Arrays of Plasmonic Nanoparticles Assembled on Patterns of Polymer Brushes Fabricated by Soft Lithography

This work employed end-grafted poly ethylene glycol PEG and hydroxyl-terminated poly 2-vinylpyridine P2VP polymer chains for selective immobilization and patterning of plasmonic nanoparticles NPs . A soft lithographic method which called micromolding in capillaries MIMIC used in this study. The polymers are deposited the capillary flow by the channels which formed by an elastomeric mold and substrate. The localized coatings are referred as polymer brushes and show great promise in the assembly of NPs due to the tunable interaction between the polymer chains and particles. The results show that the width of patterns defined by the channels is smaller than 1.5 µm with a length of around 0.5 cm. Also, the heights of the patterns are ~3.5 nm for P2VP and ~10 nm for PEG. The fabricated structures exhibited high levels of plasmonic activity and surface enhanced Raman scattering due to the immobilized Au NPs. The patterning polymer brushes and plasmonic NPS over large areas by a low-cost process show great promise for a variety of applications that range from molecular sensors to biotechnolog

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in children and adolescents with COVID-19: a systematic review

Objectives Infections by SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) might affect children and adolescents differently than earlier viral lineages. We aimed to address five questions about SARS-CoV-2 VOC infections in children and adolescents: (1) symptoms and severity, (2) risk factors for severe disease, (3) the risk of infection, (4) the risk of transmission and (5) long-term consequences following a VOC infection. Design Systematic review. Data sources The COVID-19 Open Access Project database was searched up to 1 March 2022 and PubMed was searched up to 9 May 2022. Eligibility criteria We included observational studies about Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron VOCs among ≤18-year-olds. We included studies in English, German, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Turkish. Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers extracted and verified the data and assessed the risk of bias. We descriptively synthesised the data and assessed the risks of bias at the outcome level. Results We included 53 articles. Most children with any VOC infection presented with mild disease, with more severe disease being described with the Delta or the Gamma VOC. Diabetes and obesity were reported as risk factors for severe disease during the whole pandemic period. The risk of becoming infected with a SARS-CoV-2 VOC seemed to increase with age, while in daycare settings the risk of onward transmission of VOCs was higher for younger than older children or partially vaccinated adults. Long-term symptoms following an infection with a VOC were described in <5% of children and adolescents. Conclusion Overall patterns of SARS-CoV-2 VOC infections in children and adolescents are similar to those of earlier lineages. Comparisons between different pandemic periods, countries and age groups should be improved with complete reporting of relevant contextual factors, including VOCs, vaccination status of study participants and the risk of exposure of the population to SARS-CoV-2

Generating hypotheses on fighting the global war on terrorism

Maneuver Warfare Science 2003, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, 2003, pp. 117-136

MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS OF BANKS’ PERFORMANCES

Financial performance evaluation of firms is one of the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. The aim of this study is to evaluate and rank banking firms which are traded in ISE with respect to overall financial performances. One of the promising methods VIKOR (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) which is a compromise ranking method used as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques in this study. By the application of VIKOR banks are ranked with respect to their overall performances

Value of copeptin and S100B protein in the differential diagnosis of central vertigo and peripheral vertigo

Objectiv