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Nikon
reaffirmed its reputation among professional photographers
for performance, quality and convenience with the
fall release of new cameras employing all of its
latest breakthrough technologies to advance the
limits of both film and digital photography.
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Nikon D2X ‹ The high-end professional digital
SLR camera; High-precision, high-speed performance
with a higher pixel count of 12.4 megapixels;
Newly developed DX format CMOS image sensor
and image-processing functions; New-generation
system LSI processing for enhanced color and
tone accuracy. |
Diehard film photographers
joyously welcomed the F6, the latest of the fabled
F series 35mm film SLR cameras that seamlessly blend
new cutting-edge technologies and uncompromising
craftsmanship. The F6 inherits select elements from
its predecessors, including the legendary Nikon
F mount, while offering the latest innovations to
meet the increasingly diversified needs of professionals.
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Nikon F6 ‹ Newest of the Nikon F series that
began in 1959. Integral-motor autofocus 35mm
single-lens reflex with electronically controlled
focalplane shutter; Multiple exposure modes;
High-speed, high-accuracy autofocus operation;
Advanced exposure metering; Rugged and extremely
flexible. |
On the digital side, the
Nikon D2X follows in the footsteps of the high-speed
D2H, but adds higher image precision to meet the
demands of professionals in all fields, from commercial
to nature photography.
Nikon also addressed high-end
consumer photography with new 8-megapixel models
for its COOLPIX series and an array of new convenience
functions. |
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In line
with strategies for expanding its overseas energy-transportation
business, particularly in the Atlantic region, NYK
Line has concluded a long-term charter agreement
for two new large-size LNG carriers with Nigeria
LNG Limited, as well as a shipbuilding contract
for those carriers with Samsung Heavy Industries
Co., Ltd. of South Korea. This is the first business
relationship with Nigeria for NYK's LNG Group. Moreover,
NYK is the first Japanese shipping company to receive
an exclusive order for LNG transportation from an
overseas company.
Nigeria, the world's
sixth-largest LNG exporter, is a key supplier, especially
for the North American market, where an extensive
rise in demand is expected. Viewing this trend, Nigeria
LNG plans to fortify its business further by increasing
the number of LNG liquefaction plants and LNG charters.
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Imagine,
instead of waking late to a cup of instant coffee
and dashing through the streets to an 8 a.m. lecture
on structural analysis, you are awakened by the
sunrise on a limitless ocean horizon, take breakfast
in the ship's dining room, then attend a lecture
on the culture of a country you will tour in three
more days. Something very much like that occurred
for the lucky university students in Semester at
Sea, one of the innovative programs run by the University
Center for International Studies at the University
of Pittsburgh in the United States. The program
is open to college students across the U.S., who
take 2-4 months off from their regular studies to
sail around the Pacific rim studying people, countries
and cultures first-hand. A curriculum is custom-designed
for the voyage, and credits for study are granted
when the students return to their regular universities.
An
engineering professor and faculty member on the
most recent cruise arranged a visit on August 4
to the Mitsubishi Electric Sanda Works near Kobe,
Japan, where the ship docked. The original request
was for 25 students and faculty, but the visit proved
so popular with students, the number was increased
to 35. They visited from about noon to 3 or 4 p.m.,
then returned to the ship. The visitors were provided
with a lunch and then given a well-received tour.
This was followed by a lively Q&A session that
lasted for over an hour, hosted by members of Mitsubishi
Electric senior management. The
professor pronounced the tour highly educational,
and many students felt it was one of the highlights
of the entire voyage. You can see information about
Semester at Sea at www.semesteratsea.com. |
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At
the request of the Beijing municipal government,
which is seeking ways to solve the capital's chronic
water shortage and simultaneously to improve environmental
and hygiene conditions in the run-up to the Olympic
Games in 2008, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)
and six other parties have signed a capital participation
agreement for an ultramodern linen-laundering joint
venture in the capital. MHI will be among seven
parties, five enterprises and two associations from
China and Japan, investing in the new company. MHI
will have an equity stake near 19%.
MHI will also deliver
the core machinery for the facility, and related
peripheral equipment. The washing machinery is the
most advanced system available today, capable of
processing 20 tons of linen per day through the
use of continuous washing. This system offers significant
advantages over batch processing of large-size wash
loads and spin-drying: among them are a 55% saving
in water usage, one-fifth the normal labor requirement
and improved hygiene. These features, in combination
with easy maintenance and outstanding operating
ease, match the overriding aims of the project.
Through its participation,
MHI aims to demonstrate its advanced products and
technology in China and, by having its equipment
in operation in the local market, to arouse demand
going forward. The company intends to expand its
marketing activities in commercial washing machineries
with the end target set on becoming the standard
within the Chinese laundry industry of tomorrow.
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A
home built with extensive exterior glass has a feeling
of openness and light, and in Japan more and more
people appreciate and wish for such homes if the
needs of comfort and security can also be assured.
Asahi Glass has
begun sales of ø View Wall ® , Ó a new glass
curtain wall for homes developed jointly with New
Constructor's Network Co., Ltd. View Wall ®
is a three-layered glass wall designed for wide
vision applications combining high functionality
with security for improved performance and comfort.
It is airtight and highly effective in heat blocking
and thermal insulation, has good soundproofing and
ultraviolet light blocking properties, and also
offers excellent security. Although made of glass,
its thermal insulation ratings meet the general
requirements of next-generation energy conservation
standards for exterior walls.
In
order to meet the structural and building demands
posed by the use of thicker, heavier multi-layer
View Wall ® glass, Asahi Glass joined with New
Constructor's Network, the developer and distributor
of the high-strength housing frame structure designed
for laminated wood construction, to ensure appropriate
designs for home planning and installation of the
new product.
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The
origin of beer can be traced back some 5,000 years.
Even the oldest written law, the Code of Hammurabi,
mentions it. In Egypt around 3000 B.C., beer made
from barley grown in abundance along the Nile
River was popular. In modern times, numerous hobbyists
and researchers around the world have struggled
to study and reproduce the beer brewing techniques
of ancient Egypt. Kirin Brewery launched its own
project in 1980, however trials based on accepted
theories of ancient brewing techniques failed.
In 2001, Kirin got hold of a trove
of ancient information about Egyptian beer production.
The only problem was that much of it was in the
form of hieroglyphic wall paintings. After thorough
research, Kirin established its own hypothesis,
overturning the established theory that brewers
used natural fermentation and suggesting that
they actually employed a deliberate system of
microorganism control. A year later, it succeeded
in reproducing a beer thought to be like those
of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. It was milky
white and tasted more akin to white wine, due
to the ancients' use of lactic acid fermentation,
but nevertheless, Kirin attracted world attention
when the company presented its results to the
Master Brewers Association of America.
Now,
in August 2004, Kirin has brewed a new batch of
Egyptian ø beer Ó that is even closer to the original,
by carefully using the likely original ingredients.
In particular, they replaced the duram wheat of
the original formula with an ancient variety of
wheat called ø emmer. Ó
Beginning
with emmer wheat seeds, Kirin researchers spent
two and a half years cultivating enough grain
for brewing, but once they had sufficient quantities,
the results proved worthy of the effort. The latest
beer recreates as closely as possible the methods
and flavor just as it was about 5,000 years ago.
Emmer wheat contains higher levels of complex
carbohydrates and soluble nitrogen than duram
wheat, which is what gives the new brew its outstanding
character.
Kirin's
next target is to reproduce ø Gruit Ó beer, a
favorite of Medieval Europeans, and the first
beer variety made in Japan ‹ in the Edo era.
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Mitsubishi
Corporation and Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.
have began construction of another power station,
the Tuxpan V IPP Project in Mexico on a site adjacent
to the Tuxpan II 500 MW power station, in operation
since December 2001. With commercial operation scheduled
for September 1, 2006, the project will generate
approximately 500 MW of electric power, mainly for
the capital, Mexico City, based on a 25-year power
purchase agreement with Comisión Federal
de Electricidad of Mexico.
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Tuxpan II power station |
The natural-gas
fired, high-efficiency combined cycle power station
will be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on
a turnkey basis. An international project-finance
loan by Japan Bank for International Cooperation
and commercial banks, including The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi,
Ltd., will cover US$200 million of the approximately
US$300 million project cost.
Having more than
3,200 MW of total capacity on a net equity basis
(10,000 MW of total gross capacity) mainly in the
U.S. and Mexico, Mitsubishi Corp. will seek to expand
the power generation business in Southeast Asia
and Australia as well as the U.S. and Mexico.
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