(Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3 (BNT)-based ceramics are considered promising candidates for actuator application owing to their excellent electromechanical strain properties However, to obtain large strain properties, there remain several issues such as thermal stability and high operating fields. Therefore, this study investigates a reduction of operating field in (0.98-x)Bi1/2Na1/ 2TiO3-0.02 BiAlO3-xSrTiO3 (BNT-2BA-100xST, x = 0.20, 0.21, 0.22, 0.23, and 0.24) via analyses of the microstructure, crystal structure, dielectric, polarization, ferroelectric and electromechanical strain properties. The average grain size of BNT-2BA- 100xST ceramics decreases with increasing ST content. Results of polarization and electromechanical strain properties indicate that a ferroelectric to relaxor state transition is induced by ST modification. As a consequence, a large electromechanical strain of 592 pm/V is obtained at a relatively low electric field of 4 kV/mm in 22 mol% ST-modified BNT-2BA ceramics. We believe that the materials synthesized in this study are promising candidates for actuator applications.

Objective : This study examined effect of Dynavision training on visual attention while conducting tasks after a stroke, and performed an eye-tracker analysis.Methods : Across an ABAB single-subject research design, three stroke patients conducted Dynavision training during the intervention period, and the eye-tracker evaluated their visual attention after each session. A visual analysis was conducted using a graph, and the changes in the values were analyzed through two standard deviations and the trend line.Results : The values of eye fixation, eye saccade, and eye scan-path remained high within the two standard deviation band more than twice during the intervention and reversal intervention period. The trend line for the intervention and reversal intervention period was steep. The trend line for the percentage of correct answers on paper was increased during the reversal baseline period. In addition, the trend for the line reversal intervention period was steeper than for the intervention period.Conclusion : Dynavision training after a stroke affected the visual attention while conducting tasks, and an eye-tracker evaluation was more objective than a pencil-paper evaluation.

The effects of high energy ball-milling (HEBM) on the sintering behavior and piezoelectric properties of 0.1 wt% doped 0.8Pb()-0.2Pb() (PMN-PZT) ceramics were investigated. It was found that HEBM treatment was quite effective to reduce the average particle size down to 300 nm, leading to increased density as well as enhanced piezoelectric properties of a sintered specimen even though prolonged HEBM resulted in unwanted secondary phases that caused a degradation of piezoelectric properties. The dielectric constant (), piezoelectric coupling factor () and piezoelectric constant of 0.1 wt% doped PMN-PZT ceramics prepared via HEBM for 10 h reached 2040, 0.68 and 554 pC/N, respectively.

The effects of doping on the crystal structure, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of (K,Na) (KNN) ceramics have been investigated. was found to be effective in enhancing the densification and grain growth during sintering. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that Mn ions substituted B-site Nb ions up to 2 mol%, however, further doping induced unwanted secondary phases. In comparison with undoped KNN ceramics, the well developed microstructure and the substitution to B-sites in 2 mol% Mn-doped KNN ceramics resulted in significant improvements in both piezoelectric coupling coefficient and electromechanical quality factor.