Notes on Prostitution in Israel

The State of Israel is witnessing a significant growth in the scope and variety of pfostitution. This change began more than thirty years ago but became a recognized social problem only in the late sixties. Adopting the idea that prostitution is an unavoidable aspect of any comprehensive society, this article summarizes the trends in Israeli prostitution. The viewpoint is supported historically and empirically that Israel, like other comprehensive societies, had to pay some social cost for political and economic independence. This cost is, in part, the existence of certain deviances such as prostitution.     

Volunteers in feminist Organizations

The use of women volunteers, a hotly debated issue among feminists in the 1970s, currently receives little attention, even in the literature. What few studies are available are often contradictory. These studies approach the issue of women volunteering from three main perspectives: (1) as a substitute for work, especially for married women, (2) as a stepping stone for reentry into the work force, or (3) as a form of exploitation. Two main groups of women volunteers are identified in the literature: middle- to upper-class civic leaders and lower- to middle-class service providers. In this article, we examine whether the use and management of women volunteers in feminist organizations is consistent with feminist ideology that opposes unpaid work by women. Our findings, based on a comprehensive study of fifteen feminist organizations, indicate that the use of volunteers is often contrary to feminist ideology. We conclude with a discussion of ways in which volunteer management in feminist organizations can be made more compatible with feminist ideology.     

Change point-cure models with application to estimating the change-point effect of age of diagnosis among prostate cancer patients

Previous research on prostate cancer survival trends in the United States National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database has indicated a potential change-point in the age of diagnosis of prostate cancer around age 50. Identifying a change-point value in prostate cancer survival and cure could have important policy and health care management implications. Statistical analysis of this data has to address two complicating features: (1) change-point models are not smooth functions and so present computational and theoretical difficulties; and (2) models for prostate cancer survival need to account for the fact that many men diagnosed with prostate cancer can be effectively cured of their disease with early treatment. We develop a cure survival model that allows for change-point effects in covariates to investigate a potential change-point in the age of diagnosis of prostate cancer. Our results do not indicate that age under 50 is associated with increased hazard of death from prostate cancer.     

Disasters and subjective assessments of recovery in the long run

Population and Environment - Researchers and policymakers often claim that harsh climate conditions intensify the risk of armed conflict by acting as a “threat multiplier.” Yet, new...     

An Empirical Investigation of the Contribution of Strategic Sourcing to Manufacturing Flexibilities and Performance*

Empirical studies for achieving manufacturing flexibility goals have centered around the uses and advantages of advanced technology. Few studies have examined alternative ways of attaining flexibility objectives. Strategic sourcing finds mention in the literature as a potential route to manufacturing flexibility. However, little empirical evidence exists to validate this view. Literature also describes manufacturing flexibility as a multidimensional concept but fails to adequately examine the synergies among the different dimensions. This research investigates the influence of strategic sourcing and advanced manufacturing technologies on specific manufacturing flexibilities, and examines relationships among different flexibilities. The results are tied to manufacturing cost reduction. The findings suggest that strategic sourcing can assist in the achievement of modification flexibilities. Volume and modification flexibility are found to influence new product flexibility. Modification flexibility is found to influence manufacturing cost reduction. The results show that strategic sourcing can be used to target specific manufacturing flexibilities and that interflexibility synergies need to be considered while formulating flexibility-based manufacturing strategies.     

A policy analysis framework of cost and feasibility of social problem intervention

Social problems are seen as a permanent social force in society. The major factors relevant to planned intervention of social problem identification are analyzed. The process of goal identification within an integrated elimination-prevention-reduction framework is presented with the relevant factors determining priorities of interventions of the different goal alternatives. An application of the model (Juvenile delinquency in Israel) for evaluating social problem intervention is discussed.     

Exact Poly-K Test

For animal carcinogenicity study with multiple dose groups, positive trend test and pairwise comparisons of treated groups with control are generally performed using the Cochran-Armitage, Peto test, or Poly-K test. These tests are asymptotically normal. The exact version of Cochran-Armitage and Peto tests are available based on the permutation test assuming fixed column and row totals. For Poly-K test column totals depend on the mortality pattern of the animals and can not be kept fixed over the permutations of the animals. In this work a modification of the permutation test is suggested that can be applied on exact Poly-K test.     

Inclusive education: an examination of school relationships and student interactions

The aim of this paper is to examine inclusive education in multicultural contexts from an interaction networks perspective. The paper is based on the idea that inclusive education can be better understood by studying how native and non-native students interact, and what kinds of networks they establish in school. To do so, we assume two premises: (a) class-group dynamics can have a socially inclusive impact and (b) the composition of classroom social networks often plays a significant role in educational achievement, especially in classes with students with different cultural backgrounds. Starting from these premises, we firstly discuss the relevance of research and theory on social and personal networks regarding both social inclusion and academic performance. We subsequently review recent literature on ‘social support’ as a factor that is directly related to the inclusion of minority cultural groups in school. We then discuss the importance of the relationships developed among them and their influence on academic performance. School relationships – student networks in and out of school and classroom dynamics – can be developed and shaped in many different ways and across numerous opportunities to enhance educational performance in inclusive multicultural environments.     

Ethnic identity and the choice to play for a national team: a study of junior elite football players with a migrant background

In German (junior) elite football, there are a comparatively large number of highly talented players with a migrant background. These players were born in Germany and joined the Talent Development Programme of the German Football Association (DFB). Many of these players can decide for which national association they want to play in international games. In media and public discourse, this decision is usually explained by the degree of self-identification with a specific ethnic group. However, this assumption is not empirically evident. Using the example of junior elite players with a Turkish background, this article focuses therefore on the question, which role ethnic identity plays in this decision. Based on social identity theory, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 adolescent elite football players with Turkish background who played for the German and/or the Turkish Football Association. Our findings suggest that – in contrast to media narratives – ethnic identity only plays a marginal role in the decision to play for a national football association.     

Tales of urban conservation: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eumaeus</Emphasis> butterflies and their threatened cycad hostplants

Urbanization has caused the local extinction of several butterfly species around the world, while others have managed to thrive in urban areas. Butterflies of the genus Eumaeus are among the most striking and colorful lycaenid butterflies in the Americas, but their neurotoxic hostplants, cycads, are a highly threatened plant group. The main threats for cycads are the loss and modification of their habitats and their removal for ornamental purposes, which in addition to their slow growth rate, make them highly vulnerable. Ornamental cycads are taken from natural habitats to urban areas, where they are playing an important role for Eumaeus reproduction. We here report two cases in which two Eumaeus species (E. childrenae, E. atala) are following and utilizing ornamental cycads to reproduce in urban areas, showing how significant urban areas can be, ecologically speaking. Aside from having enormous potential as flagship species for conservation in urban areas, these butterfly and plant species, and their interactions, shed encouraging light on the idea of putting reconciliation ecology ideas into action.