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Background and Objective: Considering the relatively wide application of ceftriaxone in pediatric infectious diseases and its side effects, this study was done to determine gallblader sonographic abnormality following ceftriaxone treatment in children.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross- sectional study was carried out on 60 patients age 1 month up to 12 years in Besat hospital, Hamadan, Iran during 2007. The sonographic abnormal finding of gallbladder before ceftriaxone therapy and 5 days after therapy were recorded. In case of any abnormality in gallblader sonography was repeated twice a week in the first two weeks and afterward once a week up to disappearance of abnormalities.

Results: Gallblader sonographic abnormality were observed in 10 cases (16.5%). Out of them, 8 and 2 patients had bile stone and bile sludge, respectivley. The patients did not show any clinical manifestations. There was no relation between age and sex with abnormal findings. Gallblader abnormality completely were disappeared in the worst cases by sixteen days.

Conclusion: This study showed that the incidence of either gallstone or biliary sludge after treatment with ceftriaxone was 16.5% which is relatively similar to other studies.

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Background and Objective: Aging reduces cardiac autonomic function parameters such as heart rate response to exercise and heart rate recovery after physical activity. This study aimed to determine the parasympathetic nerves reactivation after upper body exercise among young and middle-aged men.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 24 active men based on their age were divided into two groups including 30-35 (young) and 55-60 years old men (middle-aged). Participants performed upper body exercise on a Monark arm ergometer. During the test, heart rate was recorded continuously by electrocardiogram. Also, participants' heart rate was recorded for 10 minutes after completion of the test. In order to measure the time domain parameters of heart rate variability (PNN50 and RMSSD), one-minute successive RR waves intervals collected in 5 minutes and 10 minutes after the completion of the test and then were transmitted to the heart rate variability software for analysis. Also, heart rate recovery was measured in one minute and two minutes after the test by the difference between the maximum heart rate during the test with heart rate in one and two minutes after the completion of the test.
Results: There was a significant difference between PNN50 in minutes 5 and 10 after the test in young men (P<0.05). Young men also had higher values of RMSSD in minutes 5 and 10 compared to middle-aged men. The heart rate recovery in the 2 minutes after test was significantly higher than 1 minute after test in both groups (P<0.05). Heart rate recovery was higher in young people than in middle-aged people at 5 and 10 minutes after high-intensity exercise due to faster withdrawal of sympathetic nerves.
Conclusion: Changes in the autonomic nervous system is dependent on the type, duration of activity, and the age of the participants.
 

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Varicocele is a deficiency of the testicular veins which is recognized by elongation and tortuosity of the pampiniform or cremasteric venous plexus and can lead to impaired spermatogenesis. Varicocele intensity is associated with the reduction of male fertility potential. This review article discusses the effects of varicocele on spermatogenesis process and fertility potential, etiology of varicocele, therapeutic approaches, and the result of treatment. All the published papers from 1975 to 2018 from databases bank such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and PubMed with keywords; infertility, varicocele, varicocelectomy, spermatogenesis, clinical outcome were collected and within these papers, only 74 papers were included for this study. Increased of testicular temperature, backflow of toxic metabolites from the kidney or adrenal glands, hypoxia, hormonal disturbances and oxidative stress are the most prevalent pathogenic cause of varicocele that they can alter testis and sperm functions. Several studies show that varicocelectomy can improve sperm parameters, chromatin statue and fertility potential in infertile men with varicocele. Possibly, treatment of varicocele before assisted reproduction technologies could increase the chance of spontaneous pregnancy in these infertile men.

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Background and Objective: Depression is the most common psychiatric diagnosis. It causes major health problems. Women are more likely to develop depression than men. This study was done to investigate the effect of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on reducing depression and improving the quality of life of female students.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 26 female students. Students non-randomly were divided into control and intervention groups. Students in intervention group were received the two periods (8 sessions, 2 hours at week) of training in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. All the participants filled out Beck depression inventory II (BDI-II) and World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) in perior and after the study.
Results: In the intervention group the mean and standard deviation of pre-test and post-test scores of BDI-II was 20.23±6.98 and 13.38±4.97, respectively (P<0.05). In the intervention group, mean and standard deviation of pre-test and post-test scores of WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was 66.77±13.39 and 86.84±10.60, respectively (P<0.05). Also, the mean scores of post-test of quality of life in all subgroups items  was significantly increased in compared to the pre-test in the intervention group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy increases the quality of life and reduced depression in female students.

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One of the main spermatogenesis events is the replacement of histones with small proteins called protamines, which leads to chromatin's condensation in the sperm nucleus and protects it against possible damage. Today, tests such as aniline blue (AB), toluidine blue (TB), and chromomycin A3 (CMA3) staining are used based on different characteristics to evaluate sperm chromatin compaction. For the assessment of DNA fragmentation in sperm, several tests such as 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), TUNEL, Comet, sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), sperm chromatic dispersion (SCD), and acridine orange have been introduced that directly and indirectly assay DNA damage. The articles in PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as related books, from 2007 to 2022, were collected and reviewed based on keywords 8-OHdG, TUNEL, Comet, SCD, and acridine orange. So far, many studies have been conducted at the treatment level and on sperm chromatin tests, but the number of cases published so far is limited. Various sperm samples have been used in different studies, with different threshold limits in the tests. The sixth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) book notes that each laboratory has its threshold limit. Therefore, in this review study, common methods of evaluating chromatin packaging and DNA damage are introduced, and the advantages and disadvantages of each test are discussed based on the latest achievements related to infertility.

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Background and Objective: Antioxidant apigenin (AP) is a natural, non-mutagenic, and less toxic flavonoid with pharmacological anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory activities. This antioxidant is easily received by the cell, binds to sperm DNA, and forms a DNA-AP complex, thereby protecting sperm DNA. The present study was conducted to determine the antioxidant effect of AP on human sperm quality after freezing-thawing.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 10 normozoospermic samples underwent freezing-thawing conditions, and sperm functional tests were investigated in different AP concentrations, including 0.4 mM, 0.2 mM, 0.1 mM, and 0.05 mM.
Results: The quality of total sperm parameters and functional tests decreased after freezing compared to before freezing. Among the AP concentrations, only in the 0.2 mM AP concentration, the improvement of the additional histone percentage, protamine deficiency, and sperm DNA health were observed compared to the control; this finding was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The use of AP with a concentration of 0.2 mM during freezing-thawing culminates in improving sperm functional tests.