Background The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed and affected every aspect of health care. Like any catastrophic event, the stress on hospitals to maintain a certain level of function is immense. Acute surgical pathologies cannot be prevented or curtailed; therefore, it is important to understand patterns and outcomes during catastrophes in order to optimize care and organize the health care system. Methods In a single urban tertiary care center, a retrospective study examined the first complete lockdown period of Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was compared to the same time period the previous year. Results During the pandemic, time to hospitalization was significantly decreased. There was also an overall reduction in surgical admissions yet with a higher percentage being hospitalized for further treatment (69.2% vs 23.5%). The patients admitted during this time had a higher APACHE-II score and Charlson comorbidity index score. During the pandemic, time to surgery was decreased, there were less laparoscopic procedures, and more RBC units were used per patient. There were no differences in overall complications, except when sub-analyzed for major complications (9.7% vs 6.3%). There was no significant difference in overall in-house mortality or morbidity. Length of hospitalization was significantly decreased in the elderly population during the pandemic. Conclusion During the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a significantly less number of patients presenting to the hospital, there was a higher percentage of those admitted needing surgical intervention, and they were overall sicker than the previous year.

The purpose of this preliminary study is to examine the attitudes of Druze women-school principals in relation to their role and its social significance. The research is qualitative, a "case study" of the phenomenon (Behrendt, 2017). Thus, in the "Holistic" research approach (Abuhav, 2013), the researcher is interested in revealing, learning and understanding the internal world of "subjects" from their point of By this approach, the origin of behavior is affected by definitions, beliefs, values and ideologies of the "subjects" (Pelto & Pelto, 1978). The main field work is based on in-depth ethnographic structured interviews as a primary source for information, enabling the interviewee to tell her story freely and still being focused on the research questions. The interviews include 5 Druze women school principals to describe their own personal experiences (Spradley, 1979).

This study is of five Muslim widowed women from the Arabic city of "Tabula" (a fictitious place for ethical reasons) from the north of Israel, out of a desire that they would expose their personal experiences (Spradley, 1979) [1]. It deals with women's personal status, the widows' difficulties, and the conflicts between the Arab Muslim traditional society and modernity. The Arab society is a traditional, collective, patriarchal and religious society. The women's status is considered inferior to that of the men's and their main role is conceived as raising children and taking care of the house. Following are the stories of Muslim women who became civilian widows by the ages 30 to 40. The study examines the way widows coped with their situation in a time in which the society underwent great changes, moving from a traditional society to a more modern one. By dealing with this situations: 1) The personal changes;2) The main difficulty of being lonely; 3) The return to religion; 4) Coping with the loss of the husband; 5) The women' expectations out of the Arab society.

Background: The recommended treatment for resectable pancreatic cancer (PC) is resection followed by adjuvant FOLFIRINOX. We assessed the proportion of patients that managed to complete the 12 courses of adjuvant FOLFIRINOX and compared their outcome with that of patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC) who underwent resection after neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on a prospectively maintained database of all PC patients who underwent resection with (2/2015–12/2021) or without (1/2018–12/2021) neoadjuvant therapy. Results: A total of 100 patients underwent upfront resection, and 51 patients with BRPC received neoadjuvant treatment. Only 46 resection patients started adjuvant FOLFIRINOX, and only 23 completed 12 courses. The main reasons for not starting/completing adjuvant therapy were poor tolerance and rapid recurrence. Significantly more patients in the neoadjuvant group received at least six FOLFIRINOX courses (80.4% vs. 31%, p < 0.001). Patients who completed at least 6 courses, either pre- or postoperatively, had better overall survival (p = 0.025) than those who did not. In spite of having more advanced disease, the neoadjuvant group had comparable overall survival (p = 0.062) regardless of the number of treatment courses. Conclusion: Only a minority of patients (23%) undergoing upfront pancreatic resection completed the planned 12 courses of FOLFIRINOX. Patients who received neoadjuvant treatment were significantly more likely to receive at least six treatment courses. Patients receiving at least six courses had better overall survival than those who received fewer than six courses, regardless of the timing of treatment relative to surgery. Potential ways to increase chemotherapy adherence, such as administering treatment before surgery, should be considered.

This research focuses on a historic issue: the influence of the Earl of Cromer (who served as the British Consul-General in Egypt) on the local education system. The research reflects an inter-disciplinary approach-education and history. Coping with the issue was done via examination of the declared educational goals and the activities in practice as well as the local population's responses to the activities. Allegedly, Cromer failed in his attempted reforms in Egyptian education. This article attempts to examine the issue from a process-holistic approach attributing meaning to all actions taken by Cromer in the education system. The major leading goal of this research is the examination of the education system in Egypt during the British occupation, when the Earl of Cromer served as the British Consul-General from September 11, 1883 to the end of his term on May 6, 1907. Cromer is claimed to have ailed his reforms in Egyptian education, and so this article will attempt to separate the educational goals set by the British and Cromer and the actual practice in the field. We will also relate to the local population's responses to these activities.