Parallel- and serial-contact electrochemical metallization of monolayer nanopatterns: A versatile synthetic tool en route to bottom-up assembly of electric nanocircuits

Contact electrochemical transfer of silver from a metal-film stamp (parallel process) or a metal-coated scanning probe (serial process) is demonstrated to allow site-selective metallization of monolayer template patterns of any desired shape and size created by constructive nanolithography. The precise nanoscale control of metal delivery to predefined surface sites, achieved as a result of the selective affinity of the monolayer template for electrochemically generated metal ions, provides a versatile synthetic tool en route to the bottom-up assembly of electric nanocircuits. These findings offer direct experimental support to the view that, in electrochemical metal deposition, charge is carried across the electrode–solution interface by ion migration to the electrode rather than by electron transfer to hydrated ions in solution

Self-assembling monolayers in the construction of planned supramolecular suctures and as modifiers of surface properties

Organized monolayer structures prepared on polar solids via spontaneous adsoption from organic solutions (self-assembly) exhibit some rather unique features, particularly relevant with regard to possible technological applications of such systems. The outstanding stability of covalently bonded monolayers under exposure to a variety of adverse physical and chemical agents allows well known methods of synthetic organic chemistry to be applied to their in situ chemical modification. This offers interesting new opportunities for the engineering of planned film structures, directly on the desired solid surface. Exemples will be given to illustrate the key roles of molecular organization and mode of film-to-surface binding in the chemical manipulation of preassembled films, while briefly discussing some related aspects of the process of molecular self-assembly at solid-liquid interfaces. The discussion will focus on three different directions of application :1

Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in the Vaginal Secretions of Women with COVID-19: A Prospective Study

Objective: We aimed to investigate the likelihood of vaginal colonization with Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pregnant and non-pregnant women with Coronavrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: Vaginal swabs were taken from women diagnosed with mild to moderately acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, at Wolfson Medical Center, Israel, from March 2020 through October 2020. COVID-19 was diagnosed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed on nasopharyngeal swabs. Vaginal swabs were tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: In total, 51 women diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in the study. Of the 51 women with COVID-19 enrolled in this study, 16 (31.4%) were pregnant at enrollment and 35 (68.6%) were non-pregnant. Mean age was 43.5 ± 15.3 years (range 21–74 years). Compared to the non-pregnant group, the pregnant group was characterized by a higher white blood cell and absolute neutrophil count (p = 0.02 and p = 0.027, respectively). The non-pregnant patients were more likely to have chronic diseases (p = 0.035) and to be hospitalized (p < 0.001). Only one patient (1.9%) aged 60 years tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in vaginal secretions. Mean gestational age at the diagnosis of COVID-19 of the pregnant group was 32.3 ± 7.8 weeks. Thirteen patients delivered during the study period; all delivered at term without obstetric complications and all neonates were healthy. Conclusions: Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the vaginal secretions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 is rare. Vaginal colonization may occur during the viremia phase of the disease, although infectivity from vaginal colonization needs to be proven

Social Preferences in Decision Making Under Cybersecurity Risks and Uncertainties

The most costly cybersecurity incidents for organizations result from the failures of their third parties. This means that organizations should not only invest in their own protection and cybersecurity measures, but also pay attention to that of their business and operational partners. While economic impact and real extent of third parties cybersecurity risks is hard to quantify, decision makers inevitably compare their decisions with other entities in their network. This paper presents a theoretically derived model to analyze the impact of social preferences and other factors on the willingness to cooperate in third party ecosystems. We hypothesize that willingness to cooperate among the organizations in the context of cybersecurity increases following the experience of cybersecurity attacks and increased perceived cybersecurity risks. The effects are mediated by perceived cybersecurity value and moderated by social preferences. These hypotheses are tested using a variance-based structural equation modeling analysis based on feedback from a sample of Norwegian organizations. Our empirical results confirm the strong positive impact of social preferences and cybersecurity attack experience on the willingness to cooperate, and support the reciprocal behavior of cybersecurity decision makers. We further show that more perception of cybersecurity risk and value deter the decision makers to cooperate with other organizations