This new, innovative technology from Panasonic includes color and IR/UV image capture and barcode reading capabilities. The JT-P100 has a wide range of applications including efficient immigration control, aircraft boarding procedures and hotel guest management services.

The new JT-P100 ePassport Reader will ensure faster reading for passport numbers and photographs. These are captured in 0.1 seconds, with processed data output in approximately 1 second. Panasonic ePassport Readers come with embedded circuitry to handle OCR and BAC processing, eliminating the need for PC’s and making them easier to install wherever they are needed.

According to Mr. Yasuo Yamasaki, General Manager, Panasonic Marketing Middle East, the latest ePassport Reader includes proprietary technology unique to Panasonic that boosts the reading speed:

“Our high speed ePassport Readers demonstrate Panasonic’s innovative ability to produce new and improved products for a variety of different markets. The JT-P100 Reader is in the world’s smallest class and the compact dimensions make it easy to install on even the narrowest workspace. Panasonic has supplied immigration authorities around the world with high-speed passport readers for 20 years, and we continue to make products, like the JT-P100, that are more accurate, faster and easier to use than ever before.”

Another key feature is that the passport can be held a few millimeters above the glass, held upside down or skewed, yet the image angle and rotation are automatically adjusted to ensure accuracy.

This year, Panasonic Corporation will be presenting its latest digital portfolio of products and technologies at the Gitex 2009 technology week in Dubai from –18th to 22nd October 2009 at its booth in Sheikh Saeed Hall, stand number NH-R40. This year, visitors can look forward to a revolutionizing viewing experience that feels more real than it ever has been before thanks to Panasonic’s new Full HD 3D technology.

Technogym has equipped in the team base a state-of-the-art gym with equipments for strength, resistance, co-ordination and flexibility training. The latest equipment includes Kinesis circuit and its accessories that allow free movement, working the body and mind together and improves co-ordination and balance. Other equipments include, Pure strength, Excite line, the new Vario and the unique Top Excite equipment designed specially to provide upper body work out, cardio and strength training. Wrapping it all together is the Wellness System, a compact TGS key complemented by a web module that stores workout history and results on a key.

Christian Dietrich, Managing Director, Technogym Emirates, said “Technogym has its equipment designed to fit all needs and sailing is no exception which is why we can ensure the possibility to perform hundreds of functional exercises to optimize the Alinghi team’s preparation to defend the America’s Cup”. “Sailing is a very complicated sport” he continues. “We have athletes with different body sizes, team members weight is ranging from 70 to 110 kg and height from 170 cm to 2 metres. The crew is made of over 30 people with very different roles within the boat: grinders, tactics, helmsman and all of them have very different training needs.”

Technogym is also teaming up with several prestigious partners in different sport disciplines, working alongside the Ferrari Team in Formula 1, supplying the world’s biggest football clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Ajax, Liverpool and Chelsea

The DHA has tied up with Neuron LLC for the ENAYA scheme which means ‘Care’ in Arabic. The scheme will be implemented from the 1st of July, 2009 and will provide health insurance cover to all government employees and their dependents.

Laila Al Jassmi, Director of Health Funding at the DHA said, “We are very pleased with the outcome of this scheme and the scope of diseases it covers. In addition to a comprehensive medical cover, the scheme also gives priority to preventative measures that are crucial to improve the health of the population, save lives and reduce the economic burden on the healthcare system.”

Al Jassmi said normally schemes do not focus on providing preventative cover, however the ENAYA scheme provides all government employees with the opportunity to have a comprehensive medical check up done, which includes screening for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, depression, stress, and various forms of cancer such as skin, breast and cervical cancer.

In addition to providing a preventative cover, another important service of the scheme is that it provides cover for pre-existing medical conditions.

Al Jassmi said, “We wanted to ensure that employees with pre-existing medical conditions do not get left out of the scheme and the benefit it provides. We have also given much-needed importance to chronic diseases and focused on women’s health in this scheme.”

The scheme covers chronic diseases such as diabetes; it covers nervous disorders and psychiatric treatment and also provides women with comprehensive medical cover.

For women, the scheme covers aliments such as ovarian cysts, polycystic ovarian disease and menstrual disorders that are not related to infertility.

Moreover it covers maternity, however, pre-authorization is required in such cases to avoid abuse of the system.

Al Jassmi said, “The scheme provides cover for newborn babies from day one, provided the baby is added in the scheme within the first 60 days of birth.”

The scheme also includes dental cover limited to cleaning and scaling every six months and for children it covers fluoridization and sealants up to the age of 18 years.

The ENAYA scheme covers the employee, his spouse and three children. For Emiratis, parents of the employee are also covered and the number of children covered is unrestricted.

To avail of the scheme, employees have to present their identification card in addition to the ENAYA card.

The Dubai Health Funding team met with the Human Resource (HR) section of all 38 government departments in Dubai and gave presentations about the scheme to employees in organizations such as the Department of Finance, Dubai police, Dubai Municipality, and Department of Naturalization & Residency amongst others.

The Harvard-Affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center was established in Boston in 1898 and since then it has been a global leader in meeting the ever-changing challenges of diabetes. The opening of this centre in Dubai marks its presence in the gulf region, where diabetes is a pressing medical concern.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Health Authority said: “I am pleased that the Dubai Health Authority has partnered with a centre that is known for its treatment methods and its capability to effectively treat and manage this disease. The centre will provide its expertise to treat the people in UAE who are suffering from this disease and its complications.”

He added: “Another important aspect is the diabetic training program that the centre will provide healthcare practitioners in Dubai. We are glad that both patients and healthcare professionals will be able to benefit from the centre’s experience in providing frontline treatment and care to control and manage this disease.”

H.E. Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General of Dubai Health Authority said: “Diabetes is one of the major diseases that has affected a significant percentage of our population. The partnership with Joslin will ensure that we can utilize their competency to actively tackle this disease. This centre will be the first completely dedicated centre for diabetes care and prevention in the Emirate of Dubai and such a multi-disciplinary approach to managing the disease is indeed crucial at this point in time.”

The Affiliate will feature a state-of-the-art treatment facility for patients with diabetes and will focus on prevention, education, lifestyle management and podiatry, as well as early detection of complications for patients ages 18 and older. A pediatric division is planned for the future.

The centre will mirror the same approach to treating and preventing diabetes as is followed in Boston and will be able to treat 100 patients a day.

Clinicians at the Dubai centre include four U.S.-board certified endocrinologists, seven diabetes educators, a podiatrist, a physiotherapist and a mental health counselor.

Dr Hamed Farooqi, M.D., Medical Director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Dubai said: “The new affiliate’s mission for combating the diabetes epidemic in Dubai involves educating both patients and physicians and using sophisticated technology to both deliver care and measure results.”

“An important aspect of strategy, especially in the content of Dubai where a large percentage of the population are diabetics or are pre-diabetics, is setting up a diabetes training program for primary care doctors in Dubai.”

He said this will help provide unified standards for the prevention of diabetes across the Emirate of Dubai. “We will also bring in a software platform to track quality of care, clinical outcomes, physician education and patient compliance.”

He said the challenges of tackling the disease in this region are particularity high given the fact that Dubai has a high rate of obesity. “Type two diabetes is directly related to obesity and since Dubai also has a high incidence of childhood obesity, awareness and educative initiates will go a long way in combating the disease.”

Dr Farooqi said that the opening of this centre has brought the most advanced diabetic care to the Emirate of Dubai and in future the centre will include management of gestational diabetes and pediatric endocrinology amongst the host of other features it currently provides for identifying and managing the disease.