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.

Sublimated Colonialism： The Persistence of Actually Existing Settler-Colonialism

In my paper, “Sublimated Colonialism： The Persistence of Actually Existing Settler-Colonialism,” I interrogate the remaining settler-colonialisms that refused to disappear during the epoch of decolonization. I am most concerned with those settler-colonialisms that persist at the centers of world capitalism, and examine bow this social context often produces an ideology that relegates the concrete reality of settler-colonialism to the past, pushing its existence under supposedly “modem” social relations. Since Frantz Fanon＇s analysis of settler-colonialism, and the class contradiction between colonizer and colonized, was developed in an era where settler-colonialism was partially defined by the relationship between motherland and colony, some often imagine that the era of settler-colonialism is over. Clearly settler-colonialism did not vanish along with this distinction; internal colonies are retained in North America, for example, and the state of Israel is perhaps the most recent historical of this type of colonialism since it was settled and established in the 20th century. Moreover, there is often talk of a “world-wide indigenous movement” which claims to represent a global anti-colonialist front. The point of my paper, therefore, is to examine how settler-colonialism functions and persists when the settler-colony has become synonymous with the motherland. In this social context, colonizers often imagine themselves as the native inhabitants, while those who remain colonized are pushed even further out of history than they were during the previous era of settler-colonialism.

The Actualization of Post-colonialism in Movies

The post-colonialism is a theory proposed by the eastern colonial academist Edward W. Said. With the understanding and the definition of post-colonialism, the paper is to analyze phenomena of the movie 2012 and Avatar from several aspects. Firstly, the ＂other＂ is the first angle to be talked about. In the Westerners＇ perspective, they are the center of the world, and they dominate the world. Their rules are the accepted rules, and people of different origin or different cultures are all called ＂other＂. Secondly, it is the degeneration of eastern culture. In the complex of the degeneration of the culture, the demonization of the under-developed nations, the dominant language of English in the communication with the people around, feminization of the characters in the movies, and the updated colonialism of the colonized countries are to be mentioned.

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.

Iodine deficiency and women’s health: Colonialism’s malign effect on health in Oromia region, in Ethiopia

Objectives: Iodine is an essential nutrient needed for the synthesis of hormone thyroxin. Hormone thyroxin is involved in the metabolism of several nutrients, the regulation of enzymes and differentiation of cells, tissues and organs. Iodine deficiency (ID) impairs the development of the brain and nervous system. It affects cognitive capacity, educability, productivity and child mortality. ID hinders physical strength and causes reproductive failure. The objective of this paper is to explore if the health impacts of ID are more common and severe among women. Design: Using primary data (notes from a visit) and secondary data, this paper examines if the effects of ID are more common and severe among Oromo women inEthiopia. Findings: The health impacts of ID are more common and severe among women. Conclusions: ID is an easily preventable nutritional problem. In Oromia, the persistence of ID is explained by the Ethiopian government’s colonial social policies. Preventing ID should be seen as part of the efforts we make to enhance capacity building, promote health, gender equity and social justice. Implications: Iodine deficiency has a wide range of biological, social, economic and cultural impacts. Preventing ID can be instrumental in bringing about gender equity and building the capacity of people.

Criticism of Colonialism and the Colonial Memory Work in Germany

Colonialism is an ideological system that was not only contrary to traditional African law(family law,popular law,etc.),but was also incompatible with the dignity of man.Colonial tyranny in Africa began with the political implementation of the decisions adopted at the Berlin Conference of 1884/85,its essential principles of international law being the inviolability and the purity of colonial borders.Thus the European colonial powers managed to avoid wars of aggression and prevent uprisings by African people.Since the dominant theories of colonialism were Eurocentric,they could scarcely contribute to adequately investigating the nature of colonialism,let alone adequately describing its dimension in Africa.Instead of examining the shades of the colonial system from different cultural perspectives to inform people objectively,Eurocentric theories prevented any attempt at truth about colonial injustice.Unfortunately,some Europeans still tend to endorse the colonial injustice system in Africa with cheap and cynical Downplaying terms.The fact that colonial policy has a long history,however,in no way indicates that it should necessarily be accepted or legitimized.On the contrary,since its inception colonialism met with violent and intellectual opposition until African countries attained national sovereignty and territorial integrity.This article demonstrates the significance colonialism has in Africans’intellectual discourse and shows how the colonial question is discussed in Germany.

Multinationals＇ Environmental Colonialism： A Case Study of Apple Inc. and China＇s Countermeasures

Multinational firms such as Apple Inc. have accomplished environmental colonialism in China through the transfer of ecological costs to the local environment. This paper discusses ambiguities in China＇s environmental legislation and supervision, Apple＇s business model, and ＂green washing. ＂ Further, we have identified countermeasures such as the encouraging Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations （ENGOs）, streamlining litigation procedures, increasing fines, and the development of nonprofit media organizations.

An Analysis of the Colonialism in The Old Chief Mshlanga from the Perspective of Narratology

Doris Lessing is one of the most influential writers in English. The colonialism, one of her most concerned topics, is often revealed in many of her early works and so is in The Old Chief Mshlanga. In this story, Lessing first employs a third-person narrator and then a first-person narrator, both of whom adopt the narrative perspective from the protagonist within the story.What the two different person-narrators really differ is in the narrative voice. The narrative voice of the third-person narrator comes from the narrator outside the story, while the other one comes from the protagonist within the story. It is by means of the same perspective and the different narrative voice that Lessing vividly reveals the colonialism in The Old Chief Mshlanga.

Early Urban Planning of Harbin(1898-1917) by Russia: Impact of Colonialism and the Railway Economy on Emerging Cities in Modern Times

Harbin, a typical emerging colonial city in modern times, has drawn worldwide attention due to its quick transformation from a fishing village to a modern globalized metropolis. With Harbin and its urban planning from 1898 to 1917 as the subject of study from the perspective of planning historiography, this paper probes into the driving force behind Harbin's early modern urban development, historical phasing and characteristics of its urban planning, as well as evolution of planning and construction activities during this period. The findings reveal that Harbin's urban planning and construction activities were closely linked to Russia's political and economic interests and also reflected the political game between the powers led by Japan and Russia in the Manchurian region.

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.

A Prognostic Model Based on Colony Stimulating Factors-related Genes in Triple-negative Breast Cancer

Objective Triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC)is the breast cancer subtype with the worst prognosis,and lacks effective therapeutic targets.Colony stimulating factors(CSFs)are cytokines that can regulate the production of blood cells and stimulate the growth and development of immune cells,playing an important role in the malignant progression of TNBC.This article aims to construct a novel prognostic model based on the expression of colony stimulating factors-related genes(CRGs),and analyze the sensitivity of TNBC patients to immunotherapy and drug therapy.Methods We downloaded CRGs from public databases and screened for differentially expressed CRGs between normal and TNBC tissues in the TCGA-BRCA database.Through LASSO Cox regression analysis,we constructed a prognostic model and stratified TNBC patients into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the colony stimulating factors-related genes risk score(CRRS).We further analyzed the correlation between CRRS and patient prognosis,clinical features,tumor microenvironment(TME)in both high-risk and low-risk groups,and evaluated the relationship between CRRS and sensitivity to immunotherapy and drug therapy.Results We identified 842 differentially expressed CRGs in breast cancer tissues of TNBC patients and selected 13 CRGs for constructing the prognostic model.Kaplan-Meier survival curves,time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves,and other analyses confirmed that TNBC patients with high CRRS had shorter overall survival,and the predictive ability of CRRS prognostic model was further validated using the GEO dataset.Nomogram combining clinical features confirmed that CRRS was an independent factor for the prognosis of TNBC patients.Moreover,patients in the high-risk group had lower levels of immune infiltration in the TME and were sensitive to chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-fluorouracil,ipatasertib,and paclitaxel.Conclusion We have developed a CRRS-based prognostic model composed of 13 differentially expressed CRGs,which may serve as a useful tool for predicting the prognosis of TNBC patients and guiding clinical treatment.Moreover,the key genes within this model may represent potential molecular targets for future therapies of TNBC.

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.

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.

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.

Furtherance and Shaping:On the Media-Making of Hankow in the“Foreign Newspaper Era”(1866-1900)

“The Era of Foreign Newspapers”refers to the period from the emergence of the first modern newspaper in Hankow in 1866 to 1900 when Wuhan’s newspaper industry was dominated by foreign newspapers.The well-known foreign newspapers in Wuhan during this period mainly included Hankow Times,The New Edition of Tan Dao,and Han Bao.The subjective purpose of foreigners’early endeavors of running newspapers in Wuhan was mainly to use newspapers to convey business information,spread religion,or influence public opinion in order to safeguard their own interests in China.However,foreign newspapers in this period played a constructive role in the development of Wuhan’s local society:It gave birth to the emergence and development of the first private and official newspapers in Wuhan and shaped the local social,cultural,and political changes in Wuhan in the late Qing Dynasty.Sorting out and explaining the constructive influence of Hankow’s foreign newspaper in this period has certain significance for restoring the social and political landscape of Wuhan at that time and better understanding the context of historical development.