• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1-21
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• 2007

The present research was conducted 1) to explore the factor structure of 'effective safety' and 2) to develop an index of effective safety. We recuited a total of 800 residents of the nuclear plant sites and 187 nuclear plant employers. Study 1 developed a scale of nuclear effective safety which consisted of four factors: Communication, Trust, Coping Ability of nuclear power plants, Emergency Coping Skills. We created the index of effective safety by converting the scale scores into a number 0 to 100. Overall, the index was very low 38..22, indicating that the residents of nuclear power plants sites were feeling very insecure about the safety of nuclear power plants. Moreover we found a consistent pattern of regional and sex difference. In Study 2, we asked the employees of nuclear power plants to answer the scale as if they were the residents, and we compared these numbers with the numbers the actual residents provided. We found that the level of safety that the employees expected the residents to experience was significantly higher than the level of safety the residents were actually experiencing. We discussed the pratical implications of the present findings.

• IE interfaces
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• v.17 no.spc
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• pp.37-45
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• 2004

Human factors engineering design guidelines for main control rooms(MCR) in nuclear power plants(NPP) have been applied to optimize human-machine interface(HMI) between operators and their equipment on the basis of physical, physiological and cognitive aspects. However, the HMI design for MCR is not found to be sufficient to maximize operators' performance since the operators in the MCR experience excessive stress due to the environmental factors such as inappropriate interiors and illumination. Therefore, well-designed environment of the MCR may be equally important to improve human performance in the MCR. The objectives of the study are two-fold: (1) to propose an interior design of SHIN-KORI 1 2 for pleasant and comfortable working environments, and (2) to design indirect lighting system to enhance visibility and productivity. The human factors engineering checklists were developed to examine whether or not the proposed human-environment design for SHIN-KORI 1 2 satisfies the regulations and guidelines presented by NUREG-0700 Revision 1. The implications of the human-environment design are discussed in detail.

• CELLMED
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.8.1-8.4
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• 2011

Medicinal plants and their products are popular in Estonia. There are two approaches to use of herbal products: first, that based on traditions and practical experience and, second, that supported by scientific evidence. It is important to marry these two approaches. One place where traditions and new knowledge could meet is the pharmacy. In this study we evaluated knowledge about the use and safety of herbal products of pharmacy customers in South-Estonia. A convenience sample of pharmacy customers in south Estonia (n = 196) participated in the study. Of the survey participants, 76% were frequent or occasional users of herbal products and considered these products safe (75%) and effective (73%). Herbal products were mostly (91%) consumed for prophylaxis or treatment of minor illnesses. Main information sources about herbal products were pharmacists (75%) and package information leaflets (65%). Mode of action (95%), administration (81%) and indication (77%) were the information details more frequently sought from the pharmacy about herbal products. Of the survey participants, 22% described some problems connected with the use of herbal products. Herbal products are popular in Estonia and pharmacists have an important role in counselling on these products. Despite knowledgeable use of herbal products and infrequent experience of side effects with these products, safety issues should be more stressed in the providing of information details to pharmacy customers.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.119-125
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• 2009

Corrosion assessment has a number of uses but the use considered here is as a precursor to Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) planning. Systematic methods consisting of technical modules of RBI program were used to assess the effect of specific corrosion mechanism on the probability of failure in equipments of petrochemical plants. Especially in part of the damage and corrosion assessment, screening step involved evaluating the combinations of process conditions and construction materials for each equipment item in order to determine which damage mechanisms are potentially active. For general internal corrosion, either API 510 or API 570 was applied as the damage rate in the calculation to determine the remaining life and inspection frequency. In some cases, a measured rate of corrosion may not be available. The technical modules of RBI program employ default values for corrosion, typically derived from published data or from experience with similar processes, for use until inspection results are available. This paper describes the case study of corrosion and damage assessment by using RBI methodology in petrochemical plant. Specifically, this paper reports the methodology and the results of its application to the petrochemical units using the $KGS-RBI^{TM}$ program, developed by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation to suit Korean situation in conformity with API 581 Codes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3864-3877
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• 2022

We propose a new approach called PESA (Prioritized replay Evolutionary and Swarm Algorithms) combining prioritized replay of reinforcement learning with hybrid evolutionary algorithms. PESA hybridizes different evolutionary and swarm algorithms such as particle swarm optimization, evolution strategies, simulated annealing, and differential evolution, with a modular approach to account for other algorithms. PESA hybridizes three algorithms by storing their solutions in a shared replay memory, then applying prioritized replay to redistribute data between the integral algorithms in frequent form based on their fitness and priority values, which significantly enhances sample diversity and algorithm exploration. Additionally, greedy replay is used implicitly to improve PESA exploitation close to the end of evolution. PESA features in balancing exploration and exploitation during search and the parallel computing result in an agnostic excellent performance over a wide range of experiments and problems presented in this work. PESA also shows very good scalability with number of processors in solving an expensive problem of optimizing nuclear fuel in nuclear power plants. PESA's competitive performance and modularity over all experiments allow it to join the family of evolutionary algorithms as a new hybrid algorithm; unleashing the power of parallel computing for expensive optimization.

• CELLMED
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.31.1-31.8
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• 2013

This study has been geared to document primary information on common complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) used to treat and/or manage common dermatological disorders in Mauritius, a tropical multicultural island in the Indian Ocean. Data from 355 key informants was collected via a semi-structured questionnaire. Pearson correlation and Chi-squared test were performed to delineate any association. Quantitative indexes including the Importance Value (IV) and fidelity value were calculated. Results tend to indicate that cultural reasons were behind the use of CAM among Mauritians and traditional knowledge was mainly acquired either from parents/relatives or from self-experience. Among the medicinal plants mentioned, Aziadiracta indica (IV = 0.78) and Paederia tomentosa (IV = 0.70) were found to be most used plants. Calendula officinalis (IV = 0.15), Centella asiatica (IV = 0.22) and Agauria salicifolia (IV = 0.11) were also recorded to be used for common dermatological disorders though greatly under-utilised. Animal products were mentioned by 38.0% respondents and cow ghee was found to be commonly used in the management of measles (IV = 0.88). Spiritual healing was found to be used mainly for measles and warts. Given the plethora of novel information documented from the present survey, it can be suggested that the Mauritian population still relies to a great extent on CAM which needs to be preserved and used sustainably. Nonetheless, further investigation is required to probe the possible active constituents that could be the basis of an evidence based investigation to discover new drugs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.545-548
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• 2009

Korean utility has utilized a Periodic Safety Review (PSR) that assesses the cumulative effects of plant aging, modifications, operating experience, technical developments, and site characteristics since 2000. In particular, the assessment and management of plant aging is one of the major areas in PSR. It includes identification of critical Systems, Structures, and Components (SSCs) for aging, assessment of aging effects, and implementation of aging management programs. Since the PSR system was introduced based on the atomic energy acts and related laws, PSRs of eight sets for 12 Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) that have been operating more than 10 years have been completed. PSRs of two sets for 4 NPPs are currently being carried out. The utility has confirmed that domestic NPPs have been operated safely through these PSRs and have implemented the follow-up corrective activities to increase the nuclear safety. In this paper, the status of PSR implementation is discussed and improvement programs to conduct PSR follow-up corrective activities efficiently for NPPs are suggested based on experiences with aging assessments.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.673-684
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study seeks to investigate domestic agro-healing farm resources so that preliminary data can be obtained on the systematic provisions for agro-healing programs in order to improve service quality and to identify the quality of agro-healing policy services. Methods: For this study, owners of agro-healing facilities were asked 24 questions via an online survey. An importance-performance analysis (IPA) was conducted to identify service quality for each policy sector. Results: Respondents' satisfaction levels were low when compared to agro-healing farm owners' perceptions of the above-average importance of each sector. The results from the resource analysis of domestic agro-healing farms indicated that the main operational purposes of farms were, in descending order, experience (90.0%), healing (86.7%), and education (84.0%). With respect to the type of program that was operated, cultivating crops (horticultural therapy) was identified most frequently at 83.3%. Conclusion: As a result of this study, the resources possessed by agro-healing farms were identified. In addition, the results of the IPA analysis in terms of service quality are not as good as expected, and performance levels should be increased to improve this. The results of this study are expected to provide useful information not only to improve the quality of agro-healing services, but also to revitalize the agro-healing industry while developing a systematic agro-healing program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.21 no.4 s.76
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• pp.127-133
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• 2006

The major purpose of this paper to identify safety climate practices, and to find the affecting variables that influence to the difference in the level of safety climate between plants and employees. And this paper attempted to find the interventions for improving safety climate in the chemical plants. The questionnaires were developed from literature review, especially made by HSE(Health and Safety Executive) in the UK and distributed to managers and workers. The frequency analysis was applied for identifying the level of safety climate. The affecting variables(plant size, accident occurrence, accident experience, injury experience and severity, and length of employment) are tested through analysis of variance(ANOVA). The results of frequency analysis showed that both managers and workers recorded generally high level of safety climate, and the major underlying problems are inadequate H&S procedures/rules, pressure for production, and rule breaking. According to the outcomes of ANOVA, the variable 'length of employment' is the only variable which makes the level of safety climate different. From the survey of safety climate practice, this study finds the level of safety climate and three major underlying problems in safety climate factors of the responded plants, and presents two interventions for improving safety performance. Despite of these outcomes, the applied factors are remained questionable for reflecting as the best ones for identifying safety climate in the chemical industry. In addition, the bias caused by self-report exist in the reliability of the response, and the equivalent size of respondents.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.215-228
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• 2009

This research considers to analyze the importance and priority order of outsourcing partner selecting factors on plant exporters. This research deals with case study on the outsourcing in the "A" plants exporter. To obtain the goal this research, firstly, based on reviewing previous literature and taking professional advice, the selecting factors were identified and conceptualized, and we made the hierarchy model and utilized AHP in analysis method. Secondly, AHP model constructed 3 higher factors, and 9 lower factors. Thirdly, the data used for the weight values for the outsourcing partner factors were collected from outsourcing experts and officers in "A" company. The 3 higher factors were 'Firm's Competence', 'Customer/User Factor', and 'Systemic Factor', and the 9 lower factors were 'experience of outsourcing', 'competency based HR', 'market share', 'reliability', and 'communication', etc. As the results of the analysis, this research evaluated with an importance highest among selecting factors of outsourcing partner of "A" company were 'Customer/User Factor(46.5%)', 'Systemic Factor(27.8%)' and 'Firm's Competence(25.7%)'. And importance highest among lower selecting factors of outsourcing partner of "A" company were 'reliability(31.4%)', 'competency based HR(14.4%)' and 'communication(13.7%)'. The developed model and selecting factors of outsourcing partner are expected to contribute on effective decisions on plants exporters. Managerial implications and future research directions are suggested based on findings.