• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.421-426
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• 2010

Benzene is one of volatile environmental pollutants to induce asthma and allergy in respiratory system. The airway epithelium is a physical barrier to inhaled toxicants and particulates. However, the effect of benzene in lung epithelial cell viability has not been elucidated. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of benzene on apoptosis in A549 cells, lung epithelial cell line. In this study, benzene decreased cell viability of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner (> $10{\mu}M$). Benzene-induced decrease of cell viability was blocked by the treatment of antioxidants (vitamin C and NAC). Indeed, benzene induced lipid peroxide formation in A549 cells. Benzene decreased Bcl-2 expression but increased Bax expression in A549 cells. In addition, benzene also increased the cleaved form of caspase-3. In conclusion, benzene induced apoptosis via oxidative stress in cultured epithelial cells.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.1031-1034
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• 2011

헬스케어에서의 상황정보는 사용자와 관련된 정보를 추론하여 질 높은 서비스를 제공하기 위해서 사용자가 필요로 하는 능동적이고 지능적인 서비스를 제공하여야 한다. 본 논문에서는 상황인식을 이용한 보건기상지수 모니터링 방법론을 제안한다. 체온, 기온, 조도, 습도, 자외선에 따른 건강지수를 사용자의 현재 위치에 따라 실시간으로 제공하기 위해서, GPS와 기상청의 RSS로부터 추출한 XML를 활용한다. 보건기상지수는 천식지수, 뇌졸중지수, 피부질환지수, 폐질환지수, 꽃가루농도지수, 도시고온지수의 요소에 따라 분석하여 모니터링한다. 상황정보 수집과 추론 과정을 통해 장치간의 유동성을 보장하는 환경에서 서비스를 지원하기 위한 도메인 상황정보를 구성한다. 이기종 디바이스의 유동성이 보장되는 환경에서 새로운 상황이 존재하면 추가된 상황정보의 서비스를 지원하기 위해서 Naive Bayes 분류자를 이용한다. 상황정보 수집, 상황인식 추론, 상황정보 모델링에 따른 새로운 상황 분류하는 방법론에 대해서 논리적 타당성과 유효성을 검증한다.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.298-307
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the recent trends in patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders in South Korea and to check the major results by reviewing the literature on the risk factors and prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases related to work. Methods: Industrial disaster data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor from 2012 to 2021 were used, and the literature was reviewed regarding risk factors for musculoskeletal diseases related to work using PubMed and RISS. Results: The trend of patients with work-related musculoskeletal disorders has increased overall since 2017 after declining until 2016, with a particularly notable increase in the average annual number of patients with physical burden work. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with body burden work, non-accidental lower back pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome among work-related diseases was high in the mining industry. The average annual rate per ten thousand people for patients with accidental lower back pain was the highest in the fishing industry. Within the manufacturing field, it was the highest in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. As a result of the literature review, the search rate for work-related musculoskeletal disease papers in unstructured work was high. In addition, physical stress factors were high among risk factors, and pain areas showed a high rate for the waist. Conclusion: Even after the institutional implementation of a hazard investigation system related to musculoskeletal diseases is implemented, the number of patients with occupational musculoskeletal disorders continues to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular surveys and implement effective improvement activities for vulnerable industries or occupations.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.897-916
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• 2014

There is a considerable community between Eight Constitution Medicine and disease ecology in that they examine the relationship between humans and environment in terms of genetic, environmental and cultural factors, in addition to the factor of germs. In this respect, the purpose of this research aims to investigate the community between Eight Constitution Medicine, a branch of Eastern Medicine and disease ecology in geography. The research method is to analyse the clinical results from 647 patients and the data from a field survey on the Yeonggwang-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province. The results are summarized as the following: First, geographical distribution of patients varies depending on the type of physical constitution; it is also divided into two types, an oceanic type and an inland type. Second, it is highly probable that there is a significant relation between a vulnerable disease in association with a type of physical constitution and patient's native place; there are diseases that are not associated with all the patients who have the same constitution; they might be incurred by the eating or life habits in association with the characteristics of geographical environment. Third, the case study of Yeonggwang-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province, with a focus on the mutual relationship among the three factors. shows that patients, who share in common the eating or life habits that coincide with their own personal types of constitution, maintain a good health condition; if not, they tend to be exposed to a various kinds of disease. Because the study on the community between Eight Constitution Medicine and disease ecology is now at the early stage, diverse types of approaches should be tried to be applied in the future.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2016

The result of analyzing the cognitive reaction due to the color environment has been applied to various filed especially in medical field. Moreover, the study about the identification of patient's condition and examination the brain activity by collecting the bio-signal based on the color environment is being actively conducted. Even though, there were a variety of experiments by convention the color environment using a light or LED color, it still has a problem that affects the psychological information. Therefore, our proposed system using a HMD (Head Mounting display) to provide a completed color environment condition. This system uses the BMS(Biomedical System) to collect the biometric information which responds to the specific color condition and the human body response information can be measured by the development the Memory and Attention test on Mobile phone. The collection of Biometric information includes electro cardiogram(ECG), respiration, oxygen saturation (Sp02), Bio-impedance, blood pressure will store in the database. In addition, we can verify the result of the human body reaction in the color environment by Memory and Attention application. By utilizing the reaction of the human body information that is collected thought the proposed system, we can analyze the correlation between the physiological information and the color environment. And we also expect that this system can apply to the medical diagnosis and treatment. For future work, we will expand the system for prediction and treatment of Alzheimer disease by analyzing the visualization data through the proposed system. We will also do evaluation on the effectiveness of the system for using in the rehabilitation program.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.25
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• pp.49-62
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• 2006

생명공학의 시대로 일컬어 지고 있는 오늘날, 재생의학 분야에서는 난치성 질환 치료를 목적으로 활발한 연구가 진행되고 있다. 특히, 줄기세포를 이용한 세포 대체치료 관련 연구는 최근 국내 황우석 박사의 체세포 핵이식 배아세포주 확립에 이르기 까지 괄목할 만한 발전을 보여 주고 있다. 이와 관련해 생명보험산업에 적잖은 파장이 예상되며, 생명보험사 내부적으로 기존에 판매된 상품의 사차손 관리와 함께 급속도로 발전하는 줄기세포 연구에 직접적으로 대응하는 상품개발, 언더라이팅, 지급 심사 등 보험사 내외에서의 전방위적인 변화가 필요하다는 문제 제기가 있다. 줄기세포란 조직 분화 과정에서 볼 수 있는 세포이며 근육 뼈 뇌 피부 등 신체의 어떤 기관으로도 전환할 수 있는 만능세포로서, 간 폐 심장 등 구체적 장기를 형성하기 이전에 분화를 멈출 배아 단계의 세포를 말한다. 한편, 성체줄기세포는 조직이나 기관의 분화된 세포들 사이에서 발견되는 미분화 세포로써, 자기 스스로 증식할 수 있으며, 조직이나 기관의 특수한 기능을 가지고 있는 세포로 분화할 수 있는 능력을 가진 신체줄기세포를 말한다. 배아줄기세포와 생체줄기세포를 통한 장기이식 등 난치병 정복은 윤리적, 사회적으로 많은 논란이 예상되며, 기술적으로도 해결해야 할 문제점들이 산적해 있기 때문에 아직은 요원한 것이 사실이다. 현재 유럽 대부분의 나라와 미국에서는 인간 배아의 복제가 금지되어 있으며, 일본 정부는 연구용 배아 복제를 제한적으로 허용하고 있다. 하지만, 우리 나라의 경우 2005년 1월에 '생명윤리 및 안전에 관한 법'이 발효되었지만 정부는 관련 부작용에 대한 깊은 고찰 없이 전폭적인 지원들 약속하고 있는 실정이다. 줄기세포 연구의 발달로 인해 인류가 난치병 치료의 첫 장을 열었다고 하더라도 그 영향이 당장 보험사에 미친다고 할 수는 없다. 왜냐하면 앞으로 이러한 신기술이 실제 의료행위에 적용되기 위해서는 여러 단계의 안정화 작업과 임상시험이 필요한데 이러한 작업이 기술적으로 어렵고 그 시간도 만만치 않게 걸리기 때문이다. 또한, 보험사의 보장은 크게 사망/수술/입원/암/기타보장으로 구별할 수 있는데, 줄기세포 연구의 발달과 관련이 있는 보장이 제한되어 있어 보험사에 미치는 영향이 당장 우려할 만한 수준이라 할 수 없다. 하지만 만약 치료용 줄기세포 배양으로 인한 장기 기관의 이식이나 손상세포의 대체 등과 같은 의학신기술의 예상 외로 급격하게 발전한다면 보험사의 Risk 관리에 상당한 저해요인으로 작용할 것으로 판단된다. 특히 진단 입원 수술로 대표되는 생존보장에 대한 사차 Risk 및 사차손의 급증이나 역선택 증가는 보험사의 경영수지 악화를 유발하여 보험산업 전반에 위험으로 작용할 수도 있다. 따라서, 장기적인 안목으로 업계 공동의 대응이 필요하고, 각 사에서도 상품개발, 언더라이팅, 지급심사 간의 긴밀한 협조가 요구된다. 생명보험산업의 Risk 관리는 기존의 시장환경에 영향을 받는 비차, 이차중심에서 보험회사가 어느 정도 관리를 통해 적정규모를 유지할 수 있는 사차로 그 중심축이 이동하고 있다. 보험산업이 계속 활력을 갖고 성장하기 위해서는 체계적인 Risk나 관리가 핵심일 것이며, 보험사의 사차 Risk의 중요성이 더욱 커져 가고 있는 현실에서 거시적으로 의학신기술 발달 등 위험요인에 대해 미리 분석하고 이에 대한 대비책 마련이 필요할 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.252-261
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• 2007

Background : Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in Western society as well as in Korea. Obesity results from a combination of genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors. Materials and Methods : In an attempt to investigate the association of obesity with its candidate genes, ${\beta}3$ adrenergic receptor (${\beta}_3AR$) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), we analyzed polymorphisms of ${\beta}_3AR$ Trp64Arg and UCP2 -866G/A by PCR-RFLP analysis and the obesity-related phenotypes, including body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose concentration, and plasma lipid profiles in 750 subjects. Results : The Trp64Arg polymorphism in the ${\beta}_3AR$ gene was not statistically associated with the BMI. The UCP2 -866G/A polymorphism was significantly higher in obese than in non-obese subjects (P<0.05). However, the UCP2 -866A/A polymorphism was higher in the non-obese subjects. Conclusion : These results suggest that the UCP2 -866G/A polymorphism might be more useful for the prediction of obesity and obesity-associated diseases in Korean patients than the ${\beta}_3AR$ Trp64Arg polymorphism.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.243-256
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was to investigate fear of falling and related factors in elderly living alone based on fall experience. Methods: Participants were 404 elderly women(faller=148, non-faller=256) over 65 years who were homebound living alone in Jeollanam-do Province. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using questionnaires from April $23^{th}$ to June $9^{th}$ 2013. The questionnaires consisted of demographic variables, fall experience, Fear of falling questionnaire(FOFQ), Falls Efficacy Scale(FES) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression(CES-D). The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS version 14.0. Results: The fear of falling and the influential factors were different according to fall experience. Regression model for fear of falling in fallers significantly accounted for 46.1%(F=6.71, p<0.001); difficulty of performing activity, depression, fall-efficacy, static balance and assistive devices. Regression model for fear of falling in non-fallers significantly accounted for 55.2%(F=15.16, p<0.001); fall-efficacy, environmental hazards, difficulty of performing activity, risk of nutrition, housing type, dizziness and assistive devices. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that fall is an important health problem for elderly women living alone, and show fall experience for factors influencing fear of falling. These results could be used in the developing fall prevention programs.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1137-1152
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• 2016

Cells sense, respond, and adapt to a low oxygen environment called hypoxia, which is widely involved in a variety of human diseases. Adaptation to low oxygen concentrations includes gene expression changes by inducing hypoxic genes and reducing aerobic genes. Recently, the mitochondrial respiratory chain has been implicated in the control of these oxygen-regulated genes when cells experience hypoxia. In order to obtain an insight into an effect of the mitochondrial respiratory chain on cellular response to hyxpoxia, we here examined whole genome transcript signatures of respiration-proficient and respiration-deficient budding yeasts exposed to hypoxia using DNA microarrays. By comparing whole transcriptomes to hypoxia in respiration-proficient and respiration-deficient yeasts, we found that there are several classes of oxygen-regulated genes. Some of them require the mitochondrial respiratory chain for their expression under hypoxia while others do not. We found that the majority of hypoxic genes and aerobic genes need the mitochondrial respiratory chain for their expression under hypoxia. However, we also found that there are some hypoxic and aerobic genes whose expression under hypoxia is independent of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. These results indicate a key involvement of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in oxygen-regulated gene expression and multiple mechanisms for controlling oxygen-regulated gene expression. In addition, we provided gene ontology analyses and computational promoter analyses for hypoxic genes identified in the study. Together with differentially regulated genes under hypoxia, these post-analysis data will be useful resources for understanding the biology of response to hypoxia.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.279-291
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• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated the association between air pollutant levels and medical usage rates for environmental disease in a general residential area during the period 2015-2017. Methods: Air pollutant (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, NO₂, CO, O₃) data were collected from Air-Korea. Medical usage data on environmental disease (asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis) for the period 2015-2017 in a general residential area in Gyeongsangnam-do Province were provided by the National Health Insurance Corporation. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted to investigate the association between air pollutant levels and medical usage rates (SAS 9.4). In the multiple regression analysis, environmental disease was set as the dependent variable and air pollutants were set as independent variables and analyzed using the General Linear Model. Results: Except for PM_2.5, the average concentration of air pollutants in the surveyed area was below than the air environment standards of Korea. NO₂ was higher than Korea's national average, but CO was similar. The others were lower than the Korea's national average. The daily medical usage rates for environmental disease were 1.38‰ for asthma, 9.90‰ for allergic rhinitis, and 0.32‰ for atopic dermatitis. As a result of correlation analysis, PM₁₀ and SO₂, NO₂ and CO were significantly correlated with asthma, PM₁₀ and NO₂ and CO were correlated with allergic rhinitis, and PM₁₀ and PM_2.5, SO₂, NO₂ and CO were correlated with atopic dermatitis. As a result of multiple regression analysis, PM₁₀ and SO₂ were found to have a higher effect on asthma, PM₁₀ and NO₂ on allergic rhinitis, and SO₂ and NO₂ on atopic dermatitis, compared to other air pollutants. Conclusion: According to these results, air pollutants such as PM₁₀ and SO₂ and NO₂ were associated with the medical usage rates of environmental disease even in relatively low concentrations. Therefore, continuous monitoring will be required for general residential areas.