Itzhak Benenson

Over the last decade, there is growing evidence that exposure to air pollution may be associated with increased risk for congenital malformations. To evaluate the possible association between exposures to air pollution during pregnancy and congenital malformations among infants born following spontaneously conceived (SC) pregnancies and assisted reproductive technology (ART) pregnancies. This is an historical cohort study comprising 216,730 infants: 207,825 SC infants and 8905 ART conceived infants, during the periods 1997-2004. Air pollution data including sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter <10 µm (PM10), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ozone (O3) were obtained from air monitoring stations database for the study period. Using a geographic information system (GIS) and the Kriging procedure, exposure to air pollution during the first trimester and the entire pregnancy was assessed for each woman according to her residential location. Logistic regression models with generalized est...

The data on traffic accidents clearly point to the" Black Spots", where the accident rate remains high in months and years. However, road safety research is still far from understanding why this certain place on a road is risky. We tackle the problem by developing SAFEPED, multi agent microscopic 3D simulation of cars' and pedestrians' dynamics at the black spot.

Hand-made cylindrical vessels unearthed in excavations of Iron Age IIA sites in the Negev Highlands constitute the largest and most dominant ceramic assemblage of simple-shaped vessels found in Israel. The volumes and linear dimensions of these vessels were analyzed based on computer 3D models reconstructed according to their drawn profiles. This analysis revealed the rules that could have been employed by the ancient potters in order to produce vessels of given volumes. These rules demonstrate the human ability to reveal approximate (but inherent) geometric relationships between form and volume and deploy them in everyday life.

Accessibility is increasingly identified in the academic literature and in planning practice as a key criterion to assess transport policies and urban land use development. This paper contributes in two respects to the growing body of literature on accessibility and accessibility measurement. First, it proposes a set of accessibility measures that directly relates transit-based and car-based accessibility to each other. Second, it presents a tool based on a geographic information system (GIS) that measures accessibility at a high level of ...

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has great potential for the management of chronic disease and the analysis of clinical and administrative health care data. Asthma is a chronic disease associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and health care use. Epidemiologic data from all over the world show an increasing prevalence of asthma morbidity and mortality despite the availability of effective treatment. These facts led to the emergence of strategies developed to improve the quality of asthma care. To develop an efficient tool for quality assurance and chronic disease management using a Geographic Information System (GIS). GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: The southern region of Israel. January 1998 - October 2000. Administrative claims data of the largest HMO in Israel: drug dispensing registry, demographic data, Emergency Room visits, and hospitalization data bases. We created a list of six markers for inadequate pharmaceutical treatment of childhood asthma from the Israeli ...

This study examines how non-economic inter- and intra-group relationships are reflected in residential pattern of the area. Our case, the Haredi community, is composed of sects, and residential preferences of the Haredi sect members are highly affected by the need to live among "friends" – other members of the same sect. Based on the residential records at resolution of single family and apartment that cover the period of 25 years we study residential dynamics in Sanhedria, an old yet attractive neighborhood in the inner core of Jerusalem. We reveal and analyze powerful Schelling-like mechanisms of residential segregation at the apartment building and the near neighborhood level. Taken together, these mechanisms are candidates for explaining the dynamics of residential segregation in Sanhedria during 1983-2008.

This article examines how different levels of internal organization are reflected in the
residential patterns of different population groups. In this case, the Haredi community
comprises sects and sub-sects, whose communal identity plays a central role in everyday
life and spatial organization. The residential preferences of Haredi individuals are
strongly influenced by the need to live among ‘friends’— that is, other members of the
same sub-sect. This article explores the dynamics of residential patterns in two of
Jerusalem’s Haredi neighbourhoods: Ramat Shlomo, a new neighbourhood on the urban
periphery, and Sanhedria, an old yet attractive inner-city neighbourhood. We reveal two
segregation mechanisms: the first is top-down determination of residence, found in
relatively new neighbourhoods that are planned, built and populated with the intense
involvement of community leaders; the second is the bottom-up emergence of residential
patterns typical of inner-city neighbourhoods that have gradually developed over time.

מאמר זה עוסק בהיבדלות במגורים בשכונה חרדית מרכזית בירושלים,
מתוך ניסיון לקשר בין יחסים אתניים למבנה העירוני ולתפרוסת מרחבית. תהליכים
חברתיים ומרחביים המתרחשים בתוך שכונות חרדיות זכו עד כה להתייחסות
מחקרית חלקית ומכלילה. מחקר זה מבקש לעדכן גישות תיאורטיות קודמות
באמצעות חקר הסגרגציה הפנים–חרדית בסנהדריה, שכונה המאוכלסת ברובה
במגוון זרמים חרדיים ומציעה מקרה מבחן של היבדלות לא כלכלית בסביבה
עירונית. המחקר עוסק בשתי רמות מרחביות: רמת השכונה ורמת הבניין היחיד.
האוכלוסייה החרדית נוטה להסתגר בריכוזים עירוניים הומוגניים ולקיים קשרי
גומלין מוגבלים בלבד עם אוכלוסיות שכנות. עם זאת, ולמרות דרגת ההיבדלות
הנמוכה יחסית של זרמים חרדיים ברמת השכונה, המחקר חושף תהליכי היבדלות
ניכרים גם ברמת המבנה היחיד, ואלה מאירים באור חדש את המרחב החרדי.