Search Results (205)

Compliant cross-border data flows face persistent challenges from fragmented regulatory regimes, inconsistent enforcement, and limited trust among stakeholders. Current approaches typically rely on centralized oversight or excessive data disclosure, both compromising regulatory interoperability and operational security. This paper introduces a trust-oriented blockchain architecture that enables secure cross-border data exchange while ensuring verifiable compliance without revealing sensitive content. The architecture decouples policy enforcement, privacy-preserving validation, and cross-jurisdiction auditability, enabling entities to share cryptographically verifiable compliance proofs rather than raw data. To capture the behavioral dynamics across heterogeneous regulatory environments, we incorporate a strategic interaction layer that models how domestic firms, foreign enterprises, and cross-border data platforms adjust decisions under varying incentive structures. These insights guide the design of an adaptive compliance verification pipeline that maintains trust equilibrium across participants. Our design records only cryptographic digests and structured compliance evidence on-chain, while off-chain components execute privacy-preserving checks using secure computation and decentralized storage. Through a case-driven evaluation, we show that the proposed architecture reduces governance friction, enhances institutional trust, and achieves interoperable compliance validation with minimal disclosure overhead. Through component-level evaluation and architectural analysis, this work establishes a technical foundation for secure, transparent, and regulation-aligned cross-border data governance. The framework provides a blueprint for future multi-party pilot deployments in operational environments. Full article

This study presents a rigorous experimental investigation of in-cabin acoustic comfort across a heterogeneous set of road and special-purpose vehicles. Interior noise measurements were conducted on a total of 35 vehicles, comprising five vehicles from each of seven operational categories, grouped according to RNTR-2 regulations into three distinct vehicle classes: N1, N2, and N2G. The adopted research methodology ensures a unified, phenomenological, and experimental approach to the assessment of interior vehicle acoustics, enabling consistent data acquisition and comparative analysis across vehicle classes. Measurements were performed under both stationary and dynamic operating conditions using Class 1 precision instrumentation. The experimental results reveal systematic differences in acoustic performance between vehicle classes. While N1 and N2 vehicles generally comply with recommended comfort thresholds, N2G special-purpose vehicles exhibit significantly elevated interior noise levels, reaching up to 90 dBA during dynamic operation, together with increased variability at higher engine regimes. These findings highlight the influence of vehicle architecture, operational conditions, and mission-oriented design constraints on vibro-acoustic behavior. Passive noise control solutions based on advanced sound-absorbing and sound-insulating materials were further evaluated, demonstrating interior noise reductions of up to 10 dBA. The scientific contribution of this work lies in the establishment of a unified, reproducible methodology that enables direct cross-category comparison of in-cabin acoustic comfort while explicitly integrating special-purpose vehicles into a comfort-oriented analytical paradigm. By moving beyond regulatory compliance toward a multidimensional interpretation of acoustic comfort, the study provides a robust foundation for vehicle design optimization and supports the future development of dedicated comfort assessment standards. Full article

This study was conducted to investigate potential regulatory mechanisms of hybridization increased the meat production performance in sheep. Thirty-six 3-month-old male lambs of Suffolk sheep (SFK, n = 12), Hu sheep (HH, n = 12), and their F₁ hybrids (SH, n = 12) were selected and raised in individual pens under identical nutritional supply and husbandry management regimes over a 95-day (including a 15-day pre-trial period) experimental period. At the end of the feeding trial, six sheep closest to the average body weight were selected from each group for the subsequent trial, involving the collection of Longissimus dorsi samples and the determination of production performance, muscle fiber characteristic and transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis. The results showed that the SH sheep had significantly higher pre-slaughter live weight and carcass weight than the HH sheep, while lower than those of the SFK sheep (p < 0.05). The muscle fiber density of the SH group was significantly higher than that of the parental groups, while the muscle fiber diameter and cross-sectional area were significantly smaller (p < 0.05). The collagen fiber content of the SH group was intermediate between the two parental groups and significantly higher than that of the SFK group (p < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis identified 2920 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were mainly enriched in the AMPK, PI3K-Akt, and PPAR signaling pathways. Metabolomic analysis detected 1617 differential metabolites (DMs), which were enriched in the fatty acid degradation and steroid hormone biosynthesis pathways. Integrated analysis revealed that core genes SESN3 and metabolites (malate, testosterone) enhance energy supply capacity through AMPK pathway, thereby promoting muscle fiber proliferation and increasing meat yield in the hybrid sheep. In conclusion, the heterosis of the SH group originates from the remodeling of muscle fiber structure and the synergistic regulation of related pathways, which provides a theoretical basis for sheep crossbreeding. Full article

The Asia Pacific, led by the resource-dependent ASEAN-5, is the largest carbon contributor, yet its firms exhibit critically low transparency. This study examines the relationship between voluntary Sustainability Assurance (SA) and carbon disclosure transparency using 875 firm-year observations (2018–2022). Applying panel regression and several robustness tests, we find that SA adoption has a positive relationship with the magnitude of disclosed carbon emissions, indicating enhanced transparency. This positive relationship is significantly more pronounced in firms with high environmental performance and greater property, plant, and equipment (PPE) efficiency, suggesting SA aligns with genuine sustainability efforts rather than symbolic reporting. Furthermore, SA increases the likelihood of disclosing the complex Scope 3 emissions. However, the effectiveness of SA is conditional: its transparency benefit is statistically significant only within mandatory sustainability reporting (SR) regimes and in non-environmentally sensitive industries, highlighting crucial variations across regulatory and industrial contexts within ASEAN-5. This research provides evidence on the role of SA in emerging markets, extending Agency Theory by demonstrating its function as a credibility signal that reduces information asymmetry. We offer practical guidance for managers seeking market differentiation, and for regulators aiming to align voluntary SA with IFRS S1/S2 to enhance disclosure quality. Full article

The quality of sustainability reporting (SR) has come to be widely regarded as a factor of considerable importance in influencing organisational performance. However, empirical evidence in relation to SR has been characterised by fragmentation across industrial sectors. The purpose of this study was to synthesise the relationship between SR and organisational performance across the manufacturing, finance, energy and utilities, services, and ICT sectors. Our systematic review, performed using the PRISMA 2020 framework and machine learning meta-regression, was conducted on 372 studies retrieved from the Scopus database between 1 January 2020 and 1 November 2025. Our pooled correlation showed that the SR effect was positively associated with outcome performance (r = 0.231, 95% CI [0.184, 0.279]) and yielded a standardised mean difference (g = 0.426, 95% CI [0.341, 0.512]). The meta-regression showed that assurance quality (β = 0.156, p < 0.001), the regulatory regime (β = 0.142, p < 0.001), and reporting standard alignment (β = 0.118, p = 0.003) are significant moderating factors. The predictive robustness was confirmed through cross-validation (R² = 0.55; RMSE = 0.056), while feature stability was substantiated by a mean SHAP variance of less than 0.012. Transparency, comparability, and decision usefulness in SR were found to be enhanced by institutional mechanisms—particularly those providing credible assurance within mandatory regulatory frameworks. Full article

Thought processes in the brain occur as it continually modifies its use of energy. This review integrates research findings from molecular neurology, vascular physiology and non-equilibrium thermodynamics to create a comprehensive perspective on thinking as a coordinated energy process. Data shows that there is a relationship between the processing of information and metabolism throughout all scales, from the mitochondria’s electron transport chain to the rhythmic changes in the microvasculature. Through the cellular level of organization, mitochondrial networks, calcium (Ca²⁺) signals from astrocytes and the adaptive control of capillaries work together to maintain a state of balance between order and dissipation that maintains function while also maintaining the ability to be flexible. The longer-term regulatory mechanisms including redox plasticity, epigenetic programs and organelle remodeling may convert short-lived states of metabolism into long-lasting physiological “memory”. As well, data indicates that the cortical networks of the brain appear to be operating close to their critical regimes, which will allow them to respond to stimuli but prevent the brain from reaching an unstable energetic state. It is suggested that cognition occurs as the result of the brain’s ability to coordinate energy supply with neural activity over both time and space. Providing a perspective of the functional aspects of neurons as a continuous thermodynamic process creates a framework for making predictive statements that will guide future studies to measure coherence as a key link between energy flow, perception, memory and cognition. Full article

This study examines the economic performance of residential photovoltaic systems combined with battery storage (PV-BESS) under Poland’s net-billing regime for a single-family household without subsidy support in 10-year operational horizon. These insights extend existing European evidence by demonstrating how net-billing fundamentally alters investment incentives. The analysis incorporates real production data from selected locations and realistic household consumption profiles. Results demonstrate that optimal system configuration (6 kWp PV with 15 kWh storage) achieves 64.3% reduction in grid electricity consumption and positive economic performance with NPV of EUR 599, IRR of 5.32%, B/C ratio of 1.124 and discounted payback period of 9.0 years. The optimized system can cover electricity demand in the summer half-year by over 90% and reduce local network stress by shifting surplus solar generation away from midday peaks. Residential PV-BESS systems can achieve economic efficiency in Polish conditions when properly optimized, though marginal profitability requires careful risk assessment regarding component costs, durability and electricity market conditions. For Polish energy policy, the findings indicate that net-billing creates strong incentives for regulatory instruments that promote higher self-consumption, which would enhance the economic role of residential storage. Full article

This study investigates the dynamic behavior of a Lotka–Volterra amensalism system subject to non-selective harvesting, regulated by wind speed. We develop a coupled windharvesting population model that captures the dual regulatory mechanism of wind as an environmental factor on the marine ecosystem: it weakens the amensalistic interaction between species by enhancing the dilution of inhibitory substances while simultaneously suppressing human harvesting intensity by impeding fishing operations. Using stability theory and the Lyapunov function method, we systematically analyze the existence and stability of equilibrium points and explore the ecological state transitions driven by varying wind speed. The results show that the system admits four possible equilibrium states. Among them, the positive equilibrium, whenever it exists, is globally asymptotically stable. As wind speed increases, the system undergoes sequential ecological regime shifts: from extinction of both species to dominance by a single species and finally to stable coexistence of both species. Numerical simulations confirm the theoretical findings and reveal the intrinsic mechanism by which wind promotes biodiversity: by reducing harvesting pressure and mitigating the amensalistic effect. The concept of critical wind speed proposed in this work offers a quantitative basis for managing wind conditions in marine protected areas and designing adaptive harvesting strategies, holding significant implications for marine conservation and sustainable fishery development. Full article

This study addresses the challenge of electric vehicle power battery recycling by proposing a dynamic deposit-refund system (DRS) under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, as an alternative to the conventional static DRS. An evolutionary game model is developed to capture the strategic interactions between local governments and responsible enterprises, incorporating a feedback mechanism where the deposit level is dynamically adjusted based on corporate EPR fulfillment rates. Using system dynamics simulation, the evolutionary paths under both static and dynamic DRS regimes are compared. The results demonstrate that the dynamic DRS effectively eliminates persistent oscillations and guides the system toward a stable equilibrium. Furthermore, by defining an ideal scenario, key factors are identified and prioritized to assist the government in steering the system toward this desired state. These findings offer actionable insights for designing adaptive regulatory mechanisms and fostering a self-sustaining battery recycling ecosystem. Full article

Managing community cats on islands requires reconciling animal-welfare mandates with biodiversity protection under real operational constraints. In the Canary Islands (Spain), national Law 7/2023 endorses ethical, non-lethal colony management, while subsequent regional resolutions restrict TNR in and around protected areas, narrowing municipal room for action. We combine a multilevel governance assessment with stochastic demographic simulations parameterized from official records to compare three sterilization regimes over 20 years. The intensive regime (≈60–70%/year) reflects the coverage threshold previously identified by Spain-based modelling and field evaluations and adopted in national program guidance; the 20%/year regime represents the pre-resolution baseline widely observed across the archipelago up to December 2024; and the 4%/year regime reflects the post-resolution reality, with abrupt declines in sterilizations, operations largely confined to urban cores, and program suspensions in multiple municipalities. Minimal (4%) and low (20%) efforts produce rapid population growth, bringing numbers close to the assumed carrying capacity under our deliberately high-K configuration and sustaining high densities and associated welfare and ecological risks; only sustained high-coverage TNR prevents saturation and produces progressive declines across island contexts. Under insular constraints, outcomes are determined by achievable coverage rather than regulatory intent; aligning policy and implementation to secure continuous, high-coverage TNR—particularly in risk-sensitive areas with appropriate safeguards—offers a feasible pathway to meet animal-welfare obligations while limiting ecological pressure. Full article

The swift advancement of autonomous driving technology in China renders the traditional driver-centred liability framework inadequate for the regulatory demands of advanced automation. Traffic accidents involving advanced autonomous cars frequently provide difficulties in identifying responsible parties and assigning liability. This study employs a comparative analytical approach to evaluate the liability regimes utilised across different jurisdictions, such as the driver liability, the system liability, the manufacturer and operator liability, and the composite liability regimes. It proposes that liability standards ought to differ according to levels of automation, mirroring the benefits and constraints of each regime within China’s legal and industrial framework. Liability should be assigned to the driver at Levels 0–2, divided between the driver and manufacturer or operator at Level 3, contingent upon road and system circumstances, and predominantly attributed to manufacturers, operators, and system providers at Levels 4–5. This study outlines a framework for enhancing China’s autonomous vehicle liability system and aligning legal accountability with technological advancements, while offering recommendations for other jurisdictions in regulating developing technology. Full article

Understanding how climate policies shape local emissions, population dynamics, and consumption patterns is essential for achieving carbon peaking and neutrality goals. As the climate change governance regime evolves, it is inevitable that, in addition to the central government, county-level regulatory actors will be involved in decision-making. This study utilizes a quasi-natural experiment to analyze county-level panel data from 2007 to 2017 as research objects. The nationwide low-carbon pilot policies established in 2010 and 2012 serve as the primary focus of this study. We employ a staggered Difference-in-Differences model to empirically analyze the impact of these pilot programs on carbon emission reductions. The results show that the policy significantly reduces carbon emissions by 30.52% on average, with pronounced spatial heterogeneity across central, suburban, and remote counties. Population redistribution contributes to emission reductions but raises equity concerns in remote counties. Meanwhile, residents remain in a high-carbon consumption phase, revealing the limitations of production-focused policies. These findings highlight the importance of integrating demand-side measures and spatially differentiated strategies into China’s climate governance framework. Full article

This study investigates the relationship between exhaust gas composition, particle number (PN) emissions, and soot microstructure of a 1.9 L compression-ignition engine operated under six controlled steady-state load regimes at 2000 min⁻¹. Unlike standardized transient procedures (e.g., WLTP), the steady-state approach enables isolation and quantification of fundamental thermochemical processes governing soot formation and NO_x production, providing engine-out data highly relevant for understanding Euro 7 emission behavior at the source. The novel contributions of this study include (i) a combined macroscopic–microscopic analysis linking PN emissions with SEM/EDS-based soot morphology; (ii) distribution-based estimation of soot mass concentration using experimentally derived primary particle sizes; and (iii) an experimental demonstration of the NO_x–soot trade-off across increasing load, supported by microstructural evidence of soot oxidation and agglomeration. The results show a clear decrease in PN concentrations with increasing load (from 1.31 × 10⁷ to 6.4 × 10⁶ cm⁻³), accompanied by a marked rise in NO_x emissions and exhaust temperature. SEM analysis confirms a transition from fine, weakly agglomerated soot structures at low load to more compact, oxidized aggregates at high load. Distribution-based particle sizing (20–80 nm, average ~45 nm) yields soot mass estimates that are consistent with theoretical trends and more accurate than fixed-radius approaches. These findings provide experimentally supported insights into engine-out particulate behavior that complements regulatory PN metrics in Euro 7, offering a mechanistic basis for improved emission control strategies and for interpreting PN-focused regulatory thresholds under real-world operating conditions. Full article

Against the backdrop of global climate change, alterations in precipitation regimes—including the increasing frequency of extreme events—have become more widespread, exerting profound impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and reshaping greenhouse gas (GHG) emission dynamics in wetlands. Wetlands, as unique ecosystems formed at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic environments, play a critical role in regulating carbon source–sink functions. In this study, we conducted in situ field simulation experiments to examine how precipitation changes influence the seasonal fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) in the Wayan Mountain headwater wetlands, and further explored the regulatory effects of vegetation attributes and soil physicochemical properties on these fluxes. The results revealed that a moderate increase in precipitation (+25%) enhanced CO₂ emissions and vegetation growth while suppressing CH₄ and N₂O fluxes, indicating a positive ecosystem response to additional water supply. In contrast, extreme precipitation changes (+75% and −75%) weakened the coupling between GHG fluxes and soil factors, resulting in reduced CO₂ flux, amplified variability in CH₄ and N₂O emissions, and inhibited vegetation growth and community diversity. The dominant controls differed among gases: CO₂ was primarily regulated by soil carbon pools, CH₄ was highly sensitive to water availability, and N₂O was influenced by soil nitrogen, pH, and salinity. Overall, moderate increases in precipitation enhance the carbon sink capacity and community stability of alpine wetlands, whereas extreme hydrological fluctuations undermine ecosystem functioning. These findings provide important insights into carbon cycling processes and regulatory mechanisms of alpine wetlands under future climate change scenarios. Full article

Privacy harms have expanded alongside rapid technological change, challenging the adequacy of existing regulatory frameworks. This systematic review (1990–2025) systematically maps documented privacy harms to specific legal mechanisms and observed enforcement outcomes across jurisdictions, using PRISMA-guided methods and ROBIS risk-of-bias assessment. We synthesize evidence on major regimes (e.g., GDPR, COPPA, CCPA, HIPAA, GLBA) and conduct comparative legal analysis across the U.S., E.U., and underexplored regions in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Key findings indicate increased recognition of data subject rights, persistent gaps in cross-border data governance, and emerging risks from AI/ML/LLMs, IoT, and blockchain, including data breaches, algorithmic discrimination, and surveillance. While regulations have advanced, enforcement variability and fragmented standards limit effectiveness. We propose strategies for harmonization and risk-based, technology-neutral safeguards. While focusing on the U.S. sectoral and E.U. comprehensive models, we include targeted comparisons with Canada (PIPEDA), Australia (Privacy Act/APPs), Japan (APPI), India (DPDPA), Africa (POPIA/NDPR/Kenya DPA), and ASEAN interoperability instruments. This review presents an evidence-based framework for understanding the interplay between evolving harms, emerging technologies, and legal protections, and identifies priorities for strengthening global privacy governance. Full article