Cooperation in Highly Automated/Autonomous Transport Systems

Highly automated or autonomous shipping will become an essential part of the modern shipping of the future. This transformation is creating new roles and players in modern shipping. Humans as actors are no longer necessarily on board of a ship. It can also be assumed that this human actor will not work alone, but will have to solve the tasks in a network. In this context, the highly automated or autonomous ships also have the role of an actor with which they must cooperate. In order for the actors to cooperate, they need the support of sophisticated human-AI systems. This paper shows that a methodical approach is necessary to develop cooperation models that can be used as a basis for human-centered development

Ecological Interface Design for efficient Maritime Traffic Supervision

Prior to a voyage, a berth to berth planning is required to ensure safe sailing and also to have the autopilot setup correctly. During a voyage traffic supervision is one of the most safety critical tasks of navigators. Behavior prediction of other vessels based on few information and experience consumes a substantial amount of workload. The continuous increasing maritime traffic makes supervision a challenging task. This contribution elaborates a monitoring interface for maritime traffic supervision based on an Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) as part of an Ecological Interface Design process and compares the AH-driven design improvements with a mathematically derived solution-space design, originally targeted to air traffic observation, and with the current maritime standard HMI, the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECIDS). With the EID design subjects were on average more accurate and faster in identifying an overall critical situation and also more accurate in correctly identifying the most critical vessel if compared to the current state of the art (ECDIS) design

KONECT: Implementation and Extension of a Method for the Development of Safety-Critical Human-Machine Interaction Interfaces

In safety-critical systems, monitoring can be risky, because overlooking or misinterpreting important information can lead to serious consequences. For this purpose, the KONECT method was developed. The method is capable of systematically deriving information visualizations for monitoring tasks in safety-critical systems. We have studied this method and describe planned extensions and implementations of the steps of the KONECT method. In this way, the method offers more possibilities and can be applied more easily by the user

An Integrated Approach for More Efficiency in Maritime Investigations

Abstract: Incidents such as pollution or smuggling occur regularly at sea. These incidents needto be investigated by the responsible authorities in order to minimise consequentialdamage and prosecute those responsible. However, the current procedures used byinvestigators are very ineffective. That is why we have developed a software toolcalled Smart Profiling Engine (SPE). This tool supports investigators in their workand should lead to greater efficiency. In this paper, we present both the tool and astudy design that we will use to evaluate its efficiency compared to the traditionalinvestigation method

Preoperative Risk and the Association between Hypotension and Postoperative Acute Kidney Injury

BACKGROUND: Despite the significant healthcare impact of acute kidney injury, little is known regarding prevention. Single-center data have implicated hypotension in developing postoperative acute kidney injury. The generalizability of this finding and the interaction between hypotension and baseline patient disease burden remain unknown. The authors sought to determine whether the association between intraoperative hypotension and acute kidney injury varies by preoperative risk. METHODS: Major noncardiac surgical procedures performed on adult patients across eight hospitals between 2008 and 2015 were reviewed. Derivation and validation cohorts were used, and cases were stratified into preoperative risk quartiles based upon comorbidities and surgical procedure. After preoperative risk stratification, associations between intraoperative hypotension and acute kidney injury were analyzed. Hypotension was defined as the lowest mean arterial pressure range achieved for more than 10 min; ranges were defined as absolute (mmHg) or relative (percentage of decrease from baseline). RESULTS: Among 138,021 cases reviewed, 12,431 (9.0%) developed postoperative acute kidney injury. Major risk factors included anemia, estimated glomerular filtration rate, surgery type, American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status, and expected anesthesia duration. Using such factors and others for risk stratification, patients with low baseline risk demonstrated no associations between intraoperative hypotension and acute kidney injury. Patients with medium risk demonstrated associations between severe-range intraoperative hypotension (mean arterial pressure less than 50 mmHg) and acute kidney injury (adjusted odds ratio, 2.62; 95% CI, 1.65 to 4.16 in validation cohort). In patients with the highest risk, mild hypotension ranges (mean arterial pressure 55 to 59 mmHg) were associated with acute kidney injury (adjusted odds ratio, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.56). Compared with absolute hypotension, relative hypotension demonstrated weak associations with acute kidney injury not replicable in the validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery demonstrate varying associations with distinct levels of hypotension when stratified by preoperative risk factors. Specific levels of absolute hypotension, but not relative hypotension, are an important independent risk factor for acute kidney injury

Risk of Epidural Hematoma after Neuraxial Techniques in Thrombocytopenic Parturients : A Report from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group

BACKGROUND:: Thrombocytopenia has been considered a relative or even absolute contraindication to neuraxial techniques due to the risk of epidural hematoma. There is limited literature to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma in thrombocytopenic parturients. The authors reviewed a large perioperative database and performed a systematic review to further define the risk of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression in this population. METHODS:: The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database to identify thrombocytopenic parturients who received a neuraxial technique and to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma. Patients were stratified by platelet count, and those requiring surgical decompression were identified. A systematic review was performed, and risk estimates were combined with those from the existing literature. RESULTS:: A total of 573 parturients with a platelet count less than 100,000 mm who received a neuraxial technique across 14 institutions were identified in the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database, and a total of 1,524 parturients were identified after combining the data from the systematic review. No cases of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression were observed. The upper bound of the 95% CI for the risk of epidural hematoma for a platelet count of 0 to 49,000 mm is 11%, for 50,000 to 69,000 mm is 3%, and for 70,000 to 100,000 mm is 0.2%. CONCLUSIONS:: The number of thrombocytopenic parturients in the literature who received neuraxial techniques without complication has been significantly increased. The risk of epidural hematoma associated with neuraxial techniques in parturients at a platelet count less than 70,000 mm remains poorly defined due to limited observations

Risk of Epidural Hematoma after Neuraxial Techniques in Thrombocytopenic Parturients : A Report from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group

BACKGROUND:: Thrombocytopenia has been considered a relative or even absolute contraindication to neuraxial techniques due to the risk of epidural hematoma. There is limited literature to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma in thrombocytopenic parturients. The authors reviewed a large perioperative database and performed a systematic review to further define the risk of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression in this population. METHODS:: The authors performed a retrospective cohort study using the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database to identify thrombocytopenic parturients who received a neuraxial technique and to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma. Patients were stratified by platelet count, and those requiring surgical decompression were identified. A systematic review was performed, and risk estimates were combined with those from the existing literature. RESULTS:: A total of 573 parturients with a platelet count less than 100,000 mm who received a neuraxial technique across 14 institutions were identified in the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group database, and a total of 1,524 parturients were identified after combining the data from the systematic review. No cases of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression were observed. The upper bound of the 95% CI for the risk of epidural hematoma for a platelet count of 0 to 49,000 mm is 11%, for 50,000 to 69,000 mm is 3%, and for 70,000 to 100,000 mm is 0.2%. CONCLUSIONS:: The number of thrombocytopenic parturients in the literature who received neuraxial techniques without complication has been significantly increased. The risk of epidural hematoma associated with neuraxial techniques in parturients at a platelet count less than 70,000 mm remains poorly defined due to limited observations

Association of Overlapping Surgery with Perioperative Outcomes

Importance: Overlapping surgery, in which more than 1 procedure performed by the same primary surgeon is scheduled so the start time of one procedure overlaps with the end time of another, is of concern because of potential adverse outcomes. Objective: To determine the association between overlapping surgery and mortality, complications, and length of surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants: Retrospective cohort study of 66430 operations in patients aged 18 to 90 years undergoing total knee or hip arthroplasty; spine surgery; coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery; and craniotomy at 8 centers between January 1, 2010, and May 31, 2018. Patients were followed up until discharge. Exposures: Overlapping surgery (≥2 operations performed by the same surgeon in which ≥1 hour of 1 case, or the entire case for those <1 hour, occurs when another procedure is being performed). Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality or complications (major: thromboembolic event, pneumonia, sepsis, stroke, or myocardial infarction; minor: urinary tract or surgical site infection) and surgery duration. Results: The final sample consisted of 66430 operations (mean patient age, 59 [SD, 15] years; 31915 women [48%]), of which 8224 (12%) were overlapping. After adjusting for confounders, overlapping surgery was not associated with a significant difference in in-hospital mortality (1.9% overlapping vs 1.6% nonoverlapping; difference, 0.3% [95% CI,-0.2% to 0.7%]; P =.21) or risk of complications (12.8% overlapping vs 11.8% nonoverlapping; difference, 0.9% [95% CI,-0.1% to 1.9%]; P =.08). Overlapping surgery was associated with increased surgery length (204 vs 173 minutes; difference, 30 minutes [95% CI, 24 to 37 minutes]; P <.001). Overlapping surgery was significantly associated with increased mortality and increased complications among patients having a high preoperative predicted risk for mortality and complications, compared with low-risk patients (mortality: 5.8% vs 4.7%; difference, 1.2% [95% CI, 0.1% to 2.2%]; P =.03; complications: 29.2% vs 27.0%; difference, 2.3% [95% CI, 0.3% to 4.3%]; P =.03). Conclusions and Relevance: Among adults undergoing common operations, overlapping surgery was not significantly associated with differences in in-hospital mortality or postoperative complication rates but was significantly associated with increased surgery length. Further research is needed to understand the association of overlapping surgery with these outcomes among specific patient subgroups