Reliable Delivery Research Articles

Transgastric Jejunostomy (PEG-J) for Continuous Infusion of Levodopa-Carbidopa Intestinal Gel: An Approach for Parkinson's Disease Treatment.

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that often requires long-term management of motor symptoms. Continuous infusion of levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) has shown promising results in alleviating motor fluctuations and improving quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transgastric jejunostomy (PEG-J) as a delivery method for LCIG in a cohort of 43 PD patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-three PD patients who were candidates for LCIG therapy underwent transgastric jejunostomy to facilitate continuous infusion of LCIG. The primary outcomes assessed were motor symptom improvement, reduction in motor fluctuations, and medication-related adverse events. Secondary outcomes included changes in quality of life, dyskinesia severity, and healthcare resource utilization. RESULTS The results of this study demonstrated significant improvements in motor symptoms, reduction in motor fluctuations, and enhanced quality of life following PEG-J for LCIG infusion. The treatment was generally well-tolerated, with a low incidence of procedure-related complications. Notably, the use of PEG-J allowed for precise and continuous delivery of LCIG, minimizing variations in drug absorption and ensuring consistent therapeutic levels. CONCLUSIONS Transgastric jejunostomy (PEG-J) offers an effective approach for the continuous infusion of LCIG in Parkinson's disease treatment. This method provides a stable and reliable delivery system, leading to improved symptom control and enhanced quality of life for PD patients.

An Importance Satisfaction Analysis of Hosting Events in Hangzhou, China: A Pilot Study

This paper measures the attributes experienced by the participants that took part in The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting that was held in Hangzhou, China with respect to importance and satisfaction ratings. As this is a pilot study, twenty-nine respondents were asked to rate the satisfaction and performance of the tangible and intangible attributes based on several selection factors using the Likert scale instrument. For the importance attribute ratings, the four-point scale was used (very important, important, somewhat important and not important) and five-point scale was selected for satisfaction (very bad, mediocre, good, very good and excellent). An Importance Satisfaction Analysis (ISA) grid was constructed based on the mean of each factor and the overall mean of the perceived importance and satisfaction. As a matter of fact, there is no study that exists in getting the responses on ISA in the city of Hangzhou before and with that, again, no comparisons can be drawn. The IPA grids showed that six factors fell in quadrant one (keep up the good work) and two factors in quadrant two (possible overkill). Another six factors were in quadrant three (low priority) and three factors were situated in quadrant four (concentrate here). The finding is significant to show that continuous improvement to achieve the reliability of service delivery should be initiated and started immediately. Related authorities should focus on the key attributes presented on the ISA grid to ensure Hangzhou can fulfill the visitors’ hope and expectations for a return visit.

Improving accuracy of medical data handling and processing using DCAF for IoT-based healthcare scenarios

The Internet of Things (IoT), uses communication technologies and intelligent computing to improve data analysis and computation accuracy, which is essential to the healthcare industry. The sensitivity and requirement for precision in managing and processing medical data make it a difficult task for diagnosing patients. To handle medical data in a healthcare scenario based on the IoT, a Data Classification and Analysis Framework (DCAF) is proposed in this research. The proposed framework seeks to improve the precision and dependability of handling and processing medical data, which are essential components of biomedical signal processing. By reducing errors and accelerating the processing of medical data, the framework can help in improving the accuracy of medical diagnosis and therapy, which is a key objective of biomedical signal processing and control. The goal of this framework is to increase the reliability of message delivery by concentrating on data classification and analysis. The earlier procedure is in charge of decreasing the volume of medical data transfers and ensuring the accuracy and delivery of consent data. The framework's latter process is in charge of allotting suitable processing time slots to increase delivery speed and lower data handling faults. A linear decision-making process based on accessibility, sequence order, and accuracy constraints and conditions supports the framework's joint process. Utilizing measures such as an accuracy ratio 0f 93.09 %, message delivery rate of 0.949 %, error with a range of 0.052 %, classification of 73.81 ms, and analysis time over fluctuating flow instances and analysis slots, the suggested framework's performance is validated.

Comparative Performance Testing of the Impact of ACK Loss in TCP Tahoe, TCP Reno, and TCP New Reno on the ns-2 Simulator

In TCP/IP networks, TCP provides reliable delivery service with the guarantee that packets sent reach their destination. This is achieved through the use of acknowledgments (ACK) as a mechanism. In TCP/IP networks, TCP provides reliable delivery service with the guarantee that packets sent reach their destination. This is achieved through the use of acknowledgments (ACK) as a mechanism. In all three variants of TCP, they rely on the presence of ACK packets. Therefore, testing will be conducted to observe the effect of ACK loss on TCP performance. The testing involves introducing disruptive traffic on the ACK path with varying magnitudes. This disruptive traffic results in the loss of some ACK packets, depending on the magnitude of the disruptive traffic. The testing was conducted using the ns-2 simulator software. The research findings indicate that the loss of ACK packets leads to a decrease in TCP performance. TCP Reno successfully improves the performance of TCP Tahoe, but the algorithm improvement in TCP New Reno does not have an effect on TCP Reno..

Patient Satisfaction With a Multisite, Multiregional Remote Patient Monitoring Program for Acute and Chronic Condition Management: Survey-Based Analysis.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is an option for continuously managing the care of patients in the comfort of their homes or locations outside hospitals and clinics. Patient engagement with RPM programs is essential for achieving successful outcomes and high quality of care. When relying on technology to facilitate monitoring and shifting disease management to the home environment, it is important to understand the patients' experiences to enable quality improvement. This study aimed to describe patients' experiences and overall satisfaction with an RPM program for acute and chronic conditions in a multisite, multiregional health care system. Between January 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022, a patient experience survey was delivered via email to all patients enrolled in the RPM program. The survey encompassed 19 questions across 4 categories regarding comfort, equipment, communication, and overall experience, as well as 2 open-ended questions. Descriptive analysis of the survey response data was performed using frequency distribution and percentages. Surveys were sent to 8535 patients. The survey response rate was 37.16% (3172/8535) and the completion rate was 95.23% (3172/3331). Survey results indicated that 88.97% (2783/3128) of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the program helped them feel comfortable managing their health from home. Furthermore, 93.58% (2873/3070) were satisfied with the RPM program and ready to graduate when meeting the program goals. In addition, patient confidence in this model of care was confirmed by 92.76% (2846/3068) of the participants who would recommend RPM to people with similar conditions. There were no differences in ease of technology use according to age. Those with high school or less education were more likely to agree that the equipment and educational materials helped them feel more informed about their care plans than those with higher education levels. This multisite, multiregional RPM program has become a reliable health care delivery model for the management of acute and chronic conditions outside hospitals and clinics. Program participants reported an excellent overall experience and a high level of satisfaction in managing their health from the comfort of their home environment.

Detailed pharmacokinetic characterization of advanced topical acyclovir formulations with IVPT and in vivo Open Flow Microperfusion

Successful treatment of herpes simplex viruses is currently limited by a lack of effective topical drugs. Commonly used topical acyclovir products only reduce the duration of lesions by a few days. Optimizing topical formulations to achieve an enhanced acyclovir solubility and penetration could increase the efficacy of topically applied acyclovir, but new formulations need to show reliable acyclovir delivery into at least the epidermis/dermis and need to provide sustained acyclovir release for extended time periods. The aim of this study was to compare pharmacokinetic data from in vitro permeation testing (IVPT) and preclinical dermal open flow microperfusion (dOFM) experiments regarding the penetration behavior of different acyclovir formulations relative to the reference product Zovirax® 5% cream. Four test formulations that delivered the best penetration data in IVPT were further tested using continuous dOFM in vivo dermal sampling. The use of dOFM identified one of the four tested formulations to perform significantly better than the other three tested formulations and the reference product. In vivo dOFM data showed differences in the dermal acyclovir concentration that had not been detected by using IVPT. Improved acyclovir delivery to the dermis was likely achieved by the new formulation that uses a much lower drug load compared to the reference product. This optimized formulation was able to achieve a dermal concentration similar to oral application and can thus provide the opportunity of more efficacious topical HSV-1 treatment with less side effects than oral systemic treatment.

Design and Development of Matrix Diffusion Control Transdermal Drug Delivery System for Antiemetic Drug

Delivery of drugs into the systemic circulation via transdermal drug delivery system is well known. Transdermal drug delivery system is one of the most reliable and convenient delivery system for the delivery across skin. The aim of this research project is to develop a matrix diffusion control transdermal therapeutic system that combines the drug Ramosetron hydrochloride with an amount of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers using a solvent extraction method. Ramosetron hydrochloride is a highly potent drug and has an extended duration of action ad minor side effects despite the severity that it undergoes hepatic pass metabolism and therefore the purpose of this study was to prepare a transdermal patch for Ramosetron hydrochloride for the treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (Anti-emetic action) and evaluate it for various parameters.

Assessing Training Needs of Library and Information Professionals in Tanzania

Training needs assessment is an essential aspect in identifying and filling the knowledge and skill gaps among employees. This study was conducted to assess the training needs of library and information professionals in Tanzania. Specifically, the study intended to ascertain the types of training needs and the mode of delivering them. A descriptive research design was applied to conduct the present study. The online survey method was used to collect data from 92 LIS professionals who conveniently provided qualitative and quantitative data on training needs and delivery modes. Quantitative data were analyzed by using Statistical Product for Service Solutions (SPPS-Version 22). The qualitative data from open-ended responses were used to contextualize survey responses. The study reveals LIS professionals require managerial, technical, professional, and research training needs. In specific, the training needs in the aspect of technology appear to dominate. Besides, the study suggests generic training needs are less preferred. Regarding time for training, the findings suggest a one-week training session is adequate to accommodate both the theoretical and practical of a given topic. On training location, the study informs training conducted outside their institutions and regions enhances trainees’ participation. Effective and reliable library and information services delivery rely on the competencies library and information professionals have. Professional and generic competencies empower LIS professionals working to achieve the twenty first century’s demands. The study recommends inclusive planning and implementation of training programmes, diverse training, and participation in online tutorials and other distance learning programmes.

Cross-Layer Design for Energy-Efficient Reliable Multi-Path Transmission in Event-Driven Wireless Sensor Networks.

In event-driven wireless sensor networks (WSNs), a reliable, efficient, and scalable routing solution is required for the reliable delivery of sensory data to the base station (BS). However, existing routing algorithms rarely address the issue of energy efficiency under multi-path conflicts for multi-event-driven scenarios. In order to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining a manageable conflict probability, this paper investigates a cross-layer design of routing and power control for multi-event-driven WSNs. We first develop a mathematical characterization of the conflict probability in multi-path routing, and we then formulate the energy efficiency maximization problem as a non-convex combinatorial fractional optimization problem subject to a maximum conflict probability constraint. By utilizing non-linear fractional programming and dual decomposition, an iterative search algorithm was used to obtain near-optimal power allocation and routing solutions. Extensive results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm achieved a gain of 9.09% to 35.05% in energy efficiency compared to other routing algorithms, thus indicating that our proposed algorithm can avoid unnecessary control overhead from multi-path conflicts with a lower conflict probability and can ensure maximum energy efficiency through routing and power control design.

PICK AND DELIVERY SYSTEM USING ANDROID MOBILE APPLICATION

All people need to transport goods or send and receive packages across different locations in Nigeria is growing, with consumers need. The methods of transporting goods and different companies that handle this transportation have sprung up over the years, but only a small number of these cut across the entire country while still providing an efficient solution. This research presents an innovative solution that simplifies logistics processes for both the consumer and the service provider, from the point of request to the end of delivery, while also addressing other issues involving delivery speed and reliability. The findings of this study show massive agreement with theoretical predictions and a significant improvement over previous research efforts. The work implications for future studies involving delivery system optimization and may help solve all problems involving the entire delivery process system in Nigeria and beyond.

Governance and trust in sustainability-based agri-food value chains. A comparative analysis of five cases in Germany

Value chains that generate an increased willingness to pay among consumers by offering enhanced levels of sustainability are widely discussed as an important strategy for creating new business opportunities and fostering food system transformation. Previous research has highlighted the importance of governance arrangements to secure the trust necessary for the establishment of sustainability-based value chains. However, how different coordination designs by private and public actors along the value chain affect trust formation is not well understood. To address this question, this paper combines the concepts of hybrid governance and multidimensional trust to guide a comparative analysis of five sustainability-based agri-food value chains in Germany as exemplary case studies. The findings show that different types of governance activities are necessary to build the capacity to address four different sources of trust: dispositional, affinitive, rational and procedural trust. Building trust capacities facilitates coordination of activities along the value chain and reliable delivery of sustainability-related value propositions. In all five cases, governance arrangements and building of trust capacities were geared towards increasing willingness to pay. Sustainability-based agri-food value chains have therefore limited potential to internalize the agri-food sector’s substantial negative externalities.

Fan beam CT-guided online adaptive external radiotherapy of uterine cervical cancer: a dosimetric evaluation

PurposeTo discuss the dosimetric advantages and reliability of the accurate delivery of online adaptive radiotherapy(online ART) for uterine cervical cancer(UCC).Methods and materialsSix UCC patients were enrolled in this study. 95% of the planning target volume (PTV) reached 100% of the prescription dose (50.4 Gy/28fractions/6weeks) was required. The patients were scanned with uRT-Linac 506c KV-FBCT then the target volume (TV) and organs at risk (OARs) were delineated by doctors. The dosimeters designed and obtained a routine plan (Plan0). KV-FBCT was used for image guidance before subsequent fractional treatment. The online ART was processed after registration, which acquired a virtual nonadaptive radiotherapy plan (VPlan) and an adaptive plan (APlan). VPlan was the direct calculation of Plan0 on the fractional image, while APlan required adaptive optimization and calculation. In vivo dose monitoring and three-dimensional dose reconstruction were required during the implementation of APlan.ResultsThe inter-fractional volumes of the bladder and rectum changed greatly among the treatments. These changes influenced the primary gross tumor volume (GTVp) and the position deviation of GTVp and PTV and positively affected the prescription dose coverage of TV. GTVp decreased gradually along with dose accumulation. The Dmax, D98, D95, D50, and D2 of APlan were superior to those of VPlan in target dose distribution. APlan had good conformal index, homogeneity index and target coverage. The rectum V40 and Dmax, bladder V40, the small bowel V40 and Dmax of APlan were better than that of VPlan. The APlan’s fractional mean γ passing rate was significantly higher than the international standard and the mean γ passing rate of all cases after the three-dimensional reconstruction was higher than 97.0%.ConclusionOnline ART in external radiotherapy of UCC significantly improved the dose distribution and can become an ideal technology to achieve individualized precise radiotherapy.

Nanotechnology-Based Vaccines

Several new infectious diseases have developed in recent years, and a few old ones that were formerly thought to pose no threat to humans have made a comeback. Millions of fatalities are attributed to these illnesses together, having a significant negative influence on the worldwide socioeconomic and healthcare sectors. The lack of appropriate medications for many of these disorders is one of the biggest obstacles to treating them. Yet, several of the most common diseases currently have no vaccinations that are reliable. The ideal vaccine should have several key characteristics, including safety, stability, and the capacity to induce a sufficient and long-lasting immune response with a minimal number of doses. To induce protective immunity against illnesses, different generation vaccines are employed, including attenuated or dead entire organisms (first generation), subunits (second generation), and RNA or DNA vaccines (third generation). To get beyond these obstacles, a reliable vaccination delivery mechanism is needed, one that not only gets the vaccine molecules to the target region where they can trigger long-lasting immune responses but also has few side effects and uses fewer doses. Only a few hundred atoms make up the majority of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles have a relatively significant surface area-to-volume ratio because of their extremely small size. Nanoparticles can have surprising optical, physical, and chemical properties due to this property. Nanotechnology has many benefits for the creation of vaccines for the next generation. A delivery strategy based on nanocarriers can shield vaccines from early deterioration, increase stability, have high adjuvant qualities, and can help with the targeted distribution of an immunogen. The researcher conducts an examination of articles that are in accordance with the issue to be studied. Articles used in the literature review are obtained through the database of international journal providers through PubMed, we investigated clinical studies and discussed what happened in these clinical studies and the extent of the effectiveness of Nanoparticle-Based Vaccines. In order to achieve effective vaccine distribution and generate the required host immunity against infectious diseases, this review article focuses on the applications of nanocarrier-based vaccine formulations and the methodologies utilized for functionalizing nanoparticles.

Service Quality Delivery of Benadir Local Government in Somalia

Purpose: In today’s competitive and rapidly moving world, local governments lose so many citizens because of the poor quality of public services they provide for these products, because of the quality and/or lack of products and the lack of ability to provide quality service. The purpose of this study is to examine the service quality delivery of the Benadir local government in Somalia. Theoretical framework: This research studied the degree service quality delivery offered of the Benadir local government in Somalia. Service quality has been defined as a difference between customers' service perception and expectations. Methodology: To achieve the objectives of this study, data was collected through online questionnaire from a sample of 354 major customers of the Benadir local government in Mogadishu-Somalia. These respondents were selected using convenient random sampling method. The data collected from the online questionnaire were analyzed using Descriptive Statistical tools such as compute, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Findings: The results of this study indicate that the three out five dimensions of level quality service delivery (reliability, responsiveness, and assurance) have slightly positive satisfied and except two elements empathy and tangibility have negative satisfied with customers' expectations and perception. Furthermore, customers were most a little satisfied with the three dimensions of service quality delivery by the Benadir local administration in Mogadishu-Somalia. On the contrary, customers were negative satisfied with tangibility and empathy dimensions of service quality. Research limitation/ implication: The researcher forwards some recommendations for the Benadir local government in Somalia. In order to improve the level of citizen satisfaction in terms of quality service delivery offered by the Benadir local government in Somalia, the Benadir local government should come up with policies and programs that prioritize the level of citizen satisfaction and should develop and contribute the level client expectation and perception of dimensions quality service delivery by the Benadir local government in Somalia, the Benadir local government should make the information easily obtainable and can get prompt service delivery by the citizens, therefore, the study recommends that a strategy should be put in place to gain these benefit. The limitations faced by the study included time constraints and limited resources taken to complete the study. Originality/Value: This investigation differs from previous explores as it examines the influence of level service quality delivery in Benadir local government on outcomes and operations in particular. Furthermore, this study is specifically based on the Benadir Regional Government.

Distributed Compressive Sensing for Wireless Signal Transmission in Structural Health Monitoring: An Adaptive Hierarchical Bayesian Model-Based Approach.

Signal transmission plays an important role in the daily operation of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. In wireless sensor networks, transmission loss often occurs and threatens reliable data delivery. The massive amount of data monitoring also leads to a high signal transmission and storage cost throughout the system's service life. Compressive Sensing (CS) provides a novel perspective on alleviating these problems. Based on the sparsity of vibration signals in the frequency domain, CS can reconstruct a nearly complete signal from just a few measurements. This can improve the robustness of data loss while facilitating data compression to reduce transmission demands. Extended from CS methods, distributed compressive sensing (DCS) can exploit the correlation across multiple measurement vectors (MMV) to jointly recover the multi-channel signals with similar sparse patterns, which can effectively enhance the reconstruction quality. In this paper, a comprehensive DCS framework for wireless signal transmission in SHM is constructed, incorporating the process of data compression and transmission loss together. Unlike the basic DCS formulation, the proposed framework not only activates the inter-correlation among channels but also provides flexibility and independence to single-channel transmission. To promote signal sparsity, a hierarchical Bayesian model using Laplace priors is built and further improved as the fast iterative DCS-Laplace algorithm for large-scale reconstruction tasks. Vibration signals (e.g., dynamic displacement and accelerations) acquired from real-life SHM systems are used to simulate the whole process of wireless transmission and test the algorithm's performance. The results demonstrate that (1) DCS-Laplace is an adaptative algorithm that can actively adapt to signals with various sparsity by adjusting the penalty term to achieve optimal performance; (2) compared with CS methods, DCS methods can effectively improve the reconstruction quality of multi-channel signals; (3) the Laplace method has advantages over the OMP method in terms of reconstruction performance and applicability, which is a better choice in SHM wireless signal transmission.

Network Coded Constrained Application Protocol With Improved Energy Efficiency for IIoT Networks

Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) for low-power low-rate data transport in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) networks is typically running with two modes, namely, confirmable mode and non-confirmable mode, respectively. Confirmable mode relies on retransmission to ensure a guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) in terms of packet loss rate at the cost of increased latency and power consumption. Whereas non-confirmable mode consumes less power, it is known to be packet loss prone. To enrich the CoAP transport for IIoT networks, we propose a packet-level Forward Error Correction (FEC) mechanism based on systematic coding with adaptive code rate to provide energy-efficient and reliable packet delivery. We mathematically analyze packet loss and cost of energy consumption of the proposed mechanism and compare it with confirmable CoAP transport scheme in the Gilbert-Elliott channel model. We demonstrate that the proposed mechanism can enhance the performance of non-confirmable CoAP to be comparable to confirmable CoAP in terms of packet loss rate, while outperforming it in energy consumption. The analytical and simulation results verify that the proposed mechanism is suitable for IIoT networks especially in high erasure burstiness scenarios.

Development of an Educational Fuel Cell System for Mechanical Engineering Course

Although there is growth in electrochemical system applications such as batteries and fuel cells to power land and air transportation and the current push for hydrogen technology, modeling and control design of thermal and power aspects of such systems is not commonly taught. To incorporate such content, an educational learning hardware system with software interface had been constructed to teach process dynamics and control in selected undergraduate mechanical engineering courses. Given a fuel cell is an energy conversion unit that uses chemical fuel to produce electricity without combustion, a set of student groups developed an educational laboratory system that ensured reliable and consistent power delivery from fuel cell as well as stable hydrogen production using cost-effective and off-the-shelf resources. A 100W Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) system was constructed through integration of hardware components, and user software interface like MATLAB for accessibility and ease of use in a laboratory course setting. The interface accessed remotely or face-to-face allowed for flow rate, pressure, and temperature measurements to be recorded for student analysis related to understanding of thermal and power performance and management of fuel cell and/or electrolyzer at different operating conditions. The system performed well based on initial testing by a pilot group of other students. It will be implemented in an upcoming course offering related to energy conversion and/or thermal fluid laboratory.

Preclinical evaluation of performance, safety and usability of VAX-ID®, a novel intradermal injection device

The recent SARS-Cov2 pandemic and mpox health emergency have led to renewed interest in intradermal vaccination due to its dose sparing potential. Indeed, intradermal vaccination is particularly of interest for use in mass vaccination campaigns, pandemic preparedness programs, and/or for vaccines that are expensive or in short supply. Moreover, the rich immune network in the skin makes it an attractive target not only for prophylactic vaccination, but also for therapeutic vaccination, like immunotherapy and (dendritic) cell-based therapies.The aim of the current paper was to provide an overview of preclinical data generated with VAX-ID®, a novel intradermal drug delivery device, to allow assessing it performance, safety and usability. The device can overcome challenges seen with the Mantoux technique whereby the needle needs to be inserted under a shallow angle. Various parameters of VAX-ID® were evaluated, including dead-space volume, dose accuracy, penetration depth & liquid deposit in piglets, as well as usability by healthcare professionals.The device has shown to have a low dead volume and a high dose accuracy. Importantly, the device performed successful injections at a predefined depth into the dermis with a high safety profile as confirmed by visual and histological evaluation in piglets. Moreover, the device was rated as easy to use by healthcare professionals.The combined preclinical performance and usability findings indicate that VAX-ID® can provide reliable, standardized and accurate drug delivery in the dermal layer of the skin with a high ease of use. The device offers a solution for injection of various prophylactic as well as therapeutic vaccines.

An intelligent hybrid prairie dog optimization algorithm‐based stable cluster reliable routing scheme for VANETs

SummaryVehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is most significant for supporting intelligent transportation system (ITS)‐based technologies, but it gets hurdled by sparse distribution of vehicles on highways, and dynamically challenging topology that arises due to increase in traffic. Hence, energy stable and optimized cluster construction maximizes the network lifetime. In this paper, Hybrid Prairie Dogs and Beluga Whale Optimization‐based Node Clustering (HPDBWOA‐NC) mechanism is proposed with the parameters of highway route, node velocity, number of vehicular nodes, and communication for achieving stable cluster construction in VANETs. It is proposed with the balanced exploration and exploitation potential of Prairie Dog Optimization Algorithm (PDOA) and Beluga Whale Optimization Algorithm (BWOA) for establishing optimal clusters that increase the network stability during the routing process. It integrated the exploration and exploitation capabilities of PDOA and BWOA and confirmed better optimized clusters which confirmed reliable data delivery by preventing the issue of premature convergence. It constructed clusters and selected cluster heads (CHs) depending on the fitness factors of energy, interdistance between vehicles, communication range, and vehicular density. The results of the proposed HPDBWOA‐NC generated optimal number of CHs in the network which is comparatively 34.21% better than the benchmarked mechanisms. The mean throughput and packet delivery ratio (PDR) achieved by the proposed HPDBWOA‐NC are identified to be significantly improved by 25.48% and 28.91% better than the investigated metaheuristic clustering protocols. The statistical study also guaranteed an increased factor of 81, during the processing of optimizing the clusters during the employment of ITS applications in VANETs.

Analysis of the use of industry 4.0 technologies as competitive advantage

Industry 4.0 was born amid a technological breakthrough and development which set information out to become a valuable element in strengthening competitive advantages and innovation processes to improve organizations productivity performance. For this, the scientific and business community is debating the negative and positive effects of these technologies and their relationship with business management, in the search for sustainable solutions for organizations. In this sense, the main purpose of this article is to identify the perceptions of SME managers in Colombia on the importance of implementing information technologies to promote competitive advantages that match the pace of industry 4.0. The research method used in the study was analysed by sampling using the questionnaire as a data collection tool. 75 managers provided complete and useful answers to this research. The collected data were analysed using different regression models were carried out; showing like principal results that a greater use of these technologies generates a positive impact on the competitive ad-vantage related to price/cost, quality, delivery reliability, product innovation and time to market. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to the analysis.