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Objective: To determine optimum timing of external cephalic version (ECV). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Israel between February 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017. Healthy primiparous women with breech presentation were offered either early ECV (35–36 weeks; n=54) or late ECV (37–38 weeks; n=106). Group assignment was according to the patient's preference and physician availability. The primary outcome was the rate of cephalic presentation at delivery. Secondary outcomes included rate of cesarean delivery, presentation of fetus after the first and last ECVs, and serious fetal complications. Results: The incidence of undergoing more than two ECV attempts was 18.5% in the early ECV group and 5.6% in the late ECV group (P=0.039). The incidence of cephalic presentation after the first ECV was 72.2% in the early ECV group versus 66.0% in the late ECV group (P=0.048). By contrast, no statistically significant between‐group differences were found for presentation at delivery or rate of cesarean delivery. The other outcomes were also similar. Conclusion: Early initiation of ECV among primiparous women increased the chance of immediate cephalic presentation; however, it had no effect on presentation at delivery or cesarean delivery rate. Initiation of external cephalic version at 35–36 weeks of pregnancy increased immediate cephalic presentation; however, presentation at delivery and cesarean delivery rate were unaffected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pricing in Israel led the water situation to become almost disastrous. This was true for both quantity and quality issues. This paper deals with a proposed price reform and its implication for two issues. The first is the optimal timing to switch to a backstop technology—desalinating water in this case. Economic analysis shows that combining both demand and supply management can postpone desalinization projects by more than 20 years. The second issue deals with changing the price block schedule in order to compensate farmers for a given price change. Increasing the marginal price of water to its real value damages the marginal users. The paper tries to calculate and proposes a new price block schedule that will leave the farmers as well off as they were before the change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]