• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.509-517
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• 2021

Smart materials capable of changing their characteristics in response to stimuli such as light, heat, pH, and electric and magnetic fields are promising for application to flexible electronics, soft robotics, and biomedicine. Compared with conventional rigid materials, these materials are typically composed of soft materials that improve the biocompatibility and allow for large and dynamic deformations in response to external environmental stimuli. Among them, smart magnetic materials are attracting immense attention owing to their fast response, remote actuation, and wide penetration range under various conditions. In this review, we report the material design and fabrication of smart magnetic materials. Furthermore, we focus on recent advances in their typical applications, namely, soft magnetic actuators, sensors for self-assembly, object manipulation, shape transformation, multimodal robot actuation, and tactile sensing.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2005

Purpose : Instead of conventional two-dimensional (2-D) visual stimuli, three-dimensional (3-D) visual stimuli with stereoscopic vision were employed for the study of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (f-MRI). In this paper f-MRI with 3-D visual stimuli is investigated in comparison with f-MRI with 2-D visual stimuli. Materials and Methods : The anaglyph which generates stereoscopic vision by viewing color coded images with red-blue glasses is used for 3-D visual stimuli. Two-dimensional visual stimuli are also used for comparison. For healthy volunteers, f-MRI experiments were performed with 2-D and 3-D visual stimuli at 3.0 Tesla MRI system. Results : Occipital lobes were activated by the 3-D visual stimuli similarly as in the f-MRI with the conventional 2-D visual stimuli. The activated regions by the 3-D visual stimuli were, however, larger than those by the 2-D visual stimuli by $18\%$. Conclusion : Stereoscopic vision is the basis of the three-dimensional human perception. In this paper 3-D visual stimuli were applied using the anaglyph. Functional MRI was performed with 2-D and 3-D visual stimuli at 3.0 Tesla whole body MRI system. The occipital lobes activated by the 3-D visual stimuli appeared larger than those by the 2-D visual stimuli by about $18\%$. This is due to the more complex character of the 3-D human vision compared to 2-D vision. The f-MRI with 3-D visual stimuli may be useful in various fields using 3-D human vision such as virtual reality, 3-D display, and 3-D multimedia contents.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.401-415
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• 2021

Soft robots are promising devices for applications in drug delivery, sensing, and manufacturing. Traditional hard robotics are manufactured with rigid materials and their degrees of motion are constrained by the orientation of the joints. In contrast to rigid counterpart, soft robotics, employing soft and stretchable materials that easily deforms in shape, can realize complex motions (i.e., locomotion, swimming, and grappling) with a simple structure, and easily adapt to dynamic environment. Among them, the magnetic actuators exhibit unique characteristics such as rapid and accurate motion control, biocompatibility, and facile remote controllability, which make them promising candidates for the next-generation soft robots. Especially, the magnetic actuators instantly response to the stimuli, and show no-hysteresis during the recovery process, essential for continuous motion control. Here, we present the state-of-the-art fabrication process of magnetically controllable nano-/micro-composites, magnetically aligning process of the composites, and 1-dimensional/multi-dimensional multimodal motion control for the nextgeneration soft actuators.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.192-196
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• 2013

We have investigated the changes of electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) under pulsed magnetic field (PMF) and acupuncture stimulus on acupoint PC9. In order to compare quantitatively the effect of PMF and acupuncture stimulus, the difference of alpha activities are calculated from EEG spectra, and the spectrum curves of ECG were analyzed in the frequency domain of heart rate variability (HRV). The increase of alpha activities after both stimuli could be explained that the impulse of stimulus on PC9 might pass through sensory nerve following meridian and approach the cerebral cortex, causing the central nervous system (CNS) to be activated for pacifying emotion and calming the mind. The decrease in sympathovagal activity of HRV after both stimuli indicates that parasympathetic nerves were activated and the sympathetic nerves were in constrained condition. These findings suggest that PMF could be patient-friendly alternative non-invasive medical treatment for influencing human physiology, in comparison with acupuncture inserting the needle and inducing nervous and anxious state to subject.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2007

In this study, the researchers evaluate the hypothesis that the reaction time (RT) in the brain is largely dependent on age and gender. The researchers tested English and Korean words using two types: reading as visual stimuli, and listening as auditory stimuli. The E-Prime program installed in functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI) was used. There are 136 Korean subjects in three groups: 30 children (5th and 6th grade elementary school students), 76 young adults (college students), and 30 adults (35-53 years old). In the listening test, the variation for the two languages was different among the three age groups, regardless of gender, whereas the data did not show meaningful differences in the reading test. The findings will provide some meaningful information regarding perception and acquisition of a foreign language.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pulsed magnetic field (PMF) and low frequency low level laser (LFLLL) stimuli on acupoint LI4 (Hegu) using photoplethysmography (PPG). Our PMF system was designed to generate maximum intensity of 0.20 T at a transition time of 0.16 ms, with pulse intervals of 1 Hz. The diode laser with wavelength of 650 nm and power of 5 mW was also employed. It was observed the change of the pulsating blood volume through measuring PPG signals from both hands. These results imply that stimulating acupoint LI4 with PMF and LFLLL improves the circulation of peripheral vascular system. In particular, PMF stimulation brings a big improvement of the blood flow even with short term stimulation of 3-4 minutes compared to LFLLL stimulus.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2002.07c
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• pp.1776-1779
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• 2002

In this paper, we measured the heating time on the key measuring point of the meridian of the human body's left and right by using heating machine. Then, based on the fuzzy theory, this study diagnosed the each meridian's strength and weakness, After that, both the strengthening and weakening stimulus of magnetic field was applied to the dominant direction to find out how the degree of strength and weakness of the meridian changed. Ultimately, the magnetic therapy that can stimulate the magnetic field at the time of diagnosis and thereby balancing the interactive of a five system has been materialized. For the stimulation of magnetic field, a stimulating device which can change the direction and time on a specific part of the key measuring points has been developed and used. The therapeutic method is as follows. first, the strength and weakness of the meridian has been determined. Second, both the extremely weak meridian of Yin(Shade) and Yang(Shine), and the extremely strong meridian of Yin and Yang were adjusted by applying appropriate ascending and descending stimuli respectively.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2020

Objectives: Subjective-objective discrepancy of sleep (SODS) is a common symptom and one of the major phenotypes of insomnia. A distorted perception of sleep deficit might be related to abnormal brain reactivity to insomnia-related stimuli. We aimed to investigate differences in brain activation to insomnia-related stimuli vs. general anxiety-inducing stimuli among insomnia patients with SODS, insomnia patients without SODS, and healthy controls (HCs). Methods: All participants were evaluated for subjective sleep status using a sleep diary and questionnaires; occult sleep disorders and objective sleep status were assessed using polysomnography and actigraphy. Task functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed during insomnia-related stimuli (Ins) and general anxiety-inducing stimuli (Gen). Brain reactivity to Ins versus Gen was compared among insomnia with SODS, insomnia without SODS, and HC groups, and a combined insomnia disorder group (ID, insomnia with and without SODS) was also compared with HCs. Results: In the insomnia with SODS group compared to the insomnia without SODS group, the right precuneus and right supplementary motor areas showed significantly increased BOLD signals in response to Ins versus Gen. In the ID group compared to the HC group, the left anterior cingulate cortex showed significantly increased BOLD signals in response to Ins versus Gen. Conclusion: The insomnia with SODS and ID groups showed higher brain activity in response to Ins versus Gen, while this was not observed in the insomnia without SODS and HC groups, respectively. These results suggest that insomnia patients with sleep misperception are more sensitive to sleep-related threats than general anxiety-inducing threats.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.124-131
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• 2003

Purpose : To reveal clinical usefulness of functional MRI (fMRI) using sensorymotor and language stimuli for demonstrating anatomic relationship between sensorimotor or language cortices and lesions in the planning of brain tumor surgery. Materials and Methods : This study included 12 right-handed patients with brain tumors in or around sensorimotor or language cortices. Eleven patients were evaluated with primary motor and sensory stimuli. Of these patients, six patients were also evaluated with language stimuli. One patient was evaluated with language stimuli only. For fMR imaging, a 1.5T scanner was used and the EPI BOLD technique was employed. For postprocessing image, the SPM99 program and a program made by our department was utilized. We evaluated whether sensorimotor and language stimuli activate sensorimotor and language cortices. And also, clinical efficacy of revealing anatomic relationship between cerebral cortices and lesions for planning neurosurgical operation were evaluated. Finally, we compared post-operative neurologic function with pre-operative neurologic function in same patients. Results : The fMRI examination was successful in identifying the functional cortices and depicting anatomic relationship between functional cortices and lesions in all patients. In nine patients of 11 patients with identified sensorimotor cortices, postoperative grade of manual motor test was not changed, compared with preoperative grade. Whereas postoperative improved than preoperative grade in one patient of remaining two patients, postoperative aggravated than preoperative grade in the other. This result was due to atherosclerotic lacunar infarction, regardless of tumor resection. Postoperative deficit of language function was not found in seven patients with identified language cortices. Conclusion : fMRI could be a helpful method for determining the best approach to neurosurgical treatment in patients with brain tumors in or around sensorimotor or language cortices.

• Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.449-460
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• 2018

Objective: Prior functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) work has revealed that children/adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) show dysfunctional reward/non-reward processing of non-social reinforcements in the context of instrumental learning tasks. Neural responsiveness to social reinforcements during instrumental learning, despite the importance of this for socialization, has not yet been previously investigated. Methods: Twenty-nine healthy children/adolescents and 19 children/adolescents with DBDs performed the fMRI social/non-social reinforcement learning task. Participants responded to random fractal image stimuli and received social and non-social rewards/non-rewards according to their accuracy. Results: Children/adolescents with DBDs showed significantly reduced responses within the caudate and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) to non-social (financial) rewards and social non-rewards (the distress of others). Connectivity analyses revealed that children/adolescents with DBDs have decreased positive functional connectivity between the ventral striatum (VST) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) seeds and the lateral frontal cortex in response to reward relative to non-reward, irrespective of its sociality. In addition, they showed decreased positive connectivity between the vmPFC seed and the amygdala in response to non-reward relative to reward. Conclusion: These data indicate compromised reinforcement processing of both non-social rewards and social non-rewards in children/adolescents with DBDs within core regions for instrumental learning and reinforcement-based decision-making (caudate and PCC). In addition, children/adolescents with DBDs show dysfunctional interactions between the VST, vmPFC, and lateral frontal cortex in response to rewarded instrumental actions potentially reflecting disruptions in attention to rewarded stimuli.