Sickle cell haemoglobinopathy is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of haemoglobin S (HbS) including sickle cell disease (SCD) (sickle cell anemia, HbS/β -thalassaemia and HbSC disease) and sickle cell trait. In Siwa Oasis, most remote oasis town in Egypt, the prevalence rate of sickle cell haemoglobinopathy is approaching 20%. The 1 polymorphism was reported to increase the HbF level ameliorating the severity of the SCD. The present study aims mainly to investigate the genotype frequency of -158Gγ (C→T) Xmn1 polymorphism in Siwa Oasis, Egypt and to study, if possible, any association with increased HbF expression. This study was performed on 62 sickle cell carriers (AS), three cases of sickle cell anaemia (SS) detected during a screening programme conducted on primary school children in Siwa Oasis by Alexandria Faculty of Medicine in 2011-2012. Sixty-five age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls (AA) were included. All enrolled children were subjected to PCR-RFLP for the detection of -158Gγ (C→T) Xmn1 polymorphism using the Xmn1 restriction enzyme. Genotyping of the -158Gγ (CvT) Xmn1 polymorphism revealed that among AS, 85.5% were homozygous for the wild-type allele (CC) and 14.5% were heterozygous (CT). However, among SS, two cases were homozygous for the wild-type allele (CC) and one case was heterozygous (CT). The genotype frequencies among AA were 83.1% homozygous for the wild-type allele (CC) and 16.9% heterozygous (CT). None of the studied cases or controls was homozygous for the mutant allele (TT). Among both AS and AA, there was no significant difference between the wild-type and heterozygous genotypes regarding HbF level. Studying genotype frequency of the1 γG globin polymorphism (-158C>T ) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt can be considered as a starting point for further research targeting this community sector. However, in our studied cohort, there were only three sickle cell anaemia patients. Further, none of the tested cases or controls was found to be homozygous for the mutant allele (TT). In the absence of any homozygous genotype for the mutant allele (TT) in the studied cohort, any reasonable conclusion on the effect of polymorphism on increase in HbF could not be established. Further studies with a larger sample size are needed for better understanding of the possible association.

Background: People with schizophrenia continue to suffer from negative functional outcomes and long-term morbidity despite a legacy of empirical research and development of several types of treatments Negative symptoms and low self-esteem in schizophrenia account for much of the poor ability to cope with every day activities and consequently the quality of life of the person with schizophrenia. Applying mindful self-compassion intervention (MSC) may decrease the negative symptoms and improve the patient self-esteem. Objective: Evaluate the impact of mindful-self compassion intervention on self-esteem and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia Settings: The present study was carried out in the inpatient wards of El-Maamoura Hospital for Psychiatric Medicine in Alexandria. Subjects:68 patients with schizophrenia. Tools: four tools were used for data collection. The first tool A Socio-demographic and clinical data collection tool: This tool was developed by the researcher. The second tool was self-compassion scale to assess the degree of self-compassion of patients with schizophrenia. The third tool was Rosenberg self-esteem scale to assess the degree of self-esteem. The fourth tool was Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms ( SANS) to assesses the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia Results: Findings of the present study revealed that the improvement of self-compassion percentage of the patients who had high self-esteem pre-intervention (8.8%)was increased in post intervention to (64.7%) Conclusion: mindful self-compassion (MSC) can successful in decreasing the severity of overall negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia and improve their self-esteem and their self-compassion.. Recommendations: Psychiatric hospitals may support the application of mindful self-compassion intervention as an integral component in the hospital routine care and rehabilitation program for patients with schizophrenia