Effects of social support and self-efficacy on the psychosocial adjustment of Korean ostomy patients.

This study aims to test which factors influence and aid the psychosocial adjustment of patients with an ostomy and to provide data for the development of programmes for the self-management of and psychosocial adjustment to intestinal stomas. A total of 150 ostomy patients were recruited between December 1, 2017 and March 26, 2018 in Korea and completed self-report questionnaires. Data of 25 participants were excluded, resulting in a sample size of 125 participants. Factors, including social support subtypes and self-efficacy, that influence the psychosocial adjustment were analysed using Cox's regression. Of the factors that influenced the adjustment groups after adjusting for time, the following subtypes of social support were found to influence the patients' adjustment: the patients' psychosocial adjustment increased by 0.4 when the level of medical staff support increased by 1 (Exp[B] = 1.04, P = 0.007), and adjustment decreased by 0.3 when the level of family support increased by 1 (Exp[B] = 0.97, P < 0.001). As medical staff support who have expertise exert more of an influence on the psychosocial adjustment of ostomy patients than self-efficacy and family support, psychosocial adjustment programmes that reflect this and nurses specialised in care for ostomy patients are required.

Tribological and Electrical Properties of Chromium-Doped Carbon Films Fabricated by Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering for Medical Stents.

Chromium-doped carbon (Cr:C) films were fabricated by using unbalanced magnetron sputtering with chromium (Cr) and graphite (C) targets. We investigated the structural, tribological, and electrical properties of the Cr:C films fabricated with various target power densities. The surface of all the Cr:C films was smooth and uniform, and the cross section showed a more compact and clear columnar structure as the target power density increased. The root mean square surface roughness increased and the contact angle on the film surface increased with the increase in target power density. Furthermore, the hardness and elastic modulus of the Cr:C films showed improvements, while the resistivity decreased with the increase in target power density. These results are associated with the ion bombardment and resputtering owing to the effects of the applied target power density.

Tribological and Electrical Properties of Diamond-Like Carbon Films Deposited by Filtered Vacuum Arc Method for Medical Guidewire Application.

A good medical guidewires are used to introduce stents, catheters, and other medical devices inside the human body. In this study, diamond-like carbon (DLC) film was proposed to solve the poor adhesion problem of guidewire and to improve the tribological performance of guidewire. DLC films were fabricated on Si substrate by using FVA (Filtered Vacuum Arc) method. In this work, the tribological, structural, and electrical properties of the fabricated DLC films with various arc currents were experimentally investigated. All DLC films showed smooth and uniform surface with increasing applied arc current. The rms surface roughness was increased and the value of contact angle on the film surface was decreased with increasing arc current. The hardness and elastic modulus of DLC films were improved, and the resistivity value of DLC films were decreased with increasing arc current. These results are associated with ion bombardment effects by the applied arc current and bias voltage.

Characteristics of Sputtered Cr Thin Films and Application as a Working Electrode in Transparent Conductive Oxide-Less Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Cr metal electrode was suggested as the working electrode material to fabricate DSSCs without the TCO, and thin films were fabricated by an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. The surface morphologies show uniform and smooth surfaces regardless of various film thicknesses, and the small crystallites of various sizes were showed with the vertical direction on the surface of Cr thin films with the increase of film thickness. And also, the root mean square (RMS) surface roughness value of Cr thin films increased, and the sheet resistance is decreased with the increase of film thickness. The maximum cell efficiency of the TCO-less DSSC was observed when a Cr working electrode with a thickness of 80 nm was applied to the TCO-less DSSC. Consequently, these results are related to the result of the optimization of conduction characteristics, transmission properties and surface properties of Cr thin films.