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The booming development of customised e-commerce makes e-commerce supply chains experience a severe test of consumer service level (CSL). An efficient e-commerce supply chain resilience optimisation method addressing economic performance and service performance is proposed to improve customised services under disruption risks. The proposed method includes a hybrid strategy considering both a resistance strategy with blockchain (BCT) adoption and time-dependent recovery strategies simultaneously. A two-stage multi-period multi-product stochastic programming with BCT adoption is then proposed, which (1) implements BCT as the resistance strategy in the pre-disruption stage; (2) collaborates four recovery strategies in the post-disruption stage; (3) supports the e-tailer in making decisions and optimises his profit and order fulfillment time while taking product priorities into account. Using the actual data of Chinese e-commerce during the public health emergency in 2020, it is demonstrated that (1) the applicability of the model with BCT adoption in both supply chain resilience and CSL improvement; (2) the performance of the hybrid strategy in long-term disruption management; (3) the efficiency and robustness of the proposed solution approach for multi-objective high-dimensional stochastic programming problems. E-tailers can optimise decision-making under long-term disruptions by the proposed methodology in practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food products' quality information is advertised on labels but do customers trust them? This study investigates how the consumers' Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) for food products can be increased by deploying managerial effort and advanced technologies, such as the Blockchain Technology (BT). Our model explains how revealing verified information about product quality throughout the supply chain will generate optimal consumers' WTP and maximise profit. At each echelon of a multi-echelon supply chain, a buyer holds a Bayesian belief about the quality of the input to be procured. This belief is shaped by the accuracy and veracity of the information about this quality. Managerial effort is required both to enhance quality as well as ensure full and verified information. We show why this effort must be made across the chain and how opportunistic behaviour may be circumscribed. Using empirically grounded analytics and real prices of olive oil intermediate produce from various official bodies, we show how the application of BT may be financially justified. This research shows how trust and WTP can be further enhanced through the use of BT and additional smart technologies in a supply chain, which may be projected on other supply chains of organic and sustainable food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers' perception of product value when purchasing is a critical issue relative to online platform commerce. This is especially true when the brand manufacturer authorises only a third-party reseller to sell through the platform, a practice that may provide opportunities to counterfeiters. To address this issue, we establish a theoretical model in which one brand manufacturer wholesales its products to a third-party reseller who then sells through an online platform. The platform acts as a marketplace, while multiple counterfeiters also exist on the platform, which may deceive consumers. In particular, we consider that the manufacturer can encroach with a direct channel and that the platform can adopt blockchain technology to help consumers identify authenticity. The results show that the platform could induce the brand manufacturer to encroach by deploying blockchain technology. Furthermore, an interesting result indicates that although either manufacturer encroachment or blockchain technology used alone can effectively boycott counterfeits, the coexistence of two strategies can raise the demand for counterfeit products. Finally, we find that when the brand manufacturer encroaches on the platform and the platform adopts blockchain technology, the brand manufacturer, platform, reseller and social welfare can achieve Pareto improvement, while the consumer surplus may be worse off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new energy vehicle (NEV) is emerging as an important alternative in the automobile industry in its potential to alleviate environmental pollution and contribute to carbon neutrality. The rapid growth of NEVs has been reflected in the scaling up of electric vehicle battery production. The dramatic increase of retired batteries, however, exposes the technological limitations in current recycling operations, which will ultimately impede the sustainable development of the NEV supply chain. Blockchain technology (BT) adoption provides a solution by contributing to the construction of an efficient recycling network. Our research investigates the influence of carbon reduction instruments on the uptake of BT. The key findings are as follows. Under a carbon tax system, (1) carbon emission reduction encourages the battery supplier to adopt BT; (2) BT adoption increases the profits of NEV supply chain stakeholders. Under carbon cap-and-trade regulations, (1) the unit outsourcing fee and the performance of the BT impact the investment decision of the manufacturer; (2) the profit of the third-party enterprise is increased by introducing the BT. Under both policies, improving the efficiency of BT helps to upgrade the traceability level and contribute to carbon neutrality in the NEV supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More practitioners are embracing blockchain technology to improve recycling performance. However, current research on the use of blockchain is mostly confined to general discussions on sustainable supply chains and circular economy, with limited studies specifically focusing on the recycling chain. This paper conducts a thorough content-based review of the literature related to the application of blockchain technology in the recycling chain with the objective to identify a conceptual framework. Although descriptive and thematic analyses show limited developments, blockchain technology can offer four distinct functions in the recycling chain: transparency, integration, behaviour channelisation, and service transformation. The adoption of blockchain in this area has technical, organisational, and environmental limitations that have not been overcome yet. In terms of benefits, blockchain technology improves recycling performance in terms of cost, dependability, flexibility, sustainability, and risk reduction. To summarise the findings, the paper proposes a novel conceptual framework for blockchain implementations in the recycling chain to support practitioners and guide scholars in further blockchain technology exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-sale customer care (PSCC) outsourcing is an effective supply chain strategy to reduce costs, but traditional outsourcing methods cannot ensure consumers' belief in PSCC quality, harming the firms' competitive strategy. To ensure consumer satisfaction through transparency, this article examines evolving supply chain strategies of leveraging blockchain to outsource PSCC operations of competing manufacturers to third-party agents. Based on consumers' beliefs and blockchain adoption cost, manufacturers have two choices; to outsource the PSCC operations with or without blockchain, resulting in multiple outsourcing strategies. Results show that the consumers' belief in one manufacturer's outsourcing strategy has detrimental effects on the stance of another manufacturer. Moreover, the blockchain cost and consumers' beliefs dictate the manufacturers' strategies for PSCC outsourcing, resulting in a 'quadruple zone of strategic fit', where both manufacturers adopt blockchain or neither adopt blockchain, or one adopts while the other does not. Interestingly, despite the low or zero blockchain cost, both manufacturers will outsource without blockchain if their traditional business models satisfy consumers. The extended analysis reveals contradictory results that manufacturers should outsource more often with blockchain to facilitate consumers when a long-term warranty is offered, or the product has a higher failure rate, even though, overall these factors increase costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines anti-corruption mechanisms within the public administration system as one of the most important tools in combating organized crime in the economic sector. Corruption and organized crime pose a serious threat to the stability and sustainable development of the state, as they undermine public trust in government institutions, create unfavorable conditions for business, and hinder economic progress. In a context where organized criminal groups are actively infiltrating various sectors of the economy, especially in the field of economic law, the implementation of effective anticorruption mechanisms becomes extremely relevant and necessary to ensure the economic security of the country. The analysis of legal norms and institutional frameworks indicates that the modern system of anticorruption measures in Ukraine is aimed at ensuring maximum transparency and accountability in the activities of public authorities. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) play a key role in monitoring compliance with anti-corruption legislation and investigating the most complex and significant corruption cases that have a substantial impact on economic and social stability. The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) provides the necessary procedural oversight and supports the prosecution in corruption cases, enabling the effective implementation of anti-corruption policies at all levels of government. The article also discusses the implementation of an electronic declaration system that ensures the transparency of financial transactions of public officials and allows for the identification of possible cases of illicit enrichment, which is one of the most serious corruption offenses. Additionally, the ProZorro system, which ensures openness and transparency in the public procurement process, plays a key role in reducing corruption risks in the public sector. Special attention is also given to the use of blockchain technologies in financial monitoring, which can significantly increase trust in public finances and complicate the possibility of manipulation and abuse in thi s area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Blockchain (BC) technology has been incorporated into the infrastructure of different kinds of applications that require transparency, reliability, security, and traceability. However, the BC still has privacy issues because of the possibility of privacy leaks when using publicly accessible transaction information, even with the security features offered by BCs. Specifically, certain BCs are implementing security mechanisms to address data privacy to prevent privacy issues, facilitates attack‐resistant digital data sharing and storage platforms. Hence, this proposed review aims to give a comprehensive overview of BC technology, to shed light on security issues related to BC, and to emphasize the privacy requirements for existing applications. Many proposed BC applications in asset distribution, data security, the financial industry, the Internet of Things, the healthcare sector, and AI have been explored in this article. It presents necessary background knowledge about BC and privacy strategies for obtaining these security features as part of the evaluation. This survey is expected to assist readers in acquiring a complete understanding of BC security and privacy in terms of approaches, ideas, attributes, and systems. Subsequently, the review presents the findings of different BC works, illustrating several efforts that tackled privacy and security issues. Further, the review offers a positive strategy for the previously described integration of BC for security applications, emphasizing its possible significant gaps and potential future development to promote BC research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulatory and market forces compel companies to integrate transparency and sustainability into their operations. In response to the pressing need, the study proposes a blockchain-enabled, sustainable, integrated three-layer inventory model for the cheese industry under carbon cap-and-trade policy. The ultimate aim is to maximize the integrated total profit of the system with optimal investment in green technology. Prior studies have neglected to account for blockchain costs and spoilage rate control, whereas our findings demonstrate that strategic investments in preservation technology yield substantial reductions in spoilage rates. Results indicate that the downstream end of the supply chain, retail, also plays a crucial role in maintaining total profitability, indicating the significance of collective inventory management along with sustainability initiatives. This study concludes that technology-driven sustainability initiatives, coupled with effective spoilage management, can optimize sustainability outcomes in the cheese supply chain without compromising financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology has attracted significant attention in both academia and industry. Recently, the application of blockchain has been advocated in software engineering. The global software engineering paradigm exacerbates trust issues, as distributed and cross‐organizational teams need to share software artifacts. In such a context, there is a need for a decentralized yet reliable traceability knowledge base to keep track of what/how/when/by whom software artifacts were created or changed. This study presents a blockchain‐enabled framework for trustworthy and collaborative traceability management and identifies benefits, challenges, and potential improvements based on the feedback of software engineering experts. A qualitative approach was followed in this study through semistructured interviews with software engineering (SE) experts. Transcripts were analyzed by applying the content analysis technique. The results indicated the emergence of five categories, further grouped into three main categories: experts' perceptions, blockchain‐based software process improvement, and experts' recommendations. In addition, the findings suggested four archetypes of organizations that may be interested in blockchain technology: distributed organizations, organizations with contract‐based projects, organizations in regulated domains, and regulators who may push the use of this technology. Further efforts should be devoted to the integration of the proposal with tools used throughout the software development lifecycle and leveraging the potential of smart contracts in validating the implementation of requirements automatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare management, it involves various processes such as managing finance, logistics, inventory, staff, and patients. Nowadays, a healthcare system also faces many challenges regarding trust, privacy, security, traceability, immutability, and so forth. Here, the traditional data collection and processing of Electronic Health Records is a centralized technique that faces several risks that may cause system failure and affect the system's reliability. This article aims to develop secured data management in the healthcare sector using blockchain technology and deep learning. Here, the data is collected in the patient node and encrypting the data by Hybrid Elliptic Curve-Rivest–Shamir–Adleman Cryptography (H-EC-RSAC). The institution nodes handle the data for analysis, in which the concept of an improved deep neural network (DNN) is utilized. In addition, the blockchain sector stores the index and address of health data. The modification is done in both H-EC-RSAC and improved DNN by a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm called adaptive mixture ratio-based Spider Monkey–Cat Swarm Optimization (AM-SMCSO) for enhancing encryption and authentication performance. Throughout the analysis, the accuracy of the AM-SMCSO-H-EC-RSAC + DNN attains 93.8%. The precision of the designed method achieves 93.2%. The developed approach proves its ability to offer maximum security to healthcare data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim and Objective: This study aims to scrutinize the interconnected concepts, prevailing landscape and efficacy of personalized nursing within the framework of blockchain technology and to proffer a roadmap for prospective scholarly inquiries. Background: The ethos of personalized nursing as a paradigm grounded in human‐centered care has been venerated as the pinnacle of nursing practice. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of groundbreaking technologies, notably blockchain, which have set the stage for the actualization of personalized nursing care. Nevertheless, a lacuna persists in the holistic comprehension surrounding the integration of blockchain technology within the domain of personalized nursing. Design and Methods: We considered studies published in English from 2018 to the present. Databases searched included CINAHL, Pubmed, MEDLINE, Scopus. Sources of grey literature that were searched included ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. The eligibility of the studies was independently appraised by a pair of researchers. The findings are delineated through narratives and tabular presentations. Results: The narrative findings are stratified into three primary domains: (1) the theoretical underpinnings of personalized nursing vis‐à‐vis the integration of blockchain technology; (2) delineation of the specific domains within nursing where blockchain applications are germane to personalized nursing; and (3) the demonstrable impact of blockchain technology on the efficacy of personalized nursing. Conclusion: Blockchain technology has wrought profound transformations in the landscape of personalized nursing. As blockchain technology continues to evolve, future scholarship necessitates elucidation on the conceptual intricacies of personalized nursing interfaced with blockchain technology, and broadening of the research purview to encompass a comprehensive understanding of the various applications of personalized nursing. Reporting Method: This scoping review adhered to relevant EQUATOR guidelines and used the PRISMA‐ScR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital payment gateways have become an essential part of the modern economy, facilitating online transactions and enabling e-commerce activities. The centralization of these gateways has led to a lack of transparency, long processing time, high fees, a central point of failure and a significant risk of fraud. Blockchain technology has the potential to address these problems and revolutionize the way to handle digital transactions. In this paper, a blockchain-based solution, named EasyPay, is proposed to create a simple, easy-to-use, decentralized, secured and transparent digital payment gateway with a good user-friendly interface. In EasyPay, a MetaMask account is used as a crypto wallet that interacts with the Ethereum blockchain network, and a smart contract is designed using Solidity to validate transactions. The accessibility and security of the proposed payment gateway are increased by integrating a QR code with EasyPay. Experimental results show 95% performance and 100% accessibility with an SEO score of 80% of the proposed EasyPay system from GooglePageInsights. The proposed EasyPay system offers a superior market segment and accessibility, according to comparison data between it and other cryptocurrency platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review aims to examine how blockchain technology enhances security and trust in mobile commerce transactions, focusing on its application in mobile payments. The study employs a comprehensive methodology, utilizing the Scopus database to gather relevant literature published between 2018 and 2024. Using carefully selected keywords related to blockchain, mobile payments, and security, the initial search yielded 229 records, which were subsequently filtered using the PRISMA framework. After thorough screening, 86 studies were selected for in-depth analysis. The study utilizes VOS viewer software for bibliometric analysis, revealing a significant annual growth rate of 49.13% in publications, indicating rapidly increasing interest in this field. The results highlight four main thematic clusters: wallets, financial, blockchain, and mobile, with the blockchain cluster showing the highest centrality and frequency. Key findings demonstrate that blockchain technology addresses critical issues in mobile payments, such as high storage costs and processing latency, while significantly improving transaction throughput and security. Blockchain-based self-sovereign identity (SSI) systems are revolutionizing identity management and know your customer (KYC) processes, enhancing both efficiency and privacy. The development of secure lightweight wallets and the implementation of advanced cryptographic techniques have markedly improved the security and speed of mobile transactions. Furthermore, blockchain technology shows promise in combating financial crimes and enabling offline transactions in areas with poor connectivity. The study concludes that blockchain technology is transforming mobile commerce security, but also identifies areas for future research, including scalability solutions, regulatory frameworks, and user-friendly interfaces to encourage wider adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology is widely recognized and adopted by many organizations, as it serves as a fundamental technological infrastructure for the digital economy. This has led to a rapid acceleration of industrial transformation and digital innovation. This study employs empirical data from a substantial sample to investigate the potential applications, strategies, and advantages of blockchain technology. This paper examines A-share listed companies in China from 2015 to 2021, offering valuable empirical insights that demonstrate how the implementation of blockchain technology can markedly improve corporate performance in a major global economy. The research in this paper examines the differential effects of blockchain technology by innovatively integrating financial and environmental performance metrics into an empirical model, revealing that implementing blockchain technology significantly enhances environmental performance. Furthermore, it has been observed that blockchain technology adoption can contribute to corporate performance by improving information transparency. It is worth noting that blockchain technology's influence on enterprises' performance exhibits discernible variations based on the ownership structure, environmental sensitivity, and technical features of said enterprises. This paper can be used as a guide for enterprises looking to implement blockchain technology and for governments seeking to develop digitalization legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of greenwashing and corporate defaults is harming the effectiveness of green credit implementation, leading to a gradual increase in regulatory pressure on banks. The widespread use of blockchain technology in the financial sector provides banks with regulatory transparency. Blockchain will be introduced into the evolutionary game in this paper to analyze the behavioral choices of banks and firms regarding green credit and to discuss in depth the impact of blockchain-related and internal parameters through numerical simulations. The study shows that (1) blockchain penalties are more significant disincentives to enterprise default or greenwash, while banks are more sensitive to changes in blockchain costs; (2) greenwashing can lead to excessive losses or high regulatory costs for banks, increasing the likelihood that the game system will evolve toward an ideal state (keep, on the chain); (3) there is a threshold for green credit lines that can reduce greenwashing and increase the incentive for banks to adopt blockchain regulation, while exceeding this threshold leads to greenwashing or defaults and banks opting for traditional regulation. This paper puts forward corresponding suggestions from the blockchain technology application, government, and social levels to provide reference significance for the effective realization of green credit regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates blockchain technology (BT) adoption strategy in a platform dual‐channel supply chain, wherein the supplier establishes a direct selling channel (DC) in addition to the existing reselling channel (RC) of the e‐retailer. Both the supplier and the e‐retailer are risk‐averse, and they have access to consumers through a common online platform. The online platform possesses the capability to introduce BT and can opt to introduce it to neither, one (DC or RC) or both channels. Game models for the four strategies are developed, and the corresponding equilibrium outcomes are obtained using backward induction. Our analysis reveals that when competition intensity is high and both perceived risk aversion level and BT's unit cost are low, the online platform prefers only DC with adopting BT. Otherwise, it prefers both channels with adopting BT. The supplier shares the same preference as the online platform for BT adoption strategy. Interestingly, the e‐retailer prefers only DC with adopting BT only when BT's unit cost is high; otherwise, she prefers solely RC with adopting BT. Furthermore, we enhance the basic model by modifying parameter configurations and the sequence game, and verify that our main findings in these extensions remain robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers typically have a higher preference and trust for traceability products, which makes many online platforms (e.g., JD.com, Tmall Global) and food manufacturers (e.g., BeingMate, Mengniu, Moutai) use blockchain‐enabled traceability to improve product transparency and trust. This paper systematically analyzes the effects of constructing blockchain‐based information traceability systems (BITS) on supply chains led by different members in a dual‐channel supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and an online platform. We studied the optimal operational strategy for dual‐channel members in two scenarios without blockchain technology and different members (i.e., manufacturer and online platform) as leaders in building BITS. We find that BITS adoption can effectively improve the performance of supply chain members, but the value added to blockchain depends on the level of consumer goodwill toward BITS, the level of competition, and the proportion of cost sharing. We show that either the manufacturer or the online platform can be more profitable as a leader in building BITS. Further, we showed that either the manufacturer or the online platform, as the leader of BITS construction, should bear more construction costs so that the nonleader builder can gain more profit to achieve a win‐win result. Interestingly, as the leader of BITS construction bearing more construction costs can achieve higher system total profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology (BCT) has the potential to revolutionize the supply chain financing (SCF) system and mitigate the detrimental effects of demand volatility on SCF. As one of the first to examine the effects of BCT implementation in SCF from the perspective of demand volatility, we focus on the impacts of BCT on equilibrium and whether the retailer has the incentive to adopt BCT. We perform a comparative analysis of the Stackelberg game involving three parties under scenarios with and without BCT adoption. We find that when the demand volatility reduction coefficient is sufficiently large, BCT can facilitate a reduction of the ordering quantity while still sustaining the same service level, thus avoiding excessive inventory, and reducing the associated risk of bankruptcy. Additionally, the decreased bankruptcy risk enabled the bank to reduce interest rates. The adoption of BCT can improve the profit of the retailer when the adoption cost of BCT is sufficiently low. Our findings provide management insights into when the small and medium‐sized enterprises should adopt BCT and the interactive decision‐making of all parties in the SCF business after BCT adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fraudulent returns have become increasingly frequent in the development of online retail platforms, leading to huge losses for retailers. A blockchain‐based system can help eliminate this problem primarily because the data stored in a blockchain network cannot be modified. In this paper, we study the impact of blockchain technology that aims to eliminate fraudulent return behavior on retailers and their upstream suppliers. We develop a game‐theoretic model that comprises a supplier, a retailer, and customers and analyze the equilibrium outcomes. The results show that the retailer would (not) adopt blockchain technology if the efficiency of the supplier's investment in the innovation of its products is high (low). Moreover, if the retailer's loss from the return is low (high), the adoption of blockchain technology decreases (increases) the supplier's investment and the wholesale and retail prices. In terms of its effect on profitability, we reveal that if the fraudulent return losses are high, using blockchain technology always benefits the supplier; otherwise, it increases retailer profitability and supply chain performance but may make the supplier suffer losses in profits. Interestingly, the retailer would adopt blockchain technology to ensure profitability in situations where the number of customers without fraudulent returns and the intensity of losses are low; however, this weakens supplier profitability and meanwhile reduces supply chain performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology is commonly used in many industries. One current application is that providing supply chain transparency, sellers can disclose product information to consumers for authentication and certification. To examine the supply chain blockchain based transparency‐level strategy and its interact with different refund policies, in a two‐echelon supply chain, we consider a supplier decides on the transparency level and wholesale price, and a retailer decides on retail price and provides full refund (policy F), or partial refund (policy P), or no refund (policy N) policy to consumers. We find the refund policy choice and the transparency‐level strategy have a mutual influence. A lenient refund policy (a higher refund) can generate more demand, which makes the supplier to provide a high transparency level, whereas a high consumer's transparency awareness also promotes the retailer to choose a more lenient refund policy. We find Pareto improvement exists under a cost‐sharing strategy, and the retailer is willing to share part of the adoption cost only when the efficiency of improving the transparency level is moderate. Otherwise, the retailer adopts blockchain technology only when there is no cost sharing. Further, different shipping cost bearers can change the sensitivity of refund policy choice, and the supplier prefers to provide a high transparency level when the retailer covers the shipping cost. When the retailer becomes more socially responsible, the supplier is more willing to provide a higher transparency level, and the retailer is more willing to provide a partial refund policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, some e‐commerce platforms (e.g., JD.com), which allow firms to set up third‐party stores on them, have established their own blockchain technology and publicly provided blockchain technology to firms. Besides, source tracing of fresh agricultural products on blockchain is a concern for consumers. For firms selling fresh agricultural products, whether to join the platform blockchain technology to disclose product freshness and whether to set up third‐party stores on platforms are thorny problems. To research the interaction between joining the platform blockchain technology strategy and channel encroachment decision for fresh agricultural product firms, we consider four theoretical models. The main results demonstrate that whether firms set up third‐party stores on the platforms or not, their strategies of joining the platform blockchain technology are dependent on consumer's sensitivity to the freshness‐keeping effort level of fresh agricultural product, consumer's trust degree of freshness‐keeping effort level, and the unit blockchain operation cost. Besides, if firms set up third‐party stores, the willingness of joining the platform blockchain technology will increase. Firms' channel encroachment willingness will also be affected by their joining the platform blockchain technology strategy. Moreover, when considering the fresh agricultural product supply chain, these main conclusions are still held. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the implications of incorporating blockchain technology into the process of making decisions for green supply chains, particularly under conditions of demand uncertainty. A model was formulated to encompass both environmentally friendly products enabled by blockchain technology and those without such enabling technology. The study further explores the optimal method of introducing green input in a duopoly market using game theory. It also examines how consumer uncertainty about green products and acceptance of the technical parameters of blockchain influence this strategy. The findings suggest that increased consumer uncertainty can, in some instances, motivate manufacturers to enhance the eco-friendliness of their products and improve supply chain performance. However, the universal adoption of blockchain does not necessarily ensure better results; on the contrary, it may compromise product sustainability while enhancing supply chain profitability. Moreover, research has indicated that products enabled by blockchain typically have lower prices, thereby offering potential benefits to consumers when acceptance of sustainable energy solutions is high or uncertain. Additionally, this paper analyzes the impact of changes in green supply chain decision-making on system reliability. This involves exploring the relationship between decision parameters and consumer reluctance towards sustainable products and the adoption of blockchain technology. To ensure stable market competition in dynamic complex systems, research shows that feedback control technology can effectively regulate unpredictable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information technology advancements have facilitated the widespread adoption of online education, providing learners with more flexible and convenient means of accessing educational resources and completing learning tasks. To improve the quality of online education and promote collaborative learning, online assessment is crucial in this transition. However, there are concerns about the transparency of the existing online assessment system. Centralized control by educational authorities restricts user access to the assessment process, resulting in a lack of user trust in assessment outcomes. Moreover, the abundance of online users also raises concerns about the reliability of assessors. In this paper, we present AssessChain, a decentralized system that integrates hybrid blockchains to make all assessment procedures, including set criteria, feedback, calculation, and moderation, visible and verifiable to users. Besides, AssessChain introduces an assessor selection scheme (ASEL) employing an enhanced density clustering algorithm to ensure the reliability of assessors, avoiding low-quality feedback. We have implemented the system and proved that the performance is reasonable in terms of throughput and latency, and the proposed ASEL can generally identify malicious assessors with more than 95% accuracy. By integrating information technology, the system encourages all educational participants to trust the assessment process and results, which helps promote equity in educational assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the contemporary era, blockchain technology has brought about a significant transformation in the realm of digital currency through innovations like Bitcoin. A blockchain serves as a decentralized ledger, ensuring an immutable record of transactions across a network. Recent observations indicate the pivotal role of blockchain technology not only in the financial sector but also in networking. This study considers blockchain as the essential link in establishing a genuinely decentralized, trustless, and secure environment for network nodes. The objective is to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of futuristic endeavours in this domain. The exploration begins with an examination of the fundamental operational concepts of blockchains and how these systems achieve decentralization, security, and suitability. The focus then shifts towards addressing open research challenges within blockchain technologies, particularly in securing diverse communication networks such as Distributed Computing, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks, Opportunistic Networks, and Delay Tolerant Networks. Simulation results underscore the superior security performance of blockchain, especially under conditions of attack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation industry has been recognized as one of the industries that can benefit from investment in blockchain-based systems and services that enable distributed data management and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the transportation sector. However, the literature needs a guiding framework for integrating blockchain in issuing and preserving public transportation transactions in a technical environment that is secure, efficient, and transparent. This study proposes a blockchain-based transportation wallet (BTW) framework that facilitates the main digital transactions across diverse public transportation services. BTW embodies leveraging blockchain technology, which provides a decentralized and immutable ledger that records and verifies transactions, ensuring trust and reducing the risk of fraud. The framework has been validated by developing a blockchain-based public transportation smart wallet named "RideChain". This serves as a single decentralized point for making public transportation transactions and payments, as well as identity authorizations and management. RideChain enhances passengers' and service providers' experience through a secure and authentic platform for offering several reliable public transportation transactions efficiently. In this study, we implemented a smart contract to establish a protocol between passengers and journey services. The testing methodologies used in this study comprise unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, and user acceptance testing. The findings suggest that BTW has been successfully verified to demonstrate its capability for secure transactions, authenticity of monetary transactions, automated smart contracts, decentralized identity authentication, and effortless payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain has attracted attention within business circles because it promotes secure and cost-saving transactions between anonymous parties without human mediation. This study examines the Technological Organizational and Environmental (TOE) drivers of blockchain supply chain finance adoption in Ghanaian SMEs. Specifically, this study differs from prior studies employing the United Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) which ignores the TOE elements. Utilising the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling method (PLS-SEM) and nonlinear non-compensatory PLS-ANN approach, we provide empirical evidence using data from 214 registered SME members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). Our findings suggest that relative advantage, cost, and complexity significantly influence the adoption of blockchain supply chain finance in SMEs. However, competitive pressure, market dynamics, and SME owner/manager support had no statistically significant influence on the intention of SMEs to adopt blockchain supply chain finance. This is because of the relatively low adoption rate of blockchain applications in SMEs in the country. Therefore, extensive education on the applications of blockchain technology is required to stimulate diffusion amongst SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]