Search Results (349)

pH is a critical parameter requiring precise monitoring across scientific, industrial, and biological domains. Fluorescent pH probes offer a powerful alternative to traditional methods (e.g., electrodes, indicators), overcoming limitations in miniaturization, long-term stability, and electromagnetic interference. By utilizing photophysical mechanisms—including intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), photoinduced electron transfer (PET), and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)—these probes enable high-sensitivity, reusable, and biocompatible sensing. This review systematically details recent advances, categorizing probes by operational pH range: strongly acidic (0–3), weakly acidic (3–7), strongly alkaline (>12), weakly alkaline (7–11), near-neutral (6–8), and wide-dynamic range. Innovations such as ratiometric detection, organelle-specific targeting (lysosomes, mitochondria), smartphone colorimetry, and dual-analyte response (e.g., pH + Al³⁺/CN⁻) are highlighted. Applications span real-time cellular imaging (HeLa cells, zebrafish, mice), food quality assessment, environmental monitoring, and industrial diagnostics (e.g., concrete pH). Persistent challenges include extreme-pH sensing (notably alkalinity), photobleaching, dye leakage, and environmental resilience. Future research should prioritize broadening functional pH ranges, enhancing probe stability, and developing wide-range sensing strategies to advance deployment in commercial and industrial online monitoring platforms. Full article

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are becoming increasingly important for sustainable rural development through the smart village concept. This study aims to model ICT’s potential for public services management in European rural areas. It identifies ICT applications across rural service domains, analyzes how these technologies address specific rural challenges, and evaluates their benefits, implementation barriers, and future prospects for sustainable rural development. A qualitative content analysis method was applied using purposive sampling to analyze 79 peer-reviewed articles from EBSCO and Elsevier databases (2000–2024). A deductive approach employed predefined categories to systematically classify ICT applications across rural public service domains, with data coded according to technology scope, problems addressed, and implementation challenges. The analysis identified 15 ICT application domains (agriculture, healthcare, education, governance, energy, transport, etc.) and 42 key technology categories (Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, digital platforms, mobile applications, etc.). These technologies address four fundamental rural challenges: limited service accessibility, inefficient resource management, demographic pressures, and social exclusion. This study provides the first comprehensive systematic categorization of ICT applications in smart villages, establishing a theoretical framework connecting technology deployment with sustainable development dimensions. Findings demonstrate that successful ICT implementation requires integrated urban–rural cooperation, community-centered approaches, and balanced attention to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The research identifies persistent challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, limited digital competencies, and high implementation costs, providing actionable insights for policymakers and practitioners developing ICT-enabled rural development strategies. Full article

The novel benzanthrone derivative, 2-bromo-3-aminobenzo[de]anthracene-7-one (2-Br-3-NH₂BA), was synthesized and extensively characterized to investigate its photophysical behavior in various solvents. It was prepared through selective bromination of 3-aminobenzanthrone using N-bromosuccinimide in dimethylformamide at −20 °C. Featuring a donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) structure, 2-Br-3-NH₂BA exhibits pronounced solvatochromism due to the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) between the amino donor and the carbonyl acceptor groups. Optical measurements conducted in eight solvents of varying polarity revealed a significant bathochromic shift in both absorption and fluorescence emission, with emission maxima red-shifting by over 110 nm from non-polar to polar environments. Corresponding reductions in the optical band gap energies, as calculated from Tauc plots, further support solvent-induced electronic state modulation. Additionally, quantum yield analysis showed higher fluorescence efficiency in non-polar solvents, while polar solvents induced twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT), leading to emission quenching. These findings demonstrate the sensitivity of 2-Br-3-NH₂BA to environmental polarity, making it a promising candidate for color-tunable luminescent applications in optoelectronics and sensing. However, further studies in the solid state are required to validate its applicability in device architectures such as OLEDs. Full article

This study examines the impact of technological innovation, digitalization, and information and communication technologies (ICTs) on trade-related carbon emissions (TAEs) and the role of economic growth in this relationship. Using data from the 15 countries with the highest carbon emissions in the world for the period 1997–2022, analyses were conducted with Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs), Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR), and Driscoll–Kraay (D-K) estimators. TAEs provide a more comprehensive environmental assessment than traditional emission calculations by taking into account the impact of international trade on carbon emissions. The findings show that technological innovation, digitalization, and ICTs use increased trade-related carbon emissions, and economic growth further strengthens this effect. These results reveal that sustainable production models and green energy policies should be emphasized more in order to minimize the environmental impacts of technological developments and economic growth. The findings of this study provide important strategic information for policymakers, environmental regulators, and international trade institutions in developing sustainable technology and trade policies to reduce carbon emissions. Full article

As Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are increasingly incorporated into energy systems, smart grids are becoming essential parts of modern energy infrastructures. However, this integration exposes them to significant cybersecurity risks, highlighting the need for effective prevention and mitigation strategies to enhance resilience. Due to their promising implications, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged as key technologies to strengthen security, improve data analysis, and optimize processes in smart grids. This bibliometric study investigates key trends, opportunities, and evolving dynamics within the field, analyzing a dataset of 9611 articles from the Scopus database, covering the period 2014–2024. To evaluate the research, we utilized a range of bibliometric tools, including Bibliometrix R, VOSviewer, and Python. We used these tools to identify impactful articles. We also analyzed country and institutional productivity, assessed prolific authors, and uncovered emerging trends. The findings highlight a shift towards advanced smart grids incorporating AI and blockchain, with significant progress in Morocco’s research since 2016. Morocco ranks 36th globally and 3rd in Africa, contributing to the National Digital Morocco 2030 Strategy, which promotes digital transition and innovation, particularly in smart grids, to bolster the country’s energy system. Full article

This paper presents an overall concept developed by ENEA (the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) in the Italian framework of renewable energy communities (RECs). The proposed work is driven by the idea that RECs are part of a long-term vision aimed at achieving the broader concept of smart communities (SCs) through smart energy communities (SECs). SECs are, therefore, the evolution of RECs toward SCs, where ICT (information and communications technology) and digitalization play a pivotal role in fostering and boosting the energy transition and addressing societal challenge goals by 2050. In this scenario, the proposed approach is based on three dimensions, as follows: digital tools, use cases, and the observatory. Digital tools can be utilized at different stages of the creation of RECs, ranging from the design and engagement phase to evaluation, analysis, and the token economy. The second dimension refers to some selected different business cases that are used to test and demonstrate the proposed tools and provide support to specific RECs in the different phases of their creation. Lastly, the EC observatory was created by ENEA to provide necessary support to the market and stakeholders on different aspects, such as data management, economics, legal issues, communication, and regional governance. Full article

This paper addresses the critical issue of selecting the optimal solar tracking configuration for maximum energy generation, given the increasing demand for sustainable energy solutions in information and communication technology (ICT) facilities. The main goal is to thoroughly evaluate and compare seven different solar tracking configurations across technical, economic, and environmental dimensions: No Tracking (NT), Monthly Adjusted Horizontal Axis (MAHA), Weekly Adjusted Horizontal Axis (WAHA), Daily Adjusted Horizontal Axis (DAHA), Continuously Adjusted Horizontal Axis (CAHA), Continuously Adjusted Vertical Axis (CAVA), and Dual Axis with Continuous Adjustment (DACA). This study utilizes the HOMER simulation program to evaluate its energy and hydrogen production, emissions, and cost-effectiveness performance. Key findings indicate solar tracking improves energy efficiency, with optimal capacity factors of 18.2% and 17.7% for CAHA and DAHA configurations, respectively. Although load-following strategies increase reliability, there is a trade-off between capital costs and energy costs. In addition, an MCDM approach helps to consolidate the evaluation, resulting in CAVA being ranked as the most preferable option. The study contributes to informed decision-making for energy systems in ICT facilities by emphasizing the significance of considering a variety of criteria and evaluation techniques to address complex energy challenges. Full article

The increasing risks posed by climate change have turned CO₂ emissions into a pressing global issue, prompting the widespread adoption of sustainable development policies. This study investigates the empirical drivers of CO₂ emissions across 15 of the world’s highest carbon-emitting countries from 2000 to 2021, using a range of advanced panel data techniques. The core explanatory variables include green energy transition (GET), fossil fuel consumption (FFC), financial development (FD), mineral resource consumption (MRC), energy intensity (EI), and information and communication technology (ICT). By employing cross-sectional dependence tests, CIPS and CADF unit root tests, cointegration techniques (Westerlund and Dickey-Fuller), and Driscoll-Kraay standard error (DKSE) estimators, the study ensures robust and reliable inference. The findings reveal that a 1% increase in GET and FD leads to a 1.59% and 4.51% decrease in CO₂ emissions, respectively, while higher energy efficiency (EI) also significantly reduces emissions. In contrast, greater use of fossil fuels, mineral resources, and ICT expansion contributes positively to emissions. These results demonstrate the critical role of financial systems, clean energy investments, and energy efficiency in mitigating environmental degradation. The study offers targeted policy insights for countries aiming to balance economic growth with climate goals and highlights the need for enhanced technology transfer and financing mechanisms in low- and middle-income countries. Full article

Poland is a country rich in mineral resources with a diversified resource base. Energy resources play a key role, as they are strategic resources ensuring the country’s energy security. Strategic resources, the recovery of which is highly risky and the possibilities of substitution are small, are critical resources for the Polish economy. These are the resources included in the list of critical resources for the European Union. The conducted review of mineral resources in Poland showed a large difference between the levels of actual resources and the resources of deposits. Therefore, supporting the mineral resources market is one of the key strategic areas of the Polish economy. This study aims to identify barriers that have a significant impact on the activities of entities in the raw materials sector. The tool used was the PESTEL analysis of companies operating in the raw materials sector. The aim of this study based on the assessment of experts familiar with the raw materials market and dealing with its challenges was to determine the main factors driving the raw materials market. These include the EU’s decarbonization policy, a complex system and relatively high level of taxes, a lack of qualified specialists, a market delay in terms of technological development, an environmental policy focused on a circular economy and renewables, and the problem of raw material depletion. The earlier identification of the market gap in the mineral resources industry in Poland in terms of business development opportunities indicated that IT and ICT would be possible directions of development. Therefore, an analysis of the industry was carried out in terms of business development opportunities. An assessment of the impact of individual factors on the activities of IT entities in the raw materials sector in Poland was carried out. The factors that most determine running a business in the diagnosed IT gap in the RM include a lack of government support for IT investments, new trends resulting from the growing importance of ICT in everyday life, the pandemic situation and the subsequent crisis of many companies on the market, the unstable financial condition of the main customer groups, and the lack of qualified personnel, equipment, and appropriate technology. The presented results may have practical implications, among others, for new economic players who want to establish their companies and conquer the raw materials market. On the one hand, they indicate opportunities, and on the other, they point to threats that may appear in their business life. Full article

This study presents analysis and optimization of a standalone hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) for Adama Science and Technology University’s ICT center in Ethiopia. The proposed hybrid system combines photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, a battery bank, and a diesel generator to ensure reliable and sustainable power. The objectives are to minimize the system’s total annualized cost and loss of power supply probability, while energy reliability is maintained. To optimize the component sizing and energy management strategy of the HRES, we formulated a mathematical model that incorporates the variability of renewable energy and load demand. This optimization problem is solved using a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA). Simulation results indicate that the HGA yielded the best solution, characterized by the levelized cost of energy of USD 0.2546/kWh, the loss of power supply probability of 0.58%, and a convergence time of 197.2889 s. Full article

With the advent of Industry 5.0, the electrical sector has been endowed with intelligent devices that are propelling high penetration of distributed energy microgeneration, VPP, smart buildings, and smart plants and imposing new challenges on the sector. This new environment requires a smarter network, including transforming the simple electricity customer into a “smart customer” who values the quality of energy and its rational use. The SPG (smart power grid) is the perfect solution for meeting these needs. It is crucial to understand energy use to guarantee quality of service and meet data security requirements. The use of simulations to map the behavior of complex infrastructures is the best strategy because it overcomes the limitations of traditional analytical solutions. This article presents the ICT laboratory structure developed within the Department of Electrical Engineering of the Polytechnic School of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP). It is based on an architecture that utilizes LTE/EPC wireless technology (4G, 5G, and B5G) to enable machine-to-machine communication (mMTC) between SPG elements using edge computing (MEC) resources and those of smart city platforms. We evaluate this proposal through simulations using data from real and emulated equipment and co-simulations shared by SPG laboratories at POLI-USP. Finally, we present the preliminary results of integration of the power laboratory, network simulation (ns-3), and a smart city platform (InterSCity) for validation and testing of the architecture. Full article

This study investigates the effects of financial globalization, trade globalization, and information and communication technology on the ecological footprint in G9 industrial economies (China, the United States, Japan, Germany, India, South Korea, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom) from 2000Q1 to 2018Q4. A distinctive Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) model was employed to analyze these relationships, and the Bootstrap Quantile Regression (BSQR) model was used to validate the results. The findings reveal that financial globalization (FG), environmental tax (ETAX), and institutional quality (IQ) contribute to environmentally sustainable development by reducing the ecological footprint (ECOFP). In contrast, trade globalization, information and communication technology (ICT), and gross domestic product (GDP) have a significant positive impact on the ecological footprint, leading to increased environmental degradation. The BSQR results corroborate these findings, confirming the roles of financial globalization, institutional quality, environmental tax, trade globalization, information and communication technology, and gross domestic product in shaping the ecological footprint. Based on these results, policymakers in G9 industrial nations should promote financial globalization as a tool to reduce the ecological footprint by encouraging green financing and environmentally sustainable investments. For trade globalization, stricter environmental regulations and sustainable trade practices are essential to mitigate its adverse environmental effects. Also, efforts to minimize the ecological impact of information and communication technology should focus on integrating renewable energy into ICT infrastructure and advancing green technology innovations. Full article

This study explores how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) impacts active leisure activity participants in South Korea, focusing on leisure constraints and negotiation strategies. As ICT continues to transform leisure experiences, this research examines whether ICT serves as a facilitator or replacement for traditional active leisure. Using survey data from 285 adult participants, the study categorizes ICT’s influence based on framework. Key findings reveal that while time management and energy conservation strategies shape ICT use as a leisure facilitator or replacement, fitness level adjustments are associated with ICT’s facilitative role in active leisure. These insights highlight the nuanced ways digital tools impact leisure participation, especially among various demographic groups. The findings suggest that ICT’s dual role in either supporting or substituting leisure reflects broader trends in digital transformation and informs the development of digital tools aimed at enhancing well-being through active leisure engagement. Full article

Large-scale computing clusters have been the basis of scientific progress for several decades and have now become a commodity fuelling the AI revolution. Dark Silicon, energy efficiency, power consumption, and hot spots are no longer looming threats of an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) niche but are today the limiting factor of the capability of the entire human society and a contributor to global carbon emissions. However, from the end user, system administrators, and system integrator perspective, handling and optimising the system for these constraints is not straightforward due to the elevated degree of fragmentation in the software tools and interfaces which handles the power management in high-performance computing (HPC) clusters. In this paper, we present the REGALE Library. It is the result of a collaborative effort in the EU EuroHPC JU REGALE project, which aims to effectively materialize the HPC PowerStack initiative, providing a single layer of communication among different power management tools, libraries, and software. The proposed framework is based on the data distribution service (DDS) and real-time publish–subscribe (RTPS) protocols and FastDDS as their implementation. This enables the various actors in the ecosystem to communicate and exchange messages without any further modification inside their implementation. In this paper, we present the blueprint, functionality tests, and performance and scalability evaluation of the DDS implementation currently used in the REGALE Library in the HPC context. Full article

The development of efficient dyes for photon harvesting in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is a critical area of research with the potential to enhance renewable energy technologies. This manuscript presents a novel approach to engineering dye structures (abbreviated as D2 dye features, an anthanthrene core with a resonance energy of E_R = 694 kJ/mol and a reported power conversion efficiency (η) of 5.27%) by systematically replacing an anthanthrene core with various aromatic cores, aiming to understand the influence of resonance energy on molecular performance. By designing seven new dyes with resonance energies ranging from 255 to 529 kJ/mol, we conducted in-depth computational studies using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) to explore the effects of π-aromatic linkers on their electronic properties. Our findings reveal key insights into intermolecular charge-transfer (ICT) mechanisms and how they relate to the resonance energy of dye cores, highlighting the significance of balanced charge mobilities in optimizing optoelectronic characteristics, as shown by the D9 dye with a naphthacene core. Full article