We developed a method of chemically welding silver nanowires (AgNWs) using an aqueous solution containing sodium halide salts (NaF, NaCl, NaBr, or NaI). The halide welding was performed simply by immersing the as-coated AgNW film into the sodium halide solution, and the resulting material was compared with those obtained using two typical thermal and plasmonic welding techniques. The halide welding dramatically reduced the sheet resistance of the AgNW electrode because of the strong fusion among nanowires at each junction while preserving the optical transmittance. The dramatic decrease in the sheet resistance was attributed to the autocatalytic addition of dissolved silver ions to the nanowire junction. Unlike thermal and plasmonic welding methods, the halide welding could be applied to AgNW films with a variety of deposition densities because the halide ions uniformly contacted the surface or junction regions. The optimized AgNW electrodes exhibited a sheet resistance of 9.3 Ω/sq at an optical transmittance of 92%. The halide welding significantly enhanced the mechanical flexibility of the electrode compared with the as-coated AgNWs. The halide-welded AgNWs were successfully used as source-drain electrodes in a transparent and flexible organic field-effect transistor (OFET). This simple, low-cost, and low-power consumption halide welding technique provides an innovative approach to preparing transparent electrodes for use in next-generation flexible optoelectronic devices.

Purpose This study investigated the association between health status and tooth loss based on data from the National Health Insurance Service-Health Examinee Cohort in 2002–2015. Methods Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were applied to a longitudinal retrospective database, which was updated and newly released in 2018, to assess the association between health status and tooth loss while adjusting for potential confounders among sociodemographic and economic factors (sex, age, household income, insurance, and presence of disability), general and oral health status (body mass index [BMI], smoking and drinking status, periodic dental visits and scaling, and brushing before sleep), and comorbid disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus [DM], and Charlson comorbidity index [CCI]). Results Among 514,866 participants from a South Korean population, 234,247 (45.5%) participants satisfying the inclusion criteria were analyzed. In the adjusted multivariate analysis, sex, age, household income, insurance, presence of disability, BMI, smoking and drinking status, periodic scaling, tooth brushing before sleep, DM, and CCI showed statistically significant associations with the loss of at least 1 tooth. The risk of experiencing a loss of ≥4 teeth was associated with an increase in age (in those 50–59 years of age: hazard ratio [HR], 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.93–2.03; in those 60–69 years of age: HR, 2.93; 95% CI, 2.85–3.02; and in those 70–79 years of age: HR, 2.93; 95%, CI 2.81–3.05), smoking (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.65–1.73), and DM (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.38–1.48). Conclusions The results of this study showed that the risk of experiencing tooth loss was related to multiple determinants. DM and smoking were especially significantly associated with tooth loss.

By combining the merits of traditional template-assisted methods for polymer nanostructure fabrication, we demonstrate an immersion crystallization process that combines features of polymer crystallization and template removal simultaneously. Well-aligned poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer nanorod arrays are prepared for the first time via this simple and convenient new method.

PurposeTo retrospectively evaluate the relationship between the vertical position of the implant-abutment interface and marginal bone loss over 3 years using radiological analysis.MethodsIn total, 286 implant surfaces of 143 implants from 61 patients were analyzed. Panoramic radiographic images were taken immediately after implant installation and at 6, 12, and 36 months after loading. The implants were classified into 3 groups based on the vertical position of the implant-abutment interface: group A (above bone level), group B (at bone level), and group C (below bone level). The radiographs were analyzed by a single examiner.ResultsChanges in marginal bone levels of 0.99±1.45, 1.13±0.91, and 1.76±0.78 mm were observed at 36 months after loading in groups A, B, and C, respectively, and bone loss was significantly greater in group C than in groups A and B.ConclusionsThe vertical position of the implant-abutment interface may affect marginal bone level change. Marginal bone loss was significantly greater in cases where the implant-abutment interface was positioned below the marginal bone. Further long-term study is required to validate our results.

·············································································································································································Data was collected for the period 2002 and 2013, from The National Health Insurance Service Health-Examinee Cohort Database, to evaluate the association between periodontal disease (PD) and vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (VED). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models applied to a longitudinal retrospective database assessed the association between PD and VED, while adjusting for confounders of socio-demographic factors (age, household income, insurance status, health status, residence area, and smoking status) and systemic disease (cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, lipid metabolism disturbances, and obesity). The univariate analysis revealed that VED was positively and significantly related to PD (OR = 2.07; 95% CI 1.73-2.49; P < 0.001). This was confirmed in the multivariate analysis, after adjusting for socio-demographic and systemic disease (OR = 1.45; 95% CI 1.21-1.75; P < 0.001). Using information from a longitudinal retrospective cohort database and considering the limitations of this study, we found positive and significant associations between PD and VED. Further studies are required to assess the mechanism underlying the association between PD and VED. KEY WORDS: Cohort, Erectile dysfunction, Periodontal disease 서 론 치주질환은 치조골, 백악질, 치주인대, 치은을 아우르는 치아 주위 조직의 포괄적인 염증성 파괴로 정의되며, 전 세계 인구의 절반 이상이 이환되어 있는 것으로 보고되는 매우 유병률 높은 만성 질환이다[1]. 국내에서는 2015년 현재 치은염 및 치주질환으로 치과에 내원한 외래 환자 수 가 1,300만 명을 넘어섰으며, 외래 질환 중 요양급여지출 총액은 급성 기관지염보다 많은 1조원을 넘어서고 있다. 특히, 2013년 예방 스케일링의 보험 확대 이후, 우리나라 에서의 치주질환의 진단 및 치료에 대한 관심이 지속적으 로 높아지고 있으며, 이에 따라 치과에 내원하여 치주질환 진단을 받고 치료를 받는 환자 수가 연간 평균 16.7%씩 증가하고 있다[2]. 미국국립보건원은 발기부전을 성생활을 영위하는데 있 어서 충분히 발기가 되지 않거나 유지되지 않은 상태로 정 의하였으며, 이러한 상태가 3개월 이상 지속되었을 경우에 일반적인 질환의 의미의 발기부전으로 정의하였다[3]. 전 세계적으로 1억 명 이상의 성인 남성이 경도에서 중증도 에 이르는 발기부전을 가지고 있는 것으로 예상되며, 한국 인에 있어서는 40% 이상의 성인에서 발기부전을 보이는 것으로 보고되었다[4]. 발기부전은 일반적으로 40세 이상 에서 높은 유병률을 보이며, 특히, 40대에서 70대 사이의 남성 중 10% 가까이는 중증의 발기부전을 가지고 있는 것