• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.102-107
• /
• 2022

South Korea will soon be a super-aged society, as more than 20.6% of its population will be 65 years and older by 2025. As of 2022, 17.5% of the total population in South Korea is 65 years and older, which exceeds the set threshold for an aged society, where more than 14% of the population is 65 years and older. The proportion of older subway construction workers has increased. Aging workers and their work stress negatively impact their workability. A previous study demonstrated that the stress index measured using the uBioMacpa measurement device (Macpa stress index) had a significant correlation with work stress in South Korea. The device tests vascular health and measures stress levels via Macpa signal analysis. In this study, the pulse waves of subway construction workers were measured using uBioMacpa to identify their stress levels. The stress levels were analyzed by age, years of service, job position, employment type, and work type. Herein, these statistics could not be easily represented by a normal distribution; therefore, the Kruskal-Wallis test, a nonparametric statistical method, was used for the analysis of data. The results showed that age, job position, employment type, and working type affected the Macpa stress index and the stress levels of workers increased with age. In terms of job position, technical engineers were more stressed than other workers because of their poor working environment. In terms of employment type, daily-wage workers were more stressed than other workers. In terms of working type, tunneling, waterproofing, and construction scored the highest Macpa stress indexes without any significant difference, whereas earthworks scored the lowest. Based on the analysis of Macpa stress index, safety and health management plans were proposed to reduce the stress levels of workers. Moreover, a manual for efficient stress management must be developed for subway construction workers.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.49-60
• /
• 2023

Background and Purpose: The National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care was implemented in September 2017 in Korea. This study aimed to compare dementia incidence in Seoul and Gangwon-do before and after the implementation of this policy. Methods: We extracted insurance claim data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for people diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia for the first time in Seoul and Gangwon-do, Korea. We defined two enrollment groups based on the policy implementation date: 1) January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016 (Index 1, pre-implementation), and 2) January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018 (Index 2, post-implementation). Each group was followed up for 1 year from the time of enrollment. Then, we calculated hazard ratios to compare the incidence of dementia between the two groups, and between Seoul and Gangwon-do. Results: In Seoul, the incidence of dementia was significantly lower in Index 2 than in Index 1 (hazard ratio [HR], 0.926; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.875-0.979). However, the incidence rate did not differ between the 2 groups (HR, 1.113; 95% CI, 0.966-1.281) in Gangwon-do. In Index 1, the incidence of dementia did not differ between Seoul and Gangwon-do (HR, 1.043; 95% CI, 0.941-1.156), but in Index 2, was significantly higher in Gangwon-do than in Seoul (HR, 1.240; 95% CI, 1.109-1.386). Conclusions: After implementing the National Responsibility Policy for Dementia Care, the dementia incidence rate decreased significantly in Seoul, consistent with other studies, but not in Gangwon-do.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.141-149
• /
• 2012

This study investigates the effects of wear training on blood pressure and blood lipid profiles. For the purpose of this research, 'wear training' refers to the alternating stimulation of temperature while using specific clothing under controlled situations ($18.8{\pm}0.2^{\circ}C$, $38{\pm}3%RH$). The participants alternated between two different garments producing a $1.5^{\circ}C$ difference in the innerest microclimate temperature over a period of 4 weeks. The experiments in this study were conducted in a comfortable environment after sufficient rest. The results were as follows. The systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were lower in the post test than in the pre test (p<.05). The atherogenic index (AI) was also reduced and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio increased (p<.05) in the post test. These results demonstrated that wear training positively affected improvement in vascular stiffness.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2000

Background: TNF-$\alpha$ plays a major role in producing left ventricular dysfunction cardio-myopathy pulmonary edema and inhibits the compensatory mechanism of congestive heart failure. IL-6 is an acute reactant of immune reaction and also known to control immune reaction but its function in the myocyte was not clearly investigated. Author's performed this experiment to investigate the contents of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-6 on the assumption that TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-6 may reside in nonfailing heart that has gone cardiac surgery and play some role in cardiac function. Material and Method : Right auricular tissues were sampled from 12 patients who had undergone total corrective surgery for both congenital and acquired heart diseases from January 1998 to June 1998 in Kosin Universcfy Gospel hospital. The quantitive analysis of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-6 were assessed by ELISA method in right auricular tissue. Hemodynamic values about the pressure of ventricle atrium aorta pulmonary artery and cardiac index pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance and cardiac output were measured by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization and biochemical analyses of LDH & AST were done before operation. statistical analysis was by Paired Student t-test. Patients were divided into children(under 15 years olds) and adults groups and the data was compared beween two groups. Conclusion: Mild pulmonary hypertension and increased pulmonary vascular resistance were existed in both group. The contents of tissue TNF-$\alpha$ IL-6 in each group were independent of each data.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.244-248
• /
• 2012

Oxidative stress, which results in an excessive product of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is one of the fundamental mechanisms of the development of hypertension. In the vascular system, ROS have physical and pathophysiological roles in vascular remodeling and endothelial dysfunction. In this study, ROS-hypertension-related genes were collected by the biological literature-mining tools, such as SciMiner and gene2pubmed, in order to identify the genes that would cause hypertension through ROS. Further, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within these gene regions were examined statistically for their association with hypertension in 6,419 Korean individuals, and pathway enrichment analysis using the associated genes was performed. The 2,945 SNPs of 237 ROS-hypertension genes were analyzed, and 68 genes were significantly associated with hypertension (p < 0.05). The most significant SNP was rs2889611 within MAPK8 (p = $2.70{\times}10^{-5}$; odds ratio, 0.82; confidence interval, 0.75 to 0.90). This study demonstrates that a text mining approach combined with association analysis may be useful to identify the candidate genes that cause hypertension through ROS or oxidative stress.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.55-65
• /
• 2009

Purpose: We determined the therapeutic effects of blockade of epidermal growth factor(EGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases on the growth of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) xenografted in athymic nude mice. Experimental Design: We investigated the in vivo antitumor effects of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor for EGFR and VEGFR-2, AEE788 in a mouth floor(orthotopic) tumor model. Nude mice with orthotopic tumors were randomized to receive AEE788, paclitaxel, a combination of AEE788 and paclitaxel, or control. Antitumor mechanisms of AEE788 were determined by immunohistochemical/immunofluorescent and apoptosis assays. Results: Tumors of mice treated with AEE788 demonstrated down-regulation of phosphorylated EGFR, phosphorylated VEGFR and their downstream mediators(pMAPK and pAkt), decreased proliferative index, decreased microvessel density(MVD). As a result, growth of the primary tumor and nodal metastatic potentials were inhibited by AEE788. Conclusion: These data show that EGFR and VEGFR can be molecular targets for the treatment of OSCC.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.168-172
• /
• 2004

In India, Gymnema sylvestre due to the unique property of the plant to antagonize the sweet taste is known as 'Gur-mar'. It has several ethnomedicinal values as various tribals/traditional communities and rural peoples of India find diverse medicinal uses viz. antidiabetic, stomachic, diuretic, and is useful in cough and throat troubles. Besides, it has strong effect on reducing blood sugar. The present communication deals with the detailed pharmacognostical evaluation of the aerial parts of G. sylvestre collected from three places of the country-Varanasi (U.P), Panchmarhi (M.P), Salem (Tami Nadu) and commercial sample procured from local market. The botanical and physico-chemical parameters of all the samples were quite similar though little variations were observed in foaming index, alcohol and water soluble extractives of local sample. The microscopic characteristics of the drug are horse shoe shaped petiole with 3 amphicribal vascular bundles, sieve tubes well developed; anomocytic stomata only on the abaxial surface of the leaf, the fan shaped amphicribal vascular bundle, presence of intraxylary phloem. The TLC fingerprint profile of all the samples was more or less similar only the quantity of some of the compounds varied.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.13-21
• /
• 1973

An attempt was made to study circulatory and respiratory responses to the passive tilt. Anesthetized dogs were tilted from horizontal to upright $(+90^{\circ})$ and head down $(-90^{\circ})$ position. The arterial blood pressure was decreased in the upright position and was decreased slightly in the head down position comparing to that in the horizontal position. Cardiac index also decreased in the both upright and head down positions. The total systemic vascular resistance was slightly increased in the upright position and was markedly increased in the head down position. The mean pulmonary arterial pressure was significantly decreased in the both upright and head down positions. The total pulmonary vascular resistance was decreased in the both upright and head down positions. Oxygen consumption was slightly decreased in the upright position, whereas it was slightly increased in the head down position. The A-V $O_2$ difference (vol. %) was slightly increased in the upright position and increased in the head down position. From the above results, process of the circulatory compensation to the gravity in the Passive tilting test was discussed. Neuronal cardiovascular regulation to the gravity and tile adaptation of capacitance vessles to hydrostatic stress and oxygen consumption concerning anoxic endurance of the brain were also discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.274.1-274.1
• /
• 2013

We report the circumferential alignment of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) in an orthogonally micropatterned circular microfluidic channel to form an in vivo-like smooth muscle cell layer. To realize a biomimetic smooth muscle cell layer which is aligned perpendicular to the axis of blood vessel, we first fabricated a half-circular polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannel by soft lithography using a convex PDMS mold. The orthogonally micro wrinkle patterns were generated inside the half-circular microchannel by stretching-releasing operation under UV irradiation. Upon UV treatment with uniaxial 40 % stretch of a PDMS substrate and releasing process, the microwrinkle patterns perpendicular to the axial direction of the circular microchannel were generated, which could guide the circumferential alignment of HASMCs successfully during cultivation. The analysis of orientation angle, shape index, and contractile protein marker expression indicates that the cultured HASMCs revealed the in vivo-like cell phenotype. Finally, we produced circular microchannels by bonding two half-circular microchannels, and cultured the HASMCs circumferentially with high alignment and viability for 5 days. These results are the first demonstration for constructing an in vivo-like 3D smooth muscle cell layer in the circular microfluidic channel which can provide novel bioassay platforms for in-depth study of HASMC biology and vascular function.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.65-73
• /
• 2007

Objective : Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Labiatae) (SM), an eminent herbal plant, has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of vascular diseases such as hypertension. The aim of this study was to determine whether SM inhibits production of nitrite, an index of NO, and proinflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW 264.7 macrophages. And this study investigated whether or not SM could reduce tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$)-induced inflammatory response in human vascular aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC) and umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Methods : Cytotoxic activity of SM on RAW 264.7 cells was using 5-(3-caroboxymeth-oxy phenyJ)-2H-tetra-zolium inner salt (MTS) assay. We measured the NO production using Griess Reagent System. Production of Proliflammatory cytokines was measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Results : Our results indicated that SM significantly inhibited the LPS-induced NO production accompanied by an attenuation of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), IL-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 formation in macrophages. SM decreased TNF-${\alpha}$-induced IL-8, IL-6 production, and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression. Conclusion : These results indicate that SM has potential as an anti-inflammatory agent.