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Background & Objective: Monitoring the depth of anesthesia is very important to prevent undesirable events during surgery, such as intra operative awareness and overdosing. It is shown that anesthetic agents have direct effects on synaptic activity of brain neurons. So there is a great interest on electroencephalogram analysis as a depth of anesthesia estimator. Due to difficulties in visual explanation of EEG, automatic and computer based signal processing methods have been used to assess the depth of anesthesia. Investigating the relationship between conscious level of patients and electrical activity of brain neurons was the main aim of this study. Materials & Methods: In this study, EEG signals of six patients undergoing aortic valve replacement surgery have been acquired and recorded in a computer. After applying signal processing methods to these data, 3 different measures included temporal, spectral and bispectral parameters have been extracted. Mean values of mentioned parameters in different anesthetic regimens and levels have been analyzed by ANOVA in SPSS software. Results: Extracted temporal parameter is correlated with depth of anesthesia in deep anesthetic levels and spectral one is correlated with depth of anesthesia in moderate and light levels (P<0.05). Bispectral parameter is correlated with the depth of anesthesia only in ICU (P<0.05). Conclusion: Findings of this study confirm the relationship between consciousness and electrical activity of brain neurons and recommend the use of EEG processing techniques to monitor, control and estimate the depth of anesthesia in operating room and ICU ward.

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Vulvar melanoma is a very rare tumor with the rate of 0.1-0.19/100000. It mostly occurs during post menopausal period. In this case report, our patient was a 43 years old woman, her symptom was a small pruritic lesion noticed two months earlier when she was referred to the clinic. This lesion was a 5mm diameter dark brown and flat on her left labialis minor. Malignant melanoma with 3-5mm thickness was diagnosted following biopsy. Wide local excision with more than 2cm free margin and inguino femoral lymphadenectomy at the site of the lesion was done. The recurrence of tumor was not abserved during four months follow-up.

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Background and Objective: Ecstasy [3,4 Methylendioxy Meth Amphetamine (MDMA)] exerts destructive effects on body organs particularly on the nervous system. The current study was carried out to measure the adverse effects of MDMA on hepatocyte and liver-specific enzymes. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 50 male Wistar rats were randomly divided in equal numbers into 5 groups: control, sham, experimental 1, 2, and 3. Animals in the experimental groups were received, intraperitoneally 2, 4 and 8 mg/kg of MDMA, respectively. The sham group were received normal saline but the control group was not subjected to any injection. Serum samples were collected and levels of three enzymes under study: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured. The sections from the liver tissue were prepared counting the hepatocytes. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 and One-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD tests. Results: Data indicated the levels of all three enzymes had been elevated in the animal groups that received MDMA and that the increase was statistically significant compared to sham and control groups (P<0.05). Also, in experimental groups the number of hepatocyte were reduced in comparison with controls (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the MDMA significantly increased ALT, AST, ALP and reduced the number of hepatocytes and these effects are dose depended.

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Background and Objective: Agricultural toxins including organochlorine and organophosphorus families cause damages in the various tissues in humans. Diazinon is a non-systemic organophosphate insecticide. This study was carried out to determine the effect of Diazinon on sex hormone, interferon gamma, interleukin-4 and 10 in male rats. Methods: In this experimental study 24 adult male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups. Three experimental groups were received Diazinon 5 days per week for one month at 0.3, 3 and 30 mg/kg/bw intraperitoneally, while controls received nothing. Seven days after the last injection, blood samples were obtained and the serum testosterone, FSH, LH, interferon gamma, interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 were measured. Results: Serum level of Interleukin-10 significantly increased in experimental group (30 mg/kg/bw of Diazinon) compared to controls (P<0.05). Serum level of Interleukin-10 significantly decreased in 0.3 mg/kg/bw and 3mg/kg/bw of Diazinon groups compared to controls (P<0.05). Interleukin-4 level was only significant in the group receiving 30 mg/kg/bw of Diazinon (P<0.05). Reduction in interferon-gamma level was not significant between control and experimental groups. FSH significantly reduced in the three experimental groups in comparison with controls (P<0.05). Testosterone level was significantly increased in experimental groups compared to control (P<0.05). Conclusion: Diazinon increases interleukin-10 and testosterone and reduces FSH hormone in the rat.

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Background and Objective: Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus to antibiotics is one of the major global health problems in human societies. Thus, evaluation of pattern of antibiotic resistance in its different strains is very important. This study was carried out to evaluate the antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical samples by disk diffusion and PCR methods.

Methods: In this laboratory- descriptive study, 50 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus to be identified from clinical specimens. Methicillin resistance was examined using PCR and antibiotic susceptibility of isolates was tested by disk diffusion method.

Results: 50 isolates were resistant to methicillin, ampicillin and penicillin. The resistance of isolates to erythromycin, Gentamicin, Clindamycin and Ciprofloxacin were 48%, 34%, 34%, 34%, respectively. The PCR method showed that 98% of Methicillin Resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolates carried the methicillin resistant gene.

Conclusion: This study indicated that 98% isolates harbor mecA genes and more resistant to methicillin related mecA genes.

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Background and Objective: The sphenoid sinus is one of the four paranasal sinuses located within the sphenoid bone and plays a crucial role in pituitary gland surgeries. This sinus is in close proximity to vital structures, including the internal carotid artery and the optic nerve. This study was conducted to radiologically evaluate sphenoid sinus anatomical characteristics using computed tomography (CT) scans of patients referring to selected imaging centers in Gorgan, Iran.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 180 patients (100 females and 80 males; mean age = 35.69±13.07 years) referring for paranasal sinus CT scans or head and neck CT scans, prescribed by a specialist physician, to the Fifth Azar Educational-Therapeutic Center and Izadi Imaging Center in Gorgan, Iran, during July and August 2020. The sphenoid sinus volume and anatomical characteristics, including the type of pneumatization, presence of septa, and carotid canal protrusion and adhesion, were examined via CT imaging.
Results: Regarding the frequency distribution of sinus types based on the site of pneumatization, 151 cases (83.8%) were postsellar, 25 (13.8%) were sellar, and 4 (2.2%) were presellar. The mean volume of the left sinus and the total sinus volume were significantly higher in men than in women (P<0.05). Carotid canal adhesion to the sphenoid sinus was observed in 20 patients (11.1%). No significant statistical difference was found between genders regarding the distribution of carotid canal adhesion, presence of accessory septa, or carotid canal protrusion. Similarly, the pneumatization of the anterior clinoid process, pterygoid process, and the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid showed no gender-based significant differences. A significant statistical correlation was observed between left carotid protrusion and the pneumatization of the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid, as well as pterygoid and anterior clinoid processes (P<0.05). On the right side, this correlation was not present with the pneumatization of the lesser wing. Regarding carotid canal adhesion, a significant correlation was only found with the pneumatization of the left pterygoid process (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The most common form of the sphenoid sinus was the postsellar type, and the mean total and left sinus volumes were greater in men. Gender was not found to be a reliable predictor for the extensive variations and high diversity of the sphenoid sinus anatomical characteristics.