Information and communication technologies (ICTs)--especially the Internet and the mobile phone--have changed the lives of people all over the world. These changes affect not just the affluent ...populations of income-rich countries but also disadvantaged people in both global North and South, who may use free Internet access in telecenters and public libraries, chat in cybercafes with distant family members, and receive information by text message or email on their mobile phones. Drawing on Amartya Sen's capabilities approach to development--which shifts the focus from economic growth to a more holistic, freedom-based idea of human development--Dorothea Kleine in Technologies of Choice? examines the relationship between ICTs, choice, and development. Kleine proposes a conceptual framework, the Choice Framework, that can be used to analyze the role of technologies in development processes. She applies the Choice Framework to a case study of microentrepreneurs in a rural community in Chile. Kleine combines ethnographic research at the local level with interviews with national policy makers, to contrast the high ambitions of Chile's pioneering ICT policies with the country's complex social and economic realities. She examines three key policies of Chile's groundbreaking Agenda Digital: public access, digital literacy, and an online procurement system. The policy lesson we can learn from Chile's experience, Kleine concludes, is the necessity of measuring ICT policies against a people-centered understanding of development that has individual and collective choice at its heart.
The main aim of this book is to illustrate circular models for sustainable resource management. It highlights the benefits of transformative approaches in integrating, simplifying, and facilitating ...understanding of complex systems and transforming systems towards greater sustainability while achieving multiple social, economic, and environmental outcomes. It provides pathways towards strategic policy decisions on socio-economic transformation supported by case studies. Features: Discusses exploration of a transitional path to the circular economy, explored from the point of view of waste and technology. Explains transformational change towards sustainable socio-ecological interactions. Reviews provision of pathways towards sustainability through scenario development. Provides assessment of progress towards Sustainable Development Goals. Presents cross-sectoral and multicentric approaches towards circularity. This book is aimed at researchers and professionals in water and environmental engineering, circular economy, sustainability, and environmental studies.
Food nanotechnology is an emerging and rapidly evolving field that encompasses an extremely broad range of disciplines and has found various applications in different food sectors. The objective of ...this perspective is to update the current knowledge on the nanotechnology-based approaches to prepare delivery vehicles for bioactive compounds. Research progress on the development of nanoparticles made from food biopolymers (i.e., protein and polysaccharide) is particularly highlighted. In addition, two types of most recently developed nanoscale delivery systems, i.e., protein–polysaccharide complex and lipid–biopolymer hybrid nanoparticles, are introduced, and their relevant applications are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research directions on developing safe, effective, and edible nanoscale delivery vehicles for food applications are provided.
Many key aspects of society, such as transport, housing and health care, have been significantly improved by the advent of a range of electricity applications, and the power generation for ...electricity applications has been a major field of research. Photovoltaic (PV) self-powered technologies are promising technologies for addressing applications' power supply challenges and alleviating conventional electricity load and environmental pollution. This study reviews solar energy harvesting (SEH) technologies for PV self-powered applications. First, the PV power generation and scenarios of PV self-powered applications are analyzed. Second, analysis of system design for PV self-powered applications is presented. Third, key components for PV self-powered applications, including maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques and power management (PM) systems are discussed in detail. Furthermore, numerous PV self-powered applications and utilizations of energy harvesting are summarized. Finally, some recommendations are proposed for further research.
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•Self-powered applications of PV power generation are analyzed.•Multiple system designs for PV self-powered applications are presented.•Key components for PV self-powered applications are discussed in detail.•Various PV self-powered applications are summarized.•Some recommendations for further research are proposed.
Highlights
This article mainly summarizes the challenges and the latest research progress of highly reversible zinc anodes in mild aqueous zinc-ion batteries and proposes corresponding ...recommendations.
The rapid advance of mild aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) is driving the development of the energy storage system market. But the thorny issues of Zn anodes, mainly including dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and corrosion, severely reduce the performance of ZIBs. To commercialize ZIBs, researchers must overcome formidable challenges. Research about mild aqueous ZIBs is still developing. Various technical and scientific obstacles to designing Zn anodes with high stripping efficiency and long cycling life have not been resolved. Moreover, the performance of Zn anodes is a complex scientific issue determined by various parameters, most of which are often ignored, failing to achieve the maximum performance of the cell. This review proposes a comprehensive overview of existing Zn anode issues and the corresponding strategies, frontiers, and development trends to deeply comprehend the essence and inner connection of degradation mechanism and performance. First, the formation mechanism of dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, corrosion, and their influence on the anode are analyzed. Furthermore, various strategies for constructing stable Zn anodes are summarized and discussed in detail from multiple perspectives. These strategies are mainly divided into interface modification, structural anode, alloying anode, intercalation anode, liquid electrolyte, non-liquid electrolyte, separator design, and other strategies. Finally, research directions and prospects are put forward for Zn anodes. This contribution highlights the latest developments and provides new insights into the advanced Zn anode for future research.
An “episode of light” in Canada sparked by Expo 67 when new art forms, innovative technologies, and novel institutional and policy frameworks emerged together. Understanding how experimental art ...catalyzes technological innovation is often prized yet typically reduced to the magic formula of “creativity.” In Northern Sparks, Michael Century emphasizes the role of policy and institutions by showing how novel art forms and media technologies in Canada emerged during a period of political and social reinvention, starting in the 1960s with the energies unleashed by Expo 67. Debunking conventional wisdom, Century reclaims innovation from both its present-day devotees and detractors by revealing how experimental artists critically challenge as well as discover and extend the capacities of new technologies. Century offers a series of detailed cross-media case studies that illustrate the cross-fertilization of art, technology, and policy. These cases span animation, music, sound art and acoustic ecology, cybernetic cinema, interactive installation art, virtual reality, telecommunications art, software applications, and the emergent metadiscipline of human-computer interaction. They include Norman McLaren's “proto-computational” film animations; projects in which the computer itself became an agent, as in computer-aided musical composition and choreography; an ill-fated government foray into interactive networking, the videotext system Telidon; and the beginnings of virtual reality at the Banff Centre. Century shows how Canadian artists approached new media technologies as malleable creative materials, while Canada undertook a political reinvention alongside its centennial celebrations. Northern Sparks offers a uniquely nuanced account of innovation in art and technology illuminated by critical policy analysis.
Highlights
A comprehensive review on the recent development of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials for bulk or thin-film thermoelectric materials, as well as composite filler, has been extensively ...presented.
Development of micro-device platform and its application to study the inherent thermoelectric properties of individual single- and few-layer 2D nanomaterials.
Thermoelectric generators have attracted a wide research interest owing to their ability to directly convert heat into electrical power. Moreover, the thermoelectric properties of traditional inorganic and organic materials have been significantly improved over the past few decades. Among these compounds, layered two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, black phosphorus, transition metal dichalcogenides, IVA–VIA compounds, and MXenes, have generated a large research attention as a group of potentially high-performance thermoelectric materials. Due to their unique electronic, mechanical, thermal, and optoelectronic properties, thermoelectric devices based on such materials can be applied in a variety of applications. Herein, a comprehensive review on the development of 2D materials for thermoelectric applications, as well as theoretical simulations and experimental preparation, is presented. In addition, nanodevice and new applications of 2D thermoelectric materials are also introduced. At last, current challenges are discussed and several prospects in this field are proposed.
Highlights
Ni-MXene/MF foam is synthesized via an electrostatic assembly and dip-coating process.
The “micro-capacitor” structure of Ni/MXene and the 3D porous structure of MF endow the foam ...excellent impedance matching and wave absorption performance.
The excellent heat insulation, infrared stealth, and flame-retardant performances are achieved.
The development of multifunctional and efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials is a challenging research hotspot. Here, the magnetized Ni flower/MXene hybrids are successfully assembled on the surface of melamine foam (MF) through electrostatic self-assembly and dip-coating adsorption process, realizing the integration of microwave absorption, infrared stealth, and flame retardant. Remarkably, the Ni/MXene-MF achieves a minimum reflection loss (RL
min
) of − 62.7 dB with a corresponding effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.24 GHz at 2 mm and an EAB of 6.88 GHz at 1.8 mm. Strong electromagnetic wave absorption is attributed to the three-dimensional magnetic/conductive networks, which provided excellent impedance matching, dielectric loss, magnetic loss, interface polarization, and multiple attenuations. In addition, the Ni/MXene-MF endows low density, excellent heat insulation, infrared stealth, and flame-retardant functions. This work provided a new development strategy for the design of multifunctional and efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials.
Bacterial infection is one of the top ten leading causes of death globally and the worst killer in low‐income countries. The overuse of antibiotics leads to ever‐increasing antibiotic resistance, ...posing a severe threat to human health. Recent advances in nanotechnology provide new opportunities to address the challenges in bacterial infection by killing germs without using antibiotics. Antibiotic‐free antibacterial strategies enabled by advanced nanomaterials are presented. Nanomaterials are classified on the basis of their mode of action: nanomaterials with intrinsic or light‐mediated bactericidal properties and others that serve as vehicles for the delivery of natural antibacterial compounds. Specific attention is given to antibacterial mechanisms and the structure–performance relationship. Practical antibacterial applications employing these antibiotic‐free strategies are also introduced. Current challenges in this field and future perspectives are presented to stimulate new technologies and their translation to fight against bacterial infection.
Antibiotic‐free strategies are promising candidates to revolutionize approaches to control bacterial infection. Recent progress in antibiotic‐free antibacterial approaches driven by innovations in advanced nanomaterials is highlighted. Their antibacterial mechanisms, structure–performance relationship, and current translation into practical antibacterial applications are summarized. Insights into a future without antibiotics are presented.
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