Search Results (578)

Blockchain technology (BCT) is often discussed as digital support for timber traceability in the context of the EU Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR), which requires operators and traders to demonstrate legality, deforestation-free production, geolocation at the forest parcel level, and verifiable supply chain documentation from 30 December 2026, with an extended timeline for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) until 30 June 2027. This study assesses where BCT can realistically add value in timber supply chains under operational forestry conditions and identifies the necessary technical, organizational, and legal prerequisites. A combination of a targeted literature review and empirical input from experts in the forestry and timber industry, including guided expert web-conferencing interviews (n = 41), an online survey (n = 69 completed responses), and a transdisciplinary workshop (n = 18) was utilized to obtain a comprehensive overview of industry perspectives. Qualitative data from interviews and workshop sessions were analyzed using structured qualitative content analysis, while survey data were evaluated using descriptive statistics. The expected benefits are associated with the introduction of tamper-proof timber harvesting practices and cross-organizational verification mechanisms. To address the discrepancy between biological uncertainty and digital rigidity, the study proposes a dynamic allocation model adapted from the energy sector that distinguishes between fixed and variable wood capacities to automate logistical planning via smart contracts. However, respondents emphasize that practical obstacles, such as limited digital maturity in forestry, fragmented data infrastructures across the supply chain, and unresolved issues of data sovereignty hinder the implementation of BCT. BCT alone is unable to resolve the problem of weak physical-digital identity continuity, a phenomenon widely known as the oracle problem; however, coupling the ledger with physical or biological anchors (e.g., photo-optical, automated inkjet marking identification) can re-establish this physical–digital continuity and thereby resolve the oracle problem. The results demonstrate that blockchain acts most plausibly as a supporting component within hybrid traceability architectures that prioritize event-based authentication, off-chain data processing where appropriate, and integration with existing certification systems. The study highlights the necessity of defining distinct organizational roles and responsibilities while integrating user-centric digital solutions tailored specifically to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Full article

Background: Interrupted time-series studies have not shown a consistent increase in suicide mortality during COVID-19, but civil mortality registries cannot ascertain SARS-CoV-2 infection individually. We evaluated pandemic-related change in suicide mortality and the feasibility of integrating infection ascertainment into medico-legal surveillance. Methods: We analysed 395 suicide deaths in Galați and Brăila counties, Romania (January 2018–December 2024), where mandatory forensic autopsy ensures exhaustive ascertainment. The pre-specified primary analysis was seasonally adjusted segmented Poisson regression in January 2018–December 2022 with an onset in March 2020; the period 2023–2024 was excluded as incompletely ascertained. Changepoint detection and unadjusted period comparisons were descriptive. Infection was classified as laboratory-confirmed (documented ante-mortem RT-PCR) or possible/probable (compatible autopsy findings); no post-mortem testing was performed. Results: The level change at onset was not significant (IRR 1.29, 95% CI 0.80–2.08; p = 0.302), nor was the slope change (IRR 1.01, 95% CI 0.98–1.04; p = 0.639); power was 80% only against IRR ≥ 1.98. Posterior probabilities were 0.85 for any increase and 0.035 for a doubling. The unadjusted comparison (6.00 vs. 4.62 deaths/month; IRR 1.30, 95% CI 1.04–1.63) was descriptive; no changepoint coincided with onset. Among 140 deaths in 2020–2021, 34 (24.3%) met ascertainment criteria, 21 (15.0%) laboratory-confirmed. Conclusions: The data exclude a doubling of suicide mortality but not a modest increase: a regional surveillance signal, not a causal finding. Infection ascertainment proved feasible within routine medico-legal investigation, yielding a reproducible framework for other registries, an Eastern European series for future meta-analyses, and a proof-of-concept for a standing forensic surveillance capacity adaptable to future epidemics. Full article

Digital identity and battery-passport systems can make electric-vehicle battery lifecycle records traceable, but traceability alone does not guarantee verifiable evidence or physical recycling compliance. We develop a normative two-stage Stackelberg model in which a regulator chooses audit intensity and verified incentives and a representative obligated firm jointly chooses pre-verification evidence quality and recycling compliance. The benchmark is stress-tested under reduced eligibility-confirmation effectiveness, alternative evidence–recycling interaction, decentralized manufacturer–recycler decisions, and implementation costs. Baseline traceability can leave evidence quality at the reporting floor and compliance incomplete, while additional responsibility exposure can conditionally increase recycling compliance while reducing evidence quality. Coordinated verified incentives improve both decisions and welfare in the benchmark complementarity domain. At zero eligibility-confirmation effectiveness, the fixed positive-rate package can become marginally welfare-inferior under finite capacity; adverse interaction can reverse a cross-effect, decentralization creates coordination underinvestment, and high payment or startup costs create single- or no-positive-payment regions. The model is therefore a forward-looking governance analysis rather than an empirical evaluation or legal calibration of current Chinese or European Union rules. Full article

Gender equality has become a fundamental indicator of constitutional democracy, effective governance, and the protection of human rights. This study examines the effectiveness of legal and institutional mechanisms for promoting gender equality through a comparative analysis of selected European jurisdictions and recent legal reforms in Uzbekistan. Comparative legal, doctrinal, systemic, statistical, and socio-legal methods were employed, complemented by original empirical evidence from an anonymous sociological survey. The findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of gender-equality reforms depends on the interaction between the scope and enforceability of legal guarantees, institutional capacity and accountability, socio-economic conditions affecting equality of opportunity and outcomes, and the accessibility and effectiveness of protection against discrimination, harassment, and gender-based violence. Although Uzbekistan has introduced significant legislative reforms, substantive gender equality remains constrained by persistent gender stereotypes, unequal career opportunities, and limited public awareness of available legal protections. The study proposes an integrated legal-institutional framework that combines comparative legal analysis with empirical socio-legal evidence to assess the implementation of gender equality reforms in transitional legal systems. It concludes that strengthening institutional accountability, introducing systematic gender monitoring and audits, enhancing transparency in labor relations, and ensuring effective enforcement of existing legal guarantees are essential for translating formal legal equality into substantive equality in accordance with international human rights standards. Full article

Responsible tourism practices are essential for sustainable tourism development, yet evidence on their implementation across different types of tourism enterprises remains limited. This study examines reported responsible tourism practices, together with the motivations and barriers influencing their implementation among tourism enterprises in Kien Giang province, Vietnam. A mixed-methods approach was employed, involving focus group discussions with 24 participants to develop the measurement indicators and a questionnaire survey of 125 tourism business representatives and 70 employees. Descriptive analysis revealed that only a few responsible tourism practices were reported at very high levels, including employee welfare, customer protection, fair recruitment, price transparency, avoidance of legally protected wild flora and fauna, and the provision of multiple waste bins. Most economic, social, and environmental practices were reported at lower levels, indicating substantial room for improvement. The main motivations were environmental protection, long-term business sustainability, tourist satisfaction, operational efficiency, and ethical responsibility, whereas inadequate training, limited awareness, insufficient implementation knowledge, and weak institutional support were the principal barriers. These findings suggest that targeted capacity building and stronger institutional support are needed to address implementation gaps and strengthen responsible tourism practices in Kien Giang province and other emerging tourism destinations. Full article

Freshwater scarcity can weaken water governance when hydrological pressure interacts with intensive agricultural demand, regulatory weakness, and political conflict. This research evaluates whether Irrigation District 005 (IR 005) in Chihuahua, northern Mexico, demonstrates local water-governance fragility across three domains: public security, the rule of law, and the ability to sustain water access and food production. A mixed-methods approach integrates legal and human rights documentation, institutional records, published studies, and a structured media review with hydrological, agricultural, climatic, and reservoir data. Water balances were analysed for 1998–2023, precipitation trends for 1980–2020, and crop water requirements were estimated using the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56 (FAO-56) Penman–Monteith framework, the crop coefficient (Kc), the water-stress coefficient (Ks), the United States Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number method, and application-efficiency assumptions. The 2020 water conflict resulted in fatalities, injuries, arrests, and documented human rights violations. Rule-of-law capacity was further diminished by unauthorised withdrawals, cultivation beyond authorised irrigation plans, and limited enforcement. The annual water balance shifted to persistent deficits after 2016, reaching an estimated deficit of 2268 cubic hectometres (hm³) in 2020. Annual precipitation did not exhibit a statistically significant monotonic decline during 1980–2020 (Mann–Kendall Z = −0.79, τ = −0.0878, p = 0.4251; Sen’s slope = −1.1628 mm yr⁻¹; Mann–Whitney p = 0.5313), indicating that recent stress is more closely linked to production scale, crop mix, governance conditions, and irrigation efficiency than to a long-term reduction in rainfall. Sensitivity analysis revealed that ±15% changes in Kc and Ks altered gross water requirements by approximately ±16–17%, while equivalent changes in effective precipitation produced changes of only 1–3%. These results demonstrate heightened water-governance fragility resulting from mutually reinforcing hydrological, institutional, and conflict-related pressures. Future research should refine locally calibrated water-demand parameters and develop reproducible monitoring systems that combine hydrological, institutional, satellite, and participatory data to support anticipatory, transparent, and rights-based water governance. Full article

Urban green spaces provide essential ecosystem services, yet national-scale economic assessments remain scarce in rapidly urbanizing countries. Here, we quantify the ecosystem service value (ESV) of China’s urban green spaces from 1996 to 2024 using national statistical data and eight key indicators: water conservation, carbon sequestration, oxygen release, dust retention, biodiversity protection, nitrogen oxide absorption, cooling effects, and leisure recreation. Valuation follows Costanza et al. and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We apply the full permutation polygon graphic method (FPPGM) to derive a comprehensive service index and the Eco-Economic Harmony (EEH) index to assess ecological–economic coordination. Total ESV increased from 57.18 billion to 569.01 billion yuan, at an average annual rate of 8.55%. Cooling effects, biodiversity protection, and water conservation ranked as the top three services. The comprehensive service index improved continuously, with national sustainable development capacity progressing from Level 4 (Low) in 1996–2002 to Level 1 (High) in 2013–2024. The 2024 EEH index of 0.87 indicates moderate-to-high eco-economic coordination. Despite substantial ESV growth, urban economic expansion continues to outpace ecological gains. Strengthening legal protections for urban green spaces is critical. This study provides a transferable framework for assessing urban green infrastructure across developing countries. Full article

Synthetic media are digital artifacts (image, video, audio, text, or multimodal content) that are wholly or partly generated or materially manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by deep-learning models. In consequence, their form, source, identity signal, or evidentiary relation to recorded events becomes partly or wholly artificial. A deepfake is the best-known subclass: AI-generated or AI-manipulated image, audio, or video content (including audio-only voice clones and still images) that realistically depicts an existing or fictitious person, object, place, or event and could falsely appear to be authentic. Contemporary scholarly and legal usage defines deepfakes by their technological origin and their capacity to deceive rather than by the creator’s intent, so disclosed and beneficial applications (accessibility, dubbing, entertainment, and research) are synthetic media as well. They are distinguished from cheapfakes (or shallowfakes), which achieve deception through conventional, non-AI editing such as selective cropping, slowing, or recontextualization. The social significance of synthetic media is not intrinsic but depends on consent, context, disclosure, and distribution, and on the institutional conditions under which audiences judge authenticity across the expanding volume of AI-generated content (AIGC) in the digital society. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based decision support systems (DSSs) increasingly shape how public organizations classify cases, rank risks, allocate attention, and interpret administrative information. Although these systems may improve administrative performance, their contribution to sustainable digital governance depends on institutional arrangements that preserve accountability, adaptability, inclusiveness, and public justification. This conceptual article develops a lifecycle-oriented socio-technical governance capacity framework through a structured synthesis of public administration, digital government, decision support systems, responsible AI, socio-technical systems, sustainability, and risk governance scholarship. The framework distinguishes five interacting layers—technical, organizational, legal–ethical, societal, and adaptive—and eight cross-layer capacities: data governance, algorithmic accountability, human oversight, legal and ethical assurance, organizational learning, inter-organizational coordination, public justification and contestability, and adaptive monitoring and response. It further identifies four system-level relationships concerning capacity alignment, lifecycle variation, distributed responsibility, and adaptive feedback. Isolated safeguards provide limited assurance when they are institutionally disconnected or unsupported by the authority to learn and intervene. By conceptualizing responsible AI-based decision support as a configuration of interdependent capacities, the framework connects AI governance with the institutional resilience, accountability, and adaptability required for sustainable public administration. It provides a diagnostic basis for comparative research and organizational assessment throughout the lifecycle of AI-based DSSs. Full article

One of the most fundamental and debated issues in the history of Sufism concerns not only the nature of mystical experience but also its epistemic value, its authority-generating capacity, and its normative legitimacy. Experiences expressed through kashf (unveiling), ilhām (inspiration), presence, witnessing, and annihilation have never been entirely rejected within Islamic thought, yet they have never been considered an unlimited or uncontrolled source of truth. This dual stance has shaped both internal Sufi debates and external critiques. Classical kalām and legal traditions approached mystical experience cautiously, emphasizing its subjectivity, fallibility, and non-generalizability. In contrast, the Sufi tradition defended unveiling and inspiration as integral to religious life. Modern scholarship, however, has often examined Sufism through universal theories of mystical experience or metaphysical and institutional frameworks, leaving its epistemological limits underexplored. The Naqshbandī tradition is notable for framing mystical experience within a tawḥīd-centered ontology, a cautious epistemology, and disciplined adherence to the Sharīʿa. This framework also allows reconsideration of the relationship between Sufism and ethics, presenting mystical experience as a bridge between transcendence and practical action. This article examines early modern Naqshbandī-Mujaddidī thought through Khwāja Bāqī Billāh (d. 1603). Drawing on his own writings, it analyzes the onto-epistemological structure of mystical experience, arguing that Bāqī Billāh grounds it in a tawḥīd-centered ontology, treats it as fallible and non-binding knowledge, and preserves the Sharīʿa as an indispensable normative criterion. Thus, Sufism emerges as a disciplined ethical horizon connecting transcendence and moral action. Full article

Direct evidence on curbside parking use in intermediate Latin American cities remains limited. This study characterized parking duration, purpose, turnover, accumulation, and regulatory compliance across six segment–date sessions in central Loja, Ecuador. Of 1426 observed curbside events, 1397 were retained after quality control. Analyses included descriptive and non-parametric tests, multivariable models with CR2 standard errors clustered by segment–date, and sensitivity analyses. Duration was strongly right-skewed (median 4 min; interquartile range 1–13 min; mean 36.3 min; P95 332.6 min), while passenger pick-up/drop-off accounted for 54.5% of events. Non-permitted maneuvers represented 64.0%. The four segment-sessions containing SIMERT coverage comprised 862 valid events, of which 776 occurred within marked SIMERT locations. Among the 644 marked-location events observed during payment-required hours, visible SIMERT use was recorded in 70 events (10.9%). After restricting the SIMERT component to marked locations during payment-required hours, composite non-compliance was identified in 1167 events (83.5%). During the common 06:30–18:30 comparison window, hourly turnover ranged from 0.54 to 1.96 events per legal space per hour, while cumulative space–time demand ranged from 11.6% to 154.8% of nominal legal space–time capacity. The value above 100% represents summed parking duration relative to nominal legal capacity and does not indicate simultaneous occupancy above 100%. Excluding session-boundary proxies left the median and interquartile range unchanged, although upper-tail estimates remained sensitive. Because each segment was observed on a single date, between-session differences cannot be interpreted as independent corridor effects. Natural-spline specifications provided better temporal fit than linear-hour specifications for both non-permitted maneuvers and revised composite non-compliance. These findings provide a reproducible local baseline for testing conventional and smart curb-management measures through repeated pilot studies. Full article

Although rooftop greenhouse buildings (RGBs) have become multifunctional urban infrastructures that turn roofs into productive land, their commercial spread across cities remains highly uneven. This study examines that unevenness by reframing RGB diffusion as a land-use transition pathway shaped by the interplay of economic demand pull and institutional readiness. It develops this account as a proposition-generating typology rather than a statistical test. Methodologically, the study combines a qualitative thematic synthesis of the RGB literature with a comparative narrative analysis of seven cities across high- and middle-income tiers: New York, Paris, Singapore, Barcelona, Seoul, Bangkok, and Dhaka. The analysis describes an urban-agriculture intensification ladder on which high-intensity commercial RGBs emerge only above specific wealth thresholds. Linking this economic axis to two institutional channels—legal permanence and administrative agility—we construct a land-use typology in which a commercialization gate separates commercialized from research-stage RGBs. It also reveals South Korea as an institutional paradox, where world-class technology coexists with blocked regulatory channels. We conclude with a development-stage-differentiated, transferable land-use policy framework that helps planning authorities align institutional readiness with economic capacity while proactively mitigating green-equity risks. Full article

Background/Objectives: Effective antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is vital for containing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), yet evidence regarding existing regulatory frameworks in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains scarce. This study conducted a landscape analysis of policies, laws, and regulations governing AMS across human and animal health sectors in ten LMICs to identify gaps and inform national action plans. Methods: Between October 2019 and September 2022, data were collected through desk reviews of national documents and a standardized, structured questionnaire administered to key national informants in ten countries: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. Results: Findings were analyzed across five core regulatory domains. While all countries maintained national medicine policies and regulatory authorities, antimicrobial-specific measures were often insufficient, particularly in the animal health sector. Human health frameworks were generally more advanced; however, overarching regulations for marketing authorization, post-marketing surveillance, and pharmacovigilance frequently lacked the necessary specificity for antimicrobials. Conclusions: Addressing these gaps requires strengthening One Health legal frameworks, particularly through targeted animal health policies and multisectoral coordination. Enhanced investments in capacity-building and systematic enforcement are essential to optimize antimicrobial use and strengthen the AMR response. Full article

The decision-oriented conception of enterprise risk management (ERM), in which risks are quantified, aggregated, and weighed against return when business decisions are prepared, is increasingly regarded as the core of value-based management. In Germany, this conception acquired a legal foundation in 2021: Section 1 of the Stabilization and Restructuring Framework for Enterprises Act (StaRUG), the Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act (FISG), and the amended Section 91(3) of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) require continuous monitoring of developments that may jeopardize the company’s continued existence, the initiation of “appropriate countermeasures” once a critical threshold is exceeded, and direct communication of the risk situation to the supervisory board. This paper argues that these obligations are difficult to satisfy without risk aggregation by Monte Carlo simulation and a quantitative risk-bearing-capacity concept, the same apparatus that underpins simulation-based valuation. The study asks whether listed firms report using it. The 2021 annual reports of 83 DAX- and MDAX-listed companies (excluding banks, exchanges, and insurers) are scored against eleven criteria capturing disclosed risk management practice. Because the instrument reads public reporting rather than internal process, the scores are interpreted throughout as a lower bound on practice. The average score is 0.73 of a possible 2.0 (about 37%). StaRUG is named by no company; FISG is by roughly 31%; and only a minority disclose adequate risk aggregation or a risk-bearing-capacity concept with a defined threshold. The pattern, near-universal assertion of readiness to act, combined with near-absence of the quantitative apparatus that would make such action triggerable, is consistent with ceremonial conformity decoupled from substantive practice. The value-relevant core of risk management thus remains largely unreported. Because the same apparatus generates the cost of capital and the decision value used in simulation-based valuation, the scores also function as a diagnostic of valuation capability: a firm that cannot aggregate its risks must import a discount rate rather than derive one. This has implications for valuation, governance, supervisory oard liability, and audit. Full article

Children are a particularly vulnerable group in the global flow of human trafficking and face persistent barriers in accessing justice. This article examines how the United Kingdom (UK) ensures justice for Vietnamese child victims of human trafficking through a three-pillar framework on access to justice: the legal protection framework, the institutional framework, and the capacity to provide and demand effective remedies. Employing a qualitative single-case-study design based on documentary analysis of international human rights instruments, UK legislation, official statistics, policy documents, and peer-reviewed research, the article argues that a progressive legal framework alone does not guarantee substantive access to justice: whether justice is realized depends on the interaction of all three pillars. Framed in rights terms, the failure runs through a sequence of guarantees: the child’s right to be recognized as a victim rather than an offender, their right to be heard in the decisions that follow, and their right to an effective remedy once the harm is done. The UK case, in which a highly developed legal and institutional framework coexists with documented protection failures affecting Vietnamese children, reveals where the gap between formal legal guarantees and substantive justice opens up. On this basis, and with explicit attention to the differences in legal tradition, resources, and institutional structure between the two countries, the article draws policy lessons for Vietnam in implementing its 2024 Law on Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking. Full article