KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Foreign travelers to Japan can now enjoy the charms along the Odakyu Railway Lines through four package tours offered by the Odakyu Group.
Beginning October, the four types of day tours link Tokyo’s Shinjuku with popular tourist spots such as the Hakone area and the Enoshima-Kamakura area in Kanagawa Prefecture. Tourists can enjoy two hours to taste traditional foods and explore historical spots in Yoyogi Uehara with 4,000 yen (RM147.88) or spend 5,000 yen (RM184.76) for two hours local neighborhood walk in Shimokitazawa which is well known for youngsters subculture, a statement said. Other packages are Oyama Sacred Mountain Hike – a one day hiking (approximately six hours) with locals to Mount Oyama in Kanagawa with price at 14,000 yen (RM517.16) Tourists can also pay 5,000 yen (RM184.76) for Odawara Castle Samurai Photo Tour. Odawara is the gateway to Hakone, there is a station on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line. For all these packages, tourists are required to make an advance reservations. Detailed information in English will be also provided on the tours. Each package is carried out with at least two participants and it will be sold at its campaign price (as above) for a certain period – the date of termination has not been decided. Further information and reservation at https://ellista.jp/category/tour/ and offline ticket purchase is available at Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center Shinjuku West and ELLISTA at Inbound League. Odakyu Group consists of UDS Ltd, ELLISTA Inc and Odakyu Electric Railway Co. Ltd. – one of Japan’s major private railway companies established in 1948. -- BERNAMA
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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 (Bernama) – The transplantation of NSI-532.IGF1 – a proprietary human neural stem cell (NSC) line – can mitigate disease pathology and improves cognition in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to Scientific Reports.
NSI-532.IGF1 is developed by Neuralstem, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for nervous system diseases. The NSC transplantation is following a study conducted at the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Eva Feldman, Director of the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery and Research Director of the University of Michigan ALS Center of Excellence, a statement said. Dr. Feldman’s team grafted the neural stem cell line into APP/PS1 mice that carried genes bearing mutations associated with onset of AD in humans. During the study, the animals had improved cognitive performance relative to control animals in two memory tasks that are dependent on hippocampal function. The transplantation also led to decrease in Aβ plaque pathology relative to controls. Chief Scientific Officer at Neuralstem, Karl Johe said NSI-532.IGF1 is a second-generation cell therapy candidate, engineered to combine neural stem cells with a neuroprotective protein, IGF-1, thereby targeting neurodegenerative conditions like AD. He added the preclinical study suggests that the combined properties of neural stem cells and IGF-1 may mitigate the pathology and cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease. “We are encouraged by the results we have seen with human neural stem cells in this established animal model and look forward to continuing this collaboration with Neuralstem,” said Dr. Feldman. -- BERNAMA KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Japan’s non-life insurance sector has a stable outlook by A.M. Best, despite the elevated risks of catastrophe losses and modest economic expansion in the country.
The market has also demonstrated stable pricing conditions, according to a new Best’s Market Segment Report - “Market Segment Outlook: Japan Non-Life”. A.M. Best said in a statement, two main factors will continue to foster stable pricing conditions among the non-life insurers in Japan – the presence of an effective reference rate system and an oligopolistic industry structure. Additionally, in spite of the performance pressures arising from recent weather-related events, A.M. Best expects the industry to maintain very strong risk-adjusted capital positions. Private companies operating in the sector also held solid risk-adjusted capital positions and profitable underwriting results despite economic- and weather-related pressures. Japan’s overall market performance has remained quite profitable. The weighted average combined ratios for the private insurance segment generally remained under 95 per cent over the most recent five-year period. However, the industry has been facing medium- to long-term challenges to grow its premium base, due to modest economic growth, falling accident rates resulting from advanced driver-assistance systems and the gradual shift in population demographics. Despite these challenges, most private non-life insurers have continued to grow premium revenue, generate underwriting profits and maintain solid risk-adjusted capital positions that are supportive of their risk profiles. A.M. Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. More details at www.ambest.com -- BERNAMA Popular among those in Europe and Asia who value cultural experiences, despite having just opened. This is a hotel that works to do social good, preventing social issues like regional depopulation and the abandonment of homes, and protecting Japan’s true nature as it disappears in the face of large-scale development.
OSAKA, Japan, Oct 31 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- SEKAI HOTEL, Inc., headquartered in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Koichi Yano, founder and CEO, is opening SEKAI HOTEL FUSE, redeveloping the entire shopping street district that fronts Fuse Station, in a local community that is roughly ten minutes by train from the center of Osaka, Japan’s second largest city. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181030005584/en/ Disappearing Local Communities Increase a Sense of Crisis Japan is increasingly becoming a tourist destination for visitors from overseas, in part because of the popularity of anime television programs and films, and of manga comic books. As different locations throughout Japan work to create content that will appeal to tourists, we see urban development replacing local coffee shops, where residents have gathered for decades, with large coffee shop chains, and we see small restaurants that have offered a taste of Japanese homestyle cooking over the course of many long years needing to close because there is no one left to carry on that business. There is a growing awareness of social issues that are resulting in a loss of Japan’s true culture. CONCEPT: The ordinary is what’s worth experiencing, especially when it comes to traveling overseas. SEKAI HOTEL believes that there is value in experiencing culture through tourism, particularly in terms of a deeper cultural experience that can be truly found within the ordinary lives of Japanese people. There is an excitement in a true tourist experience that comes from attempts to communicate with local people, be it with imperfect language skills, or even with gestures. We are both working to create new tourism values that could be termed ordinary and are also trying to entice values from locations that are either further away from Japan’s urban centers or otherwise not known to tourists. Our method has been to reject the amassing of regular hotel features, such as a front desk, guest rooms, gift shops, and activities, into a single gigantic building, and to instead redevelop entire communities as a hotel, reviving the now empty homes that you find, here and there, in those communities. Local empty homes are renovated and converted to guest rooms. Features you would normally find within the walls of a hotel, like spas, restaurants, and activities, are provided in conjunction with local businesses, developing a community-based hotel where guests can enjoy wandering about the community. Ordinary Experiences at SEKAI HOTEL FUSE We chose to open our new hotel site in a shopping district that has been a part of this community for more than fifty years, and that straddles the station to both the north and south. Such districts comprise streets that are lined with a wide variety of shops. They grew in number throughout Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s, becoming the face of each region as the best places to shop. They played vital roles in energizing their communities, hosting festivals and contributing to the community at large as hubs of activity. For Fuse in particular, there were rows of greengrocers, fruit sellers, Takoyaki (octopus dumplings) shops, stalls with freshly fried croquettes, and butchers, some of which have histories that extend back more than a century. SEKAI HOTEL FUSE saw not only this shopping district, but the ordinary lives of Japanese people that were centered around this district. Experience the ordinary of Japan through this community by not just staying here, but with visits to all the different shops that surround you. The location is also superlative in terms of transportation access, with direct bus service from Kansai International Airport, and direct train lines to famous tourist destinations that include Universal Studios Japan, Dotonbori, and Nara. Enjoy a visit to Japan that encompasses not just Fuse, but all the surrounding attractions and destinations as well. A Recommended Tourism Plan Day 1:
Sharing the SEKAI HOTEL concept of experiencing the ordinary to the whole world highlights our involvement in the significant issues that impact Japan’s non-urban communities, including an aging population, the flight of young people to urban centers, and the increasing number of abandoned homes. We are also seeing these issues, so prevalent in rural Japan, beginning to surface in various other countries in East Asia. SEKAI HOTEL is therefore planning to take successes experienced in our involvement here in Japan to similar locations overseas. http://bizwire.pr/SOxJ8 The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181030005584/en/ Contact SEKAI HOTEL Inc. Koki Mitani, +81-6-6748-0750 Public Relations Manager [email protected] Source : SEKAI HOTEL Inc. HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A.M. Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” to Dah Sing Insurance Company (1976) Limited (DSI) (Hong Kong). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
DSI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dah Sing Financial Holdings Limited (DSFH), a financial holding company headquartered in Hong Kong and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1987. Prior to 2011, DSFH operated a general insurance business in Hong Kong through Dah Sing Insurance Company Limited. In April 2011, DSFH acquired Summit Insurance Limited and renamed it Dah Sing Insurance Company (1976) Limited (DSI). In 2012, Dah Sing Insurance Company Limited completed the transferral of its business portfolio to DSI. The ratings reflect DSI’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect the parental support from DSFH in terms of capital, brand recognition, business development, product distribution, risk management and operational support. DSI received a material capital injection of HKD 1.35 billion (USD 173 million) from DSFH in 2017. The company also has grown its capital base gradually from a full retention of net profits over the past five years. A.M. Best expects the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization to remain robust over the short to intermediate term, supporting the anticipated increase in asset and underwriting risks driven by business expansion. The company has delivered profitable operating results over the past five years, mainly attributed to a stream of interest income from the high proportion of fixed income investments, which partially offset the higher volatility in underwriting results. As a small-sized player with limited market share in Hong Kong’s non-life segment, DSI’s underwriting portfolio remains skewed toward motor and employees’ compensation businesses, although the company has been gradually diversifying its book of business by tightening underwriting of these products while expanding accident and health business via the affiliated Dah Sing Bank network. Offsetting rating factors include the highly competitive operating environment and additional pressure on the company’s underwriting margin due to increasing acquisition and management expenses relative to its small premium scale. While positive rating actions are not likely over the short to intermediate term, negative rating actions could occur if there is a material deterioration in the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization, or a sustained unfavorable trend in operating performance, or if DSFH reduces the level of support it provides to DSI. 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 a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. 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/20181030005861/en/ Contact A.M. Best James Chan Senior Financial Analyst +852 2827 3418 [email protected] or Christie Lee Director, Analytics +852 2827 3413 [email protected] or Christopher Sharkey Manager, Public Relations +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 [email protected] or Jim Peavy Director, Public Relations +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644 [email protected] Source : A.M. Best |
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