• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.281-286
• /
• 2004

The end-effector is the one of the important factors on development of the cucumber robot to harvester a cucumber. Three end-effectors were designed the single blade end-effector with one blade, the double blade end-effector with two blades and the triple blade end-effector with three blades. Performance tests of the end-effector, the fully integrated system, were conducted to determine the cutting rate by using two different kinds of cucumber. The success rates of cucumber cutting ratio of single end-effector, double end-effector and triple end-effector in laboratory. were 61.7%, 95%, 86.7%, respectively. The cutting rate of single blade or double blade was a little difference with respect to the different diameters of cucumber stem. However, the success cutting rate of the end-effector with triple blade was 61.7% under 29mm diameter of a grabbing stem section. The triple end-effector was not suitable for harvesting a cucumber, but was considered to be suitable for harvesting a grape, an apple and a tomato. The success rate of cucumber cutting ratio of triple end-effectors in greenhouse was 84%. The failure cutting rate was 16% which are due to abnormal shape of cucumber fruit.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2003.10a
• /
• pp.2445-2450
• /
• 2003

Recently, biological technology industry shows great development. Instruments and systems related biological technology have been developed actively. In this paper, we developed a new micro end-effector for biological cell manipulation. The existing micro end-effector for biological cell manipulation has not any force sensing mechanism. Usually, excessive contact force occurring when the end-effector and a cell collide might make a damage on the cell. However, unfortunately, user can not notice the condition in case of using the existing end-effector. In order to overcome we proposed the improved micro end-effector having a force sensing mechanism. This paper presents the design concepts of the new micro end-effector. We carried out calibration of the force sensor and tested the performance of the proposed micro end-effector. Through a series of experiments the new micro end-effector shows the possibility of application for precision biological cell manipulation such as DNA operation

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.125-133
• /
• 2004

We have extended our previous work that cross-linking CD4 molecules using specific MAb induced antigen nonspecific, MHC unrestricted killing of virally infected target cells by CD$4^+$We have extended our previous work that cross-linking CD$4^+$ molecules using specific MAb induced antigen nonspecific, MHC unrestricted killing of virally infected target cells by CD$4^+$ T cells. The killing activity of antibody activated CD$4^+$T cells was completely blocked by herbimycin A, a protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor, but not by bisindolylamaleimide, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. Herbimycin A treated human or bovine peripheral blood CD$4^+$T cells lacked PTK activity and failed to kill virally infected target cells even after cross-linking of CD4 molecules. The CD$4^+$cross-linking failed to induce effector cell proliferation or the transcription of TNF${\beta}$ Upregulation of TNF${\beta}$ was induced by incubating the antibody activated effector cells with BHV-1 infected D17 target cells for 10 h. Anti-TNF${\beta}$ antibody partially abolished (13-44%) the direct effector cell-mediated antiviral cytotoxicity. However, this antibody neutralized 70 to 100% of antiviral activity of effector and target cell culture supernatants against BHV-1 infected D17 cells. The inhibition level of the antiviral activity by the antibody was dependent on the effector and target cell ratio. These results support the hypothesis that increased p$56^ICK enzyme activity in effector cells transduces a signal critical for effector cell recognition of viral glycoproteins expressed on the target cells. Following target cell recognition, lytic cytokines known to participate in target cell killing were produced. A better understanding of the killing activity displayed by CD$4^+$T lymphocytes following surface receptor cross-linking will provide insight into the mechanisms of cytotoxic activity directed toward virally-infected cells.T cells. The killing activity of antibody activated CD$4^+$T cells was completely blocked by herbimycin A, a protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor, but not by bisindolylamaleimide, a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor. Herbimycin A treated human or bovine peripheral blood CD4T cells lacked PTK activity and failed to kill virally infected target cells even after cross-linking of CD4molecules. The CD4 cross-linking failed to induce effector cell proliferation or the transcription of TNF$\beta$. Upregulation of TNF$\beta$ was induced by incubating the antibody activated effector cells with BHV-1 infected D17 target cells for 10 h. Anti-TNF$\beta$ antibody partially abolished (13-44%) the direct effector cell-mediated antiviral cytotoxicity. However, this antibody neutralized 70 to 100% of antiviral activity of effector and target cell culture supernatants against BHV-1 infected D17 cells. The inhibition level of the antiviral activity by the antibody was dependent on the effector and target cell ratio. These results support the hypothesis that increased $56^ICK enzyme activity in effector cells transduces a signal critical for effector cell recognition of viral glycoproteins expressed on the target cells. Following target cell recognition, lytic cytokines known to participate in target cell killing were produced. A better understanding of the killing activity displayed by CD$4^+$T lymphocytes following surface receptor cross-linking will provide insight into the mechanisms of cytotoxic activity directed toward virally-infected cells.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.325-332
• /
• 1997

The use of a robotic transplanter reduces the labor requirement in the greenhouse by carrying out repetitive tasks in an accurate and reliable manner. The transplanter manipulates seedlings by means of end-effector. The end-effector is designed differently from an industrial robot because it manulates biological seedlings of variable size, shape, position, and orientation. This study was conducted to develop an end-effector of a robotic transplanter for bedding plants. The development of an end-effector included selection of the best finger type for the transplanting operation. The performance of developed end-effector was tested and compared with two different transplanting schemes depending on the leaf-orientation consideration. The end-effector developed in this research reliably handled seedlings during transplanting task. Results showed that the shovel type finger was suitable for transplanting with the damaging seedlings.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.78-84
• /
• 2004

To optimize movement of a multi-joint robot arm is known to be a difficult problem, because it is a kind of redundant system. Although the end-effector is set its position by each angle of the joints, the angle of each joint cannot be uniquely determined by the position of the end-effector. There exist the infinite number of different sets of joint angles which represent the same position of the end-effector. This paper describes how to manage the angle of each joint to move its end-effector preferably on an X-Y plane with obstacles in the end-effector’s reachable area, and how to optimize the movement of a multi-joint robot arm, evading obstacles. The definition of “preferable” movement depends upon a purpose of robot operation. First, we divide viewpoints of preference into two, 1) the standpoint of the end-effector, and 2) the standpoint of joints. Then, we define multiple objective functions, and formulate it into a multi-objective programming problem. Finally, we solve it using multi-purpose genetic algorithm, and obtain reasonable results. The method described here is possible to add appropriate objective function if necessary for the purpose.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
• /
• 1999.06a
• /
• pp.14-15
• /
• 1999

The control mechanism of cellular functions has been classified into two modes: one rapid mechanism occurring within minutes by kinetic alterations of effector proteins without changing the number of effector molecules and another slow mechanism occurring over hours and days by changes in the number of effector molecules without kinetic alterations.(omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Simulation Conference
• /
• 1998.10a
• /
• pp.120-123
• /
• 1998

In animating an articulated entity with motion capture data, especially when the reconstruction is based on forward kinematics, there could be large discrepancies at the end effector. The small errors in joint angles tend to be amplified as the forward kinematics positioning progresses toward the end effector. In this paper, we present an algorithm that enhances the motion capture data to reduce positional errors at the end effector. The process is optimized so that the characteristics of the original joint angle data is preserved in the resulting motion. The frames at which the end-effector position needs to be accurate are designated as“keyframes”(e.g. starting and ending frames). In the algorithm, corrections by inverse kinematics are performed at sparse keyframes and they are interpolated with a cubic spline which produces a curve best approximating the measured joint angles. The experiment proves that our algorithm is a valuable tool to improve measured motion especially when end-effector trajectory contains a special goal.

• Proceedings of the Korea Multimedia Society Conference
• /
• 2002.05c
• /
• pp.459-464
• /
• 2002

본 논문에서는 실시간으로 사람의 움직임을 캡쳐한 영상으로부터 추출된 end-effector의 3차원 위치정보를 이용하여 중간관절의 위치를 생성하는 방법에 대해 기술한다. 이 시스템은 동작자의 좌, 우 전방에 위치한 동기화된 2대의 컬러 CCD 카메라로부터 입력된 스테레오 영상을 분석하여 신체의 중심이 되는 루트와 머리, 손, 발과 같은 end-effector의 특징점을 추출하여 3차원 위치정보를 생성한다. 생성된 루트와 end-effector의 위치정보를 역운동학 알고리듬에 적용하고, 인체 관절의 해부학적인 제약조건을 고려하여 중간관절의 위치를 정밀하게 계산한다. 중간관절의 위치를 생성하므로서 동작자의 모든 관절의 움직임 정보를 실시간으로 획득이 가능하며, 모션데이터로 생성할 수 있으므로 게임이나 애니메이션등 다양한 멀티미디어 분야에서 이용할 수 있다.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.43 no.11
• /
• pp.921-934
• /
• 2020

Lck-interacting transmembrane adaptor 1 (LIME) has been previously identified as a raft-associated transmembrane protein expressed predominantly in T and B lymphocytes. Although LIME is shown to transduce the immunoreceptor signaling and immunological synapse formation via its tyrosine phosphorylation by Lck, a Src-family kinase, the in vivo function of LIME has remained elusive in the previous studies. Here we report that LIME is preferentially expressed in effector T cells and mediates chemokine-mediated T cell migration. Interestingly, in LIME^-/- mice, while T cell receptor stimulation-dependent proliferation, differentiation to effector T cells, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) function and regulatory T lymphocyte (Treg) function were normal, only T cell-mediated inflammatory response was significantly defective. The reduced inflammation was accompanied by the impaired infiltration of leukocytes and T cells to the inflammatory sites of LIME^-/- mice. More specifically, the absence of LIME in effector T cells resulted in the reduced migration and defective morphological polarization in response to inflammatory chemokines such as CCL5 and CXCL10. Consistently, LIME^-/- effector T cells were found to be defective in chemokine-mediated activation of Rac1 and Rap1, and dysregulated phosphorylation of Pyk2 and Cas. Taken together, the present findings show that LIME is a critical regulator of inflammatory chemokine-mediated signaling and the subsequent migration of effector T cells to inflammatory sites.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.1023-1030
• /
• 2013

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA), uniquely expressed on gram-positive bacteria, is recognized by Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) on not only antigen-presenting cells but also activated T cells. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that LTA is acting on T cells. However, little is known about the effect of LTA on T-cell regulation. In the present study, we investigated the immunomodulatory effects of LTA on $CD4^+$ T cells. Effector $CD4^+$ T cells, induced after co-culture with S. aureus-pulsed dendritic cells, produced high levels of interferon-${\gamma}$, CD25, CD69, and TLRs 2 and 4. When effector $CD4^+$ T cells were treated with LTA, the expressions of the membrane-bound form of transforming growth factor (TGF)-${\beta}$ and forkhead box P3 increased. Coincidently, the proliferation of effector $CD4^+$ T cells was declined after LTA treatment. When TGF-${\beta}$ signaling was blocked by the TGF-${\beta}$ receptor 1 kinase inhibitor, LTA failed to suppress the proliferation of effector $CD4^+$ T cells. Therefore, the present results suggest that LTA suppresses the activity of effector $CD4^+$ T cells by enhancing TGF-${\beta}$ production.