We investigate the impact of a 2005 policy that provided more generous terms for delaying state pensions in the United Kingdom. First, we find that the policy reduced the fraction of males and possibly females receiving pensions at the earliest eligibility age and shortly thereafter. This shift affected cohorts who became eligible for state pensions at or after the policy change. Second, the policy is associated with increases in male and female labor supply around the earliest pension eligibility age, consistent with some individuals working longer to finance pension delay. However, further analysis suggests that these labor supply changes are more likely to reflect longer-term trends across birth cohorts rather than a causal effect of the policy.

The aim of this systematic review was to map the peer-reviewed literature (2009–2019) relating to school involvement with wraparound models in the support of students with complex needs. Specific research questions addressed explored the evidence base of the efficacy of wraparound with these students and barriers and enablers in the provision of wraparound services. Database searches were conducted and a total of 50 articles were identified. The analysis revealed eight different aspects of wraparound efficacy, with mixed results. Nine factors were identified as having a positive enabling, or disabling, effect on the provision of effective wraparound services. The wraparound programs were varied in their nature and in their successful implementation, with time to allow the program to mature and adherence to the 10 principles of the wraparound process emerging as enabling factors for wraparound success.

This study presents a cross-temporal comparison of managerial ethics in China and the US. Although it is well established that cross-cultural differences exist in business ethics and that culture and values in a society may evolve over time, little attention has been paid to the longitudinal changes in such cross-cultural differences that might have occurred over time. Building on three different perspectives on values evolution, namely, convergence, divergence, and crossvergence, we investigate whether and how cross-cultural differences in managerial ethical decision-making and the associated moral philosophy have changed in China and the US over the decade between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. Our analysis reveals that the difference in Chinese and American managers' ethical decision-making evolved in many different directions over the decade, lending support to the crossvergence perspective. Interestingly, however, we discover that the divergence outlook prevails when it comes to the moral philosophies behind their decision-making. These findings provide critical insights into cross-cultural as well cross-temporal evolution in business ethics in a world of increasing cross-cultural and multicultural interactions.

The risk factors of environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 are largely unknown. We analyzed 1,320 environmental samples obtained from COVID-19 patients over 1 year. The risk factors for contamination of COVID-19 patients’ surrounding environment were higher viral load in the respiratory tract and shorter duration from symptom onset to sample collection.

Nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 among immunocompromised hosts can have a serious impact on COVID-19 severity, underlying disease progression and SARS-CoV-2 transmission to other patients and healthcare workers within hospitals. We experienced a nosocomial outbreak of COVID-19 in the setting of a daycare unit for paediatric and young adult cancer patients. Between 9 and 18 November 2020, 473 individuals (181 patients, 247 caregivers/siblings and 45 staff members) were exposed to the index case, who was a nursing staff. Among them, three patients and four caregivers were infected. Two 5-year-old cancer patients with COVID-19 were not severely ill, but a 25-year-old cancer patient showed prolonged shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for at least 12 weeks, which probably infected his mother at home approximately 7–8 weeks after the initial diagnosis. Except for this case, no secondary transmission was observed from the confirmed cases in either the hospital or the community. To conclude, in the day care setting of immunocompromised children and young adults, the rate of in-hospital transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was 1.6% when applying the stringent policy of infection prevention and control, including universal mask application and rapid and extensive contact investigation. Severely immunocompromised children/young adults with COVID-19 would have to be carefully managed after the mandatory isolation period while keeping the possibility of prolonged shedding of live virus in mind.

This study aimed to verify the different effects of peer support on academic hatred depending on the levels of teachers’ academic pressure. Additionally, we examined the effects of academic hatred on academic burnout and engagement by applying the job demand-resources (JD-R) model. Data were collected from 43 classes at 8 high schools (N = 1015, 94.2% response rate, 57.3% women) in South Korea. The results of a multigroup analysis were as follows: (1) peer support served as an important resource in classrooms experiencing high teachers’ academic pressures; (2) peer support directly affected academic burnout and engagement, and reduced academic hatred; and (3) reduced academic hatred served as a mediator for lower burnout rate and increased engagement.

This paper presents a modularized autonomous pipeline inspection robot called MRINSPECT VII+, which we recently developed. MRINSPECT VII+ is aimed at inspect in-service urban gas pipelines with a diameter of 200 mm. The robot consists of five basic modules: driving, sensing, joint, and battery modules. For nondestructive testing (NDT), an NDT module can be added to the system. The driving module uses a multiaxial differential gear mechanism to provide traction forces to the robot. The sensor module recognizes the pipeline element using position-sensitive detector (PSD) sensors and a CCD camera. The control module contains a computing unit and manages the robot’s autonomous navigation. The battery module supplies power to the system. Each module is connected via backdrivable active joint modules, which provide flexibility while moving inside narrow pipelines. Additionally, the wireless communication module helps the system communicate with the ground station. We tested MRINSPECT VII+ in real pipeline environments and validated its feasibility successfully.

Oxidative stress causes several diseases and dysfunctions in cells, including oocytes. Clearly, oxidative stress influences oocyte quality during in vitro maturation and fertilization. Here we tested the ability of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and improve mouse oocyte quality during in vitro culture. Treatment with 50 μM CoQ10 efficiently reduced ROS levels in oocytes cultured in vitro. The fertilizable form of an oocyte usually contains a cortical granule-free domain (CGFD). CoQ10 enhanced the ratio of CGFD–oocytes from 35% to 45%. However, the hardening of the zona pellucida in oocytes was not affected by CoQ10 treatment. The in vitro maturation capacity of oocytes, which was determined by the first polar body extrusion, was enhanced from 48.9% to 75.7% by the addition of CoQ10 to the culture medium. During the parthenogenesis process, the number of two-cell embryos was increased by CoQ10 from 43.5% to 67.3%. Additionally, treatment with CoQ10 increased the expression of Bcl2 and Sirt1 in cumulus cells. These results suggested that CoQ10 had a positive effect on ROS reduction, maturation rate and two-cell embryo formation in mouse oocyte culture.

Atomically sharpened tips have attracted much interest in the imaging and manufacturing fields due to their high spatial resolutions. Typically, tungsten (W) is mainly used as the material of such a tip, but when the W tip is used in an oxygen environment, a limit is revealed due to corrosiveness stemming from a reaction with the oxygen gas. To solve this problem, methods of depositing a metal on W that does not react with oxygen have been studied. In this study, we introduce a method of depositing iridium (Ir) directly onto an insulating layer without an additional pretreatment to remove the insulating layer remaining on the W surface, forming an Ir-nanopyramid structure at the apex of the W tip by field evaporation and faceting. Field ion microscopy and atom probe tomography were used to analyze the crystal structure and composition at the apex during the faceting process, and the overall tip shape change after faceting was compared and analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. The proposed method does not have a tip heating step when creating an atomically sharp tip such that it can be made easily with a simpler equipment configuration than in the existing method.

Epidemic intelligence activities are undertaken by the WHO Regional Office for Africa to support member states in early detection and response to outbreaks to prevent the international spread of diseases. We reviewed epidemic intelligence activities conducted by the organisation from 2017 to 2020, processes used, key results and how lessons learned can be used to strengthen preparedness, early detection and rapid response to outbreaks that may constitute a public health event of international concern. A total of 415 outbreaks were detected and notified to WHO, using both indicator-based and event-based surveillance. Media monitoring contributed to the initial detection of a quarter of all events reported. The most frequent outbreaks detected were vaccine-preventable diseases, followed by food-and-water-borne diseases, vector-borne diseases and viral haemorrhagic fevers. Rapid risk assessments generated evidence and provided the basis for WHO to trigger operational processes to provide rapid support to member states to respond to outbreaks with a potential for international spread. This is crucial in assisting member states in their obligations under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005). Member states in the region require scaled-up support, particularly in preventing recurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases and enhancing their event-based surveillance capacities with automated tools and processes.

It has been widely perceived in South Korea that the rise in a woman's income is negative for her childbirth. This study tries to verify the hypothesis empirically because the Korean government initiated the basic plan for low fertility in 2006 and has constantly strengthened work–family balance policy since then. Our analysis using a household annual data over 18 years, 1999–2016, indicates that married women's economic power relates positively to childbirth for the period after 2006. We also find that the higher birth likelihood among top income quartile women is largely attributed to their better accessibility to maternity protection benefits. These findings imply that the government's efforts to support work–family balance have been successful to a certain extent. However, the benefits remain limited only to high-income women.

Given the dynamic characteristic of an individual’s drinking behaviours, comprehensive consideration of alcohol consumption variation using repeated measures may improve insight into the nature of its association with blood pressure (BP) change. We examined the association between longitudinal alcohol consumption (trajectory and quantity) and changes in BP and pulse pressure (PP) among Korean aged ≥ 40 years living in rural areas. Totally, 1682 hypertension-free participants who completed all three health examinations (median, 5·3 years) were included. All three visits were used to determine the cumulative trajectory of and quantity of alcohol consumption and the latest two visits and the last visit were used for the recent trajectory and the most recent quantity of alcohol consumption, respectively. Changes in BP and PP from the baseline to the third visit were used as outcome. In men, ≥30 ml/d cumulative average alcohol consumption was associated with the greatest increase in systolic BP (SBP) in both baseline outcome-unadjusted (2·9 mmHg, P = 0·032) and -adjusted models (3·6 mmHg, P = 0·001), and the given association for the most recent alcohol consumption was observed in the baseline outcome-adjusted model (3·9 mmHg, P = 0·003). For PP, similar associations were observed only in the baseline outcome-adjusted model. No meaningful associations in diastolic BP in men and any BP or PP in women existed. The quantity of alcohol consumption rather than the trajectory may be significantly related to raised SBP, and a possible short-term influence of the most recent alcohol consumption may exist when baseline SBP is adjusted in men.

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between life satisfaction and positive student-teacher and peer relationships. Further, we aimed to test the mediating effects of student resilience in a multilevel model. The data were collected from elementary students in South Korea. To examine the mediating effects of student resilience, multilevel structural equation modelling was conducted. The results indicated that schools with positive student-teacher relationships correlated with higher life satisfaction for children. This relationship was fully mediated by student resilience. However, the mediating effects of student resilience in the relationship between peer relationships and life satisfaction was found to be at the individual level rather than by school climate. Practical implications on ways to improve students’ life satisfaction within the school and classroom settings are discussed.