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Background and Aim: The tourism industry plays a very important role in the economic cycle of society. Medical tourism, as one of the types of tourism industries, has a direct result in globalizing health care. Therefore, by strengthening the supply chain in this area, a very high added value can be achieved. For this reason, the present study provides a conceptual framework for predicting the demand for medical tourism supply chain by determining the relationship between medical tourism demand and economic, medical, and welfare-service components of Zahedan city. Materials and Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical and applied research. Data were collected using a questionnaire and field and library methods. The statistical population of interest was specialist doctors in Zahedan city, and 97 people were selected using simple random sampling with Morgan’s table. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and its reliability was obtained using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient with SPSS software more than 0.7. Data analysis was performed using the tangent sigmoid neural network algorithm, linear regression criteria, and mean square error. For this purpose, SPSS software was used to examine the correlation between the data, and MATLAB software was used to design the neural network. Results: There was anerrore in The basis for the optimality of the answers, linear regression criteria and mean square error. The results showed that the values related to regression, education, and health were more than 0.8 and were 0.9033, 0.8818, and 0.9985, respectively. The highest priorities of the respondents related to medical equipment, education, and health were 0.5657, 0.5558, and 0.20726, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results obtained from the proposed model, the neural network has a high accuracy in predicting the demand for medical tourism supply chain in terms of education, health, and welfare. It is also predicted that the demand for medical tourism has been constant during the one-year period of research and it is expected that medical tourism in Zahedan city will decrease in future. Therefore, it is recommended that officials pay attention to the development and improvement of medical tourism to promote it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a systematic view of how Circular Supply Chain Management (CSCM) captures and evolves the state-of-the-art advances in this field. Multiple analyzes have been performed with two tools of VOSviewer and open-source R-package ‘bibliometrix”. Also, a network and bibliometric analysis of the Co-Occurrence, Co-Authorship, and Co-Citation has been made on CSCM using bibliometric and scientometrics methods on the literature available on the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric, network structure, and descriptive analysis have been used to investigate publications on the subject of circular supply chain management. For this purpose, a systematic review has been performed using the Prisma review protocol. After defining the research objectives and questions, the relevant keywords for the sources and database and search codes have been used for an online search. Then, the initial search has been conducted. The next step involved screening the study results. 116 published articles have been selected from Scopus for analysis. The potential papers were then downloaded in CSV format for bibliometric analysis and synthesis. The final data for this research has been selected from 2010 to 2021. All the data was exported in CSV format to the Bibliometrix and Vosviewer software for data analysis. Also, Co-Authorship, word Co- Occurrence, and Co-Citation analysis have been generated using VOSviewer. Findings: This study analyzed the annual publication trends, the most productive authors, the most cited articles, the most productive affiliations, the most important journals, the most productive countries, and keywords. Collaboration, co-occurrence, co-authors, co-citation, and historiographical analysis were also performed in this study. Findings indicated that "Perona, M" and "Mina, H" with six and five articles were the most productive authors in the development of this field. Also, Geissdoerfer's article was the most cited article with 231 citations, and it can be considered a pioneering work in the field of CSCM development. Farooq's article was also the most cited local article. Govindan et al.'s (2020) article were the most important in co-citation analysis. Great Britain and Italy were the most productive countries with 70 and 66 publications. Cambridge University was the most productive university in England. The "Journal of Cleaner Production" and "Sustainability" were the most visited journal with 24 and 8 articles. The most dominant keywords were "circular economy" and "circular supply chain". The main keywords shared in the most advanced cluster were "circular economy", "circular supply chain", and "supply chain". The main common keywords in cluster 2 included "supply chain management" and "circular supply chain management", and the main common keywords in cluster 3 included "sustainability, and “closed loop supply chain". Also, major cooperated countries included Great Britain, Italy, and China. Strong cooperation between Iran and Denmark, China and Australia, and Britain, and India was also observed. A significant number of articles were written by Iranian researchers, and the number of citations received by foreign researchers was higher. The authorship of the articles included two, one, and three authors, respectively. The results indicated the existence of the development of CSCM with quantitative modeling approaches, proficient algorithms, optimization techniques, and integrated multi-criteria decision-making techniques. Also, CSCM research must identify enablers, drivers, Critical Success Factors (CSF), obstacles and barriers, innovative frameworks, and circular business models. Research limitations/implications: The papers were merely reviewed in the form of scientific and English language journal articles. Other datasets and conference papers, reports, and books can be considered for future study, but they were not included in the structural literature review. Practical implications: CSCM is rapidly developing in supply chain sustainability and can operate as a guide for companies. To apply CSCM, three questions need to be answered: i) which business/supply chain models should companies choose (closed loop or circular)?; ii) how does it cover supply chain operations to achieve a zero-waste perspective?; and iii) how does the company redesign its supply chain and implement a circular supply chain? Social implications: The application of the results of this study and circular supply chain indicators have positive effects on the sustainability and circular economy. Originality/value: This research is one of the early attempts to analyze the structure of social networks in CSCM using bibliometric and scientometric methods. In previous studies relevant to CSCM, mainly the structured literature review, content analysis, and integrated framework have been used, and few studies have addressed CSCM using bibliometric analysis. In this paper, the R-software was used for the first time as a tool for bibliometric data statistics (open-source R-package tool ‘Bibliometrix’ supplemented by VOS viewer, which is used for clustering and data visualization). Also, the results of the analysis of the two software were compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Cross-docking deals with the goals of lean supply chain management. It is a distribution strategy. In this structure, goods are shipped from inbound to outbound trailers on the same day or overnight without putting them into storage. Cross-docking can realize transport efficiencies at reduced material handling and storage costs by eliminating the storage and order-picking activities from the main warehouse operations. These advantages make cross-docking an interesting logistic strategy that can give companies considerable competitive advantages. This paper aims to introduce cross-docking, its characteristics and its problem types, comprehensively. The focus of this study is on distinguishing research gaps. Design/methodology/approach: Systematic review is "review research by explicit, rigorous and accountable methods". Reviews and their findings can vary on many aspects of the 'dimensions of different'. One such review is the 'review of reviews'. A systematic review of primary research is the second level of research analysis. A review of reviews (sometimes called 'overview' or 'umbrella' review) is a tertiary level of analysis. It is a systematic map and/or synthesis of previous reviews. The 'data' for such reviews of reviews are previous reviews rather than primary research studies. This can be an efficient method for examining previous research. In this paper, cross-docking literature systematic review (review of reviews method) has been discussed by introducing, clustering crossdocking decision problems, and drawing future research directions. Findings: Bibliography, cross-dockings, and classified characteristics of cross-docking based on the decision levels (strategic, tactical and operational levels) were the major findings of this study. Also, the cross-docking problem types were addressed and the gaps in the field of cross-docking were determined. This study highlighted two frequent gaps that would need to be filled by focusing on the research areas of taking deadlines for the trucks into account and dealing with uncertainty. Research limitations/implications: Book chapters and conference papers were excluded from this research. Reviewed papers were published in a certain period and the English language. Practical implications: Today firms use different types of distribution strategies. Cross-docking with eliminating the storage and order-picking activities from the main warehouse operations is an interesting logistics strategy. products with predictable, high cubic volume flow, and perishable products are ideal candidates for cross-docking. Cross-docking is nowadays used by many companies and industries such as the retail industry, automotive industry, telecommunications and electronics industries. Social implications: Cross-docking results in smaller volumes of more visible inventories that are delivered faster and more frequently. Several other advantages of cross-docking are addressed in the literature compared to traditional distribution centres. Some advantages are reduced cost (warehousing costs, inventory-holding costs, handling costs, labour costs), shorter delivery lead time (from supplier to customer), improved customer service, reduced storage space, faster inventory turnover, fewer overstocks, and reduced risk for loss and damage. Originality/value: Due to the advantages and extensive applications of cross-docking, in this paper a "review of reviews" was performed, and after introducing cross-docking terminals and their problem types, distinguish research gaps were determined for the future research study. Therefore, researchers were suggested to concentrate on the addressed gaps in their models to get closer to real-life constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Today, the manufacturing industry, with the expansion of the physical constraints of trade worldwide, has adopted modern information technologies to optimize the business process and achieve integration with geographically dispersed supply chain partners. Traditional supply chain models focus on optimizing physical flows. However, it is equally important to ensure that physical units can process appropriate information. This paper aims to propose a model for the optimization of information process performance in the IoT-based virtual supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, information processing performance in the closed-loop virtual supply chain has been optimized to maximize profit and information processing speed by considering costs of virtual, information security, and energy consumption. The final programming model has been optimized using meta-heuristic algorithms, the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), and the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA-II). Findings – The results indicated that there is an inverse relationship between virtual supply chain profit and information processing speed (delay). The results of model solving using NSGA-II and SPEA-II algorithms underlined the virtual supply chain profit of 9.93×106 and 4.23×106, and the data processing speed of 337.48 and 94.07, respectively. Thus, the NSGA-II algorithm contributes more to the supply chain profitability. Research limitations/implications - The proposed model can be used in manufacturing industries equipped with IoT. Unavailability of practical examples and insufficient data are the two main limitations of the study. Practical implications:- The proposed model improves the production process and helps managers to plan better for their supply chain management and make timely decisions by sharing information across the supply chain and being aware of the flows of products and associated parts. Social implications - The Internet of Things in the virtual supply chain provides an opportunity to manage logistics systems and results in efficient online delivery with minimal cost. The information flow integrates all links and participants in the virtual supply chain. It enables each member to obtain the accurate information needed for logistics capability, reduces resource wastage, and improves customer satisfaction. Originality/value: One of the innovative aspects of this research is the use of IoT in the virtual supply chain for the integration and transparency of information in the supply chain, considering the importance of information in the virtual supply chain and examining the impact of IoT usage on closed-loop virtual supply costs and target functions. In addition to considering the physical flow costs of the closed-loop, including production costs, separation costs, repair, disposal, recycling, etc., in the cost objective function, virtual flow costs included IoT usage costs and information security costs. Energy consumption was also included in the objective function. Also, due to the virtualization of the supply chain and the significant role of information, optimization of information processing speed was considered in modeling the supply chain performance, which is another innovative aspect of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]