In the efforts to mitigate the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the European sea borders, this work builds detection capabilities to help find refugee boats in distress. For this paper, we collected dual-pol and quad-pol synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data over a 12 m rubber inflatable in a test-bed lake near Berlin, Germany. To consider a real scenario, we prepared the vessel so that its backscattering emulated that of a vessel fully occupied with people. Further, we collected SAR imagery over the ocean with different sea states, categorized by incidence angle and by polarization. These were used to emulate the conditions for a vessel located in ocean waters. This setup enabled us to test nine well-known vessel-detection systems (VDS), to explore the capabilities of new detection algorithms and to benchmark different combinations of detectors (detector fusion) with respect to different sensor and scene parameters (e.g., the polarization, wind speed, wind direction and boat orientation). This analysis culminated in designing a system that is specifically tailored to accommodate different situations and sea states. Keywords: polarimetry (PolSAR); constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detector; polarimetric detector; sub-look detector; vessel-detection system (VDS); ship detection; synthetic aperture radar (SAR); disaster mitigation, refugee boat
Im Rahmen der Bemühungen zur Linderung der anhaltenden humanitären Krise an den europäischen Seegrenzen zielt diese Arbeit darauf ab, Detektionskapazitäten zu schaffen, die beim Auffinden von in Seenot geratenen Flüchtlingsbooten helfen. Für diese Studie wurden SAR-Daten (Synthetic Aperture Radar) im Dual-Pol- und Quad-Pol-Modus von einem 12 Meter langen Schlauchboot auf einem Testgewässer bei Berlin (Deutschland) erfasst. Um ein realistisches Szenario abzubilden, wurde das Boot so präpariert, dass sein Rückstreuverhalten dem eines voll mit Personen besetzten Bootes entsprach. Zudem wurden SAR-Aufnahmen über offener See bei unterschiedlichem Seegang sowie verschiedenen Einfallswinkeln und Polarisationen gesammelt. Diese dienten dazu, die Bedingungen für ein auf hoher See befindliches Boot zu simulieren. Dieser Versuchsaufbau ermöglichte es, neun etablierte Systeme zur Schiffserkennung (VDS) zu testen, die Leistungsfähigkeit neuer Detektionsalgorithmen zu untersuchen und verschiedene Kombinationen von Detektoren (Detektorfusion) hinsichtlich unterschiedlicher Sensor- und Szenenparameter (z. B. Polarisation, Windgeschwindigkeit, Windrichtung und Bootsausrichtung) zu vergleichen. Die Analyse mündete in der Entwicklung eines Systems, das speziell auf unterschiedliche Einsatzbedingungen und Seegangsverhältnisse zugeschnitten ist. Schlagwörter: Polarimetrie (PolSAR); CFAR-Detektor (Constant False Alarm Rate); polarimetrischer Detektor; Sub-Look-Detektor; Schiffserkennungssystem (VDS); Schiffserkennung; Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR); Katastrophenbewältigung; Flüchtlingsboot [Mit KI übersetzt]
31st European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks, Computational Intelligence and Machine Learning 2023 (2023), Seite 263-268 1 Online-Ressource (712 Seiten)
von Navid Farassat ; Daniel Böhringer ; Sebastian Küchlin ; Fanni E. Molnár ; Anne Schwietering ; Dorina Seger ; Martin J. Hug ; Anja-Birte Knöbel ; Sabine Schneider-Fuchs ; Gabriele Ihorst ; Bettina Kathrin Wabbels ; Christina Beisse ; Focke Ziemssen ; Frank Schüttauf ; Andrea Martina Hedergott ; Theresia Ring-Mangold ; Claudia Schuart ; Armin Wolf ; Stefanie Schmickler ; Julia Biermann ; Philipp Eberwein ; Karsten Hufendiek ; Anja Eckstein ; Gabriele Gusek-Schneider ; Michael Peter Schittkowski ; Thomas Lischka ; Wolf A. Lagrèze
Clinical trials; Medical ophthalmology; OPHTHALMOLOGY; Paediatric ophthalmology
Introduction Myopia is a major cause of degenerative eye disease and increases the risk of secondary visual impairment. Mitigating its progression therefore has great potential of clinically relevant benefit as shown by using highly diluted atropine eye drops in children of Asian origin. However, limited evidence is available regarding the efficacy and safety of low-dose atropine therapy in non-Asian populations. Hence, the Low-dose AtropIne for Myopia Control in Children (AIM) study will test the efficacy and safety of 0.02% atropine vs placebo in a German population. - Methods and analysis AIM is a national, multicentre, prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with two parallel arms. The primary objective is to assess the efficacy of atropine 0.02% eyedrops for myopia control in children of Caucasian origin. The primary outcome is the change in cycloplegic refraction after 1 year of treatment (D/year). Secondary and tertiary outcome measures comprise the change in axial length (mm/year) in children treated with 0.02% atropine compared with placebo, the myopic progression of participants treated with 0.01% compared with 0.02% atropine (D/year and mm/year), and the safety profile of both 0.02% and 0.01% atropine. Furthermore, the myopic progression 1 year after cessation of therapy with 0.02% atropine will be evaluated. Inclusion criteria are an age of 8-12 years and myopia of −1 D to −6 D with an estimated annual myopia progression of ≥0.5 D. After randomisation, patients will receive either atropine 0.02% (arm A) or placebo eye drops (arm B) in the first year of treatment. In the second year, they will continue to receive atropine 0.02% (arm A) or switch to atropine 0.01% (arm B). In the third year, they will switch to placebo (arm A) or continue with atropine 0.01% (arm B). To achieve a statistical power of 80%, the calculated sample size is 300. The trial has started in October 2021 with a planned recruitment period of 18 months. - Ethics and dissemination AIM has been approved by the Central Ethics Committee of the University Medical Center Freiburg (21-1106), local ethics committees of each participating centre and the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (61-3910-4044659). It complies with the Declaration of Helsinki, local laws and ICH-GCP. Results and underlying data from this trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. - Trial registration number NCT03865160.
BMJ open London : BMJ Publishing Group, 2011 13(2023), 4, Artikel-ID e068822, Seite 1-11 Online-Ressource
Lithium is regarded as the first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), a severe and disabling mental health disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide. Nevertheless, lithium is not consistently effective, with only 30% of patients showing a favorable response to treatment. To provide personalized treatment options for bipolar patients, it is essential to identify prediction biomarkers such as polygenic scores. In this study, we developed a polygenic score for lithium treatment response (Li+PGS) in patients with BD. To gain further insights into lithium’s possible molecular mechanism of action, we performed a genome-wide gene-based analysis. Using polygenic score modeling, via methods incorporating Bayesian regression and continuous shrinkage priors, Li+PGS was developed in the International Consortium of Lithium Genetics cohort (ConLi+Gen: N = 2367) and replicated in the combined PsyCourse (N = 89) and BipoLife (N = 102) studies. The associations of Li+PGS and lithium treatment response — defined in a continuous ALDA scale and a categorical outcome (good response vs. poor response) were tested using regression models, each adjusted for the covariates: age, sex, and the first four genetic principal components. Statistical significance was determined at P < 0.05. Li+PGS was positively associated with lithium treatment response in the ConLi+Gen cohort, in both the categorical (P = 9.8 × 10−12, R2 = 1.9%) and continuous (P = 6.4 × 10−9, R2 = 2.6%) outcomes. Compared to bipolar patients in the 1st decile of the risk distribution, individuals in the 10th decile had 3.47-fold (95%CI: 2.22-5.47) higher odds of responding favorably to lithium. The results were replicated in the independent cohorts for the categorical treatment outcome (P = 3.9 × 10−4, R2 = 0.9%), but not for the continuous outcome (P = 0.13). Gene-based analyses revealed 36 candidate genes that are enriched in biological pathways controlled by glutamate and acetylcholine. Li+PGS may be useful in the development of pharmacogenomic testing strategies by enabling a classification of bipolar patients according to their response to treatment.