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

During the past decade, carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) has emerged and spread across the world.1 The major carbapenemase enzymes currently being reported are KPC, NDM-1, VIM, IMP, and OXA.2 Because carbapenemase can be effectively transmitted via mobile genetic elements, and current therapeutic options for CPE infections are extremely limited, CPE may be one of the most serious contemporary threats to public health. However, very little is known about the characteristics of CPE carriage during hospitalization. The aims of this study were to investigate the clearance rate of CPE carriage and determine the number of consecutive negative cultures required to confirm CPE clearance. We also examined CPE transmission among hospitalized patients.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(11):1361–1362

Using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, we measure the pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and annealed SiO2/SiOx multilayers (MLs). The SiO2(2nm)/SiOx(2nm) MLs have been prepared under various deposition temperature by ion beam sputtering. The annealing at temperatures ≥ 1100°C leads to the formation of Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) in the SiOx layer of MLs. Transmission electron microscopy images clearly demonstrate the existence of nc-Si. We assume a Tauc-Lorentzian lineshape for the dielectric function of nc-Si, and use an effective medium approximation for SiO2/nc-Si MLs as a mixture of nc-Si and SiO2. We successfully estimate the dielectric function of nc-Si and its volume fraction. We find that the volume fraction of nc-Si decreases after annealing, with increasing x in as-deposited SiOx layer. This result is compared to expected nc-Si volume fraction, which was estimated from stoichiometry of SiOx.

Si/SiO2 multilayers (MLs) have been prepared under different deposition temperatures (TS) by ion beam sputtering. The annealing at 1200°C leads to the formation of Si nanocrystals in the Si layer of MLs. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy images clearly demonstrate the existence of Si nanocrystals, which exhibit photoluminescence (PL) in the visible range when TS is ≥ 300°C. This is attributed to well-separation of nanocrystals in the higher-TS samples, which is thought to be a major cause for reducing non-radiative recombination in the interface between Si nanocrystal and surface oxide. The visible PL spectra are enhanced in its intensity and are shifted to higher energy by increasing TS. These PL behaviours are consistent with the quantum confinement effect of Si nanocrystals.

Capacitance-voltage was investigated for amorphous silicon quantum dots (a-Si QDs) embedded in a silicon nitride as a function of dot size and nitride thickness. a-Sci QDs were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The electron charging was decreased as the dot size was decreased. These results showed that the conduction band shift is larger than the valence band shift as the dot size decreased and, as a result, electrons are easily discharged in a-Si QDs due to the lower barrier height. For high dot-density-sample, the capacitance-voltage curves were also shifted toward the negative voltage direction when a higher forward bias was applied at forward condition due to the transfer of electrons trapped in the a-Sci QDs from the a-Sci QDs near Si substrate to those near the top metal.

Pt/SrBi2Ta2O9(SBT)/CeO2/Si (MFIS) structures were investigated for observing the change of electrical properties and morphology of interface of Pt/SBT after post-annealing of Pt top electrodes. The morphology of Pt/SBT interface became smooth and Bi oxide was formed at the bottom of Pt top electrode after post-annealing Pt top electrode. In order to describe the origin of these changes, Bi-oxide/Pt/SiO2/Si structure was investigated with annealing temperatures about the reaction between Bi oxide and Pt. We can describe that the smooth interface of Pt/SBT and the consumption of metallic Bi, which the reason why electrical properties were drastically improved, is induced by the melting of Pt-Bi alloys and formation of Bi-oxide after post-annealing Pt top electrode.

The laser annealing effects on the TEOS (Tetra-Ethyl-Ortho-Silicate) oxide of MOS (Al/TEOS/n+ Silicon ) structures was investigated with different initial oxide conditions, such as breakdown field. The breakdown field increased upto the 170 mJ/cm2 with increasing laser energy density and decreased at 220 mJ/cm2. It is considered that the increase of breakdown field is originated from the restore of strains which exist mainly at the metal/oxide interface.

The fluorinated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon (a,μc-Si:H;F) films have been prepared by rf plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with SiH 4 and SiF 4 gas mixtures. The stretching Si-O (1085 cm-1) and SiH2 (2100 cm-1) bands estimated from infrared (IR) spectroscope data have related to the evolution of crystallinity and the optical band gap was shifted by introducing Si-O bonds. The sub-band gap absorption coefficient in a,μc-Si:H;F films was about one order lower than that in hydrogenated amorphous silicon film (a-Si:H). The subband gap absorption in a-Si:H;F film was comparable to that in tic-Si:H;F films. The lightinduced degradation of a,μc-Si:H;F films were also suppressed.

The laser annealing effects on the TEOS (Tetra-Ethyl-Ortho-Silicate) oxide of MOS (AI/TEOS/n+ Silicon ) structures was investigated with different initial oxide conditions, such as breakdown field. The breakdown field increased upto the 170 mJ/cm2 with increasing laser energy density and decreased at 220 mJ/cm2. It is considered that the increase of breakdown field is originated from the restore of strains which exist mainly at the metal/oxide interface.

We have investigated the light-induced change of photoluminescence(PL) and its recovery in porous silicon. The exposure of the porous silicon to continuous laser light in vacuum results in the quenching of the PL intensity, which is almost fully recovered by simply keeping the samples in vacuum or in air at room temperature for a few days. When the light exposure is done in air, the PL spectra of the samples with initial PL peak at 800 nm are blue-shifted to the peak position at 740 nm and the samples with the initial PL spectrum peaked at 740 nm shows only a rise of PL intensity without any change of its peak position. Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) studies suggest that the light-induced change of PL in air is a irreversible process and occurs as a result of optically induced replacement of some of the Si-H bonds with O-Si-H bonds or adsorption of oxygen with hydrogen loss.