Case Report: Digital analysis of occlusion with T-Scan Novus in occlusal splint treatment for a patient with bruxism

Bruxism is a disease with a multifactorial etiology. Its clinical manifestations are most often an unaesthetic smile with abraded tooth surfaces, temporomandibular disorders and muscle hyperactivity. Here we present a case of bruxism where proper articulation of the occlusal splint was performed using the T-scan Novus system. A patient with bruxism underwent treatment with stabilization splint made by 3D printer technology. Intraoral scanning was performed using Trios Color (3Shape, 2014), and the digital design was achieved using the 3Shape Dental system design - splint studio. Formlabs Form 2 printer with biocompatible resin Dental LT Clear Resin was used for printing. The T-Scan Novus system with software attached to it, version 9.1, was used for digital examination of the occlusion. A 2.7 mm thick occlusal splint was developed, and the software adapted the occlusion with antagonists. After adjustment with T-Scan Novus, a reduction in disocclusion time of the patient was achieved, which is a desired result in the treatment of bruxism. The position of the joint components was proven radiologically. The treatment of bruxism with splint therapy continues to be the main method of treatment. Using digital technology allows for more accurate constructions and precise balancing of occlusal relationships.

A Stable 4-Bit ALU Design for Printed Devices

Printed devices fabricated using roll-to-roll (R2R) printing technology have been used in low-cost Internet of Things (IoTs), smart packaging and bio-chips. As the area of applications of printed devices broadens, arithmetic units in digital design need to be implemented. In this paper, we propose a stable 4-bit arithmetic logic unit (ALU) design using a minimum number of transistors that can overcome the limitations of printed devices. We propose the use of a 2:1 transmission gate (TG) multiplexer (MUX) structure and hybrid 16T full-adder to construct the ALU. New design methods are applied to reduce the number of inverter stages added to overcome the voltage degradation. Using this approach reduces the total number of transistors used in the design from 276 to 153, compared to the conventional design, with significant improvements in delay and power performance.

Hapticity in Digital Education Atmosphere

This article focuses on the effects of the decreased ability to perceive touch in distance learning for all of the actors in architectural design studios during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As part of face-to-face architectural pedagogy, the tactile experience of architectural materials, models, and corporeality in the studio environment assumes great importance. However, in contrast, these aspects are diminished when it comes to digital education, generating new topics for discussion. This article asks how and to what extent distance education models can affect the process of learning, understanding, discussing, and designing architecture, amidst the prospect of continuous digital education in the post-pandemic period. Hence, it examines the awareness and experiences of haptic perception of first-year students at the Istanbul Aydın University Department of Architecture through in-depth interviews recorded on Zoom. Between 2020 and 2021, the interviews investigated haptic perception, observed construction techniques, factors affecting design materials, the way and place in which materials were perceived, the methods of sharing and transferring designs with studio instructors, questions about the obstacles encountered, and expectations for the post-pandemic period. The outcomes of these in-depth interviews showed that there is a close relationship between the students’ bodily interests and their awareness with regards to perceiving materials and that the former indicated a tendency towards making models. It was observed that students had preferred digital design tools in the pre-pandemic period, and in addition to the digital tools that students often use as a design approach, they negotiated as designing through hand-drawing in order to gain the “thinking with one’s hands” experience in this study. This emphasizes the need for haptic experiences in an architectural educational environment.

A Simulation-Based Digital Design Methodology for Studying Conjugate Heat Transfer in Tundish

The successful design of refractory lining for a tundish is critical due to the demand of superheat control, improvement of steel cleanliness and reduction in material cost during continuous casting. A design of experiment analysis, namely, the Taguchi method, was employed to analyze two-dimensional heat transfer through refractory linings of a single-strand tundish, with the consideration of the thickness and the thermal conductivity of lining materials. In addition, a three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer model was applied in the tundish, taking in account the molten steel flow and heat conduction in the linings. A special focus of this study was to demonstrate the analysis methodology of combining Taguchi and CFD modelling to explore lining design in terms of thickness and thermal conductivity for the given process conditions during tundish operations.