A Pre-Selection-Based Ant Colony System for Integrated Resources Scheduling Problem at Marine Container Terminal

Marine container terminal(MCT)plays a key role in the marine intelligent transportation system and international logistics system.However,the efficiency of resource scheduling significantly influences the operation performance of MCT.To solve the practical resource scheduling problem(RSP)in MCT efficiently,this paper has contributions to both the problem model and the algorithm design.Firstly,in the problem model,different from most of the existing studies that only consider scheduling part of the resources in MCT,we propose a unified mathematical model for formulating an integrated RSP.The new integrated RSP model allocates and schedules multiple MCT resources simultaneously by taking the total cost minimization as the objective.Secondly,in the algorithm design,a pre-selection-based ant colony system(PACS)approach is proposed based on graphic structure solution representation and a pre-selection strategy.On the one hand,as the RSP can be formulated as the shortest path problem on the directed complete graph,the graphic structure is proposed to represent the solution encoding to consider multiple constraints and multiple factors of the RSP,which effectively avoids the generation of infeasible solutions.On the other hand,the pre-selection strategy aims to reduce the computational burden of PACS and to fast obtain a higher-quality solution.To evaluate the performance of the proposed novel PACS in solving the new integrated RSP model,a set of test cases with different sizes is conducted.Experimental results and comparisons show the effectiveness and efficiency of the PACS algorithm,which can significantly outperform other state-of-the-art algorithms.

History Teacher Training from Decolonial Curriculum Practices to Combat Racism at UniProjeção in the Federal District-A Secondary Publication

This article aims to understand the training process of history undergraduates,to see if there are decolonial curricular practices to combat racism at the Centro Universitário e Faculdade Projeção(UniProjeção)in the Federal District,to understand how coloniality has corroborated the exclusion of different epistemologies and the erasure of different cultures,and how this exclusionary process of coloniality interferes in the training of history teachers.In order to combat this practice,we are looking for alternatives that can break these suppressions carried out by Europeans.In this way,we turn to decolonial ideas that aim to break with the logic of coloniality.We can conclude that these practices are poorly developed in the institution,so we proposed active problem-based methodology and music as a didactic resource.As playful educational tools that strengthen the teaching-learning process,they are active agents in the decolonial work of combating racism,and it is essential to train responsible and ethical teachers in the fight against racism and any form of oppression.

Colonial Education System in Africa:The German Experience in Cameroon 1884-1916

In early colonial times,European scientists and politicians explained and justified the aggressive and devastating expansion of Europe to nearly every corner of the world.Africans,for example,had been dehumanized,infantilized,and bereft of history.The legacy of this colonial enterprise can still be observed in various activities of the African especially in the domain of education.The German colonial effort only began in 1884 with the scramble for Africa but was short‐lived in their stay in Africa.As a result,they implemented their own form of education in their colonies in Africa and that was the case in Cameroon.In this sphere,the German colonial authority realized that they gained strength over colonized nations not only through physical control,but also through mental control.This mental control was carried out through their education system.The German educational goal in Cameroon,like elsewhere in Africa,was to expose Africans to a superior culture with the hope that education will usher the natives into the modern world and will make them more civilized.Captured from this background,this paper,in the first segment,analyze the political objectives of the German educational system in Cameroon with emphasis on their desire to extend overseas culture to the natives.Secondly,the characteristics of this educational system in the domains of school premises,teaching style,curriculum contents,and educational organization are examined.At the end,this paper investigates the difficulties faced and the drastic impact of such education especially in the domain of traditional administration in the study local.

Modelling Dry Port Systems in the Framework of Inland Waterway Container Terminals

Overcoming the global sustainability challenges of logistics requires applying solutions that minimize the negative effects of logistics activities.The most efficient way of doing so is through intermodal transportation(IT).Current IT systems rely mostly on road,rail,and sea transport,not inland waterway transport.Developing dry port(DP)terminals has been proven as a sustainable means of promoting and utilizing IT in the hinterland of seaport container terminals.Conventional DP systems consolidate container flows from/to seaports and integrate road and rail transportation modes in the hinterland which improves the sustainability of the whole logistics system.In this article,to extend literature on the sustainable development of different categories of IT terminals,especially DPs,and their varying roles,we examine the possibility of developing DP terminals within the framework of inland waterway container terminals(IWCTs).Establishing combined road–rail–inland waterway transport for observed container flows is expected to make the IT systems sustainable.As such,this article is the first to address the modelling of such DP systems.After mathematically formulating the problem of modelling DP systems,which entailed determining the number and location of DP terminals for IWCTs,their capacity,and their allocation of container flows,we solved the problem with a hybrid metaheuristic model based on the Bee Colony Optimisation(BCO)algorithmand themeasurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution(i.e.,MARCOS)multi-criteria decision-making method.The results from our case study of the Danube region suggest that planning and developingDP terminals in the framework of IWCTs can indeed be sustainable,as well as contribute to the development of logistics networks,the regionalisation of river ports,and the geographic expansion of their hinterlands.Thus,the main contributions of this article are in proposing a novel DP concept variant,mathematically formulating the problems of its modelling,and developing an encompassing hybrid metaheuristic approach for treating the complex nature of the problem adequately.

A New S-Box Design System for Data Encryption Using Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

Securing digital image data is a key concern in today’s information-driven society.Effective encryption techniques are required to protect sensitive image data,with the Substitution-box(S-box)often playing a pivotal role in many symmetric encryption systems.This study introduces an innovative approach to creating S-boxes for encryption algorithms.The proposed S-boxes are tested for validity and non-linearity by incorporating them into an image encryption scheme.The nonlinearity measure of the proposed S-boxes is 112.These qualities significantly enhance its resistance to common cryptographic attacks,ensuring high image data security.Furthermore,to assess the robustness of the S-boxes,an encryption system has also been proposed and the proposed S-boxes have been integrated into the designed encryption system.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed encryption system,a comprehensive security analysis including brute force attack and histogram analysis has been performed.In addition,to determine the level of security during the transmission and storage of digital content,the encryption system’s Number of Pixel Change Rate(NPCR),and Unified Averaged Changed Intensity(UACI)are calculated.The results indicate a 99.71%NPCR and 33.51%UACI.These results demonstrate that the proposed S-boxes offer a significant level of security for digital content throughout its transmission and storage.

Path Planning of UAV by Combing Improved Ant Colony System and Dynamic Window Algorithm

A fusion algorithm is proposed to enhance the search speed of an ant colony system(ACS)for the global path planning and overcome the challenges of the local path planning in an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV).The ACS search efficiency is enhanced by adopting a 16-direction 24-neighborhood search way,a safety grid search way,and an elite hybrid strategy to accelerate global convergence.Quadratic planning is performed using the moving average(MA)method.The fusion algorithm incorporates a dynamic window approach(DWA)to deal with the local path planning,sets a retracement mechanism,and adjusts the evaluation function accordingly.Experimental results in two environments demonstrate that the improved ant colony system(IACS)achieves superior planning efficiency.Additionally,the optimized dynamic window approach(ODWA)demonstrates its ability to handle multiple dynamic situations.Overall,the fusion optimization algorithm can accomplish the mixed path planning effectively.

Voice and Heart of Darkness:Centrality and Discourse in Colonialism

My essay on Heart of Darkness explores Conrad’s dramatization of the voice and heart dynamic in the novella as a penetration of the deep-lying rationale of colonial operation and more generally the human condition at the turn of the 20th century.Three different forms of assumed centrality in the novella-capital,Eurocentrism,and the African interior as detrimental void symbolized by the heart of darkness form concentric circles that interconnect and work in concert as the core colonial ideology and produce a sense of incongruity and absurdity.The voice of this colonial ideological apparatus disguised as the universal subject of humanity and rationality finds its best expression in the eloquence of Kurtz,the specimen of culture seduced by its very opposite-the wilderness-right in the heart of darkness.“The horror”,as his final verdict of life as a European with real intent of living on his own terms at the turn of the 20th century,sums up the predicament of a civilization with too much culture and self-absorption for its own good.

Path Planning for AUVs Based on Improved APF-AC Algorithm

With the increase in ocean exploration activities and underwater development,the autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV)has been widely used as a type of underwater automation equipment in the detection of underwater environments.However,nowadays AUVs generally have drawbacks such as weak endurance,low intelligence,and poor detection ability.The research and implementation of path-planning methods are the premise of AUVs to achieve actual tasks.To improve the underwater operation ability of the AUV,this paper studies the typical problems of path-planning for the ant colony algorithm and the artificial potential field algorithm.In response to the limitations of a single algorithm,an optimization scheme is proposed to improve the artificial potential field ant colony(APF-AC)algorithm.Compared with traditional ant colony and comparative algorithms,the APF-AC reduced the path length by 1.57%and 0.63%(in the simple environment),8.92%and 3.46%(in the complex environment).The iteration time has been reduced by approximately 28.48%and 18.05%(in the simple environment),18.53%and 9.24%(in the complex environment).Finally,the improved APF-AC algorithm has been validated on the AUV platform,and the experiment is consistent with the simulation.Improved APF-AC algorithm can effectively reduce the underwater operation time and overall power consumption of the AUV,and shows a higher safety.

An Improved Image Steganography Security and Capacity Using Ant Colony Algorithm Optimization

This advanced paper presents a new approach to improving image steganography using the Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)algorithm.Image steganography,a technique of embedding hidden information in digital photographs,should ideally achieve the dual purposes of maximum data hiding and maintenance of the integrity of the cover media so that it is least suspect.The contemporary methods of steganography are at best a compromise between these two.In this paper,we present our approach,entitled Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)-Least Significant Bit(LSB),which attempts to optimize the capacity in steganographic embedding.The approach makes use of a grayscale cover image to hide the confidential data with an additional bit pair per byte,both for integrity verification and the file checksumof the secret data.This approach encodes confidential information into four pairs of bits and embeds it within uncompressed grayscale images.The ACO algorithm uses adaptive exploration to select some pixels,maximizing the capacity of data embedding whileminimizing the degradation of visual quality.Pheromone evaporation is introduced through iterations to avoid stagnation in solution refinement.The levels of pheromone are modified to reinforce successful pixel choices.Experimental results obtained through the ACO-LSB method reveal that it clearly improves image steganography capabilities by providing an increase of up to 30%in the embedding capacity compared with traditional approaches;the average Peak Signal to Noise Ratio(PSNR)is 40.5 dB with a Structural Index Similarity(SSIM)of 0.98.The approach also demonstrates very high resistance to detection,cutting down the rate by 20%.Implemented in MATLAB R2023a,the model was tested against one thousand publicly available grayscale images,thus providing robust evidence of its effectiveness.

Bio-Inspired Intelligent Routing in WSN: Integrating Mayfly Optimization and Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization for Energy-Efficient Cluster Formation and Maintenance

Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)are a collection of sensor nodes distributed in space and connected through wireless communication.The sensor nodes gather and store data about the real world around them.However,the nodes that are dependent on batteries will ultimately suffer an energy loss with time,which affects the lifetime of the network.This research proposes to achieve its primary goal by reducing energy consumption and increasing the network’s lifetime and stability.The present technique employs the hybrid Mayfly Optimization Algorithm-Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization(MFOA-EACO),where the Mayfly Optimization Algorithm(MFOA)is used to select the best cluster head(CH)from a set of nodes,and the Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization(EACO)technique is used to determine an optimal route between the cluster head and base station.The performance evaluation of our suggested hybrid approach is based on many parameters,including the number of active and dead nodes,node degree,distance,and energy usage.Our objective is to integrate MFOA-EACO to enhance energy efficiency and extend the network life of the WSN in the future.The proposed method outcomes proved to be better than traditional approaches such as Hybrid Squirrel-Flying Fox Optimization Algorithm(HSFLBOA),Hybrid Social Reindeer Optimization and Differential Evolution-Firefly Algorithm(HSRODE-FFA),Social Spider Distance Sensitive-Iterative Antlion Butterfly Cockroach Algorithm(SADSS-IABCA),and Energy Efficient Clustering Hierarchy Strategy-Improved Social Spider Algorithm Differential Evolution(EECHS-ISSADE).

Hybrid Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization with Evolutionary Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Task Scheduling in Cloud Computing

Task scheduling plays a key role in effectively managing and allocating computing resources to meet various computing tasks in a cloud computing environment.Short execution time and low load imbalance may be the challenges for some algorithms in resource scheduling scenarios.In this work,the Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization-Evolutionary Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm(HPSO-EABC)has been proposed,which hybrids our presented Evolutionary Artificial Bee Colony(EABC),and Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization(HPSO)algorithm.The HPSO-EABC algorithm incorporates both the advantages of the HPSO and the EABC algorithm.Comprehensive testing including evaluations of algorithm convergence speed,resource execution time,load balancing,and operational costs has been done.The results indicate that the EABC algorithm exhibits greater parallelism compared to the Artificial Bee Colony algorithm.Compared with the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm,the HPSO algorithmnot only improves the global search capability but also effectively mitigates getting stuck in local optima.As a result,the hybrid HPSO-EABC algorithm demonstrates significant improvements in terms of stability and convergence speed.Moreover,it exhibits enhanced resource scheduling performance in both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments,effectively reducing execution time and cost,which also is verified by the ablation experimental.

Intermittent fasting boosts antitumor immunity by restricting CD11b^(+)Ly6C^(low)Ly6G^(low) cell viability through glucose metabolism in murine breast tumor model

Intermittent fasting can benefit breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or immunotherapy.However,it is still uncertain how to select immunotherapy drugs to combine with intermittent fasting.Herein we observed that two cycles of fasting treatment significantly inhibited breast tumor growth and lung tissue metastasis,as well as prolonged overall survival in mice bearing 4T1 and 4T07 breast cancer.During this process,both the immunosuppressive monocytic-(M-)and granulocytic-(G-)myeloid-derived suppressor cell(MDSC)decreased,accompanied by an increase in interleukin(IL)7R^(+)and granzyme B^(+)T cells in the tumor microenvironment.Interestingly,we observed that Ly6G^(low)G-MDSC sharply decreased after fasting treatment,and the cell surface markers and protein mass spectrometry data showed potential therapeutic targets.Mechanistic investigation revealed that glucose metabolism restriction suppressed the splenic granulocytemonocyte progenitor and the generation of colony-stimulating factors and IL-6,which both contributed to the accumulation of G-MDSC.On the other hand,glucose metabolism restriction can directly induce the apoptosis of Ly6G^(low)G-MDSC,but not Ly6G^(high)subsets.In summary,these results suggest that glucose metabolism restriction induced by fasting treatment attenuates the immune-suppressive milieu and enhances the activation of CD3^(+)T cells,providing potential solutions for enhancing immune-based cancer interventions.

A Study on Outlier Detection and Feature Engineering Strategies in Machine Learning for Heart Disease Prediction

This paper investigates the application ofmachine learning to develop a response model to cardiovascular problems and the use of AdaBoost which incorporates an application of Outlier Detection methodologies namely;Z-Score incorporated with GreyWolf Optimization(GWO)as well as Interquartile Range(IQR)coupled with Ant Colony Optimization(ACO).Using a performance index,it is shown that when compared with the Z-Score and GWO with AdaBoost,the IQR and ACO,with AdaBoost are not very accurate(89.0%vs.86.0%)and less discriminative(Area Under the Curve(AUC)score of 93.0%vs.91.0%).The Z-Score and GWO methods also outperformed the others in terms of precision,scoring 89.0%;and the recall was also found to be satisfactory,scoring 90.0%.Thus,the paper helps to reveal various specific benefits and drawbacks associated with different outlier detection and feature selection techniques,which can be important to consider in further improving various aspects of diagnostics in cardiovascular health.Collectively,these findings can enhance the knowledge of heart disease prediction and patient treatment using enhanced and innovativemachine learning(ML)techniques.These findings when combined improve patient therapy knowledge and cardiac disease prediction through the use of cutting-edge and improved machine learning approaches.This work lays the groundwork for more precise diagnosis models by highlighting the benefits of combining multiple optimization methodologies.Future studies should focus on maximizing patient outcomes and model efficacy through research on these combinations.

An Improved Lung Cancer Segmentation Based on Nature-Inspired Optimization Approaches

The distinction and precise identification of tumor nodules are crucial for timely lung cancer diagnosis andplanning intervention. This research work addresses the major issues pertaining to the field of medical imageprocessing while focusing on lung cancer Computed Tomography (CT) images. In this context, the paper proposesan improved lung cancer segmentation technique based on the strengths of nature-inspired approaches. Thebetter resolution of CT is exploited to distinguish healthy subjects from those who have lung cancer. In thisprocess, the visual challenges of the K-means are addressed with the integration of four nature-inspired swarmintelligent techniques. The techniques experimented in this paper are K-means with Artificial Bee Colony (ABC),K-means with Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA), K-means with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Kmeanswith Firefly Algorithm (FFA). The testing and evaluation are performed on Early Lung Cancer ActionProgram (ELCAP) database. The simulation analysis is performed using lung cancer images set against metrics:precision, sensitivity, specificity, f-measure, accuracy,Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC), Jaccard, and Dice.The detailed evaluation shows that the K-means with Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA) significantly improved thequality of lung cancer segmentation in comparison to the other optimization approaches utilized for lung cancerimages. The results exhibit that the proposed approach (K-means with CSA) achieves precision, sensitivity, and Fmeasureof 0.942, 0.964, and 0.953, respectively, and an average accuracy of 93%. The experimental results prove thatK-meanswithABC,K-meanswith PSO,K-meanswith FFA, andK-meanswithCSAhave achieved an improvementof 10.8%, 13.38%, 13.93%, and 15.7%, respectively, for accuracy measure in comparison to K-means segmentationfor lung cancer images. Further, it is highlighted that the proposed K-means with CSA have achieved a significantimprovement in accuracy, hence can be utilized by researchers for improved segmentation processes of medicalimage datasets for identifying the targeted region of interest.

Optimal Location and Sizing ofMulti-Resource Distributed Generator Based onMulti-Objective Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

Distribution generation(DG)technology based on a variety of renewable energy technologies has developed rapidly.A large number of multi-type DG are connected to the distribution network(DN),resulting in a decline in the stability of DN operation.It is urgent to find a method that can effectively connect multi-energy DG to DN.photovoltaic(PV),wind power generation(WPG),fuel cell(FC),and micro gas turbine(MGT)are considered in this paper.A multi-objective optimization model was established based on the life cycle cost(LCC)of DG,voltage quality,voltage fluctuation,system network loss,power deviation of the tie-line,DG pollution emission index,and meteorological index weight of DN.Multi-objective artificial bee colony algorithm(MOABC)was used to determine the optimal location and capacity of the four kinds of DG access DN,and compared with the other three heuristic algorithms.Simulation tests based on IEEE 33 test node and IEEE 69 test node show that in IEEE 33 test node,the total voltage deviation,voltage fluctuation,and system network loss of DN decreased by 49.67%,7.47%and 48.12%,respectively,compared with that without DG configuration.In the IEEE 69 test node,the total voltage deviation,voltage fluctuation and system network loss of DN in the MOABC configuration scheme decreased by 54.98%,35.93%and 75.17%,respectively,compared with that without DG configuration,indicating that MOABC can reasonably plan the capacity and location of DG.Achieve the maximum trade-off between DG economy and DN operation stability.

A Distributed Ant Colony Optimization Applied in Edge Detection

With the rise of image data and increased complexity of tasks in edge detection, conventional artificial intelligence techniques have been severely impacted. To be able to solve even greater problems of the future, learning algorithms must maintain high speed and accuracy through economical means. Traditional edge detection approaches cannot detect edges in images in a timely manner due to memory and computational time constraints. In this work, a novel parallelized ant colony optimization technique in a distributed framework provided by the Hadoop/Map-Reduce infrastructure is proposed to improve the edge detection capabilities. Moreover, a filtering technique is applied to reduce the noisy background of images to achieve significant improvement in the accuracy of edge detection. Close examinations of the implementation of the proposed algorithm are discussed and demonstrated through experiments. Results reveal high classification accuracy and significant improvements in speedup, scaleup and sizeup compared to the standard algorithms.

An Effective Optimization Algorithm for Ant Colony Vehicular Congestion Management

Adaptability and dynamicity are special properties of social insects derived from the decentralized behavior of the insects. Authors have come up with designs for software solution that can regulate traffic congestion in a network transportation environment. The effectiveness of various researches on traffic management has been verified through appropriate metrics. Most of the traffic management systems are centered on using sensors, visual monitoring and neural networks to check for available parking space with the aim of informing drivers beforehand to prevent traffic congestion. There has been limited research on solving ongoing traffic congestion in congestion prone areas like car park with any of the common methods mentioned. This study focus however is on a motor park, as a highly congested area when it comes to traffic. The car park has two entrance gate and three exit gates which is divided into three Isle of parking lot where cars can park. An ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) was developed as an effective management system for controlling navigation and vehicular traffic congestion problems when cars exit a motor park. The ACO based on the nature and movement of the natural ants, simulates the movement of cars out of the car park through their nearest choice exit. A car park simulation was also used for the mathematical computation of the pheromone. The system was implemented using SIMD because of its dual parallelization ability. The result showed about 95% increase on the number of vehicles that left the motor park in one second. A clear indication that pheromones are large determinants of the shortest route to take as cars followed the closest exit to them. Future researchers may consider monitoring a centralized tally system for cars coming into the park through a censored gate being.

A Post-colonial Approach to The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans is one of the five frontier novels written by famous American novelist James Fenimore Cooper in the early 19thcentury.Although it has been criticized for its narrative flaws,its length and formal prose style,it was one of the most popular in its time and is of a high literary value nowadays.With the coming of the white European colonialists,the Indians underwent various changes.Some Indians submitted themselves to the white while some Indians rebelled against the invaders and sought their revenge.With a post-colonial approach,the changes of the Indians will be better understood,and people nowadays will also have a better understanding of the Indian history and culture in early American history.

Conrad's growing criticism of British colonialism in Youth volume

In Youth volume,Conrad shows his growing criticism of British colonialism.But because of his special favor to Britain,his disaffection with British colonialism is implicit,which is presented by a western voice in Youth,Kurtz’s non-pure British heritage in Heart of Darkness,and Whalley’s pure English seaman in The End of the Tether.

An adaptive ant colony system algorithm for continuous-space optimization problems

Ant colony algorithms comprise a novel category of evolutionary computation methods for optimization problems, especially for sequencing-type combinatorial optimization problems. An adaptive ant colony algorithm is proposed in this paper to tackle continuous-space optimization problems, using a new objective-function-based heuristic pheromone assignment approach for pheromone update to filtrate solution candidates.Global optimal solutions can be reached more rapidly by self-adjusting the path searching behaviors of the ants according to objective values. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with a basic ant colony algorithm and a Square Quadratic Programming approach in solving two benchmark problems with multiple extremes. The results indicated that the efficiency and reliability of the proposed algorithm were greatly improved.