Working of parliamentary institutions in Egypt 1924-1952

The foregoing study shows that the parliamentary system, as it functioned in Egypt between 1924 and 1952, was not a success. This failure was due to various inter-related factors. In spite of the fact that prior to the introduction of the parliamentary system in 1924, semi- parliamentary government had been found in Egypt, the democratic concept as emphasised by the 1923 Constitution was rather an advanced system in view of the political comprehension of the people and their social and economic conditions. The introduction of the parliamentary system in Egypt was the ultimate result of the 1919 Revolt. But this Revolt flared up with the aim of ridding the country of the British Occupation and without any conception whatever of the system of government to be applied in Egypt after the achievement of the objective of the Revolt. Accepting these facts, as well as the fact that the Revolt was an expression of the Egyptian national spirit, the failure of the 1919 Revolt is self evident. Instead of the struggle for the independence of Egypt being continued, a parliamentary system was imported from Europe. Democracy, which has developed and flourished in the West, is not a political doctrine for exportation to other countries. That system, in order to be successful, should evolve and develop within the community to which it is applied. Not only was the political structure in Egypt cursed with the application of a foreign political doctrine, but also the Constitution, which provided for the parliamentary system, was drawn up on the pattern of the Belgian Constitution:. No allowance was made in view of the great differences between the social, economic and political conditions of Egypt and Belgium. Therefore, the basic factor leading to the unsuccessful working of democracy in Egypt, is the unfitness of the parliamentary system, as described by the 1923 Constitution, to match the conditions of the country. The position of Britain with relation to the institutions of government in Egypt, supplies another cause of the failure of the working of parliamentary institutions. The continual interference of Britain in Egypt's internal political affairs, especially before the conclusion of the 1936 Treaty, is manifest. That interference did not stop with the conclusion of that treaty; the influence exerted by Britain on parliamentary institutions in Egypt continued, though in a disguised shape. The problem of the settlement of Anglo- Egyptian relations pushed all political potentialities in Egypt towards one object. All political activities were concentrated on attempts to settle Egypt's relation with Britain. Political parties and groups exploited the nationalist tendencies of the people by directing their attention to this one aspect of the political problem of Egypt. All efforts were made to solve a problem which did not concern Egypt only, while nothing was done for the promotion of democratic government. Politicians did not try to tackle the internal political and social problems, and the mass of the people found their interest and satisfaction in the question of the achievement of the national aspirations. There was no solid ground in Egyptian society for the development of varying political parties. Their programmes were alike, and they did not differ on matters of policy. Yloreover, they differed slightly in the methods they followed to achieve their ends. The challenge between different political parties was only motivated by their determination to reach the seats of the mighty. The Wafd, which enjoyed continuously the support of the mass of the people, originated with the 1919 Revolt. The activities and programmes of that party were mainly drawn on a pattern to satisfy the national sentiments of the people. Although it showed some democratic inclinations, the Wafd did not to ment of parliamentary government in Egypt. In their opposition to the Wafd, other political parties really derived their power from the King, and did not have much popular support. All political parties, including the Wafd, were an important factor in the failure of representative government in Egypt. They did not try to educate public opinion, promote the political consciousness of the people, and bring to their attention and understanding the different problems of the country. Although the King was non -responsible, and was not entitled to practice as full authority as he did, he was the point of focus of the political system in Egypt. This special position of the King was due not only to the fact that the Constitution itself was ambiguous and conferred on the sovereign an extensive authority, but to the fact that other political institutions did not check effectively the practice of the prerogatives of the King. If any of these institutions tried to exercise its constitutional rights to control the acts of the King, these attempts carne after too long a period of reluctance and revealed only the weakness of these institutions. The King's right to appoint and dismiss his ministers caused a relative weakness of the Cabinet. On the other hand, his right to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies gave some power to the Cabinet in its relation with Parliament. This means that the omnipotence of the Cabinet appeared only when it faced the people and their representatives. However, this power of the Cabinet was derived from the autocracy of the King. The Cabinet's weakest spot was its inability to frame far -seeing and stable policies. This was not due only to the inefficient party system, but was also the natural outcome of the short life of the Cabinet. This short life was the result of the interference of the King in dismissing or demanding the resignation of the Cabinet, or by foreign interference, but hardly by the will of the people expressed through their representatives. The Cabinet did not face any criticism from Parliament. Actually Parliament functioned to ratify the Cabinet's actions whether in the administrative or legislative fields. The weakness of Parliament was very obvious. The basic reason of that weakness is the electoral system according to which members of Parliament were elected. It resulted from the fact that Parliament did not constitute in miniature the society which it represented. No representatives of the working classes were found amongst members of Parliament. The so- called representatives of the people were mainly from social classes which had interests conflicting with the mass of the people. This situation was due not only to the social framework in Egypt, but it was also created by the interference of the administration in the running of the elections. Parliament failed to perform its legislative function and to enact laws meeting the social necessities of the country. Its task was merely to give consent to the bills prepared by the ,Cabinet, and to those private member's bills which gained the consent of the Cabinet. The Senate, however, succeeded in acquiring more legislative authority than it possessed under the Constitution, and its predominence over the Chamber of Deputies was manifest. In performing their function of controlling the Cabinet, both chambers of Parliament were incompetent. The Cabinet exerted influence on both chambers through the rights of the King to nominate two -fifths of the Senators and to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies. Sometimes the powerfal majority which the governing party had in Parliament, helped the Cabinet to keep both onambers under its influence

Clinical review: Liberation from mechanical ventilation

Mechanical ventilation is the defining event of intensive care unit (ICU) management. Although it is a life saving intervention in patients with acute respiratory failure and other disease entities, a major goal of critical care clinicians should be to liberate patients from mechanical ventilation as early as possible to avoid the multitude of complications and risks associated with prolonged unnecessary mechanical ventilation, including ventilator induced lung injury, ventilator associated pneumonia, increased length of ICU and hospital stay, and increased cost of care delivery. This review highlights the recent developments in assessing and testing for readiness of liberation from mechanical ventilation, the etiology of weaning failure, the value of weaning protocols, and a simple practical approach for liberation from mechanical ventilation

Apneusis responding to buspirone in multiple sclerosis

Apneusis is a disturbance of respiratory rhythm characterized by severely prolonged inspiratory effort, and is caused by bilateral lesions in the dorsal pons. In humans it is most commonly caused by pontine infarction and has rarely been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we report on a patient with MS who developed episodic apneusis which responded to treatment with buspirone, a serotonin type 1A receptor agonist

Impact of Aldosterone Antagonists on Sudden Cardiac Death Prevention in Heart Failure and Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a severe burden of modern medicine. Aldosterone antagonist is publicized as effective in reducing mortality in patients with heart failure (HF) or post myocardial infarction (MI). Our study aimed to assess the efficacy of AAs on mortality including SCD, hospitalization admission and several common adverse effects. METHODS: We searched Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane library and clinicaltrial.gov for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assigning AAs in patients with HF or post MI through May 2015. The comparator included standard medication or placebo, or both. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Event rates were compared using a random effects model. Prospective RCTs of AAs with durations of at least 8 weeks were selected if they included at least one of the following outcomes: SCD, all-cause/cardiovascular mortality, all-cause/cardiovascular hospitalization and common side effects (hyperkalemia, renal function degradation and gynecomastia). RESULTS: Data from 19,333 patients enrolled in 25 trials were included. In patients with HF, this treatment significantly reduced the risk of SCD by 19% (RR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.98; p = 0.03); all-cause mortality by 19% (RR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.74-0.88, p<0.00001) and cardiovascular death by 21% (RR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.70-0.89, p<0.00001). In patients with post-MI, the matching reduced risks were 20% (RR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66-0.98; p = 0.03), 15% (RR 0.85; 95% CI, 0.76-0.95, p = 0.003) and 17% (RR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74-0.94, p = 0.003), respectively. Concerning both subgroups, the relative risks respectively decreased by 19% (RR 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.92; p = 0.002) for SCD, 18% (RR 0.82; 95% CI, 0.77-0.88, p < 0.0001) for all-cause mortality and 20% (RR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.74-0.87, p < 0.0001) for cardiovascular mortality in patients treated with AAs. As well, hospitalizations were significantly reduced, while common adverse effects were significantly increased. CONCLUSION: Aldosterone antagonists appear to be effective in reducing SCD and other mortality events, compared with placebo or standard medication in patients with HF and/or after a MI

Non-invasive ventilation in patients with an altered level of consciousness : a clinical review and practical insights

Non-invasive ventilation has gained an increasingly pivotal role in the treatment of acute hypoxemic and/or hypercapnic respiratory failure and offers multiple advantages over invasive mechanical ventilation. Some of these advantages include the preservation of airway defense mechanisms, a reduced need for sedation, and an avoidance of complications related to endotracheal intubation. Despite its advantages, non-invasive ventilation has some contraindications that include, among them, severe encephalopathy. In this review article, the rationale, evidence, and drawbacks of the use of noninvasive ventilation in the context of hypercapnic and non-hypercapnic patients with an altered level of consciousness are analyzed

Correlation of the GC-MS-based metabolite profile of Momordica charantia fruit and its antioxidant activity

Momordica charantia or bitter melon (Cucurbitaceae) is a widely consumed edible fruit with strong antioxidant properties. Due to these properties, it has been commercialised by the natural product industries as a coadjutant in the treatment of various ailments attributable to the deleterious effects of oxidants. The present work aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of M. charantia fruit extracts made with different compositions of ethanol:water, and to identify the metabolites that are responsible for this activity. To this end, the fruit samples were extracted using six different concentrations of ethanol in water (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and multivariate data analysis (MVDA) were used to identify significant antioxidants. The 80% ethanol:water extract showed the most significant (p < 0.05) antioxidant activity when tested with the 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) antioxidant assays. The multivariate data analysis revealed that the metabolites related to this antioxidant activity were gentiobiose, glucose, galactonic acid, palmitic acid, galactose, mannose, and fructose

Tendon Immune Regeneration: Insights on the Synergetic Role of Stem and Immune Cells during Tendon Regeneration

Tendon disorders represent a very common pathology in today’s population, and tendinopathies that account 30% of tendon-related injuries, affect yearly millions of people which in turn cause huge socioeconomic and health repercussions worldwide. Inflammation plays a prominent role in the development of tendon pathologies, and advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms during the inflammatory state have provided additional insights into its potential role in tendon dis-orders. Different cell compartments, in combination with secreted immune modulators, have shown to control and modulate the inflammatory response during tendinopathies. Stromal compartment represented by tenocytes has shown to display an important role in orchestrating the inflammatory response during tendon injuries due to the interplay they exhibit with the immune-sensing and infiltrating compartments, which belong to resident and recruited immune cells. The use of stem cells or their derived secretomes within the regenerative medicine field might represent synergic new therapeutical approaches that can be used to tune the reaction of immune cells within the damaged tissues. To this end, promising opportunities are headed to the stimulation of macrophages polarization towards anti-inflammatory phenotype together with the recruitment of stem cells, that possess immunomodulatory properties, able to infiltrate within the damaged tissues and improve tendinopathies resolution. Indeed, the comprehension of the interactions between tenocytes or stem cells with the immune cells might considerably modulate the immune reaction solving hence the inflammatory response and preventing fibrotic tissue formation. The purpose of this review is to compare the roles of distinct cell compartments during tendon homeostasis and injury. Furthermore, the role of immune cells in this field, as well as their interactions with stem cells and tenocytes during tendon regeneration, will be discussed to gain insights into new ways for dealing with tendinopathies

Scaffold-Mediated Immunoengineering as Innovative Strategy for Tendon Regeneration

Tendon injuries are at the frontier of innovative approaches to public health concerns and sectoral policy objectives. Indeed, these injuries remain difficult to manage due to tendon’s poor healing ability ascribable to a hypo-cellularity and low vascularity, leading to the formation of a fibrotic tissue affecting its functionality. Tissue engineering represents a promising solution for the regeneration of damaged tendons with the aim to stimulate tissue regeneration or to produce functional implantable biomaterials. However, any technological advancement must take into consideration the role of the immune system in tissue regeneration and the potential of biomaterial scaffolds to control the immune signaling, creating a pro-regenerative environment. In this context, immunoengineering has emerged as a new discipline, developing innovative strategies for tendon injuries. It aims at designing scaffolds, in combination with engineered bioactive molecules and/or stem cells, able to modulate the interaction between the transplanted biomaterial-scaffold and the host tissue allowing a pro-regenerative immune response, therefore hindering fibrosis occurrence at the injury site and guiding tendon regeneration. Thus, this review is aimed at giving an overview on the role exerted from different tissue engineering actors in leading immunoregeneration by crosstalking with stem and immune cells to generate new paradigms in designing regenerative medicine approaches for tendon injuries