ABSTRACT
Climate change has altered the frequency, intensity, and timing of mean and extreme precipitation. Extreme precipitation has caused tremendous socio-economic losses, and severe impacts on human life, livelihood, and ecosystems. In recent years, heavy rainfall events occurred during the boreal summer (June-to-August) frequently and sporadically over South Korea. Given that its severity, a call for an urgent investigation of summer extreme rainfall is needed. Although many previous studies have addressed daily extreme precipitation, hourly extreme rainfall still needs to be thoroughly investigated. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the trends, spatio-temporal variability, and long-term variations in mean and extreme precipitation over South Korea during the boreal summertime using daily and hourly observational data through various analysis methods. During the past 50 years (1973-2022), there has been a notable escalation in maximum hourly precipitation, although the boreal summer mean precipitation has increased only marginally. Regionally, an increase in mean and extreme rainfall occurred in the northern part of the central region and the southern coast of the Korean peninsula. Moreover, the increase in intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation as well as in dry day have contributed more to the total summer precipitation in recent years. Our findings provide scientific insights into the progression of extreme summer precipitation events in South Korea. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13143-023-00323-7.
ABSTRACT
The medial plantar flap serves as an ideal tissue reserve for reconstructing the weight-bearing plantar areas as these areas require a sensate and glabrous skin. Furthermore, the flap provides tissue that is structurally similar to the plantar foot as it is also composed of thick glabrous plantar skin, shock-absorbing fibro-fatty subcutaneous tissue and plantar fascia. During the past 25 years, 20 patients (10 men, 10 women) with skin and soft-tissue defects over the weight-bearing plantar foot were treated. They ranged in age from 20 to 70 years (mean, 31.5 years). The causes of the defects were trauma (n=14) and malignant tumour (n=6); the defects were localised at the heel (n=16) and plantar forefoot (n=4). The medial plantar flap was transposed to the defects in three different ways: proximally pedicled sensorial island flaps (n =8), distally pedicled sensate island flaps based on the lateral plantar vessel (n =3) and neurovascular free flaps (n =9). Flap size varied from a width of 4-8cm and a length of 6-12cm. The mean size of the medial plantar flap was 49.5cm(2) (range, 28-96cm(2)). The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 80 months (mean, 19.9 months). Partial flap loss was observed in two proximally pedicled sensorial island flaps and one distally pedicled sensate island flap. Two free flaps restored normal sensation within 5 years of surgery. Minor skin graft loss at the donor site was observed in seven patients. However, no revision or re-grafting was performed. Hyperkeratosis was observed in one case. All patients achieved normal gait within 3 months after surgery and none noticed recurred ulceration. Durable, sensate coverage of the defects was achieved in all patients. We advocate variable sensate medial plantar flaps for the reconstruction of moderate-size defects of the weight-bearing plantar subunits.
