Background: Smoking can cause thyroid disorders; the aim of the present study was to investigate the association between smoking status and changes in thyroid hormone levels among adult males during a decade long follow-up of in the Tehran Thyroid Study (TTS). Methods: Data of 895 adult males (smokers=115, non-smokers=691, ex-smokers=89) participants of the TTS without any previously known thy...

on an earlier version are acknowledged with gratitude. 1 North (1981, p. 166) comes close to linking the institutional changes of the late eighteenth century with the Industrial 1 Revolution when he maintains that it was explained by " a combination of better-specified and enforced property rights and increasingly efficient and expanding markets. " North and Weingast (1989, p. 831) are more pru...

Prevailing views suggest the Industrial Revolution began in Europe because markets had gradually become more efficient and by the 18 century the scope of economic activity was far larger than in other parts of the world. This paper compares the actual performance of markets in Europe and China, two regions of the world that were relatively advanced in the pre-industrial period, but would start ...

This paper presents an early version of an open extendable research and educational platform to support users in learning and mastering the different types of rare-singing. The platform is interfaced with a portable helmet to synchronously capture multiple signals during singing in a non-laboratory environment. Collected signals reflect articulatory movements and induced vibrations. The platfor...

This paper focuses on lessons that can be learned from looking at the history of traditional architecture. When architects stayed aloof from the common building activities during the Industrial Revolution, a low standard of building resulted, and the needs of the people were made subservient to the needs of industry. Can we apply lessons from traditional architecture to software? This paper ref...

background toluene is a cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon which is widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent. it is one of the major parts of pollution in oil-contaminated environments. objectives the main aim of this study was to isolate and characterize a bacterium with high potential application in toluene bioremediation. materials and methods to isolate a toluene-degrading bacterium...

In electricity markets, the choice of the right pricing regime is crucial for the utilities because the price they charge to their consumers, in anticipation of their demand in real-time, is a key determinant of their profits and ultimately their survival in competitive energy markets. Among the existing pricing regimes, in this paper, we consider ex-ante dynamic pricing schemes as (i) they hel...

The English expression ‘human dignity’ consists of the predicate ‘human’ and the noun ‘dignity’. The adjective qualifies the noun, thus determining the kind of dignity in question as the human kind. The adjective has a similar function in the expression ‘human being’: Here it qualifies the noun ‘being’, to determine the kind of being in question as a being of the human kind. ‘Human’ is etymolog...

Human beings have a natural curiosity to explore and understand their environment. Through advances in technology, mankind has been able to extend the way we see the world to a perspective never before possible. Using airborne and spaceborne platforms, complex imaging systems that surpass the limitations of the human eye are used to observe the Earth. Through these systems, we can now see in sp...

Individuation is one of the most important concepts defined by Carl G. Jung, and he and other analytic psychologists have developed a variety of techniques, including active imagination and dream analysis, to facilitate the process of individuation. Nevertheless, individuation is a universal human potential, and various spiritual traditions have their own practices to facilitate it. In particul...