Urban underground logistics system in China: Opportunities or challenges?

An urban underground logistics system (ULS) is one important means of solving urban traffic problems that has unique advantages. Freight transportation in China requires a new transportation mode. Therefore, ULS has garnered increasing attention. However, to date, few scholars and practitioners have investigated ULS in China. Although ULS shows good development opportunities, it also faces great challenges. Based on the Macro-environment and situation analysis (PEST-SWOT) model, which is a strategic analysis method that combines both SWOT and PEST to effectively identify advantages, disadvantages, opportunities and threats, this paper first uses PEST to analyze the macro-environment of ULS in China and identify its internal factors (i.e., advantages and disadvantages) and external factors (i.e., opportunities and threats). Next, based on the SWOT framework, this paper proposes several development strategies and recommendations that provide a comprehensive and novel perspective to the study of ULS in China

Exogenous betaine enhances salt tolerance of Glycyrrhiza uralensis through multiple pathways

Abstract Background Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., a valuable medicinal plant, shows contrasting salt tolerance between seedlings and perennial individuals, and salt tolerance at seedling stage is very weak. Understanding this difference is crucial for optimizing cultivation practices and maximizing the plant’s economic potential. Salt stress resistance at the seedling stage is the key to the cultivation of the plant using salinized land. This study investigated the physiological mechanism of the application of glycine betaine (0, 10, 20, 40, 80 mM) to seedling stages of G. uralensis under salt stress (160 mM NaCl). Results G. uralensis seedlings’ growth was severely inhibited under NaCl stress conditions, but the addition of GB effectively mitigated its effects, with 20 mM GB had showing most significant alleviating effect. The application of 20 mM GB under NaCl stress conditions significantly increased total root length (80.38%), total root surface area (93.28%), and total root volume (175.61%), and significantly increased the GB content in its roots, stems, and leaves by 36.88%, 107.05%, and 21.63%, respectively. The activity of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (BADH2) was increased by 74.10%, 249.38%, and 150.60%, respectively. The 20 mM GB-addition treatment significantly increased content of osmoregulatory substances (the contents of soluble protein, soluble sugar and proline increased by 7.05%, 70.52% and 661.06% in roots, and also increased by 30.74%, 47.11% and 26.88% in leaves, respectively.). Furthermore, it markedly enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the content of antioxidants (SOD, CAT, POD, APX and activities and ASA contents were elevated by 59.55%, 413.07%, 225.91%, 300.00% and 73.33% in the root, and increased by 877.51%, 359.89%, 199.15%, 144.35%, and 108.11% in leaves, respectively.), and obviously promoted salt secretion capacity of the leaves, which especially promoted the secretion of Na+ (1.37 times). Conclusions In summary, the exogenous addition of GB significantly enhances the salt tolerance of G. uralensis seedlings, promoting osmoregulatory substances, antioxidant enzyme activities, excess salt discharge especially the significant promotion of the secretion of Na+Future studies should aim to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that operate when GB regulates saline stress tolerance

A Scientometrics Review on City Logistics Literature: Research Trends, Advanced Theory and Practice

The contradiction between the contribution of city logistics (CL) to sustainable urban development and its negative externalities is increasingly prominent. Policy supervision measures and the green logistics initiative are also in conflict with the management goal of logistics enterprises. Innovative solutions for CL have attracted increasing research attention worldwide. However, the description of the global research network in the field of CL, research trends, and the discussion of advanced theories and practices have not been systematically reviewed so far. Especially in the past three years, there has been an explosive growth of relevant literature. In this paper, the method of combining scientometric analysis and thematic discussion was adopted to systematically review 513 important works in the literature from 1993 to 2018, aiming to provide a holistic understanding of the status in quo, trends and gaps of CL research, and to further analyze prominent problems. The study has made statistical analyses of the publication year profile, journal allocation and research methods of the included literature, and constructed four kinds of visualized bibliographic information timeline maps for the authorship network, international collaboration network, keywords co-occurrence network and research topic clustering. Then, the three themes summarized by clustering are discussed, mainly focusing on CL strategies and policy, green supply chain management, planning methods, and advanced concepts and practices. Finally, the research gaps framework and agenda were reported. This study contributes to summarizing the research and development of city logistics on the whole, and can also serve as an explorative manual to support sustainable urban freight activities and innovative research

A preliminary prototyping approach for emerging metro-based underground logistics systems: Operation mechanism and facility layout

10.1080/00207543.2020.1844333International Journal of Production Research59247516-753