• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.203-215
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the filtration efficiencies and pressure drops of five commercial cloth masks (4 plate type, 1 cup type) in comparison to the performance of a class 1 disposable respirator (reference respirator). A further objective was to evaluate the effects of the number of layers and wash treatment independently on filtration efficiencies and pressure drops. Methods: Polydisperse NaCl aerosols were generated in an aerosol chamber and their concentrations were measured by an optical particle counter (OPC) in the size range of $0.3{\sim}10{\mu}m$ (five channels). Results: The filtration efficiencies of the five cloth masks and the reference respirator were D: 9.5%, C: 18.5%, E: 23.6%, A: 28.5%, B: 29.7% and R: 91.1%, respectively, and the pressure drops through them were C, D: 0.8 Pa, E: 1.7 Pa, B: 6.4 Pa, A: 42.7 Pa and R: 19.3 Pa, respectively. The filtration efficiencies of the cloth masks and reference respirator were below the class 1 respirator criterion (${\geq}94.0%$) of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). The pressure drops satisfied the class 1 respirator criterion (${\leq}70Pa$) of MOEL and MFDS. When the cloth masks were folded into two and four layers, the filtration efficiencies of cloth masks A, B, C, D (plate type) increased 1.7-4.6 times, and 2.3-6.8 times, respectively, compared to the efficiencies of the same products in a single layer. Pressure drops increased as the number of layers was increased. The filtration efficiency of cloth mask E with a liner was 1.3 times higher than that of the same mask without a liner, and the pressure drop was lower in the no-liner configuration. After a single washing, the filtration efficiencies of all the cloth mask products decreased 1.04-4.0 times compared to those of the same products intact. For the cloth masks C and E, their filtration efficiencies were significantly decreased after washing (p<0.05). The pressure drops of all cloth masks were 1.2-2.0 times lower after washing. Conclusions: The filtration efficiencies of the five cloth masks were below 30% and did not improve greatly by increasing the number of layers. After a single washing, their performances decreased. Considering the above and other issues identified with cloth masks, such as poor fit and stretched fibers through use, people should not expect protection against particulate matters from the cloth masks on the market.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.115-122
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the changes in the particle filtration efficiencies of five cloth masks (4 plate types, 1 cup type) with an increasing number of machine washings and the degree of cloth expansion. Methods: NaCl aerosols were generated using an atomizer and passed through cloth masks in a dynamic aerosol chamber. Particle concentrations were measured both before and after for the cloth masks using an optical particle counter (OPC) in the size range of $0.3{\sim}10{\mu}m$. Results: In the original condition, the filtration efficiencies of the five cloth masks were A: 20.1%, B:30.9%, C: 25.0%, D: 26.5%, and E: 40.9%. As the number of washings increased in the order of one, two, and four times, the filtration efficiencies of cloth mask C increased. The filtration efficiency of A, D, and E increased after the first washing. With the exception of B, the filtration efficiency of cloth masks increased after the second washing and those of all cloth masks increased after the fourth washing. This might be caused by the fibers untangling from the yarn and being freed at one end. In this status, the packing density of the textile will not change, but the distances between fibers will increase, which might bring about an increase in filtration efficiency. When the cloth masks were extended by 10% and 20% in one direction, the filtration efficiencies of cloth masks B, D, and E decreased at 10% extension, and those of all cloth masks decreased at 20% extension. When the cloth masks were expanded by 10% and 20% in two directions, the filtration efficiencies of all cloth masks decreased by at least 34.7% at 10% extension, and by at least 60.9% at 20% extension Conclusions: The filtration efficiency of cloth masks could decrease after one to two machine washings, but will increase after four washings in comparison with their original performances. The filtration efficiency of cloth masks will decrease when they are expanded, such as when stretching over the nose during wearing status.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.399-407
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• 2022

Wearing a mask is essential during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For this study, an online survey was conducted on the actual use of masks among adults in their twenties and older. We used 389 questionnaires for the final analysis, excluding insincere or incomplete questionnaires. We then analyzed the responses using descriptive statistical analysis, frequency analysis, t-test, and ANOVA. More than half of the respondents indicated that they wore a mask for five to ten hours a day, with KF masks being the most frequently used. Participants who most frequently used cloth masks were more likely to consider color, design, and eco-friendliness, while those who used KF masks were more concerned with price and safety. There was no significant difference in purchase satisfaction between mask types, but the purchase intention was higher for KF masks. When purchasing a KF mask, there were significant differences across genders in terms of price and eco-friendliness preferences. There were also significant differences across age groups in price, eco-friendliness, skin irritation, and comfort preferences. Previous studies have shown a significant difference in gender and age in terms of preferred mask colors and designs. However, this survey found no significant difference across these categories. These findings indicate those mask manufacturers should consider safety and eco-friendliness over mask color and design.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2020

Recently, a series of studies on virtual try-on (VTON) using images have been published. A comparison study analyzed representative methods, SCMM-based non-deep learning method, deep learning based VITON and CP-VITON, using costumes and user images according to the posture and body type of the person, the degree of occlusion of the clothes, and the characteristics of the clothes. In this paper, we tackle the problems observed in the best performing CP-VTON. The issues tackled are the problem of segmentation of the subject, pixel generation of un-intended area, missing warped cloth mask and the cost function used in the learning, and limited the algorithm to improve it. The results show some improvement in SSIM, and significantly in subjective evaluation.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.638-653
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• 2022

In this paper, we propose the new method of creating 3D virtual-human reflecting the pattern of clothes worn by the person in the high-resolution whole body front image and the body shape data about the person. To get the pattern of clothes, we proceed Instance Segmentation and clothes parsing using Cascade Mask R-CNN. After, we use Pix2Pix to blur the boundaries and estimate the background color and can get UV-Map of 3D clothes mesh proceeding UV-Map base warping. Also, we get the body shape data using SMPL-X and deform the original clothes and body mesh. With UV-Map of clothes and deformed clothes and body mesh, user finally can see the animation of 3D virtual-human reflecting user's appearance by rendering with the state-of-the game engine, i.e. Unreal Engine.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 2024

Background: During the coronavirus pandemic, masks played a critical role in preventing respiratory infections. While the performance of masks such as KF-certified masks and N95 masks was evaluated and managed by the authorities, the performance of common masks was not. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of uncertified masks in four Asian countries against certification standards (Korean KF80, KF94, and US N95). Methods: Thirty uncertified mask products from Indonesia, 20 from South Korea, 26 from Taiwan, and 30 from Thailand were purchased to perform performance evaluations. The uncertified masks included disposable dental masks, cloth masks, and children's masks. Filtration efficiency and inhalation airflow resistance tests were conducted according to Korean KF80, KF94, and US N95 protocols. Results: None of the 106 identified masks complied with the KF94 standard. A few complied with the KF80 standard: four from Indonesia, four from South Korea, 13 from Taiwan, and 16 from Thailand. Some of the masks met the N95 standard: one from Indonesia, three from South Korea, two from Taiwan, and one from Thailand. Conclusions: Since many uncertified masks did not comply with performance standards, wearing them might not have provided sufficient protection. Performance of uncertified masks could provide critical information for next pandemic management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.14 no.3 s.35
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• pp.183-195
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• 1990

The author has studied the effect of clothes design to mask the dorsal curvature that is one of the commonest changes in elderly women. Body measurements including the body type and the status of dorsal curvature were perfor-med on 153 women of over 60 years of age, and then a body form to fit to the mean measure-ments was made to evaluate the effects of various designs to it. With 31 pattern designs modified by changing in their slash lines and gathers using darts, the diminishing effect of the rounded back were evaluated by means of sensory test. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: I . Results from the body measurements 1) The mean body type in elderly women was that of obesity. 2) With the advancement of age, the angle to indicate the degree of dorsal curvature as well as the angle to indicate the posture are increased. II . Concerning to the clothes design to diminish the shape of dorsal curvature 1) Among the designs by the position of darts, the basic pattern (Fig. 5-1-(1)) showed the best effect to mask the shape of dorsal curvature. 2) Out of the applied designs of princess lines, that in which the slash line is pointing toward the shoulder point (Fig. 5-2-(1)) seemed to be most effective. 3) What has angled princess line (Fig. 5-3-(1)) had the most diminishing effect among the waist darts and armhole princess lines. 4) Among the V-shaped designs, the slashed at the shoulder point (Fig. 5-4-(1)) had the best effect to lessen the shape of the dorsal cuuature. 5) Wider angle yoke had better effect to the narrow angle one among the designs with straight yoke, and that with downward direction (Fig. 5-5-(1)) showed the best effect. 6) Between straight wide angle yoke and curved yoke, that of curved one with downward direction (Fig. 5-6-(1)) had better effect as far as the masking effect of dorsal curvature is concerned. 7) Gathers around the neck showed better effect to those around the shoulder, and the more amount of gathers (Fig. 5-7-(1)), there was better effect. 8) The design with midline gathers at the level of horizontal slash line of armhole (Fig. 5-8-(1)) showed better effect to that with seperated gathers. 9) In case of design with gathers at the horizontal line of armhole, it showed the better effect with less amount of gathers in midline ones, but with more amount in the side ones. 10) Considering all 7 different designs with better effect in covering the shape of dorsal curvature, it was evident that the design with gathers was far better than the design with application of slash lines.