This article delves into the application of blockchain technology in enhancing intellectual property (IP) protection within the e-commerce sector, providing a comprehensive analysis of its future prospects. By examining the core characteristics and working principles of blockchain, the paper reveals the unique advantages it offers in strengthening IP protection for e-commerce. The article elaborates on how blockchain’s features of decentralization, data immutability, and timestamping contribute to a secure, transparent, and efficient IP protection mechanism in the e-commerce field. Furthermore, the paper discusses the practical application of blockchain technology in IP registration, management, transaction, and rights protection, highlighting its significant impact on security traceability, transaction cost reduction, and efficiency improvement. Lastly, the article anticipates the future role of blockchain technology in IP protection in e-commerce and believes that with continued technological advancements and enhanced policy support, blockchain will play an increasingly pivotal role in this domain. The paper also proposes potential challenges and solutions that require attention, aiming to foster the healthy and sustainable development of blockchain technology.

The article investigates trade flows between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member-states and Belarus before the upcoming Belarus’ joining the organization. The export flows of the countries are modeled using a power function based on the time data. The results of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of foreign trade between the organization and the Republic of Belarus are presented, as well as the quantitative forecast of the prospects open to Belarus in connection with its joining the organization based on three original scenarios using econometric models. The results of the study show that Belarus has certain promising sectors of foreign economic activity, which can contribute to an increase in income from trade. It was found that the integration of the country will have a positive effect on increasing the volume of trade turnover with the participating countries, while in order to maintain sustainable economic growth of the country, domestic development of production should remain a priority, as evidenced by the obtained parameter estimates for the factors. An assessment of potential economic effects can be used to make a decision on whether a country should join an international organization. In particular, based on the assessments in our study in trade with Russia the expected increase in Belarus exports upon joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will constitute an increase of nearly 5%, exports to Kazakhstan are expected to increase by almost 75%, and to India and China by almost 90%. In the context of reshaping of international associations and organizations, the problems and issues raised in the study become even more relevant.

Adult obesity is a significant health problem, with nearly a quarter of Hungarian citizens aged 15 years and older being obese in 2019 (KSH, 2019a). The use of mobile devices for health purposes is increasing, and many m-health apps target weight-related behaviours. This study uniquely examines the effectiveness and user satisfaction of health-oriented apps among Hungarian adults, with a focus on health improvement. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study identifies six key determinants of health improvement and refines measurement tools by modifying existing parameters and introducing new constructs. The principal objective was to develop a measurement instrument for the usability of nutrition, relaxation and health promotion applications. The research comprised three phases: (1) qualitative content analysis of 13 app reviews conducted in June 2022; (2) focus group interviews involving 32 students from the fields of business, economics and health management; and (3) an online survey (n = 348 users) conducted in December 2023 that included Strava (105 users), Yazio (109 users) and Calm (134 users). Six factors were identified as determinants of health improvement: physical activity, diet, weight loss, general well-being, progress, and body knowledge. The LAUQ (Lifestyle Application Usability Questionnaire) scale was validated, including 'ease of use' (5 items), 'interface and satisfaction' (7 items) and 'modified usefulness and effectiveness' (9 items), with modifications based on qualitative findings. This research offers valuable insights into the factors influencing health improvement and user satisfaction with healthy lifestyle-oriented applications. It also contributes to the refinement of measurement tools such as the LAUQ, which will inform future studies in health psychology, digital health, and behavioural economics.

This paper presents an effective method for performing audio steganography, which would help in improving the security of information transmission. Audio steganography is one of the techniques for hiding secret messages within an audio file to maintain communication secrecy from unwanted listeners. Most of these conventional methods have several drawbacks related to distortion, detectability, and inefficiency. To mitigate these issues, a new scheme is presented which combines the techniques of image interpolation with LSB encoding. It selects non-seed pixels to allow reversibility and diminish distortion in medical images. Our technique also embeds a fragile watermarking scheme to identify any breach during transmission to recover data securely and reliably. A magic rectangle has also been used for encryption to enhance data security. This paper proposes a robust, low-distortion audio steganography technique that provides high data integrity with undetectability and will have wide applications in sectors like e-healthcare, corporate data security, and forensic applications. In the future, this approach will be refined for broader audio formats and overall system robustness.

In the teaching of graphic design, students' learning state and learning effect are poor due to the lack of attractiveness of teaching materials. In order to fully display the graphic design knowledge contained in totem patterns, a model based on the pattern elements of totem patterns was constructed. Through Marvelous Designer software, the display of totem visual effects under different pattern element configurations was realized, providing a basis for the comparative explanation of graphic design teaching. When designing the teaching content, based on the totem art culture, it has constructed three parts of teaching methods of plane composition, teaching contents of plane composition and teaching concepts of plane composition, which correspond to the material selection, composition and freehand brushwork skills of totem patterns in modeling creativity and expression techniques, and the range of material selection, composition form and connotation of plane design teaching, the specific application is realized through knowledge transfer.

To evaluate the efficiency of decision-making units, researchers continually develop models simulating the production process of organizations. This study formulates a network model integrating undesirable outputs to measure the efficiency of Vietnam’s banking industry. Employing methodologies from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, the efficiency scores for these banks are subsequently computed and comparatively analyzed. The empirical results indicate that the incorporation of undesirable output variables in the efficiency evaluation model leads to significantly lower efficiency scores compared to the conventional DEA model. In practical terms, the study unveils a deterioration in the efficiency of banking operations in Vietnam during the post-Covid era, primarily attributed to deficiencies in credit risk management. These findings contribute to heightening awareness among bank managers regarding the pivotal importance of credit management activities.