Development of a Robot Arm Link System Embedded with a Three-Axis Sensor with a Simple Structure Capable of Excellent External Collision Detection.

In order to effectively detect the contact state between the operator and the collaborative robot, a sensor with excellent external force detection performance is needed. The existing force/torque sensor and joint torque sensor, which are the two main external force sensors methods in cooperative robots, have limitations; only the force exerted at the end effector is detected, and it induces a low stiffness in the overall structure which affects the control performance. In the case of sensorless collision detection methods that utilize the current sensor that is used for motor control, the estimation of the performance of external force is sensitive to the sensor noise and dynamic model accuracy only to the extent that it can be used for collision detection. In this paper, we propose a strain gauge-based three-axis sensor of a cylindrical shape, which is often used as a link in a robot. By integrating sensors with robot links, the external force can be precisely measured without compromising the stiffness and is decoupled with joint disturbances, such as motor friction. Sensor calibration is conducted using static load evaluation equipment, and the reliability of collision detection is confirmed by comparing the theoretical/structural analysis results. Through the weight test and sensor characteristic evaluation, the performance and output stability are validated.

Artificial Neural Network enabling Clinically Meaningful Biological Image Data Generation.

Biological experiments for developing efficient cancer therapeutics require significant resources of time and costs particularly in acquiring biological image data. Thanks to recent advances in AI technologies, there have been active researches in generating realistic images by adapting artificial neural networks. Along the same lines, this paper proposes a learning-based method to generate images inheriting biological characteristics. Through a statistical comparison of tumor penetration metrics between generated images and real images, we have shown that forged micrograph images contain vital characteristics to analyze tumor penetration performance of infecting agents, which opens up the promising possibilities for utilizing proposed methods for generating clinically meaningful image data.

The fixation of living skin equivalents.

Histologic evaluations and immunohistochemical characterizations are important in studies of artificial organs such as skin equivalents. However, tissue compact organization is not easy to obtain when the artificial organ is constructed in vitro. Thus, appropriate fixation methods must be selected according to the compactness of the artificial organ and tissue engineering methodologies. The effects of several fixatives-Carnoy, Bouin's solution, formalin, paraformaldehyde, and paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde-were examined to select the best fixation method for preserving the structural and molecular markers of skin equivalents. Formalin-based fixatives ware found to be relatively free of the histologic problems (e.g., tissue shrinkage, poor structural preservation, weak stainability, and nonspecific immunolocalization) presented by the soft tissue fixatives (i.e., Carnoy or Bouin's solution). Unfortunately, the standard concentration of formalin induced detachment of epidermis from dermis, but this was prevented by reducing the concentration of the fixative. These findings suggest that fixation procedures should be selected for particular tissue and specific goals; in particular, they show that the paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde combination performed best in terms of preserving the histologic features of skin equivalents.

Involvement of ERK AND p38 MAP kinase in AAPH-induced COX-2 expression in HaCaT cells.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) appears to play an important role in inflammation and carcinogenesis, and 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) is a hydrophilic azo compound known to generate free radicals. Because reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to elevate COX-2 expression, we evaluated the effect of AAPH on the expression of COX-2 in a human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. When cells were exposed to AAPH, marked COX-2 induction was observed. To clarify the signaling mechanism involved, we next investigated the effects of AAPH upon three major subfamilies of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). AAPH caused an increase in the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK). Furthermore, we found that PD98059, an ERK pathway inhibitor, and SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, diminished AAPH-induced COX-2 expression and PGE(2) production, whereas JNK inhibitor did not suppress COX-2 expression or PGE(2) production by AAPH. These findings suggest that the ERK and p38 MAPK pathways, but not the JNK pathway, are involved in AAPH-induced inflammatory progression. In addition, we found that both the water-soluble Vitamin E derivative, Trolox, and the green tea constituent, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), diminished AAPH-induced COX-2 expression and p38 activation.