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Background: Osteoporosis is a major public health issue in several countries worldwide because it increases healthcare costs, and is a risk for mortality. There have been several studies that have examined BMD among the various Thai people and the regions that they inhabit. Objective: This study examined the distal forearm Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in men and women over 40 years of age among members of various Karen hill-tribes located in the Omkoi District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-two subjects (180 women, 82 men), ranging from 40 to 83 years old were recruited in this study. The non-dominant distal forearm bone mineral density was assessed by using peripheral dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (pDEXA). Results: The results showed that the BMD were 0.530 ± 0.065, 0.508 ± 0.087, 0.461 ± 0.098, and 0.438 ± 0.124 g/cm2 for men age 40-49 years, age 50-59 years, age 60-69 years, and ages 70-83 years, respectively. For women, the BMD were 0.392 ± 0.051, 0.337 ± 0.063, 0.232 ± 0.065, and 0.212 ± 0.069 g/cm2 among women age 40-49 years, age 50-59 years, age 60-69 years, and ages 70-83 years, respectively. BMD had decreased in post-menopause as a function of duration time after menopause. Conclusion: We determined the prevalence of osteoporosis of men and women of Karen hill-tribes in the Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. These findings provided important information regarding bone health in Karen hill-tribes for any healthcare planning done in the immediate future.

We found the prevalence of osteoporosis in men who resided in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.

In this work, properties of Nd3+ in Gd2O3-CaO-SiO2-B2O3 glass systems with composition 25Gd2O3-10CaO-10SiO2-(55-x)B2O3-xNd2O3 where x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 mol% were investigated. The optical absorption spectra show peaks at 4F3/2 (877 nm) , 4F5/2+2H9/2 (802 nm), 4F7/2+4S3/2 (743 nm), 4F9/2 (682 nm), 2H11/2 (627 nm), 2G7/2 +4G5/2 (582 nm), 4G7/2 +2K13/2 (527 nm), 4G11/2 (481 nm), 2P1/2 (427 nm) and 2L15/2 + 4D1/2 + 1I11/2+ 4D5/2+ 4D3/2 (355 nm) reflecting the Nd3+ ions in glass matrices. The densities were increased with increasing of Nd2O3 concentration. This indicates the increase of the molecular weight by the replacement of B2O3 with a heavier Nd2O3 oxide in the glass. The upconversion luminescence spectra show bands at 393 nm for all Nd2O3 concentration and the strongest intensity from 2.5 % mol of Nd2O3 was obtained. For NIR luminescence, the intensity of Nd3+ emission spectra increases with increasing concentrations of Nd3+ up to 1.5 mol% and beyond 1.5 mol% the concentration quenching is observed.