• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.231-244
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• 2020

Background: As the population is aging, chronic diseases and depression are becoming the main problems in a country's healthcare system. In this study, we aimed to explore the associations between chronic diseases and depression among the elderly in South Korea. Methods: We analyzed 9,975 (men, 4,147; women, 5,828) respondents obtained from the 2014 National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons. Our dependent variable was either 1 or 0 according to whether a respondent had depression or not, where depression was defined when the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale score was 8 or more points. Variables of interest were 24 types of chronic diseases and covariates included various socio-demographic and health behavior characteristics. We performed Rao-Scott chi-square tests and hierarchal logistic regression analyses by gender, reflecting the characteristics of the survey. Results: A significant difference was found in the proportion of having depression between genders (men 18.9% vs. women 23.4%). According to fully adjusted, multivariable analyses, for elderly men, relative to those without any chronic disease, the odds ratio of depression was 1.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-2.22) in the stroke patients group and 1.82 (95% CI, 1.01-3.25) in the osteoporosis patients group. For elderly women, the odds ratio was 1.96 (95% CI, 1.28-3.00) in the fracture/dislocation and aftereffects patients group and 1.30 (95% CI, 1.03-1.64) in the group of patients with other diseases. Conclusion: Even after being adjusted for diverse characteristics, some chronic diseases were significantly associated with depression in the elderly and the association differed between genders. Therefore, public health and medical interventions are needed to manage such chronic diseases together with curing depression symptoms.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.104-114
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• 2001

To investigate the effects of the addition of Nb and Sn on the recrystallization of Zr- Sn-Nb alloys, both Vickers micro-hardness test and TEP measurement were carried out on cold-worked specimens annealed at various temperatures from $300^{\circ}C$ to 75$0^{\circ}C$. The microstructures of heat treated specimens were analyzed by optical microscope, SEM, and TEM. The study of microhardness and microstructures showed that both recrystallization process and grain growth were retarded as the activation energy was increased by the addition of Nb and Sn. Especially, the addition of Sn was more effective on retarding recrystallization. Precipitates were formed more easily when Nb was added because the solubility of Nb into Zr is lower than that of Sn. However, the recrystallization process was affected more by Sn than Nb because the strain field formed by substitutional Sn repressed the dislocation movement. TEP was increased due to the decrease of electron scattering as recovery and recrystallization were proceeded and saturated when the recrystallization completed. However, when precipitates formed, TEP was increased because the decrease of solute concentration near the precipitates caused the decrease of electron scattering.