"Does the bullet deliver where the ballot has failed?"

Political assassinations in Pakistan have been a systematic challenge ever since the country’s independence from Great Britain in 1947. While state actors formed unlikely alliances with Western Powers in the aftermaths of the Afghan War and during the War on Terror, non-state actors, like Islamist jihadi groups, used the country for domestic and foreign terrorist attacks and to spread violence, thus demonstrating the conflict between the different players in Pakistan. When the country was transformed into a young democracy in 2007/2008, the number of assassinations did not decrease, but rather increased by ninefold. This article analyses the case of political assassinations in Pakistan and attempts to explain the prevalence of political assassinations in the country. First, the overall pattern and seriousness of political murders is identified with help from a self-created dataset. Then said pattern is explained by arguing that the main explanatory factors at play in Pakistan are socioeconomic conditions, social conflict, elections, military and religion, sectarianism and blasphemy laws. Lastly, a brief discussion of long- and short-term measures is done

The BALANCE Study Clinical Benefit and Long-Term Outcome After Intracoronary Autologous Bone Marrow Cell Transplantation in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the quantitative amount of improvement of ventricular hemodynamic status, geometry, and contractility as well as the long-term clinical outcome of cell-treated patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).BackgroundAnimal experiments as well as clinical studies have demonstrated that autologous bone marrow cell (BMC) transplantation might improve ventricular function and prevent remodeling.MethodsSixty-two patients underwent intracoronary autologous BMC transplantation 7 ± 2 days after AMI. Cells were infused directly into the infarct-related artery. The control group consisted of 62 patients with comparable left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) and diagnosis. All patients had several examinations (e.g., coronary angiography, right heart catheterization, biplane left ventriculography, electrocardiogram [ECG] at rest and exercise, echocardiography, late potential [LP], heart rate variability [HRV], and 24-h Holter ECG). The therapeutic follow-up was performed 3, 12, and 60 months after BMC therapy.ResultsThree months after BMC therapy there was significant improvement of EF and stroke volume index. The infarct size was significantly reduced by 8%. Contraction velocities (lengths/second, volumes/second) increased significantly and the slope of the ventricular function curve (systolic pressure/end-systolic volume) became steeper. There was significant improvement of contractility in the infarct zone, as evidenced by a 31% increase of LV velocity of shortening (VCF), preferably in the border zone of the infarct zone. In contrast, the noninfarcted area showed no difference in VCF before and after BMC therapy. Furthermore, decreases of abnormal HRV, LP, and ectopic beats were documented after BMC therapy. Twelve and 60 months after BMC therapy the parameters of contractility, hemodynamic status, and geometry of the LV were stable. The exercise capacity of treated patients was significantly augmented, and the mortality was significantly reduced in comparison with the control group.ConclusionsBMC therapy leads to significant and longstanding improvements of LV performance as well as quality of life and mortality of patients after AMI. After BMC therapy, no side effects were observed, showing that BMC therapy is safe

Разработка системы пожаровзрывозащиты в рабочей зоне цеха производства стали ККЦ-1 АО ЗСМК г. Новокузнецк

В процессе работы был изучены способы и технологии защиты промышленных зданий от взрывов и пожаров. Проанализировано здание цеха ККЦ-1 на возможность возникновения внештатной ситуации. В результате работы была спроектирована автоматическая система водяного пожаротушения для гаража погрузчиков. Даны рекомендации по взрывозащите цеха. Основные конструктивные характеристики: Спринклерные оросители СВВ-12, насос К150-125-315а (P=30 кВт), узел управления УУ-С150/1,2Вз-ВФ.04, прибор управления "Спрут-2". Произведен полный гидравлический расчет системы с выбором необходимого оборудования.In the process, the methods and technologies of protecting industrial buildings from explosions and fires were studied. Analyzed the building of the KKTs-1 workshop for the possibility of an emergency situation. As a result of the work, an automatic fire extinguishing system was designed for the loader's garage. Recommendations for the explosion protection shop. Main design features: sprinklers СВВ-12, pump K150-125-315а (P = 30 kW), control unit УУ-С150/1,2Вз-ВФ.04, control unit "Sprut-2" A complete hydraulic calculation of the system with the selection of the necessary equipment

Evaluation of the autologous bone marrow mononuclear therapy and functional restoration in the scarred myocardium by imaging analysis

A 62-year-old male patient with previous history of myocardial infarction, akinetic myocardial segments, and an ejection fraction of 31% with the NYHA class III category was selected for the autologous bone marrow (ABM)-derived mononuclear cell fraction injection during CABG surgery. Nitrate augmented myocardial tracer uptake was imaged by ECG gated SPECT pre- and 1 year post-ABM therapy, using radiotracer Tc99m Sestamibi. The baseline gated SPECT demonstrated full thickness infarct in 40% area of LAD territory. Bone marrow aspirate of 20.0 ml from sternum yielding a mono nuclear cell fraction of 4.5 × 107 cells/ml was suspended in 2.0 ml of sterile normal saline to be injected at eight sites of the injured myocardium. There were no apparent side effects due to the procedure, i.e., life threatening events, major bleeds, reaction, or shock. The case was followed at the end of 1, 3, 6 months by ECG and Holter monitor and ECG gated SPECT at the end of 12 months. The gated SPECT images demonstrated mild but definitely improved tracer uptake within part of the infarcted segments along with improvement in ejection fraction to 45%, and a clinical change in the NYHA Class to II. Cell-based therapy may offer benefits of induction of normal tissue microenvironment

Bone Marrow Stem Cell Treatment for Ischemic Heart Disease in Patients with No Option of Revascularization: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PMCID: PMC3686792This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

A Long Road for Stem Cells to Cure Sick Hearts: Update on Recent Clinical Trials

The contribution of stem cells to cure damaged hearts has finally been unraveled. A large number of preclinical and clinical studies have showed beneficial outcomes after myocardial infarction. In this review, the current understanding of stem cell therapy in preclinical and clinical experiences is summarized. Stem cells from bone marrow have shown a potential to improve cardiac performance after myocardial infarction in animal and early clinical studies. Clinical trials from all over the world have provided safety assessments of stem cell therapy with marginal improvement of clinical outcomes. Thus, further investigations should be encouraged to resolve the discrepancies between studies, clinical issues, and unclear translational findings. This review provides information and commentary on key trials for stem cell-based treat-ment of cardiovascular disease

Multicenter double blind trial of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation through intracoronary injection post acute myocardium infarction – MiHeart/AMI study

Background: Myocardial infarction remains as a major cause of mortality worldwide and a high rate of survivors develop heart failure as a sequel, resulting in a high morbidity and elevated expenditures for health system resources. We have designed a multicenter trial to test for the efficacy of autologous bone marrow (ABM) mononuclear cell (MC) transplantation in this subgroup of patients. The main hypothesis to be tested is that treated patients will have a significantly higher ejection fraction (EF) improvement after 6 months than controls. Methods: A sample of 300 patients admitted with ST elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) and left ventricle (LV) systolic dysfunction, and submitted to successful mechanical or chemical recanalization of the infarct-related coronary artery will be selected for inclusion and randomized to either treated or control group in a double blind manner. The former group will receive 100 x 106 MC suspended in saline with 5% autologous serum in the culprit vessel, while the latter will receive placebo (saline with 5% autologous serum). Implications: Many phase I/II clinical trials using cell therapy for STEMI have been reported, demonstrating that cell transplantation is safe and may lead to better preserved LV function. Patients with high risk to develop systolic dysfunction have the potential to benefit more. Larger randomized, double blind and controlled trials to test for the efficacy of cell therapies in patients with high risk for developing heart failure are required.Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT)/The Financing Agency for Studies and Projects (FINEP

Effects of autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation on beta-adrenoceptor density and electrical activation pattern in a rabbit model of non-ischemic heart failure

BACKGROUND: Since only little is known on stem cell therapy in non-ischemic heart failure we wanted to know whether a long-term improvement of cardiac function in non-ischemic heart failure can be achieved by stem cell transplantation. METHODS: White male New Zealand rabbits were treated with doxorubicine (3 mg/kg/week; 6 weeks) to induce dilative non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Thereafter, we obtained autologous bone marrow stem cells (BMSC) and injected 1.5–2.0 Mio cells in 1 ml medium by infiltrating the myocardium via a left anterolateral thoracotomy in comparison to sham-operated rabbits. 4 weeks later intracardiac contractility was determined in-vivo using a Millar catheter. Thereafter, the heart was excised and processed for radioligand binding assays to detect β(1)- and β(2)-adrenoceptor density. In addition, catecholamine plasma levels were determined via HPLC. In a subgroup we investigated cardiac electrophysiology by use of 256 channel mapping. RESULTS: In doxorubicine-treated animals β-adrenoceptor density was significantly down-regulated in left ventricle and septum, but not in right ventricle, thereby indicating a typical left ventricular heart failure. Sham-operated rabbits exhibited the same down-regulation. In contrast, BMSC transplantation led to significantly less β-adrenoceptor down-regulation in septum and left ventricle. Cardiac contractility was significantly decreased in heart failure and sham-operated rabbits, but was significantly higher in BMSC-transplanted hearts. Norepinephrine and epinephrine plasma levels were enhanced in heart failure and sham-operated animals, while these were not different from normal in BMSC-transplanted animals. Electrophysiological mapping revealed unaltered electrophysiology and did not show signs of arrhythmogeneity. CONCLUSION: BMSC transplantation improves sympathoadrenal dysregualtion in non-ischemic heart failure