• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.21-36
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• 2019

Dead fuel moisture content is a key variable in fire danger rating as it affects fire ignition and behavior. This study evaluates simple regression models estimating the moisture content of standardized 10-h fuel stick (10-h FMC) at three sites with different characteristics(urban and outside/inside the forest). Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was used as an independent variable, and in-situ measured 10-h FMC was used as a dependent variable and validation data. 10-h FMC spatial distribution maps were created for dates with the most frequent fire occurrence during 2013-2018. Also, 10-h FMC values of the dates were analyzed to investigate under which 10-h FMC condition forest fire is likely to occur. As the results, fitted equations could explain considerable part of the variance in 10-h FMC (62~78%). Compared to the validation data, the models performed well with R2 ranged from 0.53 to 0.68, root mean squared error (RMSE) ranged from 2.52% to 3.43%, and bias ranged from -0.41% to 1.10%. When the 10-h FMC model fitted for one site was applied to the other sites, $R^2$ was maintained as the same while RMSE and bias increased up to 5.13% and 3.68%, respectively. The major deficiency of the 10-h FMC model was that it poorly caught the difference in the drying process after rainfall between 10-h FMC and EMC. From the analysis of 10-h FMC during the dates fire occurred, more than 70% of the fires occurred under a 10-h FMC condition of less than 10.5%. Overall, the present study suggested a simple model estimating 10-h FMC with acceptable performance. Applying the 10-h FMC model to the automatic mountain weather observation system was successfully tested to produce a national-scale 10-h FMC spatial distribution map. This data will be fundamental information for forest fire research, and will support the policy maker.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.552-564
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure energy expenditure (EE) the metabolic equivalents (METs) of 13 common physical activities by using a portable telemetry gas exchange system ($K4b^2$) and to assess the accuracy of the accelerometer (Actigraph $GT3X^+$) by gender in Korean adults. Methods: A total of 109 adults (54 males, 55 females) with normal BMI (body mass index) participated in this study. EE and METs of 13 selected activities were simultaneously measured by the $K4b^2$ portable indirect calorimeter and predicted by the $GT3X^+$ Actigraph accelerometer. The accuracy of the accelerometer was assessed by comparing the predicted with the measured EE and METs. Results: EE (kcal/kg/hr) and METs of treadmill walking (3.2 km/h, 4.8 km/h and 5.6 km/h) and running (6.4 km/h) were significantly higher in female than in male participants (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the accelerometer significantly underestimated the EE and METs for all activities except descending stairs, moderate walking, and fast walking in males as well as descending stairs in females. Low intensity activities had the highest rate of accurate classifications (88.3% in males and 91.3% females), whereas vigorous intensity activities had the lowest rate of accurate classifications (43.6% in males and 27.7% in females). Across all activities, the rate of accurate classification was significantly higher in males than in females (75.2% and 58.3% respectively, p < 0.01). Error between the accelerometer and $K4b^2$ was smaller in males than in females, and EE and METs were more accurately estimated during treadmill activities than other activities in both males and females. Conclusion: The accelerometer underestimated EE and METs across various activities in Korean adults. In addition, there appears to be a gender difference in the rate of accurate accelerometer classification of activities according to intensity. Our results indicate the need to develop new accelerometer equations for this population, and gender differences should be considered.