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Background: Osteoporosis is a chronic disease that contributes substantially to decrease physical activity and decline in the quality of life. Osteoporosis can be diagnosed easily with the use of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) equipment. The aim of this study was to investigate the magnitude of bone loss on proximal femur and lumbar spine LS in pre- and post-menopausal women from Isfahan Osteoporosis Diagnosis Center (IODC) since 2005. Materials and Methods: Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements using DXA have been performed at IODC. 185 pre-menopausal and 174 early post-menopausal women were selected randomly. A Norland XR46 system was used for the investigations. The student t-test was done to find the difference between the T-scores of the femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) in pre- and post-menopausal women. Results: Mean BMDs for the FN and LS in pre-menopausal women were 0.859 ± 0.136 and 1.012 ± 0.161 and in post-menopausal women were 0.816 ± 0.119 and 0.919 ± 0.140, respectively. Long-term BMD CVs of 1.0% and 1.2% for the LS and FN were found, respectively. The differences between the FN and LS for pre- and post-menopausal women were t = - 9.02, p < 0.05 and t = -3.50, p < 0.05, respectively. Conclusion: In spite of, the reported lower BMD T-scores for the LS compared with the FN for women, we found that the FN had significantly lower T-score than LS for both pre- and post-menopausal women.

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Background: Biological shielding of nuclear reactors has always been a great concern and decreasing the complexity and expense of these installations is of great interest. In this study, we used datolite and galena (DaGa) minerals for production of a high performance heavy concrete. Materials and Methods: Datolite and galena minerals which can be found in many parts of Iran were used in the concrete mix design. To measure the gamma radiation attenuation of the DaGa concrete samples, they were exposed to both narrow and wide beams of gamma rays emitted from a cobalt-60 radiotherapy unit. An Am-Be neutron source was used for assessing the shielding properties of the samples against neutrons. To test the compression strengths, both types of concrete mixes (DaGa and ordinary concrete) were investigated. Results: The concrete samples had a density of 4420-4650 kg/m3 compared to that of ordinary concrete (2300-2500 kg/m3) or barite highdensity concrete (up to 3500 kg/m3). The measured half value layer thickness of the DaGa concrete samples for cobalt-60 gamma rays was much less than that of ordinary concrete (2.56 cm compared to 6.0 cm). Furthermore, the galena concrete samples had a significantly higher compressive strength as well as 20% more neutron absorption. Conclusion: The DaGa concrete samples showed good shielding/ engineering properties in comparison with other reported samples made, using high-density materials other than depleted uranium. It is also more economic than the high-density concretes. DaGa concrete may be a suitable option for shielding nuclear reactors and megavoltage radiotherapy rooms. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 11-15