Exploring Intercellular Dynamics: Ultra-Weak Biophoton Emission as a Novel Indicator of Altered Cell Functions and Disease in Oligospermia Mice.

Introduction: Biophoton emission, the spontaneous release of photons from living cells, has emerged as an attractive field of research in the study of biological systems. Scientists have recently discovered that changes in biophoton emission could serve as potential indicators of pathological conditions. This intriguing phenomenon suggests that cells might communicate and interact with each other through the exchange of these faint but significant light signals. Therefore, the present study introduces intercellular relationships with biophoton release to detect normal and abnormal cell functions to further achieve cellular interactions by focusing on cell and cell arrangement in disease conditions. Methods: Twenty male mice were assigned to control and busulfan groups. Five weeks after the injection of busulfan, the testis was removed, and then the stereological techniques and TUNEL assay were applied to estimate the histopathology of the testis tissue sections. Results: The findings revealed that the ultra-weak biophoton emission in the control group was significantly lower than in the busulfan group. The oligospermia mice model showed that it significantly changed the spatial arrangement of testicular cells and notably decreased the testis volume, length of seminiferous tubules, and the number of testicular cells. The results of the TUNEL assay showed that the percentage of apoptotic cells significantly increased in the busulfan group. Conclusion: The ultra-weak biophoton emission from testis tissue was reduced in oligospermia mice. As a result, the decline of ultra-weak biophoton can indicate a change in cell arrangement, a decrease in intercellular interaction, and eventually disease.

#BlueGirl: A study of collective trauma on Twitter.

Collective trauma is the outcome of traumatic incidents that necessitate collective self-reflection and create a need for public discourse. Access to social media allows individuals to shape event coverage beyond what is put forth by mainstream media through hashtag-based communities. The death of Sahar Khodayari, or "Blue Girl," an Iranian woman who committed suicide after being sentenced to prison for appearing in a sports stadium dressed as a man, is one such event that became a collective trauma. The current study sought to examine the collective trauma reaction among Farsi-speaking Twitter users in response to Khodayari's death as represented in public tweets. The overall pool of data consisted of 8,653 tweets containing at least one of four hashtags (i.e., #BlueGirl, #Blue_Girl,, # #), posted September 9-24, 2019, as well as 603 tweets posted on the anniversary of the event 1 year later. Using thematic analysis, we identified three main themes within these public tweets representing different responses to Khodayari's death: social justice, awareness, and process. In undemocratic countries, like Iran, where there are limited free physical spaces for public gatherings, social media provides a platform for people to come together after tragic events to express emotions and discuss thoughts and actions. The present findings demonstrate that Twitter allowed Farsi-speaking users to demand social justice, share awareness about #BlueGirl, and process their emotions and thoughts accordingly. Therefore, social media may provide a window into the collective trauma experience, and it may also serve as a new mode of studying trauma on new platforms.

Development of plasma functionalized polypropylene wound dressing for betaine hydrochloride controlled drug delivery on diabetic wounds.

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most worrying issues among illnesses, and its chronic subsequences almost refer to inflammations and infections. The loading and local release of antioxidants to wounds may decrease inflammations. However, the low wettability of PolyPropylene (PP) restricts the drug from loading. So, to increase the adhesion of PP for loading an optimum amount of Betaine Hydrochloride (BET), plasma has been applied in two steps of functionalization and polymerization, which has been confirmed with FE-SEM, ATR-FTIR, and EDX. The new chemistry of the surface led to almost 80% of BET loaded. The drug-releasing ratio studied by HPLC approved the presence of a PEG-like layer, which was coated by polymerization of tetraglyme. To evaluate the wound healing potential of the application of PP meshes treated by plasma, 72 Wistar rats were subdivided into four groups. The skin injury site was removed and underwent biomechanical tests, stereological analysis, and RNA extraction. The results showed a significant improvement in the polymerized scaffold containing BET for skin injury. The present study suggests that the use of a modified PP mesh can induce tissue regeneration and accelerate wound healing at the skin injury site.

Prevalence of and risk factors for substance use among Afghan refugees in Iran: An exploratory study.

Afghan refugees may be a high-risk group for substance use problems. However, research is scarce in this area, specifically among Afghan refugees in one of their main host countries, Iran. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of substance use among this population and explore the associated risk factors using a mixed-methods design. Findings suggest that 4.2% of the surveyed households had at least one adult member using illicit drugs. Moreover, results show that substance use among Afghans had statistically significant associations with illiteracy, lack of documentation, living in slum areas, and multidimensional poverty. Policy implications are discussed and recommendations provided.