• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.186-194
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• 2009

Understanding the environmental fate of human and animal pharmaceuticals and their risk assessment are of great importance due to their growing environmental concerns. Although there are many potential pathways for them to reach the environment, effluents from sewage treatment plants (STPs) are recognized as major point sources. In this study, the removal efficiencies of the 43 selected priority pharmaceuticals in a conventional STP were evaluated using two simple models: an equilibrium partitioning model (EPM) and STPWIN$^{TM}$ program developed by US EPA. It was expected that many pharmaceuticals are not likely to be removed by conventional activated sludge processes because of their relatively low sorption potential to suspended sludge and low biodegradability. Only a few pharmaceuticals were predicted to be easily removed by sorption or biodegradation, and hence a conventional STP may not protect the environment from the release of unwanted pharmaceuticals. However, the prediction made in this study strongly relies on sorption coefficient to suspended sludge and biodegradation half-lives, which may vary significantly depending on models. Removal efficiencies predicted using the EPM were typically higher than those predicted by STPWIN for many hydrophilic pharmaceuticals due to the difference in prediction method for sorption coefficients. Comparison with experimental organic carbon-water partition coefficients ($K_{ocs}) revealed that log KOW-based estimation used in STPWIN is likely to underestimate sorption coefficients, thus resulting low removal efficiency by sorption. Predicted values by the EPM were consistent with limited experimental data although this model does not include biodegradation processes, implying that this simple model can be very useful with reliable Koc values. Because there are not many experimental data available for priority pharmaceuticals to evaluate the model performance, it should be important to obtain reliable experimental data including sorption coefficients and biodegradation rate constants for the prediction of the fate of the selected pharmaceuticals.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.153-159
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• 2018

In recent years, the development of weapons systems in the field of defense research and development has become increasingly large, complex, and long-term, and so have budgets and the time spans involved. In order to improve this, the Weapon Systems Requirement Verification Committee, which benchmarked the preliminary feasibility of the private sector, was established to verify the appropriateness of requirements, and the necessity and priority of the projects. This research proposes a methodology for analyzing and prioritizing proposed weapons systems for effective and strategic allocation of defense budget funding. First, the evaluation factors that can be used in the defense sector were assessed by analyzing the related fields. We set the weighting of items by using the analytical hierarchy process for technical risk assessment and technical profitability evaluation. After that, we applied the methodology to 32 weapons systems and analyzed the results. In conclusion, through this study, it was possible to analyze profitability dimensions overlooked in the existing methodology.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.10-17
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• 2021

This paper presents the robust design of each component used in the development of an induction bolt heating system for dismantling the high-temperature high-pressure casing heating bolts of turbines in power plants. The induction bolt heating system comprises seven assemblies, namely AC breaker, AC filter, inverter, transformer, work coil, cable, and CT/PT. For each of these assemblies, the various failure modes are identified by the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method, and the causes and effects of these failure modes are presented. In addition, the risk priority numbers are deduced for the individual parts. To ensure robust design, the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), switched-mode power supply (SMPS), C/T (adjusting current), capacitor, and coupling are selected. The IGBT is changed to a field-effect transistor (FET) to enhance the voltage applied to the induction heating system, and a dual-safety device is added to the SMPS. For C/T (adjusting current), the turns ratio is adjusted to ensure an appropriate amount of induced current. The capacitor is replaced by a product with heat resistance and durability; further, coupling with a water-resistant structure is improved such that the connecting parts are not easily destroyed. The ground connection is chosen for management priority.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.5 no.2 s.18
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• pp.136-143
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• 2004

This study presents a risk management methodology using fuzzy theory for early construction stage and is focused on risk identification and risk analysis. This study identifies various risk factors associated with activities clearly construction stage, then establishes the Risk Breakdown Structure(RBS) by classifying the risks into the three groups; Common risks, risks for Earth works, and risks for Foundation works. The risk analysis method presented in this study is based on the RBS that has two levels such as upper level and lower level. The risk exposure of lower level risk factors is assessed by fuzzy inference. The weight of risks is estimated by fuzzy measure. Then, the estimated risk exposures and weights are aggregated to assess the risk exposure of upper level risks by Choquet fuzzy integral. The risk exposure of upper level risks determine the priority of risk factors in view of risk management. This study performs case study to validate the proposed method. The result of case study shows that the methodology suggested in this thesis would be utilized well in evaluating risk exposure.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1920-1937
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• 2015

Network environment has been under constant threat from both malicious attackers and inherent vulnerabilities of network infrastructure. Existence of such threats calls for exhaustive vulnerability analyzing to guarantee a secure system. However, due to the diversity of security hazards, analysts have to select from massive alternative hardening strategies, which is laborious and time-consuming. In this paper, we develop an approach to seek for possible hardening strategies and prioritize them to help security analysts to handle the optimal ones. In particular, we apply a Risk Flow Attack Graph (RFAG) to represent network situation and attack scenarios, and analyze them to measure network risk. We also employ a multi-objective genetic algorithm to infer the priority of hardening strategies automatically. Finally, we present some numerical results to show the performance of prioritizing strategies by network risk and hardening cost and illustrate the application of optimal hardening strategy set in typical cases. Our novel approach provides a promising new direction for network and vulnerability analysis to take proper precautions to reduce network risk.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.104-110
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• 2011

In FMEA, the risk priority number(RPN) is used for risk evaluation on each failure mode. It is obtained by multiplying three components, i.e., severity, occurrence, and detectability of the corresponding failure mode. Each of the three components are usually determined on the basis of the past experience and technical knowledge. But this approach is not strictly objective in evaluating risk of a given failure mode and thus provide somewhat less scientific measure of risk. Assuming a homogeneous Poisson process for occurrence of the failures and causes, we propose a more scientific approach to evaluation of risk in FMEA. To quantify severity of each failure mode, the mission period is taken into consideration for the system. If the system faces no failure during its mission period, there are no losses. If any failure occurs during its mission period, the losses corresponding to the failure mode incurs. A longer remaining mission period is assumed to incur a larger loss. Detectability of each failure mode is then incorporated into the model assuming an exponential probability law for detection time of each failure cause. Based on the proposed model, an illustrative example and numerical analyses are provided.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.1233-1245
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• 2017

Cyber risk is rapidly increasing due to the hyperconnectivity of the IoT in the intelligent information society. Therefore cyber insurance has been attracting attention as a new risk management countermeasure by transferring cyber risk. However, cyber insurance is still a new concept in South Korea. The purpose of this study is to propose the concept of cyber insurance suitable for domestic demand by deriving the priority of cyber insurance coverage. Research results suggest that the most requisite cyber insurance types are business interruption and liability.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2022

Background: There are regional variations in the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which means that some regions are more exposed to the risk of COVID-19 than others. Therefore, this study aims to investigate regional variations in the incidence of COVID-19 in Korea and identify risk factors associated with the incidence of COVID-19 using community-level data. Methods: This study was conducted at the districts (si·gun·gu) level in Korea. Data of COVID-19 incidence by districts were collected from the official website of each province. Data was also obtained from the Korean Statistical Information Service and the Community Health Survey; socio-demographic factor, transmission pathway, healthcare resource, and factor in response to COVID-19. Community risk factors that drive the incidence of COVID-19 were selected using a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. Results: As of June 2021, the incidence of COVID-19 differed by more than 80 times between districts. Among the candidate factors, sex ratio, population aged 20-29, local financial independence, population density, diabetes prevalence, and failure to comply with the quarantine rules were significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence. Conclusion: This study suggests setting COVID-19 quarantine policy and allocating resources, considering the community risk factors. Protecting vulnerable groups should be a high priority for these policies.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02a
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• pp.405-411
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• 1994

Hazardous wastes released into the general environment are of concern to the public and to public health authorities. In response to this concern, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (commonly called Superfund), was enacted in 1980 to provide a framework for environmental, public health, and legal actions concerning uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was created by Superfund to address the public health issues of hazardous wastes in the community environment. Two key Agency programs, Public Health Assessments and Toxicological Profiles, are designed to assess the risk to human health of exposures to hazardous substances that migrate from waste sites or through emergency releases (e.g., chemical spills). The Agency's public health assessment is a structured process that permits ATSDR to identify which waste sites or other point sources require traditional public health actions (e.g.. human exposure studies, health studies, registries, health surveillance, health advisories). The ATSDR qualitative public health assessment complements the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's quantitative risk assessment. For Superfund purposes, both assessments are sitespecific. ATSDR's toxicological profiles are prepared for priority hazardous substances found most frequently at Superfund sites. Each profile presents the current toxicologic and human health effects information about the substance being profiled. Each profile also contains Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs), a type of risk assessment value. This paper covers ATSDR's experience in conducting public health assessments and developing MRLs, and it relates this experience to recommendations on how to improve chemical risk assessments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2018

Background: Selecting priority occupational carcinogens is important for cancer prevention efforts; however, standardized selection methods are not available. The objective of this paper was to describe the methods used by CAREX Canada in 2015 to establish priorities for preventing occupational cancer, with a focus on exposure estimation and descriptive profiles. Methods: Four criteria were used in an expert assessment process to guide carcinogen prioritization: (1) the likelihood of presence and/or use in Canadian workplaces; (2) toxicity of the substance (strength of evidence for carcinogenicity and other health effects); (3) feasibility of producing a carcinogen profile and/or an occupational estimate; and (4) special interest from the public/scientific community. Carcinogens were ranked as high, medium or low priority based on specific conditions regarding these criteria, and stakeholder input was incorporated. Priorities were set separately for the creation of new carcinogen profiles and for new occupational exposure estimates. Results: Overall, 246 agents were reviewed for inclusion in the occupational priorities list. For carcinogen profile generation, 103 were prioritized (11 high, 33 medium, and 59 low priority), and 36 carcinogens were deemed priorities for occupational exposure estimation (13 high, 17 medium, and 6 low priority). Conclusion: Prioritizing and ranking occupational carcinogens is required for a variety of purposes, including research, resource allocation at different jurisdictional levels, calculations of occupational cancer burden, and planning of CAREX-type projects in different countries. This paper outlines how this process was achieved in Canada; this may provide a model for other countries and jurisdictions as a part of occupational cancer prevention efforts.