Covid-19 and the Clash of Narratives: From Cold War to End of Time (1989-2023)

This paper discusses the impact of Covid-19 on Islamist narratives of end time scenarios that predict the annihilation of a corrupted world and its ultimate replacement by a world order based exclusively on Islam. It does this against the backdrop of Islam’s antagonistic relationship with the West, particularly from the ending of the Cold War in the early 1990s to the present day, a relationship conducted within the shadow of the US’s attempts to establish a new world order based exclusively on its own values and interests. In the light of the contrary predictions of Francis Fukuyama that the resulting Pax Americana will bring a century of peace and S. P. Huntington a century of conflict, the paper goes on to examine the vastly different world views of the United States on the one hand and Al Qaeda and Islamic State on the other and how they envisage the future unfolding. What the paper shows is that the advent of Covid-19 has served not only to convince traditional Islamic Scholars that Al Mahama, the great battle at the end of time, is well on the way and may even have started, but also to make Muslims in the streets more receptive to such a doomsday message

10 Health Moonshots: How a Global Army of Health Transformers Is Accomplishing One Impossible Dream

Learning Objectives: Describe moonshot thinking and how it’s being used to help improve health care. Identify and recognize what the 10 Health Moonshots are to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world. Describe how technology has an imperative role in improving the health and significance in moonshot thinking. Presentation: 49:5

A Preliminary Report of Percutaneous Craniofacial Osteoplasty in a Rat Calvarium

Objective: To evaluate the potential for injectable, permanent bone augmentation by assessing the biocompatibility and bioactivity of subperiosteal hydroxylapatite (Radiesse) deposition in a rat model. Methods: Fourteen adult Sprague Dawley rats were injected in the parietal skull with hydroxylapatite (n=10) or a carrier gel control (n=4), using a subperiosteal injection technique on the right and a subcutaneous injection technique on the left. At 1, 3, and 6 months, 3 rats (1 negative control, 2 variables) were sacrificed. At 12 months, the remaining 5 rats were sacrificed. After each harvest, the calvaria were examined under both light and polarized microscopy. Results: The inflammatory response was limited in all specimens. Injectables were still present 12 months after the injection. New bone formation was only seen when the injection was located deep to a disrupted periosteum The odd of new bone formation was 48.949 times higher (95% CI (2.637, 3759.961), p = 0.002) with subperiosteal hydroxylapatite injections compared to all other combinations of injection plane and injectable. Conclusion: This preliminary report of subperiosteal hydroxylapatite (Radiesse) injection in a rat model has verified the biocompatibility of injectable hydroxylapatite at the bony interface and suggests the potential for new bone formation

Passive Facebook use, Facebook addiction, and associations with escapism: an experimental vignette study

There is relatively little research considering motivations of passive Facebook use. However, research regarding motivations of general Facebook use indicates that people use Facebook to escape – and that escapism may motivate passive Facebook use. Research also suggests that using Facebook to escape is associated with Facebook addiction. Using an experimental vignette design, the present research investigated whether passive Facebook use is motivated by escapism and whether this escape motivation is associated with passive Facebook addiction. A within-participant experimental design using vignettes was used to explore the effect of positivity and, in addition, socialness on passive Facebook use. Addiction to passive Facebook use and perceived effect of passive Facebook use on mood were also assessed. Participants (n=69) responded to 16 vignettes describing daily life events, as well as responding to a question about passive Facebook use on mood and completing the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. Results suggested that individuals did not use Facebook to escape. There was no association between escapism in passive Facebook use and passive Facebook addiction. Social contact had a positive effect on passive Facebook use, and participants perceived passive Facebook use to have no effect on mood. Findings suggest that passive Facebook use is a less effective method of escape than general Facebook use, and reducing individuals’ likelihood of experiencing Facebook addiction symptoms

Intractable Alcoholism in a Patient with a Levine Shunt

Ellen Shaw. M.D., Fellow in Hepatology: Mr. J is a forty-six-year-old white male who was initially seen on the medical service in July 1982. At that time he presented with hepatic encephalopathy, jaundice, and ascites. A liver biopsy was performed, confirming the clinical diagnosis of alcoholic hepatitis superimposed on cirrhosis. Following discharge it was difficult to maintain Mr. J as an outpatient. He did not follow dietary restrictions or take diuretics as prescribed. Additionally he was unable to control his drinking. Finally about a year ago a Levine shunt was implanted in an effort to control his ascites. Subsequently he did well for a period of several months. He was able to abstain from alcohol with a resulting decrease in his ascites and jaundice. Recently he has resumed drinking, with a return of his symptoms. He has missed his last several appointments in the clinic. Control of his medical problems remains problematic unless his alcohol abuse can be better controlled

Intraoperative Evaluation of Nasal Valve Repair Interventions: A Prospective Analysis

Objectives: To allow for early identification and treatment of inadequate nasal valve repair interventions in the intraoperative setting, based on degree of nasal valve collapse quantified by suction-assisted pressure readings. Patient outcomes were measured by comparison of pre- and post-operative Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) surveys. Study Design: Prospective study. Methods: All enrolled patients undergo suction-assisted evaluation of nasal valve collapse before surgical intervention. Patients randomized into the experimental group underwent repeat assessment after various nasal valve interventions, compared to a control group where adequacy of interventions was assessed by palpation of the nasal ala. Results: 20 patients who underwent nasal valve repair were first randomized into control (10) or experimental (10) groups. Two patients in the control group did not receive nasal valve work due to pre-operative readings and were excluded from further analysis. Nasal valve interventions included alar rim grafts (5), spreader grafts (10), batten grafts (2), and nasal valve suture suspension (8). After nasal valve interventions, average suction reading at first sign of collapse increased by 92% (p \u3c 0.0001) and average suction reading at maximal collapse increased by 16% (p \u3c 0.0001). Pre-operative NOSE scores decreased by 55% (p \u3c 0.0001) at the first follow-up visit at 9.3±3.5 days. No patients in the experimental group required additional nasal valve interventions after repeat suction-assisted evaluations intraoperatively. Conclusion: Intraoperative suction-assisted evaluation of nasal valve collapse can help assess adequacy of nasal valve interventions and determine whether additional interventions are necessary to improve nasal valve integrity.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/otoposters/1011/thumbnail.jp