Volume 20, Issue 2

Kinship (Familial relationships) detection is crucial in many fields and has applications in biometric security, adoption, forensic investigations, and more. It is also essential during wars and natural disasters like earthquakes since it may aid in reunion, missing person searches, establishing emergency contacts, and providing psychological support. The most common method of determining kinship is DNA analysis which is highly accurate. Another approach, which is noninvasive, uses facial photos with computer vision and machine learning algorithms for kinship estimation. Each part of the Human -body has its own embedded information that can be extracted and adopted for identification, verification, or classification of that person. Kinship recognition is based on finding traits that are shared by every family. We investigate the use of hand geometry for kinship detection, which is a new approach. Because of the available hand image Datasets do not contain kinship ground truth; therefore, we created our own dataset. This paper describes the tools, methodology, and details of the collected MKH, which stands for the Mosul Kinship Hand, images dataset. The images of MKH dataset were collected using a mobile phone camera with a suitable setup and consisted of 648 images for 81 individuals from 14 families (8 hand situations per person). This paper also presents the use of this dataset in kinship prediction using machine learning. Google MdiaPipe was used for hand detection, segmentation, and geometrical key points finding. Handcraft feature extraction was used to extract 43 distinctive geometrical features from each image. A neural network classifier was designed and trained to predict kinship, yielding about 93% prediction accuracy. The results of this novel approach demonstrated that the hand possesses biometric characteristics that may be used to establish kinship, and that the suggested method is a promising way as a kinship indicator.

Many technical approaches were implemented in the antenna manufacturing process to maintain the desired miniaturization of the size of the antenna model which can be employed in various applied systems such as medical communication systems. Furthermore, over the past several years, nanotechnology science has rapidly grown in a wide variety of applications, which has given rise to novel ideas in the design of antennas based on nanoscale merits, leading to the use of antennae as an essential linkage between the human body and the different apparatus of the medical communication system. Some medical applications dealt with different antenna configurations, such as microstrip patch antenna or optical nanoantenna in conjugate with sensing elements, controlling units, and monitoring instruments to maintain a specified healthcare system. This study summarizes and presents a brief review of the recent applications of antennas in different medical communication systems involving highlights, and drawbacks with explores recommended issues related to using antennas in medical treatment.

Hand gesture recognition is a quickly developing field with many uses in human-computer interaction, sign language recognition, virtual reality, gaming, and robotics. This paper reviews different ways to model hands, such as vision-based, sensor-based, and data glove-based techniques. It emphasizes the importance of accurate hand modeling and feature extraction for capturing and analyzing gestures. Key features like motion, depth, color, shape, and pixel values and their relevance in gesture recognition are discussed. Challenges faced in hand gesture recognition include lighting variations, complex backgrounds, noise, and real-time performance.
Machine learning algorithms are used to classify and recognize gestures based on extracted features. The paper emphasizes the need for further research and advancements to improve hand gesture recognition systems’ robustness, accuracy, and usability. This review offers valuable insights into the current state of hand gesture recognition, its applications, and its potential to revolutionize human-computer interaction and enable natural and intuitive interactions between humans and machines. In simpler terms, hand gesture recognition is a way for computers to understand what people are saying with their hands. It has many potential applications, such as allowing people to control computers without touching them or helping people with disabilities communicate. The paper reviews different ways to develop hand gesture recognition systems and discusses the challenges and opportunities in this area.

With the rapid development of multimedia technology, securing the transfer of images becomes an urgent matter. Therefore, designing a high-speed/secure system for color images is a real challenge. A nine-dimensional (9D) chaotic-based digital/optical encryption schem is proposed for double-color images in this paper. The scheme consists of cascaded digital and optical encryption parts. The nine chaotic sequences are grouped into three sets, where each set is responsible for encryption one of the RGB channels independently. One of them controls the fusion, XOR operation, and scrambling-based digital part. The other two sets are used for controlling the optical part by constructing two independent chaotic phase masks in the optical Fourier transforms domain. A denoising convolution neural network (DnCNN) is designed to enhance the robustness of the decrypted images against the Gaussian noise. The simulation results prove the robustness of the proposed scheme as the entropy factor reaches an average of 7.997 for the encrypted color lena-baboon images with an infinite peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) for the decrypted images. The designed DnCNN operates efficiently with the proposed encryption scheme as it enhances the performance against the Gaussian noise, where the PSNR of the decrypted Lena image is enhanced from 27.01 dB to 32.56 dB after applying the DnCNN.

Multiplication-accumulation (MAC) operation plays a crucial role in digital signal processing (DSP) applications, such as image convolution and filters, especially when performed on floating-point numbers to achieve high-level of accuracy. The performance of MAC module highly relies upon the performance of the multiplier utilized. This work offers a distinctive and efficient floating-point Vedic multiplier (VM) called adjusted-VM (AVM) to be utilized in MAC module to meet modern DSP demands. The proposed AVM is based on Urdhva-Tiryakbhyam-Sutra (UT-Sutra) approach and utilizes an enhanced design for the Brent-Kung carry-select adder (EBK-CSLA) to generate the final product. A (6*6)-bit AVM is designed first, then, it is extended to design (12*12)-bit AVM which in turns, utilized to design (24*24)-bit AVM. Moreover, the pipelining concept is used to optimize the speed of the offered (24*24)-bit AVM design. The proposed (24*24)-bit AVM can be used to achieve efficient multiplication for mantissa part in binary single-precision (BSP) floating-point MAC module. The proposed AVM architectures are modeled in VHDL, simulated, and synthesized by Xilinx-ISE14.7 tool using several FPGA families. The implementation results demonstrated a noticeable reduction in delay and area occupation by 33.16% and 42.42%, respectively compared with the most recent existing unpipelined design, and a reduction in delay of 44.78% compared with the existing pipelined design.

This paper presents a new optimization algorithm called corrosion diffusion optimization algorithm (CDOA). The proposed algorithm is based on the diffusion behavior of the pitting corrosion on the metal surface. CDOA utilizes the oxidation and reduction electrochemical reductions as well as the mathematical model of Gibbs free energy in its searching for the optimal solution of a certain problem. Unlike other algorithms, CDOA has the advantage of dispensing any parameter that need to be set for improving the convergence toward the optimal solution. The superiority of the proposed algorithm over the others is highlighted by applying them on some unimodal and multimodal benchmark functions. The results show that CDOA has better performance than the other algorithms in solving the unimodal equations regardless the dimension of the variable. On the other hand, CDOA provides the best multimodal optimization solution for dimensions less than or equal to (5, 10, 15, up to 20) but it fails in solving this type of equations for variable dimensions larger than 20. Moreover, the algorithm is also applied on two engineering application problems, namely the PID controller and the cantilever beam to accentuate its high performance in solving the engineering problems. The proposed algorithm results in minimized values for the settling time, rise time, and overshoot for the PID controller. Where the rise time, settling time, and maximum overshoot are reduced in the second order system to 0.0099, 0.0175 and 0.005 sec., in the fourth order system to 0.0129, 0.0129 and 0 sec, in the fifth order system to 0.2339, 0.7756 and 0, in the fourth system which contains time delays to 1.5683, 2.7102 and 1.80 E-4 sec., and in the simple mass-damper system to 0.403, 0.628 and 0 sec., respectively.
In addition, it provides the best fitness function for the cantilever beam problem compared with some other well-known algorithms.

Accurate long-term load forecasting (LTLF) is crucial for smart grid operations, but existing CNN-based methods face challenges in extracting essential features from electricity load data, resulting in diminished forecasting performance. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel ensemble model that integrates a feature extraction module, densely connected residual block (DCRB), long short-term memory layer (LSTM), and ensemble thinking. The feature extraction module captures the randomness and trends in climate data, enhancing the accuracy of load data analysis.
Leveraging the DCRB, our model demonstrates superior performance by extracting features from multi-scale input data, surpassing conventional CNN-based models. We evaluate our model using hourly load data from Odisha and day-wise data from Delhi, and the experimental results exhibit low root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.952 and 0.864 for Odisha and Delhi, respectively. This research contributes to a comparative long-term electricity forecasting analysis, showcasing the
efficiency of our proposed model in power system management. Moreover, the model holds the potential to sup-port decision making processes, making it a valuable tool for stakeholders in the electricity sector.

Traditional friction brakes can generate problems such as high braking temperature and pressure, cracking, and wear, leading to braking failure and user damage. Eddy current brake systems (contactless magnetic brakes) are one method used in motion applications. They are wear-free, less temperature-sensitive, quick, easy, and less susceptible to wheel lock, resulting in less brake failure due to the absence of physical contact between the magnet and disc. Important factors that can affect the performance of the braking system are the type of materials manufactured for the permanent magnets. This paper examines the performance of the permanent magnetic eddy current braking (PMECB) system. Different kinds of permanent magnets are proposed in this system to create eddy currents, which provide braking for the braking system is simulated using FEA software to demonstrate the efficiency of braking in terms of force production, energy dissipation, and overall performance findings demonstrated that permanent magnets consisting of neodymium, iron, and boron consistently provided the maximum braking effectiveness. The lowest efficiency is found in ferrite, which has the second-lowest efficiency behind samarium cobalt. This is because ferrite has a weaker magnetic field. Because of this, the PMECBS based on NdFeB magnets has higher power dissipation values, particularly at higher speeds.

This article emphasizes on a strategy to design a Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control (STSMC) method. The proposed controller depends on the device of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for controlling the trajectory of robot manipulator. The gains of the suggested controller are optimized using Chaotic Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in MATLAB toolbox software and Simulink environment. Since the control systems speed has an influence on their stability requirements and performance, (FPGA) device is taken in consideration. The proposed control method based on FPGA is implemented using Xilinx block sets in the Simulink. Integrated Software Environment (ISE 14.7) and System Generator are employed to create the file of Bitstream which can be downloaded in the device of FPGA. The results show that the designed controller based of on the FPGA by using System Generator is completely verified the effectiveness of controlling the path tracking of the manipulator and high speed. Simulation results explain that the percentage improvement in the Means Square Error (MSEs) of using the STSMC based FPGA and tuned via Chaotic PSO when compared with the same proposed controller tuned with classical PSO are 17.32 % and 13.98 % for two different cases of trajectories respectively. 

Quantum dot solar cells are currently the subject of research in the fields of renewable energy, photovoltaics and optoelectronics, due to their advantages which enables them to overcome the limitations of traditional solar cells. The inability of ordinary solar cells to generate charge carriers, which is prevents them from contributing to generate the current in solar cells. This work focuses on modeling and simulating of Quantum Dot Solar Cells based on InAs/GaAs as well as regular type of GaAs p-i-n solar cells and to study the effect of increasing quantum dots layers at the performance of the solar cell. The low energy of the fell photons considers as one of the most difficult problems that must deal with. According to simulation data, the power conversion efficiency increases from (12.515% to 30.94%), current density rises from 16.4047 mA/cm2 for standard solar cell to 39.4775 mA/cm2) using quantum dot techniques (20-layers) compared to traditional type of GaAs solar cell. Additionally, low energy photons’ absorption range edge expanded from (400 to 900 nm) for quantum technique. The results have been modeled and simulated using (SILVACO Software), which proved the power conversion efficiency of InAs/GaAs quantum dot solar cells is significantly higher than traditional (p-i-n) type about (247%).

Path-planning is a crucial part of robotics, helping robots move through challenging places all by themselves. In this paper, we introduce an innovative approach to robot path-planning, a crucial aspect of robotics. This technique combines the power of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Probabilistic Roadmap (PRM) to enhance efficiency and reliability. Our method takes into account challenges caused by moving obstacles, making it skilled at navigating complex environments. Through merging GA’s exploration abilities with PRM’s global planning strengths, our GA-PRM algorithm improves computational efficiency and finds optimal paths. To validate our approach, we conducted rigorous evaluations against well-known algorithms including A*, RRT, Genetic Algorithm, and PRM in simulated environments. The results were remarkable, with our GA-PRM algorithm outperforming existing methods, achieving an average path length of 25.6235 units and an average computational time of 0.6881 seconds, demonstrating its speed and effectiveness. Additionally, the paths generated were notably smoother, with an average value of 0.3133. These findings highlight the potential of the GA-PRM algorithm in real-world applications, especially in crucial sectors like healthcare, where efficient path-planning is essential. This research contributes significantly to the field of path-planning and offers valuable insights for the future design of autonomous robotic systems.

This work presents a new design idea for a UWB printed micro strip patch antenna with two band-rejection features. The patch has an elliptical shape and its feeding using micro strip feeding line. To achieve the UWB, an elliptical slot was etched on a ground plane. The rejection of two-band is achieved with the addition of two different slots on the radiating patch, the first slot is inverted U shaped slot and the other is U-shaped slot, so there is no need for antenna’s additional size. The radiation pattern of the suggested antenna has an omnidirectional shape for the frequency band from 3.168 GHz to over  15 GHz. There is a two rejection bands, the first one covering 4.87-5.79 GHz with a center frequency of 5.42 GHz, and the other covering 7.2-8.45  GHz with a center frequency of 7.8 GHz. The chosen substrate for the current work is FR-4 having permittivity of 4.3 and thickness of 1.43 mm and the suggested antenna has a small size of 24.5 * 24.5 mm^2. The Experimental results of the manufactured antenna showed agreement with those results of the simulated one.

Detecting pulmonary cancers at early stages is difficult but crucial for patient survival. Therefore, it is essential to develop an intelligent, autonomous, and accurate lung cancer detection system that shows great reliability compared to previous systems and research. In this study, we have developed an innovative lung cancer detection system known as the Hybrid Lung Cancer Stage Classifier and Diagnosis Model (Hybrid-LCSCDM). This system simplifies the complex task of diagnosing lung cancer by categorizing patients into three classes: normal, benign, and malignant, by analyzing computed tomography (CT) scans using a two-part approach: First, feature extraction is conducted using a pre-trained model called VGG-16 for detecting key features in lung CT scans indicative of cancer. Second, these features are then classified using a machine learning technique called XGBoost, which sorts the scans into three categories. A dataset, IQ-OTH/NCCD – Lung Cancer, is used to train and evaluate the proposed model to show its effectiveness. The dataset consists of the three aforementioned classes containing 1190 images. Our suggested strategy achieved an overall accuracy of 98.54 %, while the classification precision among the three classes was 98.63 %. Considering the accuracy, recall, and precision as well as the F1-score evaluation metrics, the results indicated that when using solely computed tomography scans, the proposed (Hybrid-LCSCDM) model outperforms all previously published models.

The rapid progress in mobile computing necessitates energy efficient solutions to support substantially diverse and complex workloads. Heterogeneous many core platforms are progressively being adopted in contemporary embedded implementations for high performance at low power cost estimations. These implementations experience diverse workloads that offer drastic opportunities to improve energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose a novel per core power gating (PCPG) approach based on workload classifications (WLC) for drastic energy cost minimization in the dark silicon era. Core of our paradigm is to use an integrated sleep mode management based on workloads classification indicated by the performance counters. A number of real applications benchmark (PARSEC) are adopted as a practical example of diverse workloads, including memory- and CPU-intensive ones. In this paper, these applications are exercised on Samsung Exynos 5422 heterogeneous many core system showing up to 37% to 110% energy efficient when compared with our most recent published work, and ondemand governor, respectively. Furthermore, we illustrate low-complexity and low-cost runtime per core power gating algorithm that consistently maximize IPS/Watt at all state space.