= Abstract =Purpose: This study was performed to identify the association between family support, activities of daily living (ADL) and depression among hospitalized older patients with chronic diseases. Methods:This study subjects were 100 elderly patients with chronic diseases including chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes mellitus and et al. in a general hospital. The collected data were patient characteristics, family support, ADL, and depression by structured questionnaire and medical chart review. The used statistical analyses were t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlational analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results:The mean scores of family support, ADL and depression were 49.95±8.68, 8.65±2.65, 6.66±3.78, respectively. The prevalence rate of depression was 64.0%. In simple analysis, the statistically significant associated factors with depression were age, spouse, economic status, social activity, subjective health status, and number of pain. Depression had statistically a significant positive correlation with ADL and a negative correlation with family support. The final result of hierarchial multiple regression analysis (Model 3), the factors related to depression were family support (b=-.135, p<.001), subjective health status (b=2.510, p=.001). Conclusions:It is necessary to develop and apply the program for controlling the depression of elderly patients with health education, reinforcement of supportive systems in hospital. And, further multidisciplinary studies should be done.

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Abstract:Biofilms have been modeled as homogeneous layers of cells and extracellular polymers covered by a uniform liquid layer. Modelers have assumed that water within and in close vicinity to the biofilm is stagnant. However, scanning confocal laser microscopy has shown that biofilms are highly heterogeneous, and consist of cell clusters separated by voids and channels. The heterogeneous structure makes the mass transport near and within biofilms very complicated. To be able to describe mass transport in biofilms mathematically some simplifying assumptions based on experimental data are needed.Microelectrodes have been used here to measure oxygen profiles and local mass transfer coefficient profiles in biofilm clusters and interstitial voids. Both dissolved oxygen-and local mass transfer coefficient profiles were measured at the same locations to make it possible to superimpose the two profiles. From the oxygen profiles the effective diffusive boundary layer thickness was determined. The local mass transfer coefficient profiles provided information about the nature of mass transport near and within the biofilm. All profiles were measured at three different flow velocities to determine the influence of fluid flow on mass transport.Convective mass transport was found to be active within the mass boundary layer and in the upper region of the biofilm, independent of biofilm's thickness and flow velocity. The effective diffusive boundary layer thickness, however, varied strongly at different locations when the same flow velocities were applied. Oxygen-and local mass transfer coefficient profiles collected through a 70 μm thick cluster revealed that the thin cluster did not cause any significant changes in local mass transfer resistance. The same conclusion was drawn from profiles measured through a void filled with a 200 μm thick extracellular polymer layer when the flow velocity was higher than 1.53 cm sec^-1. In a 350 μm thick biofilm cluster the local mass transfer coefficient decreased gradually and approached zero near the substratum.

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