Search Results (5,574)

Energy-harvesting (EH) AIoT systems enable long-term autonomous operation but suffer from time-varying energy availability, which makes stable learning difficult. In such environments, federated learning (FL) is prone to energy depletion (blackout), while continual learning is required to handle evolving data distributions, leading to a trade-off between energy stability and catastrophic forgetting. In this paper, we propose a stability-controlled continual federated learning framework that jointly regulates local training intensity and rehearsal usage based on the residual energy state. The proposed method is derived from a Lyapunov drift-plus-penalty formulation and implemented as a lightweight mode-based control policy. Simulation results using real solar energy traces show that the proposed method significantly reduces blackout while improving accuracy and mitigating forgetting compared to existing approaches. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of energy-aware joint control for stable continual federated learning in EH-AIoT systems. Full article

Against the backdrop of environmental governance systems transitioning from command-and-control to multi-stakeholder collaboration, elucidating the mechanisms and pathways through which voluntary environmental regulations influence green technological innovation in heavily polluting enterprises holds significant implications for advancing green innovation and high-quality development. This paper systematically examines the synergistic mechanisms of command-and-control versus voluntary environmental regulations on green technological innovation in heavily polluting enterprises, utilising data from listed companies in China’s high-pollution industries between 2008 and 2024. Unlike previous studies predominantly focused on the impact of a single regulatory type, this study reveals an interactive effect between the two: moderate command-and-control regulation provides essential institutional support for voluntary environmental regulation, such as ISO 14001 certification, thereby generating a complementary enhancement effect. However, overly stringent command-and-control regulation diverts innovation resources from enterprises, thereby suppressing the incentive effect of voluntary regulation. This conclusion transcends the traditional analytical paradigm within environmental regulation theory that treats command-and-control and voluntary regulations as mutually exclusive opposites, revealing instead a dynamic relationship where both synergistic and constraining effects coexist. This discovery provides crucial theoretical underpinnings and empirical evidence for constructing an environmental governance system that combines command-and-control constraints with flexible incentives, ensuring compatibility between policy objectives and corporate behaviour. Full article

Rural e-commerce is reshaping agricultural markets, yet its environmental consequences remain insufficiently understood. This study examines how the Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration (RECD) program affects agricultural carbon outcomes in China. Using a balanced panel of 2152 counties from 2010 to 2022, we employ a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model to identify the effect of the RECD policy. The results show that the RECD policy significantly increases total agricultural carbon emissions. Evidence for production expansion and production restructuring suggests that improved market access and stronger price incentives encourage output expansion and a shift toward more market-oriented production, thereby raising aggregate emissions. At the same time, the RECD policy significantly reduces the carbon emission intensity and improves the carbon emission efficiency, indicating better carbon performance per unit of agricultural output. Further analysis shows that this dual result reflects the coexistence of efficiency gains and scale expansion, with the scale effect dominating the technical effect at the current stage. The emission-increasing effect is more pronounced in balanced agricultural areas, poverty-designated counties, counties with weaker initial e-commerce foundations, and counties with higher initial emission levels, while stronger environmental regulation and green technological innovation significantly mitigate this effect. In addition, the RECD policy generates spillover effects on neighboring counties within 50 km. These findings provide empirical evidence on the effects of the RECD policy on agricultural carbon emissions and offer policy guidance for integrating rural e-commerce policies with low-carbon agricultural transformation. Full article

The sustainable transition of power systems is currently hindered by fragmented carbon pricing systems and insufficient cross-market synergies. Considering this, we herein construct a system dynamics model of carbon tax regulation under conditions integrating electricity markets, carbon emission trading (CET) markets, and tradable green certificate (TGC) markets using Vensim PLE 7.3.5 software. We also propose a price-matching mechanism and implementation pathway for carbon taxation and CET to advance low-carbon sustainable development. The simulation results show that the introduction of a carbon tax at an initial rate of 50 CNY per ton significantly improves renewable energy investment returns. Moreover, effective coordination between the carbon tax and CET reduces carbon emissions from the power system, delivering benefits in terms of both environmental and socio-economic sustainability. We further identify a dynamic coordination scheme consisting of a carbon tax with an initial rate of 50 CNY per ton, which is appropriate when the CET prices stabilize at approximately 60 CNY per ton. An initial rate of 30 CNY per ton is more suitable when the CET prices rise above 100 CNY per ton. These findings verify the optimal matching rules for carbon tax intensity under different carbon allowance price levels, and they also provide quantitative policy tools and empirical support for the scenario-based regulation of carbon pricing systems to achieve sustainable energy transition goals. Full article

To address the “greenwashing” trust crisis induced by information asymmetry in sustainable supply chains, this study develops a comprehensive game-theoretic model integrating Stackelberg and evolutionary game theories (EGT). We quantitatively investigate the dynamic interactions among multi-dimensional consumer preferences, blockchain implementation costs, and boundedly rational government interventions. Our analysis yields three core contributions. First, we analytically reveal the “double-edged sword effect” of blockchain adoption. While structural transparency unlocks a trust dividend, exorbitant technological costs trigger a “budget crowding-out effect.” Quantitative results demonstrate that breaching the absolute Feasibility Threshold completely cannibalizes the environmental budget, driving substantive green investments strictly to zero. Second, EGT analysis proves that isolated punitive carbon taxes trap supply chains in a suboptimal “shallow greening” equilibrium. A composite tax-subsidy policy is structurally required to expand the feasible cost space and hedge against technological risks. Finally, we formulate a dynamic policy exit mechanism. As blockchain infrastructure matures and the endogenous green premium effectively offsets implementation costs, regulators must systematically phase out subsidies and converge toward a single-taxation regime to prevent corporate policy arbitrage and alleviate long-term public financial burdens. Full article

Conventional truck emission accounting methods based on average activity levels and static emission factors are increasingly inadequate for dynamic regulation and policy comparison at high spatiotemporal resolution. This review synthesizes recent progress in dynamic truck emission estimation from four perspectives: multi-source data support, key feature extraction, physics-constrained emission modeling, and governance-oriented applications. The literature was collected from Web of Science Core Collection and ScienceDirect for the period 2014–2026, supplemented by backward reference checking, and was analyzed through a progressive framework linking data, features, models, and governance tasks. Unlike previous reviews that usually discuss emission inventories, conventional emission models, or data-driven prediction methods separately, this review highlights an integrated governance-oriented chain that connects multi-source data fusion, mechanism-related feature construction, physics-constrained modeling, and environmental management applications. Existing studies suggest that multi-source data, including GPS trajectories, on-board diagnostics (OBDs), on-board monitoring (OBM), portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) measurements, traffic flow monitoring, and road network attributes, provide an important basis for representing real-world operating processes. Meanwhile, key features have expanded from surface-level variables such as vehicle velocity to mechanism-related factors, including payload, road grade, engine operating conditions, vehicle-specific power, and roadway context. Truck emission modeling has also evolved from unconstrained or weakly constrained approaches toward frameworks that place greater emphasis on physical consistency, interpretability, and result credibility. In parallel, application scenarios have extended from emission quantification to high-emission vehicle identification, dynamic inventory development, hotspot detection, policy comparison, and transport optimization. These developments can support policymakers, transportation planners, and environmental agencies in moving from aggregate emission accounting toward targeted and process-based truck emission governance. Current research, however, still faces challenges related to data consistency, model generalizability, uncertainty propagation, and real-time application. Future work should focus on standardized datasets, hybrid AI–physics modeling frameworks, uncertainty-aware validation, real-time deployment in intelligent transportation systems, and improved links between dynamic estimation and practical environmental management. Full article

This study presents a multivocal literature review (MLR) on the implementation of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs), a relatively new concept in urban mobility that merges autonomous driving with shared transportation. The purpose of this review is to analyse the feasibility, challenges and potential impacts of SAV deployment by aggregating and synthesising insights from the academic literature and grey sources. The review addresses factors influencing deployment, including social acceptance, environmental impact, business models, policy frameworks, needs and barriers, and lessons from existing pilot programmes. The findings reveal that successful SAV implementation depends on combining technology, regulation and infrastructure. Public trust and perception of safety, cost and convenience can also significantly influence the adoption of this technology, as well as potential sustainability benefits (like reduced emissions and fewer private vehicles). Case studies from cities like Phoenix, San Francisco and Singapore show promising results but also context-specific challenges. This study concludes that future research should apply these insights to specific cities, where urban layouts and public transport reliance demand customised approaches to successfully deploy SAVs. Full article

This paper examines how local firm entry affects air pollution and whether the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) changes this relationship. Using a county–month panel for 2010–2020, we match the Chinese Industrial and Commercial Enterprise Registration Database with county-level monthly PM2.5 data to measure new firm entry and its sectoral composition. To address the potential endogeneity of firm entry, we use the opening of high-speed rail as an instrumental variable. The results show that firm entry significantly increases county-level PM2.5 concentrations. This effect is highly heterogeneous across industries, with stronger pollution effects in sectors such as wholesale and retail, manufacturing, and accommodation and catering. We further find that the APPCAP significantly weakens the positive effect of firm entry on air pollution. Additional evidence suggests that the policy improves air quality not only by tightening environmental constraints, but also by shifting firm entry toward relatively cleaner industries. This paper explains the environmental consequences of local economic expansion from the perspective of incremental firm entry and provides new evidence on the joint role of environmental regulation and industrial restructuring in air pollution control. Full article

Counterfeit and unsafe medicines pose significant risks to patient safety and undermine trust in healthcare systems. This paper presents ACTMeds, a blockchain-supported pharmaceutical traceability and recall platform that considers pharmaceutical supply chain requirements and public health operational needs relevant to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The system integrates Ethereum smart contracts, developed using Ganache, with a React-based web application providing regulator, operator, pharmacy, and auditor interfaces, alongside a public verification portal leveraging QR and GS1 barcodes. In addition, role-based access control is enforced across the medicine lifecycle, including manufacture, custody transfer, dispensing, and recall, with immutable on-chain events generated to support auditability and accountability. To balance transparency with confidentiality, the platform prototypes a zero-knowledge (ZK) recall mechanism in which regulators can cryptographically prove that recall conditions meet predefined policy requirements without disclosing sensitive incident details. Threat modeling was conducted using the STRIDE framework, and security evaluation combined static application security testing (Solhint and ESLint) and dynamic testing. The paper further discusses deployment options, cost considerations, ZK recall performance analysis, ethical implications, and future enhancements. Security testing validated the platform’s resilience, with no high-severity vulnerabilities identified and medium-severity issues related to HTTP security headers addressed. The results indicate that a regulator-led, privacy-preserving, tamper-evident ledger can improve medicine authenticity verification and recall responsiveness while maintaining compliance and data protection obligations. Full article

Healthy, inclusive, and environmentally supportive educational settings are increasingly recognised as relevant to children’s development, well-being, and equity. However, evidence on the physical environment in early childhood education remains fragmented across outdoor spaces, indoor spatial organisation, indoor environmental quality, materials, and contaminant-related conditions. This systematic review aimed to synthesise current evidence on the relationship between the physical environment of early childhood educational settings and multidimensional indicators of child well-being. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO, and the review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Searches were conducted in Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, ERIC, and APA PsycInfo. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed using ROBINS-I and JBI critical appraisal tools. Eighteen studies were included. Of these, 10 focused on outdoor spaces and schoolyards, five on indoor spaces and spatial organisation, and three on indoor environmental quality, materials, or contaminants. The findings suggest four main interpretive patterns: (i) expanding opportunities for participation through functionally diverse areas and materials; (ii) shaping coexistence and interaction through access to and distribution of resources; (iii) supporting sensory regulation; and (iv) sustaining environmental health and habitability. Overall, more favourable settings were associated with better indicators of activity and play, interaction and coexistence, and involvement and regulation. For indoor environmental quality studies, however, the evidence was mainly indirect, referring to environmental-health, comfort, exposure, or habitability indicators rather than direct child-level well-being outcomes. The certainty of the evidence was moderate to low due to methodological limitations, particularly confounding and selection bias in non-randomised intervention studies and imprecision in the measurement of environmental exposure in several cross-sectional studies. The findings may inform cautious reflection on spatial design, educational practice, and policy, but stronger recommendations require more robust study designs, reproducible exposure metrics, clearer distinction between direct and indirect well-being-related indicators, and comparable outcome measures. Full article

This study evaluates how environmental regulation influences enterprise management practices in the YREB of China, which faces a dilemma between economic growth and ecological conservation. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines, a qualitative systematic review of empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025 was conducted. The data were retrieved via Web of Science and Scopus, supplemented by Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. Subsequently, thematic analysis and data visualization were conducted by MAXQDA 2024. The findings synthesize evidence across key themes, environmental information disclosure (EID), green innovation, governance adaptation, and regional disparity themes to synthesize key empirical findings. From the perspectives of Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Theory, the findings suggest that environmental regulation is not only a compliance burden, but also a force for enterprise change, driving EID practices and innovation-oriented competitive advantages. The results further suggest that when institutions are more developed or policy implementation is more stable, enterprises are better able to adjust, implying that downstream regions are more flexible than upstream regions. Other instruments to close the implementation gap and support sustainable development are multi-level governance, context-specific policy instruments, and Integrated Water Resource Management. Also, it may be highlighted that effectiveness in environmental governance relies on governance quality, institutional capacities, and regionally differentiated aspects. Future research should better identify causal mechanisms and improve cross-region learning to improve equitable and effective environmental governance in China’s evolving socio-ecological context. Full article

The circular economy offers a key pathway to achieve the joint improvement of resource conservation and carbon reduction, yet its causal effect on urban energy efficiency remains insufficiently examined. This paper takes China’s Zero-Waste City (ZWC) policy as a quasi-natural experiment and uses panel data from prefecture-level cities between 2006 and 2023. By applying staggered difference-in-differences and double machine learning methods, we evaluate the effect of urban circular economy transformation on energy efficiency. The results reveal four main findings: (1) The ZWC policy significantly improves energy efficiency in pilot cities. (2) The policy operates through three mechanisms: resource circulation, structural optimization, and innovation compensation. (3) Policy effects are stronger in environmentally regulated cities, large cities, and regions with higher artificial intelligence development. (4) The policy also generates broader benefits beyond energy savings, including coordinated fiscal, economic, and environmental gains. Overall, this paper highlights the spillover benefits of the circular economy from waste reduction to energy conservation and provides policy implications for coordinating waste management and energy transition at the urban level. Full article

Financial stability and banking sector performance have become critical concerns for policymakers and regulators in the aftermath of global financial crises. This study aims to evaluate the financial soundness of banking sectors across OECD countries by employing an integrated multi-criteria evaluation framework based on Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) for the year 2024. The analysis focuses on key dimensions such as profitability, asset quality, capital adequacy, and liquidity conditions. To enhance methodological robustness, objective criterion weights are derived using the Modified Standard Deviation (MSD) and Modified Preference Selection Index (MPSI) methods and then combined within a unified weighting scheme. Country rankings are obtained through the MABAC method, and the stability of the results is further examined using sensitivity analysis. This integrated approach provides a more balanced evaluation by reducing the potential bias associated with relying on a single weighting method. The findings indicate that the ratio of non-performing loans to total gross loans plays a dominant role in differentiating banking sector soundness among OECD economies, highlighting the importance of credit risk and balance-sheet resilience in comparative macroprudential evaluations. In addition, the results reveal relatively distinct performance patterns between countries characterized by stronger capital structures and lower credit risk exposure and those exhibiting comparatively weaker resilience indicators. Overall, the study contributes to the literature by providing a structured and robust framework for comparative banking sector assessment and offers policy-relevant insights for comparative macroprudential monitoring and the assessment of banking sector resilience across OECD countries. Full article

Background: The negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on child development is documented. The parent–child relationship protects against ACEs and improves healthy child development, playing a crucial role in preventing and mitigating ACEs by strengthening parental resilience. However, there is a gap in the literature on our understanding of parental resilience’s impact on the parent–child relationship within the social–ecological model (SEM) (i.e., intra- and interpersonal, community, and societal levels). Objective: This study explores parents’ perspectives on parental resilience as a protective factor for preventing and mitigating ACEs at every level of the SEM. Method: This study uses a thematic analysis approach for qualitative research. In-depth individual interviews (n = 21) were conducted with members of a parent support group (PSG) (85% female) based in a community-based organization serving families. Demographic information and ACE scores were collected for each participant to describe the sample. Results: Key findings highlighted parents’ perspectives on improved resilience through self-regulation and social support following participation in PSGs, conceptualized as an inter-level construct within the SEM mechanism due to its influence on parents’ well-being, traversing SEM levels. Under Theme 1: The Many Faces of Parental Resilience, Theme 3: The Power of Close Relationships, Theme 4: Community Resources as a Buffer, and Theme 7: Change Through a Policy Lens: “Anything that protects them,” parents expressed a strong desire for ACE prevention and mitigation strategies and called for systemic policy change to combat ACEs. Conclusions: Parental resilience perceptions are valuable and hold promise to inform the future institutionalization of a multi-level parent resilience-focused framework, which will aid in ACE prevention and mitigation. Full article

Against the backdrop of the ongoing advancement of the “dual carbon” goals and the carbon emission trading system, green innovation in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises faces multiple practical constraints, including financing constraints, technological commercialization risk, and market recognition costs. To examine the mechanism through which government regulation affects firms’ green innovation behavior, this study develops a four-party evolutionary game model involving government, small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, consumers, and investment institutions, and analyzes the strategic interactions and dynamic evolution of these actors. The results show that regulatory intensity, consumer green preference, and financial support from investment institutions all exert significant effects on green innovation decisions in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Whether firms choose substantive green innovation depends primarily on such key factors as financing uncertainty, technological commercialization risk, the intensity of government penalties, and the level of policy incentives. Further stability analysis and numerical simulations indicate that stronger administrative penalties significantly increase the likelihood that firms adopt substantive green innovation and also promote green consumption among consumers. This effect becomes more pronounced when financing uncertainty declines. At the same time, stronger policy incentives for green investment enhance the willingness of investment institutions to participate in green projects, and this effect is further reinforced when technological commercialization risk is reduced. The findings suggest that green innovation in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises is characterized by strong multi-actor interdependence. Its evolutionary outcome is shaped not only by regulatory pressure, but also by green financial support, the conditions for technological commercialization, and market demand. Accordingly, sustained green innovation in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises requires coordinated efforts to improve regulatory arrangements, strengthen green finance support systems, reduce the cost of technological commercialization, and cultivate green consumer markets. Full article