• Title/Summary/Keyword: Economic Risk

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Alternaria mycotoxins and its incidence in fruits and vegetables

  • Patriarca, Andrea
    • 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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    • 2018.05a
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    • pp.13-13
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    • 2018
  • Alternaria is a ubiquitous fungal genus, widely distributed in the environment and a range of different habitats. It includes both plant pathogenic and saprophytic species, which can affect crops in the field or cause post-harvest spoilage of plant fruits and kernels. Numerous Alternaria species cause damage to agricultural products including cereal grains, fruits and vegetables, and are responsible for severe economic losses worldwide. Most Alternaria species have the ability to produce a variety of secondary metabolites, which may play important roles in plant pathology as well as food quality and safety. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tenuazonic acid (TeA), tentoxin (TEN) and altenuene (ALT) are considered the main Alternaria compounds thought to pose a risk to human health. However, food-borne Alternaria species are able to produce many additional metabolites, whose toxicity has been tested incompletely or not tested at all. Both alternariols are mutagenic and their presence in cereal grain has been associated with high levels of human esophageal cancer in China. TeA exerts cytotoxic and phytotoxic properties, and is acutely toxic in different animal species, causing hemorrhages in several organs. The possible involvement of TA in the etiology of onyalai, a human hematological disorder occurring in Africa, has been suggested. Altertoxins (ALXs) have been found to be more potent mutagens and acutely toxic to mice than AOH and AME. Other metabolites, such as TEN, are reported to be phytotoxins, and their toxicity on animals has not been demonstrated up to now. Vegetable foods infected by Alternaria rot are obviously not suitable for consumption. Thus, whole fresh fruits are not believed to contribute significantly with Alternaria toxins to human exposure. However, processed vegetable products may introduce considerable amounts of these toxins to the human diet if decayed or moldy fruit is not removed before processing. The taxonomy of the genus is not well defined yet, which makes it difficult to establish an accurate relationship between the contaminant species and their associated mycotoxins. Great efforts have been made to organize taxa into subgeneric taxonomic levels, especially for the small-spored, food associated species, which are closely related and constitute the most relevant food pathogens from this genus. Several crops of agricultural value are susceptible to infection by different Alternaria species and can contribute to the entry of Alternaria mycotoxins in the food chain. The distribution of Alternaria species was studied in different commodities grown in Argentina. These food populations were characterized through a polyphasic approach, with special interest in their secondary metabolite profiles, to understand their full chemical potential. Alternaria species associated with tomato, bell pepper, blueberry, apples and wheat cultivated in Argentina showed a surprisingly high metabolomic and mycotoxigenic potential. The natural occurrence of Alternaria toxins in these foods was also investigated. The results here presented will provide background for discussion on regulations for Alternaria toxins in foods.

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Real Option Study on Cookstove Offset Project under Emission Allowance Price Uncertainty (배출권 가격 불확실성을 고려한 고효율 쿡스토브 보급사업 실물옵션 연구)

  • Lee, Jaehyung
    • Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.219-246
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    • 2020
  • From the Phase II (2018~2020) of K-ETS, the offset credit from 'CDM projects that domestic companies and others have carried out in foreign countries' can be used in the K-ETS. As a result, stakeholders in the K-ETS market are actively developing overseas CDM projects, such as the 'high-efficiency cook stove project'. which can secure a large amount of credits while marginal cost is relatively low. This paper develops the investment decision-making model of offset project for the 'high-efficiency cook stove project' using the real option approach. Under the uncertainty of the emission allowance price, the optimal investment threshold (p) is derived and sensitivity analysis is conducted. As a result, in the standard scenario (PoA-S), the optimal investment threshold is 29,054won/ton, which is lower than the stock price (pspot). However, allocation entities are not only economics in the CDM project, but also CDM risk factors such as non-renewable biomass ratio, cook stove replacement ratio, equity ratio with host country, investment period and submission limitation of emission allowance. In addition, offset project developers will be able to derive the optimal investment threshold for each business stage and use it for economic feasibility checks.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship of Franchisees on Their Business Performance : Mediation Effects of Market Orientation and Relationship Commitment (프랜차이즈 가맹점의 창업정신이 경영성과에 미치는 영향 : 본사의 시장지향성과 가맹점 관계몰입의 매개효과)

  • Yoon, Sung-Wook;Park, Sung-Il
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.101-125
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    • 2008
  • This research suggests an ideal role between franchisee and franchisee for survival and development of the Korean franchise business by identifying causal relationships between entrepreneurship of franchisees and their business performance. Besides, when considering multi-dimensional features of a franchise system, this study aims to show that the market orientation of the franchisee and the relationship commitment between franchisee and franchisee will play an important mediating role to achieve a better business performance. Thus specific causal relationships among sub-dimensional constructs of entrepreneurship and market orientations were investigated. They are innovativeness, risk-taking propensity, pro-activeness, information creation, intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, response design, response implementation. The results demonstrate that pro-activeness of franchisee plays a crucial role for franchisee's business performance. It was noted that franchisor's market orientation and innovativeness is also important for high market orientation of franchisor. The higher the market orientation of franchisor was, the higher relationship commitment of franchisee was formed. By identifying the mediation effect of relationship commitment and market orientation of franchisor, this paper showed that relationship commitment positively affect the improvement of franchisee's business performance. Above all, it should be noted that this research empirically identified the relationship between franchisee's entrepreneurship and business performance that most of the previous researchers have ignored. Furthermore, the analysis was conducted at sub-dimensional construct level. It is expected that empirical results from this study will be able to provide a meaningful framework and theoretical basis for future research on franchise, entrepreneurship and market orientation.

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Food Neophobia and Nutritional Outcomes in Primary School-Children

  • MS Zalilah;GL. Khor;K. Mirnalini;S. Sarina
    • Journal of Community Nutrition
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    • v.7 no.3
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    • pp.121-129
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    • 2005
  • Food neophobia, unwillingness to try novel foods, is a personality trait that can influence children's food preferences and consequently their food acceptance and consumption. The purpose of this study was to determine whether children with food neophobia have poor dietary and growth outcomes compared to non-neophobic children. Subjects were 332 primary school children from 6 randomly selected schools in the district of Hulu Selangor, Selangor. Parents and children were interviewed to obtain demographic, socio-economic, food neophobia and dietary intake information. The children were also measured for weights and heights. One-way ANOVA and Chi-square procedures were utilized for statistical data analysis. Children with food neophobia had higher intakes of energy and most nutrients than average and neophilic children. However, only the mean intakes of protein (p < 0.05) , fat (p < 0.05), vitamin A (p < 0.01) and iron (p < 0.01) were significantly higher in neophobic than average or neophilic children. Compared to neophilic and average groups, a higher percentage of neophobic children met 2/3 of the RNIs for energy $(85.2\%)$, protein $(98.4\%)$ and vitamin A $(72.1\%)$. Mean percentage of carbohydrate energy was lowest$(54.8\pm6.6\%)$ while fat energy $(31.8\pm6.2\%)$ was highest among neophobic children. Neophobic group had the lowest percentage of children $(49.2\%)$ with carbohydrate energy > $55\%$ but highest percentage $(50.8\%)$ with fat energy > $30\%$. For the three study groups, the mean number of servings for all food groups, except grain and cereal, did not meet the Food Pyramid recommendations. Neophobic children consumed significantly more numbers of servings from the meat group than average and neophilic groups (p < 0.01). All study groups had relatively low mean dietary diversity scores but neophobic children had the lowest score $(0.67\pm0.73)$ compared to the average $(0.97\pm0.72)$ and neophilic $(1.98\pm0.81)$ groups. Significant difference in mean dietary diversity scores were only observed between neophobic and neophilic children (p<0.05). Higher percentages of neo-phobic children had low weight-for-height and were at-risk of overweight(p < 0.05). Nutrition practitioners need to understand children's food preferences in their efforts to promote healthful diets for children. To improve children's eating behaviors, parents may need the guidance and support from nutritionists and dietitians that are specific to their needs and their child's situation.

Borrowing Constraints and the Marginal Propensity to Consume (차입제약과 한계소비성향)

  • Bishop, Thomas;Park, Cheolbeom
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.1-25
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    • 2011
  • Available evidence suggests that the average marginal propensity to consume (MPC) from the 2001 tax rebate in the US was not nearly as large as that from previous tax cuts. We examine if this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the widespread use of credit cards has made borrowing accessible for most US households by constructing a model that simulates the dynamic effect of relaxed borrowing constraints. Our model uses Kreps-Porteus preferences which account for independent measures of relative risk aversion and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution, both of which can theoretically affect the willingness to save or spend. Our model shows that the average MPC drops substantially immediately after borrowing constraints are relaxed because few consumers have binding borrowing constraints at that time. The model also shows that consumers gradually reduce their wealth after borrowing constraints are relaxed, causing more of them to have binding constraints over time, which in turn causes the average MPC to rise gradually to a new steady state value that is slightly lower than the original value. This dynamic pattern of the MPC suggests that a greater ability to borrow with credit cards could explain the lower effectiveness of the 2001 tax rebate. In addition, the model predicts that consumers choose to hold lower amounts of liquid assets for precautionary reasons when they have a greater ability to borrow unsecured debt.

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Reframing Sustainability in Consideration of Climate Change and Natural Hazards: Focusing on the U.S. Natural Hazards Mitigation Trend and Case Analysis (기후변화시대 자연재해를 고려한 지속가능개발 개념의 재정립: 미국 방재동향 및 사례 분석을 중심으로)

  • Kwon, Tae Jung
    • KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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    • v.33 no.2
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    • pp.801-810
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    • 2013
  • The main purpose of this study is to reframe sustainability or sustainable development concept in the field of planning in consideration of climate change and natural hazards. The new concept is expected to provide a theoretical foundation for upcoming hazard mitigation measures addressing climate change. The first and main argument of the new concept is that environmental protection should be inclusive enough to address urban (or community) security from current natural hazards. The second is that the balance between structural and nonstructural mitigation measures is critical to cope more effectively with extreme natural hazards in the era of climate change and also with conflicts driven by three goals of sustainability--environmental protection, economic development, and social justice. The following studies, based on this new concept of sustainablity, are expected (1) to address new participation methods for the conflict resolution, (2) to explore detailed and substantive planning strategies and creative technical and institutional solutions for environmental protection, natural hazard mitigation, and conflict resolution. Two of APFM(the Associated Programme on Flood Management)'s three natural hazard risk criteria, Exposure and Vulnerability, may guide the exploration.

Case Studies of Comparing EN 954-1 and EN ISO 13849-1 Standard for Design of Industrial Machinery Safety Control System

  • Kim, Tae-Ho;Kim, Hong-Ki;Yoon, Hoon Yong
    • Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.279-291
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    • 2013
  • Objective: The aim of this study was to compare old standard EN 954-1 and new standard EN ISO 13849-1 through case study and provide necessity of adaptation of EN ISO 13849-1 in Korea. Background: International and EU harmonized standard EN ISO 13849 "safety of machinery - Safety-related parts of control system" is classified into Part 1: General principles for design and Part 2: Validation. EN ISO 13849-1 standard was introduced in Official Journal of the European Union on September 8, 2009 as harmonized standard, and old standard EN 954-1 was withdrawn on December 31, 2011. So, EU decided to use of EN ISO 13849-1 standard forcibly from January 1, 2012 for safety of machinery. New machines need to be CE marked if they are to be placed on the market in the European Economic Area(EEA), Switzerland or Turkey, and Korean machine builder should apply EN ISO 3849-1 standard for safety of machinery accordingly. However, current Korean Safety Certification system(KCs mark) for dangerous machinery is not referred to EN ISO 13849-1 standard as safety standard. There is a need of research for adaptation of EN ISO 13849-1 standard in Korea as safety standards for new design of safety-related control system which use mostly electronic components. Method: Five case studies of representative designs for safety-related control system in accordance with EN 954-1were selected according to safety category from B to 4. And these five representative designs were tried to change new design in accordance with EN ISO 13849-1 standard. The results of comparison were analyzed in aspect of economy and technical complexity. Results: The results showed that EN ISO 13849-1 provided quantitative method of application and it enabled designers to create safety-related control systems that require fewer components and less wiring, with many of the components being to a lower specification and, therefore, less costly. Conclusion: EN ISO 13849-1 standard is good for electronic safety-related control systems compare to EN 954-1. By considering the importance of application of EN ISO 13849-1 and benefits, the application of EN ISO 13849-1 as safety standard for safety of machinery is urgent in Korea. Application: The results of comparing EN 954-1 and EN ISO 13849-1 standard might help to determine the adaptation of EN ISO 13849-1 standard for safety of industrial machinery in Korea.

A study on the effect of entrepreneurship and CEO competency on management performance of SME managers in the service economy era (서비스경제시대 중소기업 경영자의 기업가지향성과 CEO역량이 경영성과에 미치는 영향 연구)

  • An, Sehong;Kim, Hyunsoo
    • Journal of Service Research and Studies
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.81-101
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    • 2020
  • Humanity has reached the age of service economy. A new economy requires new management. The chief executive of new management is the CEO. The results of management decision-making are reflected in the company's performance, and are the basis for future growth engines. This study empirically analyzed the effect of CEO competence, corporate orientation, and management performance of small and medium-sized mid-sized business managers on each other. In the study, a hypothesis was established between eight variables. In addition, the relationship between corporate orientation and CEO competency, which has not been studied, was also identified. Set personal effectiveness, willingness to innovate, opportunity recognition, information perception, relationship formation, business management, leadership, organizational culture, and human resource management as measures of CEO competency. After defining the operation in accordance with this study, the analysis was conducted. As a result of the analysis, corporate orientation did not produce a meaningful result in management performance. And CEO competency showed a positive (+) effect on management performance. It can be judged that the CEO variable, a management variable, had a positive effect on management performance. Also, there was a significant result in the relationship between corporate orientation and CEO competency. Innovativeness, initiative, and risk-taking have positive implications for CEO competency. Lastly, corporate orientation showed statistically significant results on management performance through the mediation of CEO competency. It is worth noting the results of this study in that the time of the study was the timing of the global pandemic (fendermic) of the COVID19 virus. In the future, in-depth research is needed on the relationship between CEO-related factors and management performance in a more changed economic environment.

Evaluation on the impact of Lowest Bid Contracts on Site Operations in times of Severe Economic Downturn (건설경기 침체기의 최저가 낙찰제 건설현장의 운영 실태분석과 개선 방안 도출)

  • Koo, Bon-Sang;Jang, Hyoun-Seung
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.10 no.6
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    • pp.146-153
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    • 2009
  • The year 2008 was a hard year for Korea's construction companies. The real estate downturn resulted in halting new construction and stopping existing work, and inflation of global oil prices caused price hikes in rebar and concrete materials. As a solution to reducing the budget, the newly appointed government announced plans to increase low cost bid contracts from 10 billion to 30 billion won. When such economical and political factors negatively impact the construction market, projects based on low cost contracts are the hardest hit. Many problems already inherent in low cost bid contracts become accentuated. Consequently, this provides an opportune time to actually study and analyze the issues in these projects. This paper introduces the findings made from investigating four projects struggling to make ends meet in the year 2008. Results show that flow of cash (i.e., liquidity), or lack thereof, was the root cause which in turn was hampered by failed mechanisms for design changes, material inflation. Attributing cash flow risk to the bottom of the production structure (i.e., small business subcontractors) was also a problem within the industry. Contractors need a better way to prepare against material price fluctuations, and owners need to assist in expediting payment during times of extreme downturn.

An Analysis and Improvement of Free Form Building's Construction Productivity - Focused on Exposed Concrete Work - (비정형 건축물 공사의 생산성 분석 및 향상방안 - 노출콘크리트 공사를 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Eun-Young;Kim, Yea-Sang
    • Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.38-46
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    • 2014
  • The Global's top five Design Firms selected from BauNetz a German architectural magazine in 2007 designed free form building design which was 25% of the overall design by 2006-2010. Free form building is a landmark of the city and the country so its social and economic impacts are very large. In case of Korea, free form buildings such as Tribowl in Incheon, KINTEX Exhibition hall 2 and Dongdaemun Design Plaza have increased. However, those the increase in design trends and, the needs due to the lack of free form building design and construction management experience, free form building projects can't be expected to profitability and have a number of problems after completion. Especially, there are many excessive quality problems and the rising cost due to design changes frequently and lack of experience and data. Thus an initial plan regardless of considering of free form building's characteristics can be a huge risk because of the difference with the plan and actual projects, yet there aren't free form building project's performance data and case studies related to productivity. In this study, through selection of low-construction productivity works and an analysis of the work process and productivity data, hope to propose an actual field productivity of free form building and the ways to improve productivity.