BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution and association of selected risk factors for diabetes mellitus in a semi-rural Palestinian village. MATERIAL/METHODS We performed a cross-sectional, population-based study of 500 adults aged 30 to 65 in a semi-rural Palestinian village. The study included two phases: a household survey and an individual assessment utiliz...

Based on a concept of human rights commitment that includes both a cognitive (rejection of human rights restrictions) and an affective component (concern for the victims of human rights violations), the present paper uses LatentClass Analysis in order to differentiate different forms of consistent and inconsistent human rights orientations, and relates them to participants’ assessments of the I...

IN “BRIDGING THE DIVIDE IN THE HOLY LAND” (News Focus, 21 Apr., p. 352), J. Bohannon discusses his view of how Israeli and Palestinian scientists are working together within the frame of the Israeli-Palestinian Scientific Organization (IPSO). The article ends on an optimistic note, with the Palestinian scientist Mukhles Sowwan stating that “science is a universal language, like music. It can ma...

Purpose: To assess the cross-cultural clinical utility of the Visual Motor Integration (VMI) standardized U.S. norms for typically developing Palestinian, Israeli, and American kindergarten children. The cross-cultural comparisons tested the extent to which the VMI standardized U.S. norms for all three tests (a) are appropriate for use with the aforementioned groups without the need for cross-c...

BACKGROUND In 1994, the Palestinian Health Authority took over responsibility for primary health care (PHC) in Gaza Strip and West Bank. OBJECTIVES This paper reports on the Palestinian National Strategic Health Plan (PNSHP 1999--2003). The extent to which the PHC objectives were achieved is discussed, together with areas that still require improvement. METHODS This descriptive study used c...

PURPOSE To characterize the role of EYS, a recently identified retinal disease gene, in families with inherited retinal degenerations in the Israeli and Palestinian populations. METHODS Clinical and molecular analyses included family history, ocular examination, full-field electroretinography (ERG), perimetry, autozygosity mapping, mutation detection, and estimation of mutation age. RESULTS...

The mutation rate and genetic variability of hepatitis B virus (HBV) are crucial factors for efficient treatment and successful vaccination against HBV. Until today, genetic properties of this virus among the Palestinian population remain unknown. Therefore, we performed genetic analysis of the overlapping S and polymerase genes of HBV, isolated from 40 Palestinian patients' sera. All patients ...

GPR88, coding for a G protein-coupled orphan receptor that is highly represented in the striatum, is a strong functional candidate gene for neuropsychiatric disorders and is located at 1p22-p21, a chromosomal region that we have previously linked to bipolar disorder (BD) in the Sardinian population. In order to ascertain the relevance of GPR88 as a risk factor for psychiatric diseases, we perfo...

BACKGROUND There is little published information on the coronary risk characteristics of Palestinian women. However, there are documented lifestyle differences as well as socioeconomic inequalities between Arab and Jewish women in Israel. OBJECTIVES To compare the risk factor characteristics of coronary heart disease patients in Palestinian and Israeli women. METHODS This study included 546...

Objective. This study aimed at analyzing the association between recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and factor V G1691A (FVL), prothrombin G20210 (FII); and MTHFR C677T (MTHFR) in Palestinian women. Method. We studied 329 Palestinian women with RPL and/or stillbirth (SB); and compared them to 402 healthy reproductive Palestinian women. Cases and controls were tested for the above mutations. Odds ra...