Public Opinion behind the Deterrence: An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Study of the Israeli Policy towards Lebanon

Israel’s policies regarding Lebanon have been dependent on public opinion, which is very volatile. The citizens of Israel did not favor the occupation of the security zone in South Lebanon because of the Four Mothers movement, and it influenced the government to withdraw military forces unilaterally in May 2000. When Hizbollah attacked the Israel Defense Force (IDF) patrol and abducted two soldiers on the northern border, the Israeli citizens supported the government’s decision of waging a war in retaliation. This study aims to shed light on the causal mechanism of the influence of public opinion on the defense policy in the rational framework of deterrence strategy. I chose the evolutionary game theory approach as my research method. My study yielded the following result: the deterrence is not stable when the aggression level of the defenders is less than the level of the critical condition. The Israeli government made a decision to conduct unilateral withdrawal under the pressure of passive defenders among the people. However, the IDF could begin the operation in Lebanon because of a substantial number of supporters who hoped to restore the deterrence. This study concludes that the Israelis exhibited strong intension and an aggressive attitude toward the deterrence.Deterrence, Evolutionary Game Theory, Second Lebanon War, Israel, Hizbollah

Reframing New Art Teacher Support: From Failure to Freedom

In order to support new art teachers and encourage them as leaders of contemporary art education curricula, those invested in the preparation and development of beginning art teachers must examine the forces at play in new teachers’ professional lives, as well as the problems with existing support structures. In this article, I present seven perspectives on the new art teacher experience, ranging from feelings of failure, to problems inherent in preparation and induction practices, to issues of teacher identity and socialization, to the pursuit of professional agency within school cultures. I suggest readers view these perspectives as seven artworks hanging in an art studio, considering how one informs the other to create a space where new ideas and possibilities might be imagined

Teaching as Wayfaring: Ethnographic Maps of Place and Art Teacher Induction

Teachers face complex challenges as they transition from pre-service education to professional practice. However literature on teacher induction does not address the needs of teachers in specific content areas and the literature on the induction process within art education is sparse. Research shows the complex variety of teaching tasks facing beginning art teachers affects their ability to balance time and energy. Additionally the dissonance between the expectations of art educators and school environments causes many qualified, passionate teachers to leave the field. This points to the need for continued research on the experiences of beginning teachers. In this qualitative study, I use sensory ethnographic maps of place and movement to discuss beginning art teachers changing habitation of school place and experiences during their first years on the job. Specifically, I consider how beginning art teachers (re)create their art rooms based on the needs of their curriculum, work to navigate others’ appropriation of the art room, their perceptions of time, and how they cope with the increase in students, supplies, and tasks which accompany a teaching position. I argue that art teachers are wayfaring learners—responsive wanderers mindfully reacting to their teaching environment and the chorus of elements that constantly contribute to their learning. In conclusion, this project, by closely examining beginning art teachers own accounts of their teaching experiences sheds new light on the neglected issues of the ways place and movement affect beginning art teachers experience school places

The utility of ductal lavage in breast cancer detection and risk assessment

Ductal lavage (DL) permits noninvasive retrieval of epithelial cells from the breast. Clinical development of this technique has been fueled largely by its potential, as yet unproven, to improve detection of breast cancer and definition of individual risk for development of breast cancer. Early studies demonstrate the feasibility of performing this technique, provide data on cellular yield and findings, and demonstrate the ability to measure molecular markers in DL fluid. However, the sensitivity and specificity of DL for the detection of breast cancer remains unknown, as does the significance of atypia, particularly mild atypia, when found in DL fluid. Although DL appears safe and the device is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, DL is still best utilized in the setting of clinical trials designed to resolve issues of sensitivity, specificity, and localization

A Two-Level Analysis of Israel’s Strategy toward Peace during the 1990s

This paper suggests a two-level game analysis of Israel’s strategy toward peace during the 1990s. The paper shows how various paradoxes in Israeli society create domestic obstacles and internal opposition that weaken Israel’s bargaining position toward neighboring countries. Treating domestic parameters in these countries as a given, we argue that Israeli leaders can hardly use this weakness to manipulate information in the bargaining process, because neighboring countries can observe Israel’s internal processes. Therefore, attempts by Israeli leaders to create the impression that they are willing to adopt a conflictual approach towards neighboring polities, especially the Palestinians, without actually creating the necessary internal conditions for such a policy, may finally lead to a sub-optimal equilibrium for Israel – in terms of territory and deterrent ability – since it will have to compromise under difficult conditions. Several practical implications as to the preferred bargaining process under these conditions follow

Effects of epidural lidocaine analgesia on labor and delivery: A randomized, prospective, controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Whether epidural analgesia for labor prolongs the active-first and second labor stages and increases the risk of vacuum-assisted delivery is a controversial topic. Our study was conducted to answer the question: does lumbar epidural analgesia with lidocaine affect the progress of labor in our obstetric population? METHOD: 395 healthy, nulliparous women, at term, presented in spontaneous labor with a singleton vertex presentation. These patients were randomized to receive analgesia either, epidural with bolus doses of 1% lidocaine or intravenous, with meperidine 25 to 50 mg when their cervix was dilated to 4 centimeters. The duration of the active-first and second stages of labor and the neonatal apgar scores were recorded, in each patient. The total number of vacuum-assisted and cesarean deliveries were also measured. RESULTS: 197 women were randomized to the epidural group. 198 women were randomized to the single-dose intravenous meperidine group. There was no statistical difference in rates of vacuum-assisted delivery rate. Cesarean deliveries, as a consequence of fetal bradycardia or dystocia, did not differ significantly between the groups. Differences in the duration of the active-first and the second stages of labor were not statistically significant. The number of newborns with 1-min and 5-min Apgar scores less than 7, did not differ significantly between both analgesia groups. CONCLUSION: Epidural analgesia with 1% lidocaine does not prolong the active-first and second stages of labor and does not increase vacuum-assisted or cesarean delivery rate