In this paper, a novel computationally intelligent-based electrocardiogram (ECG) signal classification methodology using a deep learning (DL) machine is developed. The focus is on patient screening and identifying patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), which represents a life threatening cardiac arrhythmia. The proposed approach operates with a large volume of raw ECG time-series data as inputs to a deep convolutional neural networks (CNN). It autonomously learns representative and key features of the PAF to be used by a classification module. The features are therefore learned directly from the large time domain ECG signals by using a CNN with one fully connected layer. The learned features can effectively replace the traditional ad hoc and time-consuming user's hand-crafted features. Our experimental results verify and validate the effectiveness and capabilities of the learned features for PAF patient screening. The main advantages of our proposed approach are to simplify the feature extraction process corresponding to different cardiac arrhythmias and to remove the need for using a human expert to define appropriate and critical features working with a large time-series data set. The extensive simulations and case studies conducted indicate that combining the learned features with other classifiers will significantly improve the performance of the patient screening system as compared to an end-to-end CNN classifier. The effectiveness and capabilities of our proposed ECG DL classification machine is demonstrated and quantitative comparisons with several conventional machine learning classifiers are also provided.

Fault diagnosis and prognosis are some of the most crucial functionalities in complex and safety-critical engineering systems, and particularly fault diagnosis, has been a subject of intensive research in the past four decades. Such capabilities allow for detection and isolation of early developing faults as well as prediction of fault propagation, which can allow for preventive maintenance, or even serve as a countermeasure to the possibility of catastrophic incidence as a result of a failure. Following a short preliminary overview and definitions, this article provides a survey of recent research on fault prognosis. Additionally, we report on some of the significant application domains where prognosis techniques are employed. Finally, some potential directions for future research are outlined.

Aircrafts are complex engineering systems composed of many interconnected subsystems with possible uncertainties in their structure. They often function for long number of flight hours under varying or harsh environments. Hence, Prognostic and Health Management (PHM) of critical subsystems or components within the overall system is crucial for maintaining the safety and reliability of the aircraft. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in aircraft failure prognostic. Main definitions and concepts are presented and discussed. In addition, a selected important failures in the representative aircraft components are outlined, and various categories of prognostic strategies are reviewed. Finally, some recommendations and directions for the most promising research to address the PHM problem in aircraft are outlined.