Changes To Cpf

Singapore's National Wages Council: An Insider's View

Written by Emeritus Professor LIM Chong-Yah, Founding Chairman of the tripartite National Wages Council (NWC), this unique volume offers readers an insider's view of the genesis and the evolution of the wage determination mechanism and system in Singapore under the aegis of the NWC. As a tripartite body dealing with wages, wage policies and wage-related matters and promoting Growth with Equity, the NWC played a critical role in transforming industrial relations in Singapore from the then confrontational approach to that of mutual understanding, esprit de corps and social co-partnership. Drawing from his 30-year experience as NWC Chairman (1972-2001), Singapore's eminent Economics Professor shares with readers the important process and problems of seeking equitable wage increases through tripartite consensus based on a yearly national wage guideline system. The book also chronicles the role of the NWC in crisis management in 1974, 1985 and 1998, and in Economic Restructuring, 1979-1981. The structure and operation of this unique Singapore institution and the interesting problems of securing unanimity of support from the three tripartite partners are revealed in the book. Some important NWC personalities and their concerns and unique contributions are interestingly covered, anecdotally.

Animal Models, Gut Microbiota and Brain Diseases

Brain diseases are among the major disorders influencing human health. In general, brain diseases include diseases that might be classified as neurological or psychiatric, for example, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, depression, autism, and addiction. Patients with these types of diseases are mainly characterized by abnormal thinking patterns, cognition, emotional states, and behavior. To date, much of the research on these diseases has used animal models. Despite some encouraging findings, the underlying pathophysiology of these diseases is still relatively unclear. In particular, whether some findings are causal, accompanying, or simply irrelevant to the occurrence of brain diseases has great significance for the development of more effective treatments. In this respect, there is a recognized need for more updated perspectives from preclinical investigations in animal models. It is worth mentioning that since it was first reported in 2011, the reduction of anxiety-like behavior and the changes of neurochemicals in the brain were observed in mice with the absence of gut microbes, resulting in a surge of interest in the role of the gut microbiota in health. And the new concept of microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis was formally put forward in 2012, which revealed the ways in which peripheral systems and organs affect the brain, and showed that the periphery and the center can be closely linked through the carriers of gut microbiota. After more than a decade of development, animal models provide an important vehicle for exploring the role of gut microbiota in the pathology of brain diseases, potential therapeutic approaches and diagnostic tools. However, extending these findings to the diagnosis and treatment of human brain diseases still faces great challenges.

Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Sources, Distribution, Biological Effects and Socio-Economic Impacts