Empowering deaf and hard hearing females toward premarital counseling and genetic screening: An educational intervention based on empowerment model

Hearing loss affects many people worldwide, and it hinders speech, language, and social development. Consanguineous marriageis the most prevalent social custom that leads to an increased prevalence of congenital anomalies. Premarital Counseling andGenetic Screening (PMSGC) educational program is urgently needed to empower deaf and hard hearing girls. This study aimed toinvestigate the effect of educational intervention based on the empowerment model on deaf and hard hearing females' self-efficacy,knowledge, and attitude toward PMSGC. A Quasi-experimental research design was conducted on 64 deaf and hard hearing femalestudents. The data collection instrument comprised four parts: basic data and personal/family history, PMSGC quiz, Likert attitudescale, and general self-efficacy scale. Data were collected from September to December 2020. The empowerment educational intervention was conducted in four sequential phases; needs assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The intervention addressed the students' knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy. The results showed that 76.6% of the study participants had consanguineous marriage between their parents, 64.1% had a history of hereditary deafness in first-degree relatives. There were statistically significant differences between the total knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy before and after intervention (p<0.001). In detail, 76.6% of the participants had good knowledge after the intervention compared to only 12.5% before it. Besides, 81.3% of the study participants had a positive attitude toward PMSGC before the intervention compared to 95.3% after it. Selfefficacy was low (25.0%) or moderate (75%) before the intervention compared to moderate (45.3%) or high (42.2%) after the intervention. Educational intervention based on the empowerment model significantly increased the deaf and hard hearing population's self-efficacy,  knowledge, and attitude toward PMSGC. The use of the empowerment model in health education should be encouraged and taught to the medical and paramedical students. Keywords: Attitude, knowledge, self-efficacy, empowerment model, deaf and hard hearing females, premarital counseling, genetic screening   La perte auditive affecte de nombreuses personnes dans le monde et entrave la parole, le langage et le développement social. Lemariage consanguin est la coutume sociale la plus répandue qui conduit à une prévalence accrue d'anomalies congénitales. Unprogramme éducatif de conseil et de dépistage génétique prénuptial (PMSGC) est nécessaire de toute urgence pour autonomiserles filles sourdes et malentendantes. Cette étude visait à étudier l'effet d'une intervention éducative basée sur le modèle d'autonomisation sur l'auto-efficacité, les connaissances et l'attitude des femmes sourdes et malentendantes à l'égard de PMSGC.Un plan de recherche quasi expérimental a été mené sur 64 étudiantes sourdes et malentendantes. L'instrument de collecte dedonnées comprenait quatre parties: les données de base et les antécédents personnels / familiaux, le questionnaire PMSGC, l'échelled'attitude de Likert et l'échelle d'auto-efficacité générale. Les données ont été collectées de septembre à décembre 2020. L'intervention éducative d'autonomisation s'est déroulée en quatre phases séquentielles; évaluation des besoins, planification, miseen œuvre et évaluation. L'intervention a porté sur les connaissances, les attitudes et l'auto-efficacité des élèves. Les résultats ontmontré que 76,6% des participants à l'étude avaient un mariage consanguin entre leurs parents, 64,1% avaient des antécédents desurdité héréditaire chez des parents au premier degré. Il y avait des différences statistiquement significatives entre les connaissances totales, l'attitude et l'auto-efficacité avant et après l'intervention (p <0,001). Dans le détail, 76,6% des participants avaient de bonnesconnaissances après l'intervention contre seulement 12,5% avant celle-ci. En outre, 81,3% des participants à l'étude avaient uneattitude positive envers PMSGC avant l'intervention, contre 95,3% après. L'auto-efficacité était faible (25,0%) ou modérée (75%)avant l'intervention par rapport à modérée (45,3%) ou élevée (42,2%) après l'intervention. L'intervention éducative basée sur lemodèle d'autonomisation a considérablement augmenté l'auto-efficacité, les connaissances et l'attitude de la population sourde etmalentendante à l'égard de l'EMSP. L'utilisation du modèle d'autonomisation dans l'éducation sanitaire devrait être encouragée etenseignée aux étudiants en médecine et paramédical. Mots-clés: Attitude, connaissances, auto-efficacité, modèle d'autonomisation, femmes sourdes et malentendantes, counseling prénuptial, dépistage génétiqu

Bactericidal activity of manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine against Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus

Objective: To investigate the bactericidal activity of manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine against Streptococcus pyogenes ( S. pyogenes ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). Materials and Methods: The inhibitory effect of the complex was studied on the molecular level and by turbidity measurement. Treatment of bacteria was carried out using 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 µmol of the complex per ml of culture media. Results: The results showed that the growth of S. pyogenes rapidly decreased with increasing concentrations of the complex. In contrast, the complex caused no significant decrease in the growth rate of S. aureus . The molecular level studies showed that four protein bands, with apparent molecular weights of 19, 23, 30 and 54 Kda, respectively, increased in the protein pattern of the S. pyogenes extract after the complex treatment using silver stained polyacrylamide gels, under reducing condition . However, there was no detectable change in the protein pattern of the S. aureus extract after the complex treatment . No DNA damage was detected while using agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining in both types of bacteria. Conclusion: Manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine showed an apparent antibacterial inhibitory effect against S. pyogenes, but S. aureus was apparently resistant

Bactericidal activity of manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine against Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus

Objective: To investigate the bactericidal activity of manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine against Streptococcus pyogenes ( S. pyogenes ) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ). Materials and Methods: The inhibitory effect of the complex was studied on the molecular level and by turbidity measurement. Treatment of bacteria was carried out using 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 µmol of the complex per ml of culture media. Results: The results showed that the growth of S. pyogenes rapidly decreased with increasing concentrations of the complex. In contrast, the complex caused no significant decrease in the growth rate of S. aureus . The molecular level studies showed that four protein bands, with apparent molecular weights of 19, 23, 30 and 54 Kda, respectively, increased in the protein pattern of the S. pyogenes extract after the complex treatment using silver stained polyacrylamide gels, under reducing condition . However, there was no detectable change in the protein pattern of the S. aureus extract after the complex treatment . No DNA damage was detected while using agarose gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining in both types of bacteria. Conclusion: Manganese (IV) complex of 2-methylamino-pyridine showed an apparent antibacterial inhibitory effect against S. pyogenes, but S. aureus was apparently resistant

Expression of insulin-like growth factor-II, matrix metalloproteinases, and their tissue inhibitors as predictive markers in the peripheral blood of HCC patients

Background/aim: Elevated relative expression of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) was observed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) liver tissues with a role in neovascularization and associated with poor prognosis. IGF-II is influenced by the proteolytic cleavage of IGF-binding protein 3 and by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which are further regulated by their tissue inhibitors tissue inhibitor of metalloprotienase-1 (TIMP-1). Our aim is to study new molecular markers for HCC. Patients/methods: RNA was extracted from the peripheral blood for evaluating the relative expression of IGF-II, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 in correlation with clinical staging of 39 HCC patients and 15 healthy controls using TaqMan real-time PCR. Results: The relative expression of IGF-II and MMP-9 mRNA were significantly elevated in HCC patients compared with healthy controls; P-value P = 0.0003 with the elevation of the IGF-II/TIMP-1 ratio. Significant correlation between TIMP-1 and HCC Stage III and Stage IV was found; P-value = 0.0138. Conclusion: These results highlight the importance of profiling the expression of IGF-II, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 in the peripheral blood as prognostic molecular biomarkers in HCC.</p