From Pixels to Precision: A Survey of Monocular Visual Odometry in Digital Twin Applications

This survey provides a comprehensive overview of traditional techniques and deep learning-based methodologies for monocular visual odometry (VO), with a focus on displacement measurement applications. This paper outlines the fundamental concepts and general procedures for VO implementation, including feature detection, tracking, motion estimation, triangulation, and trajectory estimation. This paper also explores the research challenges inherent in VO implementation, including scale estimation and ground plane considerations. The scientific literature is rife with diverse methodologies aiming to overcome these challenges, particularly focusing on the problem of accurate scale estimation. This issue has been typically addressed through the reliance on knowledge regarding the height of the camera from the ground plane and the evaluation of feature movements on that plane. Alternatively, some approaches have utilized additional tools, such as LiDAR or depth sensors. This survey of approaches concludes with a discussion of future research challenges and opportunities in the field of monocular visual odometry.

Over the Limits of Traditional Sampling: Advantages and Issues of AICs for Measurement Instrumentation

Data acquisition systems have shown the need of wideband spectrum monitoring for many years. This paper describes and discusses a recently proposed architecture aimed at acquiring efficiently wideband signals, named the Analog-to-Information Converter (AIC). AIC framework and working principle implementing the sub-Nyquist sampling are analyzed in general terms. Attention is specifically focused on the idea of exploiting the condition of the signals that, despite their large bandwidth, have a small information content in the frequency domain. However, as clarified in the paper, employing AICs in measurement instrumentation necessarily entails their characterization, through the analysis of their building blocks and the corresponding non-idealities, in order to improve the signal reconstruction.

Sensors and Measurements for UAV Safety: An Overview

Unmanned aerial vehicles' (UAVs) safety has gained great research interest due to the increase in the number of UAVs in circulation and their applications, which has inevitably also led to an increase in the number of accidents in which these vehicles are involved. The paper presents a classification of UAV safety solutions that can be found in the scientific literature, putting in evidence the fundamental and critical role of sensors and measurements in the field. Proposals from research on each proposed class concerning flight test procedures, in-flight solutions including soft propeller use, fault and damage detection, collision avoidance and safe landing, as well as ground solution including testing and injury and damage quantification measurements are discussed.

ECG Monitoring Based on Dynamic Compressed Sensing of Multi-Lead Signals

This paper presents an innovative method for multiple lead electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring based on Compressed Sensing (CS). The proposed method extends to multiple leads signals, a dynamic Compressed Sensing method, that were previously developed on a single lead. The dynamic sensing method makes use of a sensing matrix in which its elements are dynamically obtained from the signal to be compressed. In this method, for the application to multiple leads, it is proposed to use a single sensing matrix for which its elements are obtained from a combination of multiple leads. The proposed method is evaluated on a wide set of signals and acquired on healthy subjects and on subjects affected by different pathologies, such as myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, and bundle branch block. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method can be adopted for a Compression Ratio (CR) up to 10, without compromising signal quality. In particular, for CR= 10, it exhibits a percentage of root-mean-squared difference average among a wide set of ECG signals lower than 3%.

A Dictionary Optimization Method for Reconstruction of ECG Signals after Compressed Sensing

This paper presents a new approach for the optimization of a dictionary used in ECG signal compression and reconstruction systems, based on Compressed Sensing (CS). Alternatively to fully data driven methods, which learn the dictionary from the training data, the proposed approach uses an over complete wavelet dictionary, which is then reduced by means of a training phase. Moreover, the alignment of the frames according to the position of the R-peak is proposed, such that the dictionary optimization can exploit the different scaling features of the ECG waves. Therefore, at first, a training phase is performed in order to optimize the overcomplete dictionary matrix by reducing its number of columns. Then, the optimized matrix is used in combination with a dynamic sensing matrix to compress and reconstruct the ECG waveform. In this paper, the mathematical formulation of the patient-specific optimization is presented and three optimization algorithms have been evaluated. For each of them, an experimental tuning of the convergence parameter is carried out, in order to ensure that the algorithm can work in its most suitable conditions. The performance of each considered algorithm is evaluated by assessing the Percentage of Root-mean-squared Difference (PRD) and compared with the state of the art techniques. The obtained experimental results demonstrate that: (i) the utilization of an optimized dictionary matrix allows a better performance to be reached in the reconstruction quality of the ECG signals when compared with other methods, (ii) the regularization parameters of the optimization algorithms should be properly tuned to achieve the best reconstruction results, and (iii) the Multiple Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (M-OMP) algorithm is the better suited algorithm among those examined.

The IEEE TC-10 Standards: Update 2019

There is a global need to standardize the terms and the test and computational methods that are used to describe and/or measure the parameters that characterize and define the performance of devices that generate signals and subsequently measure and analyze the waveforms acquired of those signals. This standardization is essential for accurate, reproducible, reliable, and communicable characterization of the performance of these devices, which supports technology and product advancement, product comparison and performance tracking, and device calibration and traceability. Users of the devices need to unambiguously specify the device performance required for particular applications. Manufacturers need to unambiguously state the performance of their devices (e.g., instruments, components, etc.). Metrology facilities need to perform calibrations with well-defined methods to produce reliable data expressed in clear terms. Measurement instruments need to acquire data with well-defined methods and present their results clearly. Technical Committee 10 (TC-10), the Waveform Generation, Measurement, and Analysis Committee of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement (I&M) Society, develops documentary standards to address these needs. The TC-10 comprises an international group of electronics engineers, mathematicians, professors and physicists with representatives from national metrology laboratories, national science laboratories, component manufacturers, the test instrumentation industry, academia, and end users. The published standards developed and maintained by the TC10 include: IEEE Std 181-2011, "Standard on Transitions, Pulses, and Related Waveforms;" IEEE Std 1057-2017, "Standard for Digitizing Waveform Recorders;" IEEE Std 1241-2010, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Analog-to-Digital Converters;" IEEE Std 1658-2011, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Digital-to-Analog Converters;" and the IEEE Std 1696-2013, "Standard for Terminology and Test Methods for Circuit Probes." In development is the IEEE Draft Std. P2414 "Draft Standard for Jitter and Phase Noise." The status of these standards are described herein.

Early-stage fault isolation based on frequency response fitted by small-size samples for cryogenic cold compressors with active magnetic bearings

A model-based method for fault detection and early-stage isolation, applicable when unfaulty conditions can be identified only by a reduced number of trials (even only one), is presented. The basic idea is to model analytically the uncertainty of the unfaulty frequency response and express the fault condition in terms of the noise power variance. A preliminary fault isolation is carried out by sensitivity analysis in order to identify the most influencing model parameters and assess their influence on the estimated noise. Then, during maintenance tests, the noise power is checked to detect the faulty condition. This technique is conceived to check the quality of a critical component in an experimental installation (fault detection and early-stage isolation), as well as to detect its faulty dynamic behaviors over a long horizon maintenance test campaign (condition monitoring). The method was applied to four cold compressors with active magnetic bearings at CERN by proving to be able to detect an actual faulty condition in one of such compressors.

Effect of digoxin on the somatotroph responsiveness to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) alone or combined with arginine in normal young volunteers

BACKGROUND

The activity of the GH/IGF-I axis, known to play a major role in myocardial structure and function, has been reported to be altered in patients with chronic heart failure.

AIM AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY

In order to evaluate the possibility that clinically used cardioactive drugs may exert neuroendocrine influences on somatotroph secretion, we studied the effects of pretreatment with enalapril (20 mg/day orally for 3 days), furosemide (20 mg i.v. as a bolus at -5 minutes) or digoxin (0.25 mg orally 4x/day for 3 days) on the GH response to growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) (1.0 microg/ kg i.v. as a bolus at 0 minutes) in 12 healthy male adults (age [mean +/- SEM] 30.2 +/- 1.4 years; BMI 22.7 +/- 0.7 kg/ m2). In a subgroup of 8 subjects the same study was performed testing the GH response to GHRH + arginine (ARG; 0.5 g/kg i.v. from 0 to + 30 minutes). RESULTS The GH response to GHRH (1,304.1 +/- 248-5 microg/l/h) was not modified by enalapril (1,368.7 +/- 171.2 microg/l/h) or by furosemide (1,269.3 +/- 185.2 microg/l/h) but was significantly blunted by digoxin (613.6 +/- 73.2 microg/l/h, P < 0.05). On the other hand digoxin, enalapril and furosemide did not modify the GH response to GHRH +ARG.

CONCLUSIONS

Digoxin, but not enalapril or furosemide, inhibits the GH response to GHRH in normal subjects. The blunting effect of digoxin on the GHRH-induced GH response is counteracted by arginine. These findings show that digoxin possesses an inhibitory effect on somatotroph secretion that may be mediated at the hypothalamic level.

Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy show reduction of the somatotroph responsiveness to GHRH both alone and combined with arginine

OBJECTIVE

Altered function of the GH/IGF-I axis in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) has been reported. In fact, DCM patients show reduction of IGF-I levels, which could reflect slight peripheral GH resistance or, alternatively, reduced somatotroph secretion. Spontaneous GH secretion has been reported to be altered by some but not by other authors, whereas the GH response to GHRH, but not that to GH-releasing peptides, seems reduced in DCM patients. On the other hand, it is well known that the GH response to GHRH in humans is markedly potentiated by arginine (ARG), which probably acts via inhibition of hypothalamic somatostatin release; in fact the GHRH+ARG test is known as one of the most reliable to evaluate the maximal secretory capacity of somatotroph cells.

METHODS

In order to further clarify the somatotroph function in DCM, in well-nourished patients with DCM (34 male, 4 female; age (mean+/-s.e. m.) 57.8+/-1.1 years; body mass index (BMI) 24.6+/-0.6kg/m(2); left ventricular ejection fraction 23.2+/-1.6%; New York Heart Association classification I/1, II/17, III/18, IV/2) we studied the GH response to GHRH (1.0 microgram/kg i.v.) alone or combined with ARG (0.5g/kg i.v.). The results in DCM patients were compared with those in age-matched control subjects (CS) (39 male, 7 female; age 58.9+/-1.0 years; BMI 23.2+/-0.3kg/m(2)).

RESULTS

Mean IGF-I levels in DCM patients were lower than in CS (144.3+/-6.9 vs 175.1+/-8. 4 microgram/l, P<0.05) whereas basal GH levels were similar in both groups (1.7+/-0.3 vs 1.7+/-0.3 microgram/l). The GH response to GHRH in DCM patients was lower (P<0.05) than that in CS (GH peak 6.5+/-1.2 vs 10.7+/-2.1 microgram/l). In both groups the GH response to GHRH+ARG was higher (P<0.001) than that to GHRH alone. However, the GH response to GHRH+ARG in DCM patients remained clearly lower (P<0.01) than that in CS (18.3+/-3.2 vs 34.1+/-4.6 microgram/l). The GH response to GHRH alone and combined with ARG was not associated with the severity of the disease.

CONCLUSION

DCM patients show blunted GH responses to GHRH both alone and combined with ARG. Evidence that ARG does not restore the GH response to GHRH in DCM patients makes it unlikely that the somatotroph hyporesponsiveness to the neurohormone reflects hyperactivity of hypothalamic somatostatinergic neurons.