In this article, we examine the effect of workforce ageing on company productivity, using an analysis based on Korean firms. We found that an increase in the ratio of workers aged over 50 years to total workers had a negative effect on value added per worker, which was consistent with the findings of most previous studies based on European data. However, the results of the analysis, including various classifications such as size, industry and several financial conditions, revealed that an increase in the ratio of older workers had positive effects on value added per worker in large manufacturing firms under risky or growing conditions. As the productivity of older workers may vary, future research may determine under what conditions – size, industry, region and financial conditions – older workers contribute positively to productivity. Firms with financial troubles or those planning to downsize should be cautious about laying off older workers as an approach to improving organisational performance because these workers contribute positively to productivity under certain conditions.

Background: Although small- and medium-sized hospitals comprise most healthcare providers in South Korea, data on antibiotic usage is limited in these facilities. We evaluated the pattern of antibiotic usage and its appropriateness in hospitals with <400 beds in South Korea. Methods: A multicenter retrospective study was conducted in 10 hospitals (6 long-term care hospitals, 3 acute-care hospitals, and 1 orthopedic hospital), with <400 beds in South Korea. We analyzed patterns of antibiotic prescription and their appropriateness in the participating hospitals. Data on the monthly antibiotic prescriptions and patient days for hospitalized patients were collected using electronic databases from each hospital. To avoid the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, data were collected from January to December 2019. For the evaluation of the appropriateness of the prescription, 25 patients under antibiotic therapy were randomly selected at each hospital over 2 separate periods. Due to the heterogeneity of their characteristics, the orthopedics hospital was excluded from the analysis. The collected data were reviewed, and the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions was evaluated by 5 specialists in infectious diseases (adult and pediatric). Data from 2 hospitals were assigned to each specialist. The appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions was evaluated from 3 aspects: route of administration, dose, and class. If the 3 aspects were ‘optimal,’ the prescription was considered ‘optimal.’ If only the route was ‘optimal,’ and the dose and/or class was ‘suboptimal,’ but not ‘inappropriate,’ it was considered ‘suboptimal.’ If even 1 aspect was ‘inappropriate,’ it was classified as ‘inappropriate.’ Results: The most commonly prescribed antibiotics in long-term care hospitals was fluoroquinolone, followed by β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (antipseudomonal). In acute-care hospitals, these were third-generation cephalosporin, followed by first-generation cephalosporin and second-generation cephalosporin. The major antibiotics that were prescribed in the orthopedics hospital was first-generation cephalosporin. Only 2.3% of the antibiotics were administered inappropriately. In comparison, 15.3% of patients were prescribed an inappropriate dose. The proportion of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions was 30.6% of the total antibiotic prescriptions. Conclusions: The antibiotic usage patterns vary between small- and medium-sized hospitals in South Korea. The proportion of inappropriate prescriptions exceeded 30% of the total antibiotic prescriptions.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Livestock production has increased in many emerging economies, but productivity is often substantially impaired by infectious diseases. The first step towards improved livestock health and productivity is to map the presence of livestock diseases. The objective of this review was to summarize studies conducted on such diseases in an emerging economy, Vietnam, and thereby identifying knowledge gaps that may inform the design of surveillance and control programs. Few studies were found to evaluate the distribution of infectious livestock diseases other than avian influenza. Also, many regions with dense livestock populations had received little attention in terms of disease investigation. A large proportion of the studies dealt with zoonoses and food-borne infections which might be due to funding agencies priorities. On the contrary, studies targeting infections that affect livestock and their productivity were few. We think that this limitation in scientific reports on infectious diseases that only affect livestock productivity is a common phenomenon in low and lower middle income countries. More science-based data on such diseases would help policymakers to prioritize which livestock diseases should be subject to animal health programs aimed to support rural livelihoods and economic development.

Background: After the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak in Korea in 2015, the government newly established the additional reimbursement for infection prevention to encourage infection control activities in the hospitals. The new policy was announced in December 2015 and was implemented in September 2016. We evaluated how infection control activities improved in hospitals after the change of government policy in Korea. Methods: Three cross-sectional surveys using the WHO Hand Hygiene Self-Assessment Framework (HHSAF) were conducted in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Using multivariable linear regression model including hospital characteristics, we analyzed the changes in total HHSAF scores according to the survey time. Results: In total, 32 hospitals participated in the survey in 2013, 52 in 2015, and 101 in 2017. The number of inpatient beds per infection control professionals decreased from 324 in 2013 to 303 in 2015 and 179 in 2017. Most hospitals were at intermediate or advanced levels of progress (90.6% in 2013, 86.6% in 2015, and 94.1% in 2017). In a multivariable linear regression model, the total HHSAF scores were significantly associated with hospital teaching status (β coefficient of major teaching hospital, 52.6; 95% CI, 8.9–96.4; P = .018), bed size (β coefficient of 100-bed increase, 5.1; 95% CI, 0.3–9.8; P = .038), and survey time (β coefficient of 2017 survey, 45.1; 95% CI, 19.3–70.9; P = .001). Conclusions: After the national policy implementation, the number of infection control professionals increased, and the promotion of hand hygiene activities was strengthened in Korean hospitals.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

Several life-threatening diseases of the kidney have their origins in mutational events that occur during embryonic development. In this study, we investigate the role of the Wolffian duct (WD), the earliest embryonic epithelial progenitor of renal tubules, in the etiology of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). ADPKD is associated with a germline mutation of one of the two Pkd1 alleles. For the disease to occur, a second event that disrupts the expression of the other inherited Pkd1 allele must occur. We postulated that this secondary event can occur in the pronephric WD. Using Cre-Lox recombination, mice with WD-specific deletion of one or both Pkd1 alleles were generated. Homozygous Pkd1-targeted deletion in WD-derived tissues resulted in mice with large cystic kidneys and serologic evidence of renal failure. In contrast, heterozygous deletion of Pkd1 in the WD led to kidneys that were phenotypically indistinguishable from control in the early postnatal period. High-throughput sequencing, however, revealed underlying gene and microRNA (miRNA) changes in these heterozygous mutant kidneys that suggest a strong predisposition toward developing ADPKD. Bioinformatic analysis of this data demonstrated an upregulation of several miRNAs that have been previously associated with PKD; pathway analysis further demonstrated that the differentially expressed genes in the heterozygous mutant kidneys were overrepresented in signaling pathways associated with maintenance and function of the renal tubular epithelium. These results suggest that the WD may be an early epithelial target for the genetic or molecular signals that can lead to cyst formation in ADPKD.

Residents of Hong Kong have undergone a dietary transition from a traditional Chinese diet that is high in seafood to a more Western diet. This may have affected the nutritional composition of breast milk of Hong Kong mothers. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the dietary pattern and the fatty acid profile of the breast milk of lactating women in Hong Kong. Seventy-three volunteering healthy Hong Kong lactating mothers participated in the study. Their dietary intakes were assessed by using a 3-d dietary record and FFQ. The mean n-3 fatty acid levels were approximately 0·4 % (EPA) and 0·9 % (DHA) of total fatty acids in the breast milk of lactating mothers who had exclusively breastfed their infants aged 2–6 months. Maternal dietary intakes of n-3 fatty acids were positively associated with their levels in the breast milk. The levels of maternal intakes of freshwater and saltwater fish, especially the consumption of salmon, croaker and mandarin, were significantly correlated with the content of DHA in breast milk. The present study is among the very few in the literature to determine the fatty acid profile of breast milk in Hong Kong populations and verify certain dietary factors that influence this profile. High levels of n-3 PUFA, especially DHA, were observed in the breast milk of Hong Kong lactating women. The findings may serve as a dietary reference for lactating mothers to optimise the fatty acid profile of their breast milk.

Recent analyses of Lee et al. (2018, 2019) have confirmed that Galactic bulge consists of stellar populations originated from Milky Way globular clusters (MWGCs). Motivated by this, here we present the evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) for the Galactic bulge and early-type galaxies (ETGs) with the realistic treatment of individual variations in light elements observed in the MWGCs. We have utilized our model with GC-origin populations to explain the CN spread observed in ETGs, and the results show remarkable matches with the observations. We further employ our model to estimate the age of ETGs, which are considered as good analogs for the MW bulge. We find that, without the effect of our new treatments, EPS models will almost always underestimate the true age of ETGs. Our analysis indicates that the EPS with GC-origin populations is an essential constraint in determining the ETG formation epoch and is closely related to understanding the evolution of the Universe.

We investigated potential nosocomial aerosol transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) with droplet precautions. During aerosol generating procedures, SFTSV was be transmitted from person to person through aerosols. Thus, airborne precautions should be added to standard precautions to avoid direct contact and droplet transmission.

Palaeoenvironmental history is reconstructed from diatoms in two sediment cores, GC01-PW02 and GC03-PW02, recovered from Powell Basin, Antarctica. A total of 43 species belonging to 21 genera are identified from GC01-PW02. A total of 61 species belonging to 27 genera are identified from GC03-PW02. The number of diatom valves g-1 of dry sediment ranges from 0.1–48.3 × 106 valves g-1. Based on diatom abundance, six assemblage zones were identified from GC01-PW02, and five diatom zones were identified from GC03-PW02. Barren intervals represent glacial periods, while intervals with higher diatom abundances were deposited during interglacial periods and reduced sea ice cover. The occurrence of Rouxia leventerae only within the deepest zone of each of the cores indicates that the core sediments were deposited since marine isotope stage (MIS) 6.

Jatropha curcas L. is a potential bioenergy crop but has a lack of improved cultivars with high yields and oil content. Therefore, increasing our understanding of J. curcas germplasm is important for designing breeding strategies. This study was performed to investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of Indonesian J. curcas populations from six different islands. To construct a reference, we de novo assembled the scaffolds (N50 = 355.5 kb) using 182 Gb Illumina HiSeq sequencing data from Thai J. curcas variety Chai Nat. Genetic diversity analysis among 52 Indonesian J. curcas accessions was conducted based on yield traits and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers detected by mapping genotyping-by-sequencing reads from Indonesian population to Chai Nat scaffolds. Strong variation in yield traits was detected among accessions. Using J. integerrima as an outgroup, 13,916 SNPs were detected. Among J. curcas accessions, including accessions from other countries (Thailand, the Philippines and China), 856 SNPs were detected, but only 297 SNPs were detected among Indonesian J. curcas populations, representing low genetic diversity. Through phylogenetic and structural analysis, the populations were clustered into two major groups. Group one consists of populations from Bangka and Sulawesi in the northern part of Indonesia, which are located at a distance of 1572.59 km. Group two contains populations from islands in the southern part: Java, Lombok-Sumbawa, Flores and Timor. These results indicate that introduction of diverse J. curcas germplasms is necessary for the improvement of the genetic variation in the Indonesian collections.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the unemployment experience and depressive symptoms among mid-aged (ages 45–59) and elderly (ages 60 or above) persons and to examine further the effects of unemployment insurance, industrial accident compensation insurance (IACI) and national pension on the stated relationship. Data were used from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) between 2006 and 2012. A total of 1,536 individuals employed at the 2006 baseline were followed. The association between employment status change during 2006 to 2008, 2008 to 2010 or 2010 to 2012 and depressive symptoms in years 2008, 2010 or 2012 were analysed using a generalised estimating equation model. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D 10) scale. The results showed that the ‘employed to unemployed’ group had statistically significant increases in depression scores in the mid-aged (β = 0.4884, p = 0.0038) and elderly (β = 0.8275, p ⩽ 0.0001) categories, compared to the ‘employed to employed’ group. Findings were maintained in groups without a social safety net. Contrastingly, the ‘employed to unemployed’ groups with unemployment insurance and IACI did not show statistically significant increases in depression scores. The ‘employed to unemployed’ category of individuals enrolled in the national pension system exhibited a lower increase of depression. Therefore, an enhanced focus on the mental health of unemployed individuals is required, in addition to the provision of a reliable social safety net.