• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.467-472
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• 2014

Obesity is known to be strongly associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, the leading causes of mortality worldwide, and develops owing to interactions between genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals, and analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. Global DNA methylation of peripheral blood cells has recently been proposed as a potential biomarker for disease risk. Repetitive element DNA methylation has been shown to be associated with prominent obesity-related chronic diseases, but little is known about its relationship with weight status. In this study, we quantified the methylation of Alu elements in the peripheral blood DNA of 244 healthy women with a range of body mass indexes (BMIs) using pyrosequencing technology. Among the study participants, certain clinical laboratory parameters, including hemoglobin, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic- pyruvic transaminase, total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were found to be strongly associated with BMI. Moreover, a U-shaped association between BMI and Alu methylation was observed, with the lowest methylation levels occurring at BMIs of between 23 and $30kg/m^2$. However, there was no significant association between Alu methylation and age, smoking status, or alcohol consumption. Overall, we identified a differential influence of BMI on global DNA methylation in healthy Korean women, indicating that BMI-related changes in Alu methylation might play a complex role in the etiology and pathogenesis of obesity. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.459-466
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• 2012

Due to the issues such as omission of data, document based management, maintenance based on measurement data and wire-based network, it is difficult existing maintenance system for railway bridges to act to diverse characteristics of site and environmental changes in real time. With these reasons, there are many constraints in establishing active maintenance strategies for railway bridges. To solve these issues, this study suggests an integrated maintenance business model based on practical utilization and information management based on BIM technology to build a smart maintenance operation system based on ubiquitous computing for railway bridges. To secure its development and practical applications, a quantitative evaluation by questionnaire analysis was performed. Therefore, it is expected that the suggested model will be utilized as a framework model in order to build the smart maintenance operation system from collection of maintenance data to action for railway bridges.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.33-42
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the correlation between the health-related quality of life assessment according to socio-demographic characteristics, health behavior, and BMI for Gyeonggi-do community population. Methods: The 2012 Community Health Survey data was used. The data were collected by using a cross-sectional study with face-to-face interview. The variables of smoking, AUDIT, exercise, BMI, and Euroqol EQ-5D instrument were selected for analyses. The Difference on the EQ-5D index among groups were tested with Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test. Results: The EQ-5D index for Gyeonggi-do community was 0.951(${\pm}0.104$). The index were significantly different by sex, age, marital status, education level, and occupation. The health-related quality of life showed lower EQ-5D index in women than men, older than young, and less educated. The index were significantly different by health behavior (smoking, drinking, moderate physical activity and exercise) for both men and women). For BMIs, the index was lower to under-weighted male and over-weighted female. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the future intervention of health promotion programs should be carefully designed and tailored by health behavior and obese groups.