Kuala Innov Share Discussion Threads

[doodlebug4] 18/11/2015 11:15

$12.5million - that's a lot of bucks!

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 20:23

CME, London Stock Exchange Form Blockchain Settlement Group
Stan Higgins | Published on November 17, 2015 at 15:10 GMT NEWS

A group of banks, exchanges and clearing houses has formed a working body to discuss how blockchain technology might be used to settle transactions.


Three meetings have taken place in the past few months between the CME Group, Euroclear, LCH.Clearnet, London Stock Exchange, Société; Générale and UBS, according to a report from Financial News that cited sources with knowledge of the discussions. CME Group confirmed its participation to CoinDesk, but declined to comment further. Other alleged participants did not offer comment as of press time.

The group is said to be operating under the moniker "Post Trade Distributed Ledger Working Group", and according to the report, the discussions are focused on "post-trade operations". A steering committee has also been appointed by the group to guide the process further.

A spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange told Financial News that it believes collaboration and strategic partnerships will best allow incumbent financial institutions to unlock the benefits of distributed ledgers.

"Our view is the technology needs to be developed in a considered and rigorous manner, in partnership with clients, to provide the right service and benefit to them,” the spokesman continued, later saying that the London Stock Exchange "has significant technical expertise to bring to the discussion".

Representatives for Euroclear and Société; Générale were not immediately available for more information. The London Stock Exchange and UBS did not respond to requests for comment.

Www.coindesk.com

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 15:12

keya, yes that's very good news as sometimes these programs can drag on for a long time. I've noticed btw that KUL are starting to use Twitter more to market their investee products over the last few days.

[keya5000] 17/11/2015 14:47

Doodle re intensity from the article you posted above.FDA allowing a shortened program that starts in the first half 2016, very near term in the grand scheme if bio-tech companies.


"Clinical trials are being planned to begin the first half of 2016. The FDA is allowing a shortened preclinical program because the drugs and the cell permeation enhancers already are well-known and have been administered individually in humans"

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 14:42

Unicode Standard will add support for the Bitcoin sign with their next update
by Daniel Dob on November 16, 2015
bitcoin-unicode

Apart from the unexpected bitcoin value increase, there’s some more good news for the fans of the digital currency. The latest reports indicate that the Bitcoin sign has just been accepted by the Unicode Standard.

This means that the sign will be included in the future version of Unicode. If we were to type in the sign right now, it would look like a box with a question mark inside it. Not for long though, as the next Unicode Standard update will introduce the sign. Proposals to include the Bitcoin sign in the Unicode have been made in the past, especially by Twitter user @kenshirriff, who sent his around a month ago. Now, the outcome of the proposal was finally revealed, as a positive one.

In the original proposal to Unicode Standard, the Bitcoin sign was described as a capital letter B with two vertical lines striking through it, which are only visible at the top and bottom of the B.

In the past, various platforms including Reddit have tried to add support for the sign, but most failed, due to various technical issues. Now, that the Unicode Standard will offer support for the sign, its adoption will be much easier.

This is yet another win for the digital currency, as it now has its own, official, sign that also happens to be writeable.

themerkle.com

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 10:49

"Kuala Innovations ‏@kualainnovation 2h2 hours ago
Why we are so excited by @IntensityInc …"

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 10:41

" Kuala Innovations Retweeted
Beautyon ‏@Beautyon_ Nov 13
Satoshipay is very slick. No sign up, one click micropayments. This is how its done. No KYC Charlie Brown NONSENSE!"

[doodlebug4] 17/11/2015 09:33

Throwing Cancer a One-Two Combo
In Situ Vaccination from Intensity Therapeutics Jabs Primary Tumors, Crosses Metastases
Gail Dutton

Intensity Therapeutics formulates drug agents with a specially matched compound that enhances cell penetration. The formulations are designed to increase the intracellular concentrations of the drugs throughout the tumors, thereby killing the tumors more effectively. In this image, mouse tumors are shown totally saturated with the drugs. When the dying tumors disintegrate, they elicit a strong adaptive immune response.
Many cancer treatments have achieved cures in mice only to fail in humans. Intensity Therapeutics has studied these failed challengers, and it may have learned why they failed to go the distance. True to the “train don’t complain” ethic, the company is incorporating what it has learned into its platform therapy, DfuseRxSM. A serious contender, DfuseRx binds potent anticancer agents to cell permeation enhancers noncovalently for an intratumoral injection that destroys tumors and elicits a strong adaptive immune response.

For decades, other companies have tried to develop effective intratumoral injections. “They were never more effective than systemic drug administration,̶1; broods Lewis Bender, Intensity Therapeutics’ founder and CEO. The problem, he says, was twofold.

One problem was the lack of drug dispersion throughout the tumor, which meant insufficient permeation into the cancer cells. None of the companies behind the failed intratumoral injections had added cell perfusion agents to their formulations. “Drugs must be water soluble to be injected, but water-soluble molecules don’t disperse well throughout the tumor or penetrate cell membranes for effective delivery.”

The other challenge with intratumoral injection was the systemic nature of cancer. “Killing one tumor,” Bender mutters, “won’t kill the cancer.”

Adaptive Immune Response
Intensity Therapeutics, through in situ vaccination, is trying to convert the tumor itself into a high-quantity, high-quality antigenic site to stimulate the adaptive immune response and thereby eradicate tumors throughout the entire body.

By noncovalently bonding anticancer drugs with cell permeation enhancers, the DfuseRx platform creates molecules that are soluble both in water and in lipids. When these molecules are injected into a tumor, they “can saturate the area inside and outside tumor cells,” Bender declares, “even in regions far from blood vessels.”

The molecules attenuate the tumor, killing it without damaging its surface proteins. “As the tumor breaks apart, the immune system recognizes the tumor as foreign,” Bender explains. “We see activation of both CD-8 and CD-4 T-cells.”

In immune-competent mouse models of colon cancer, an Intensity Therapeutics anticancer agent called INT230-6 was given intratumorally. It eradicated the tumors and increased median overall survival to 77 days, compared to 42 days with the leading anticancer drugs alone, and 16 days without any treatment. “A significant fraction of animals had a complete response,” Bender notes.

Importantly, 90% of the mice that experienced a complete response were fully protected from developing the same cancer when more than one million cancer cells were reintroduced subcutaneously or intravenously. The immune effect lasted for the remainder of the animals’ natural lives. Mice immunized against colon cancer also showed significant resistance to the growth of murine breast cancer.

Translation to Humans
Intensity Therapeutics believes that there is a good reason to believe that its anticancer agent’s benefits will extend to humans. “We’ve taken a very different, physics-based approach,” Bender emphasizes. “Diffusion through a lipid layer isn’t dependent on receptors or transport processes that are unique in humans. Using our system, the process of drug diffusion should be the same in mice and human cells. There’s little biological difference in that regard.”

The membrane of tumor cells, he points out, are up to 10 times more permeable than normal cells. “They absorb nutrients through diffusion,” he says. Intensity Therapeutics uses that process to deliver a potent payload to the tumor (including hypoxic regions), saturating it inside and out.

“The process of stimulating the adaptive immune system should translate to humans if the quality and quantity of tumor antigen created is strong,” Bender insists. “Our approach is unlike any being developed.”

In investigating the translation of mice studies to humans, Bender found that drugs showing complete response in mice often involved tumors smaller than about 100 cubic millimeters and doses larger than 25 mg/kg. “Often drugs that were given at high doses to mice and effective in small tumors,” he observes, “were too toxic for humans.”

“Compounds that were tested in larger tumors (greater than 200 cubic millimeters), that were administered in doses less than 15 mg/kg, and that just slowed tumors’ growth rates—without even showing regression from baseline—often become commercial successes,” Bender adds.

In contrast, he continues, “We work with tumors that, at 325 to 350 cubic millimeters, are at least 50% larger than those used by even the most aggressive researchers. Our drug doses are significantly lower (equivalent to less than 4 mg/kg) and are injected into some, but not all, tumors to stimulate an immune response.” Consequently, tumors are killed, and systemic exposure is reduced, but the real benefit is that the immune system is trained to recognize and eradicate tumors.

Clinical trials are being planned to begin the first half of 2016. The FDA is allowing a shortened preclinical program because the drugs and the cell permeation enhancers already are well-known and have been administered individually in humans.

Lean Operations
Intensity Therapeutics is a lean organization, relying on contractors and a few key employees who have developed immune-oncolytics and have taken them through clinical trials.

The company has raised approximately $3 million since its formation in 2012, and it continues to raise more funds. “Because the FDA agreed to abbreviated safety trials, we are able to invest our funds efficiently in the development process,” Bender informs. “We have little infrastructure and a very low burn rate.”

Partnering
Intensity Therapeutics also was awarded a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute in 2014. Jay A. Berzofsky, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Vaccine Branch and head of the Molecular Immunogenetics and Vaccine Research Section, has replicated Intensity Therapeutic’s chemovaccination results.

Additionally, Bender says, “Big pharma is quite interested in our DfuseRx platform, which has great synergy with checkpoint inhibitors (such as PD1 antibodies). Our drug, dosed in combination with checkpoints, is relatively new. The combination in mouse models shows much better effects than any drug we have identified either on the market or in development.

“Our goal is to get to human studies quickly, so people diagnosed with late-stage metastatic disease may be injected with our drug, experience few (if any) side effects, achieve complete remission, and become immunized against their own cancers, hopefully, for the rest of their long lives.”

gegengnews.com

Intensity Therapeutics
Location: 8 Wright Street, Suite 107, Westport, CT 06880

Phone: [phone]

Website: www.intensitytherapeutics.com

[doodlebug4] 16/11/2015 22:22

Blockchain Technology Will Help Companies Manage Mobile Workers
Written by: Jp Buntinx2015/11/16 12:21 PM

These days, expanding a company’s workforce is not done in the same manner it was done a few decades ago. Rather than ensuring these is enough space for additional desks, and cramming in as many people in one room as humanly possible, mobile workers are the new hot commodity in the business world. At the same time, this new paradigm poses a fair challenge, as organizing mobile workers is not the easiest thing in the world.

Society has always found a way to route around problems without too many issues. The mobile aspect of everyday lives is becoming a key problem for many companies, as hardly anyone is used to applying business tactics to the new mobile lifestyle. Luckily for all parties involved, there are developers working hard on creating a more convenient ecosystem.

In fact, if things are left up to companies like Jobber, the entire concept of Human Resources can be transferred to a mobile version. By providing mobile applications, online invoicing, scheduling tools, and simple customer management tools, all of the necessary tasks for day-to-day operations can be completed with a mobile device.

To this day, there are still businesses relying on pen and paper solutions for all of their Human Resources needs. It is hard to picture anyone filling in stacks of paper by hand, yet it remains one of the most preferred ways to conduct day-to-day business operations. Although computers may provide a far better solution, there are certain drawbacks to be found as well.

The era of computers also meant companies had to provide ample space to store all of this hardware. As computers became smaller over time, less space was needed. But in this day and age, company staff would rather work from home, or while they are traveling if needed. This new breed of mobile workers created a gap that has to be addressed with new technological solutions.

As the working class is expected to complete more tasks in the same – or shorter – period of time, filling out paperwork is not helping matters much. Jobber can help reduce this time sink by as much as several hours per week, creating room for more productive tasks. But whether or not the current mobile technology will be sufficient to keep track of everything and everyone, remains to be seen.

Blockchain Technology for Real-Time SolutionsBitcoinist_Blockchain Tech
One of the things coming to mind when dealing with mobile applications is data security. Mobile devices are not as secure as we would like them to be, and cloud storage is not the best option when it comes to collaborative platforms. Blockchain technology can help in this regard as it can be adapted to serve as a collaboration tool.

But that is not all, as blockchain technology can serve many different purposes; Storing and sharing files, record management, accounting, and so much more can all be done over the blockchain. Plus, blockchain technology is a far more secure solution, as there is no central point of failure, while still respecting user privacy.

bitcoinist.net

[doodlebug4] 16/11/2015 10:02

"And then there’s the UK’s George Osborne. The Chancellor of the Exchequer continued to maintain his more optimistic outlook on digital currency in recent remarks at a London conference. Like Treasury’s Harriet Baldwin, Osborne noted that these currencies could very well have a vital role to play in the UK’s future. It is also worth noting that the United Kingdom was the recipient of more than forty percent of all FinTech investment in 2014, and officials like the Chancellor are consistently extending a welcoming hand to not only digital currency, but its underlying technology as well."


Digital Currency Weekly Recap 11-15-2015


Apple Approves Cryptocurrency Game Apps.
After approving Saru Tobi and Game of Birds earlier this year, Apple’s App Store has now approved another Bitcoin-using game app, called Wheel of Bitcoins. Like those earlier games, Wheel will provide users with real Bitcoins, earned in-game and delivered to the player’s wallet. This time, the game involves a roulette wheel that is spun to offer players a chance to win prizes. When Bitcoins are awarded, they are sent to the player’s email through Xapo.
According to reports, Apple has expressed its approval for these Bitcoin-paying games’ presence in their store. That is good news to app developers seeking to use their games to increase awareness of cryptocurrency and help it gain greater mainstream approval. To date, the most serious complaints have come from users who are dissatisfied with the identification process used by Xapo - since its user verification methods are nearly as in-depth as those used for many financial institutions.

CEX.IO Partners with Trading View for Real-Time Charting.
CEX.IO, the UK-based Bitcoin exchange recently declared that it has partnered with charting platform TradingView, in a move that will see its exchange added to the latter’s listing. This will provide CEX.IO’s users with the ability to view the company’s trading information on TradingView’s browser-based platform. The partnership should give exchange customers increased access to advanced trading analysis tools to facilitate more in-depth data access and research for trading and investment purposes.

Justice Department Crypto Summit Facilitates Improved Dialogue.
A recent summit hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice saw more than 170 different participants from government and the private sector come together to discuss issues related to digital currency and the blockchain. The meeting occurred in San Francisco, and involved personnel from both state and federal regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies and advocacy groups, and representatives from the worlds of finance and technology.
The summit was put together by the head of the multi-agency Digital Currency Task Force, Kathryn Haun. The assembled attendees discussed regulatory concerns and a host of other issues in what has been described as a much more relaxed environment than the last meeting almost a year ago. Unlike that February meeting, the most recent gathering was conducted in a friendly atmosphere, and the parties reportedly enjoyed a much more constructive dialogue.

Differing Opinions on Future of Cryptocurrency.
This week continued the trend of various personalities and government officials offering their own personal perspectives on the future of cryptocurrency. For instance, Jamie Dimon continued his habitual dismissal of Bitcoin and other digital currencies, while continuing to praise the blockchain. In his latest prophesy of crypto doom and gloom, the JPMorgan CEO went so far as to declare that governments will simply not allow these uncontrolled currencies to exist.
USB’s chairman Axel Weber got into the prognostication game as well, as he predicted that “private currencies” would never really get off the ground due to the lack of a lender of last resort. Pointing to how central banks are able to manipulate fiat money during any currency crisis by serving as that lender of last resort, he contrasted that with the lack of such liquidity in cryptocurrency markets. Like Dimon, Weber also lauded the blockchain’s potential.
And then there’s the UK’s George Osborne. The Chancellor of the Exchequer continued to maintain his more optimistic outlook on digital currency in recent remarks at a London conference. Like Treasury’s Harriet Baldwin, Osborne noted that these currencies could very well have a vital role to play in the UK’s future. It is also worth noting that the United Kingdom was the recipient of more than forty percent of all FinTech investment in 2014, and officials like the Chancellor are consistently extending a welcoming hand to not only digital currency, but its underlying technology as well.
Time will tell, but it would seem that Dimon’s opinion about government reaction to digital currency is not currently shared by at least one government in the world.

In case You Missed Them…
Since we hate the thought of anyone missing out on thoughtful commentaries, a couple of recent articles from contributor Nick Marinoff deserve a mention. Earlier this week, he offered his thoughts on the importance of getting more women involved in the digital currency revolution in Why Women Must Become More Involved in Cryptocurrency. Later in the week, he advocated for introducing children to cryptocurrency at an early age in Children and Cryptocurrency: Why They Need to Learn Now. If you missed them the first time, be sure to give them a read.

www.dcebrief.com

[doodlebug4] 15/11/2015 09:46

The benefits of the blockchain.

[doodlebug4] 14/11/2015 22:04

We may have an announcement about the second placing this coming week;

"In addition, the Company is in advanced discussions with new and existing investors regarding a further placing on the same terms as the Placing and expects to conclude this further placing following the publication of the Company's interim accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2015.

A further announcement in this regard will be made in due course."

[keya5000] 14/11/2015 19:31

Jim Mellon headline speaker at the event below, you can't buy the publicity that this fella gives us through association. We all know its going to happen, just a case of when.



14 days to Gold & Bears – just 60 seats left – BOOK NOW

As of today there are c.60 seats left unbooked for the 2015 Gold & Bears Show on November 28 in London. . So book a free seat now for a fireworks event with Jim Mellon, Gabriele Grego (Globo’s nemesis), John Hempton, Sam Antar, Evil Knievil, Lucian Miers, Amanda, Dominic Frisby, 50 CEOs etc., etc. To get a free ticket for one of the last seats

- See more at:

[keya5000] 14/11/2015 18:58

Agree doodle, there will always be some that will trot out his failures and other AIM none performers. This though is different, the fast forward name change is so critical and the failure of such would be tantamount to the failure of Jim Mellons investment ethos and future strategy.

He's a winner when he wants and I reckon he will want this to perform.

What a shocking thing it would be if the book he wrote on what strategy you should take leads to a company bearing the same name and investment ethos that fails?

This company should be the beacon for the book and the followers.

[doodlebug4] 14/11/2015 18:51

Keya, like you I think the move from the Kuala to the FastForward name is a very good move and reflects the change in company direction with regard to recent acquisitions and future investments. Jim Mellon obviously has some detractors, as do most successful people. I have listened to several of his interviews and videos and I like his style, he's a natural salesman with an infectious enthusiasm for his subject.

[doodlebug4] 14/11/2015 18:20

It's okay, you can think aloud here if you like Little Minx, it's good to bounce ideas around. There's an announcement of another placing coming at some point very soon, but that's no secret.

[keya5000] 14/11/2015 18:15

Like Jim's tweet and the #fastforward.

I think when the name change occurs this could get a tad interesting, lot of exposure for a tiny cap company no doubt.

[little minx] 14/11/2015 18:09

Keep looking at this and have no position but thinking .........

[doodlebug4] 14/11/2015 15:52

I'm thinking along the same lines flashheart.

[flashheart] 14/11/2015 15:02

May have to take another dabble before then.

[moormoney] 14/11/2015 14:26

That will raise interest again IMO.