Trigger-Based Dexterous Operation with Multimodal Sensors for Soft Robotic Hand

This paper focuses on how to improve the operation ability of a soft robotic hand (SRH). A trigger-based dexterous operation (TDO) strategy with multimodal sensors is proposed to perform autonomous choice operations. The multimodal sensors include optical-based fiber curvature sensor (OFCS), gas pressure sensor (GPS), capacitive pressure contact sensor (CPCS), and resistance pressure contact sensor (RPCS). The OFCS embedded in the soft finger and the GPS series connected in the gas channel are used to detect the curvature of the finger. The CPCS attached on the fingertip and the RPCS attached on the palm are employed to detect the touch force. The framework of TDO is divided into sensor detection and action operation. Hardware layer, information acquisition layer, and decision layer form the sensor detection module; action selection layer, actuator drive layer, and hardware layer constitute the action operation module. An autonomous choice decision unit is used to connect the sensor detecting module and action operation module. The experiment results reveal that the TDO algorithm is effective and feasible, and the actions of grasping plastic framework, pinching roller ball pen and screwdriver, and handshake are executed exactly.

393 Reducing plastic waste in Paeds ED

Aims/Objectives/BackgroundVenepuncture and PVC insertion are common procedures in Children’s ED and often include blood cultures. Opening a universal dressing pack (udp) including a plastic tray, sterile swabs, gloves and 2 plastic sterile field drapes (sfd) is common practice. Our department was making a huge spend on udp’s. We aimed to determine if this was necessary and if we could reduce our plastic waste.Methods/DesignA sample of 8 doctors across all grades demonstrated their set up for both procedures. We replaced udp in the IV trollies with x2 sfd pack (sfdp). Information was disseminated via weekly staff brief. Trollies are restocked each night using attached flashcards which were updated appropriately. The use and costs of dressing packs in ED was determined for April-June 2019. We planned to compare this for April-June 2020.Results/ConclusionsAll clinicians were opening a dressing pack for procedures but 87.5% only used the sfd and swabs. 100% discarded gloves due to inappropriate size and 100% discarded the tray. All staff adopted the new equipment with no problems identified. 3500 udps were being used in dept in 3 months. Udp v sfdp per item costs 32p v 8p, weight 65 g v 30 g. Due to CoVID-19 pandemic the number of ED attendances significantly reduced therefore costs were based on 2019 usage. In 3 months switching from udp to sfd would save £840 and 122.5 kg of refuse weight. Volumes of stocks were reduced from 0.05 m2 to 0.01 m2 for 50 udp v 50 sfdp which aids storage and restocking of IV trollies releasing staff time.We demonstrated a significant reduction in unnecessary plastic waste while also reducing costs and need for storage and restocking whilst maintaining safe practice. This has been rolled out in the neighbouring Clinical Decision Unit with anticipation of being a permanent change in both areas.

Global malmquist index for measuring the economic productivity changes

Data envelopment analysis is a nonparametric method for measuring of the performance of decision-making units—which do not need to have or compute a firm’s production function, which is often difficult to calculate. For any manager, the progress or setback of the thing they manage is important because it makes planning and adoption of future policies for the organization or decision-making unit more rational and scientific. Different methods have been used to calculate the improvements and regressions using Malmquist Index. In this article, we evaluate the units under review in terms of economic efficiency, and the units in terms of spending, production, revenue and profit over several periods, and the rate of improvement or regression of each of these units. Considering the minimal use of resources and consuming less money, generating more revenue, and maximizing profits, the improvement or retreat of the recipient’s decision unit in terms of cost, revenue, and profit was examined by presenting a method based on solving linear programming models using the productivity index is Malmquist and Malmquist Global. Finally, by designing and solving a numerical example, we emphasize and test the applicability of the material presented in this article.

Use of a Mandatory Clinical Decision Unit Reduces Readmission Rates following Total Joint Arthroplasty

Readmission penalties have encouraged the implementation of protocols to reduce readmission rates. We hypothesized that by keeping postoperative patients, who return to the emergency department (ED) in a clinical decision unit (CDU) until being evaluated by the orthopaedic team, there would be a reduction in the readmission rate after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) at our institution. Our institution mandated the use of the CDU for all potential orthopaedic TJA readmissions. A retrospective review of prospectively collected data was performed on 365 patients who presented to the ED after either total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Patients presenting in the year prior to the implementation of the CDU program were compared with patients presenting in the year after implementation. Demographics, length of stay, comorbidities, and 30-day readmission rates were recorded. Additionally, a financial analysis was performed. Overall, for THA and TKA, there were a combined 141 ED visits prior to the implementation of the CDU program and 224 afterward; of these, 40 were readmitted before the CDU program and only 13 were readmitted afterward (p < 0.01). The financial analysis found that the overall 90-day cost for patients in the postoperative period was nearly $800 lower on average (p = 0.027) post-CDU implementation.During the first year of the CDU project at our institution, we significantly reduced the readmission rates following TJA and demonstrated significant cost saving. This is a Level III, prognostic study.

Whose Decision is it Anyways? The Changing Purchasing Patterns of Indian Families

The latest Disney channel commercial for the Indian market depicts the move of Disney from being just a kid's channel to a family channel. This move signals the importance of “Families” in the Indian settings. In the Indian context, family has been traditionally considered an important decision-making unit with respect to purchasing products and services required for the household on a daily basis; however, there have not been in depth studies understanding the family as a decision unit and the changes this unit has witnessed since the opening of economy in 1990s. This article compares and contrasts the changing purchase decision making of millennial generation with their parents. Qualitative interviews are used to gather data for family decision making in addition to exclusive secondary sources of data like research papers, articles, and books on the Indian economy and the Indian family structure. Literature from the field of sociology and political science is also referred to, to understand the socio-political and socio-economic impacts on the consumer.

Reliability and Cost-Benefit Analysis for Two-Stage Intervened Decision-Making Systems with Interdependent Decision Units

This paper deals with a special type of voting systems, called two-stage intervened decision-making systems, in which the decision time of each decision unit will be a random variable and some supervising mechanism is included. A new decision rule is applied to such kind of systems, which makes the decision units become interdependent from each other. The reliability and cost-benefit models are developed. The optimization for the models is discussed and the optimal solution for a special case is also derived. A numerical example for model optimization is presented as well as some model comparison. Even though a specific application is used for model formulation and derivation throughout this paper, the modeling results can be easily modified and applied to many other systems.