Search Results (62)

The article proposes a cryptographic system with absolute security features for use in authenticating access to resources in smart grid systems, taking into account prosumer solutions to ensure a high level of security of transactions on the energy market that meet the requirements established in the Directive of the European Parliament of 14 December 2022 no. 2555 NIS2, requiring “dynamic authentication” prior to the release of transaction data for key services, covers energy market operators as a key service and is particularly important for ensuring security. The article presents an innovative cryptographic system that, according to the authors’ knowledge, is the only one in the world that meets the NIS2 requirements in the field of “dynamic authentication” and the Quantum-Resistant requirements intended for distributed systems and smart grids. The proposed solution eliminates vulnerabilities related to digital identity theft and its reuse, i.e., practically eliminates the possibility of impersonation. Full article

The article analyzes the impact of selected operational parameters of internal combustion engine vehicles on CO₂ emissions. The study was preceded by a detailed analysis of the issues related to CO₂ emissions in the EU, with a focus on Poland, where the tests were conducted. The key scientific assumption is that individual vehicle users’ behaviors significantly impact global CO₂ emissions. Daily use of private vehicles, driving style, and attention to fuel efficiency contribute to cumulative effects that can drive the transformation toward more sustainable transport. Therefore, the study was conducted using real-time empirical data obtained from the vehicles’ OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) diagnostic systems. This approach enabled the creation of a diagnostic tool allowing each vehicle user to assess CO₂ emissions and ultimately manage its levels, which is the biggest innovation of the work. Two levels of CO₂ emissions were identified as categorical variables in the model, considered either ecological or non-ecological from the perspective of sustainable transport. The CO₂ emission threshold of 200 g/km was adopted based on the average age of vehicles in Poland (14.5 years) and Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Three models of logistic regression dedicated to different driving cycle phases—starting, urban driving, and highway driving—were proposed and compared. This study demonstrated that during vehicle starting, the most significant factors influencing the probability of ecological driving are vehicle velocity, relative engine load, and relative throttle position, while for the other two types of movement, engine power and torque should also be considered. The logistic regression model for vehicle start-up obtained a value of sensitivity at about 82% and precision at about 85%. In the case of urban driving, the values of the discussed parameters reach significantly higher levels, with sensitivity at around 96% and precision at about 92%. In turn, the model related to highway driving achieved the highest values among the created models, with sensitivity at around 97% and precision at about 93%. Full article

Children on farms face high risks of work- and non-work-related fatalities, with tractors being a significant contributor. This study examines children’s involvement in fatal tractor-related accidents within agriculture in Iceland from 1918 to 2024, explores adult reflections on childhood tractor-driving experiences, and analyses Members of Parliament’s arguments against setting a minimum age for off-road tractor driving. The data are based on parliamentary debates on tractor-related legislation, fatal tractor-related accidents documented in newspaper archives and supplementary sources, and narrative interviews with former summer children who stayed at farms during their childhoods. Over half of the 81 registered accidents involved children—primarily boys—with 75% occurring between 1958 and 1988, when no minimum age for off-road tractor driving existed. The fatality incidence rate for children was more than four times higher than for adults. Arguments against minimum age requirements for off-road driving included the need for child labour, children’s superior driving skills, and the denial that children were more often victims than adults. Since 1988, no child has died while driving a tractor. A human-centred approach focusing on the working conditions, driver capacity, and adherence to safety procedures and legal frameworks is needed to prevent future accidents. Full article

The right to the portability of personal data guarantees the interested party the right to receive personal data that concern themselves. Specifically, data which a person has provided to a ‘data collector’ in a structured format can currently be transmitted to another ‘data collector’ without any legal consequences as long as the original ‘collector’ has received consent either derived via a contract or other means. This data transaction from one ‘collector’ to another is often carried out by automated means; it is easily technically possible and is therefore considered to not negatively affect the rights and freedoms of others. This right to data transfer is guaranteed when it comes to data collected in the public interest or in the exercise of public powers conferred on the ‘collector’. The main precedent to the right to data portability is the EU Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, regarding the protection of natural persons with respect to the processing of personal data and their free circulation, which repeals Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). In Article 20, this regulation discusses the right to data portability, establishing the basic guidelines for this right. Thus, a new personal right is guaranteed, given the context of the general protection of data. In order to strengthen control over their own data, a natural person must also be allowed to receive data in the same structured way. Full article

In 2014, an Irish parliament white paper called for greater addressing of sport-related concussions (SRCs) in Ireland, requesting the adoption of the Concussion in Sport Group’s (CISGs) guidelines and greater consistency in SRC return to play (RTP) management. Ten years later, it is unclear how these requests have been addressed. Recently, the United Kingdom’s government centralised guidelines to one SRC document for all grassroots sports. This study aimed to investigate all publicly available SRC guidance in Irish sports and national governing bodies (NGBs) to determine if centralised guidelines are warranted. Sport Ireland and the Irish Federation of Sports were searched for all recognised NGBs and sports in Ireland. Websites were searched for any information pertaining to SRCs and data were extracted and collated in Microsoft Excel. In total, 15 of 83 sports and/or NGBs included SRC guidance, nine of which provided RTP protocols. Various iterations of the CISGs guidance and tools were implemented. Several sports with a documented SRC risk had no guidelines present. The findings indicate disjointed and outdated guidance across Irish sport. Additionally, there are sports with a documented concussion risk that have no SRC guidance available. This study provides support for centralised guidelines to be adopted in Irish grassroots sports. Full article

The development of speech technology requires large amounts of data to estimate the underlying models. Even when relying on large multilingual pre-trained models, some amount of task-specific data on the target language is needed to fine-tune those models and obtain competitive performance. In this paper, we present a bilingual Basque–Spanish dataset extracted from parliamentary sessions. The dataset is designed to develop and evaluate automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems but can be easily repurposed for other speech-processing tasks (such as speaker or language recognition). The paper first compares the two target languages, emphasizing their similarities at the acoustic-phonetic level, which sets the basis for sharing data and compensating for the relatively small amount of spoken resources available for Basque. Then, Basque Parliament plenary sessions are characterized in terms of organization, topics, speaker turns and the use of the two languages. The paper continues with the description of the data collection procedure (involving both speech and text), the audio formats and conversions along with the creation and postprocessing of text transcriptions and session minutes. Then, it describes the semi-supervised iterative procedure used to cut, rank and select the training segments and the manual supervision process employed to produce the test set. Finally, ASR experiments are presented using state-of-the-art technology to validate the dataset and to set a reference for future works. The datasets, along with models and recipes to reproduce the experiments reported in the paper, are released through Hugging Face. Full article

Alcohol content, proanthocyanins and anthocyanins influence wine quality. The composition of wine depends on the type of cultivar, location, environmental conditions, and management practices. Phenolic compounds have attracted considerable research interest due to their antioxidant properties and potential beneficial effects on human health. However, the low bioavailability of anthocyanins creates a major bottleneck in their ability to exert beneficial effects. Despite extensive research on the effects of wine on human health, no clear evidence has been obtained on the benefits of wine quality or geographic area of production on health conditions, such as metabolic syndrome. Five climatically and geologically distinct wines were evaluated. Based on recent studies, meta-analyses, and pooled analyses of wine composition, along with the predicted low bioavailability of polyphenol compounds, we estimated the efficacy of five geographically distinct wines according to gastrointestinal absorption and the effects of alcohol intake on both men and women, with a view to ascertaining whether geographical origin influences the antioxidant serum composition of wine. Data on the estimated consumption of wine suggest that the polyphenol contents are similar regardless of choice of wine/area, while different alcohol compositions affect the level of alcohol and calorie intake. Thus, moderate wine drinkers should be advised to control the habit, but without exceeding the dose considered a healthy threshold (up to 30–40 g of alcohol/day in men and 10–20 g of alcohol/day in women), given no medical contraindications are present. These results will add value to the framework of the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) adopted in December 2021, where the European Parliament and the Council introduced new labeling rules for the wine sector and aromatized wine products. Full article

This study explores the complex relationship between trust, corruption, and tax compliance in fragile states. It examines factors influencing public trust in three government branches: the ruling party (a proxy for the executive), the parliament, and the local government, and examines whether trust in these arms of government impacts tax compliance. We conducted this investigation using Afrobarometer survey data from Guinea, Mali, Sudan, and Zimbabwe as case studies. The study found that restoring public trust and promoting tax compliance are tangible outcomes arising from a steadfast commitment to electoral integrity, transparency, and accountability. This interplay becomes more vital within the framework of state fragility, where institutions are highly strained. The study highlighted that the existence of rampant corruption reduces trust in the ruling party, parliament, and local government council. Furthermore, the joint interaction between corruption and lack of trust significantly undermines the willingness of taxpayers to adhere to tax administration laws. These insights emphasise that combating corruption becomes not only a governance step but also vital to state stability. Thus, African governments should prioritise electoral integrity and combat corruption through enhanced accountability to pave the way for improved governance, enhanced trust, and a more stable path toward a global powerhouse. Full article

The rapid expansion of digital twin technology has revolutionized management and testing across various sectors, particularly in safeguarding critical infrastructure like smart grids. Aligned with the NIS2 Directive, Directive (EU) 2022/2555 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022, digital twins play a critical role in bolstering cybersecurity measures by enabling advanced simulation and real-time monitoring, key aspects emphasized in the directive for enhancing the security of networks and information systems. Concurrently, Europe’s shift towards communal data spaces amplifies the need for robust cyber defences. This paper aims to bolster cybersecurity defences in critical infrastructure, with a particular focus on the energy sector and smart grids. It proposes an innovative architecture for cybersecurity monitoring, converting a Common Information Model-compliant system into a digital twin via the FIWARE platform and incorporating an open-source Security Information and Event Management solution. Validated by a real-world case study, our approach demonstrates significant advancements in protecting smart grids against cyber threats. Full article

Throughout history, women have struggled to find their place in the labour market. Their participation in the labour market is usually characterised by worse working conditions; they tend to work in lower-paid jobs, under worse social conditions, and in the vast majority of cases their work in the household is not credited. Women make up half of the world’s population, and their non-participation in the labour force has negative consequences for economic growth. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of women’s participation in the labour market on living standard in the European Union. Data on women’s participation in entrepreneurship and politics were also analysed as part of this work. Panel data analysis was conducted for the period 2009–2022 for 27 members of the European Union, using fixed and random effects. The results show that long-term unemployment has a negative impact on GDP per capita. Moreover, a higher share of women in parliament and better education of women is confirmed to be crucial for GDP per capita growth. Failure to include women could have serious consequences for economic growth. The key to success is education and social change that enable women to play the same role as men in the labour market. Full article

Objectives: This article focuses on exploring the evolution of palliative care in Portugal. Ten years after the approval of its Basic Law, the aim was to investigate the quality of the path followed and the guidelines that could promote its development. Thus, this study sought to identify (a) the goals of the current members of parliament concerning palliative care, (b) the major priorities that should guide the development of palliative care in the coming decade, (c) the facilitating or hindering factors to accelerating the process, and (d) to propose consensually agreed measures for the integral development of palliative care within the health system. Methods: The qualitative data analysis was performed through the reading of the literature and interviews conducted via Zoom with several intentionally chosen participants. The data extracted from the previous studies were analyzed in a focus group. The NVivo^® 10 was used for the data processing and categorization. Results: Three key themes emerged concerning the current status of palliative care: the policymakers, the health professionals, and the society. This first line of structuring is explained by a second set of categories, namely, (a) the knowledge about palliative care; and (b) palliative care organization from the policymakers’ perspective. In the health professionals’ domain: (a) knowledge about palliative care, (b) clinical training, and (c) medical specialty. Finally, in society: (a) knowledge about palliative care. Significance of the results: Advancing general education, increasing the qualitative training for different health professionals, reformulating the laws supporting them, promoting the flexibility of the implementation methodologies, and establishing a medical specialty are crucial to achieving the proposed goal. This study was not registered. Full article

By utilizing the panel quantile regression method and employing unbalanced panel data covering the years between 1972 and 2020, this study examines the impact of government ideology on renewable energy consumption for 26 EU member countries. The estimation results indicated that an increase in the relative power position of right-wing parties in government was correlated with a decrease in renewable energy consumption, whereas a rise in the relative power position of left-wing or center-wing parties in government was associated with an increase in renewable energy consumption across all quantiles evaluated. The estimation results were robust to different indicators of renewable energy consumption and government ideology. The estimation results of this study also indicated statistically significant positive associations between the share of seats in parliament for political parties classified as green and renewable energy consumption, and between the total Christian democratic governing party seats as a percentage of all legislative seats and renewable energy consumption. This result suggests that green parties and Christian democratic parties may be the key driving forces behind the positive coefficients for variables representing left-wing and center-wing parties in our study. Full article

It is indisputable that power systems are being transformed around the world to increase the use of RES and reduce the use of fossil fuels in overall electricity production. This year, the EU Parliament adopted the Fit for 55 package, which should significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels in the energy balance of EU countries while increasing the use of RES. At the end of 2022, the total number of prosumer installations in Poland amounted to about one million two hundred thousand. Such a high saturation of prosumer micro-installations in the power system causes many threats resulting from their operation. These threats result, among others, from the fact that photovoltaics are classified as unstable sources and the expected production of electricity from such installations is primarily associated with highly variable weather conditions and is only dependent on people to a minor extent. Currently, there is a rapid development of topics related to forecasting the volume of energy production from unstable sources such as wind and photovoltaic power plants. This issue is being actively developed by research units around the world. Scientists use a whole range of tools and models related to forecasting techniques, from physical models to artificial intelligence. According to our findings, the use of machine learning models has the greatest chance of obtaining positive prognostic effects for small, widely distributed prosumer installations. The present paper presents the research results of two energy balance prediction algorithms based on machine learning models. For forecasting, we proposed two regression models, i.e., regularized LASSO regression and random forests. The work analyzed scenarios taking into account both endogenous and exogenous variables as well as direct multi-step forecasting and recursive multi-step forecasting. The training was carried out on real data obtained from a prosumer micro-installation. Finally, it was found that the best forecasting results are obtained with the use of a random forest model trained using a recursive multi-step method and an exogenous scenario. Full article

Energy is a key driver of all modern economies. Sustainable development is playing an increasingly important role both at regional and local levels. It is a compromise between social and economic needs and the preservation of nature. In the policy of the European Union, the idea of sustainable development and environmental protection is of decisive importance for the implemented programs and economic activities. Contemporary challenges require the transformation of the energy market towards greater use of renewable sources. According to Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and European Council on promoting energy from renewable sources, Poland has committed itself to achieving a 23% share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption by 2030. This goal considers total energy consumption in terms of power, engineering, heating, refrigeration, and transport. The aim of this paper was, firstly, an analysis of the share of renewable energy in the European Union over an 18-year period (2004–2021), with particular emphasis on the position of Poland. The second objective was the analysis of renewable energy at the local level in Poland, i.e., at the local government unit (LAU) level. Changes in the share of renewable energy in Poland compared to other European countries were also examined. The study utilized functional analysis of principal components and cluster analysis based on the data from the Central Statistical Office and EUROSTAT. The study found that while Poland does not differ significantly from other countries in using renewable energy, it does fall below the European average. Principal component analysis suggests that Poland responds adequately to European changes in the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. This dynamic is stable (over 95% explained by the first component) and applies to most countries surveyed. In addition, the authors sought to answer questions relating to the current status of renewable energy sources in Poland, the barriers and challenges facing the introduction of renewable energy in the country, a comparative analysis of Poland’s progress in renewable energy with other global counterparts, and an exploration of the future prospects and potential for the development of renewable energy in Poland. The study found that the potential for renewable energy is greatest in the northern areas of Poland, with photovoltaics and wind power plants providing the greatest capacity. Poland’s renewable energy potential is very high and will be determined by technological development, political, economic, and social issues. Full article

The OECD’s education agenda has been marked since the 1990s by monitoring quality and manufacturing problems and solutions for the so-called knowledge economy. Among the instruments used by the OECD is “PISA for Schools” (Pisa-S), an assessment applied directly to schools worldwide since 2011. In Portugal, it was implemented in 2019 under the designation of “PISA for schools in the municipalities” (PISA-M), claiming to create opportunities for collaborative work between schools to promote the success of local educational policies and the quality of student learning. Taking PISA-M as a policy instrument and building on Coburn problem-framing typology, in this article, the revision of PISA-S to PISA-M is reread to analyze the regulatory rationale for the educational system that PISA-M encodes. This research draws on data from OECD PISA/PISA-S/PISA-M websites and two public hearings with the Portuguese PISA-M coordination in the Portuguese parliament and with education unionists, and in existing research relating to PISA-S. Overall, PISA-M appears to be an instrument to reframe local school governance and teacher professional development practices by capturing problematizations and solutions raised on education, teachers’ development, and how school education should be ordered and coordinated at a municipal scale. Full article