Search

Research in scientific fields is mainly a qualitative issue which requires a level of qualitative analysis and involves the discovery of the relationships among research variables. One of the most important issues in the discussion of human topics is demography and, in particular, the recognition of demographic features. In this regard, this study seeks to examine the state of aging in Iranian rural communities in 390 counties of the country by using fuzzy logic. The research is a descriptive-analytic type and applied in terms of purpose. It was carried out through secondary analyses. The required data were derived from the Statistics Center of Iran and covered six indicators including the ratio of aging and youth, the ratio of genders, the ratio of old age, potential support and parental support. The results showed that, according to the designed database, the rural areas in the margins of Iran have a low rate of aging due to desirable conditions in the six indicators. In contrast, the rural areas in the internal parts of Iran are severely aged and are moving toward aging rapidly. The results of this study were also compared with the ethnicity map of Iran. It was indicated that the findings of this study about the aging process strongly overlap the information on the ethnicity map. Due to the broad ethnic distribution in the geographical boundaries of Iran, the, the desire to have children is higher than that in the central parts of the country. This has led to an increase in the desirable values of the six indicators in the marginal areas and the superiority of those areas over the internal parts.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with more cardiac manifestations than those in the normal population. In this study, we sought to determine the prevalence of cardiac involvement in patients suffering from AS without cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: The present case-control study, conducted in 2 university hospitals in Tehran from January 2016 to December 2017, recruited 67 patients with AS and 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The diagnosis of AS was based on the classification criteria of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society. All the participants were examined using transthoracic echocardiography and a standard 12-lead ECG. Baseline characteristics, echocardiographic findings, and ECG features were compared between the AS and control groups using univariate analyses. Results: The median age was 33.5 (IQR25-75%: 20.5–59) years in the AS group and 35 (IQR25-75%: 26–59) years in the control group (P=0.301). The number of patients with left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction was significantly higher in the patients with AS than in the controls (7.5% vs. 20.9%; P=0.067, and 22.9% vs. 5.0%; P=0.026, respectively). The number of individuals with a left-axis deviation and a left anterior fascicular block was significantly higher in the patients suffering from AS than in the control group. The number of patients with aortic valve involvement was comparable between the groups (P=0.332). Conclusion: The most common cardiac involvement in our patients with AS was left ventricular dysfunction, followed by rhythm disturbances and aortic valve insufficiency. These findings were independent of age, AS severity, and disease duration. Therefore, the implementation of cardiovascular screening can be recommended for patients with AS.

Research in scientific fields is mainly a qualitative issue which requires a level of qualitative analysis and involves the discovery of the relationships among research variables. One of the most important issues in the discussion of human topics is demography and, in particular, the recognition of demographic features. In this regard, this study seeks to examine the state of aging in Iranian rural communities in 390 counties of the country by using fuzzy logic. The research is a descriptive-analytic type and applied in terms of purpose. It was carried out through secondary analyses. The required data were derived from the Statistics Center of Iran and covered six indicators including the ratio of aging and youth, the ratio of genders, the ratio of old age, potential support and parental support. The results showed that, according to the designed database, the rural areas in the margins of Iran have a low rate of aging due to desirable conditions in the six indicators. In contrast, the rural areas in the internal parts of Iran are severely aged and are moving toward aging rapidly. The results of this study were also compared with the ethnicity map of Iran. It was indicated that the findings of this study about the aging process strongly overlap the information on the ethnicity map. Due to the broad ethnic distribution in the geographical boundaries of Iran, the, the desire to have children is higher than that in the central parts of the country. This has led to an increase in the desirable values of the six indicators in the marginal areas and the superiority of those areas over the internal parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]