• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2182-2189
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• 2024

The high-purity germanium gamma-ray spectrometer was used to measure the radioisotope in surface water of lakes in a Chinee petroleum industrial area. 92 samples were collected from surface water of three lakes. Activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K in three lakes were measured, distributed in the range of 101.8-209.4, 192.1-224.9 and 335.0-548.9 mBq/L, respectively. Results were all within the limits of WHO and China. Potential environmental and health risks were assessed by calculating some radiation hazard indicators, radium equivalent index, annual effective dose, excess lifetime cancer risk, absorbed dose rate, external hazard index, internal hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent, activity utilization index and representative gamma index, which ranged 0.38-0.54 Bq/L, 0.06-0.08 mSv/y, 0.23 × 10^-3-0.31 × 10^-3, 0.17-0.24 nGy/h, 1.01 × 10^-3-1.46 × 10^-3, 1.55 × 10^-3-2.02 × 10^-3, 1.16-1.66 μSv/y, 3.13 × 10^-3-4.45 × 10^-3 and 2.60 × 10^-3-3.77 × 10^-3. The results were all at acceptable levels, meaning no impact on human health. The relationship between the electrical conductivity of surface water and the activity concentration of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K was evaluated. The electrical conductivity value was 0.241-0.369 mS/cm, showing a significant correlation coefficient between ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K and electrical conductivity. Multivariate statistical methods were used to determine the relationship between the activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, and ⁴⁰K, radiation hazard indicators and electrical conductivity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2875-2880
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• 2024

The development of nuclear power plants is in three phases. The first phase is a consideration before the decision on the NPP construction program is approved, the second phase is the preparatory work for making contracts and preparing for the construction of NPP after the NPP construction policy is approved, and the third phase is contracting, licensing and building the first NPP. As a volcanically active country, Indonesia contains over 130 active volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The volcanic aspect is one of the safety factors considered while deciding the location of an NPP. Research on the potential of natural external risks to the determination of nuclear power plants in Indonesia, including the volcanic aspect, has been conducted based on the safety reference or safety guide of the IAEA and the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Body (BAPETEN) Regulation. Due to technological advancements, safety needs have evolved so the existing Indonesia National Standard (SNI) must be updated to comply with BAPETEN regulations. The substance in SNI 18-2034-1990 relating to volcanic features seems less relevant in actual conditions, given that more complete and exact criteria for determining a site guarantee the safety and health of residents and surrounding the environment site. The study intends to conduct a gap analysis of volcanic issues in SNI and volcanic regulations. The method used is identification requirements for volcanic aspects in SNI 18-2034-1990 about Determining Site of Nuclear Reactor Guidance with BAPETEN Chairman Regulation (BCR) number 4 of 2018 about Nuclear Installation Site Evaluation Safety Provisions and BCR number 5 of 2015 about Evaluation of Nuclear Installation Sites for Volcanic Aspects, and analysis uses a qualitative method of inductive techniques. The outcome of this research applies to suggesting a revision of SNI number 18-2034-1990, especially the volcanic aspect.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.100-112
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• 2024

This study investigates the ethical and legal implications of utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in human resource management, with a particular focus on AI interviews in the recruitment process. AI, defined as the capability of computer programs to perform tasks associated with human intelligence such as reasoning, learning, and adapting, is increasingly being integrated into HR practices. The deployment of AI in recruitment, specifically through AI-driven interviews, promises efficiency and objectivity but also raises significant ethical and legal concerns. These concerns include potential biases in AI algorithms, transparency in AI decision-making processes, data privacy issues, and compliance with existing labor laws and regulations. By analyzing case studies and reviewing relevant literature, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these challenges and propose recommendations for ensuring ethical and legal compliance in AI-based HR practices. The findings suggest that while AI can enhance recruitment efficiency, it is imperative to establish robust ethical guidelines and legal frameworks to mitigate risks and ensure fair and transparent hiring practices.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.319-332
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• 2016

Alien turtles belonging to Genus Trachemys have been designated as Invasive Alien Species since 2001 and their import has been banned in Korea. However, current status of import and distribution of the other alien turtles have not been reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the taxa of alien turtles introduced into Korea, to assess their potential risks to the natural ecosystems and to suggest the future management directions of them in Korea. We identified 73 species of alien turtles belonging to 9 families. Since 2008, more than 6,000 kg of turtles have been imported annually and widely distributed through the pet shops, traditional markets and individual transactions. From the survey of natural habitats, we found that 8 species belonging to 3 families including Chrysemys picta, Pseudemys concinna, P. nelsoni, P. peninsularis, P. rubriventris, Mauremys sinensis, Macrochelys temminckii and Trachemys scripta have inhabited in 12 study sites. Out of 73 alien turtles, the potential adverse impacts of 13 species to ecosystems are serious when we considered status of designation of invasive alien species in other countries. For the management of alien turtles, it is required to register alien turtles in the import list and share general information such as import purpose, distribution and management condition among relevant authorities. The breeders and distributors must be obliged to identify turtles and to record management. The government must check transfer and migration of turtles periodically to prevent their introduction and spread into natural environments. The change of alien turtle populations in natural habitats should be monitored and their management plan should be developed to control the alien turtles in areas where the impacts are significant.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.129-137
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• 2008

Alien apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularus) used in environmentally-friendly agriculture are different from indigenous snails found in Korea. Due to high herbicidal effects and cost-effectiveness, the number of farmers using the snails has been growing every year since 2000. Moreover, in 2008, because of the outbreaks of avian influenza throughout the country from March to May, 2008, central and local governments recommended the use of alien apple snails in agriculture as an alternative to the ducks-oriented environmentally-friendly agriculture. Therefore, it is expected that the use of alien apple snails in agriculture should be expanded in a near future. Since alien apple snails lay eggs with 95.8% of eclosion rate, they are considered to be potential pests unlike indigenous snails. In addition, Japan, Taiwan and most of the southeast Asian countries had already experienced severe ecological and agricultural damage by the alien apple snails. Subsequently, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) designated P. canaliculata as one of "the 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species". It seems highly likely that the alien apple snails in Korea pose a potential threat to conservation of ecosystem and biodiversity since the snails were either found or invaded into the natural environments in some regions of Gangwon-Do and southern parts of Korean Peninsula. However, just recently, agricultural authorities and farmers using alien apple snails in agriculture opposed a proposition of designating the alien apple snails as an ecosystem-disturbing animal described by the Wildlife Protection Act. This is because there has been no concrete evidence of the ecological risk imposed by the alien snails up to now in Korea. Subsequently, in this paper, we analysed the ecological and agricultural risks imposed by the alien snails from the studies done in domestic and abroad. In addition, we proposed an urgent need and reasoning for ecological risk management of the alien snails at the national level as well as using the snails in agriculture.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.326-335
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• 2007

This study was conducted to assess the environmental risks of anthracnose resistant transgenic chili peppers with the PepEST gene on non-target organisms in the agroecosystem environments during the chili pepper growing seasons in 2006. We quantitatively collected arthropods assemblages living on leaves and flowers of chili peppers on June 20, July 25, and August 25 by using an insect vacuum collector to compare the patterns of arthropod community structures between non-transgenic chili peppers (nTR, WT512) and anthracnose resistant transgenic chili peppers (TR, line 68). We found the seasonal difference with the highest species richness and Shannon's diversity in July's sampling among the growing seasons (P<0.05) and each sampling season showed the different arthropod community composition. We also found there was no statistical difference between the two types of crops, nTR and TR, at each sampling time (P>0.05). The significance level of arthropod community showed that there were lots of seasonal difference of functional groups as well as taxa but only the herbivore group in the functional groups was significantly different for the types of plants (P<0.05). So, we further examined the herbivore groups to find any potential damage and identified the possibility of herbivorous damage from some herbivores, grasshoppers, aphids and thrips. Although we couldn't find any adverse effects from the environmental risk assessment between the arthropod community structures on two types of plants from our results, we should keep working for the environmental risk assessment because of the herbivorous potential risk possibility.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.307-315
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• 2010

The safety and security of food supply should be one of the primary responsibilities of any government. Estimation of nation's food commodity intakes is important to control the potential risks in food systems since food hazards are often associated with quality and safety of food commodities. The food intake databases provided by Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) are good resources to estimate the demographic data of intakes of various food commodities. A limitation of the KNHANES databases, however, is that the food intakes surveyed are not based on commodities but ingredients and their mixtures. In this study, reasonable calculation strategies were applied to convert the food intakes of the ingredients mixtures from the KNHANES into food commodity intakes. For example, Perilla leaf consumed with meat, raw fish, and etc. in Korean diets was used to estimate its Korean intakes and develop algorithms for demographic analysis. Koreans have consumed raw, blanched, steamed, and canned perilla leaf products. The average daily intakes of the perilla leaf were analyzed demographically, for examples, the intakes by gender, age, and etc. The average daily intakes of total perilla leaf were 2.03${\pm}$0.27 g in 1998, 2.11${\pm}$0.26 g in 2001, 2.29${\pm}$0.27 g in 2005, 2.75${\pm}$0.35 g in 2007, and 2.27${\pm}$0.20 g in 2008. Generally, people equal to or over 20 years of age have shown higher perilla leaf intakes than people below 20. This study would be contributed to the estimation of intakes of possible chemical contaminants such as residual pesticides and subsequent analysis for their potential risk.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.29-52
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• 2012

Consumers differ in the way they make a purchase. An audio mania would willingly make a bold, yet serious, decision to buy a top-of-the-line home theater system, while he is not interested in replacing his two-decade-old shabby car. On the contrary, an automobile enthusiast wouldn't mind spending forty thousand dollars to buy a new Jaguar convertible, yet cares little about his junky component system. It is product involvement that helps us explain such differences among individuals in the purchase style. Product involvement refers to the extent to which a product is perceived to be important to a consumer (Zaichkowsky, 2001). Product involvement is an important factor that strongly influences consumer's purchase decision-making process, and thus has been of prime interest to consumer behavior researchers. Furthermore, researchers found that involvement is closely related to perceived risk (Dholakia, 2001). While abundant research exists addressing how product involvement relates to overall perceived risk, little attention has been paid to the relationship between involvement and different types of perceived risk in an electronic commerce setting. Given that perceived risk can be a substantial barrier to the online purchase (Jarvenpaa, 2000), research addressing such an issue will offer useful implications on what specific types of perceived risk an online firm should focus on mitigating if it is to increase sales to a fullest potential. Meanwhile, past research has focused on such consumer responses as information search and dissemination as a consequence of involvement, neglecting other behavioral responses like online merchant selection. For one example, will a consumer seriously considering the purchase of a pricey Guzzi bag perceive a great degree of risk associated with online buying and therefore choose to buy it from a digital storefront rather than from an online marketplace to mitigate risk? Will a consumer require greater trust on the part of the online merchant when the perceived risk of online buying is rather high? We intend to find answers to these research questions through an empirical study. This paper explores the impact of enduring product involvement and perceived risks on required trust level, and further on online merchant choice. For the purpose of the research, five types or components of perceived risk are taken into consideration, including financial, performance, delivery, psychological, and social risks. A research model has been built around the constructs under consideration, and 12 hypotheses have been developed based on the research model to examine the relationships between enduring involvement and five components of perceived risk, between five components of perceived risk and required trust level, between enduring involvement and required trust level, and finally between required trust level and preference toward an e-tailer. To attain our research objectives, we conducted an empirical analysis consisting of two phases of data collection: a pilot test and main survey. The pilot test was conducted using 25 college students to ensure that the questionnaire items are clear and straightforward. Then the main survey was conducted using 295 college students at a major university for nine days between December 13, 2010 and December 21, 2010. The measures employed to test the model included eight constructs: (1) enduring involvement, (2) financial risk, (3) performance risk, (4) delivery risk, (5) psychological risk, (6) social risk, (7) required trust level, (8) preference toward an e-tailer. The statistical package, SPSS 17.0, was used to test the internal consistency among the items within the individual measures. Based on the Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ coefficients of the individual measure, the reliability of all the variables is supported. Meanwhile, the Amos 18.0 package was employed to perform a confirmatory factor analysis designed to assess the unidimensionality of the measures. The goodness of fit for the measurement model was satisfied. Unidimensionality was tested using convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The statistical evidences proved that the three types of validity were all satisfied. Now the structured equation modeling technique was used to analyze the individual paths along the relationships among the research constructs. The results indicated that enduring involvement has significant positive relationships with all the five components of perceived risk, while only performance risk is significantly related to trust level required by consumers for purchase. It can be inferred from the findings that product performance problems are mostly likely to occur when a merchant behaves in an opportunistic manner. Positive relationships were also found between involvement and required trust level and between required trust level and online merchant choice. Enduring involvement is concerned with the pleasure a consumer derives from a product class and/or with the desire for knowledge for the product class, and thus is likely to motivate the consumer to look for ways of mitigating perceived risk by requiring a higher level of trust on the part of the online merchant. Likewise, a consumer requiring a high level of trust on the merchant will choose a digital storefront rather than an e-marketplace, since a digital storefront is believed to be trustworthier than an e-marketplace, as it fulfills orders by itself rather than acting as an intermediary. The findings of the present research provide both academic and practical implications. The first academic implication is that enduring product involvement is a strong motivator of consumer responses, especially the selection of a merchant, in the context of electronic shopping. Secondly, academicians are advised to pay attention to the finding that an individual component or type of perceived risk can be used as an important research construct, since it would allow one to pinpoint the specific types of risk that are influenced by antecedents or that influence consequents. Meanwhile, our research provides implications useful for online merchants (both online storefronts and e-marketplaces). Merchants may develop strategies to attract consumers by managing perceived performance risk involved in purchase decisions, since it was found to have significant positive relationship with the level of trust required by a consumer on the part of the merchant. One way to manage performance risk would be to thoroughly examine the product before shipping to ensure that it has no deficiencies or flaws. Secondly, digital storefronts are advised to focus on symbolic goods (e.g., cars, cell phones, fashion outfits, and handbags) in which consumers are relatively more involved than others, whereas e- marketplaces should put their emphasis on non-symbolic goods (e.g., drinks, books, MP3 players, and bike accessories).

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.65-88
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• 2008

Since the implementation of economic reforms in 1978, the Chinese economy grows rapidly at an average annul growth rate of 9% over the post two decades. Franchising has been widely recognized as an important source of entrepreneurial activity. Trust is important in that it facilitates relational exchanges by permits partners to transcend short-run inequities or risks to concentrate on long-term profits or gains. In the relationship between the franchisors and franchisees, trust has been described as an important source of competitive advantage. However, little research has been done on the factors affecting trust in Chinese franchisor-franchisee relationships. The purpose of this study is to investigate what factors affect the trust in the franchise system in China, and to provide guidelines and insights to franchisors which enter Chinese market. In this study, according to Morgan and Hunt (1994), trust is defined as the extending when one party has confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity. We offered a conceptual model of the empirical study. The model shows that the factors affecting the trust include franchisor's supports, communication, satisfaction with previous outcome and conflict. We also suggested the franchisor's supports and communication like to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and the franchisor's supports, communication and he franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome tend to decrease conflict. Before the formal study, a pretest involving exploratory interviews with owners from three franchisees was conducted to make sure the questionnaire was relevant and clear to the respondents. The data were collected using trained interviewers to carry out personal interviews with the aid of an unidentified, muti-page, structured questionnaire. The respondents comprised of owners, managers, and owner managers of franchisee-owned food service franchises located in Beijing, China. Even though a total of 256 potential franchises were initially contacted, the finally usable sample consisted of 125 respondents. As expected, the sampling method was successful in soliciting respondents with waried personal and firm characteristics. Self-administrated questionnaires were used for all measures. And established scales were used to measure the latent constructs in this study. The measures tapped the franchisees' perceptions of the relationship with the referent franchisor. Five-point Likert-type scales ranging from "strongly disagree" (=1) to "strongly agree" (=7) were used throughout the constructs (trust, eight items; support, five items; communication, four items; satisfaction, six items; conflict, three items). The reliability measurements traditionally employed, such as the Cronbach's alpha, were used. All the reliabilities were greater than.80. The proposed measurement model was estimated using SPSS 12.0 and AMOS 5.0 analysis package. We conducted A series of exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses to assess the convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. The results indicate reasonable overall fits between the model and the observed data. The overall fit of measurement model were $X^2$= 159.699, p=0.004, d.f. = 116, GFI =.879, NFI =.898, CFI =.969, IFI =.970, TLI =.959, RMR =.058. The results demonstrated that the data reasonably fitted the model. We also examined construct reliability and reliability and average variance extracted (AVE). The construct reliability of each construct was greater than.80 and the AVE of each construct was greater than.50. According to the analysis of Structure Equation Modeling (SEM), the results of path model indicated an adequate fit of the model: $X^2$= 142.126, p = 0.044, d.f. = 115, GFI =.892, NFI =.909, CFI =.981, IFI =.981, TLI =.974, RMR =.057. As hypothesized, the results showed that it is strategically important to establish trust in a franchise system, and the franchisor's supports, communication and satisfaction with previous outcome tend to reinforce franchisee's trust. The results also showed trust seems to decrease as the experience of conflict episodes increases. And we also noticed that franchisor's supports and communication tend to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and communication tend to decrease conflict. If the trust between the franchisor and franchisee can be established in a franchise system, franchising offers many benefits and reduces many costs. To manage a mutual trust of relationship with their franchisees, franchisor's should provide support effectively to their franchisees. Effective assistant services have direct effect on franchisees' satisfaction with previous outcome and trust in franchisor. Especially, franchise sales process, orientation, and training in the start-up period are key elements for success of the franchise system. Franchisor's support is an accumulated separate satisfaction evaluation with different kind of service provided by the franchisor. And providing support definitely can improve the trustworthy image of the franchisor. In the franchise system, conflicts of interests and exertions of different power sources are very common. The experience of conflict episodes seems to negatively relate to trust. Therefore, it is important to reduce the negative side of the relationship conflicts. Communication actually plays a broader role in reducing conflict and establish mutual trust in franchisor-franchisee relationship. And effective communication between franchisors and franchisees can improve franchisees' satisfaction toward the franchise system. As the diversification of Chinese markets, both franchisors and franchisees must keep the relevant, timely, and reliable communication. And it is very important to improve the quality of communication. Satisfaction with precious outcomes seems to positively relate to trust. Franchisors and franchisees that are highly satisfied with the previous outcomes that flow from their relationship will perceive their partner as advancing their goal achievement. Therefore, it is necessary for both franchisor and their franchisees to make the welfare of partner with effort. Little literature has focused on what factors affect the trust between franchisors and their franchisees in China. This study developed the hypotheses regarding the factors affecting trust in the transaction relationship. The results of data analysis supported the hypotheses strongly. There are certain limitations in this study. First, we may point out that some other factors missed in this study could be significantly important. Second, the context of this study, food service industry, limits its potential generalizability for all franchise systems. More studies in different categories of franchise system are needed to broaden its generalizability. Third, the model was tested empirically in a sample in Beijing, more empirical tests of the proposed model in other Chinese areas are needed. Finally, the analysis in this study was solely based on the perception of franchisees and the opinions of franchisors were not included.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.1038-1048
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to investigate some heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg) in 52 commercial herbal pills used as general processed food, to identify weekly heavy metal intakes from herbal pills and to evaluate their potential health risks. The samples were digested with a microwave and determinations of heavy metal residues were carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and mercury analyzer. The mean values of heavy metal contents for herbal pills used as general processed food were Pb 0.421 (0.032~1.630), Cd 0.157 (0.011~0.515), Cr 1.033 (0.112~9.933), Cu 6.923 (1.333~16.755), Hg 0.010 (0.001~0.088) mg/kg. Lead contents of herba and cadmium of algae, herba were high (ANOVA-test, p<0.05). Levels of cadmium concentrations exceeding WHO reference values (0.3 mg/kg) were observed in 10 samples (4 species). The significant correlation was observed between Pb and Cd (r=0.633, p<0.01). The weekly intakes of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg from herbal pills were 1.112 (0.072~5.088), 1.614 (0.029~9.257), 3.000 (0.252~23.690), 0.182 (0.008~1.235), 0.220 (0.000~0.420)%, respectively, as compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) established by Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for food safety evaluation. Our data suggest regulations limiting heavy metals in herbal pills used as general processed food.