Nebojsa Bacanin

Maryam T. Abdulkhaleq, Tarik A. Rashid, Bryar A. Hassan et al.

The Coronavirus, known as COVID-19, which appeared in 2019 in China, has significantly affected global health and become a huge burden on health institutions all over the world. These effects are continuing today. One strategy for limiting the virus's transmission is to have an early diagnosis of suspected cases and take appropriate measures before the disease spreads further. This work aims to diagnose and show the probability of getting infected by the disease according to textual clinical data. In this work, we used five machine learning techniques (GWO_MLP, GWO_CMLP, MGWO_MLP, FDO_MLP, FDO_CMLP) all of which aim to classify Covid-19 patients into two categories (Positive and Negative). Experiments showed promising results for all used models. The applied methods showed very similar performance, typically in terms of accuracy. However, in each tested dataset, FDO_MLP and FDO_CMLP produced the best results with 100% accuracy. The other models' results varied from one experiment to the other. It is concluded that the models on which the FDO algorithm was used as a learning algorithm had the possibility of obtaining higher accuracy. However, it is found that FDO has the longest runtime compared to the other algorithms. The link to the covid 19 models is found here: https://github.com/Tarik4Rashid4/covid19models

Rebin M. Ahmed, Tarik A. Rashid, Polla Fattah et al.

Handwriting recognition is one of the active and challenging areas of research in the field of image processing and pattern recognition. It has many applications that include: a reading aid for visual impairment, automated reading and processing for bank checks, making any handwritten document searchable, and converting them into structural text form, etc. Moreover, high accuracy rates have been recorded by handwriting recognition systems for English, Chinese Arabic, Persian, and many other languages. Yet there is no such system available for offline Kurdish handwriting recognition. In this paper, an attempt is made to design and develop a model that can recognize handwritten characters for Kurdish alphabets using deep learning techniques. Kurdish (Sorani) contains 34 characters and mainly employs an Arabic\Persian based script with modified alphabets. In this work, a Deep Convolutional Neural Network model is employed that has shown exemplary performance in handwriting recognition systems. Then, a comprehensive dataset was created for handwritten Kurdish characters, which contains more than 40 thousand images. The created dataset has been used for training the Deep Convolutional Neural Network model for classification and recognition tasks. In the proposed system, the experimental results show an acceptable recognition level. The testing results reported a 96% accuracy rate, and training accuracy reported a 97% accuracy rate. From the experimental results, it is clear that the proposed deep learning model is performing well and is comparable to the similar model of other languages' handwriting recognition systems.

Tarik A. Rashid, Chra I. Shekho Toghramchi, Heja Sindi et al.

One popular example of metaheuristic algorithms from the swarm intelligence family is the Bat algorithm (BA). The algorithm was first presented in 2010 by Yang and quickly demonstrated its efficiency in comparison with other common algorithms. The BA is based on echolocation in bats. The BA uses automatic zooming to strike a balance between exploration and exploitation by imitating the deviations of the bat's pulse emission rate and loudness as it searches for prey. The BA maintains solution diversity using the frequency-tuning technique. In this way, the BA can quickly and efficiently switch from exploration to exploitation. Therefore, it becomes an efficient optimizer for any application when a quick solution is needed. In this paper, an improvement on the original BA has been made to speed up convergence and make the method more practical for large applications. To conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis between the original BA, the modified BA proposed in this paper, and other state-of-the-art bio-inspired metaheuristics, the performance of both approaches is evaluated on a standard set of 23 (unimodal, multimodal, and fixed-dimension multimodal) benchmark functions. Afterward, the modified BA was applied to solve a real-world job scheduling problem in hotels and restaurants. Based on the achieved performance metrics, the proposed MBA establishes better global search ability and convergence than the original BA and other approaches.

Hardi M. Mohammed, Zrar Kh. Abdul, Tarik A. Rashid et al.

Purpose: The development of metaheuristic algorithms has increased by researchers to use them extensively in the field of business, science, and engineering. One of the common metaheuristic optimization algorithms is called Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO). The algorithm works based on imitation of the wolves' searching and the process of attacking grey wolves. The main purpose of this paper to overcome the GWO problem which is trapping into local optima. Design or Methodology or Approach: In this paper, the K-means clustering algorithm is used to enhance the performance of the original Grey Wolf Optimization by dividing the population into different parts. The proposed algorithm is called K-means clustering Grey Wolf Optimization (KMGWO). Findings: Results illustrate the efficiency of KMGWO is superior to GWO. To evaluate the performance of the KMGWO, KMGWO applied to solve 10 CEC2019 benchmark test functions. Results prove that KMGWO is better compared to GWO. KMGWO is also compared to Cat Swarm Optimization (CSO), Whale Optimization Algorithm-Bat Algorithm (WOA-BAT), and WOA, so, KMGWO achieves the first rank in terms of performance. Statistical results proved that KMGWO achieved a higher significant value compared to the compared algorithms. Also, the KMGWO is used to solve a pressure vessel design problem and it has outperformed results. Originality/value: Results prove that KMGWO is superior to GWO. KMGWO is also compared to cat swarm optimization (CSO), whale optimization algorithm-bat algorithm (WOA-BAT), WOA, and GWO so KMGWO achieved the first rank in terms of performance. Also, the KMGWO is used to solve a classical engineering problem and it is superior

Danial A. Muhammed, Tarik A. Rashid, Abeer Alsadoon et al.

This paper works on one of the most recent pedestrian crowd evacuation models, i.e., "a simulation model for pedestrian crowd evacuation based on various AI techniques", developed in late 2019. This study adds a new feature to the developed model by proposing a new method and integrating it with the model. This method enables the developed model to find a more appropriate evacuation area design, among others regarding safety due to selecting the best exit door location among many suggested locations. This method is completely dependent on the selected model's output, i.e., the evacuation time for each individual within the evacuation process. The new method finds an average of the evacuees' evacuation times of each exit door location; then, based on the average evacuation time, it decides which exit door location would be the best exit door to be used for evacuation by the evacuees. To validate the method, various designs for the evacuation area with various written scenarios were used. The results showed that the model with this new method could predict a proper exit door location among many suggested locations. Lastly, from the results of this research using the integration of this newly proposed method, a new capability for the selected model in terms of safety allowed the right decision in selecting the finest design for the evacuation area among other designs.

Chnoor M. Rahman, Tarik A. Rashid, Abeer Alsadoon et al.

The dragonfly algorithm was developed in 2016. It is one of the algorithms used by researchers to optimize an extensive series of uses and applications in various areas. At times, it offers superior performance compared to the most well-known optimization techniques. However, this algorithm faces several difficulties when it is utilized to enhance complex optimization problems. This work addressed the robustness of the method to solve real-world optimization issues, and its deficiency to improve complex optimization problems. This review paper shows a comprehensive investigation of the dragonfly algorithm in the engineering area. First, an overview of the algorithm is discussed. Besides, we also examined the modifications of the algorithm. The merged forms of this algorithm with different techniques and the modifications that have been done to make the algorithm perform better are addressed. Additionally, a survey on applications in the engineering area that used the dragonfly algorithm is offered. The utilized engineering applications are the applications in the field of mechanical engineering problems, electrical engineering problems, optimal parameters, economic load dispatch, and loss reduction. The algorithm is tested and evaluated against particle swarm optimization algorithm and firefly algorithm. To evaluate the ability of the dragonfly algorithm and other participated algorithms a set of traditional benchmarks (TF1-TF23) were utilized. Moreover, to examine the ability of the algorithm to optimize large-scale optimization problems CEC-C2019 benchmarks were utilized. A comparison is made between the algorithm and other metaheuristic techniques to show its ability to enhance various problems.