• Title/Summary/Keyword: Risk-sensitive

Search Result 418, Processing Time 0.033 seconds

Isolation and Antibiotic Susceptibility of Enterococcus spp. from Fermented Soy Paste (콩발효식품에서의 장구균과 항생제 내성특성)

  • Kang, Tae-Mi;Park, Jong-Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
    • /
    • v.41 no.5
    • /
    • pp.714-720
    • /
    • 2012
  • To evaluate the antibiotic risk of $Enterococcus$ in fermented soy paste, $Enterococcus$ spp. were isolated and identified from 31 $Cheongkukjang$ and 17 $Doenjang$, samples. Exactly 123 $Enterococcus$ spp., 119 from $Cheongkukjang$ and four from $Doenjang$, were ultimately isolated. The most frequently collected $Enterococcus$ isolates in $Cheongkukjang$ were 69 strains of $E.$ $faecium$ and 20 strains of $E.$ $faecalis$. All four $Enterococcus$ spp. from $Deonjang$ were identified as $E.$ $faecium$. All isolates were sensitive to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, penicillin, and tetracyclin $E.$ However, they showed broad spectra from sensitivity to resistance to erythromycin, ripampin, and streptomycin. Vancomycin minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of $Enterococcus$ spp. from $Cheongkukjang$ ranged from 0.25 to 8 ${\mu}g/mL$. Almost all strains were sensitive to vancomycin, but eight strains showed intermediate resistance to vancomycin. Seventeen strains showing the highest MIC of 8 ${\mu}g/mL$ among all isolates were evenly distributed among $E.$ $faecalis$, $E.$ $faecium$, $E.$ $gallinarum$, and $E.$ $casselifalvus$, in which the strong resistant genes of $van$A and $van$B for vancomycin were not detected. Overall antibiotic resistance of $Enterococcus$ isolates was relatively low and particularly low vancomycin resistance was similar to those of $Enterococcus$ isolates obtained from other foods. Therefore, the antibiotics resistance of $Enterococcus$ and especially vancomycin-resistant $Enterococcus$ spp. from $Cheongkukjang$ and $Doenjang$, is not hazardous.

A Study on the Overall Economic Risks of a Hypothetical Severe Accident in Nuclear Power Plant Using the Delphi Method (델파이 기법을 이용한 원전사고의 종합적인 경제적 리스크 평가)

  • Jang, Han-Ki;Kim, Joo-Yeon;Lee, Jai-Ki
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
    • /
    • v.33 no.4
    • /
    • pp.127-134
    • /
    • 2008
  • Potential economic impact of a hypothetical severe accident at a nuclear power plant(Uljin units 3/4) was estimated by applying the Delphi method, which is based on the expert judgements and opinions, in the process of quantifying uncertain factors. For the purpose of this study, it is assumed that the radioactive plume directs the inland direction. Since the economic risk can be divided into direct costs and indirect effects and more uncertainties are involved in the latter, the direct costs were estimated first and the indirect effects were then estimated by applying a weighting factor to the direct cost. The Delphi method however subjects to risk of distortion or discrimination of variables because of the human behavior pattern. A mathematical approach based on the Bayesian inferences was employed for data processing to improve the Delphi results. For this task, a model for data processing was developed. One-dimensional Monte Carlo Analysis was applied to get a distribution of values of the weighting factor. The mean and median values of the weighting factor for the indirect effects appeared to be 2.59 and 2.08, respectively. These values are higher than the value suggested by OECD/NEA, 1.25. Some factors such as small territory and public attitude sensitive to radiation could affect the judgement of panel. Then the parameters of the model for estimating the direct costs were classified as U- and V-types, and two-dimensional Monte Carlo analysis was applied to quantify the overall economic risk. The resulting median of the overall economic risk was about 3.9% of the gross domestic products(GDP) of Korea in 2006. When the cost of electricity loss, the highest direct cost, was not taken into account, the overall economic risk was reduced to 2.2% of GDP. This assessment can be used as a reference for justifying the radiological emergency planning and preparedness.

Comparative Analysis on the Perceptions for Food Additives Between Elementary School Teachers and Nutrition Teachers (식품첨가물에 대한 초등교사와 영양교사의 인식 비교)

  • Kim, Jeong-Weon;Lee, Eun-Ju
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
    • /
    • v.31 no.2
    • /
    • pp.74-84
    • /
    • 2016
  • Literacy on food additives of elementary school teachers (ET) and nutrition teachers (NT) could be influential factor on safe dietary education for school children. Therefore, the perceptions and information needs on food additives were surveyed from 351 elementary school teachers and nutrition teachers in metropolitan area of Korea, and the basic data for the promotion of risk communication on food additives among them were obtained. Compared to ET who consider 'taste' (39.1%) as the most important factor while purchasing food, NT considered 'safety' (68.1%) first (p < 0.001). Among the food labelling items, the level of understanding on food additives was the lowest both in ET (3.53) and NT (4.17), and NT showed better levels of understanding overall on food labels. Both ET and NT regarded hazardous factors of food as environmental pollutants, foodborne pathogens, and food additives in order, and tended to select 'no additives' or 'no artificial color' products while purchasing processed food. Although NT answered that they know all food additives had been passed the evaluation of safety and effectiveness tests (100%) and have standards of use (81.9%), majority of them (87.5%) believed the consumption of food additives are harmful on human health. ET (75.2%) also regarded food additives as dangerous materials. Above results suggested the necessity of proper and enough risk communication for both ET and NT. Both ET and NT wanted to have information on the safety or hazard of food additives. Most preferred media to get the information on food additives was TV (3.80) among ET and lecture (3.65) among NT. ET and NT trusted hospital, research institution/universities or the personnels working in these institutions as the provider of information on food additives. The result that the trust levels of ET and NT on government were relative low suggested the weakness of risk communication in Korean government. Although ET and NT answered that they do not trust mass media, their behaviors were affected by them such as reading food labels in ET (39.4%) and reducing the consumption of food additives in NT (50%). They also indicated mass media's problem of sensitive approach on food additives and asked the urgent reaction of government by providing sound information through experts on food additives. Above results revealed that ET and NT have different perceptions and information needs on food additives, therefore, proper risk communication should be provided for them to serve as dietary educators for elementary school children.

The evaluation of Soil Erosion Risk of Urban Area based on Geospatial Information (공간정보를 활용한 도심지 토사유실 위험도 평가)

  • Lee, Geun-Sang
    • Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
    • /
    • v.45 no.2
    • /
    • pp.57-70
    • /
    • 2015
  • Recently, soil erosion have been thickening from heavy rainfall according to climate change. These soil erosion is main reason to cause landslide, the water quality, agricultural counterproductivity and so on. Therefore, it is important to find out the main source area to cause soil erosion using geospatial data including DEM, soil map and land cover those are very sensitive to soil erosion modeling. This study evaluated soil erosion using RUSLE model. Hyoja 4-Dong and Pyonghwa 2-Dong among Wansan-Gu showed high as 10,869 ton/yr and 10,477 ton/yr respectively and Ua 2-Dong of Deokjin-Gu showed high as 17,603 ton/yr in soil erosion. And Hyoja 1-Dong and Pyonghwa 1-Dong among Wansan-Gu showed high as $1,485.7ton/km^2$ and $1,297.0ton/km^2$ respectively and Inhu 3-Dong of Deokjin-Gu showed high as $2,557.7ton/km^2$ in unit soil erosion that was applied to the evaluation of soil erosion potential. It is anticipated that achievement of this study can apply to forecast and prepare the risk of soil erosion and debris flow in urban area.

Detection of a Microsporidium, Nosema ceranae, from Field Population of the Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, via Quantitative Real-Time PCR (서양뒤영벌 야외개체군에서 Real-Time PCR을 이용한 Nosema ceranae의 검출)

  • Lee, Dae-Weon
    • Korean Journal of Microbiology
    • /
    • v.49 no.3
    • /
    • pp.270-274
    • /
    • 2013
  • The bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, has played an important role as one of the alternative pollinators since the outbreak of honeybee collapse disorder. Recently, pathogens and parasites such as viruses, bacteria and mites, which affect the life span and fecundity of their host, have been discovered in B. terristris. In order to detect the microsporidian pathogen, Nosema spp. in the field populations of B. terristris, we collected adults and isolated their genomic DNA for diagnostic PCR. The PCR primers specific for Nosema spp. were newly designed and applied to gene amplification for cloning. Only small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene of N. ceranae was successfully amplified among examined genes and sequenced, which indicates that N. ceranae mainly infects the examined field population of B. terristris. To detect of SSU rRNA gene, two regions of SSU rRNA gene were selected by primary PCR analysis and further analyzed in quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that SSU rRNA of N. ceranae was detected at concentration as low as $0.85ng/{\mu}l$ genomic DNA. This result suggests that the detection via qRT-PCR can be applied for the rapid and sensitive diagnosis of N. ceranae infection in the field population as well as risk assessment of B. terristris.

How to Reflect Sustainable Development in Overseas Investment including Equator Principles (해외투자(海外投資)와 지속가능발전 원칙 - 적도원칙(赤道原則)(Equator Principles)을 중심으로 -)

  • Park, Whon-Il
    • 한국무역상무학회:학술대회논문집
    • /
    • 2006.06a
    • /
    • pp.45-72
    • /
    • 2006
  • The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for ethical project finance. These principles commit banks and other signatories to not finance projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation and launched in 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks have adopted the Principles, and with these banks among them accounting for more than three quarters of all project loan market volume the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental effects of projects to be financed. While regarding the Principles an important initiative, NGOs have criticised the Principles for not producing real changes in financing activities and for allowing projects to go through that should have been screened out by the Principles, such as the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia. In early 2006, a process of revision of the principles was begun. The Equator Principles state that endorsing banks will only provide loans directly to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). - For all medium or high risk projects (Category A and B projects), sponsors complete an Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key environmental and social issues. - The Environmental Assessment report addresses baseline environmental and social conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, applicable international treaties and agreements, sustainable development and use of renewable natural resources, protection of human health, cultural properties, and biodiversity, including endangered species and sensitive ecosystems, use of dangerous substances, major hazards, occupational health and safety, fire prevention and life safety, socio-economic impacts, land acquisition and land use, involuntary resettlement, impacts on indigenous peoples and communities, cumulative impacts of existing projects, the proposed project, and anticipated future projects, participation of affected parties in the design, review and implementation of the project, consideration of feasible environmentally and socially preferable alternatives, efficient production, delivery and use of energy, pollution prevention and waste minimization, pollution controls (liquid effluents and air emissions) and solid and chemical waste management. - Based on the Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with their clients on how they mitigate, monitor and manage those risks through an 'Environmental Management Plan'. Compliance with the plan is required in the covenant. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective action, which if unsuccessful, could ultimately result in the bank canceling the loan and demanding immediate repayment. - For risky projects, the borrower consults with stakeholders (NGO's and project affected groups) and provides them with information on the risks of the project. - If necessary, an expert is consulted. The Principles only apply to projects over 50 million US dollars, which, according to the Equator Principles website, represent 97% of the total market. In early 2006, the financial institutions behind the Principles launched stakeholder consultations and negotiations aimed at revising the principles. The draft revised principles were met with criticism from NGO stakeholders, who in a joint position paper argued that the draft fails by ignoring the most serious critiques of the principles: a lack of consistent and rigorous implementation.

  • PDF

Evaluation of the Relationship between Meteorological, Agricultural and In-situ Big Data Droughts (기상학적 가뭄, 농업 가뭄 및 빅데이터 현장가뭄간의 상관성 평가)

  • LEE, Ji-Wan;JANG, Sun-Sook;AHN, So-Ra;PARK, Ki-Wook;KIM, Seong-Joon
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
    • /
    • v.19 no.1
    • /
    • pp.64-79
    • /
    • 2016
  • The purpose of this study is to find the relationship between precipitation deficit, SPI(standardized precipitation index)-12 month, agricultural reservoir water storage deficit and agricultural drought-related big data, and to evaluate the usefulness of agricultural risk management through big data. For the long term drought (from January 2014 to September 2015), each data was collected and analysed with monthly and Provincial base. The minimum SPI-12 and maximum reservoir water storage deficit compared to normal year were occurred at the same time of July 2014, and August and September 2015. The maximum frequency of big data was occurred at June and July of 2014, and March and June to September of 2015. The maximum big data was occurred 1 month advanced in 2014 and 2 months advanced in 2015 than the maximum reservoir water storage deficit. The occurrence of big data was sensitive to spring drought from March, late Jangma of June, dry Jangma of July and the rainfall deficit of September 2015. The big data was closely related with the meteorological drought and agricultural drought. Because the big data is the in situ feeling drought, it is proved as a useful indicator for agricultural risk management.

Case Studies on Distributed Temperature and Strain Sensing(DTSS) by using an Optical fiber (광섬유 센서를 이용한 온도 및 변형 모니터링에 대한 현장응용 사례)

  • Kim, Jung-Yul;Kim, Yoo-Sung;Lee, Sung-Uk;Min, Kyoung-Ju;Park, Dong-Su;Pang, Gi-Sung;Kim, Kang-Sik
    • Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
    • /
    • 2006.03a
    • /
    • pp.86-95
    • /
    • 2006
  • Brillouin backscatter is a type of reflection that occurs when light is shone into an optical fibre. Brillouin reflections are very sensitive to changes in the fibre arising from external effects, such as temperature, strain and pressure. We report here several case studies on the measurement of strain using Brillouin reflections. A mechanical bending test of an I beam, deployed with both fiber optic sensors and conventional strain gauge rosettes, was performed with the aim of evaluating: (1) the capability and technical limit of the DTSS technology for strain profile sensing; (2) the reliability of strain measurement using fiber optic sensor. The average values of strains obtained from both DTSS and strain gauges (corresponding to the deflection of I beam) showed a linear relationship and an excellent one-to-one match. A practical application of DTSS technology as an early warning system for land sliding or subsidence was examined through a field test at a hillside. Extremely strong, lightweight, rugged, survivable tight-buffered cables, designed for optimal strain transfer to the fibre, were used and clamped on the subsurface at a depth of about 50cm. It was proved that DTSS measurements could detect the exact position and the progress of strain changes induced by land sliding and subsidence. We also carried out the first ever distributed dynamic strain measurement (10Hz) on the Korean Train eXpress(KTX) railway track in Daejeon, Korea. The aim was to analyse the integrity of a section of track that had recently been repaired. The Sensornet DTSS was used to monitor this 85m section of track while a KTX train passed over. In the repaired section the strain increases to levels of 90 microstrain, whereas in the section of regular track the strain is in the region of 30-50 microstrain. The results were excellent since they demonstrate that the DTSS is able to measure small, dynamic changes in strain in rails during normal operating conditions. The current 10km range of the DTSS creates a potential to monitor the integrity of large lengths of track, and especially higher risk sections such as bridges, repaired track and areas at risk of subsidence.

  • PDF

Testing the Biobehavioral Family Model in Understanding the Eating Problems of Adolescent Girls (여고생의 섭식문제 구조모형 구축: 생체행동가족모형의 적용)

  • Park, Ji-Young;Baek, Su-Yon;Kim, Hee-Soon;Lim, Jung-Ha;Kim, Tae-Hyung
    • Child Health Nursing Research
    • /
    • v.19 no.3
    • /
    • pp.228-237
    • /
    • 2013
  • Purpose: This study was done to test a hypothesized model, the Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM), on the relationship of family emotional climate, security of parent-child relationship, depression symptoms and eating problems in adolescent girls, to further understanding of eating problems in this population. Methods: With a convenience sample of 647 girls, aged 15 to 18, a self-report survey was conducted which included the Korean form of the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26) to assess eating problems. Results: The estimated results of the structural equation modeling indicated a good fit of data to the hypothesized model proposing that family emotional climate and security of parent-child relationship were associated with the risk of eating problems by way of depression symptoms. That is, negative family emotional climate and insecure parent-child relationship increased the risk of eating problems indirectly by way of depression symptoms. Conclusion: The findings are consistent with the BBFM, which suggests a psychobiologic influence of specific family processes on children's stress-sensitive physical disease activity by way of depression symptoms. Therefore, the applicability of the BBFM for understanding adolescent girls' eating problems is supported. The psychobiologic pathways from depression to eating pathology should be addressed in future studies.

A Study on Dose and Image Quality according to X-ray Photon Detection Method in Digital Radiography System (Digital Radiography System에서 X선 광자 검출 방식에 따른 선량 및 화질 특성에 관한 연구)

  • Hong, Sun Suk;Kim, Ho Chul
    • Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
    • /
    • v.50 no.12
    • /
    • pp.247-253
    • /
    • 2013
  • The purpose is a comparative evaluation in the DR System according to the dosimetry and image quality of the quantitative and objective via Direct digital radiography, Indirect digital radiography, Image intensifier (Charge Coupled Device type) digital radiography. The experimental method used rando phantom and measured the entrance surface dose. And through using the measured entrance surface dose and then using the PCXMC program were evaluated risk due to irradiation and the effective dose. SNR and NPS and CNR were measured and analyzed by using 21cm acryl phantom. Significance of measured value was evaluated by statistics method. Entrance surface dose, major organ dose, effective dose all of them were measured the lowest rated in direct DR when it is on the basis of direct DR dose, high-dose ratio were measured in I.I DR approximately 1.3 times, indirect DR approximately 2.4 times. Risk in accordance with radiation also was measured same as dose ratio. On the conclusion that SNR measurement result based on direct DR SNR measurements, low-SNR ratio were measured in I.I DR approximately 7.25 times, indirect DR approximately 1.48 times. On the conclusion that CNR measurement result based on direct DR CNR measurements, high-dose ratio were measured in I.I type DR approximately 1.16 tims and low-dose ratio were measured in indirect DR approximately 0.87 times. Therefore Direct DR system using a-selenium sensing element to detect x-ray photon is thought effectively at the examination such as infant to sensitive irradiation and the genital gland. Because quality image is built by low dose. Also when it is necessary that image test requiring many diagnosis information, indirect DR system is thought effectively.