Clinical observations from the clinical video head pulse test in patients with idiopathic horizontal semicircular canal light cupula.

Objective: The objective of the study is to analyze and explore the characteristics of the video head impulse test (vHIT) for light cupula in the idiopathic horizontal semicircular canal and compare them with those of horizontal semicircular canal cupulolithiasis (HC-cu) in order to investigate the potential mechanism involved.

Methods: Data from 51 cases of idiopathic light cupula and 42 cases of horizontal semicircular canal cupulolithiasis were retrospectively analyzed. The positional nystagmus features, vHIT anomaly rate, gain value, saccades, and other indicators were compared.

Between Sacredness and Public Health: Global Religious Sacred Places and the Fight Against COVID-19.

This paper aims to explore the diverse impacts of religious sacred places on specific spheres of contemporary international relations, particularly in the context of public health governance as well as the fight against COVID-19. The spread of disease or germs and viruses within the context of pilgrimage, the healing purposes associated with such practices, as well as historical conquests of sacred places have attracted the attention of ancient physicians and modern scientists. In the nineteenth century, many Abrahamic religions sought to strengthen their influence in the Holy Land, particularly in the sacred city of Jerusalem.

Impact of Hajj on Global Health Security.

With the human society transfers from scattered pieces to a society as a whole and the advent of the aviation era, the occurrence of infectious diseases and their diffusion have led to international health security issues. As the world's largest and irrevocable annual transnational religious movement, the Hajj and its connection with health security concerns have caught attention since the ancient times, because a huge population from all over the world gathers in the holy city of Mecca, which has tropical arid climate. Currently, the international community and international organizations are implementing multilevel governance with respect to the health security issues of the Hajj.

Water-Soluble Blue Fluorescence-Emitting Hyperbranched Polysiloxanes Simultaneously Containing Hydroxyl and Primary Amine Groups.

In this Communication, novel water-soluble hyperbranched polysiloxanes (WHPSs) simultaneously containing hydroxyl and primary amine groups are developed. The polymers are constructed via melt polycondensation, that is, transesterification reaction between ethoxyl groups of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and hydroxyl groups of dihydric alcohols, using a one-step process under catalyst-free conditions. Surprisingly, the resultant WHPSs can emit bright blue fluorescence in the 100% solid state under the irradiation of UV light, and their photoluminescence intensities in aqueous solutions continuously go up along with increasing concentrations.

Novel hyperbranched polysiloxanes containing acetoacetyl groups synthesized through transesterification reaction.

Development of an innovative strategy to prepare hyperbranched polysiloxanes (HBPS) is highly desirable due to the significant shortcomings of conventional fabrication approaches: the precursors need pre-synthesis, the hydrosilylation reaction is conducted using costly catalysts, and hydrolysis of organosiloxanes easily results in gelation. Here, novel HBPS containing acetoacetyl groups (HBPS-Ac) are synthesized through a cost-efficient and easily controllable transesterification reaction. It is shown by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), (1) H NMR, and gas chromatography (GC) measurements that the polymerization process is a straightforward technique to prepare new HBPS.

Novel silicone-based polymer containing active methylene designed for the removal of indoor formaldehyde.

Indoor air pollution is caused inevitably due to complicated home decoration, in which formaldehyde is one of the most typical pollutants. It will be a convenient, economical and effective strategy to remove indoor formaldehyde if imparting a feature of formaldehyde removal to decorative coatings. We have successfully explored a novel silicone-based polymer containing active methylene used as a formaldehyde absorbent in coatings via a straightforward transesterification process using inexpensive and easily available chemicals.

Water-solubilisation and bio-conjugation of a red-emitting BODIPY marker.

The synthesis and preliminary bio-conjugation studies of a novel water-soluble red-emitting di-styryl BODIPY dye are disclosed. Aggregation behaviour of this compound under physiological conditions was suppressed by specific introduction of a di-sulfonated peptide-based linker at the meso phenyl substituent, sultonated styryl arms and short polyethyleneglycol chains at the boron center. Thus, a good quantum yield of 22% in PBS for this red-emitting BODIPY was obtained.

Water-soluble BODIPY derivatives.

New, water-soluble BODIPY dyes have been readily obtained from various BODIPY cores by reactions involving the introduction of novel sulfonated peptide chains by either coupling or substitution to give dimethylpropargylamine derivatives subsequently quaternized by reaction with propanesultone.