To produce surface plasmons, silver nanostructures were fabricated using a thermal evaporation method and the surface plasmon wavelength was tuned via an annealing. These nanostructures were located between the indium tin oxide (ITO) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy thiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) for the coupling of the surface plasmon resonance with organic fluorophores. To prevent the quenching of emission, spacer was placed between the light emitting polymers and the ITO substrate. As a result, the authors were able to observe an increase in photoluminescence of conjugated polymers using the silver nanostructures.
ObjectivesBisphosphonates (BP) are widely used in medicine for inhibiting bone resorption; however bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a major side effect of BP. To date, there have been no specific reports on the incidence of BRONJ among Koreans. This study investigated the preliminary results from a nationwide survey of BRONJ in the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) at individual training hospitals.Materials and MethodsA total of 15 OMFS departments (10 from dental schools, 4 from medical schools, and 1 from a dental hospital) participated in a multi-centric survey. This study assessed every BRONJ case diagnosed between January 2010 and December 2010. The patient age and BP type were evaluated.ResultsA total of 254 BRONJ cases were collected. The majority of BRONJ cases were associated with oral BP therapy, while 21.8% of the cases were associated with intravenous administration. Alendronate was the drug most frequently related to BRONJ (59.2% of cases), followed by risedronate (14.3%) and zolendronate (17.0%). The average age of BRONJ patients was 70.0±10.1 years, with a range of 38-88 years of age. With the number of BP patients in Korea reported to be around 600,000 in 2008, the estimated incidence of BRONJ is at least 0.04% or 1 per 2,300 BP patients.ConclusionThe results suggest that the estimated incidence of BRONJ in Korea is higher than the incidence of other countries. Future prospective studies should be carried out to investigate the exact epidemiological characteristics of BRONJ in Korea.
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