Israeli Groups Research Articles

Killers aid a pregnancy

From a mother's perspective, a fetus is a bag full of foreign antigens—invaders against which an immune system might be expected to protect. But, according to Jacob Hanna, Ofer Mandelboim (Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel), and colleagues, certain immune cells actually help fetal cells to invade the uterus and ensure an adequate blood supply. Their success is essential to avoid the often fatal condition of preeclampsia. All this cellular action takes place in the decidua, the outer lining of the uterus during pregnancy. Up to 40% of the cells in this tissue are maternal natural killer (NK) cells—but specifically the NK cells rich in CD56. Unlike the majority of circulating NK cells, these dNK cells are good at excreting proinflammatory cytokines and bad at killing infected cells. The Israeli group found that dNK cells produce chemokines that can attract embryonic cells called trophoblasts. These trophoblasts form the placenta, in part by invading the decidua and tapping into the underlying blood vessels. Blood vessel growth and remodelling appears to be further aided by the VEGF now found to be secreted by dNK cells. If this invasion is insufficient, the result is preeclampsia: blood vessels that do not fully penetrate the myometrium result in high blood pressure in the mother and fetus, which can only be relieved by delivering the fetus. In a recent genetic study, preeclampsia risk was greatest for parental gene combinations that inhibited dNK cell activation. Thus, when fetal cells are looking for a foothold, a pacifist subset of killer cells is the critical collaborator. Reference: Hanna, J., et al. 2006. Nat. Med. doi:.10.1038/nm1452 [PubMed] [Cross Ref]

Teaching Style Beliefs Among U.S. and Israeli Faculty

The purpose of this study was to determine if self-reported teaching style beliefs were different among faculty at a U.S. and an Israeli dental school. Teacher-centered practices refer to beliefs that the teacher holds the subject matter expertise and students are generally passive learners who must be told what to think. Student-centered practices refer to beliefs that students must learn how to construct their own understanding. Student-centered teaching is directed towards enabling students to think about complex issues. Twenty-seven of fifty-eight (47.37 percent) faculty at a dental school in the United States and thirty of thirty-four (88 percent) Israeli dental faculty teaching in basic science courses completed the Teaching Behavior Preferences Survey (TBPS). The TBPS is a thirty-item instrument that measures two domains of teaching styles--teacher-centered (TC) and student-centered (SC)--and four subdomains: methods of instruction (MI), classroom milieu (CM), use of questions (UQ), and use of assessment (UA). Findings revealed that there were no significant differences in student-centered and teacher-centered teaching practices and methods of instruction, classroom milieu, and use of questions. There was a significant difference between the U.S. and Israeli groups in their reported use of assessment. The U.S. faculty reported a greater preference for student-centered assessment practices than did the Israeli faculty.

Regulatory talk and politeness at the family dinner table

This study examined the use of regulatory talk at dinnertime in twenty Swedish families with children between the ages of four and seventeen years. The aim of the study was to explore activity regulation in the light of contextual factors, such as the age of the participating children, the number of participants and the different kinds of conversational contexts. Regulatory talk extracted from twenty videotaped dinner conversations was transcribed, coded and analysed within the framework of theories about the impact of context on control acts, indirect speech and politeness. Regulatory utterances, about 7 % of all utterances produced by all family members, were mostly formulated as direct requests and about 15 % of them were mitigated, softening the impact of coerciveness. Indirect regulators occurred, however, in nearly one half of the cases whereas hints were rather uncommon. Age of the children, as well as activity and conversational context had an obvious impact on the way regulatory utterances were performed. Most instrumental regulators (related to the dinner routine) were direct (somewhat more than 60 %) and most non-instrumental regulators were indirect (nearly 60 %). Furthermore, the intended goal i.e. what action was required from the addressee seemed to affect the use of regulators: Regulation at the dinner table mostly concerned nonverbal actions and requests for objects and was related to the main activity. Compared with the American and Israeli groups in Blum-Kulka’s study (1997), the Swedish parents together tended to be more indirect but less mitigating. However, in instrumental contexts i.e. when regulating routine actions relating to the meal, most parental regulators were direct (60 %) whereas about 75 % of the utterances were indirect in non-instrumental contexts. A comparison of these findings with the data from Blum-Kulka (1997) and with other similar intercultural studies leads to the conclusion that situational factors, such as family structure, conversational genres and communicative goals, might have more impact on regulatory talk than socio-cultural background.

Anticipatory Stress in the Population Facing Forced Removal From the Gaza Strip

The Israeli government decided in March 2005 to remove the settlers of the Gaza Strip, a process known as "disengagement." One person per household residing in 13 settlements was randomly selected for a telephone interview that included the Demoralization Scale of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview. Women respondents and those with fewer years of education, higher risk perception, greater alienation from government, poorer perceived health, no social support outside the West Bank or Gaza, worse religious coping, and residence in a secular settlement had enhanced risk for higher emotional distress. Positive current satisfaction with life was associated with greater place attachment, less risk perception, stronger ideological stand, less feeling of alienation from the government, a more positive view of the future, and plans to return to Gaza. This population, as others in transitional states, may be at risk for emotional distress compared with some but not all stable Israeli groups.

Hope in times of threat: The case of Israeli and Palestinian youth.

This study was developed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian researchers for the purpose of examining levels and contents of hope among young people in the conflicted region of the Middle East. Hope was defined as the interaction between wishes and positive future expectations. The differentiation between personal and collective hopes, as well as stability and/or change of levels of hope in the context of a changing reality, were examined. Data were collected at two points of time: during the period of the Oslo Accords talks (1999-2000) and in the time of events of the Al-Aksa Intifada (2002). The representative samples in the first stage were comprised of 1,183 Palestinian high-school students from the Palestinian National Territories, and 1,188 Israeli Jewish students. The adolescents' hopes, wishes and expectations for the future are compared and discussed from individual, social, and cultural perspectives.

Potential and Limitations of Multicultural Education in Conflict-Ridden Areas: Bilingual Palestinian-Jewish Schools in Israel

In recent years, a new integrative bilingual multicultural educational initiative has been developed in Israel. Its main purpose is to offer dignity and equality to the two Israeli groups who have for the last 100 years denied each other's humanity: Palestinians and Jews. The research examines this attempt at encouraging each group to take pride in their own cultural heritage while respecting and experiencing the heritage of the other. Through the ethnographic analysis of data gathered at four ceremonial events held at two of the three currently functioning integrated schools in Israel, the study inquires into the potential of school ritual events to support this endeavor. Probing into the ways in which these efforts may shape individual and group perspectives and help to overcome intergroup tensions and conflict, I expect this research to shed some light on the potential and limitations of multicultural education in conflict ridden areas. In focusing on the treatment of special ceremonial events in these schools I wish to explore the fruit of multicultural educational approaches and to question how these are shaped by contextual conditions specific to conflict-ridden areas. If multicultural education is to alleviate interethnic tension, it must offer options to refashion teachers’, parents’, and students’ understandings of cultural borders and their positions and relations within the different cultural arenas.

Potential and Limitations of Multicultural Education in Conflict-Ridden Areas: Bilingual Palestinian-Jewish Schools in Israel

In recent years, a new integrative bilingual multicultural educational initiative has been developed in Israel. Its main purpose is to offer dignity and equality to the two Israeli groups who have for the last 100 years denied each other's humanity: Palestinians and Jews. The research examines this attempt at encouraging each group to take pride in their own cultural heritage while respecting and experiencing the heritage of the other. Through the ethnographic analysis of data gathered at four ceremonial events held at two of the three currently functioning integrated schools in Israel, the study inquires into the potential of school ritual events to support this endeavor. Probing into the ways in which these efforts may shape individual and group perspectives and help to overcome intergroup tensions and conflict, I expect this research to shed some light on the potential and limitations of multicultural education in conflict ridden areas. In focusing on the treatment of special ceremonial events in these schools I wish to explore the fruit of multicultural educational approaches and to question how these are shaped by contextual conditions specific to conflict-ridden areas. If multicultural education is to alleviate interethnic tension, it must offer options to refashion teachers’, parents’, and students’ understandings of cultural borders and their positions and relations within the different cultural arenas.

Continuous glucose monitoring for the evaluation and improved control of gestational diabetes mellitus

Objectives: To compare the daily glycemic profile reflected by continuous versus self-monitoring of blood glucose in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and to evaluate possible differencesin treatment strategy based on the two monitoring methods.Materials and methods: The study sample consisted of 57 women with gestational diabetes, 47 in Israel and ten in California. Gestationalage ranged from 24 to 32 weeks in the Israeli women, and 32 to 36 weeks in the American women. Data derived from the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System (MiniMed) for 72 h were compared to fingerstickglucose measurements (6-8 times a day). During continuous monitoring, patients documented the timing of food intake, insulin injections and hypoglycemic events.Results: In the Israeli group,23 women were treated by diet alone, and 24 by diet plus insulin. An average of 763 ± 62 glucose measurements was recorded for each patient with continuous glucose monitoring. The mean total timeof hyperglycemia (glucose level > 140 mg/dl) undetected by the fingerstick method was 132 ± 31 min/day in the insulin-treated group and 94 ± 23 min/day in the diet-treated group. Nocturnalhypoglycemic events (glucose levels < 50 mg/dl) were recorded in 14 patients, all insulin-treated. On the basis of the additional information provided by continuous monitoring, the therapeutic regimen(insulin therapy, diet adjustment, or both) was changed in 36 of the 47 patients. All ten American women were treated with insulin. The mean time of undetected hyperglycemia for a total group monitoringtime of 30 days was 78 ± 13 min/day. Eight women had nocturnal hypoglycemia on at least one of the three nights of monitoring for a total of 12 nights. A change in insulin dosage was made in allwomen on the basis of the data provided by continuous glucose monitoring.Conclusion: Continuous glucose monitoring is helpful for monitoring women with GDM and for adjusting diabetes therapy.It can accurately detect high postprandial blood glucose levels and nocturnal hypoglycemic events that may go unrecognized by intermittent blood glucose monitoring. A large prospective study on maternaland neonatal outcome is needed to determine the clinical implications of this new monitoring technique.

Gynecologists' trends and attitudes toward prescribing hormone replacement therapy during menopause.

To examine the attitudes and prescription practices of gynecologists in the United States and Israel with regard to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for postmenopausal women. The current recommendations for the use of HRT for menopausal symptoms were reviewed. An eight-item questionnaire was sent by electronic mail or posted to randomly selected members of The North American Menopause Society ( = 250) and the Israeli Menopausal Society ( = 250), all of whom were physician gynecologists. Eighty-seven percent of the questionnaires ( = 435) were completed and were eligible for analysis. Results showed that 400 physicians (92%) routinely offered HRT to their menopausal patients. For women with an intact uterus, 72.5% preferred to use a continuous estrogen-progesterone regimen, and 27.5% preferred to use a sequential combined regimen. The treatment was prescribed for 10 years or more by 86.4% of the American gynecologists, compared with only 66.3% of the Israeli gynecologists ( = 0.001). Overall, the majority of physicians recommended alendronate for recalcitrant osteoporosis and dietary supplements for all women. However, significant differences were found between the American and Israeli groups: 71% of the Americans versus 55.6% of the Israelis prescribed alendronate ( = 0.02); 97.8% versus 71.33% recommended calcium and vitamin D; and 51.6% versus 38.8% recommended multivitamins ( = 0.001 for both groups). Phytoestrogens, alone or in combination with HRT, were recommended by 57.5% ( = NS between groups), and antidepressive drugs were prescribed by only 11% (15.1% of the Americans and 6.3% of the Israelis; = 0.001). Most gynecologists recommend HRT during menopause. For women with an intact uterus, the preferred regimen was continuous-combined HRT with estrogen and progesterone. The treatment duration is subject to wide variations, from no time limit to discontinuation after 5 to 10 years. Dietary supplements as well as alendronate, alone or in combination with HRT, are popular for severe osteoporosis. We suggest that, until definitive guidelines become available, an individualized approach should be applied, with careful consideration of both the benefits and risks of treatment.

Archaeologists Keep Joint Project Rolling

A‡ATALHA–YAœK, TURKEY-- This month, a group of Israeli and Palestinian archaeologists and educators, working together on a U.S.-funded project to protect and promote their shared history, met in south-central Turkey. The visit was prompted in part by the group9s desire to learn the latest results from 9500-year-old i?½atalhA¶yA¼k, which has been under excavation by a British-American team since 1993. But the dig9s conference room also provided a neutral place for the group9s initial meeting.

Registration Artifacts in International Comparisons of Infant Mortality

Although nearly all countries have noted a marked drop in infant mortality in recent decades, there are still large disparities between countries, particularly between developed and developing nations but also among industrialized countries. Nations employ different gestational age and/or birth-weight cutoff points for reporting fetal deaths and live births. Interpretations of signs of life, which classify deaths as fetal or infant, may vary widely despite attempts at standardization by the World Health Organization. There also may be differences in registering tiny preterm infants as live births or fetal deaths. The authors analyzed data on six national groups from the Internal Collaborative Effort on Perinatal and Infant Mortality (whites and blacks in the United States, Israeli Jews and non-Jews, Norwegians, and Swedes) for the years 1987 and 1988. In particular, two major potential artifacts that might help explain intercountry differences in infant mortality were examined: classification as fetal or infant death (especially at very low birth weights) and underregistration of borderline-viable infants as either fetal deaths or live births. Crude infant mortality rates (infant deaths per 1000 live births) were lowest in Sweden, where they were 25% below those for Norway, US whites, and Israeli Jews. Rates were twice as high for US blacks and Israeli non-Jews. Mortality risk was reduced in both US groups and Israeli non-Jews after adjusting for maternal age, parity, and multiple births. Excluding Sweden (because of insufficient data), stillbirths of 20 weeks' or more gestation as a proportion of all perinatal deaths were highest in Norway and lowest in US blacks. Differences were most marked when birth weight was less than 500 g. Live births of less than 500 g varied more than 50-fold between Sweden and both Israeli groups at the low end and US blacks at the high end. US whites had a 15-fold higher proportion of live births less than 500 g than did Swedes. Rates for live births at 500 to 749 g varied 7-fold among the various groups, but again were lowest in Sweden and highest in US blacks. Live births less than 750 g were much likelier to be registered in the United States than in the other countries, and this was not simply a reflection of differential classification of live births and stillbirths. Excluding births less than 750 g, the relative risk of infant mortality was somewhat reduced for Swedes, Israeli Jews and non-Jews, and US whites, and it was markedly reduced for US blacks. Relative risk figures for both Israeli groups and both US groups (especially US blacks) declined after adjusting for maternal age, parity, and multiple gestation. These findings confirm the existence of marked differences in registering infants near borderline viability as well as differences in classifying fetal versus infant deaths. Information updating these figures, now more than a decade old, is needed. In addition, more in-depth studies are required to ascertain the reasons for these differences, whether cultural, religious, or economic.

Interpretations of the past and expectations for the future among Israeli and Palestinian youth.

This study was developed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian researchers for the purpose of examining social knowledge of young people in the conflicted region of the Middle East. The article examines the relations between measures of interpretations of the past (perceptions of legitimacy and emotional reactions toward the historical "narratives" of Israelis and Palestinians) and measures of expectations of the collective future, as reflected in conflict resolution beliefs. Data were collected from December 1999 to February 2000 (before the present crisis [2000-2002] in Jewish-Palestinian relations) among representative samples of high school students (Grades 10 and 12): 1,183 Palestinians in the Palestinian National Territories and 1,188 Israeli Jewish students. The results are discussed from developmental, social, and cultural perspectives.

Teachers Attitudes towards Giftedness — A Comparison Between American and Israeli Teachers

47 American and 66 Israeli teachers were asked to state their opinion on the following topics included in a check list questionnaire, which consisted of statements related to the education of the gifted: Significance of cognitive abilities; Preferred educational setting; The role of the parents; Heredity vs. environment; The competence of teachers to identify the gifted, and to prepare special programs for them; The need for special training; There were no differences between teachers who taught in regular classes, and those who taught the gifted. The Israeli group related more significance to the cognitive abilities; the power of heredity; the competence of the teachers to identify gifted, and to prepare special programs for them. They preferred to include the gifted in the regular classes. The American group related more significance to hard work, and believed, more than their associates, in the modifiability of human characteristics. In general it may be concluded that the Israeli teachers are more concerned with the class, while the American ones — with the individual.

Is Self‐enhancement Related to Modesty or to Individualism‐collectivism? A Test with Four Israeli Groups

The main assertion of this study was that degree of self‐enhancement is determined by the modesty requirements prevailing in a culture rather than by its level of collectivism. Four Israeli subgroups (323 11th‐grade students) were compared in a two‐by‐two design: type of living (kibbutz versus city) and level of religious observance (religious versus secular). The two kibbutz groups were found to be more collectivist than the urban groups, and the religious groups were found to be more modest than the secular groups. Results show that self‐enhancement was related to level of religious observance and not to type of living. When modesty was statistically controlled for, the effect of level of religious observance was removed. It was also found that self‐enhancement measures were predicted by modesty and not by collectivism facets. Thus, the data supported the study's main claim.

The Politics of Palestinian Textbooks

This article analyzes the attempt by extremist Israeli groups to frame the issue of content in Palestinian textbooks in a manner that is consistent with their overall political agenda of discrediting the Palestinian Authority. It suggests an alternative way of examining the content of these texts on the basis of established professional literature in the field of education. It also explores the Israeli and Palestinian debates about what historical narratives should be included in textbooks and what images of the "Other" these texts should present.

Failure to replicate an excess of the long dopamine D4 exon III repeat polymorphism in ADHD in a family-based study.

The DRD4 exon III repeat polymorphism has been associated in adults with Novelty Seeking personality traits and in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in some but not all studies. In a previous report we failed to observe preferential transmission of the long DRD4 repeat in ADHD compared to the haplotype relative risk (HRR) derived control group in a group of 49 triads (both parents and ADHD child) recruited in the Jerusalem area. In the current study we independently recruited an additional group of 49 triads from a different geographical location (Petak Tikvah) in Israel but having a similar ethnic background. In contrast to previous findings from a number of groups, in the current study an excess of the long DRD4 alleles was observed in the HRR control group compared to the ADHD subjects (Likelihood ratio = 5.50, P = 0. 02). In the expanded Israeli group of 98 triads so-far examined for the DRD4 repeat polymorphism there is an excess of the long alleles in the HRR control group (Likelihood ratio = 3.81, P = 0.05). These results attest to the complexity of ADHD inheritance and the likelihood that genetic heterogeneity characterizes this disorder especially across ethnic and cultural boundaries.

The New Religious Politics and Women Worldwide: A Comparative Study

This article accounts for the approaches to women and gender in two types of New Religious Politics: those aimed at taking control of governments, and those targeted at nationalist and territorial goals. The former, which include many Islamist and Christian right movements, usually have conservative, scripturally oriented positions on women and the family. The latter, which include Hindu and other South Asian (Sikh, Buddhist) nationalists and such territorial Israeli groups as Gush Emunim, may not take conservative positions on women, and, insofar as their enemies are Muslim, may even stress their gender-egalitarianism as compared to Muslims. The article also discusses dissimilarities between cultural relativists, who explain gender-inegalitarian trends from inside a culture, and universalists, who defend women's rights as part of universal human rights. Finally, this article explains the appeal of New Religious Politics to many women, for whom it may provide a respectable way to participate in education, work, politics, and other elements of the modern world, while preserving protections found in, or attributed to, older family relations.

Molecular analysis of HLA class II polymorphisms among different ethnic groups in Israel

The Jewish population in Israel comprises of inhabitants of heterogeneous ethnic backgrounds. Genetic studies classify the Israeli Jewish population into two major groups: Ashkenazi from Central and Eastern Europe and Sephardic or non Ashkenazi, from the Mediterranean and North Africa. The present study was aimed at elucidating the differential influx of HLA class II alleles in Ashkenazi, in various non-Ashkenazi subgroups and in Israeli Moslem Arabs. Using the PCR-SSOP technique, a large number of alleles were detected at each of the loci examined (DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1). In addition, gene frequencies, characteristic DR/DQ linkage disequilibria, population distances and their corresponding dendogram, were used to study the relationship between Israelis as a group, non Jewish Caucasians and Blacks. These populations could be grouped into three main clusters: the first consists of all the Israeli groups with the exception of the Ethiopian Jews; the second consists of non Jewish Caucasians, with a clear distinction seen between Israelis and non Jewish Europeans and U.S. Caucasians; the third, composed of Blacks, is distinctly different from the other populations. Ethiopian Jews were found to be closer to the Blacks than to any of the Israeli Jewish groups. We have shown that Jews share common features, a fact that points to a common ancestry. A certain degree of admixture with their pre-immigration neighbors exists despite the cultural and religious constraints against intermarriage.

Absorption of nursing students: new immigrants in the general academic nursing programme in Israel.

Two years after upgrading its nursing programme to university level, Israel experienced a massive wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union. Previous studies have shown that Russian immigrants in general, and in nursing in particular, have several unique characteristics that need to be taken into consideration in planning curricula and absorption programmes. The aim of the present work was to update these data, focusing on the reasons new immigrants choose nursing as a career, their image of the profession and their satisfaction with it. The study population consisted of 302 students attending five major academic schools of nursing in Israel. Students were divided into two groups: new immigrants (less than 4 years in Israel) and long-time Israelis (more than 4 years in Israel). All completed a 30-item questionnaire of proven validity and reliability. Findings were analysed by length of time in Israel and year of study. Using a series of statistical tests, we found that compared with the long-time Israelis, the new immigrants came from a higher socio-economic/professional stratum (in their mother country), had a less 'technical' perception of nursing, and were attracted to the profession primarily for extrinsic reasons ('close to medicine', economics). Both groups showed highest satisfaction in the clinical domain; however, the difference was significant only in the long-time Israeli group, even though the new immigrants had rated this domain highest in importance. The new immigrants showed least satisfaction in the academic domain. These results could be explained by several factors: the financial and housing problems that accompany immigration; the higher proportion of married students in the new immigrant group; and especially language difficulties, which are multiplied in Israel, where mastery in both Hebrew and English is necessary. Of particular interest was the fact that many of the immigrant students had already begun or completed medical school in their old country but were forced to compromise their dreams on immigration. This affected both their image of nursing and their reasons for choosing it as a career. We believe these findings will help nurse educators identify areas in which they can help ease the absorption process for maximal benefit to both the students and the profession.

Q fever endocarditis in Israel and a worldwide review.

The worldwide epidemiology and population-based incidence of Q fever endocarditis (QFE) have been less well studied than those for uncomplicated Q fever. An exhaustive literature review revealed 408 patients with QFE reported between 1949 and 1994, mostly from 3 large geographic areas. Underlying valvular heart disease was almost invariably present, and 38% had prosthetic valves. The most common clinical manifestations were fever and congestive heart failure. The mortality rate dropped over the years from 65% to 25%, but a meta-analysis of published data showed the death rate to be significantly lower among patients receiving combination therapy (12/65, 18%), as compared to patients treated with tetracycline alone (18/41, 44%, p = 0.005). A 10-year (1983-1992) retrospective nationwide survey of QFE in Israel revealed 35 patients with QFE, representing an annual incidence of 0.75 cases per 1 million population. Underlying heart disease, clinical manifestations and outcome in the Israeli group were not substantially different from those described in the world literature. The current state-of-the-art clinical approach includes early diagnosis, prompt initiation of combination therapy for at least 3 years, and long-term clinical and serologic follow-up. Adherence to these rules might have contributed to the improved prognosis in recent years.