• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2009

Purpose: We investigated the clinical characteristics and demographics of patients who suffered from hydrofluoric acid chemical injury and the mechanism of damage. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who were exposed to hydrofluoric acid from March 2004 to March 2009 and who were seen at the emergency centers in two university teaching hospitals. Results: Forty four patients out of 47 patients suffered from chemical burn, while the injuries of the remaining 3 could not be identified by the medical records. A total of 17 hydrofluoric acid chemical injury patients were enrolled during the study period, and their mean age was $29.6{\pm}7.0$. All the patients were accidentally injured by contact with the material and none of them inhaled or ingested the material. Only 6 patients wore appropriate protective equipments and 5 underwent the water irrigation for more than 10 minutes. The most common exposure area was the hand and forearm (70.5%). Less than 1% of all of the patients had their total body surface (TBS) exposed to hydrofluoric acid (mean=0.35%). The mean time interval from calcium gluconate administration to pain relief was $33.6{\pm}8.8$ hours. Conclusion: When exposed to hydrofluoric acid, it is important to wear protective equipment and undergo water irrigation for more than 10 minutes. Pain and skin damage were observed in all the patients. After treatment, we concluded that administration of calcium gluconate and pain killers was successful in relieving pain, and the prognosis was also positive for the admitted and followed up patients when less than 1% of the TBS was exposed.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.5_3
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• pp.1373-1387
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• 2021

Forest fire poses a significant threat to the environment and society, affecting carbon cycle and surface energy balance, and resulting in socioeconomic losses. Widely used multi-spectral satellite image-based approaches for burned area detection have a problem in that they do not work under cloudy conditions. Therefore, in this study, Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Europe Space Agency, which can be collected in all weather conditions, were used to identify forest fire damaged area based on a series of processes including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering. Four forest fire cases, which occurred in Gangneung·Donghae and Goseong·Sokcho in Gangwon-do of South Korea and two areas in North Korea on April 4, 2019, were examined. The estimated burned areas were evaluated using fire reference data provided by the National Institute of Forest Science (NIFOS) for two forest fire cases in South Korea, and differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR) for all four cases. The average accuracy using the NIFOS reference data was 86% for the Gangneung·Donghae and Goseong·Sokcho fires. Evaluation using dNBR showed an average accuracy of 84% for all four forest fire cases. It was also confirmed that the stronger the burned intensity, the higher detection the accuracy, and vice versa. Given the advantage of SAR remote sensing, the proposed statistical processing and K-means clustering-based approach can be used to quickly identify forest fire damaged area across the Korean Peninsula, where a cloud cover rate is high and small-scale forest fires frequently occur.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.587-592
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• 2007

Purpose: In case of postburn flexion contracture of the fingers, skin graft, geometrical relaxation techniques, local flap, and free flap have been used. Among these procedures, full-thickness skin grafts from the inguinal area are widely used to reconstruct a postburn flexion contracture in the fingers. But there are many esthetic and functional problems in this procedure. Especially, hyperpigmentation of the skin-grafted fingers poses a troublesome problem, particularly in the patients who have dark colored skin. To solve the problem, we have used pulp graft which was harvested from the lateral aspect of great toe. In the present study, we report pulp graft, with which we have obtained a good result in the treatment of postburn flexion contracture of the fingers. Methods: Between September of 2004 and August of 2006, great toe pulp graft was performed to 20 sites of 15 patients. After release of the postburn flexion contracture using Z-plasty, the composite tissue (pulp) harvested from the lateral aspect of great toe was grafted on the raw surface. Moisture dressing with ointment and foam dressing material was performed. Stratum corneum of the graft got stripped off in two to four weeks after pulp graft. The color of the pulp graft was slightly reddish, then it became similar to the adjacent tissue. Results: There was complete take in all the patients who were treated with pulp graft. Great toe pulp graft provided similar color and texture to the adjacent skin, high rate of graft take, and left only a minimal scar at donor site. Conclusion: Thick keratin layer and inelastic nature of the pulp make this type of the graft much easier and simpler, and ensure a better take. Pulp graft is useful method for the reconstruction of the postburn flexion contracture in fingers.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.378-383
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• 2017

Background This study aimed to assess the effects of the topical application of tamoxifen on wound healing of burned skin in Wistar rats by evaluating 3 healing characteristics: fibrotic tissue thickness (FTT), scar surface area (SSA), and angiogenesis in the healed scar tissue. Methods Eighteen male Wistar rats were used in this study. A third-degree burn wound was made on the shaved animals' back, measuring $2{\times}2{\times}2cm$. In the first group, a 2% tamoxifen ointment was applied to the wound twice daily for 8 weeks. The second group received a placebo ointment during the same period. The third group did not receive any treatment and served as the control group. Results The median (interquartile range=[Q1, Q3]) FTT was 1.35 (1.15, 1.62) mm, 1.00 (0.95, 1.02) mm, and 1.25 (0.8, 1.5) mm in the control, tamoxifen, and placebo groups, respectively (P=0.069). However, the FTT in the tamoxifen group was less than in the placebo and control groups. The median angiogenesis was 3.5 (3.00, 6.25), 8.00 (6.75, 9.25), and 7.00 (5.50, 8.25) vessels per high-power field for the control, tamoxifen, and placebo groups, respectively (P=0.067). However, the median angiogenesis was higher in the tamoxifen group than in the control group. No significant difference was observed in the mean SSA between the tamoxifen group and the control group (P=0.990). Conclusions Local application of tamoxifen increased angiogenesis and decreased the FTT, with no change in the SSA in burned skin areas. These effects are expected to expedite the wound healing process, reducing contracture and preventing hypertrophic scar and keloid formation.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.29-36
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• 2017

The design fire based on the heat release rate (HRR) of combustibles can significantly affect the assessment of fire safety in the performance-based design (PBD). In the present PBD, however, limited information in the foreign literature has been used without further verification due to the lack of fire information in domestic combustibles. The objective of this study is to provide information on the HRR and fire growth rate for various combustibles in residential and office spaces. To end this, the fire experiments were carried out with single and multiple combustibles. The peak HRR of combustibles used in the present study had a range of 36 kW~1,092 kW. The fire growth rates were also $0.003kW/s^2{\sim}0.0287kW/s^2$ and $0.003kW/s^2{\sim}0.0838kW/s^2$ for the residential and office spaces, respectively. In particular, a sofa had the highest fire risk in terms of the peak HRR and fire growth rate. Finally, a methodology for calculating the peak HRR in a space was proposed through correlation analysis between the peak HRR and exposed surface of various combustibles.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.192-205
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• 2009

The unexpected wind over the Mt. Hwawang on 9 February 2009 was deadly when many spectators were watching a traditional event to burn dried grasses and the fire went out of control due to the wind. We analyzed the fatal wind based on wind flow simulations over a digitized complex terrain of the mountain with a localized heating area using a three dimensional computational fluid dynamics model, CFD_NIMR_SNU (Computational Fluid Dynamics_National Institute of Meteorological Research_Seoul National University). Three levels of fire intensity were simulated: no fire, $300^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$ of surface temperature at the site on fire. The surface heat accelerated vertical wind speed by as much as $0.7\;m\;s^{-1}$ (for $300^{\circ}C$) and $1.1\;m\;s^{-1}$ (for $600^{\circ}C$) at the center of the fire. Turbulent kinetic energy was increased by the heat itself and by the increased mechanical force, which in turn was generated by the thermal convection. The heating together with the complex terrain and strong boundary wind induced the unexpected high wind conditions with turbulence at the mountain. The CFD_NIMR_SNU model provided valuable analysis data to understand the consequences of the fatal mountain fire. It is suggested that the place of fire was calm at the time of the fire setting due to the elevated terrain of the windward side. The suppression of wind was easily reversed when there was fire, which caused updraft of hot air by the fire and the strong boundary wind. The strong boundary wind in conjunction with the fire event caused the strong turbulence, resulting in many fire casualties. The model can be utilized in turbulence forecasting over a small area due to surface fire in conjunction with a mesoscale weather model to help fire prevention at the field.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.6_1
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• pp.1413-1425
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• 2023

The increasing frequency of wildfires due to climate change is causing extreme loss of life and property. They cause loss of vegetation and affect ecosystem changes depending on their intensity and occurrence. Ecosystem changes, in turn, affect wildfire occurrence, causing secondary damage. Thus, accurate estimation of the areas affected by wildfires is fundamental. Satellite remote sensing is used for forest fire detection because it can rapidly acquire topographic and meteorological information about the affected area after forest fires. In addition, deep learning algorithms such as convolutional neural networks (CNN) and transformer models show high performance for more accurate monitoring of fire-burnt regions. To date, the application of deep learning models has been limited, and there is a scarcity of reports providing quantitative performance evaluations for practical field utilization. Hence, this study emphasizes a comparative analysis, exploring performance enhancements achieved through both model selection and data design. This study examined deep learning models for detecting wildfire-damaged areas using Landsat 8 satellite images in California. Also, we conducted a comprehensive comparison and analysis of the detection performance of multiple models, such as U-Net and High-Resolution Network-Object Contextual Representation (HRNet-OCR). Wildfire-related spectral indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized burn ratio (NBR) were used as input channels for the deep learning models to reflect the degree of vegetation cover and surface moisture content. As a result, the mean intersection over union (mIoU) was 0.831 for U-Net and 0.848 for HRNet-OCR, showing high segmentation performance. The inclusion of spectral indices alongside the base wavelength bands resulted in increased metric values for all combinations, affirming that the augmentation of input data with spectral indices contributes to the refinement of pixels. This study can be applied to other satellite images to build a recovery strategy for fire-burnt areas.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.189-199
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• 2006

Purpose of study: Partial thickness skin graft is the golden standard regimen for full-thickness skin defect caused by burn or trauma. However, in case of extensive burns of more than 50% of total body surface area, the donor site is not sufficient to cover all defects. As a second choice, allograft, xenograft and synthetic materials have been used to treat skin defect. Among them the amniotic membrane(AM) was used as a biological dressing for centuries because of its potential for wound healing. In this study, quantification of EGF in AM and effect of AM-collagen complex on full thickness skin defects was examined. Materials & Methods: The concentration of EGF in fresh, deep frozen and freeze-dried AM was evaluated by ELISA. EGF-R immunostaining was performed in freeze-dried AM. SD rats weighing 250${\sim}$300g was used for wound healing experiment. Three full thickness skin defects(28mm diameter) were made on dorsal surface of SD rat. The control group was covered by Vaselin gauze and AM-collagen complex and $Terudermis^{(R)}$. was grafted in two other defects. Healing area, Cinamon's score were evaluated before biopsy. Grafted sites were retrieved at 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks after operation. H & E and Factor VIII immunohistochemical stain was performed to evaluate the microscopic adhesion and structural integrity and microvessel formation. Results: 1. EGF concentration of fresh, deep frozen and freeze-dried AM showed similar level and EGF-R was stained in epithelial layer of freeze-dried AM. 2. At 4 weeks after grafting, the healing area of AM-collagen and Terudermis group was 99.29${\pm}$0.71% and 99.19${\pm}$0.77 of original size. However, that of control group was 24.88${\pm}$2.90. 3. The Cinamon's score of AM-Collagen and $Terudermis^{(R)}$. group at 4 weeks was 15.6${\pm}$1.26 and 14.6${\pm}$3.13 and that of control group was 3.7${\pm}$0.95. Significant difference was observed among control and experimental groups(p<0.05). 4. Histologic examination revealed that AM protected leukocyte infiltration and epithelial migration was nearly completed at 4 weeks. $Terudermis^{(R)}$. group showed mild neutrophil infiltration until 2 weeks and completion of epithelization at 4 weeks. Control group showed massive leukocyte infiltration until 4 weeks. 5. Microvessels were increased sharply at 1 week and control group at 1 and 4 week showed significant differences with $Terudermis^{(R)}$. group of same interval(p<0.05) but no differences were found with AM group(p<0.05). Conclusion: EGF and EGF-R were well preserved in freeze-dried AM. AM attached to collagen acted as excellent biologic dressing which had similar effect with $Terudermis^{(R)}$. AM showed anti-inflammatory action and healing was completed at 4 weeks after full-thickness skin defect.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.375-381
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• 2006

In this sturdy, spherical activated carbon(SPAC) contained $TiO_2$ was made by ion-exchanged treatment and heat treatment for applying fluidizing bed system. The ion-exchange resin was treated by $TiCl_3$ aqueous solution. The treated resin and raw resin were heat-treated under nitrogen condition to convert into Ti-SPAC. During the heat-treatment, burn-off weight amounts and the element were measured by means of TGA and TGA/MS, individually. The physicochemical properties of Ti-SPAC was characterized by means of XRD, SEM, EDS, BET, EPMA, ESR, intensity and titanium content. The Ti-SPAC had spherical shape with diameter size about $350{\mu}m{\sim}400{\mu}m$ and $617m^2/g$ specific surface area. Structure of $TiO_2$ in Ti-SPAC was anatase and rutile form. Also, $TiO_2$ on SPAC were found that the $TiO_2$ were uniformly distributed through EPMA analysis. Moreover, the Ti-SPAC showed indirect photocatalyst activity estimation through ESR analysis, characteristics of photocatalyst potentially. Over all results, Ti-SPAC was used in fluidizing bed UV/photocatalyst system to remove HA(Humic Acid). That results were HA removal efficiency was about 70％ and Ti-SPAC intensity was preserved during reaction. Ti-SPAC showed practical possibility as photocatalyst in fluidizing bed system.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.24
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• pp.13-22
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• 2008

The identification of species, hygroscopic property, and ability of ethylene gas absorption of 23 ancient charcoals excavated from wooden coffin burials and roof-tile kilns of Chudong-ri cultural site were investigated. All of the 12 charcoals excavated from wooden coffin burials were broad-leaved trees. Among the total 12 samples, 9 samples were Lepidobalanus and others were Celtis spp.. On the other hand, other 11 charcoals from roof-tile kilns were needle-leaved tree, Pinus spp.(hard pine). The broad-leaved tree charcoals from wooden coffin burials showed a higher moisture absorption capacity than needle-leaved tree charcoals from roof-tile kilns. The ethylene gas absorption was greater in the Lepidobalanus charcoal than that of Celtis spp. and Pinus spp. (hard pine) charcoal. The broad-leaved tree charcoal having high absorption ability of substances was due to a large microporous and specific surface area. Therefore, it was estimated that broad-leaved tree charcoals were filled in order to make favorable condition in tomb. The wood quality of pine is soft and easy to burn because of low specific gravity, as well as high calorific value by resin in wood. We could assume that the pine wood was used as fuel for roof-tile kilns because of easy control of heating and thermal power.