Mystic experience is highly evaluated so as to be called as core of experience in the religious world and also becomes the subject of concern among various social groups. Psychologists and psychiatrists are concerned about it, but because of its individuality and subjectivity, the scientific approach was difficult so that only the description of mystic experience has been researched so far. There is a current report saying that mystic experience is the one of the dissociative phenomenon. And there are a lot of reports saying that dissociation is related to childhood trauma experience and rises as much as psychopathological tendencies exist. Consequently, based on the reference that mystic experience is connected with dissociation, the study has been progressed to find out the level of dissociation, psychopathology and trauma experience for religious people who experienced mystic experience but excluding patients. Among them, it has been compared between group of non-mystic experience (n=35) and group of mystic experience (n=42). We used Dissociative Experience scale-Korean version (DES-K), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), questionnaire about trauma. The result is that the group of mystic experience had a significantly higher tendency to have dissociation and trauma experience than group of non-mystic experience. However, the difference of psychopathology has not been found.
Humans ; Individuality ; Psychiatry ; Psychology ; Psychopathology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, posing a significant threat to human health and life expectancy. Numerous existing studies explored the correlation between coal-fired power plants and cancer development. Currently, Chungcheongnam-do Province hosts 29 coal-fired power plants, constituting half of the total 58 plants across South Korea. Methods: This study assessed the cancer incidence by proximity to coal-fired power plants in Chungcheongnam-do Province, Korea. In this study, the exposed group comprised individuals residing within a 2-km radius of the coal-fired power plants, whereas the control group comprised individuals who had no prior residency within the 2-km radius of such plants or elsewhere in the province. Standardized incidence ratios were calculated using the cancer incidence cases retrieved from the National Health Insurance System data from 2007 to 2017. Results: The study found that exposed men had a 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–1.21) times higher risk of developing all cancer types and a 1.15 (95% CI, 1.09–1.22) times higher risk of developing cancers excluding thyroid cancer compared with control men. Exposed women had a 1.05 (95% CI, 1.00–1.14) times higher risk of developing all cancer types and a 1.06 (95% CI, 0.98–1.13) times higher risk of developing cancers excluding thyroid cancer than did control women. The colorectal, liver, prostate, and bladder cancer incidence rates were significantly higher in exposed men than that in all control groups.The incidence of esophageal, stomach, liver, and lung cancers were significantly higher in exposed women compared with all control groups. Conclusion The residents near coal-fired power plants had a higher risk of developing cancer than did those living in other areas. In the future, long-term follow-up investigations in residents living in the vicinity of power plants are warranted.

OBJECTIVES: Although mercury (Hg) exposure is known to be neurotoxic in humans, its effects on liver function have been less often reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether total Hg exposure in Korean adults was associated with elevated serum levels of the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). METHODS: We repeatedly examined the levels of total Hg and liver enzymes in the blood of 508 adults during 2010-2011 and 2014-2015. Cross-sectional associations between levels of blood Hg and liver enzymes were analyzed using a generalized linear model, and nonlinear relationships were analyzed using a generalized additive mixed model. Generalized estimating equations were applied to examine longitudinal associations, considering the correlations of individuals measured repeatedly. RESULTS: GGT increased by 11.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5 to 18.0%) in women and 8.1% (95% CI, -0.5 to 17.4%) in men per doubling of Hg levels, but AST and ALT were not significantly associated with Hg in either men or women. In women who drank more than 2 or 3 times per week, AST, ALT, and GGT levels increased by 10.6% (95% CI, 4.2 to 17.5%), 7.7% (95% CI, 1.1 to 14.7%), and 37.5% (95% CI,15.2 to 64.3%) per doubling of Hg levels, respectively, showing an interaction between blood Hg levels and drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Hg exposure was associated with an elevated serum concentration of GGT. Especially in women who were frequent drinkers, AST, ALT, and GGT showed a significant increase, with a significant synergistic effect of Hg and alcohol consumption.
Adult* ; Alanine Transaminase ; Alcohol Drinking ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Drinking ; Female ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Liver* ; Longitudinal Studies* ; Male

Carcinogenicity of asbestos has been well established for decades and it has similar approval standards in most advanced countries based on a number of studies and international meetings. However, Korea has been lagging behind such international standards. In this study, we proposed the approval standards of an occupational cancer due to asbestos through intensive review on the Helsinki Criteria, post-Helsinki studies, job exposure matrix (JEM) based on the analysis of domestic reports and recognized occupational lung cancer cases in Korea. The main contents of proposed approval standards are as follows; (1) In recognizing an asbestos-induced lung cancer, diagnosis of asbestosis should be based on CT. In addition, initial findings of asbestosis on CT should be considered. (2) High Exposure industries and occupations to asbestos should be also taken into account in Korea (3) An expert's determination is warranted in case of a worker who has been concurrently exposed to other carcinogens, even if the asbestos exposure duration is less than 10 years. (4) Determination of a larynx cancer due to asbestos exposure has the same approval standards with an asbestos-induced lung cancer. However, for an ovarian cancer, an expert's judgment is necessary even if asbestosis, pleural plaque or pleural thickening and high concentration asbestos exposure are confirmed. (5) Cigarette smoking status or the extent should not affect determination of an occupational cancer caused by asbestos as smoking and asbestos have a synergistic effect in causing a lung cancer and they are involved in carcinogenesis in a complicated manner.
Asbestos* ; Asbestosis ; Carcinogenesis ; Carcinogens ; Diagnosis ; Judgment ; Korea* ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; Lung Neoplasms ; Occupations ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Smoke ; Smoking

The industrial complexes built during the course of economic development in South Korea played a pivotal role in the country's rapid economic growth. However, this growth was accompanied by health problems due to the pollutants released from the industrial complexes inevitably located near residential areas, given the limited land area available in South Korea. This study was conducted to evaluate the exposure to each pollutant emanating from industrial complexes for residents living in nearby areas, and to determine the substances requiring priority attention in future surveys. Pollutants were comprehensively categorized according to their emission and exposure levels based on data previously collected from the study areas. The emission, ambient concentration, and biomarker concentration levels of major pollutants emitted from eight national industrial complexes (Ulsan, Pohang, Gwangyang, Yeosu, Chungju, Daesan, Sihwa, and Banwol) were determined and tabulated. Each of the values was compared with the national/local average values, reference values, or control area concentrations depending on availability. Substances with completed exposure pathways and with high values for emissions, ambient concentrations, and biomarker concentrations were considered the substances posing exposure risks to the residents living near the corresponding industrial complex. The substances requiring continuous monitoring or supplementary exposure investigation were also categorized and presented. Lead and benzene had higher values for emissions, ambient concentrations, and biomarker concentrations in the Ulsan Industrial Complex area; thus, they were most likely to pose exposure risks to residents living in the area's neighborhoods. In other areas, styrene, xylene, cadmium, nitrogen oxide, trichloroethylene, nickel, manganese, and chromium required continuous monitoring, and arsenic, nickel, manganese, and chromium required biomarker measurements. In conclusion, the substances identified and categorized in this study need to be given appropriate attention in future surveys on exposure risks and health effects related to industrial complexes.
Arsenic ; Benzene ; Cadmium ; Chromium ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Economic Development ; Environmental Pollutants* ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Manganese ; Nickel ; Nitrogen ; Reference Values ; Residence Characteristics ; Styrene ; Trichloroethylene ; Ulsan ; Xylenes

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure at home and associated problem behaviors in Korean children and adolescents. METHODS: Approximately 2,167 children aged 3–18 years were included in the study after excluding 163 active smokers from the Korean Environmental Health Survey in Children and Adolescents (2012–2014). ETS data were obtained using a questionnaire; problem behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist administered to parents. The relationship between ETS exposure and problem behavior was evaluated using a survey regression model adjusted for region, age, sex, income, and father's education. The population-attributable fraction (PAF%) was calculated based on problem behaviors related to ETS exposure at home. RESULTS: The rates of ETS exposure at home were 20%, 28%, and 39% in children aged 3–5, 6–11, and 12–18 years, respectively; ETS exposure at home was associated with behavioral problems: the exposed group having higher total behavioral problem score (95% confidence interval [CI]) than the non-exposed by 2.46 (0.60–4.32) and 2.74 (0.74–4.74) in children aged 6–11 and 12–18 years, respectively, with no significant association in those aged 3–5 years. The PAF% (95% CI) of total problem behaviors for ETS exposure at home were 2.68 (−10.11–17.78), 10.66 (3.25–17.55), and 11.62 (3.03–18.96) in children aged 3–5, 6–11, and 12–18 years, respectively. Children with externalizing problems had higher PAF% than those with internalizing problems. CONCLUSION: In Korea, ETS exposure at home is associated with problem behaviors in children and adolescents with about more than 10% population attributable fraction.
Adolescent* ; Checklist ; Child Behavior ; Child* ; Education ; Environmental Health ; Humans ; Korea ; Parents ; Problem Behavior* ; Smoke* ; Tobacco*

Dermal fibroblasts play essential roles in wound healing and their dysfunction has been shown to be associated with impaired wound healing in diabetes. In the present study, we aimed at investigating whether Yes-associated protein (YAP), a mediator of mechanotransduction in dermal fibroblasts, is associated with impaired wound healing in diabetic mice. Compared with that in the control, the rate of wound contraction was decreased twofold in db/db type 2 diabetic mice (db/db mice). To mimic diabetic pathological condition, dermal fibroblasts were cultured under high glucose conditions (25.5 mM glucose). Further, dermal fibroblast-mediated contraction of wound was evaluated by in vitro collagen gel contraction assay. Dermal fibroblasts cultured under hyperglycemic condition showed impaired gel contraction and mitochondrial dysfunction, compared to the cells cultured under normoglycemic conditions (5.5 mM glucose). Importantly, compared with the normal dermal fibroblasts, diabetic db/db dermal fibroblasts expressed lower levels of growth factors and cytokines that enhance wound healing, such as insulin-like growth factor-1, stromal cell-derived factor-1, connective tissue growth factor, and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The quantity of YAP mRNA was also lower in diabetic db/db dermal fibroblasts, compared with that in the control fibroblasts. These results indicate that impaired wound healing in diabetics is associated with the dysfunction of dermal fibroblasts, including downregulation of YAP, which plays essential roles in extracellular matrix remodeling and TGF-β-mediated wound healing.
Animals ; Collagen ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor ; Cytokines ; Down-Regulation ; Extracellular Matrix ; Fibroblasts* ; Glucose ; In Vitro Techniques ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Mice* ; RNA, Messenger ; Wound Healing* ; Wounds and Injuries*

Inferring causality is necessary to achieve the goal of epidemiology, which is to elucidate the cause of disease. Causal inference is conducted in three steps: evaluation of validity of the study, inference of general causality, and inference of individual causality. To evaluate validity of the study, we propose a checklist that focuses on biases and generalizability. For general causal inference, we recommend utilizing Hill’s 9 viewpoints. Lastly, individual causality can be inferred based on the general causality and evidence of exposure. Additional considerations may be needed for social or legal purposes; however, these additional considerations should be based on the scientific truth elucidated by the causal inference described in the present article.
Bias (Epidemiology) ; Checklist ; Environmental Exposure ; Epidemiology

The industrial complexes built during the course of economic development in South Korea played a pivotal role in the country's rapid economic growth. However, this growth was accompanied by health problems due to the pollutants released from the industrial complexes inevitably located near residential areas, given the limited land area available in South Korea. This study was conducted to evaluate the exposure to each pollutant emanating from industrial complexes for residents living in nearby areas, and to determine the substances requiring priority attention in future surveys. Pollutants were comprehensively categorized according to their emission and exposure levels based on data previously collected from the study areas. The emission, ambient concentration, and biomarker concentration levels of major pollutants emitted from eight national industrial complexes (Ulsan, Pohang, Gwangyang, Yeosu, Chungju, Daesan, Sihwa, and Banwol) were determined and tabulated. Each of the values was compared with the national/local average values, reference values, or control area concentrations depending on availability. Substances with completed exposure pathways and with high values for emissions, ambient concentrations, and biomarker concentrations were considered the substances posing exposure risks to the residents living near the corresponding industrial complex. The substances requiring continuous monitoring or supplementary exposure investigation were also categorized and presented. Lead and benzene had higher values for emissions, ambient concentrations, and biomarker concentrations in the Ulsan Industrial Complex area; thus, they were most likely to pose exposure risks to residents living in the area's neighborhoods. In other areas, styrene, xylene, cadmium, nitrogen oxide, trichloroethylene, nickel, manganese, and chromium required continuous monitoring, and arsenic, nickel, manganese, and chromium required biomarker measurements. In conclusion, the substances identified and categorized in this study need to be given appropriate attention in future surveys on exposure risks and health effects related to industrial complexes.
Arsenic ; Benzene ; Cadmium ; Chromium ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Economic Development ; Environmental Pollutants ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Jeollanam-do ; Korea ; Manganese ; Nickel ; Nitrogen ; Reference Values ; Residence Characteristics ; Styrene ; Trichloroethylene ; Ulsan ; Xylenes