Overview of Legal Measures for Managing Workplace COVID-19 Infection Risk in Several Asia-Pacific Countries

Background@#Despite the lack of official COVID-19 statistics, various workplaces and occupations have been at the center of COVID-19 outbreaks. We aimed to compare legal measures and governance established for managing COVID-19 infection risks at workplaces in nine Asia and Pacific countries and to recommend key administrative measures. @*Methods@#We collected information on legal measures and governance from both general citizens and workers regarding infection risks such as COVID-19 from industrial hygiene professionals in nine countries (Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) using a structured questionnaire. @*Results@#A governmental body overseeing public health and welfare was in charge of containing the spread and occurrence of infectious diseases under an infectious disease control and prevention act or another special act, although the name of the pertinent organizations and legislation vary among countries. Unlike in the case of other traditional hazards, there have been no specific articles or clauses describing the means of mitigating virus risk in the workplace that are legally required of employers, making it difficult to define the responsibilities of the employer. Each country maintains own legal systems regarding access to the duration, administration, and financing of paid sick leave. Many workers may not have access to paid sick leave even if it is legally guaranteed. @*Conclusion@#Specific legal measures to manage infectious disease risks, such as providing proper personal protective equipment, education, engineering control measures, and paid sick leave are recommended to be stipulated in Industrial safety and health-related acts.

Expression of pancreatic and duodenal homeobox1 (PDX1) protein in the interior and exterior regions of the intestine, revealed by development and analysis of Pdx1 knockout mice / 한국실험동물학회지

We developed pancreatic and duodenal homeobox1 (Pdx1) knockout mice to improve a compensatory hyperinsulinemia, which was induced by hyperplasia in the beta cells or Langerhans' islands, as the diabetic model mice. For targeting of Pdx1 gene by homologous recombination, ES cells derived from a 129(+Ter)/SvJclxC57BL/6JJcl hybrid mouse were electroporated and subjected to positive-negative selection with hygromycin B and ganciclovir. As these results, one of the three chimeric mice succeeded to produce the next or F1 generation. Then, the mouse fetuses were extracted from the mother's uterus and analyzed immunohistologically for the existence of a pancreas. The fetuses were analyzed at embryonic day 14.5 (E14.5) because Pdx1 knockout could not alive after birth in this study. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that 10 fetuses out of 26 did not have any PDX1 positive primordium of the pancreas and that the PDX1 expresses in both the interior and exterior regions of intestine. In particular, one the exterior of the intestine PDX1 was expressed in glands that would be expected to form the pancreas. The result of PCR genotyping with extracted DNA from the paraffin sections showed existence of 10 Pdx1-knockout mice and corresponded to results of immunostaining. Thus, we succeeded to establish a Pdx1-knockout (Pdx1-/-) mice.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of rat pup ultrasonic vocalization sounds induced by a hypothermic stimulus / 한국실험동물학회지

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are essential communicative sounds used between rodent pups and their mother. Rat pups emit USVs in stressful situations, such as when they are cold or separated from the nest. We verified the ontogenetic changes in USVs emitted by infant rats isolated from their mother during the pre-weaning period. The number of calls, and the median frequency and first peak of frequency of the calls were measured at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14 days postnatal age in Wistar-Imamichi rats. Pups were placed in a cold glass beaker and USVs were recorded for 5 min. The number of calls increased to a peak on day 5 and then gradually decreased. The median frequency of calls decreased slowly during the first 12 days, and then increased slightly on day 14. Similarly, the first peak frequency of calls was the highest on day 1, and then decreased gradually by day 12. A small increase was observed on day 14. These changes in frequency were correlated with the physical development of the pups, whose body weights increased significantly with age except during postnatal days 7-10.