Long-term nitrogen fertilizer management for enhancing use efficiency and sustainable cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Optimal management of nitrogen fertilizer profoundly impacts sustainable development by influencing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and seed cotton yield. However, the effect of long-term gradient nitrogen application on the sandy loam soil is unclear. Therefore, we conducted an 8-year field study (2014–2021) using six nitrogen levels: 0 kg/hm2 (N0), 75 kg/hm2 (N1), 150 kg/hm2 (N2), 225 kg/hm2 (N3), 300 kg/hm2 (N4), and 375 kg/hm2 (N5). The experiment showed that 1) Although nitrogen application had insignificantly affected basic soil fertility, the soil total nitrogen (STN) content had decreased by 5.71%–19.67%, 6.67%–16.98%, and 13.64%–21.74% at 0-cm–20-cm, 20-cm–40-cm, and 40-cm–60-cm soil layers, respectively. 2) The reproductive organs of N3 plants showed the highest nitrogen accumulation and dry matter accumulation in both years. Increasing the nitrogen application rate gradually decreased the dry matter allocation ratio to the reproductive organs. 3) The boll number per unit area of N3 was the largest among all treatments in both years. On sandy loam, the most optional nitrogen rate was 190 kg/hm2–270 kg/hm2 for high seed cotton yield with minimal nitrogen loss and reduced soil environment pollution

Servitization strategy: priorities, capabilities, and organizational features

Servitization (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988), as a process of value-creation through bundling services to physical products, has been broadly recognized as a competitive manufacturing strategy to the conventional manufacturer in many industries. It was found that the conventional manufacturers can achieve more revenue from their service units (Quinn et al., 1990; Quinn, 1992), and actually most of the added value comes from service constituents (Machuca et al., 2007). Servitization strategy increasingly plays essential roles on the operations performance and competitive advantage (Sawhney et al., 2004; Slack et al., 2004) of the conventional manufacturers, in particular during the economy recession time. Two servitization strategies are identified based on the case studies in the PC industry and secondary documentation research. Product-centric servitization strategy focuses on providing physical products and associated services (normally after-sale services) on time to the customers, whilst service-centric strategy emphasizes on offering services or servitized products in a timely fashion. The capability requirements and organizational features are different for these two types of servitization strategy. The results show that the choice of the servitization strategy largely depends on the core competence what have been established in the company. From the perspective of industry, its development of the whole industry is substantially affected by the interrelationships among all the related industries. Furthermore, well-designed policies by the industrial associations and the government are vital to the further development of the PC manufacturing industry

Supply-side collaboration with modular supply: cases from Chinese automotive industry

The rules and practices of supply-side collaboration changed with the automaker moving to modular assembly, and modular supply becomes dominate of the emerging automotive industry. The major purpose of this paper is to identify how modular supply affects the supply-side collaboration, and how to organize the upstream supply network effectively to supply these two type modules. Based on the case studies in Chinese automotive industry and literature reviews, we conclude that there are two type modules, fully integrated module and partial integrated module, and there are two types module supplier correspondingly. This paper observes the supply-side collaboration not only on the function level to identify the function deployment among design, production, inbound logistics and information, but also on the role level to analysis the relationship among automaker, module supplier and 3PL provider. And we summarized the findings into a 3C framework followed the 3C framework approach, which includes the context and capability requirements for supply-side collaboration when providing the two different type modules, and the configuration regarding the upstream supply network structure, the supply side collaboration process structure, and the supported information architecture

Fabrication of Pore-Selective Metal-Nanoparticle-Functionalized Honeycomb Films via the Breath Figure Accompanied by In Situ Reduction

Honeycomb films pore-filled with metal (Au, Ag, and Cu) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by combining the breath figure method and an in situ reduction reaction. First, a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based star-shaped polymer solution containing metal salt was cast under humid conditions for the formation of honeycomb films pore-filled with metal salt through the breath figure method. The morphology of the honeycomb films was mainly affected by the polymer molecular structure and the metal salt. Interestingly, the promoting effect of the metal salt in the breath figure process was also observed. Then, honeycomb films pore-filled with metal nanoparticles were obtained by in situ reduction of the honeycomb films pore-filled with metal salt using NaBH4. Notably, the metal nanoparticles can be selectively functionalized in the pores or on the surface of the honeycomb films by controlling the concentration of the NaBH4. Metal-nanoparticle-functionalized honeycomb films can prospectively be used in catalysis, flexible electrodes, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and wettability patterned surfaces