Package Delivery Research Articles

Sistem Informasi Logistik PT Fajar Multiguna

PT Fajar Multiguna is a start-up company engaged in the Procurement of Government Goods/Services and Logistics for the delivery of procurement packages. Quite a lot of other companies that use this delivery service. The system that runs is still manual, there is no website to track the whereabouts of packages that are in transit. An information system is needed to make it easier for customers to track shipments. For this reason, a web-based Logistics Information system was designed with the Laravel PHP framework programming language. This information system will make it easier for PT Fajar Multiguna’s customers to track the delivery of their packages, on the other hand PT Fajar Multiguna will also find it easier to handle the delivery data.

A last-mile drone-assisted one-to-one pickup and delivery problem with multi-visit drone trips

Online retailers and food delivery platforms are exploring last-mile package and food delivery using drones to reduce delivery time and improve customer experience. We investigate a novel and pioneering problem, the one-to-one pickup and delivery problem with multi-trucks and multi-visit drone (OPDP-MTMV). This problem involves multiple trucks, each of which is equipped with a single drone for pickup and delivery services. The drones are capable of carrying multiple packages per drone trip. Pickup and delivery requests can be served by either a truck or a drone, subject to the one-to-one precedence constraints of the requests, the capacity constraints of the truck and the drone, and the endurance constraints of the drone. The energy consumption of a drone is based on the flight time and the varying payload along the multi-visit drone trip. The objective is to minimize the sum of the fixed cost and the variable duration cost. We formulate this problem using a mathematical model and propose an iterated local search (ILS) algorithm based on the distinct features of the problem. Finally, we conduct comprehensive computational experiments using test instances of various sizes to analyze the characteristics of the solution, the applicability of the algorithm, and the impact of different drone configurations.

Perception of Tunisian Public Health Practitioners on the Role of Primary Health Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Context: Primary Health Care is the first level of healthcare delivery services. Its role in the management of epidemics has been documented especially during the SARS and Ebola epidemics, and more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To describe public health experts’ perceptions of the implication of Primary Health Care on managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia. Methods: This qualitative study was based on a structured interview covering five domains: 1. Preparedness, 2. Implication, 3. Health delivery, 4. Response and 5. Fight against COVID-19 in Primary Health Care in Tunisia. Convenient sampling was done to include public health practitioners and experts. Results: A total of 25 experts were included with a sex ratio that was equal to 0.92, including two international experts, and four that were working in the Ministry of Health. The majority of respondents affirmed that the Tunisian PHC was not prepared to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning the response role of PHC against COVID-19, some experts stated that PHC played an important role in the early stages of the pandemic. Almost all included participants claimed that PHC was marginalized from the national strategy against COVID-19. In addition, all respondents affirmed that there had been a weakening effect of the delivery of the minimum healthcare package that was dispended by the PHC after the pandemic. However, they all expressed the ability of PHC to manage future epidemics. Conclusion: The Tunisian PHC system did not play an efficient role in the current COVID-19 pandemic. However future lessons should be deduced for further implications in potential upcoming epidemics.

Embedded Payload Solutions in UAVs for Medium and Small Package Delivery

Investigations about the feasibility of delivery systems with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have been recently expanded, owing to the exponential demand for goods to be delivered in the recent years, which has been further increased by the COVID-19 pandemic. UAV delivery can provide new contactless delivery strategies, in addition to applications for medical items, such as blood, medicines, or vaccines. The safe delivery of goods is paramount for such applications, which is facilitated if the payload is embedded in the main drone body. In this paper, we investigate payload solutions for medium and small package delivery (up to 5 kg) with a medium-sized UAV (maximum takeoff of less than 25 kg), focusing on (i) embedded solutions (packaging hosted in the drone fuselage), (ii) compatibility with transportation of medical items, and (iii) user-oriented design (usability and safety). We evaluate the design process for possible payload solutions, from an analysis of the package design (material selection, shape definition, and product industrialization) to package integration with the drone fuselage (possible solutions and comparison of quick-release systems). We present a prototype for an industrialized package, a right prism with an octagonal section made of high-performance double-wall cardboard, and introduce a set of concepts for a quick-release system, which are compared with a set of six functional parameters (mass, realization, accessibility, locking, protection, and resistance). Further analyses are already ongoing, with the aim of integrating monitoring and control capabilities into the package design to assess the condition of the delivered goods during transportation.

Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle navigation using Reinforcement Learning: A systematic review

There is an increasing demand for using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), known as drones, in different applications such as packages delivery, traffic monitoring, search and rescue operations, and military combat engagements. In all of these applications, the UAV is used to navigate the environment autonomously — without human interaction, perform specific tasks and avoid obstacles. Autonomous UAV navigation is commonly accomplished using Reinforcement Learning (RL), where agents act as experts in a domain to navigate the environment while avoiding obstacles. Understanding the navigation environment and algorithmic limitations plays an essential role in choosing the appropriate RL algorithm to solve the navigation problem effectively. Consequently, this study first identifies the main UAV navigation tasks and discusses navigation frameworks and simulation software. Next, RL algorithms are classified and discussed based on the environment, algorithm characteristics, abilities, and applications in different UAV navigation problems, which will help the practitioners and researchers select the appropriate RL algorithms for their UAV navigation use cases. Moreover, identified gaps and opportunities will drive UAV navigation research.

Risk-Based UAV Corridor Capacity Analysis above a Populated Area

To integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the national airspace in a safe manner, a risk-based approach to the regulation of UAVs is adopted in many countries. Thus, the capacity to permit UAVs in urban airspace also needs to be evaluated in a risk-based sense. In this regard, this paper proposes a methodology to analyze the capacity of UAV corridors on the basis of third-party risk on the ground. By linking the collision rate of the corridor and the failure rates of UAVs with the number of fatalities on the ground, the capacity of the UAV corridor is derived to satisfy the target level of safety. To model the collision rate of UAVs in the corridor, the Reich collision risk model is utilized. Moreover, a ground risk map is generated to compute the third-party risk on the ground using the databases for Seoul, Korea. The results show that the failure rate of UAVs is the dominant factor for determining the capacity of the corridor, even if the number of corridors increases. The proposed methodology could be useful to manage the number of flights for applications where the UAV corridor is fixed and flight continues, such as package delivery.

Anticancer pH-Responsive Supramolecular Vesicles Fabricated Using Water-Soluble Pillar[5]arene and Curcumin Derivative

A pH-responsive curcuminoid delivery system based on supramolecular vesicles was fabricated via a novel host–guest inclusion complex between water-soluble pillar[5]arene (WP5) and hydrophobic bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC). This WP5 and BDMC (WP5 ⊃ BDMC) inclusion complex was studied using 1H NMR, UV–vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. This resulting inclusion complex could self-assemble into well-defined supramolecular vesicles by host–guest interactions and presented a significant pH-responsive behavior, which was investigated using dynamic laser scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The suitable preservation time for WP5 ⊃ BDMC and the construction ratio between host/guest molecules were both of great significance for the aggregated morphology of supramolecular vesicles. Furthermore, the BDMC complexes showed good anticancer ability in vitro, as they could inhibit HepG2 cell proliferation and migration. Therefore, the curcuminoid vesicles could provide a promising platform for drug delivery or food packaging utilization.

Clustering‐based routing protocol using gray wolf optimization and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution algorithms in the vehicular ad hoc networks

SummaryIn a vehicular ad‐hoc network (VANET), each vehicle is equipped with an on‐board unit to communicate vehicle to vehicle or vehicle to fixed infrastructure. VANET technology is offered to provide many facilities to passengers and drivers, including safety, entertainment, mobile commerce, driver assistance, and emergency alarms. VANET has unique features such as high‐speed node mobility and network topology dynamics. These special features cause many problems such as increased transmission delays and packet loss. On the other hand, providing a good routing plan for VANET is a critical issue. Therefore, this article proposes a cluster‐based routing using in‐vehicle meta‐heuristic algorithms (CRMHA‐VANET) which has two phases. In the first stage, the vehicles are clustered and the most suitable cluster head (CH) is selected using the gray wolf optimization algorithm (GWO). In the next step, the next suitable CH is selected for data transmission in direct paths using the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The performance of the proposed method is analyzed through several criteria such as package delivery rate, end‐to‐end delay and throughput. CRMHA‐VANET results in a 10% to 25% improvement over all performance metrics, that is, packet delivery rate, latency, and throughput, over CRBP (clustering routing based on PSO [particle swarm optimization]), WCV (weight based clustering for VANET), and AODV‐CD methods.

Pharmacist discharge summary: Impact of inpatient to community pharmacist handoff at hospital discharge

BackgroundCommunity pharmacists are often the initial health professionals whom patients encounter after hospital discharge but are rarely provided relevant discharge information. ObjectivesImplement a pharmacist-to-pharmacist discharge summary (P2PDS) to improve the safety of pharmacist care provision to patients transitioning home from the hospital. Practice descriptionInpatient pharmacists at an academic medical center conduct discharge medication reconciliation and release discharge electronic prescriptions to dispensing pharmacies. Practice innovationA multidisciplinary intersystem quality improvement project was conducted to demonstrate the impact of clinical information sharing via the P2PDS to community pharmacists. Evaluation methodsWith input from community pharmacists, the P2PDS was created and implemented on inpatient units throughout the health system. Outcomes assessed included identification of medication discrepancies, enrollment into reimbursable medication management services, and pharmacist confidence when filling discharge prescriptions. ResultsDuring the study period, community pharmacists identified a total of 388 medication discrepancies in 161 patients; 16% of discrepancies were considered “unintentional.” Twenty-five discharging patients were identified for enrollment in medication management services, with 20 of these patients enrolling in all 3 services (medication delivery, synchronization, and medication packaging). The P2PDS increased community pharmacist confidence in discharge medication filling (40% vs. 95%, P < 0.001) and increased the percent of patients receiving community pharmacist medication reconciliation (14%-76%, P < 0.001). ConclusionEnhancing pharmacist communication across practice settings with a P2PDS decreases care fragmentation through identification of medication discrepancies and improves pharmacist confidence in patient care provision.

The Effect of Advertising on Brand Awareness and the Impact on Decisions to Use Anteraja's Services

Anteraja is a delivery service company that was only established in 2019. Anteraja began to be known by the public at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Unfortunately, this brand does not yet have strong brand awareness among generations X, Y and Z where this generation is known to be very consumptive. With the tagline #PastiBawaHepi, Anteraja must bring happiness in every package delivery to consumers’ doorsteps. Currently, New Media such as websites and applications from Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are widely used to create content that is absorbed by this generation as the largest consumer of internet-based content today. YouTube and Instagram are among the most visited media on digital platforms such as web, android or ios over the past decade. YouTube itself is a video uploading application in the world of social media. Instagram is a photo and video uploading application. In addition to uploading videos and photos, this website and application is also a means for advertising. The purpose of this study was to determine the strategy used in Anteraja’s brand awareness. The method used is a qualitative method by taking data from observations and questionnaires and then identifying what factors are the people’s decisions to use Anteraja’s.&#x0D; Keywords: anteraja, advertising, brand awareness, generation, social, media

Drone flight data reveal energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings for very small package delivery

SummaryUncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for last-mile deliveries will affect the energy productivity of delivery and require new methods to understand energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We combine empirical testing of 188 quadcopter flights across a range of speeds with a first-principles analysis to develop a usable energy model and a machine-learning algorithm to assess energy across takeoff, cruise, and landing. Our model shows that an electric quadcopter drone with a very small package (0.5 kg) would consume approximately 0.08 MJ/km and result in 70 g of CO2e per package in the United States. We compare drone delivery with other vehicles and show that energy per package delivered by drones (0.33 MJ/package) can be up to 94% lower than conventional transportation modes, with only electric cargo bicycles providing lower GHGs/package. Our open model and coefficients can assist stakeholders in understanding and improving the sustainability of small package delivery.

A multi-objective optimization approach to package delivery by the crowd of occupied taxis

A multi-objective optimization approach to package delivery by the crowd of occupied taxis

Penerapan Perhtiungan Pajak Pertambahan Nilai Berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Keuangan Nomor 75/PMK.03/2010 Terhadap Perusahaan Jasa Pengiriman Paket

The purpose of this study is to find out and describe how to apply the calculation of VAT and its reporting (based on e-Faktur) which is the latest administrative system. To obtain this goal, the researcher used a descriptive research type with a qualitative approach. Data obtained through observation, interviews, and direct documentation at the research site. The focus of this research is the application of VAT, recording VAT Output and VAT Input, calculating the VAT period and reporting the VAT period using VAT data from January 2021 to December 2021. The results of the study conclude that package delivery service companies apply VAT in accordance with VAT Law No. . 11 of 2020, but in using the e-Faktur administration system to issue tax invoices and also the calculation of the VAT period, it still has to be improved again, because this system is based online, it will be difficult to revise errors, improving the quality of employees should also be carried out by package delivery service companies so that avoid mistakes that cause sanctions for those mistakes

Development of a Personalized Tobacco Cessation Intervention Package (PTCIP) for Persons with Schizophrenia in India.

Among persons with schizophrenia (PwS), tobacco use is higher in comparison to the general population, contributing to greater morbidity and mortality. Pharmacological interventions combined with psychosocial interventions are effective in tobacco cessation. While the effectiveness of extant psychosocial interventions-when used in isolation-seems limited, developing better combinations of interventions could help treatment providers deliver tobacco cessation services to PwS at different stages of motivation to quit. We aimed to develop a personalized tobacco cessation intervention package (PTCIP) for PwS. The stage-based intervention package was developed through a systematic review of interventions for tobacco cessation, the authors' clinical experience, and expert validation. The components of the intervention package, developed for PwS visiting the outpatient psychiatric department, were retained, removed, or added based on the content validity ratio (CVR). The final components included brief advice, principles of motivational interviewing, psychoeducation, decisional balance matrix, positive reinforcement, offering various treatment options, personalized feedback using a smoking-risk calculator, and prediction of cardiovascular risk using the WHO package of essential noncommunicable disease (PEN). The delivery of the intervention package was refined based on pilot testing in eight participants. The tailored package was designed to be delivered by a mental health professional as a single comprehensive 40 min to 45 min face-to-face session, integrated with routine follow-up visits, followed by two telephonic conversations in the second and third week of the initial session. The package needs to be tested in a randomized controlled trial for its effectiveness.

Study of Low-Dose Radiation Workers Ionizing Radiation Sensitivity Index and Radiation Dose-Effect Relationship.

In the present study, we analyzed radiation injuries to Chinese workers exposed to low-dose radiation. We discuss the relationships between dose and injury. This study randomly selected 976 radiation workers who underwent occupational health monitoring. The radiation workers were divided into 5 different types of work: radiation diagnosis, radiation therapy, interventional therapy, nuclear medicine, and industrial inspection. This research was approved by the Bioethics Committee at the Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The average annual cumulative dose to interventional radiation workers was the highest, i.e., 0.86 mSv. The detection rate of lens opacity was 37%, but 99.70% of lens opacities occurred in the peripheral cortex. Posterior subcapsular opacification was detected less than 1.00% of the time. The rate of chromosomal aberrations was highest for radiological workers with more than 20 years of service. Annual cumulative dose reached 2.04 mSv, and the monitoring dose for 3 months was as high as 1.62 mSv. Dicentric chromosomes were also detected. The manual packaging and drug delivery nuclear medicine staffs totaled 14 individuals. 131 131 was detected in the thyroids of 4 workers (28.57%). The detection rate of thyroid 131 I was higher in the hand-packed and administered group than in the automatic administration group. Radiation workers exposed to low doses of radiation can sustain injuries. Interventional radiology workers receive the highest doses and sustain the most significant effects. This study suggests that chromosome aberration analysis is an important index in occupational health monitoring of radiological workers. Monitoring of internal radiation exposure cannot be ignored for nuclear medicine staff.

Bio-Inspired Vision and Gesture-Based Robot-Robot Interaction for Human-Cooperative Package Delivery.

This research presents a novel bio-inspired framework for two robots interacting together for a cooperative package delivery task with a human-in the-loop. It contributes to eliminating the need for network-based robot-robot interaction in constrained environments. An individual robot is instructed to move in specific shapes with a particular orientation at a certain speed for the other robot to infer using object detection (custom YOLOv4) and depth perception. The shape is identified by calculating the area occupied by the detected polygonal route. A metric for the area’s extent is calculated and empirically used to assign regions for specific shapes and gives an overall accuracy of 93.3% in simulations and 90% in a physical setup. Additionally, gestures are analyzed for their accuracy of intended direction, distance, and the target coordinates in the map. The system gives an average positional RMSE of 0.349 in simulation and 0.461 in a physical experiment. A video demonstration of the problem statement along with the simulations and experiments for real world applications has been given here and in Supplementary Material.

Iterative delivery of an implementation support package to increase and sustain the routine provision of antenatal care addressing alcohol consumption during pregnancy: study protocol for a stepped-wedge cluster trial

IntroductionAntenatal care addressing alcohol consumption during pregnancy is not routinely delivered in maternity services. Although a number of implementation trials have reported significant increases in such care, the majority of...

Stochastic analysis of urban V2X communications: Orthogonality versus non-orthogonality

In this paper, we study the broadcasting performance of urban Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications at road intersections. In such environments, dense buildings obstruct the radio channel between vehicles in adjacent road segments and Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) signal propagation reduces the received power level. Therefore, messages that originate from adjacent roads traveling in a non-parallel direction usually have weaker signals than those from the road segment traveling in parallel opposite direction. Besides, the high vehicular density leads to insufficient orthogonal channel resources and high level of interference. We propose to apply Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) to V2X communications at urban road intersections to enhance the spectrum efficiency and improve the Package Delivery Ratio (PDR) performance. With NOMA, signals from multiple transmitters are decoded together and the interference from undesired users can be canceled if these messages are retrieved. Specifically, we study two NOMA-based V2X communication schemes, namely, NOMA-V2X decoded by Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC-V2X) and NOMA-V2X decoded by Joint Decoding (JD-V2X). Based on the tools developed in stochastic geometry, we derive and compare the PDR expressions for both NOMA schemes and the Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) scheme. Our results indicate that 1) both NOMA schemes outperform the conventional OMA scheme and the PDR of LOS/NLOS communications with two-user access increases by 51%/369%; 2) for four-user access, the proposed NOMA scheme shows 375% goodput enhancement as compared with the OMA scheme; and 3) JD-V2X provides significant PDR enhancement compared with SIC-V2X in the high data rate regime. Finally, we also demonstrate that the random access based NOMA schemes can achieve lower transmission latency than collision-free scheduling schemes when the road is over 56% jammed.

Charging Stations Distribution Optimization using Drones Fleet for Disaster Prone Areas

A disaster is an unforeseen calamity that causes damage to property or brings about a loss of human life. Quick response and rapid distribution of vital relief items into the affected region could save precious lives. In this regard, disaster management comes into play, which is highly dependent on the topography of the disaster-hit area. If the disaster-hit area has little or no road connectivity, the use of drones in such areas becomes essential for the delivery of health packages. Since the battery capacity of the drone is limited, there is a need of charging stations that should be transported using road infrastructure and pre-installed in disaster-prone areas, as access to these areas may be denied once the disaster hits. In this article, a simulation model was used to optimize the number and location of drone charging stations for deployment in a disaster-prone area in the pre-disaster scenario, aiming at the distribution of relief items to disaster-hit areas in the post-disaster scenario. We consider the relative priority of locations where a preference is given to the locations that have higher priority levels. An optimal number of charging stations and optimal routes have also been determined by using our optimization model. To illustrate the use of our model, numerical examples have been simulated for different sizes of the disaster-hit area and the number of targets. In our numerical simulation, it was observed that the drone's maximum distance capacity is the key factor in determining the optimal grid size, which directly correlates to the number of charging stations.

Catalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste into High Value-added Chemicals

Plastic is widely used in almost every sector of the modern economy owing to its low cost, durability, lightweight, and versatility. The mass use of plastic started in the 1950s and has exponentially increased ever since. Today, the world produces more than 350 million tons of plastic every year. However, of the 8.3 billion metric tons that have been produced, only nine percent have been recycled. The pandemic accelerates the use of single-use plastics for packaging and food delivery, which is intensifying our plastic waste problem. In this study, the latest research trends on the chemical recycling of waste plastics using heterogeneous catalysts will be discussed.