El Programa para trabajadores temporeros de baja cualificación inmigrantes en Corea: Plan de permisos de trabajo

In Korea low-skilled migrant workers increased drastically entering the 1990s. In 2003 ‘Employment Permit Scheme (EPS)’ was introduced as social consensus formed that there should be legal channels to employ low-skilled migrant workers while providing proper treatment for them. In 2007 ‘Training-Working Scheme’ under which migrant workers were treated trainees, not workers, was folded into the EPS. Different set of policies have been implemented for overseas Koreans reflecting the experiences of 36 years of Japanese colonial rule. Through implementing EPS, the government mainly aims to prevent corruption that might occur in the admission process of migrant workers and establish the employment order for migrant workers by suppressing undocumented stay and illegal employment. EPS has made a remarkable process in terms of achieving transparency and eradicating the corruption in the admission process. The number of undocumented migrants including low-skilled migrant workers reached its peak in 2002 at 289,239 then declined to 179,846 in March 2013. Among those, who entered Korea through EPS and ‘Working Visit Scheme’ accounts for 24.1% and 2.5% respectively. Even though the number of undocumented migrant workers has significantly reduced after the implementation of EPS, they are still a big part of migrant workers who are in the dead zone of labor rights and human rights. However, Korea’s temporary low-skilled migrant worker program, EPS cannot be free from the criticism that it is a mere short-term manpower supply policy lacking comprehensive consideration of how to embrace low-skilled migrant workers as a migration policy or as a countermeasure to population changes.El volumen de trabajadores inmigrantes de baja cualificación se incrementó drásticamente en Corea en los años noventa. El Employment Permit Scheme (EPS), se introdujo en este país en 2003 como un mecanismo legal para canalizar trabajadores de baja cualificación y asegurar su protección. En 2007 se incorpora a este programa el denominado “Training Working Scheme”, para trabajadores en prácticas. También se han adoptado diversos programas para coreanos residentes en el exterior. A través de la implantación del EPS el gobierno coreano ha pretendido prevenir la potencial corrupción en el proceso de admisión de trabajadores migrantes y reducir la inmigración irregular y el empleo informal. La implantación del EPS ha constituido un mecanismo destacable en términos de lucha contra la corrupción y mejora de la transparencia. El número de trabajadores indocumentados alcanzó su máximo en Corea en 2002, y su volumen ha disminuido desde entonces. A pesar de que el número de trabajadores irregulares ha disminuido significativamente desde la implantación del EPS existe todavía en Corea un importante segmento de trabajadores extranjeros en situación irregular que ven vulnerados sus derechos humanos y laborales. La implantación de este programa no se ha producido sin la crítica de un buen número de actores que consideran que se trata de una mera política de suministro de trabajadores de baja cualificación, sin capacidad para abordar de una forma integral la gestión de la migración laboral y los retos del cambio demográfico

Characteristics of Mechanical Ventilation Employed in Intensive Care Units: A Multicenter Survey of Hospitals

A 1D point-prevalence study was performed to describe the characteristics of conventional mechanical ventilation in intensive care units (ICUs). In addition, a survey was conducted to determine the characteristics of ICUs. A prospective, multicenter study was performed in ICUs at 24 university hospitals. The study population consisted of 223 patients who were receiving mechanical ventilation or had been weaned off mechanical ventilation within the past 24 hr. Common indications for the initiation of mechanical ventilation included acute respiratory failure (66%), acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure (15%) (including tuberculosis-destroyed lung [5%]), coma (13%), and neuromuscular disorders (6%). Mechanical ventilation was delivered via an endotracheal tube in 68% of the patients, tracheostomy in 28% and facial mask with noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in 4%. NIV was used in 2 centers. In patients who had undergone tracheostomy, the procedure had been performed 16.9±8.1 days after intubation. Intensivists treated 29% of the patients. A need for additional educational programs regarding clinical practice in the ICU was expressed by 62% of the staff and 42% of the nurses. Tuberculosis-destroyed lung is a common indication for mechanical ventilation in acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure, and noninvasive ventilation was used in a limited number of ICUs

Fabrication and characterization of silicon wire solar cells having ZnO nanorod antireflection coating on Al-doped ZnO seed layer

In this study, we have fabricated and characterized the silicon [Si] wire solar cells with conformal ZnO nanorod antireflection coating [ARC] grown on a Al-doped ZnO [AZO] seed layer. Vertically aligned Si wire arrays were fabricated by electrochemical etching and, the pn junction was prepared by spin-on dopant diffusion method. Hydrothermal growth of the ZnO nanorods was followed by AZO film deposition on high aspect ratio Si microwire arrays by atomic layer deposition [ALD]. The introduction of an ALD-deposited AZO film on Si wire arrays not only helps to create the ZnO nanorod arrays, but also has a strong impact on the reduction of surface recombination. The reflectance spectra show that ZnO nanorods were used as an efficient ARC to enhance light absorption by multiple scattering. Also, from the current-voltage results, we found that the combination of the AZO film and ZnO nanorods on Si wire solar cells leads to an increased power conversion efficiency by more than 27% compared to the cells without it. © 2012 Baek et al.1

Characterization of GDP-mannose Pyrophosphorylase from Escherichia Coli O157:H7 EDL933 and Its Broad Substrate Specificity

GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase gene (ManC) of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 was cloned and expressed as a highly soluble protein in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The enzyme was subsequently purified using hydrophobic and ion exchange chromatographies. ManC showed very broad substrate specificities for four nucleotides and various hexose-1-phosphates, yielding ADP-mannose, CDP-mannose, UDP-mannose, GDP-mannose, GDP-glucose and GDP-2-deoxy-glucose

Visible emission from Ce-doped ZnO nanorods grown by hydrothermal method without a post thermal annealing process

Visible light-emitting Ce-doped ZnO nanorods [NRs] without a post thermal annealing process were grown by hydrothermal method on a Si (100) substrate at a low temperature of 90°C. The structural investigations of Ce-doped ZnO NRs showed that the Ce3+ ions were successfully incorporated into the ZnO lattice sites without forming unwanted Ce-related compounds or precipitates. The optical investigation by photoluminescence spectra shows that the doped Ce3+ ions in the ZnO NRs act as an efficient luminescence center at 540 nm which corresponds to the optical transition of 5d → 4f orbitals in the Ce3+ ions. The photoluminescence intensity of the Ce-doped ZnO NRs increased with the increasing content of the Ce-doping agent because the energy transfer of the excited electrons in ZnO to the Ce3+ ions would be enhanced by increased Ce3+ ions