• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.173-207
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• 2018

Japan is a super-aged society where the proportion of the people aged over 65 is exceeded 20%. Therefore, there are many accidents that occur in long-term care facilities in Japan, and there are many civil litigations. The Japanese court has acknowledged in many cases that the long-term facility is responsible for the damage to the elderly who is injured in the facility. The cases can be divided into ① tumbling down, ② wandering, ③ suffocation, ④ bedsore, and ⑤ accidents among the facility-users. In most cases, the court found that the facility violated its obligation to protect their users. This is not only the case where the manager or the employee of the facility violates the obligation to watch and care for the elderly, but in some cases, the failure to maintain the human and material system itself is recognized. The basis for such judgment is whether the facility can predict the possibility of an accident and whether the facility has taken measures to prevent accidents. Also, the Japanese court recognizes the transfer of burden of proof in order to expedite the victims' rights. However, the liability of the facility for damages should not be so heavy that it would be hesitant to allow a person to enter the facility and make a contract.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.20 no.4 s.64
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• pp.1-12
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• 2006

In this study, CFD computer simulations by FDS are carried out in order to confirm the performance of the combined operation of both sprinkler system and smoke curtain of 0.54 m depth installed for cooling and blocking the smoke which propagates beneath the sloped ceiling of a stairway corridor of which dimensions are 17.92 m long, 4.00 m wide, and 6.12 m high. It is shown that the response time of sprinklers decreases with fire size and it increases more about 1.1 second in case without smoke curtain than in case with smoke curtain, that the time of smoke transport from the fire source to the stairway outlet decreases considerably with fire size, and that the delay effect of smoke transport is not related to the sprinkler system, whether it is operated or not. This study shows that the combined operation of both sprinkler system and smoke curtain is very effective in smoke cooling, but it is a little for effect on smoke blockage. Although the hazard of skin burn due to radiative heat flux from hot smoke layer is decreased by spray cooling effect, the hazard of smoke suffocation and the weakening of visibility is increased by smoke downdrag and the turbulence of smoke-air mixing due to water spray. These conditions may result in preventing occupants from going out of the stairway during evacuation.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.225-232
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• 2013

This study looked into recovery rate and histological changes in the gills of juvenile abalone Haliotis discus hannai by exposure time (3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h) of different water temperatures (15, 20 and $25^{\circ}C$) and salinities (30, 25, 20 and 15 psu) to understand reasons for the death of abalone exposed by low salinity water. In each water temperature, abalone spats that were exposed to low salinity water (less than 20 psu) for over 6 hours showed decrease in survival rate during recovery and those were exposed at the salinity of 15 psu for more than 24 hours all died. Histological observation showed expansion or damage of gills of the species which were exposed at less than 20 psu for over 6 hours. In case of abalones exposed at the salinity of 15 psu for over 24 hours, most gill tissues were destroyed. This result was glaringly obvious at a higher water temperature, lower salinity and longer exposure time. Accordingly, suffocation caused by damage of gills considered one of direct causes of the death.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.603-612
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• 2017

Accidents associated with hazardous materials, including oil and HNS, in maritime transportation show increasing trend. Therefore, preventive countermeasures for such accidents should be provided. The purpose of this study is to analyze level of risk on human loss and potential damage to environment, using data on domestic marine accidents carrying hazardous materials (2002~2014), and identify high-risk accident types for urgent risk management which needs findings of accident causes and proper mitigation measures. High-risks on human loss are explosion and suffocation, occurred in process of ship maintenance and tank cleaning. On the other hand, high-risk on environmental damage is spill caused by ship accidents (collision, grounding and etc.). Especially, spill occurs during loading operation of oil and HNS onboard a ship. Strict operation supervision/management and safety education/training on a regular basis could prevent accidents, because human factors such as not wearing safety gear and careless cargo handling cause most of the marine accidents.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.675-682
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• 2021

Fire accidents on land and at sea can cause serious casualties; specifically, owing to the nature of marine plants and ships, the mortality rate at sea from suffocation in confined spaces is significantly higher than that on land. To prevent such cases of asphyxiation, it is essential to install ventilation fans that can outwardly direct these toxic gases from fires; however, considering the scale of marine fires, the installation of large ventilation fans is not easy owing to the nature of marine structures. Therefore, in this study, we developed a new concept for fire safety technology to control toxic gases generated by fires from applied direct current (DC) electric fields. In the event of a fire, most flames contain large numbers of positive and negative charges from chemi-ionization, which generates an "ionic wind" by Lorentz forces through the applied electric fields. Using these ionic winds, an experimental study was performed to artificially control the fire smoke caused by burning paper and styrofoam, which are commonly used as insulation materials in general buildings and ships. The experiments showed that a fire smoke could be artificially controlled by applying a DC voltage in excess of ±5 kV and that relatively effective control was possible by applying a negative voltage rather than a positive voltage.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.35-44
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• 2021

The PR (Photo Resist) process in the semiconductor process is a process that uses a mixture of flammable substances. Due to the process equipment is installed in a clean room and when flammable substances leak, there is a high risk of suffocation, fire, and explosion. It is necessary to analyze the impact of accidents that may occur during operation and to evaluate whether the safety of workers can be guaranteed. In this study, the value of radiant heat and temperature change at the monitor point set up virtual inside the clean room was confirmed through CFD simulation of 10 leak and fire scenarios using the FLACS CFD - Fire Module. A fire that occurs inside a clean room transfers high radiant heat to the inter-story structure, but its scope is quite limited, and it is unlikely that it will collapse in a single fire accident. There was no scenario in which two stairs leading to the exit were exposed to high radiant heat at the same time due to a fire accident, therefore workers were able to escape in case of a fire. In addition, it was confirmed that the level of radiant heat and temperature rise rapidly decreased as they moved downstairs. According to the API 520 standard, workers exposed to 6.31 kW/m² of radiant heat that workers can withstand for 30 seconds were confirmed that it was possible to sufficiently escape from the inside.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2024

If flammable liquid leaks, vapor evaporated from the pool can cause poisoning or suffocation to workers, leading to secondary accidents such as fires and explosions. To prevent such damage, ventilation facilities shall be installed when designing indoor workplaces. At this time, the behavior varies depending on the characteristics of the leaked chemical, so it is necessary to select a suitable vent location according to the material. Therefore, 3D CFD simulations were introduced to derive optimal vent position and ventilation efficiency was quantitatively evaluated by vent position. At this time, assuming a situation in which flammable liquids leak at indoor workplaces to form pools, the concentration of vapor evaporated from pools was compared to derive the optimal vent position. As a result of research on toluene with high vapor density, ventilation efficiency was confirmed to be the highest at the upper supply-lower exhaust, and it is judged that introducing it can achieve about 3.7 times ventilation effect at the same maintenance cost. Through this study, it is expected that the workplace will be able to secure workers' safety by applying simulation results and installing ventilation ports.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.108-113
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• 2017

A sudden cardiac death (SCD) is defined as an unnatural sudden death caused by heart disease. To determine the cause of death, observation of the microscopic change in cardiac muscle tissue is suggested, rather than visual postmortem examination. However, this suggestion is time consuming to be applied in the field, is cost-ineffective, and is inconvenient. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand whether temporary inspection used to examine the cardiac marker (Myoglobin, CK-MB, cTn I) in postmortem blood via rapid cardiac triple test kit (which is used by clinics to diagnose patients with acute myocardial infarction) can effectively be utilized for the paragnosis of sudden, unnatural cardiac death. The results of postmortem examination and temporary investigation found that 23 groups (76.7%), among the 30 experimental groups, were assumed to be non-traumatic sudden cardiac deaths, which indicated a positive response (according to comparison with forensic autopsy); 4 groups, among the 10 control groups, were assumed to be cerebrovascular disease, which indicated a negative response; 1 group was assumed to be alcoholic and drug poisoning, indicating a positive response; and 1 group was assumed to be oxygen deficiency due to suffocation, indicating a positive response. Hence, it was found that the level of sensitivity and specificity of cardiac marker's temporary inspection showed significant result, 76.7% and 80% respectively. Given this, temporary inspection can be effectively used for the paragnosis of sudden cardiac death when the medical history, situation of the site, and postmortem interval are considered together. With the result of precedent research on time of first revelation and extinction in blood, and difference in concentration over time progress according to the characteristic of cardiac marker's (myoglobin, CK-MB, cTn I) individual material, further research on concentration of cardiac marker per each post time needs to be conducted in order to estimate time science death (which is required to identify the cause of death and investigation).

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.602-609
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• 2006

Purpose : As the prone position is thought to be an important factor in sudden infant death syndrome(SIDS), this study was conducted to contribute to reducing SIDS by analyzing sleeping positions of infants. Methods : A face-to-face questionnaire was carried out with a total of 170 parents with a baby aged less than 6 months. Results : A total of 170 infants included 95 males(55.9 percent) and 75 females(44.1 percent); their average age was 2.8 months. 45.3 percent slept in a supine position; 34.7 percent in a side or supine position; 7.1 percent in a side position; 4.7 percent in a prone position; 4.1 percent in a non-specific position. Among those in a side position, 59.7 percent were in a supine position in the morning; 19.5 percent were in the side position; 13.4 percent were in a non-specific position; and 4.1 percent were in a prone position. To the question why they slept in a specific position, 34.9 percent answered their baby slept comfortably, and particularly, 42.9 percent in the prone position group answered so. In the supine position group, 21.6 percent answered they had no reason. Both in the prone position and side position groups, 21 percent each answered they were worried about the shape of their baby's head. In the side position group, 22 percent answered that they had a fear of choking due to vomiting. In all sleeping position groups, 8.2 percent and 7.4 percent answered it was because they had a fear of suffocation and they wanted to avoid SIDS, respectively. Conclusion : Many of the parents preferred unstable positions, e.g. the side position and the prone position, which could cause SIDS. Their decision on their baby's sleeping position was not based on exact medical knowledge, but on convenience in taking care of their baby. As it was found that only 6 percent of the subjects were advised from their pediatrist about their baby's sleeping position, moreover, it is necessary to carry out more studies and activities for preventing SIDS caused by improper sleeping positions and educating patents about recommended sleeping positions for their baby.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 2011

Unlike land fires, Fires on board a ship are not likely to be extinguished by skilled human resources using a variety of fire fighting equipments, but have to be brought under control on board a ship itself despite of difficult task. There are more cases of deaths from suffocation by smoke than from an increased temperature by heat in fires on board ships, because crew fail to secure a sufficient visibility range enough to escape from the scene of a fire or to leave the ship as early as possible. On the assumption that the height of ship's accommodation area increases from 2.0m to 2.3m comparable to the height of apartments on the ground in Korea, behaviors of fire smokes between the cases of 2.0m and 2.3m heights were compared and analyzed. Based on the blue print of the existing Training Ship "Hanbada", a new blueprint with the 30 cm height adjustment was additionally created. FDS (Fire Dynamic Simulator), which was created by the NIST in the United States and is the most widely distributed simulator for fires, was used to conduct a simulation and predict results. The results of simulation on the basis of temperature of $60^{\circ}C$ showed a safe evacuation period of time at the position 10m apart from the scene of a fire to increase by 55.8 seconds, when the height of ship's accommodation area increased from 2.0m to 2.3m. The results of simulation on the basis of visibility range of 6m showed the safe evacuation periods of time at the positions 10m, 20m and 30m apart from the scene of a fire to increase by 27.1 seconds, 109.2 seconds and 73.3 seconds, respectively, as the height of ship's accommodation area increased from 2.0m to 2.3m. This means that crew can escape more safely from a scene of fires on board when the height of ship's accommodation area is increased and equal to the height of living room in a building on land.