Dal Shabet, MediaCorp artistes to add shine to NTU Fest 2015

Dal Shabet, MediaCorp artistes to add shine to NTU Fest 2015

K-pop girl group Dal Shabet will perform at a free concert held on Aug 29 at the Marina Bay Promontory, as part of the Nanyang Technological University’s NTU Fest 2015, an event which marks the start of NTU’s new academic year.

NTU Fest is also part of the university’s celebration of the Singapore's Golden Jubilee.

“University life holds our best memories of school, especially when we attend live concerts and have fun together. We’re very excited to be in Singapore performing for such a meaningful event and we will do our best to put up a good show for all our fans here. We hope everyone will come and support NTU Fest!” said Dal Shabet in a media release on Tuesday (Jul 21).



Sealed With A Kiss cast members (from left) Jeffrey Xu, Rebecca Lim and Elvin Ng are heading for NTU Fest 2015 on Aug 29. (Photo: Channel 8)

Over a dozen MediaCorp artistes, such as the stars of upcoming Channel 8 drama Sealed With A Kiss, Elvin Ng, Rebecca Lim and Jeffrey Xu, will also take to the stage at the event. Nat Ho, Eswari Gunasagar, Elfaeza Ul Haq along with other cast members of Channel 5’s 199-episode drama Tanglin will make an appearance at NTU Fest 2015 as well.

“Music and performance have the power to bring people across generations and communities together, and we are delighted to support the NTU Fest through the participation of our artistes and personalities.

"This is also an opportunity for us to support NTU students in a major initiative they are running. We’re truly impressed by their ideas, energy and drive to put together a great event for the community in a very special year for the nation," said Mr Lai Mun Dart, Head, Youth Segment, MediaCorp. MediaCorp is a Platinum Media Partner of NTU Fest 2015.



Tanglin cast members (from left) Eswari Gunasagar, Nat Ho and Elfaeza Ul Haq will make a special appearance at NTU Fest 2015 on Aug 29. (Photo: Channel 5)

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education and Chairman of the Singapore50 (SG50) Steering Committee, will kick off the evening concert by performing a National Day song, with the finalists of this year’s The Final 1 televised singing competition.

Apart from the evening concert, which will be hosted by 987FM radio deejays Gerald Koh and Joakim Gomez, there will also be a carnival and a charity run at NTU Fest 2015.

This is the second year that NTU Fest is being organised. Last year’s NTU Fest at the Padang, which featured Running Man’s Kang Gary, Korean singer Jung In and a slew of MediaCorp artistes, drew more than 8,000 people.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

Anti-malaria drugs could treat Parkinson's disease

Anti-malaria drugs could treat Parkinson's disease: NTU scientists

Two anti-malaria drugs have been found to be a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease by scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States.

The multi-year research project was a partnership between Associate Professor Yoon Ho Sup from NTU’s School of Biological Sciences and Professor Kwang-Soo Kim from McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

According to a news release by NTU on Thursday (Jul 16), the team of international scientists discovered that activating Nurr1, a class of proteins found in the brain, protects the brain’s ability to generate dopamine neurons. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter that affects motor control and movement of muscles in the body.

Parkinson’s disease disrupts the production of dopamine neurons and progressively causes the loss of motor control.

In laboratory tests, the scientists found that by activating Nurr1, the rats which had Parkinson’s disease appeared to improve in their behaviour and showed no signs of suffering from the disease, said NTU.

Assoc Prof Yoon said the team had screened about 1,000 FDA-approved drugs before they found two anti-malaria drugs which worked - Chloroquine and Amodiaquine.

“Our discovery brings hope for the millions of people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, as the drugs that we have found to have worked in the laboratory tests have already been used to treat malaria in patients for decades,” said Assoc Prof Yoon, an expert in drug discovery and design.

“Our research also shows that existing drugs can be repurposed to treat other diseases and once several potential drugs are found, we can redesign them to be more effective in combating their targeted diseases while reducing the side effects,” he added.

Prof Kim, a leading expert in Parkinson’s disease, said the current golden standard of treatment is to replenish the patients’ dopamine levels through medication or by using a surgical method to do deep brain stimulation using electric currents.

“However, these pharmacological and surgical treatments address the patient’s symptoms, such as to improve mobility functions in the early stages of the disease, but the treatments cannot slow down or stop the disease process,” Prof Kim explained.

The scientists aim to design better drugs for the disease by modifying Chloroquine and Amodiaquine. They also aim to carry out clinical trials with these modified drugs.

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative conditions in Singapore. It affects three out of every 1,000 people aged 50 years and above, according to the news release.

~News courtesy of Channel News Asia~

Selamat hari raya

No. 40 in Nature journal's global ranking of science papers

NTU moves up two spots to No. 40 in Nature journal's global ranking of science papers



Students at the NTU campus. The school is the highest-ranked Singapore institution on the Nature Index Global.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has moved up two places to be ranked No. 40 in the latest Nature Index Global, a ranking of science research papers by Nature, one of the world's most prestigious specialist research journals.

This makes NTU the highest-ranked Singapore institution on the Index ahead of National University of Singapore at 42nd, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) at 107th.

NTU is also ahead of University College London, Tohoku University in Japan, Pennsylvania State University and Duke University.

NTU's strong performance contributed to Singapore's high global standing in research, which went up to 15th from 17th when the Index was first released last year.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

NTU scientists head out on month-long sea expedition to assess tsunami risk

NTU scientists head out on month-long sea expedition to assess tsunami risk

A team of scientists from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will on Saturday embark on a month-long sea expedition that will help them assess tsunami risk and impact in a region off Indonesia.

The region west of Sumatra is considered by earth scientists to be a high-risk zone known to have produced tsunami-spawning earthquakes, including the one in December 2004 that claimed more than 230,000 lives in 14 countries.

About 10 scientists, including those from NTU's Earth Observatory of Singapore - one of the university's research institutes that studies geological phenomenon such as earthquakes - will be part of this expedition.

The research project is done in partnership with the Schmidt Ocean Institute on board its 83m-long research vessel Falkor, and is jointly led by NTU, Franceâs Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. The American non-profit Schmidt Ocean Institute focuses on oceanographic research.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

NTU, NUS discourage selfies on stage as it prolongs convocation

NTU, NUS discourage selfies on stage as it prolongs convocation



NTU graduate Terence Heng (left) took a wefie with the presiding officer at his convocation ceremony last August.

WHEN Nanyang Technological University (NTU) communication studies graduate Terence Heng, 26, went on stage last August to collect his degree scroll, there was something else he wanted - a wefie with the presiding officer.

He pulled out his iPhone, fumbled with its buttons - almost dropping the device at one point - and snapped the shot.

"I didn't want the standard photograph," said Mr Heng, a social media executive, though he admitted that it had been embarrassing with so many people looking on and waiting for him.

This year, NTU and the National University of Singapore (NUS) are discouraging students from taking selfies and wefies on stage, a practice which started only in the last couple of years.

With more than 18,800 students graduating from both universities and 41 ceremonies between July and early August, such antics would not only be inappropriate but cause the ceremonies to drag on, the universities said.

NUS, which put up an online advisory this year on appropriate etiquette when collecting a degree, reminded students to "accord due respect to the presiding officer" by limiting contact to a handshake.

Several university students last year had surprised audiences with wefies on stage. Some like Ms Anisah Ahmad even snapped a selfie with presiding officers, such as President Tony Tan Keng Yam, in the background.

"I thought it would be quite cool to have a photo with the President," said the civil servant, 27, who graduated with a master's degree in public policy from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS last July. "Students have worked hard to get on that stage so, naturally, they would want to capture that moment."

On its website, NUS also said that with the large number of graduates at each ceremony, time could not be spared for such delays. Already, a typical graduation event for about 400 students could last two hours. Adding just 10 seconds more a student would stretch it to over three hours.

An NUS spokesman said the instructions are to ensure each ceremony will "run smoothly and in a timely manner, and be a positive and memorable experience".

At NTU, ushers will remind students before they collect their scrolls not to disrupt each session by taking pictures on stage.

Professor Kam Chan Hin, NTU's senior associate provost of undergraduate education, said some students may get a little carried away.

"While it is a celebration, decorum befitting this formal occasion should be exercised," he said.

"They should be considerate."

A spokesman for the Singapore Management University, which has 2,200 students graduating this year, said they get free photos taken by professional photographers.

"Any other camera with flash might spoil the professional photo, so the emcee will make an appropriate announcement at the start of the ceremony," she said.

Graduating students told The Straits Times that they recognise it is a formal occasion.

Though they understand why their peers would want to celebrate the end of their educational journey with a selfie or wefie, they should not delay the ceremony for everyone else, some said.

Said final-year NUS business student Lenard Lou, 25: "I think there are other ways to celebrate besides taking selfies on stage. But I believe there will be a few black sheep who would go ahead and do it anyway."

~News courtesy of Straits Times~

国大南大禁毕业生 上台领文凭时自拍

国大南大禁毕业生　上台领文凭时自拍



毕业生王裕权说，他去年毕业典礼上拿出手机，和当时颁发证书的导师自拍。（受访人提供）

今年的国大和南大毕业典礼，毕业生上台领文凭，禁止自拍，以免误时。

《海峡时报》报道，南洋理工大学和新加坡国立大学最近通知学生，表示今年毕业典礼禁止毕业生在台上自拍（Selfies)。

两所大学都表示，从接下来的7月至8月初，会举办共41场毕业典礼，将有1万8800名学生毕业，自拍行为不但不适合，而且会拉长典礼时间。

《联合晚报》