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The purpose of this article is based on the unit patent license fee model in the closed-loop supply chain.

This paper analyzes the impact of the bundling strategy of the retailer selling new products and remanufactured products on the closed-loop supply chain under the condition that the original manufacturer produces new products and the remanufacturer produces remanufacturing products.

The results show that alternative products can be bundled, and in many cases, the bundling of remanufactured products and new products is better than selling alone.

If the retailer chooses bundling, for the remanufacturer, when certain conditions are met, the benefits of bundling are greater than the separate sales at that time; for the original manufacturer, when the recycling price sensitivity coefficient is high, the bundling is better than separate sales.

Digital supply chains require nascent technologies like blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT). There is a need to develop a roadmap for the implementation of these technologies, as they require a huge amount of resources and infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges of implementing blockchain-IoT integrated architecture in the green supply chain and develop strategies for the same.

After a thorough literature survey of Scopus-indexed journals and books, 37 barriers were identified, which were then brought down to 15 barriers after confirming with industry and academic experts using the Delphi method. Using the total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) method and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis, the barriers were modeled, and finally, strategies were formulated using a concept map to handle the barriers in the blockchain-IoT integrated architecture for a green supply chain.

This paper presents the research on barriers that can be considered for incorporating blockchain and IoT in the green supply chain. It was found from the TISM model that environmental concerns are Level-1 barriers and need to be addressed by developing appropriate technology and allocating funds for the same. An integrated ecosystem with blockchain and IoT is developed.

The focus of this study was on the challenges of blockchain and IoT; hence, it is required to extend the research and find challenges for different industries and also analyze the criteria using other multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. Further research is required for the integration of blockchain-IoT with supply chain functions.

The transformation of a traditional supply chain into a green supply chain is possible with the integration of technologies. This research work and the strategies developed are useful to managers and practitioners working on technology implementation. Planning resources and addressing key barriers is possible with the concept maps and architecture developed.

Green supply chain management (SCM) is gaining importance in industry as well as the academic sector due to government Policies and norms worldwide for reducing emissions and encouraging environment-friendly production systems. Incorporating blockchain and IoT in a green supply chain will further digitize and increase transparency in supply chains.

We have done a categorization of all barriers based on the expert survey by academicians and industry experts from industries in India. The concept map helps in identifying possible solutions for the challenges and initiatives to be taken for the smooth integration of technologies in the green supply chain.

Sex and age estimation is important, particularly when information about the deceased is unavailable. There are limited radiological studies investigating side, sex and age differences in normal ankle morphometric parameters. The authors’ goal was to evaluate different ankle joint morphometric measurements and document variations among Egyptians.

A prospective study was conducted throughout 23 months on 203 (100 males and 103 females) adult Egyptians, aged between 20-69 years old, who were referred for a plain x-ray of bilateral normal ankle joints.

Ankle parameters showed no statistical difference between both sides, except for tarsal width (TaW) which was significantly higher on right than left side (26.92 ± 2.66 vs 26.18 ± 2.65 mm). Males showed significantly higher morphometric values except for anteroposterior gap (APG) and talus height (TaH) which were significantly higher in females (2.29 ± 0.80 vs 1.80 ± 0.61 mm and 13.01 ± 1.68 vs 11.87 ± 1.91 mm, respectively). There was significant increase in tibial arc length, APG, distance of level of MTiTh from anterior limit of mortise, distance of level of MTiTh from vertex of mortise, sagittal distance between tibial and talar vertices and sagittal radius of trochlea tali arc in old age group compared to young one. A significant decrease in tibial width, malleolar width, TaW and TaH was noted in old age group compared to young one.

Ankle joints of both sides are mostly symmetrical; however, there are significant differences in most morphometric values due to sex and age factors. These findings may be essential during side, sex and age determination.

Tandem wing aircrafts belong to an unconventional configurations group, and this type of design is characterised by a strong aerodynamic coupling, which results in lower induced drag. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a certain trend in the wingspan impact on aircraft dynamic stability can be identified. The secondary goal was to compare the response to control of flaps placed on a front and rear wing.

The aerodynamic data and control derivatives were obtained from the computational fluid dynamics computations performed by the MGAERO software. The equations of aircraft longitudinal motion in a state space form were used. The equations were built based on the aerodynamic coefficients, stability and control derivatives. The analysis of the dynamic stability was done in the MATLAB by solving the eigenvalue problem. The response to control was computed by the step response method using MATLAB.

The results of this study showed that because of a strong aerodynamic coupling, a nonlinear relation between the wing size and aircraft dynamic stability proprieties was observed. In the case of the flap deflection, stronger oscillation was observed for the front flap.

Results of dynamic stability of aircraft in the tandem wing configuration can be found in the literature, but those studies show outcomes of a single configuration, while this paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the impact of wingspan on aircraft dynamic stability. The results reveal that because of a strong aerodynamic coupling, the relation between the span factor and dynamic stability is nonlinear. Also, it has been demonstrated that the configuration of two wings with the same span is not the optimal one from the aerodynamic point of view.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the 3D printability of a multimaterial, fully self-supporting auxetic structure. This will contribute to expanding the application of additive manufacturing (AM) to new products, such as automotive suspensions.

An experimental approach for sample fabrication on a multiextruder 3D printer and characterization by compression testing was conducted along with numerical simulations, which were used to support the design of different auxetic configurations for the jounce bumper.

The effect of stacking different auxetic cell modules was discussed, and the findings demonstrated that a one-piece printed structure has a better performance than one composed of multiple single modules stacked on top of each other.

The quality of the 3D printing process affected the performance of the final components and reproducibility of the results. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to further study component fabrication optimization to achieve a more reliable process.

This research work can help improve the manufacturing and functionality of a critical element of automotive suspension systems, such as the jounce bumper, which can efficiently reduce noise, vibration and harshness by absorbing impact energy.

In previous research, auxetic structures for the application of jounce bumpers have already been suggested. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, in this work, an AM approach was used for the first time to fabricate multimaterial auxetic structures, not only by co-printing a flexible thermoplastic polymer with a stiffer one but also by continuously extruding multilevel structures of auxetic cell modules.

As of December 2022, there were 119,000 gas stations, 10,800 gas stations and 4,488,000 charging piles nationwide, while the number of vehicles reached 312 million, including 11.49 million new energy vehicles. The imbalance between transportation energy supply and energy replenishment demand leads to crowded queues of vehicles at some stations and idle resources in others. How to reduce the phenomenon of large queues and improve the utilization rate of idle resources is the key to alleviating the imbalance between supply and demand.

Therefore, from the perspective of spatio-temporal equilibrium of urban transportation energy supply stations, multi-energy supply station cooperation is established in view of the phenomenon of large spatio-temporal differences among different energy supply stations, and corresponding inducing strategies are adopted for energy supplement vehicles in the road network, so that part of queued users go to energy supply stations with fewer vehicles, so as to balance the supply and demand of transportation energy in the region. On this basis, the income distribution of urban transportation energy supply station is discussed.

The total revenue after the cooperation was 13,095, an increase of 22.9%. Secondly, in terms of distribution rationality, three impact factors are selected and Shapley correction value is used to distribute the total income. Compared with independent operation, both sites have a certain degree of increase.

Traffic congestion at energy supply stations is closely related to the number, location and number of vehicles at energy supply stations. Therefore, using a cooperative approach of energy trading cannot solve the queuing problem. In addition, there are a few research results on the equalization of energy supply station services considering time-of-use pricing. However, these studies do not consider the vehicular grooming at congested stations. As far as the authors know, there are no relevant research results in the research on the service equilibrium of energy supply stations based on cooperative games.

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of structural and demographic board diversity as well as board tenure on family firms' environmental performance, by analyzing the differences between family and non-family businesses and within family firms.

Tobit regressions are applied to investigate the effect of independent directors, CEO non-duality, board gender diversity and board tenure on environmental performance. The study also controls for other board and firm characteristics, as well as for time, industry and country-fixed effects. In doing so, the authors rely on a sample of non-financial listed firms from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal over the period 2014–2021.

The authors find that women on the board positively influence environmental performance and this effect is significant only in family firms, although board tenure negatively moderates the relationship. Board independence significantly affects environmental performance only in non-family firms. A strong presence of family directors has a negative effect on family firms' environmental performance, especially when directors' turnover is low.

This paper examines the unexplored relationship between structural board diversity and environmental performance in family companies. This study provides empirical evidence on the association between gender diversity and family firms' environmental performance focusing for the first time on a European setting. Moreover, this study provides evidence of a different effect of board tenure in family and non-family businesses.

This study aims to co-develop a Frailty, Health and Care Needs Assessment (FHCNA) questionnaire for people experiencing homelessness and explore the feasibility of its use by non-clinical staff in homeless hostels.

The FHCNA, aimed at identifying frailty and other health and care priorities for people experiencing homelessness, was co-designed in workshops (online and in person) with homelessness and inclusion health staff. Its feasibility was tested by staff and their clients in two hostels, with pre- and post-study focus groups held with hostel staff to gain input and feedback.

The FHCNA was co-developed and then used to collect 74 pairs of resident and key worker inputted data (62% of eligible hostel residents). The mean age of clients was 48 years (range 22–82 years). High levels of unmet need were identified. Over half (53%) were identified as frail. Common concerns included difficulty walking (46%), frequent falls (43%), chronic pain (36%), mental health issues (57%) and dental concerns (50%). In total, 59% of clients reported difficulty in performing at least one basic activity of daily living, while only 14% had undergone a Care Act Assessment. Hostel staff found using the FHCNA to be feasible, acceptable and potentially useful in facilitating explorations of met and unmet health and social care needs of hostel clients. By identifying unmet needs, the FHCNA has the potential to support staff to advocate for access to health and social care support.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to co-develop and feasibility test a questionnaire for use by non-clinically trained staff to identify frailty and other health and care needs of people experiencing homelessness in a hostel setting.

The purpose of this article is to investigate on changes of the microbial load and the chemical and physical properties of date fruits stored for 6 months under two different temperatures.

A composite sample of 100 kg date fruits from the Khalas variety, season 2019, was collected from the local market in Al Ahsa Province, Saudi Arabia, packaged in 1 kg lots, stored at room and refrigerator temperatures and the microbial contamination and the chemical and physical properties monitored over a period of six months of storage. Total bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, yeasts and molds were counted and representatives of yeast and mold contaminants were identified using morphological, physiological and molecular typing techniques. Changes in the color and texture of the samples were also monitored during storage.

The yeasts detected were two strains of each of Lachancea thermotolerans and Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis and one strain of Cystofilobasidium lacus-mascardii. For molds, one strain of each of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus caespitosus have been detected. No significant growth of these microorganisms was observed, but enough load persisted during storage that makes the samples not meeting the microbiological standards. There were significant changes in the color and texture of the fruits during storage.

These findings add important information that can help producers and processors to improve quality and promote marketing of date fruits, especially to international markets.