A new digital divide threatening resilience: exploring the need for educational, firm-based, and societal investments in ICT human capital

The knowledge, skills, and abilities that human capital offers create tangible and intangible assets that equip organizations to thrive. In particular, in today’s Industry 4.0 environment, training, recruiting, and retaining highly qualified ICT-ready professionals remains a problem for many organizations including educational, governmental, healthcare, and business organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the importance of digital assets to our economies, and it is also demonstrating that there is potentially a new digital divide with even worse implications for companies, economies, and society, which is threatening the resilience of business, governance, and society. In this paper, we respond to the question “how can we develop ICT human capital in our global economy in an equitable, inclusive, and purposeful manner such that not organizations thrive, but also to promote social justice and equity in our global economy?”

Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic human fossils from Moravia and Bohemia (Czech Republic):Some new C-14 dates

New radiocarbon dates from four Moravian and bohemian sites are presented and linked to previous work on the depositional contexts of human fossils at similar sites in the region. Whilst dates from Mladec confirm its early Upper Palaeolithic age, the chronologies of the other three sites require revision

Bridging ligands comprising two or more di-2-pyridylmethyl or amine arms: alternatives to 2,2'-bipyridyl-containing bridging ligands

Bridging ligands incorporating 2,2'-bipyridine as a chelating component have been utilised for several decades and are widely employed in coordination chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and materials synthesis. Such ligands form stable 5-membered chelate rings upon coordination to a metal. Two related chelating units, di-2-pyridylamine and di-2-pyridylmethane, which form 6-membered chelate rings when coordinated to a metal, have been studied far less as components of bridging ligands but have recently garnered significant levels of attention. Of around 140 reports on the incorporation of these moieties into bridging ligands some 75% have been published in the last 15 years. This review covers the synthesis of bridging ligands containing di-2-pyridylamine and di-2-pyridylmethane chelating moieties, and a survey of their coordination and supramolecular chemistry. Applications of the resulting systems as structural and functional models of enzyme active sites, and spin-crossover materials, and for investigations into anion-π interactions are covered. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.Christopher J. Sumbyhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/500845/description#descriptio

Synthesis and characterization of Cu-2(I,I), Cu-2(I,II), and Cu-2(II,II), compounds supported by two phthalazine-based ligands: Influence of a hydrophobic pocket

The copper coordination chemistry of two phthalazine-based ligands of differing steric bulk was investigated. A family of dinuclear complexes were prepared from reactions Of Cu-2(bdptz)(MeCN)(2)](OTf)(2), 1(OTf)(2), where bdptz = 1,4-bis(2,2'-dipyridylmethyl)phthalazine. Treatment of 1(OTf)(2) with NaO2CCH3 afforded the class I mixed-valent compound Cu-2(bdPtZ)(2)](OTf)(3), 2(OTf)(3), by disproportionation of Cu(I). Compound 2(OTf)(3) displays an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum, with g(parallel to) = 2.25 (A(parallel to) = 169 G) and g(perpendicular to) = 2.06, and exhibits a reversible redox wave at -452 mV versus Cp2Fe+/Cp2Fe. The complex Cu-2(bdptz)(mu-OH)(MeCN)(2)](OTf)(3), 3(OTf)(3), was prepared by chemical oxidation of 1 with AgOTf, and exposure of 1 to dioxygen afforded Cu-2(bdptz)(mu-OH)(2)](2)(OTs)(4), 4(OTs)(4), which can also be obtained directly from Cu(H2O)(6)](OTs)(2). In compound Cu-2(bdptz)(mu-vpy)](OTf)(2), 5(OTf)(2), where vpy = 2-vinylpyridine, the vpy ligand bridges the two Cu(I) centers by using both its pyridine nitrogen and the olefin as donor functionalities. The sterically hindered compounds Cu-2(Ph(4)bdptz)(MeCN)(2)](OTf)(2), 6(OTf)(2), and Cu-2(Ph(4)bdptz)(mu-O2CCH3)](OTf), 7(OTf), were also synthesized, where Ph(4)bdptz = 1,4-bisbis(6-phenyl-2-pyridyl)methyl]phthalazine. Complexes 1-7 were characterized structurally by X-ray crystallography. In 6 and 7, the four phenyl rings form a hydrophobic pocket that houses the acetonitrile and acetate ligands. Complex 6 displays two reversible redox waves with E-1/2 values of +41 and +516 mV versus Cp2Fe+/Cp2Fe. Analysis of oxygenated solutions of 6 by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry reveals probable aromatic hydroxylation of the Ph4bdptz ligand. The different chemical and electrochemical behavior of 1 versus 6 highlights the influence of a hydrophobic binding pocket on the stability and reactivity of the dicopper(l) centers