Nocturnal bite force during sleep associated bruxism was measured in 10 subjects. Hard acrylic dental appliances were fabricated for the upper and lower dentitions of each subject. Miniature strain-gauge transducers were mounted to the upper dental appliance at the right and left first molar regions. In addition, thin metal plates that contact the strain-gauge transducers were attached to the lower dental appliance. After a 1-week familiarization with the appliances, nocturnal bite force was measured for three nights at the home of each subject. From the 30 recordings, 499 bruxism events that met the definition criteria were selected. The above described system was also used to measure the maximum voluntary bite forces during the daytime. The mean amplitude of detected bruxism events was 22.5 kgf (s.d. 13.0 kgf) and the mean duration was 7.1 s (s.d. 5.3 s). The highest amplitude of nocturnal bite force in individual subjects was 42.3 kgf (15.6-81.2 kgf). Maximum voluntary bite force during the daytime was 79.0 kgf (51.8-99.7 kgf) and the mean ratio of nocturnal/daytime maximum bite force was 53.1% (17.3-111.6%). These data indicate that nocturnal bite force during bruxism can exceed the amplitude of maximum voluntary bite force during the daytime.

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Adaptive tuned vibration absorbers (ATVAs) featuring magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) have attracted considerable research interests because of the advantages of fast response, controllable frequency, and broad working range. Generally, the ATVA uses single layer of MRE sheet, which has some issues such as small oscillator stroke and being effective only on high frequency. In this research, an ATVA which incorporates multilayer MRE sheets was designed and prototyped. Its performance under various scan frequencies was tested on a horizontal vibration platform. A theoretical model was proposed to predict the MRE absorber performance. For the clear demonstration of the advantages of multilayered MRE absorber, two kinds of absorbers with only one layer of MRE were prepared as comparison. The experiments compared the vertical support capability and the tuning frequency range of these two ATVAs, which have clearly highlighted the capabilities of multilayered MRE absorber with larger oscillator stroke (as large as 13.6 mm) and lower working frequencies (as low as 3.2 Hz). The vibration absorption evaluation was conducted by mounting the multilayered MRE absorber on a single-degree-of-freedom system. The results identify that the ATVA with multilayered MREs could work lower than 10 Hz, which is very difficult for the one with single layer MRE. Additionally, the performance of the passive and adaptive tuned laminated MRE absorbers on attenuating a swept frequency vibration are presented, respectively. The ATVA was more effective than the passive absorber over a wide frequency range.

In an attempt to determine the degree of co-activation present in selected cervical muscles during clenching, we instructed 12 male subjects to produce four brief maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) efforts (clenching) in a position of maximum intercuspation. Surface EMG activity was recorded bilaterally from the masseter and sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscles. The contraction level for the SCM during clenching was reported as a percentage of the SCM's maximum activity achieved during maximum neck flexion against resistance. All EMG signals for the masseter and SCM were converted to a true RMS voltage signal and digitized at a 100-Hz sampling rate. Mean peak EMG voltage levels were determined for the activity recorded during each brief MVC task. All subjects demonstrated co-activation of the SCM during strong abrupt clenching efforts. The mean levels (+/- S.D.) of SCM activity were 11.8 +/- 9.6% (right) and 14.2 +/- 9.4% (left) of the MVC capacity. Fifty percent of masseter activity was required to achieve 5% activity of the SCM bilaterally, and there was a progressive development of the SCM co-activation which paralleled the masseter activation.

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of a new magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) by using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a matrix. The base and curing agent of PDMS with a weight ratio of 10:1 were mixed first as the carrying matrix, and then carbonyl iron particles were added to the matrix and stirred sufficiently. The final mixture was placed in a vacuum chamber to eliminate bubbles for 30 min and was moulded later to form membranes of 1 mm thickness. A total of four PDMS based MRE samples, with different weight fractions of 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90%, were fabricated. Their mechanical properties under both steady-state and dynamic loading conditions were tested. The effects of particle composition, magnetic field, strain amplitude and frequency on the MRE effects were summarized. With the increase of iron particle composition, the magnetorheological effects of the samples increase steadily. It is also noted that the initial modulus of the MRE samples shows an increasing trend with the iron particle composition. Additionally, the microstructures of the PDMS based MREs were also observed by a low vacuum scanning electric microscope (LV-SEM). Sendai, Japan AbstractThis paper presents the fabrication and characterisation of a new magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) by using Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a matrix. The base and curing agent of PDMS with a weight ratio of 10:1 were mixed first as the carrying matrix, then carbonyl iron particles were added to the matrix and stirred sufficiently. The final mixture was placed in a vacuum chamber to eliminate bubbles in 30 minutes and was molded later to be membranes at 1mm thickness. A total of four PDMS based MRE samples, with different weight fractions of 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90%, were fabricated. Their mechanical properties under both steady-state and dynamic loading conditions were tested. The effects of particle composition, magnetic field, strain amplitude and frequency on the MRE effects were summarized. With the increase of iron particle composition, the PDMS based MRE samples increase steadily. It is also noted that the initial modulus of the MRE samples shows an increasing trend with the iron particle composition. Additionally, the microstructures of the PDMS based MREs were also observed by a low vacuum scanning electric microscope (LV SEM).