Month: March 2022

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Africa Asean MENA Pakistan Press Releases South Africa

Synchronoss Personal Cloud Enables Kitamura’s PicStorage Service

Multimedia Retailer to Offer PicStorage Cloud Solution to Millions of Customers

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., March 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (“Synchronoss” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SNCR), a global leader and innovator in cloud, messaging and digital products and platforms, today announced that Kitamura, the leading multimedia retailer in Japan, has launched a white-label version of the Synchronoss Personal Cloud under the name PicStorage.

Kitamura is one of Japan’s leading retailers offering image-related services and products, including cameras, photo printing, video dubbing, photo studio, photo books and more. The retailer has over 1,000 retail locations across the country with over 20 million paying visitors each year and approximately 10 million consumers registered in its online services. Through this integration, Kitamura will be able to provide seamless online and retail experiences with the new PicStorage personal cloud offering.

“In addition to our carrier and service provider partners, Synchronoss is exploring new applications for our cloud platform,” said Yosuke Morioka, General Manager, Synchronoss Japan. “Our collaboration with Kitamura and their launch of PicStorage is just one example of how the Synchronoss Personal Cloud can be leveraged as a value-add service across multiple industries and verticals. “

Kitamura will offer PicStorage as a subscription-based service. It will include a branded app and access to an online portal to store, manage, and share digital content.

“The launch of PicStorage is a perfect extension of our product and services portfolio,” said Hajime Yanagisawa, Chief Digital Officer & Managing Executive Officer, Kitamura. “Now millions of our customers will be able to safeguard their digital content in the cloud and share them with friends and family. PicStorage allows the customer to experience new ways to organize and enjoy their photos and memories. Kitamura will continue to expand this service with photo related services that will enhance the customer experience.”

In addition to Kitamura, Synchronoss has customers in the US, Europe, and Asia, including Verizon, AT&T, Tracfone, Assurant, Allstate Protection Plans, Telkomsel, BT, Proximus and SFR.

About Kitamura
Kitamura is a leading company of photographic and video-related products and services in Japan. The company owns Japan’s largest in-house laboratories (photo and video processing factories) and delivers its services and products via more than 1,000 retail stores nationwide and online. It is the company’s mission to provide services to shape customer memories not only at that moment but also for decades to come, restore photos, and revive precious memories.

About Synchronoss

Synchronoss Technologies (Nasdaq: SNCR) builds software that empowers companies around the world to connect with their subscribers in trusted and meaningful ways. The company’s collection of products helps streamline networks, simplify onboarding, and engage subscribers to unleash new revenue streams, reduce costs and increase speed to market. Hundreds of millions of subscribers trust Synchronoss products to stay in sync with the people, services, and content they love. That’s why more than 1,500 talented Synchronoss employees worldwide strive each day to reimagine a world in sync. Learn more at www.synchronoss.com.

Media Relations Contact:
Domenick Cilea
Springboard
dcilea@springboardpr.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Matt Glover / Tom Colton
Gateway Group, Inc.
SNCR@gatewayir.com

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General

Federal authorities arrest accused Liberian war criminal ‘Dragon Master’ living in Philadelphia

Published by
The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hiding his background as a high-ranking member of a rebel group — he called himself “Dragon Master” — that is accused of committing atrocities during a Liberian civil war. Laye Sekou Camara, of Southwest Philadelphia, is accused of lying about his background in 2011 to obtain a visa to enter the United States and then later to obtain a green card. Camara then allegedly used the green card to falsely characterize his background on a Pennsylvania identification applic…

Continue reading “Federal authorities arrest accused Liberian war criminal ‘Dragon Master’ living in Philadelphia”
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General

FDA Authorizes Second Vaccine Booster for Those 50 and Older

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a fourth dose of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for people 50 and over.

Previously a fourth dose was only authorized for people 12 and up, who are badly immunocompromised.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control will not weigh in on how to implement the FDA’s authorization.

People wanting the fourth shot should only do so at least four months after the previous booster, the FDA said Tuesday.

The FDA’s authorization comes as COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are falling after a winter surge of the omicron variant.

However, a new subvariant, BA.2, is spreading in Europe and the U.S.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve had two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Only half of those eligible have gotten a first booster.

While the vaccines did not stop omicron from circulating widely, health officials say they did help those infected avoid serious illness or death.

The government is also considering authorizing a fourth dose for everyone in the Fall when cases could surge again.

Source: Voice of America

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General

Oil falls on Russia-Ukraine peace talk hopes, China’s fuel demand fears following covid shutdown

US crude futures fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous day as Ukraine and Russia headed for peace talks and on fears of a drop in fuel demand in China after the financial hub of Shanghai shut down to curb a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Brent crude futures were trading down $1.07, or 1.0per cent, at $111.41 a barrel at 0107 GMT, having dipped as low as $109.97.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures hit a low of $103.46 in an early trade and were down 79 cents, or 0.8per cent, at $105.17. Both benchmark contracts lost around 7per cent on Monday.

Ukraine and Russia were set to meet in Istanbul on Tuesday for their first peace talks in over two weeks. Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine have curtailed oil supply and earlier this month sent prices to 14-year highs.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm its neighbour.

“Oil prices are under pressure again on expectations for a peace talk between Ukraine and Russia, which could lead to an easing of sanctions or avoidance on Russian oil by the West,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities in TOKYO.

“A successful ceasefire could also raise the prospect of reviving an Iranian nuclear deal,” he added.

Offsetting concerns about tight supply, Shanghai’s two-stage lockdown over nine days is expected to hit fuel demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer. The country’s financial hub accounts for about 4per cent of China’s oil consumption, ANZ Research analysts said.

The market is also waiting on a planned meeting on Thursday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, collectively known as OPEC+.

The group will likely stick to plans for a modest increase in oil output in May, several sources close to the group said, despite a surge in prices due to the Ukraine crisis and calls from the United States and other consumers for more supply.

Worldwide demand has risen to nearly pre-pandemic levels, but supply has been hindered, as OPEC+ has been slow to restore supply cuts enacted during the pandemic in 2020.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Africa Press Releases South Africa

COCA-COLA, BUREAU VERITAS, ACCENTURE TO LEAD FOR 2022 AFRICA EDITION OF CEILING TOUCH THE SKY(R)

Africa’s Best organizations to share and learn best practices for leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, and success on June 1, 2022.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd (HORP) today announced that its 2022 Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky® – the success and leadership summit for women will be held virtually on June 1, 2022, bringing together virtually leaders  from the best Companies in Africa to share best practices on leadership, diversity & inclusion, and success. Coca-Cola, Bureau Veritas, and Accenture will lead as the early sponsors for this Edition.

Logo

Break the ceiling touch the sky® is the world’s leading forum for women in leadership, having inspired and enabled over 30000 women leaders to greater success across editions in Africa, North America, Europe, Middle East, ANZ and Asia since 2015. The summit is based on the best-selling book “Break the ceiling touch the sky: success secrets of the world’s most inspirational women” by Anthony A. Rose, Chairman and CEO, House of Rose Professional.  The summit supports MISSION 2029 FOR A BETTER WORLD – a 10-year global initiative led by HORP and several global partner organizations to shape a better world by quintupling the number of Female CEOs in the worlds 500 largest Companies by 2029 and doubling the number of Male CEOs advocating and investing in diversity & inclusion.  With some of the world’s fastest growing economies in Africa, the Region is expected to contribute significantly towards this Mission.

Commented Philippine Mtikitiki,Vice President, South Africa, The Coca-Cola Company, “Diversity and inclusion is at the core of our business. We continue to invest and make progress in unlocking the full potential of our people with equal access to development and opportunity.  We are delighted to partner with Break the ceiling touch the sky® for this important 2022 Africa Edition and contribute to accelerating the development of human capital in the region.” 

Commented Marc Roussel, President Government Services & International Trade & SVP Africa, Bureau Veritas, “An Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky® is an important development in the mission for global gender diversity & inclusion. Gender diverse companies are financially more successful, better employers, greater innovators, and better corporate citizens. Bureau Veritas Africa looks forward to sharing and learning best practices on leadership, diversity & inclusion best practices alongside many other winning organizations at the 2022 Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky.”

Vukani Mngxati, Chief Executive Officer & Board Chairman, Accenture in Africa, shared, “We believe the future workforce is an equal one. There is no doubt that the pandemic hit women the hardest. From skyrocketing unemployment to taking on more responsibilities at home, it has never been more important to ensure equitable experiences for women. We expect leaders at all levels to help create and sustain a culture of equality. I personally believe that inclusion helps us to unleash greater innovation and enables  our people to perform at their very best. Through Break the ceiling touch the sky® we share our learnings on leadership, diversity & inclusion to benefit the broader industry and  learn from others’ best practices as well.”

Companies or individuals can register for the summit at

https://houseofroseprofessional.com/btctts-world-tour-2022/africa-2022/

House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd® is a global leader in the Talent, Training and Transformation businesses via its three core brands Break the ceiling touch the sky® (Training), Dream Job International®(Talent) and CEOSmith® (Transformation).

Inquiries contact:

Anthony A. Rose
 House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd.
Email: anthony@houseofroseprofessional.com
www.houseofroseprofessional.com

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Africa Press Releases South Africa

Vela Diagnostics présente ses panels de séquençage des gènes du cancer ciblés (60 gènes) et complets (525 gènes) basés sur les NGS

HAMBOURG, Allemagne, 28 mars 2022  /PRNewswire/ — Vela Diagnostics a annoncé aujourd’hui le lancement de ses nouveaux panels de séquençage OncoKey® SL 60 et 525 Plus. Ces panels basés sur les systèmes de séquençage de nouvelle génération (NGS) sont conçus pour détecter les biomarqueurs d’ADN et d’ARN du cancer à partir d’échantillons de tissus fixés au formol et inclus en paraffine (FFPE), pour un maximum de 64 échantillons par cycle de séquençage.

Vela Diagnostics propose deux panels de séquençage des gènes du cancer : le système OncoKey® SL 60 Plus et le système complet OncoKey® SL 525 Plus. Avec seulement 40 ng d’acide nucléique, le panel de séquençage peut détecter les biomarqueurs suivants en un seul test : polymorphisme d’un seul nucléotide (PSN), insertions ou délétions (indel), variations du nombre de copies (copy number variations, CNV), instabilité des microsatellites (microsatellite instability, MSI), fusions, épissage alternatif, virus et bactéries oncogènes, et peut mesurer la charge mutationnelle tumorale (CMT).

Ces panels basés sur les NGS présentent un flux de travail hautement automatisé, de l’échantillon au résultat. Ils peuvent produire des résultats en cinq jours, ne nécessitent que 2,5 heures de travail manuel et assurent une traçabilité élevée des échantillons, de l’extraction automatisée des échantillons au contrôle de la qualité (CQ) des données. VELA® Analytics permet de créer des rapports internes concis, fondés sur des données probantes, qui fournissent aux clients les informations nécessaires pour prendre des décisions éclairées quant aux options de traitement possibles. Par ailleurs, les laboratoires disposant de peu d’échantillons peuvent choisir d’effectuer les tests manuellement.

Le flux de travail des panels OncoKey® SL 60 et 525 Plus repose sur les plateformes de séquençage Illumina. Les panels peuvent donc s’adapter sans problème aux situations actuelles des laboratoires. Associés à des adaptateurs UMI-UDI doubles, à un système de capture par hybridation, à un séquençage par synthèse et à un pipeline bio-informatique validé avec soin, les panels présentent une sensibilité élevée et un profilage complet des variantes, ainsi qu’une couverture de séquençage uniforme.

« Les panels OncoKey® 60 et 525 Plus de VELA sont un formidable progrès dans la médecine de précision pour le cancer, a déclaré le Dr Andreas Goertz, directeur général de la division européenne de Vela Diagnostics. Ces panels sont composés de gènes pertinents d’un point de vue clinique et ont été conçus sur la base de contributions de personnalités influentes dans le domaine de l’oncologie, ainsi que de références à des directives professionnelles, à des essais cliniques et à des bases de données sur le cancer. »

« Vela Diagnostics prévoit de rendre disponibles les panels OncoKey® 60 et 525 Plus au quatrième trimestre 2022 aux États-Unis et en Asie-Pacifique, a ajouté Sam Dajani, PDG et président exécutif de Vela Diagnostics. L’utilisation de ces panels sur le flux de travail automatisé de Vela Diagnostics permettra de réduire les erreurs humaines et de minimiser la contamination croisée des échantillons qui peut être engendrée par un flux de travail manuel. Par ailleurs, nos solutions et services VELA® Analytics peuvent identifier et interpréter les variantes génétiques dans les tumeurs, ce qui permet de fournir rapidement et avec précision des options exploitables aux professionnels de la santé et de la recherche. »

À propos de Vela Diagnostics

Vela Diagnostics est un fournisseur de premier plan de solutions intégrées de diagnostic in vitro, de l’échantillon au résultat. Les solutions de test de VELA utilisent la plateforme automatisée Sentosa®, et offrent la possibilité unique d’utiliser un seul système pour les tests NGS et PCR dans le domaine des maladies infectieuses et de l’oncologie.

Tous les produits Sentosa® énumérés ci-dessus sont de Vela Diagnostics. Pour plus d’informations, consultez le site www.veladx.com. Tous les autres noms de produits, marques déposées et logos sont la propriété de leurs détenteurs respectifs.

Contact pour les médias :

vince.yip@veladx.com

 

 

Categories
Africa MENA Press Releases South Africa

Vela Diagnostics Launches Focused (60 Genes) and Comprehensive (525 Genes) NGS-Based Pan-Cancer Panels

HAMBURG, Germany, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Vela Diagnostics announced today the launch of its new OncoKey® SL 60 and 525 Plus Panels. These next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based panels are intended for detection of DNA and RNA cancer biomarkers from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens, for up to 64 samples in a single sequencing run.

Vela Diagnostics offers two pan-cancer gene panels: the focused OncoKey® SL 60 Plus Panel, and the comprehensive OncoKey® SL 525 Plus Panel. With just 40 ng of nucleic acid, the panel can detect the following biomarkers in one assay: single nucleotide variations (SNVs), insertions/deletions (INDELs), copy number variations (CNVs), microsatellite instability (MSI), fusions, splice variants, oncogenic viruses and bacteria, as well as measuring the tumor mutation burden (TMB).

These NGS-based panels feature a highly-automated, sample-to-result workflow. They are able to produce results within 5 days, requiring only 2.5 hours of hands-on time, and provide high sample traceability, from automated sample extraction to data quality control (QC). VELA® Analytics can create concise, evidence-based in-house reports that help customers with the information to make timely, informed decisions about possible treatment options. Additionally, laboratories with low sample volumes can choose to perform the assays in a manual workflow.

Crucially, the OncoKey® SL 60 and 525 Plus Panel workflow is wrapped around Illumina sequencing platforms. Thus, the panels can be seamlessly adapted to current lab situations. Combined with dual UMI-UDI adapters, hybrid capture target enrichment, sequencing by synthesis and thoroughly validated bioinformatics pipeline, the panels boast high sensitivity and comprehensive variant profiling, plus sequencing coverage uniformity.

“VELA’s OncoKey® 60 and 525 Plus Panels represent an exciting development in precision medicine for cancer,” said Dr Andreas Goertz, Managing Director of Vela Diagnostics’ European organization. “These panels consist of clinically relevant genes of interest and were designed based on input from key opinion leaders in oncology, as well as references to professional guidelines, curated clinical trial and cancer databases.”

“Vela Diagnostics is planning to launch our OncoKey® 60 and 525 Plus Panels in Q4 2022 in the USA and Asia Pacific,” said Sam Dajani, CEO and Executive Chairman of Vela Diagnostics. “Using these panels on Vela Diagnostics’ automated workflow will reduce human error and minimize sample cross contamination which can be generated by using a manual workflow. In addition, our VELA® Analytics solutions and services can identify and interpret genetic variants in tumors making it possible to provide actionable options for healthcare and research professionals quickly and accurately,” added Mr Dajani.

About Vela Diagnostics

Vela Diagnostics is a leading provider for integrated IVD system solutions, from sample to result. VELA’s test solutions utilize the automated Sentosa® platform, providing the unique ability to leverage one system for NGS and PCR testing in infectious disease and oncology.

All Sentosa® products listed above are by Vela Diagnostics. For more information, visit www.veladx.com. All other product names, trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact

vince.yip@veladx.com

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Africa Press Releases South Africa

Presales Open for Metahunter: The Metaverse for All

The combination of MMORPG, Sandbox, and open-world concepts opens the door to a new Metaverse.

SINGAPORE, March 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — A new dawn is coming to the virtual world in the shape of Metahunter, a platform that is focused on accessibility, education, and opportunity for any and all who want to experience the metaverse. Presales have now begun at https://metahunter.com/.

Metahunter Logo

With over 500 influencers onboarded into the ecosystem, Metahunter is on track to becoming the largest Metaverse space in the world. Metahunter aims to become the Metaverse for all by providing equal opportunity to all regardless of social level, becoming the first of many to make the virtual experience a reality for millions of unserved people worldwide.

Metahunter Influencers Community

Unlike many other projects created in the market, Metahunter isn’t just trying to take advantage of the hype and short-term profits. Instead, Metahunter makes the Metaverse experience accessible to tens of millions of people in the market who don’t currently have the opportunity and knowledge to participate due to high entry costs and other barriers.

Not only does Metahunter provide a beginner-friendly platform, but it also provides a place for newcomers to learn more about play-to-earn gaming and blockchain technology. It gives everyone a chance to get into Metaverse at an affordable price. The new platform will offer those that haven’t been able to participate in play-to-earn gaming a unique first-time opportunity.

Allen Tan Chee Hoe

Founded by Allen Tan Chee Hoe, who previously founded Findwork, a recruitment platform with over 4 million verified and certified users that connects underserved personnel to working opportunities. Currently, Allen leads the Metahunter team of seasoned executives in blockchain, technology, capital markets, marketing, entrepreneurship, gaming, influencers, community builders, and more. The Metahunter team has a background from companies like Facebook Gaming, SuperCell, J.P. Morgan, Renaissance Capital, etc.

Unlike other platforms which rely on bots or other sources to generate traffic, Metahunter will build an organic approach. With a possible outreach of at least 100 million people globally, Metahunter is on track to create the most immersive Metaverse experience.

Metahunter is a “Metaverse for All” where everyone can play, learn, and earn together. Take advantage of this early opportunity, and let’s build the largest Metaverse world together!

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