Machine Learning for Soft Robot Sensing and Control: A Tutorial Study

Developing feedback controllers for robots with embedded sensors is challenging and typically requires expert knowledge. As machine learning (ML) advances, the development of learning-based controllers has become more and more accessible, even to non-experts. This work presents the development of a tutorial to educate non-roboticists about ML-based sensing and control in cyber-physical systems using a soft robotic device. We demonstrated this by creating a recurrent neural network-based closed-loop force controller for a soft finger with embedded soft sensors. Our hypothesis is validated in a 2.5-hour workshop session for students with no prior knowledge of robot control. This work serves as a tutorial for participants aiming to experience and perform a general benchmark for soft robot control tasks, with little or even no expertise in robotics

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Cockroaches Probably Cleaned Up after Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs undoubtedly produced huge quantities of excrements. But who cleaned up after them? Dung beetles and flies with rapid development were rare during most of the Mesozoic. Candidates for these duties are extinct cockroaches (Blattulidae), whose temporal range is associated with herbivorous dinosaurs. An opportunity to test this hypothesis arises from coprolites to some extent extruded from an immature cockroach preserved in the amber of Lebanon, studied using synchrotron X-ray microtomography. 1.06% of their volume is filled by particles of wood with smooth edges, in which size distribution directly supports their external pre-digestion. Because fungal pre-processing can be excluded based on the presence of large particles (combined with small total amount of wood) and absence of damages on wood, the likely source of wood are herbivore feces. Smaller particles were broken down biochemically in the cockroach hind gut, which indicates that the recent lignin-decomposing termite and cockroach endosymbionts might have been transferred to the cockroach gut upon feeding on dinosaur feces

On the \u27creaminess\u27 in the plumage of Ducula bicolor (Scopoli)

Volume: 86Start Page: 162End Page: 16

A Catalogue of the Birds in the Collection of the Bombay Natural History Society. 7. Scolopacinae (Part), Phalaropinae, Rostratulidae, Recurvirostridae, Dromadidae, Burhinidae, Glareolidae, Stercorariidae, Laridae

Volume: 67Start Page: 279End Page: 29

The Movements of the Rosy Pastor in India

Volume: 46Start Page: 704End Page: 70

A CATALOG OF THE BIRDS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INDIA 25. MUSCICAPIDAE

Volume: 79Start Page: 336End Page: 36

Notes on Indian Birds. 5-The Races of Apus Affinis (J. E. Gray) in the Indian Region

Volume: 62Start Page: 521End Page: 52

A Catalogue of the Birds in the Collection of the Bombay India Natural History Society 2 Anseriformes Anatidae Ducks Geese Swans

Volume: 65Start Page: 418End Page: 43

An Account of a Trip To the Barapede Cave, Talewadi, Belgaum District, Mysore State, with Some Notes on Reptiles and Amphibians

Volume: 59Start Page: 228End Page: 23