTT Communications, is a network service and communication solution provider in Japanese telco market, The company has been the most strategic technology company of the group throughout of years. NTTPC launched the 1st ISP service of the NTT group, so called “InfoSphere” at 1995, and also launched the 1st Internet Data Center and server hosting services of Japan so called “WebARENA” at 1997. NTTPC have always started something new in ICT market.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180327006439/en/
Contact
Preferred Networks
pfn-pr@preferred.jp
or
NTT Communications
Ms. Yuko Miyamoto, Ms. Aoi Funagoshi, +81 3 6700 4010
Public Relations
Corporate Planning Department
pr-cp@ntt.com
or
NTT PC Communications Incorporated
Mr. Sato, Mr. Hayashi, +81 50 3388 1664
Public Relations
pr@nttpc.co.jp
Source : NTT Communications Corporation
--BERNAMA
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31540
Tuesday 27 March 2018
Winners of Datacloud Asia Awards 2018
KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- BroadGroup has announced the winners of the Datacloud Asia Awards 2018, in honour of the year's outstanding individuals and businesses currently shaping the Asian data economy.
The awards, one of the most prestigious accolades in the technology sector, recognise innovation and excellence in the flourishing Asia digital infrastructure market.
BroadGroup, in a statement, said the awards ceremony at Capella Hotel in Singapore was hosted by BBC anchor, Rico Hizon, on the closing day of the Datacloud Asia congress.
Equinix received three awards -- Excellence in Cloud Service Award, Excellence in Data Centre Service Award and Cloud Leader of the Year.
Three awards were also won by Digital Realty - Marketer of the Year - Omer Wilson, Individual Industry Contribution (Ambassador Award) - Krupal Raval, and Data Centre Leader of the Year.
Global Cloud Xchange received two awards ? Excellence in Cloud Service Award South East Asia and Data Centre Thought Leadership Award - Bill Barney.
The other awards won were Excellence in Data Centre Service Award (India) - GPX India Pvt Ltd; Best Data Centre Energy Solution - Munters; Excellence in Data Centre Service Award (South East Asia) -SUPERNAP Thailand; Data Centre Location Award, Chonburi Province, Thailand; Best programme for Data Centre training and professional development - Cnet Training; and Excellence in Data Centre IT Architecture and Design - NEXTDC.
"Datacloud Asia goes from strength to strength and the award winners mirror the optimism, dynamism and entrepreneurism that is permeating throughout the region," said BroadGroup chairman, Philip Low.
"All of this year's recipients have achieved something truly special and should be proud of the transformative impact that they have made on people, business and society across this diverse and dynamic part of the world," Low added.
Established in 2002, BroadGroup is an information media technology company which delivers premium event brands.
-- BERNAMA
The awards, one of the most prestigious accolades in the technology sector, recognise innovation and excellence in the flourishing Asia digital infrastructure market.
BroadGroup, in a statement, said the awards ceremony at Capella Hotel in Singapore was hosted by BBC anchor, Rico Hizon, on the closing day of the Datacloud Asia congress.
Equinix received three awards -- Excellence in Cloud Service Award, Excellence in Data Centre Service Award and Cloud Leader of the Year.
Three awards were also won by Digital Realty - Marketer of the Year - Omer Wilson, Individual Industry Contribution (Ambassador Award) - Krupal Raval, and Data Centre Leader of the Year.
Global Cloud Xchange received two awards ? Excellence in Cloud Service Award South East Asia and Data Centre Thought Leadership Award - Bill Barney.
The other awards won were Excellence in Data Centre Service Award (India) - GPX India Pvt Ltd; Best Data Centre Energy Solution - Munters; Excellence in Data Centre Service Award (South East Asia) -SUPERNAP Thailand; Data Centre Location Award, Chonburi Province, Thailand; Best programme for Data Centre training and professional development - Cnet Training; and Excellence in Data Centre IT Architecture and Design - NEXTDC.
"Datacloud Asia goes from strength to strength and the award winners mirror the optimism, dynamism and entrepreneurism that is permeating throughout the region," said BroadGroup chairman, Philip Low.
"All of this year's recipients have achieved something truly special and should be proud of the transformative impact that they have made on people, business and society across this diverse and dynamic part of the world," Low added.
Established in 2002, BroadGroup is an information media technology company which delivers premium event brands.
-- BERNAMA
Monday 26 March 2018
VistaJet treats customers for global British Polo Day tour
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- VistaJet Ltd, a global private
aviation company, partners with British Polo Day for the 2018 worldwide
tournament to offer its customers the opportunity to enrich their passion for
polo.
VistaJet, in a statement said the partnership followed a successful inaugurate partnership last year.
It's global partnership with British Polo Day will offer customers an exclusive opportunity to enjoy one of their most cherished interests by watching some of the sport's top players, including the world's number one player Adolfo Cambiaso.
The tournament beginning March 24, will be held in the most spectacular and iconic settings, such as the enchanting Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India.
Customers will travel to all British Polo Day's exclusive 2018 fixtures, starting in Abu Dhabi and then onto Dubai, New York, Henley-upon-Thames near London, and Beijing before culminating in Jaipur and Jodphur, India in December.
The company continuously develops and offers exceptional experiences for its customers inspired by their true passions, including art, sports and travel, across all cultures worldwide.
"Our customers' passions become our passions and supporting them is a cornerstone of the VistaJet brand. In partnering on such opportunities with British Polo Day, we are able to continue to deliver second-to-none events to our community," said chief commercial officer of VistaJet, Ian Moore.
Originating in ancient Persia, polo has been played for over 2,600 years with the modern game beginning in Northeastern India in 1859. From there, polo spread across Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and then North America.
British Polo Day was founded in Dubai in 2009, building relationships around a global community through a series of distinct experiences in iconic destinations which has defined British Polo Day since its inception.
More British Polo Day information and news at britishpoloday.com.
-- BERNAMA
VistaJet, in a statement said the partnership followed a successful inaugurate partnership last year.
It's global partnership with British Polo Day will offer customers an exclusive opportunity to enjoy one of their most cherished interests by watching some of the sport's top players, including the world's number one player Adolfo Cambiaso.
The tournament beginning March 24, will be held in the most spectacular and iconic settings, such as the enchanting Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India.
Customers will travel to all British Polo Day's exclusive 2018 fixtures, starting in Abu Dhabi and then onto Dubai, New York, Henley-upon-Thames near London, and Beijing before culminating in Jaipur and Jodphur, India in December.
The company continuously develops and offers exceptional experiences for its customers inspired by their true passions, including art, sports and travel, across all cultures worldwide.
"Our customers' passions become our passions and supporting them is a cornerstone of the VistaJet brand. In partnering on such opportunities with British Polo Day, we are able to continue to deliver second-to-none events to our community," said chief commercial officer of VistaJet, Ian Moore.
Originating in ancient Persia, polo has been played for over 2,600 years with the modern game beginning in Northeastern India in 1859. From there, polo spread across Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and then North America.
British Polo Day was founded in Dubai in 2009, building relationships around a global community through a series of distinct experiences in iconic destinations which has defined British Polo Day since its inception.
More British Polo Day information and news at britishpoloday.com.
-- BERNAMA
Friday 23 March 2018
Polyplastics unveils new series of low-dielectric LCP
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- Polyplastics Co. Ltd., a global supplier of engineering thermoplastics, has unveiled a new series of low-dielectric liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) for next-generation communication devices.
Polyplastics, in a statement, said the new LCP series known as LAPEROS (R) E420P, is the first low-dielectric grades which also possess inherent high heat resistance, mechanical properties, chemical resistance, high flow and low warpage for films and connectors in cabling, antennas and circuit boards.
As the demand increased, the company developed the new series to satisfy the needs of 5G telecommunications and V2X telecommunications for autonomous automobiles and materials applicable for high-speed and high-frequency transmission components.
Using an optimum combination of filler and formulation technology, LAPEROS (R) E420P achieves a low-dielectric constant of less than 3.0 measured perpendicular to the flow direction for the 1-20 GHz frequency band.
The material also fulfils downsizing requirements and increasingly complex designs in connector applications and can be used in surface-mount technology processes.
Polyplastics plans to extend its product portfolio to include grades with enhanced low warpage, higher heat resistance, greater flow for compact and fine-pitched connectors.
LAPEROS (R) is a registered trademark of Polyplastics Co. Ltd. in Japan and other countries.
The company has the largest global market share of polyoxymethylene and LCPs. With more than 50 years of experience, Polyplastics is backed by a strong global network of research and development, and production and sales resources capable of creating advanced solutions for an ever-changing global marketplace.
For more information, visit www.polyplastics.com/en/product/lines/lcp_e420p/index.vm.
Polyplastics, in a statement, said the new LCP series known as LAPEROS (R) E420P, is the first low-dielectric grades which also possess inherent high heat resistance, mechanical properties, chemical resistance, high flow and low warpage for films and connectors in cabling, antennas and circuit boards.
As the demand increased, the company developed the new series to satisfy the needs of 5G telecommunications and V2X telecommunications for autonomous automobiles and materials applicable for high-speed and high-frequency transmission components.
Using an optimum combination of filler and formulation technology, LAPEROS (R) E420P achieves a low-dielectric constant of less than 3.0 measured perpendicular to the flow direction for the 1-20 GHz frequency band.
The material also fulfils downsizing requirements and increasingly complex designs in connector applications and can be used in surface-mount technology processes.
Polyplastics plans to extend its product portfolio to include grades with enhanced low warpage, higher heat resistance, greater flow for compact and fine-pitched connectors.
LAPEROS (R) is a registered trademark of Polyplastics Co. Ltd. in Japan and other countries.
The company has the largest global market share of polyoxymethylene and LCPs. With more than 50 years of experience, Polyplastics is backed by a strong global network of research and development, and production and sales resources capable of creating advanced solutions for an ever-changing global marketplace.
For more information, visit www.polyplastics.com/en/product/lines/lcp_e420p/index.vm.
Japan Tourism invites 30 global bloggers to promote Japan's charms
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) -- The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) invited 30 'powerful influencers' (bloggers) from 20 foreign countries and regions to visit and promote the tourism attractions across Japan, in March.
Malaysia was one of the countries invited to join the project.
The other countries and regions involved were South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Australia, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.
The project promoted 'Instagrammable' (photogenic) spots and hands-on programmes in addition to tourist spots already highly recognised abroad.
The project included six courses in Hokkaido/Tohoku, Kanto/Koshinetsu, Chubu/Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku/Shikoku and Kyushu/Hokkaido.
All the courses were from March 5 to 9, 2018 except for the Kansai course which was held from Feb 26 to March 2, while the Kyushu/Hokkaido course was from March 12 to 17.
The duration of each course was one week and involved different bloggers from various countries.
The photographs and articles listed through the project contain #undiscoveredjapan, #enjoymyjapan, #visitjapanjp hashtags which can be found on the links, https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/undiscoveredjapan/ and https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/undiscoveredjapan?source=feed_text.
Malaysia was one of the countries invited to join the project.
The other countries and regions involved were South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Australia, the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.
The project promoted 'Instagrammable' (photogenic) spots and hands-on programmes in addition to tourist spots already highly recognised abroad.
The project included six courses in Hokkaido/Tohoku, Kanto/Koshinetsu, Chubu/Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku/Shikoku and Kyushu/Hokkaido.
All the courses were from March 5 to 9, 2018 except for the Kansai course which was held from Feb 26 to March 2, while the Kyushu/Hokkaido course was from March 12 to 17.
The duration of each course was one week and involved different bloggers from various countries.
The photographs and articles listed through the project contain #undiscoveredjapan, #enjoymyjapan, #visitjapanjp hashtags which can be found on the links, https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/undiscoveredjapan/ and https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/undiscoveredjapan?source=feed_text.
Thursday 22 March 2018
TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION RELEASES ENHANCED DATA CENTER SSD LINE-UP WITH 64-LAYER 3D FLASH MEMORY
TOKYO, March 20 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Toshiba Memory Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced its latest line-up of NVM Express™(NVMe™) and SATA data center solid-state drives (SSDs) in multiple form factors. The new SSDs offer cloud data centers robust performance and reliability, and deliver lower operating power for read-intensive applications such as NoSQL databases, big data analytics and streaming media. They will support infrastructure managers in addressing performance and meeting consistent workload demands in data.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180319006383/en/
Samples of the CD5 Series and XD5 Series of NVMe™ SSDs and the HK6-DC Series of SATA SSDs will be available to limited customers in the second calendar quarter of 2018.
The new SSDs utilize Toshiba Memory Corporation’s 64-layer 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) BiCS FLASH™ 3D flash memory. In combination with controllers designed and developed in-house, the new SSDs deliver quality, reliability, and comprehensive customer support.
The two PCIe® NVMe SSDs are designed to accommodate multiple data center workload profiles. The CD5 Series supports capacities ranging from 960GB[1] to 7.68TB in a 2.5-inch form factor, and delivers up to 500,000 IOPS[2]random read, up to 35,000 IOPS random write, up to 3,140MB/s[3] sequential read, and up to 1,980MB/s sequential write performance within a 9-14W power envelope. The XD5 Series is a small-footprint M.2 22110 form factor SSD that supports capacities up to 3.84TB and delivers up to 2,600 MB/s sequential read and up to 890MB/s sequential write performance in a 7W power envelope. All three series are optimized for low latency and performance consistency in read-intensive workloads, for Open Compute Project (OCP) and hyper-scale/cloud applications.
The HK6-DC Series is a 6Gbits/s SATA SSD and is available in 960GB, 1.92TB and 3.84TB capacities. It delivers a performance of up to 85,000IOPS random read and 16,000IOPS random write, and up to 550 MB/s sequential read and 500MB/s sequential write.
The new data center SSDs also feature power loss protection and cryptographic erase support (SIE)[4] for secure data erasure[5].
Toshiba Memory Corporation will continue to contribute to the expanding data center market by providing industry-leading storage solutions utilizing cutting-edge flash technology.
A.M. BEST WITHDRAWS CREDIT RATINGS OF MACAU LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED
HONG KONG, March 21 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A.M. Best has removed from under review with developing implications and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb” of Macau Life Insurance Company Limited (MLIC) (Macau). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Concurrently, A.M. Best has withdrawn the ratings as the company has requested to no longer participate in the A.M. Best’s interactive rating process.
The ratings reflect MLIC’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The ratings reflect MLIC’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
Wednesday 21 March 2018
MCDONALD'S BECOMES THE FIRST RESTAURANT COMPANY TO SET APPROVED SCIENCE BASED TARGET TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Company Expected to Prevent 150 Million Metric Tons of Emissions by 2030
OAK BROOK, Ill., March 20 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, McDonald’s announces it will partner with franchisees and suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to McDonald’s restaurants and offices by 36% by 2030 from a 2015 base year in a new strategy to address global climate change. Additionally, McDonald’s commits to a 31% reduction in emissions intensity (per metric ton of food and packaging) across its supply chain by 2030 from 2015 levels. This combined target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Through these actions, McDonald’s expects to prevent 150 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere by 2030. This is the equivalent of taking 32 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year or planting 3.8 billion trees and growing them for 10 years. The target will enable McDonald’s to grow as a business without growing its emissions.
OAK BROOK, Ill., March 20 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, McDonald’s announces it will partner with franchisees and suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to McDonald’s restaurants and offices by 36% by 2030 from a 2015 base year in a new strategy to address global climate change. Additionally, McDonald’s commits to a 31% reduction in emissions intensity (per metric ton of food and packaging) across its supply chain by 2030 from 2015 levels. This combined target has been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Through these actions, McDonald’s expects to prevent 150 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere by 2030. This is the equivalent of taking 32 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year or planting 3.8 billion trees and growing them for 10 years. The target will enable McDonald’s to grow as a business without growing its emissions.
Tuesday 20 March 2018
IF YOU PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED CERTAIN PETROBRAS SECURITIES, YOU COULD GET A CASH PAYMENT FROM A CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
NEW YORK, March 19 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- The following statement is being issued by Pomerantz LLP regarding In re Petrobras Securities Litigation.
Important Legal Notice from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Two proposed settlements have been reached in a securities class action lawsuit brought by investors against Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (“Petrobras”) and certain of its affiliates, underwriters, external auditors, and current and former directors and officers. The Settlements include certain securities issued by Petrobras. Petrobras, the Underwriter Defendants, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores Independentes (“PwC Brazil”) deny any and all allegations of wrongdoing, and the District Court has not decided who is right. If you requested exclusion in response to the previously mailed notice of pendency of class action dated May 9, 2016, you are included in this Settlement, and you must request exclusion again if you do not want to be included in the Settlement Class. Am I included in the proposed Settlements? You are encouraged to visit the website www.PetrobrasSecuritiesLitigation.com to see if you are included in the Settlement Class. The Settlement Class includes all Persons who: (a) during the time Period between January 22, 2010 and July 28, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”), purchased or otherwise acquired Petrobras Securities, including debt securities issued by PifCo and/or PGF, on the New York Stock Exchange or pursuant to other Covered Transactions; and/or (b) purchased or otherwise acquired debt securities issued by Petrobras, PifCo, and/or PGF, in Covered Transactions, directly in, pursuant and/or traceable to a May 13, 2013 public offering registered in the United States and/or a March 10, 2014 public offering registered in the United States before Petrobras made generally available to its security holders an earnings statement covering a period of at least twelve months beginning after the effective date of the offerings (August 11, 2014 in the case of the May 13, 2013 public offering and May 15, 2015 in the case of the March 10, 2014 public offering). For purposes of the Settlements, “Covered Transaction” means any transaction that satisfies any of the following criteria: (i) any transaction in a Petrobras Security listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”); (ii) any transaction in a Petrobras Security that cleared or settled through the Depository Trust Company’s book-entry system; or (iii) any transaction in a Petrobras Security to which the United States securities laws apply, including as applicable pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, 561 U.S. 247 (2010). The full definition of the Settlement Class, as well as full lists of Petrobras Securities eligible to satisfy criteria (i), (ii), and (iii) are available at: www.PetrobrasSecuritiesLitigation.com. http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31478 |
Monday 19 March 2018
AVAILABLE NOW: THE SMARTPHONE MADE FOR THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE TODAY, THE GALAXY S9 AND S9+
Award-winning Galaxy S9+ tops all smartphone cameras with highest score from DxOMark
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., March 19 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced that the new, award-winning Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, which have been recognized by smartphone reviewers worldwide for their best-in-class display, design and camera, are now available for purchase at U.S. wireless network providers and retail stores. The phones come in three colors: Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and the new Lilac Purple. The Galaxy S9 has a suggested retail price of $719.99, while the Galaxy S9+ is available for $839.99. Both unlocked and carrier versions of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are also available for purchase on Samsung.com.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180316005175/en/
“The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are designed for the visual and social generation—the consumers who connect, communicate, and share their stories through pictures and video,” said Tim Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer at Samsung Electronics North America. “Samsung leveraged its long history of innovation to reimagine the smartphone camera so that users can not only take the best pictures in any light and any environment, but also express themselves in their own unique way.”
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31477
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., March 19 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced that the new, award-winning Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, which have been recognized by smartphone reviewers worldwide for their best-in-class display, design and camera, are now available for purchase at U.S. wireless network providers and retail stores. The phones come in three colors: Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and the new Lilac Purple. The Galaxy S9 has a suggested retail price of $719.99, while the Galaxy S9+ is available for $839.99. Both unlocked and carrier versions of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are also available for purchase on Samsung.com.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180316005175/en/
“The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are designed for the visual and social generation—the consumers who connect, communicate, and share their stories through pictures and video,” said Tim Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer at Samsung Electronics North America. “Samsung leveraged its long history of innovation to reimagine the smartphone camera so that users can not only take the best pictures in any light and any environment, but also express themselves in their own unique way.”
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=31477
Friday 16 March 2018
A.M. Best assigns credit ratings of Momentum Life
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- A.M. Best has assigned a
financial strength rating of B++ (good) and a long-term issuer credit rating of
'bbb' to Momentum Life Ltd (Momentum Life) New Zealand, and the outlook
assigned to these ratings is stable.
The ratings reflect Momentum Life´s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorised as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
A.M. Best expects the company to maintain a level of on-balance sheet capital during its first five years of operations to support its projected business activities at all four Best´s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) confidence intervals.
Although the company lacks a demonstrated track record of stability in BCAR scores, the uncertainty is mitigated partially by the company reinsuring a very high percentage of its risk premiums, holding a large amount of additional capital, and maintaining a low-risk, highly liquid asset structure.
Momentum Life will focus initially on low-risk products such as guaranteed acceptance funeral insurance coverage and underwritten lump-sum life insurance products also will start to offer higher-risk products, such as income protection covers, in the third year of insurance operations.
Given the expected size and complexity of the company, A.M. Best considers Momentum Life´s ERM framework to be appropriate, and its risk management capabilities to be well-aligned with its risk profile.
Momentum Life is a newly formed insurance operation in New Zealand. Its ultimate parent, BlueInc Group Pty Limited (BlueInc Group) Australia, a financial services group specialising in direct life insurance distribution and administration in Australia and New Zealand.
-- BERNAMA
The ratings reflect Momentum Life´s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorised as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
A.M. Best expects the company to maintain a level of on-balance sheet capital during its first five years of operations to support its projected business activities at all four Best´s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR) confidence intervals.
Although the company lacks a demonstrated track record of stability in BCAR scores, the uncertainty is mitigated partially by the company reinsuring a very high percentage of its risk premiums, holding a large amount of additional capital, and maintaining a low-risk, highly liquid asset structure.
Momentum Life will focus initially on low-risk products such as guaranteed acceptance funeral insurance coverage and underwritten lump-sum life insurance products also will start to offer higher-risk products, such as income protection covers, in the third year of insurance operations.
Given the expected size and complexity of the company, A.M. Best considers Momentum Life´s ERM framework to be appropriate, and its risk management capabilities to be well-aligned with its risk profile.
Momentum Life is a newly formed insurance operation in New Zealand. Its ultimate parent, BlueInc Group Pty Limited (BlueInc Group) Australia, a financial services group specialising in direct life insurance distribution and administration in Australia and New Zealand.
-- BERNAMA
TOMMY HILFIGER ANNOUNCES FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPION LEWIS HAMILTON AS GLOBAL BRAND AMBASSADOR FOR TOMMY HILFIGER MEN'S
As one of today’s greatest sports competitors, Lewis Hamilton will represent the world of TOMMY HILFIGER men’s as global brand ambassador starting Spring 2018.
AMSTERDAM, March 15 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Tommy Hilfiger, which is owned by PVH Corp. [NYSE: PVH], announces that British Formula One racing driver and four-time Formula One® World Champion Lewis Hamilton will appear as the new global brand ambassador for TOMMY HILFIGER men’s, including HILFIGER COLLECTION, TOMMY HILFIGER TAILORED and TOMMY HILFIGER Menswear, Underwear and Swimwear, starting Spring 2018. The partnership reflects Tommy Hilfiger’s strategic commitment to build on its strong menswear heritage and further drive the global growth of its men’s business, bringing the next generation of fans to the brand.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180315005270/en/
“I have always admired Lewis’ incredible endurance during the race, as well as his unique style off the track, which speak to the new generation of Tommy Guys,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “He has built his incredible career as a racing driver with passion, dedication and extremely hard work – values that I embraced when founding my brand. We have a history with Formula One, and this partnership builds on our heritage of collaborations within the world of motor sport.”
AMSTERDAM, March 15 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Tommy Hilfiger, which is owned by PVH Corp. [NYSE: PVH], announces that British Formula One racing driver and four-time Formula One® World Champion Lewis Hamilton will appear as the new global brand ambassador for TOMMY HILFIGER men’s, including HILFIGER COLLECTION, TOMMY HILFIGER TAILORED and TOMMY HILFIGER Menswear, Underwear and Swimwear, starting Spring 2018. The partnership reflects Tommy Hilfiger’s strategic commitment to build on its strong menswear heritage and further drive the global growth of its men’s business, bringing the next generation of fans to the brand.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180315005270/en/
“I have always admired Lewis’ incredible endurance during the race, as well as his unique style off the track, which speak to the new generation of Tommy Guys,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “He has built his incredible career as a racing driver with passion, dedication and extremely hard work – values that I embraced when founding my brand. We have a history with Formula One, and this partnership builds on our heritage of collaborations within the world of motor sport.”
SOLARWINDS SYSTEM MANAGEMENT UPDATES SHARPEN VISIBILITY INTO PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Support added for leading all-flash arrays from Dell EMC, HPE Nimble Storage, INFINIDAT and IBM
New functionality creates clear view of server interactions within business applications
AUSTIN, Texas, March 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced a pair of product updates that offer broader and deeper performance monitoring capabilities across physical and virtual infrastructures, particularly in hybrid environments. The newest version of SolarWinds® Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) extends support to a wider range of leading all-flash arrays (AFAs), while the latest update to Server & Application Monitor (SAM) permits deeper visibility into interactions between a set of servers running critical business applications.
“Finding clarity through the haze of complexity is vital to successfully keep today’s heterogeneous and distributed IT environments running smoothly,” said Christoph Pfister, executive vice president of products, SolarWinds. “With support for more leading-edge storage vendor solutions and deeper visibility into the connection between critical infrastructure resources, our system management updates give IT professionals more powerful tools to overcome complexity and optimize performance in their diverse worlds.”
New functionality creates clear view of server interactions within business applications
AUSTIN, Texas, March 15 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarWinds, a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, today announced a pair of product updates that offer broader and deeper performance monitoring capabilities across physical and virtual infrastructures, particularly in hybrid environments. The newest version of SolarWinds® Storage Resource Monitor (SRM) extends support to a wider range of leading all-flash arrays (AFAs), while the latest update to Server & Application Monitor (SAM) permits deeper visibility into interactions between a set of servers running critical business applications.
“Finding clarity through the haze of complexity is vital to successfully keep today’s heterogeneous and distributed IT environments running smoothly,” said Christoph Pfister, executive vice president of products, SolarWinds. “With support for more leading-edge storage vendor solutions and deeper visibility into the connection between critical infrastructure resources, our system management updates give IT professionals more powerful tools to overcome complexity and optimize performance in their diverse worlds.”
Thursday 15 March 2018
NEURALSTEM ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF A STUDY IN NATURE MEDICINE SHOWING BENEFITS OF NSI-566 IN A PRIMATE MODEL OF SPINAL CORD INJURY
- NSI-566 shown to have restorative function in primate paralysis model -
- NSI-566 transplantation resulted in measurable improvement in forelimb function -
GERMANTOWN, Md., March 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuralstem, Inc. (Nasdaq:CUR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases, highlighted the publication of a manuscript in Nature Medicine showing that NSI-566, Neuralstem’s lead cell therapy candidate, provided meaningful improvement in forelimb function in a non-human primate model of acute spinal cord injury. The full manuscript can be found here.
The manuscript, entitled ‘Restorative Effects of Human Neural Stem Cell Grafts on the Primate Spinal Cord,’ involved a study to evaluate the potential benefits of transplanting NSI-566 into rhesus monkeys two weeks after they received a hemisection lesion of the cervical spinal cord.
- NSI-566 transplantation resulted in measurable improvement in forelimb function -
GERMANTOWN, Md., March 14 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neuralstem, Inc. (Nasdaq:CUR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases, highlighted the publication of a manuscript in Nature Medicine showing that NSI-566, Neuralstem’s lead cell therapy candidate, provided meaningful improvement in forelimb function in a non-human primate model of acute spinal cord injury. The full manuscript can be found here.
The manuscript, entitled ‘Restorative Effects of Human Neural Stem Cell Grafts on the Primate Spinal Cord,’ involved a study to evaluate the potential benefits of transplanting NSI-566 into rhesus monkeys two weeks after they received a hemisection lesion of the cervical spinal cord.
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