PurposeThis study analyzes the role of supply chain ambidexterity (SC-Ambidexterity) in developing supply chain resilience (SC-Resilience). We describe SC-Ambidexterity as a simultaneous application of supply chain adaptability (SC-Adaptability) and supply chain alignment (SC-Alignment) capabilities. We also consider the role of supply chain agility (SC-Agility) in the relationship between SC-Ambidexterity and SC-Resilience. We further suggest that the relationship between SC-Ambidexterity and SC-Resilience may be stronger in case of higher market uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachBased on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) of the firm, we develop a set of hypotheses that are tested through a survey of manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The hypothesized model is tested through structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results of this study show a positive effect of SC-Ambidexterity on SC-Resilience. SC-Agility positively mediates the relationship between SC-Ambidexterity and SC-Resilience. However, our results show that this relationship does not vary at different levels of environmental uncertainty.Originality/valueThis study provides the seminal operationalization of SC-Ambidexterity in the supply chain context. It further shows the importance of SC-Ambidexterity and SC-Agility in contributing toward SC-Resilience.

Spider silk is a natural polymeric fiber with high tensile strength, toughness, and has distinct thermal, optical, and biocompatible properties. The mechanical properties of spider silk are ascribed to its hierarchical structure, including primary and secondary structures of the spidroins (spider silk proteins), the nanofibril, the "core-shell", and the "nano-fishnet" structures. In addition, spider silk also exhibits remarkable properties regarding humidity/water response, water collection, light transmission, thermal conductance, and shape-memory effect. This motivates researchers to prepare artificial functional fibers mimicking spider silk. In this review, the authors summarize the study of the structure and properties of natural spider silk, and the biomimetic preparation of artificial fibers from different types of molecules and polymers by taking some examples of artificial fibers exhibiting these interesting properties. In conclusion, biomimetic studies have yielded several noteworthy findings in artificial fibers with different functions, and this review aims to provide indications for biomimetic studies of functional fibers that approach and exceed the properties of natural spider silk.

In this paper, we study the equilibrium points, local asymptotic stability of an equilibrium point, instability of equilibrium points, periodicity behavior of positive solutions, and global character of an equilibrium point of a fourth-order system of rational difference equations of the form x n+1 = αx n-3 β + γ y n y n-1 y n-2 y n-3

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In this paper, we study the boundedness character and persistence, existence and uniqueness of the positive equilibrium, local and global behavior, and rate of convergence of positive solutions of two systems of exponential difference equations. Furthermore, by constructing a discrete Lyapunov function, we obtain the global asymptotic stability of the unique positive equilibrium point. Some numerical examples are given to verify our theoretical results. MSC: 39A10; 40A05

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