[ rare case report of the Thyroidea Ima and the thymic arteries common trunk, arising from the brachiocephalic artery]

The Thyroidea Ima artery [The artery of Neubauer], was recognized and described by Neubauer in 1786. This artery which was described in the all anatomical textbooks may arise from the arch of aorta, brachiocephalic trunk or other arteries in the upper mediastina. It is considered as a compensatory artery when the other thyroidal vessels showed deficiencies. This artery showed greatly variation in size and gave some anastomotic branches to the thymic artery. The thymic artery arised from the anterior mediastinal branch of the internal thoracic artery but, may also arise from the brachiocephalic trunk, arch of aorta, common carotid or the main trunk of the internal thoracic artery. Its origin from the thyroidea ima is rare. This rare case was seen in a 65 years old male cadaver, the common trunk of the thyroida ima and the thymic arteries originated from the brachiocephalic artery. After a short course it divided into two branches: an ascending [thyroida ima] and descending [thymic] branches. The thyroidea ima artery turned to left and upward to the lower border of the isthmus of thyroid gland. At this point it sent a branch to the lower part of the left lobe of the thyroid which penetrated it deeply and ended in the left inferior parathyroid gland. The main branch continued its course upward to the upper border of the thyroidal isthmus and divided into right and left branches. Each of these branches, after sending a great anastomotic branch to the superior thyroidal artery of their own side, terminated as several small branches in the upper part of the right and left lobes of the thyroid gland. The thymic artery continued its course downward for about three centimeters and ended as two branches in the right and left lobes of thymus. The thyroid gland of this cadaver was larger than the normal ones and the thymus was also clearly noticeable with right and left bobs. According to the embryonic origin and the developmental processes of the inferior parathyroid glands and the Thymus from the neighboring pharyngeal pouches, their blood supply from a common trunk will be acceptable especially when these two glands show some degree of enlargement as shown in this case. In the cases of thyroidectomies, when a surgeon is going to resect an enlarged thyroid gland, the presence of thyroidea ima artery and its branches to the lower part of lobes of thyroid gland would be a useful guidance to identify the inferior parathyroid glands an save them for the prevention of the next hypocalcemia

[Evaluation of tea cups washing water contamination to fecal coliform at traditional tea shops in Sari, Iran]

Most traditional tea shop owners use a bowl to wash tea cups in Sari city [North of Iran]. There are more than 140 traditional tea shops in the city. Unfortunately most people drinking at these shops as well as health authorities do not pay attention to the health criteria of the shop. The objective of this study was to examin the tea cups washing water of traditional tea shops for contamination to fecal coliform in Sari city. Twenty traditional tea shops [16%] were randomly selected for this study in different areas of the city. Multistage [3 stages] samples were taken from tea set of the shops. All samples were collected from the tea sets of the shops without prior notice. The samples were transferred to the laboratory in cold box as quickly as possible. Forty four samples from a total of 60 [66.6%] were positive for total coliforms. Also 32 samples [33.3%] were positive for fecal coliforms. Number of bacteria in the samples varied from zero to over 1100 per 100 cc sample. The study showed that in warmer situations the contamination was higher. The results showed that the differences between contamination rates in both groups of internal and external traditional tea shops were insignificant. The results showed that only two samples in multistage sampling were not contaminated and in all other samples at least in one stage of sampling, contamination was detected. The results of this study is an important message for food administration

[ morphologic and morphometric study of adult mouse testis following different doses of busulfan administration]

Anti-cancer drugs have adverse effects on spermatogenesis. Therefore, information on their role for the prevention of germinal epithelium destruction is necessary. The aim of this study was morphologic and morphometric evaluations of testes, measurement of volume and volume density of testes parameters, measurement of tubular diameters, germ and somatic cell counts following administration of different doses of busulfan in adult mice. In the present study, 42 male NMRI mice aged 6-8 weeks were used. The animals were divided into 5 groups. Case groups received a single dose of busulfan by intraperitoneal injection as 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg in the first, second, third and forth groups respectively. The control group received only the solvent for busulfan. All the animals were killed 35 days after treatment and their testes were dissected out and processed for light microscope studies. Then morphometric studies were performed on testicular parameters. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey test and p values less than 0.05 were considered significant Busulfan administration in 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg doses significantly reduced most morphometric parameters in testes with a maximum effect in the 40 mg/kg group. Volumes of testes, tubules and germinal epithelia were decreased significantly in the experiment groups [p<0.05] however, the volume of interstitial tissue increased [p<0.05]. Tubular diameters and thickness of epithelia were also decreased in the experiment groups. Number of germ cells was reduced, but number of sertoli cells was not affected. The number of leydig cells were not affected in 10 and 20 mg/kg busulfan treated groups, however in the 40 mg/kg treated group they were increased significantly [p<0.003]. In 5 mg/kg treated group there were no significant differences in morphologic and morphometric studies. Busulfan could reduce testicular parameters and disrupt spermatogenesis through affecting both germ and somatic cells in a dose dependent manner. Therefore, the side effects of busulfan on spermatogenesis should be considered during cancer therapies