On Ecological Fallacy and Assessment Errors Stemming From Misguided Variable Selection: Investigating the Effect of Data Aggregation on the Outcome of Epidemiological Study

In behavioral studies, ecological fallacy is a wrong assumption about an individual based on aggregate data for a group. In the present study, the validity of this assumption was tested using both individual estimates of exposure to air pollution and aggregate air pollution data estimated for 1,492 schoolchildren living in the in vicinity of a major coal-fired power station in the Hadera sub-district of Israel. In 1996 and 1999, the children underwent subsequent pulmonary function (PF) tests, and their parents completed a detailed questionnaire on their health status, and housing conditions. The association between children’s PF development and their long-term exposure to air pollution was then investigated in two phases. During the first phase, the average rates of PF change observed in small statistical areas in which the children reside were compared with average levels of air pollution detected in these areas. During the second phase of the analysis, an individual pollution estimate was calculated for each child covered by the survey, using a "spatial join" tool in ArcGIS. While the analysis of aggregate data showed no significant differences in the PF development among the schoolchildren surveyed, the comparison of individual pollution estimates with the results of PF tests detected a significant negative association between changes in PF results and the estimated level of air pollution. As argued, these differences are attributed to the fact that average exposure levels are likely to cause a misclassification bias of individual exposure, as further demonstrated in the study using pattern detection techniques of spatial analysis (local Moran's I and Gettis-Ord statistic). The implications of the results of the analysis for geographical and epidemiological studies are discussed, and recommendations for public health policy are formulated.

Organ Specific Cancer Incidence in an Industrial Sub-district: A Population-based Study with 12 Years Follow-up

Background: Although emissions from petrochemical industries have been recognized as a cause of an increased in cancer deaths, its contribution to specific organ cancer incidence has not been investigated in a cohort study with an adequate sample size.Objectives: To assess the association between organ specific cancer incidence and living in industrial subdistrict compared to other areas in Israel after controlling for socio- demographic variables.Methods: Retrospective cohort study using baseline measurements from the Central Bureau of Statistics 1995 census living in the Haifa subdistrict, which houses major industrial facilities in Israel, compared to the rest of Israel. The census database was linked with the Israel Cancer Registry for cancer data. Smoking prevalence data was obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics 1996/7 and 1999/2000 health surveys.Results: A total of 175704 persons were included with a total of 8034 cancer cases. The mean age was 31 years (range: 0-101 years). In the analysis including all the target population the hazard ratio to develop cancer comparing Haifa subdistrict to non- Haifa was 1.16 (95% CI: 1.11-1.21, p0.001) after adjusted for age, gender, Jews vs. non-Jews and continent of birth. Compared to the incidence in the rest of Israel, the Haifa subdistrict population had an elevated hazard ratio of lung, head and neck, colorectal, gastric and esophagus, bladder and cervical carcinoma. In discrepancy with this observation, people in the Haifa sub-district do not smoke more than in the rest of Israel.Conclusions: We report an increased risk of developing cancer in a heavily industrialized sub-district, mainly among sites which are very similar to cancer sites caused by smoking

The Effect of Cancer on Suicide In Ethnic Groups with a Differential Suicide Risk

This study examined the suicide risk among persons with cancer in ethnic groups with differential suicide mortality in the general population. We calculated the suicide standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) among Europe-America and Asia-North Africa-born Israelis with cancer, relative to the respective rates in the general population. The SIRs were higher in the European-American group [men: 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62-2.30; women: 2.03, 95% CI 1.51-2.56], but not significantly different in the Asian-North African group (men: 0.86, 95% CI 0.52-1.20; women: 0.80, 95% CI 0.10-1.50). Assessment of suicide risk must consider the \u27suicide culture\u27 of the person with cancer

Long-term cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity in Israeli thyroid cancer survivors

Objective: Thyroid cancer (TC) survivors may be at risk of subsequent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular (CaV&CeV) morbidity. The 2009 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines recommended less aggressive treatment for low-risk TC patients. The aim of this study was to assess the atherosclerotic CaV&CeV outcome of Israeli TC survivors compared to individuals with no thyroid disease, and the atherosclerotic CaV&CeV outcome before (2000–2008) and after (2009–2011) implementation of the 2009 ATA guidelines. Methods: All members of the largest Israeli healthcare organization who were diagnosed with TC from 1/2000 to 12/2014 (study group) and age- and sex-matched members with no thyroid disease (controls) were included. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The mean follow-up was 7.6 ± 4.2 and 7.8 ± 4.1 years for the study (n = 5,677, 79% women) and control (n = 23,962) groups, respectively. The former had an increased risk of new atherosclerotic CaV&CeV events (adjusted HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.15–1.39). The 5-year incidence of CaV&CeV was lower (adjusted HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.38–0.62) from 2009 to 2011 compared to 2000 to 2008, but remained higher in the study group than in the control group (adjusted HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.14–1.69). Conclusions: This large Israeli population-based cohort study showed greater atherosclerotic CaV&CeV morbidity in TC survivors compared to individuals with no thyroid diseases. There was a trend toward a decreased 5-year incidence of atherosclerotic CaV&CeV events among TC survivors following the implementation of the 2009 ATA guidelines, but it remained higher compared to the general population

Is it, ‘all about having an opinion’? Challenging the dominance of rationality and cognition in democratic education via research in a gallery setting.

This paper reports on findings from a research study exploring the potential for democratic learning in a gallery education project which took place in the United Kingdom in 2006-7. In doing so, it also explores a pressing issue for education today, i.e. the question of young people’s democratic education in a time of political crisis in Europe. The focus of the paper lies in a critique of the primacy of rational thought, cognitive skills and verbal discussion within democratic education, and an exploration of the potential role of the arts and art education in challenging this. Specifically, the paper argues that there has been an affective and corporeal deficit in democratic education, and that some forms of gallery education are well placed to address this. Although the data discussed derive from a particular time and place (the UK in the latter days of a government that rigorously pursued an agenda of social and economic inclusion through both education and cultural policy) they also have relevance beyond their immediate context, illuminating the nature and dynamics of the process of democratic learning, and its aesthetic and artistic dimensions

The Dark Side of Cultural Sensitivity: Right-Wing Anxiety and Institutional Literary Censorship in Israel

In their discussion of the interpretation of the literary work of fiction, Peter Lamarque and Stein Haugom Olsen explain that: “Literary appreciation is the appreciation of how a work interprets and develops the general themes which the reader identifies through the application of thematic concepts. […] The thematic concepts are, by themselves, vacuous. They cannot be separated from the way they are ‘anatomized’ in literature and other cultural discourses” (Lamarque and Olsen: 399). The subtle unravelling of the work’s thematic concepts relies on the context of its reception, with its idiosyncratic sensitivities and cultural sensibilities of that time and place. However, cultural sensitivity also has a dark side as it may occasionally ignite a sort of allergic reaction to a work, identifying it as a threat that must be eliminated. My paper examines the case of literary censorship in Israel. Three partially banned works of fiction reflect three aspects of the Israeli right-wing anxiety concerning the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict: The futility of sacrificing Israeli soldiers’ lives, the acknowledgement of the Palestinian perspective, and, fi nally, the possibility of deflecting the animosity between the two nations to a point of allowing for mutual love

Kant's reflective judgment as an aesthetic fundamental

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