Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Seven years publication of “Iranian Journal of Radiation Research” with confident but cautious steps (Editor's Commentary)
1
2
EN
H.
Mozdarani
The Iranian Journal of Radiation Research (IJRR) is now in the eighth year of
publication. This journal is the mouth piece of shared idea of Dr Shahram Akhlaghpoor and
me, which was established way back in 2002. At that time the main emphasis of the founder
members was to make the subject of radiation research attractive and interesting especially
for combating cancer and risk assessment. The dream for creating the Journal has come true
by the help of Dr Seyed Mahmood Aghamiri who obtained the necessary permission for its
publication and the Novin Medical Radiation Institute for financial and logistic supports.
Our mission has been to serve the needs of scientists and community by working with
capable researchers and professionals from across the world to produce the most accurate
and up to date scientific and technical resources. From summer 2003 when the first issue of
IJRR was published, IJRR was devoted to the rapid publication of fundamental research
papers on all aspects of Radiation Research. All contributions were rigorously refereed and
selected on the basis of quality and originality of the work as well as the breadth of interest
to readers. Although for understanding reasons the authors were reluctant to publish their
articles in the journal. From publication of the first issue, I, as the editor-in-chief with the
help of all my colleagues, have tried to improve the quality and responsibility of the journal
and its articles over the past years. Through this continued efforts we could index the
journal with a host of indexing agencies and we are expecting to get higher impact factor for
journal in a near future. Thus IJRR has now gained an international reputation and a
strong emphasis on high academic standards. In addition to authors from Iran who
contributed to IJRR, I should thank all the authors across the globe that helped us by
submitting articles to this journal. I would like to thank to our editorial board for their help
and suggestions, all reviewers for their sincere help and careful review of the articles and my
colleagues at the editorial and publishing office. Also I express my special thanks and
gratitude's to Dr Shahram Akhlaghpoor and his honorable colleagues at the Novin Medical
Radiation Institute for their continued logistic and financial support to keep the journal
alive and to Miranda Firouzbakhsh and Sohail Mozdarani for their tired less efforts at the
editorial office to manage the articles from the first day of receipt until publication.
Seven years is not a long time to assess a journal's worth. However, 7 years is also
ample time when we should have been able to promote the journal to a greater height. Thus
let us not to miss this opportunity now. The Iranian Journal of Radiation Research is now
indexed in ISI, Scopus, Index Copernicus, EM base and etc, therefore, there should be no
hesitation for researchers to put their valuable works in the journal and work for the journal
to become more visible internationally. Young scientists are requested to contribute by submitting interesting observations, raising controversies and publish constructive
criticisms on published articles as well as submitting original articles in the cutting edge
areas of the radiation science.
I request all the scientists and researchers in the field of radiation science to visit the
journal website at www.ijrr.com. Apart from free access to abstracts and full text articles in
PDF format, each article has its individual statistics of utility. You can see how often the
website has been visited, how often articles in the journal have been visited and how often
the PDF article has been downloaded. The impact factor and citations are two important
indices for any journal and an individual article's utility. IJRR has now published enough
papers in different fields of radiation research to be cited by authors in their forthcoming
articles. However, I hope in the future, the number of times an article has been visited or
PDF downloaded will also be used to understand the interest in a particular article by
readers who do not publish articles. Visit and download of some articles published in IJRR is
incredible. There are papers visited nearly 4000 times and downloaded more than 1300
times. These statistics and being indexed by main indexing agencies indicate the level of
articles published in IJRR and its scientific importance in the short life of this journal. I am
sure with all your help this journal will be able to immortalize itself.
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Modulation of radiation and cadmium induced biochemical changes in mouse kidney by Emblica officinalis Linn
3
10
EN
A.
Chakrawarti
R.K.
Purohit
M.
Agarwal
P.
Joshi
A.
Basu
K.M.
Bhartiya
A.
Bhardwaj
Background: Protective effect of Emblica against
radiation and cadmium induced biochemical changes in
mouse kidney has been studied. Materials and Methods:
Adult male mice were divided into seven groups: I (shamirradiated),
II (cadmium chloride), III (irradiated with 2 Gy
gamma rays), IV (radiation and cadmium chloride), V
(Cadmium chloride and Emblica), VI (radiation and
Emblica), VII (radiation, cadmium chloride and Emblica).
The animals were autopsied after 1-28 days of treatment.
The kidney was taken out and different biochemical
parameters such as total proteins, glycogen, cholesterol,
acid phosphatase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity,
DNA and RNA were estimated. Results: The value of glycogen,
RNA, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase
activity increased up to day-14 in non drug treated groups
and day-7 in the Emblica treated groups and thereafter
decreased up to the last autopsy interval. The value of
cholesterol and DNA decreased up to day-14 in non drug
treated groups and day 7 in the drug treated groups then
increased in all the groups. In groups III, IV, VI and VII the
value of total proteins increased during early intervals and
decreased thereafter, but the animals of groups II and V,
which were given only cadmium chloride with or without
Emblica, showed an opposite trend. The biochemical
parameters showed highly significant values (p<0.001) as
compared to normal ones. Conclusion: Results indicated
that combined treatment of radiation and cadmium
chloride exerts synergistic effect. The drug treated animals
showed less severe biochemical changes and an early and
fast recovery, which may be due to protection provided by
Emblica. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 3-10
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Production of a datolite-based heavy concrete for shielding nuclear reactors and megavoltage radiotherapy roomsProduction of a Datolite-Based Heavy Concrete
11
15
EN
S.M.J.
Mortazavi
M.A.
Mosleh-Shirazi
M.
Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi
Z.
Siavashpour
A.
Farshadi
M.
Ghafoori
A.
Shahvar
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
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Relationship between the optimum cut off frequency for Butterworth filter and lung-heart ratio in 99mTc myocardial SPECT
17
24
EN
M.N.
Salihin Yusoff
A.
Zakaria
Background: We investigated whether the lungheart
ratio parameter (LHR) can be used to identify
the optimum cut off frequency for Butterworth filter in
99mTc myocardial SPECT imaging. Materials and
Methods: This study involved a cardiac phantom
system consisting of cardiac insert in which 1.10 cm
cold defect was inserted into its myocardium wall and
filled with 4.0 μCi/ml (0.148 MBq/ml) 99mTc
concentration. The cardiac insert was then put into a
cylindrical tank which filled with six different 99mTc
concentrations as background. Thus, six target background
concentrations ratios (T/B) were carried
out. The LHR was determined for every SPECT raw
image obtained corresponding to each T/B. Then,
130 different combinations of filter parameters from
Butterworth filter were utilized to reconstruct each
SPECT raw image. The determination of count in
myocardium, background, and defect regions of
interest (ROI) were performed for every reconstructed
image. All the count values were then used to calculate
contrast, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and defect
size. Each criterion was graded (1 to 100) and then
summed together to obtain total grade. The optimum
cut off frequency for each LHR was determined from
the total grade. The relation between optimum cut off
frequency for Butterworth filter and LHR was
established using linear regression. Results: There
were good relationship between the optimum Butterworth
cut off frequency and LHR (R2 = 0.864, p <
0.01). The optimal cut off frequency correspond to
the change in LHR can be expressed by the equation:
Optimum cut off frequency = 0.715*LHR + 0.227.
Conclusion: This study suggests that the optimum cut
off frequency for Butterworth filter should be determined
by referring to LHR in each patient study. Iran.
J. Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 17-24
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Induction of chromosomal aberrations in human primary fibroblasts and immortalized cancer cells exposed to extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields
25
29
EN
S.S.
Seyyedi
H.
Mozdarani
M.
Rezaei Tavirani
S.
Heydari
Background: Rapidly increasing possibilities of
exposure to environmental extremely low-frequency
electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) have become a
topic of worldwide investigation. Epidemiological and
laboratory studies suggest that exposure to ELF-EMF
may increase cancer risk therefore assessment of
chromosomal damage in various cell lines might be of
predictive value for future risk estimation. Materials
and Methods: Primary cultures of fibroblasts from
human skin biopsy were exposed to continuous
extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (3, 50
and 60 Hz, sinusoidal, 3h, and 4 mT). Also immortalized
cell lines, SW480, MCF-7 and 1321N1 were
exposed to continuous ELF-EMF (50 Hz, sinusoidal, 3
h, 4 mT). Metaphase plates were prepared according
to standard methods and stained in 5% Giemsa
solution. Chromosomal aberrations of both chromosome
and chromatid types were scored to evaluate
the effects of ELF-EMF on primary or established cell
lines. Results: Results indicate that by increasing the
frequency of ELF-EMF, chromosomal aberrations
were increased up to 7-fold above background levels
in primary human fibroblast cells. In addition, continuous
exposure to a 50 Hz electromagnetic field led to
a significant increase in chromosomal aberrations in
SW480, MCF-7 and 1321N1 cell lines compared to
sham control. Conclusion: Results obtained indicate
that ELF-EMF has the potential for induction of
chromosomal aberrations in all cell types. Iran. J.
Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 25-29
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Determination of 99Mo contamination in 99mTc elute obtained from 99Mo / 99mTc- generator
31
35
EN
M.
Momennezhad
S.R.
Zakavi
R.
Sadeghi
Background: 99mTc is a widely used radioisotope
in nuclear medicine centers which is obtained by
elution from Mo-99/Tc-99m generators. Usually the
generators are either supplied by the Iran Atomic
Energy Agency or by private companies from foreign
countries. In this study we have measured 99Mo
contamination in 99mTc elute from different generators
in a period of one year. Materials and Methods:
The radionuclide impurity of the 99mTc elute were
studied in two types of radionuclide generators (A:
produced in Iran and B: Imported from other country).
In-vitro measurements were performed using dose
calibrator. Direct measurements were made, using a
standard canister at the time of milking of the
generators and also in subsequent hours after
milking. Results: The results showed a mean of 99Mo
impurity in generators A and B to be
0.00932±0.0043 and 0.0170±0.0127 respectively.
Although the results showed that the 99Mo
contamination in 99mTc elute was lesser than the
maximum accepted activity limit of 0.015%, the
difference in these two types may reflect different
methods of productions of generator, as well as the
quality control procedures. Conclusion: The mean of
99Mo contamination in generators produced in Iran
Atomic Energy Organization was lesser than
generators imported from foreign origin. Iran. J.
Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 31-35
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
The effect of focal spot size on the spatial resolution of variable resolution X-ray CT scanner
37
43
EN
H.
Arabi
A.R.
Kamali Asl
S.M.
Aghamiri
Background: A variable resolution X-ray (VRX) CT
scanner provides a great increase in the spatial
resolution. In VRX CT scanners, the spatial resolution
of the system and its field of view (FOV) can be
changed according to the object size. One of the main
factors that limit the spatial resolution of VRX CT
scanner is the effect of the X-ray focal spot. Materials
and Methods: A theoretical study of the effect of X-ray
focal spot on the spatial resolution of VRX CT is
presented in this paper. In this study, we used the
parameters of an actual VRX CT scanner. By using the
relevant equations, the effects of foal spot sizes of
0.6 and 0.1 mm were calculated on spatial resolution
of the system at various opening half angles. Results:
Focal spot size of 0.6 mm had no significant effect on
spatial resolution of the system for opening half
angles of above 14°. Even focal spot sizes of larger
than 0.6 mm could not affect the spatial resolution of
the system. For opening half angles of below 14°,
foal spot size of 0.6 mm limited the spatial resolution
of the system to 5.7 cycle/mm and caused great
spatial resolution non-uniformity along the detector
length. Conclusion: By focal spot size of 0.1 mm,
the spatial resolution varied as a function of the
opening half angle and increased to more than 30
cycle/mm. Additionally, focal spot size of 0.1 mm
minimized the spatial resolution non-uniformity along
the detector length. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1):
37-43
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Adding 166Ho data to VARSKIN2 code and dose calculation to human skin
45
49
EN
A.A.
Mowlavi
A.
Afzali
N.
Afzali
Background: Skin cancer can be treated by
various methods. Electron radiotherapy has been a
useful therapeutic modality in the treatment of skin
cancers in areas which are difficult to cure by other
methods. Depth dose distribution of 166Ho using
VARSKIN2 code is presented in this work. Material
and Methods: Depth dose distribution of 166Ho was
calculated, using VARSKIN2 code by adding of 166Ho
data to the library of VARSKIN2 code. After adding
166Ho radionuclide data to the library of the code, it
was run for various input parameters including:
density, air gap thickness, radiation time and
different source geometry. Different forms of sources
which have been used in this research are 2-D disk,
cylindrical and spherical shapes. Results: The result
showed that the skin absorbed depth dose variation
was an exponential function because of short range
of beta ray. Dose gradient was very high near the
sources. For the same activity, disk source induced a
dose more than spherical and cylindrical source to
skin surface. Conclusion: Superficial skin tumors
could be successfully treated by topical application of
beta-emitting 166Ho source. VARSKIN2 is a fast,
accurate and user friendly code for beta dosimetry
and can be used for dose optimization calculation,
especially in beta source over the human skin. Iran. J.
Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 45-49
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Radiation protection principles observance in Iranian dental schools
51
57
EN
A.
Eskandarlou
K.
Ghazi-Khanlou Sani
A.R.
Mehdizadeh
Background: In recent decades many guidelines
has been conducted by radiation protection organizations
about radiation protection in dentistry. This
study aimed to evaluate the observance of these
guidelines in educational clinics of all dental schools
in Iran. Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional
study a self-administered questionnaire, based on
National Radiation Protection Board (NRPB) and
European Commission guidelines, was conducted.
The radiology departments of all dental school (18
schools) were surveyed in this study. The questionnaire
was consisted of 3 sections including intraoral
radiography, extraoral radiography and implementation
of quality control programs. Results: In the case
of the existence of radiation protection facilities (such
as lead apron, thyroid shield and lead impacted walls)
the use of high speed films and existence of automatic
processor in dental schools, there was a proper
condition. The main problem was related to lack of
regular quality control and quality assurance
programs. Digital radiography systems were
employed in none of the schools and it was occasionally
used for research purposes at some of them.
Conclusions: This study has emphasized on the need
for further consideration of radiation protection
principles in dental schools, especially on the field of
quality control and quality assurance programs. Iran.
J. Radiat. Res., 2010 8 (1): 51-57
Dr. Hossein Mozdarani
International Journal of Radiation Research
2322-3243
8
1
2010
6
1
Environmental gamma radiation: a comment (Letter to the Editor)
59
0
EN
V.
Wiwanitkit
Editor, I read the recent publication by Toossi et al. with a great interest (1). Toossi et al.
concluded that “Average gonad and bone marrow doses for North Khorasan, Boshehr and
Hormozgan provinces were less than the corresponding values for normal area (2).” There are
some facts on this report to be concerned. I agree that the detected levels might be high in
the mentioned area, but the problem is whether this high dosage is an actual problematic
phenomenon. First, the selection on small sites and samplings within a short period might
not provide a good representative data on the actual situation in that area. Second, the
difference in time of sample collection among different sites might contribute to difference in
detected levels. The variation of the atmosphere might be a big factor to be mentioned.
Third, the detected levels might not directly imply the risk for the people living in those
areas since the people do not statically but dynamically lives from places to places.
References:
1. Toossi MTB, Bayani SH, Yarahmadi M, Aghamir A, Jomehzadeh A, Parast MH, Tamjidi
A (2009) Gonad, bone marrow and effective dose to the population of more than 90 towns
and cities of Iran, arising from environmental gamma radiation. Iran J Radiat Res, 7 (1): 41-
47.
2. Nelson GA (2003) Fundamental space radiobiology. Gravit Space Biol Bull, 16 (2): 29-
36.
N.B.: This comment has been sent to the corresponding author for reply. However, so far we
did not receive any reply from the authors. We will post the reply from the authors in
forthcoming issue of IJRR if received.