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Prolonged acetaminophen use during pregnancy linked to...

April 24, 2018 – A study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sheds new light on the possible relationship between prolonged use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) during pregnancy and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood.

Acetaminophen is one of the most common medications used for the treatment of pain and fever reduction during pregnancy and is considered safe in humans. However, evidence of neuro-disruptive properties is accumulating: past studies have shown that long-term administration of low doses of acetaminophen may affect the development of the fetal nervous system and that this effect is often seen years after exposure during childhood.

Now, researchers led by Dr. Ilan Matok at the Institute for Drug Research in the School of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Medicine, together with doctoral student Reem Masarwa, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the possible association between prolonged exposure to acetaminophen during pregnancy and the risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).

The analysis, which appears in the American Journal of Epidemiology, shows that prolonged exposure to acetaminophen during pregnancy is associated with a 30% increase in relative risk for ADHD (compared to those who did not take acetaminophen during pregnancy) and a 20% increase in relative risk for ASD.

This is the first meta-analysis and the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the possible association between prolonged use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The research data covered 132,738 mother and child pairs with a follow-up period of 3-11 years.

Given the significant limitations of existing studies, the researchers believe the results should be interpreted with caution, as they may cause unnecessary anxiety among pregnant women. It is important to understand that pain and fever during pregnancy can have a detrimental effect on the developing fetus and that acetaminophen is still considered a safe drug for use during pregnancy. Therefore, if a pregnant woman has fever and/or pain, acetaminophen can be taken for a short period, and if the fever or pain continue beyond that, she should consult her physician regarding further treatment

Dr. Amichai Perlman and Dr. Hagai Levine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah Medical Center participated in the research.

"Our study provides the first comprehensive overview of developmental outcomes following prolonged acetaminophen use during pregnancy," said Dr. Ilan Matok, Head of the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Lab, Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine. "Our findings suggest an association between prolonged acetaminophen use and an increase in the risk of autism and ADHD. However, the observed increase in risk was small, and the existing studies have significant limitations. While the unnecessary use of any medication should be avoided in pregnancy, we believe our findings should not alter current practice and women should not avoid use of short-term acetaminophen when clinically needed."

CITATION: Prenatal Exposure to Acetaminophen and Risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression Analysis of Cohort Studies. Reem Masarwa, Hagai Levine, Einat Gorelik; Shimon Reif, Amichai Perlman, Ilan Matok. American Journal of Epidemiology, DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwy086.

April 22, 2018 – Scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem generated an atlas of the human genome using a state-of-the-art gene editing technology and human embryonic stem cells, illuminating the roles that our genes play in health and disease. The scientists reported their findings in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Scientists chart a new map of human genome using stem cells

Embryonic stem cells are a unique resource as they can turn into any adult cell in our bodies. Their versatile nature puts them at the center of attention in the fields of regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug discovery. In parallel to the discovery of human embryonic stem cells, another milestone in biology was completed with the sequencing of the human genome, and the identification of the entire set of genes responsible for our genetic identity. This finding has led to a new challenge of understanding the function of the genes in the human genome. Now, the new study by scientists at the Hebrew University provides a novel tool to map the function of all human genes using human embryonic stem cells.

The researchers analyzed virtually all human genes in the human genome by generating more than 180,000 distinct mutations. To produce such a vast array of mutations, they combined a sophisticated gene-editing technology (CRISPR–Cas9 screening) with a new type of embryonic stem cells that were recently isolated by the same research group. This new type of stem cells harbors only a single copy of the human genome, instead of two copies from the mother and father, making gene editing easier thanks to the need of mutating only one copy for each gene (see: Scientists generate a new type of human stem cell that has half a genome, March 17, 2016).

A colony of haploid human embryonic stem cells

The researchers show that a mere 9% of all the genes in the human genome are essential for the growth and survival of human embryonic stem cells, whereas 5% of them actually limit the growth of these cells. They could also analyze the role of genes responsible for all hereditary disorders in early human development and growth. Furthermore, they showed how cancer-causing genes could affect the growth of the human embryo.

“This gene atlas enables a new functional view on how we study the human genome and provides a tool that will change the fashion by which we analyze and treat cancer and genetic disorders,” said Professor Nissim Benvenisty, MD, Ph.D., Director of the Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research and the Herbert Cohn Chair in Cancer Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the senior author of the study.

Another key finding of the study was the identification of a small group of genes that are uniquely essential for the survival of human embryonic stem cells but not to other cell types. These genes are thought to maintain the identity of embryonic stem cells and prevent them from becoming cancerous or turning into adult cell types.

“This study creates a new framework for the understanding of what it means to be an embryonic stem cell at the genetic level,” said Dr. Atilgan Yilmaz, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow and a lead author on the paper. “The more complete a picture we have of the nature of these cells, the better chances we have for successful therapies in the clinic.”

The paper is titled Defining essential genes for human pluripotent stem cells by CRISPR-Cas9 screening in haploid cells and published in Nature Cell Biology. The research was led by Nissim Benvenisty, MD, Ph.D., Atilgan Yilmaz, Ph.D. and Motti Peretz, the Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Additional authors include Aviram Aharony and Ido Sagi also of the Hebrew University. The research was supported by Israel Science Foundation, US-Israel Binational Science Foundation and most generously by the Azrieli Foundation.

CITATION: Defining essential genes for human pluripotent stem cells by CRISPR–Cas9 screening in haploid cells. Atilgan Yilmaz, Mordecai Peretz, Aviram Aharony, Ido Sagi, and Nissim Benvenisty. Nature Cell Biology (2018), doi:10.1038/s41556-018-0088-1.

Our memories leave a clear and unique genetic mark on our brains, according to researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. These can be decoded after we die.

Your memories could be read and replayed after you die

That's the remarkable discovery of scientists in Israel who say these genetic markers could be used to unlock memories after people die.

The technology opens the door to strange scenarios, similar to those portrayed in the series 'Black Mirror', where investigators can record and playback the memories of suspected criminals.

It could even lead to a future in which police are able to read and replay memories of murder victims to help them piece together the events leading up to their death.

'It's a fascinating proposal,' said Clea Warburton at the University of Bristol told New Scientist.

'You would have to get in there extremely quickly, as proteins start to degrade within minutes of death,' says Dr Warburton.

'It probably wouldn't give you more information than a good forensic scientist could, but I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a film about this.'

The discovery was made by researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Read the source article at Home | Daily Mail Online

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli biomedical engineer Prof. Yaacov Nahmias of Hebrew University, who created cultured meat technology, was inducted as a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. The ceremony was held Sunday in Washington DC. The top two percent of biomedical engineers are accepted to the institute. He is the fourth Israeli ever to be accepted to AIMBE. Nachmias, director of HU’s Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, invented Future Meat, the process for lab grown meat that could reduce the need for slaughterhouses and which already has become a topic of conversation in the world of kashrut. Nachmias, 43, also founded Tissue Dynamics, which has created a platform that mimics human biology to provide toxicity and efficacy screening services. This technology will enable thousands of laboratories to study fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, drug toxicity and liver cancer at a much lower cost.Read the source article at Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Prof. Yaacov Nahmias, creator of cultured meat technology,...

March 26, 2018—Bronze coins, the last remnants of a four-year Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire, were found near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These bronze coins were discovered by Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar during renewed excavations at the Ophel, located below the Temple Mount’s southern wall.These 1.5cm bronze coins were left behind by Jewish residents who hid in a large cave (7x14 meters) for four years (66-70 C.E.)—from the Roman siege of Jerusalem, up until the destruction of the Second Temple and the city of Jerusalem.While several of the coins date to the early years of the revolt, the great majority are from its final year, otherwise known as, “Year Four” (69-70 CE). Significantly, during the final year, the Hebrew inscription on the coins was changed from “For the Freedom of Zion” to “For the Redemption of Zion”, a shift which reflects the changing mood of the rebels during this period of horror and famine.“A discovery like this—ancient coins bearing the words “Freedom” and “Redemption”—found right before the Jewish Festival of Freedom, Passover, begins is incredibly moving,” shared Dr. Mazar.

A Cache of Coins: Dozens of Coins Discovered in Cave near...

In addition to Hebrew inscriptions, the coins were decorated with Jewish symbols, such as the four biblical plant species: palm, myrtle, citron, and willow, and a picture of the goblet that was used in the Temple service.Many broken pottery vessels, including jars and cooking pots, were also found in the cave. According to Mazar, it is remarkable that this cave was never discovered by subsequent residents of Jerusalem nor used again after the Second Temple period. In this way, the cave acts as a veritable time capsule of life in Jerusalem under the siege and during the four-year revolt against the Roman Empire.These finds all date back to the time of the rebellion and were found in the Ophel Cave directly above a Hasmonean Period layer that was situated at the base of the cave. A more complete report of these findings will be published in the third volume of the Ophel excavations; the second is being published this week.According to Mazar, the coins were well preserved, probably because they were in use for such a short time. A similar number of “Year Four” coins were found near Robinson’s Arch, near the Western Wall, by Professor Benjamin Mazar, Eilat Mazar’s grandfather. He conducted the Temple Mount excavations right after Israel’s Six Day War, on behalf of Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology.The Ophel excavations are situated within the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park, which is managed by the National Parks and Gardens Authority and the Eastern Jerusalem Development Company. Funding was generously provided by the Herbert W. Armstrong College of Edmond, Oklahoma, whose students participate in the digs. Photo credit: Eilat Mazar/Hebrew University

March 25, 2018 —Following three years of extensive research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) physicist Dr. Uriel Levy and his team have created technology that will enable our computers—and all optic communication devices—to run 100 times faster through terahertz microchips.Until now, two major challenges stood in the way of creating the terahertz microchip: overheating and scalability.However, in a paper published this week in Laser and Photonics Review, Dr. Levy, head of HU’s Nano-Opto Group and HU emeritus professor Joseph Shappir have shown proof of concept for an optic technology that integrates the speed of optic (light) communications with the reliability—and manufacturing scalability—of electronics.Optic communications encompass all technologies that use light and transmit through fiber optic cables, such as the internet, email, text messages, phone calls, the cloud and data centers, among others. Optic communications are super fast but in microchips they become unreliable and difficult to replicate in large quanitites.Now, by using a Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon (MONOS) structure, Levy and his team have come up with a new integrated circuit that uses flash memory technology—the kind used in flash drives and discs-on-key—in microchips. If successful, this technology will enable standard 8-16 gigahertz computers to run 100 times faster and will bring all optic devices closer to the holy grail of communications: the terahertz chip.As Dr. Uriel Levy shared, “this discovery could help fill the ‘THz gap’ and create new and more powerful wireless devices that could transmit data at significantly higher speeds than currently possible. In the world of hi-tech advances, this is game-changing technology,"Meir Grajower, the leading HU Ph.D. student on the project, added, “It will now be possible to manufacture any optical device with the precision and cost-effectiveness of flash technology”.Coming soon to a chip near you… CITATION: Non-Volatile Silicon Photonics Using Nanoscale Flash Memory Technology. Meir Grajower, Noa Mazurski, Joseph Shappir, and Uriel Levy. Laser & Photonics Review 2018; DOI: 10.1002/lpor.201700190. FUNDING: The work was funded by a Kamin Grant from Israel’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Smaller and Faster: The Terahertz Computer Chip is now...

When it comes to wooing the ladies, male brown widow spiders don’t always make the best decisions.

How Older Widow Spiders Seduce Younger Males—And Eat Them

On paper, younger females are the better option—they don’t demand a lengthy courtship and they’re more fertile than their older counterparts. They are also much less likely to eat their mates alive. (Read more about how male widows avoid becoming lunch.)

Yet when given a choice, male brown widow spiders opt for older females, according to new research published in Animal Behaviour.

“We thought that we would find some benefit that the males have in mating with older females,” says study co-author Shevy Waner, a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “But so far we really don’t understand why that’s their choice.”

But they have a theory: That mature females release more pheromones, which apparently trick younger males into mating with them.

“The older she is, she's probably more desperate,” Waner says.

DINNER DATE

Widow spiders get their names because the females are known for cannibalizing their much smaller mates.

But a few years back, researchers found that brown widow spiders could mate with subadults—adolescent spiders on the brink of adulthood—that wouldn’t eat them afterward. (See 10 beautiful photos that will make you love spiders.)

“In this case the benefit is huge; he can mate with other females again, and again and again,” says Ally Harari, a professor at Israel's Agricultural Research Organization, who oversaw the research team.

Given the short timeframe during which males can mate with adolescents before they become adults, adolescent females can be hard to track down in the wild.

So, the researchers wanted to see what would happen when males had the option placed right in front of them.

A female brown widow spider protects her cocoon of eggs. PHOTOGRAPH BY BLICKWINKEL, ALAMY

In one part of the study, a total of nine adolescent, young adult, and older adult females captured from playgrounds in central Israel were evenly spread out in a greenhouse.

The researchers then placed 11 male virgins in the middle, and came back every 45 minutes on three separate occasions to observe them. “It wasn't hard at all to find them,” says Waner. “Almost always they were all fighting over the older females.” (Read how some kinky spiders tie up their lovers to avoid being eaten.)

In another part of the study, they compared courting behavior by placing virgin males one-on-one with adolescent, young adult, and older adult females.

While males mated with 100 percent of the older adults, they mated with less than half of the adolescents.

PLAYING HARD TO GET

But when it came to cannibalism, none of the males who mated with adolescents were killed, while nearly 57 percent of males who mated with older females met their demise.

Not only were they more likely to be devoured, but the males also had to work much harder to court the older spiders.

“With the subadult, he doesn't court almost at all,” says Waner. “He's around her for a bit, and he mates almost immediately.”

Meet a spider that spins webs of gold silk. Golden orb spiders are known for the impressive webs they weave — producing silk five times stronger than steel and more flexible than cotton.

With older females, courting was slower sometimes taking up to six hours, says Harari.

Matt Persons, an arachnologist at Susquehanna University who has studied mating strategies in wolf spiders, found the results fascinating.

“One of the things that interests me is the fact that there's males that are apparently doing something that's maladaptive, or at least not an optimal strategy, by mating with these older females,” he says.

WEB OF LIES

He agrees with Harari and colleagues that pheromones might be the reason behind the males’ seemingly irrational mate preferences.

“There's a tendency to think of female sex pheromones as something that they're just kind of producing all the time, and that it doesn’t vary,” says Persons.

“But this study suggests that females are changing their pheromone production, perhaps in a way to increase their mating success if they're old and not mated yet.” (Also see: “Surprise! Male Spiders Eat Females, Too.”)

In a future study, Harari hopes to measure pheromone levels in both adolescents and older adults to see if that can explain the males’ suicidal preference for older lady spiders.

Read the source article at Latest Stories

Stephen Hawking was admired by Israeli physicists for his...

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Dr. Stephen Hawking was a rare and inspirational man whose deep insights into the mysteries of the physical universe were matched only by his courage in the face of a cruel, debilitating illness, which he met with good spirit and a unique sense of humor.In the wake of his passing, those who have commented on his legacy have focused not only on his work as a scientist and a communicator of science, but also on his display of human spirit.At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics, our interactions with Dr. Hawking were marked by our shared love of the discovery of the physical universe and our aspiration for creating a better world.Dr. Hawking’s most famous theoretical argument, that matter can escape black holes, was intimately related to the ideas of the late Professor Jacob Bekenstein from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A black hole is the most compact form of matter, as implied by Einstein’s theory of gravity. Surrounded by a seemingly one-way horizon, it is one of the most mysterious objects in nature. In 1972, Bekenstein (1947-2015), then a doctoral student at Princeton University, suggested that black holes might have properties of heat (more precisely entropy, known today as Bekenstein-Hawking black hole entropy).Dr. Hawking was among the scientists who were skeptical. He believed that black holes absorb everything, yetnothing can escape them and therefore their temperatures would have to be absolute zero. But in 1974, he was led to the theoretical argument that once the effect of quantum physics are taken into account, black holes are not truly black. Dr. Hawking theorized that some radiation does escape from a black hole, and that this radiation represents (non-zero) temperature, just like a heated metal bar would glow in the dark.At first he resisted this conclusion because it conformed to Bekenstein’s idea. However, he ultimately realized that both are correct and that a new and consistent understanding of black holes had emerged. This radiation is called Hawking radiation, and it remains Dr. Hawking’s single most important contribution to the field of theoretical physics.So it was Hawking, building off and confirming Bekenstein’s work, who established the theoretical foundation for black hole thermodynamics, a deep connection between gravity and quantum physics that is a cornerstone of our contemporary understanding of these phenomena.Since his passing, some have commented on Dr. Hawking’s relationship with the State of Israel. Over his long career he visited Israel multiple times, accepting the prestigious Wolf Prize in physics in 1988 and, most recently, as an honored guest of the Israel Academy of Sciences in 2006.Unfortunately, in 2013 he was represented to have made a decision with which we obviously disagree — to contribute to an academic boycott campaign against Israel. After initially agreeing to attend a conference led by then-President Shimon Peres, Dr. Hawking later canceled his participation. While misguided, I believe this decision was made not out of animosity, but rather with the intention of trying to foster a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.I was part of a group of Israel theoretical physicists who sent a message to Dr. Hawking to formally protest his decision.We wrote, in part, “We believe in the goal of a peaceful and prosperous coexistence of Israelis, Palestinians and other peoples. We moreover believe that the freedom of thought, expression and a free sharing of information are some of the core values of science as well as of democracy. A boycott, on the other hand by its very nature, suppresses dialogue and the free exchange of ideas for all parties involved, and we do not consider it helpful for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.”Putting aside this disagreement, it was both an honor and a pleasure to have met Dr. Hawking on several occasions, and I will always remember his wit and how he faced his challenges with a smile, his typical defying grin. His science will be studied by generations to come and his spirit will continue to inspire millions around the world.(Dr. Barak Kol is a professor of physics working on theories of fundamental laws of nature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he serves as head of physics studies. His research has contributed to Einstein’s theory of gravity and to Quantum Field Theory.)The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media. Read the source article at Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A list of the collaborative work between the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine — the only veterinary school in Israel — reads something like a “who’s who” of the animal kingdom.Nearly 65,000 cats, dogs, horses, cows and goats (including pygmy and Nubian varieties) are cared for annually at the Davis and Rehovot facilities, along with the occasional gorilla, koala and wallaby.Though 7,300 miles apart, the universities have been collaborating on research, grants, academic papers and faculty exchanges for more than three decades, thanks to support from an endowment at the S.F.-based Koret Foundation.Read the source article at jweekly.com

Koalas, horses and pygmy goats (oh my!) in Israeli-UC Davis...

Many animals use venom to protect themselves from predators and to catch prey. Some, like jellyfish, have tentacles, while others, like bees and snakes, use stingers and fangs to inject their prey with venomous toxins.For a long time, scientists believed that an animal’s venom was consistent over time: once a venomous creature, always a venomous creature. However, through a close study of sea anemones, Dr. Yehu Moran of the Hebrew University’s Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science, found that animals change their venom several times over the course of a lifetime, adapting the potency and recipe of their venom to suit changing predators and aquatic environments.Today, in a study published in eLife Science Magazine, Moran and his team describe their spectacular findings. They studied the Nematostella, a relative of the jellyfish, from birth to death. Nematostella are sea anemones that belong to the Cnidaria family of jellyfish and corals. They begin their life as tiny larvae and grow into animals measuring several inches long. While in the larvae stage, the Nematostella fall prey to larger fish but once mature, they become predators themselves, catching shrimp and small fish with their venomous tentacles.Dr. Moran found that while in the larvae stage, sea anemones produce uniquely potent venom that causes predators to immediately spit them out if swallowed (see in the video). Later on, when the sea anemones grow big and become predators themselves, their venom adapts to their new lifestyle by producing a different kind of toxin, one best suited to catch small fish and shrimp. Over the course of a lifetime, as the Nematostella’s diet changes and they move from one aquatic region to another, they adapt their venom to suit their new needs and environment.“Until now, venom research focused mainly on toxins produced by adult animals. However, by studying sea anemones from birth to death, we discovered that animals have a much wider toxin arsenal than previously thought. Their venom evolves to best meet threats from predators and to cope with changing aquatic environments”, explained Dr. Yehu Moran.To track these changes, Moran’s team labeled the sea anemone’s venom-producing cells and monitored them over time. The researchers also recorded significant interactions that Nematostella had over their lifetime—first as prey and later as predators.These findings are significant for several reasons. First, venom is often used in medicines and pharmacological compounds. This study suggests that for animals with a complex life cycle, there are many venom components that have remained unknown to researchers. Until now, researchers have only studied venom from adult sea anemones, missing out on the unique compounds that exist in larvae venom. These “new” compounds could lead to new medicines and drugs. Second, sea anemones, jellyfish, and coral play a significant role in marine environments. A better understanding of their venomous output and effect on marine life ecology is crucial.Most fundamentally, Moran’s study sheds more light on the basic mechanisms of Darwinism: How do animals adapt to their changing world and ecological habitats? The Nematostella, with its changing venom, provides us yet another clue.CITATION: Dynamics of Venom Composition Across a Complex Life Cycle. Yaara Y. Columbus-Shenkar, Maria Y. Sachkova, Jason Macrander, Arie Fridrich, Vengamanaidu Modepalli, Adam M. Reitzel, Kartik Sunagar, Yehu Moran. eLife 2018; 7:e35014 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.35014.FUNDING: The work was funded by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation, United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

Changing Tides: Darwinism Discovered in Sea Anemone Venom

Hebrew University researcher discovers Darwinism at work, as sea anemones adapt their venom to accommodate changing prey and sea conditions

Is This Seal the Earliest Evidence of the Prophet Isaiah?

Some 2,700 years ago, someone pressed a seal bearing the name Isaiah into a soft piece of clay, which hardened over time, say archaeologists who discovered the impression in Jerusalem.If the seal was for the prophet Isaiah, it would be the first archaeological evidence of the Jewish prophet, who has a book in the Hebrew Bible named after him.Isaiah, according to the Hebrew Bible, encouraged Hezekiah, king of Judah, to fight against the Assyrian army that laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Isaiah advised Hezekiah to ignore Assyrian offers to surrender, and said that God would prevent Jerusalem from being captured. According to the Hebrew Bible, an "angel of the lord" destroyed the Assyrian army, while ancient Assyrian records claim that the army only left after Hezekiah agreed to pay a vast tribute. [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]Archaeologists discovered the seal impression during excavations in 2009 at the Ophel, an area in East Jerusalem located between the "City of David" archaeological site and the Temple Mount (a site also known as al-Ḥaram al-Šarīf). They found the impression of a King Hezekiah seal about 10 feet (3 meters) from the Isaiah seal impression, said the archaeologists, who are led by Eilat Mazar, an archaeology professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Institute of Archaeology.Though Isaiah's name (which is "Yesha'yahu" in Hebrew) can be seen on the seal impression, archaeologists don't know if it refers to the Biblical Prophet Isaiah or someone else with that name who lived 2,700 years ago."We appear to have discovered a seal impression, which may have belonged to the prophet Isaiah, in a scientific, archaeological excavation," Mazar said in a statement.If the seal impression can be identified with the Prophet Isaiah, it"would be the first archaeological and the earliest extra-biblical reference to the prophet Isaiah ever discovered," said Robert Cargill, an archaeologist and professor of classics and religious studies at the University of Iowa, who is also editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, which will publish the study.The name Isaiah means "YHWH saves" or "Yahu saves," Cargill told Live Science, noting that there are other individuals in the Hebrew Bible who have it as part of their name.

Damaged inscription

Unfortunately, the seal impression is damaged — something that makes it difficult to determine whether the "Isaiah" in the impression is that of the prophet or it refers to someone else with the same name.At the top of the seal impression, the lower part of a "grazing doe" can be seen, Mazar wrote in her article, noting that the doe is "a motif of blessing and protection found in Judah, particularly in Jerusalem."In addition to the name Isaiah, the word "nvy" can also be seen in the seal impression. Archaeologists are not certain what exactly this word means. Mazar noted that if nvy included the Hebrew letter "aleph" at the end, it would form a word that means prophet; however, examination of the damaged portion of the seal impression didn't reveal any remains of the aleph, wrote Mazar.Without an aleph, nvy could be a personal name, referring to a different Isaiah, rather than the title "prophet," Mazar wrote.Even without the aleph, it's still possible that the word nvy could mean prophet, Mazar wrote. She noted that there are instances in the Hebrew Bible where the title "prophet" is spelled nvy — without the aleph.The Ophel excavations are sponsored by Daniel Mintz and Meredith Berkman of New York. The discovery will be reported in a special double issue of Biblical Archaeology Review that is dedicated to the magazine's founder, Hershel Shanks, who is retiring as editor.An image of the Isaiah seal impression will be published in the special issue on Feb. 22 in Mazar's article. The seal's image will also be published in the future in volume two of the book "The Ophel Excavations."Read the source article at Live Science

The participants were investigating various fields relevant to a future Mars mission, including satellite communications, the psychological effects of isolation, radiation measurements and searching for life signs in soil.

Israeli scientists complete mock Mars mission in Negev...

RAMON CRATER, Israel (Reuters) - A team of six Israeli researchers on Sunday ended a four-day Mars habitat experiment in Israel's Negev desert where they simulated living conditions on the Red Planet, Israel's Science and Technology Ministry said.

The experiment was held near the isolated Israeli township of Mitzpe Ramon, whose surroundings resemble the Martian environment in its geology, aridity, appearance and desolation, the ministry said.

Participant Guy Ron, a nuclear physics professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the project was not only intended to look for new approaches in designing a future mission to the Red Planet but to increase public interest.

"D-Mars is half about the research, and the other half is about the outreach. A major part of this project is getting public interest and getting students interested in space," he said.

The "D-Mars" project was being held in Israel for the first time in cooperation with the Israel Space Agency. It is one of a number of Mars simulation projects taking place worldwide.

(Reporting by Rami Amichay; Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Read the source article at yahoo.com

The Education Ministry's announcement that Professor Alex Lubotzky is to be awarded the prestigious Israel prize on Israel's 70th Independence Day for Research in Mathematics and Computer Science took no one by surprise.The prize committee, explaining its choice, stated that the internationally renowned Israel-born mathematician has contributed greatly to his field with original "research in finite and infinite group theory, including topological, algebraic and arithmetical groups and that his work has had influence in many fields, most especially expander graphs."Professor Lubotzky, the son of Holocaust survivors, served in the IDF as a captain in a special intelligence unit. A father of six, he is observant and was one of the first residents of Efrat in Gush Etzion where he lives with his wife Yardena. An involved citizen, he served in the Knesset for 3 years from 1996 as part of the now defunct Third Way Party.Lubotzky attained his Doctorate in Mathematics at the age of 23 and is a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.He taught in the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton among other top universities, and in 2011, was the first Israeli to be the keynote speaker at a joint meeting of the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America, attended by 6000 leading mathematicians.In honor of his sixtieth birthday The Israel Institute for Advanced Studies hosted a conference from November 5 through November 11, 2016, with scholars from around the world convening to celebrate his work, impact, and collaborations.Lubotzky was awarded the coveted Erdos Prize in 1990, the Sunver Balaguer Prize in 1992 for his book Discrete Groups Expanding Graphs and Invariant Measures - one of three books on Mathematics that he authored or co-authored - and the Rothschild Prize in Mathematics in 2002. He has a chair at the Einstein Institute for Mathematics at Hebrew University which he headed, and is listed as an ISI highly cited researcher in Mathematics since 2003.Lubotzky was visibly moved at the announcement, saying "I have received other prizes in my life, but this is a fantastic feeling – the gratitude of the Jewish nation is more significant than international prizes. Education Minister Bennett phoned me to tell me the news and since then the phone has not stopped."Lubotsky talked about Israeli scientific achievement, saying that "the public does not realize the enormous achievements of the state of Israel in the fields of science. This is an opportunity to say how proud we should be of the excellent research done in our country. We have become a world superpower in Mathematics and there are a goodly number of examples proving that. We have many, many reasons to be proud of our small country."Read the source article at Israel News

World famous Israeli mathematician to receive 2018 Israel...

Foods can determine whether someone will suffer from dementia in later years, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment in Rehovot.A large-scale international study that included the university recently examined how food affects brain health for people aged 50 and older. The researchers were able to show that diet affects the risk of dementia.This conclusion, although logical, is not self-evident, said Prof. Aron Troen, an expert in nutritional neuroscience and the prevention of cerebrovascular disease and dementia, and the principal investigator of Hebrew University’s Nutrition and Brain Health Laboratory in Rehovot.Among the foods proven to prevent dementia are: blueberries (not just the juice), healthful fats (as in olive oil), nuts (in small amounts to avoid excess calories) and fish. Other beneficial foods include: beans and legumes, fruits, low-calorie dairy products like yogurt, chicken and whole-grain cereals.Among the foods that have been shown to promote dementia are: fried foods, sugary foods, processed foods, red meat, fat, cheese and salt.The report was published in the journal of the American Association of Retired Persons, the most widely circulated journal in the US.The study was conducted in collaboration with dozens of countries, including the US, China, Switzerland and Australia. It examined the scientific basis of preserving brain health and preventing dementia in old age.The team produced a consensus report with convincing evidence that diet affects the risk of dementia.

Hebrew U. researchers show which foods prevent, promote...

Read the source article at Jpost

Prof. Sergiu Hart of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem will be awarded the Israel Prize for economic research and statistics, the Education Ministry announced on Thursday.Education Minister Naftali Bennett approved the recommendation of the prize committee headed by Prof. Yoav Benjamini.In its decision, the prize committee called Prof. Hart – a former president of the World Association of Game Theory and member of the Academy of Sciences of Israel, Europe and the United States – one of the world’s leading economists.“Prof. Hart specializes in the field of game theory and its comprehensive implications in various economic fields. Among other things, it has an important contribution to the understanding of the convergence to market equilibrium, the value of a player in the game, how cartels are created in the markets and the development of objective risk indices,” the committee wrote.In recent years, it added, Hart’s research has focused on “designing mechanisms such as tenders, which are important in online trade.”Hart was born in Bucharest, Romania, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 14 along with his family. After serving in the IDF, he received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tel Aviv University in mathematics with honors before completing his post-Doctoral studies at Stanford University in California.In 1991, Hart founded the Center for the Study of Rationality at The Hebrew University, whose academic committee he now chairs.“Under his leadership the center became a unique leader in the world in the study of game theory with its implications in a wide range of fields such as economics, statistics, psychology, law, biology, philosophy and more,” the prize committee wrote in its decision.The Israel Prize is largely regarded as the state’s highest honor. It is presented annually on Independence Day in a state ceremony in Jerusalem attended by the president, the prime minister, the Knesset speaker and the Supreme Court president.Read the source article at Jpost

Prof. Sergiu Hart to receive Israel Prize in economic...

Guide In Medical, a medical device startup, which operates as part of the NGT3 Technological Incubator based in Nazareth Israel, has announced receiving FDA market approval for its innovative IRRIS device. The device facilitates performing intubation, an essential and routine medical procedure in which a tube is inserted into the trachea to help open the patient's airway.Guide In Medical is currently in a second financing round to raise $2 million. The Company is poised for setting up distribution systems in Europe, having received CE Marking approval in 2017, and now in the U.S. upon receiving FDA approval. Guide In Medical has so far raised NIS 5 million from CTS, the pharmaceutical, medical equipment and veterinary company, which has joined the Company as a strategic partner, as well as from NGT3 and private investors.The IRRIS was also approved by the Israel Ministry of Health (MOH) and is currently being tested by the intensive care unit of Hadassah Hospital, Mount Scopus. The target audience of the device is physicians in medical centers, paramedics in mobile intensive care units, the army, the police, and other organizations that manage intensive care units.Intubation is a vital and common medical procedure performed under general anesthesia in operating rooms and sometimes also in field conditions. This is the third most common medical procedure in the U.S., and more than 100 million intubation procedures are performed each year worldwide. The procedure of inserting a tube into the trachea to ventilate the patient requires a high level of skill, maximum precision and speed for quick insertion, as the patient cannot breathe while the procedure is performed. Damage caused by faulty intubation, due to lack of experience of the doctor or paramedic, environmental conditions and/or secretions in the pharynx that obstruct the lungs, and sometimes a different anatomical structure of the patient, may be critical and cost the patient's life.The solution is a non-invasive device, which is attached as a patch to the patient's neck and transmits light of a specific wavelength into the tissues, lighting the inside of the throat. The special light, which blinks clearly, makes it easier for the medical staff to locate the trachea using a video laryngoscope (a device with a video camera) and can more easily guide the insertion of the ventilation tube during intubation.Ariel Shrem, Co-Founder and CEO, Guide In Medical: "The advantages of the device lie in the simplicity of its operation and the ability to quickly and safely identify the trachea even in complicated situations. This is demonstrated by the results of the clinical trials and the positive feedback we received from physicians who have already tried the device. I believe that in the next few years the product will be used in every ambulance, operating room and battalion aid station. FDA approval is an important step in reaching the global market and in recruiting partners for distribution and of course additional investors as part of our growth plan."Zohar Gendler, CEO of NGT3: "Guide In Medical has succeeded in a short time and with maximum efficiency to complete development, conduct three clinical trials, publish two scientific articles, obtain regulatory approvals for marketing in the US, Europe and Canada, and bring on a strategic partner. The company is now turning to its next task of organizing for marketing and going to market."Guide In Medical, a medical device startup, was founded in 2015 based on a collaboration between the entrepreneurs, Itai Hayut, director and technological consultant, Ariel Shrem, CEO of the Company, and Dr. Elchanan Fried, head of the Intensive Care Unit at Hadassah Medical Center on Mt. Scopus and medical consultant of the Company.Guide In Medical has developed an Infrared Red Intubation System (IRRIS) device that facilitates intubation, a vital and common medical procedure in which a tube is inserted into the trachea to ventilate the patient.The technology was created as part of the Hebrew University's Biomedical Entrepreneurship Program in collaboration with Hadassah Medical Center. The Company received an exclusive license to develop the technology from Yissum Research Development Company, the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Hadasit Medical Research Services & Development Ltd., the company for commercialization of technologies of Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem.Read the source article at iati.co.il

Guide In Medical of the NGT3 VC Fund Received FDA Approval

Prof. Edwin Seroussi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will be awarded the Israel Prize for his research in culture, arts and musicology, the Education Ministry announced on Tuesday.Education Minister Naftali Bennett approved the recommendation of the prize committee headed by Prof. Eitan Steinberg.In its decision, the prize committee hailed Prof. Seroussi’s contribution and achievements in the study of Jewish music in the region of Andalusia (Spain and North Africa) and the Ottoman Empire.“Prof. Seroussi is a pioneer in the research of popular music and Sephardi music (dubbed Mediterranean music),” the prize committee wrote. “The fruits of his research in the field of musical heritage and Sephardi liturgical poems have provided a framework for study and performance; and as such, Prof. Seroussi has contributed to imparting them to many [people].”Seroussi was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Israel in 1971 where he completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Musicology at Hebrew University. He received his PhD from the University of California Los Angeles.He currently serves as professor of musicology and director of the Jewish Music Research Center at the university.According to the university, his research focuses on the musical cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, interactions between Jewish and Islamic cultures (specifically in art music genres) and popular music in Israel.Bennett tweeted on Monday that he was “especially happy” for the prize committee’s decision because Seroussi’s expertise is in Jewish music from Andalusia (Spain and North Africa) – “fields that have not yet been sufficiently represented.”“Today we bring the full Jewish story, [from] both the West and the East!” he tweeted.Bennett has expressed his support on numerous occasions for empowering Sephardi cultural studies within the general education curriculum and the Jewish narrative.In 2016, he established a committee and appointed Erez Biton as its head, the first poet of Mizrahi descent to win the Israel Prize in Literature (2015). Biton was tasked with empowering the identity of the Mizrahi Jewish community – including immigrants from Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Tunisia and Libya – within the education system.The Israel Prize is largely regarded as the state’s highest honor. It is presented annually on Independence Day in a state ceremony in Jerusalem in the presence of the president, the prime minister, the Knesset speaker and the Supreme Court president. Read the source article at Jpost

Prof. Edwin Seroussi to be awarded Israel Prize for...

Alumni

By noise I mean the errors in a process, and sensitivity to noise is a measure of how likely the noise — the errors — will affect the outcome of this process. Quantum computing is like any similar process in nature — noisy, with random fluctuations and errors. When a quantum computer executes an action, in every computer cycle there is some probability that a qubit will get corrupted.

And so this corruption is the key problem?

We need what’s known as quantum error correction. But this will require 100 or even 500 “physical” qubits to represent a single “logical” qubit of very high quality. And then to build and use such quantum error-correcting codes, the amount of noise has to go below a certain level, or threshold.To determine the required threshold mathematically, we must effectively model the noise. I thought it would be an interesting challenge.

What exactly did you do?

I tried to understand what happens if the errors due to noise are correlated — or connected. There is a Hebrew proverb that says that trouble comes in clusters. In English you would say: When it rains, it pours. In other words, interacting systems will have a tendency for errors to be correlated. There will be a probability that errors will affect many qubits all at once.So over the past decade or so, I’ve been studying what kind of correlations emerge from complicated quantum computations and what kind of correlations will cause a quantum computer to fail.In my earlier work on noise we used a mathematical approach called Fourier analysis, which says that it’s possible to break down complex waveforms into simpler components. We found that if the frequencies of these broken-up waves are low, the process is stable, and if they are high, the process is prone to error.

That previous work brought me to my more recent paper that I wrote in 2014 with a Hebrew University computer scientist, Guy Kindler. Our calculations suggest that the noise in a quantum computer will kill all the high-frequency waves in the Fourier decomposition. If you think about the computational process as a Beethoven symphony, the noise will allow us to hear only the basses, but not the cellos, violas and violins.These results also give good reasons to think that noise levels cannot be sufficiently reduced; they will still be much higher than what is needed to demonstrate quantum supremacy and quantum error correction.

Why can’t we push the noise level below this threshold?

Many researchers believe that we can go beyond the threshold, and that constructing a quantum computer is merely an engineering challenge of lowering it. However, our first result shows that the noise level cannot be reduced, because doing so will contradict an insight from the theory of computing about the power of primitive computational devices. Noisy quantum computers in the small and intermediate scale deliver primitive computational power. They are too primitive to reach “quantum supremacy” — and if quantum supremacy is not possible, then creating quantum error-correcting codes, which is harder, is also impossible.

What do your critics say to that?

Critics point out that my work with Kindler deals with a restricted form of quantum computing and argue that our model for noise is not physical, but a mathematical simplification of an actual physical situation. I’m quite certain that what we have demonstrated for our simplified model is a real and general phenomenon.My critics also point to two things that they find strange in my analysis: The first is my attempt to draw conclusions about engineering of physical devices from considerations about computation. The second is drawing conclusions about small-scale quantum systems from insights of the theory of computation that are usually applied to large systems. I agree that these are unusual and perhaps even strange lines of analysis.And finally, they argue that these engineering difficulties are not fundamental barriers, and that with sufficient hard work and resources, the noise can be driven down to as close to zero as needed. But I think that the effort required to obtain a low enough error level for any implementation of universal quantum circuits increases exponentially with the number of qubits, and thus, quantum computers are not possible.

How can you be certain?

I am pretty certain, while a little nervous to be proven wrong. Our results state that noise will corrupt the computation, and that the noisy outcomes will be very easy to simulate on a classical computer. This prediction can already be tested; you don’t even need 50 qubits for that, I believe that 10 to 20 qubits will suffice. For quantum computers of the kind Google and IBM are building, when you run, as they plan to do, certain computational processes, they expect robust outcomes that are increasingly hard to simulate on a classical computer. Well, I expect very different outcomes. So I don’t need to be certain, I can simply wait and see.Read the source article at quantamagazine.org

Rankings

Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology all ranked in the top 50 in the 2018 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings released this week.Tel Aviv University ranked 25th in Asia, down three spots from last years, making it the highest-rated Israeli institution in the Asia rankings, while the Hebrew University of Jerusalem ranked 27th and the Technion came in 41st.Also in the rankings, the University of Haifa ranked 100th while Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba was No. 104.These are the sixth annual Asia University Rankings published by the Times Higher Education weekly magazine, which this year ranked the top 350 institutions in Asia based on the same criteria as the World University Rankings – but with modifications to better reflect the characteristics of Asia’s universities.The rankings judge schools based on 13 performance indicators across all areas including teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.The National University of Singapore was ranked No. 1 for the third year in a row, while five of the top 10 universities were from China or its special administrative region of Hong Kong.“The results show that more than two decades of focused investment in excellence [by China] is paying off,” Phil Baty, editorial director of global rankings at Times Higher Education, said.Tsinghua University and Peking University – two leading Chinese institutions that have collaborations with Tel Aviv University – ranked second and third, respectively.Tel Aviv University and Tsinghua University in Beijing established the XIN Research Center, a $300 million joint center for innovative scientific research and education in nano-technology and nano-medicine.Tel Aviv University has also signed an agreement with Peking University to establish a center in the areas of food security and food safety.Overall, China has 63 universities in the rankings, many of which made significant progress in this year’s rankings.Read the source article at Jpost

3 Israeli universities in top 50 of Times Higher Education...

Merck Group, the German pharmaceutical and life sciences company, today inaugurated a technology innovation laboratory at its subsidiary Qlight Nanotech in Jerusalem, hosted on the Hebrew University’s Edmund J. Safra Campus. The laboratory is part of Merck’s commitment to Israel, collaboration with the Hebrew University, and development efforts in nanotechnologies and materials.Qlight Nanotech was established through Yissum, the technology transfer company of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, partnering Prof. Uri Banin of The Hebrew University and Merck, and supported by the Israel Innovation Authority. It was fully acquired by Merck in mid-2015 to support Merck’s development in liquid crystal display materials and its growing presence in OLED materials."We are very happy to be present in Israel one of the world’s most advanced technology hotspots,” said Dr. Kai Beckmann, CEO of Performance Materials & member of Merck’s Executive Board.Qlight, recognized in 2014 as “Nanotechnology Company of the Year” by the Chief Scientist of Israel, focuses its Research and Development on cadmium-free quantum materials for use in display applications. Quantum materials are nanosized particles which enable displays with a substantially extended colour gamut. Qlight's work is tightly integrated into global projects, working closely with Merck teams in Germany and Japan.“Qlight Nanotech is an excellent illustration of the synergistic potential of academia and industry to scale and promote new technological advances,” said Dr. Yaron Daniely, CEO and President of Yissum, Hebrew University's Technology Transfer Company. “Hebrew University is a world leader in innovative material science research. We are excited to play an instrumental role in bringing more technological breakthroughs to commercialization.”Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 6, 2018© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018Read the source article at globes.co.il

Merck opens Jerusalem innovation lab

The laboratory is part of Merck’s commitment to Israel, collaboration with the Hebrew University, and development efforts in nanotechnologies and materials.

Bill Nye Says Israel Leading on Medical Marijuana

Bill Nye's new Netflix show explores Israel's advances in medical marijuana, which are much more advanced than the United States.People are getting high in the Holy Land for a good cause.In a recent episode of “Bill Nye Saves the World” in which Nye explore medical marijuana, he sends a correspondent to Israel for a segment called “How is Israel healing the world with marijuana.”The episode highlights the progress Israel has made in medical marijuana research, noting that there are significantly fewer regulatory hurdles than in the United States.The company Tikun Olam operates the largest cannabis farm in Israel, and it’s licensed by the Israeli government. Tikkun Olam CEO Aharon Lutzky explains that the cooperation between the Israeli government and private industry fosters success in finding ways cannabis can help patients struggling with conditions such as cancer, Crohn’s and colitis, PTSD, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.Nye notes that the situation is very different in the U.S. because the Drug Enforcement Agency doesn’t believe cannabis has medical value, and therefore classifies it as a Schedule 1 drug, making it illegal to grow it for the purpose of medical studies.“It is literally easier to study meth,” Nye claimed.Israeli organic chemist Raphael Mechoulam was the first to isolate marijuana’s THC compound for scientific study more than 50 years ago. In 1996, Israel began its national medical marijuana program, the first one in the world. Read the source article at The Forward

The Galápagos Islands are known for their unique animal species – giant tortoises, iguanas and sea lions – but none are more legendary than the group of birds known as Darwin’s finches.Early discoveries from these tiny songbirds, which measure no bigger than a sparrow, are credited for having helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. Now, 11 of the 13 finch species found in the Galápagos are in danger of extinction due to a parasitic fly’s fatal impact on the populations.A research team from the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment is embarking next week on an expedition to the islands to help save the iconic birds that have become the Galápagos’ symbol.Internationally acclaimed entomologist Prof. Boaz Yuval will be joined by colleagues Prof. Edouard Jurkevitch and Micki Ben-Yosef for the three-week mission, part of a four-year project funded by the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation together with the University of Minnesota.

Can Israeli scientists save Darwin’s finches?

Prof. Boaz Yuval on a previous trip to the Galapagos in 2015. Photo courtesy of Boaz Yuval

The team will also collaborate with George Heimpel, an entomologist at the University of Minnesota. The Galápagos’ invasive fly problem was first noticed in the 1980s and 1990s by a group of Austrian and Australian researchers who were curious as to why fledglings in the nests of finches were dying, explained Yuval, who is known for his groundbreaking work on fruit flies and mosquitoes.Further inspection revealed that the larvae of the Philornis downsi fly, accidentally introduced to the island from the mainland in the 1960s, attach themselves to the bird hatchlings and feed on their blood, ultimately killing them.The mortality rate in finch hatchlings is close to 100 percent. “What’s really worrying is that there are locations in the islands where some species of finches, over the last couple of years, have experienced close to 100% parasitism in the nests,” Yuval tells ISRAEL21c. “In these locations, recruitment to the adult population is zero.”Although the parasite hasn’t affected all species equally, without the introduction of a viable solution Yuval predicts the finches may be extinct within 10 years. One particular species, the mangrove finch, is already down to about 80 individuals.The good news is that there’s a consortium of international researchers and funding agencies helping to find solutions.“In the case of the mangrove finch, the San Diego Zoo and local Ecuadorian researchers are actually collecting eggs every year, incubating the eggs in a lab, hand-rearing the chicks, acclimatizing them, and releasing them back,” explains Yuval.Thanks to this method, practiced over the last four years, the mangrove finch population has grown by about 14% every year.Another promising approach is based on providing nesting materials that are saturated with insecticide, killing off the parasites and allowing fledglings to survive. However, it has yet to become a widespread solution due to the insecticide’s potential to affect many birds and the reluctance of Galápagos park authorities.

Medium ground finches. Photo courtesy of Boaz Yuval

The Israeli group is exploring a different method, which aims to target the microbes inside of the flies in order to interrupt their blood-feeding success.“Humans have an enormous microbiome in which a community of microbes living in our gut contributes to our well-being, immune system, combating diseases, and even affecting mood and mate choice,” explains Yuval. “We are not unique in that. Insects also have gut microbes which are very important in their nutrition and in their immune response, especially blood-feeding insects.”In addition to providing essential dietary supplements, which the flies don’t get in their blood meal, Yuval believes the bacteria also play an important role in communication between adult insects, including finding food and mates.“We can manipulate the behavior of the adults by attracting them to traps which are based on volatiles that are produced by their microbes. We have some preliminary data that is very promising and that’s going to be our second major focus during this expedition,” says Yuval.They will also try to help the local Ecuadorian team figure out a way to successfully grow the invasive fly in a lab setting, for use in sterile insect release – a form of pest control where overwhelming numbers of sterilized insects are released into the wild.A successful attempt at saving the Galápagos’ iconic finches could save more than just the bird species. Without the finch, the terrestrial ecosystems are in danger of becoming destabilized. “One can never predict what form this will take,” says Yuval.“The problem with extinction is that it’s forever; you can’t go back from that.”Read the source article at ISRAEL21c

Even the tiniest of particles from human emissions can fuel powerful storms and influence weather and crops much more than previously thought, according to new research published January 26 in the journal Science.The study focuses on the power of manmade aerosol emissions to grow rain clouds and intensify storms. These particles come from urban and industrial air pollution, wildfires and other sources.While scientists have known that these particles play an important role in shaping weather and climate, the new study shows that even the smallest aerosol particles can have an outsize effect, creating more severe thunderstorms, which in turn may lead to soil erosion, runoff and damaged crops.These tiny pollutants – less than one-thousandth of the width of a human hair – were long considered too small to have much impact on raindrop formation.However, according to lead author Jiwen Fan of the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, “We showed that the presence of these particles is one reason why some storms become so strong and produce so much rain. In a warm and humid area where atmospheric conditions are otherwise very clean, the intrusion of very small particles can make quite an impact.”This study was conducted in the Amazon, a largely pristine area that provided scientists the rare opportunity to study the impact of pollution from nearby Manaus, a city of 2 million people, and to pinpoint the effects of human pollution on the weather environment.Second-author Professor Daniel Rosenfeld of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Earth Sciences studied the role of ultrafine particles on thunderstorms. While larger particles were known to enhance thunderstorms, scientists had not observed – until now – that even smaller particles, like those produced by vehicles and industry, could have the same effect.

Pollution’s impact on weather, crops worse than once...

Storm clouds over the Amazon. Photo by Daniel Rosenfeld/Hebrew University

The study also revealed that the ultrafine particles could invigorate rain clouds and increase rainfall in a much more powerful way than their larger counterparts.“This groundbreaking research strongly suggests that mankind has likely altered the rainfall and weather in densely populated tropical and summer monsoon areas such as India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and even southeastern USA,” said Rosenfeld.Significantly, this heavier downpour often leads to soil erosion and crop damage, affecting the lives and livelihoods of those living in the affected areas.Through detailed computer simulations, the scientists showed how the smaller particles have a powerful impact on rain clouds. While small in size, these particles are large in number and serve as a platform upon which small water droplets congregate and excess water vapor condenses.This enhanced condensation releases more heat, which in turn causes updrafts to become more powerful. The updrafts cause more warm air to be pulled into the clouds, which ultimately produces more ice and snow pellets, lightning, and heavier rain in the regions.The study, in which scientists from Israel, United States, China, Germany and Brazil participated, was funded by a grant from the BACCHUS European Commission.Read the source article at ISRAEL21c

Pomegranates are known to contain powerful antioxidants that fight the oxygen free radicals that cause inflammation, accelerated aging of the tissues, the activation of harmful genes within DNA and an overloaded immune system. Various herbs, spices such as turmeric and teas, as well as dark chocolate, pecans, fruits like blueberries, goji berries, elderberries, cranberries, blackberries and vegetables and pulses like sweet potatoes, broccoli, artichoke and kidney beans also reduce the effects of oxidative damage in the body.The leading health problems facing us today – including conditions like heart disease, cancer, dementia and other neurological diseases – have been linked to increased levels of oxidative damage.But until now, there has been no natural, powerful antioxidant capable of crossing the “blood-brain barrier” (BBB) – the semi-permeable, highly selective membrane of endothelial cells that separates the circulating blood from the brain and extracellular fluid in the central nervous system. While the BBB is a vital mechanism for protecting the brain from fluctuations in plasma composition and from substances that can upset neural function, it also keeps out those that can benefit the brain.Punicic acid (Omega 5) found in oil made from pomegranate seeds (not the red fruit but the small, hard seeds inside) is among the most powerful natural antioxidants, but to breach the BBB, it had to be turned into a submicron self-emulsion formulation.Researchers headed by experimental neurology Prof. Ruth Gabizon at the neurology department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, along with Prof. Shlomo Magdassi of the Hebrew University’s Nanotechnology and the Casali Center for Applied Chemistry, have developed a food supplement called GranaGard with high concentrations of punicic acid. This substance converts in the body into conjugated linoleic acid, an established neuroprotector. Hadassit, the Hadassah Medical Organization’s research and development arm, and Yissum, the R&D company of the university, established Granalix. This company markets the supplement (it is made by the SupHerb company in Nazareth), which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The supplement (NIS 120 for 60 capsules, a month’s supply, and sold via the company’s website and at some stores) is aimed at preventing or slowing the development of neurological disorders from multiple sclerosis to dementia and even reducing symptoms in patients who suffer from them. As GranaGard is a food supplement, it cannot legally make therapeutic claims, but it can provide data on mice studies in which the rodents showed significant improvement in neurological conditions and benefits shown in patients who have taken the supplement over time.GABIZON, WHO was born in Argentina and came on aliya with her family at the age of 11, is married to Prof. Alberto Gabizon, chief of the oncology institute at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and they have four grown children.“We met at the Weizmann Institute of Science. I am not a physician, but a neurology researcher,” she said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. She did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco with Prof. Stanley Prusiner, an American neurologist and biochemist who discovered prions – a class of infectious self-reproducing pathogens primarily or solely composed of protein – for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1997.“It was very serendipitous, as I had read Prusiner’s articles on prions and then met somebody by chance who was on sabbatical at the university. I sent a letter to Prof. Prusiner, and I was accepted to work at his lab. I was in the right place at the right time, as he was doing totally pioneering work.”When she returned to Israel in 1988 and continued her research on prion-caused diseases in the lab she built at Hadassah’s neurology department, she did not work on theoretical research detached from the physical disease. “I was part of the clinical department, exposed to patients and their families.”GABIZON HAS devoted most of her career to the study of neurodegenerataive and prion disorders, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a genetic disease among Jews of Libyan and Tunisian origin that was identified in Israel in the 1980s. The incidence of the disease in this ethnic group is about 100 times more than in the worldwide population, and there are some 50,000 carrier families in Israel and 15 actually suffering from the disease. Its effects were similar to the “mad-cow disease” (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) that affected cows whose brain and spinal cord had been contaminated in Britain and killed its first victim there in 1995.Genetic CJD is vertically transmitted from parent to child in autosomal dominant inheritance. Gabizon noted that there have also been some sporadic cases among Jewish of Ashkenazi origin.“A young man or woman in their 30s, at the beginning of their life, have just finished their studies and started on a career, got married, and are raising kids. In the midst of this intensive endeavor – a mother or father, perhaps an uncle, becomes ill. The patient is not particularly old, in his 50s or 60s, and is still very much active – with future plans and unattained goals. Yet the disease is progressing at an alarming rate. At first, the patient doesn’t remember small details or his speech slurs. He gets lost in a familiar neighborhood, loses balance. Something is happening; something is festering. He visits his family doctor and then a neurologist, undergoing CT or MRI; his condition continues to deteriorate relentlessly. And then the patient is no longer really with us, even if he or she still lives a bit longer. This is of course shocking and very sad. But it is just the beginning of the story.”In the midst of all this mayhem, “the specialist asks: ‘Are you from Libya or Tunis?’ Then there are genetic examinations. Thus our man or woman, still in their 30s, and their entire family, find out that their family member is afflicted with a hereditary disease.”There is a mutation that causes an important protein in the brain to change its form, so that instead of breaking down when it has completed its role, it oxidizes and is stored in brain cells in clusters called amyloids. As a result of the accumulation of clusters of faulty protein, destructive free radicals are created, damaging the quality of the cells. Ultimately, a process of accelerated destruction of the cells is created by this combined co-dependent process, in which protein does not break down, but rather accumulates in clusters, thus creating free radicals that harm the quality of the brain cells.“Most people who are CJD carriers don’t want to know because the symptoms show up after the age of 40, and there is nothing to do for them. They become confused, very nervous and then paralyzed. They usually die within three months of diagnosis. There is no approved blood test for it,” she said. “But if a couple suspected of being carriers plan to have a baby, they usually want to test embryos by in-vitro fertilization and then use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to find unaffected embryos that could be implanted.”“In view of the dead end reached by all researchers in treating the disease, we decided at the lab to tackle the problem from a totally different direction. If we cannot ‘clean’ the brain cells of destructive faulty protein clusters, thereby curing the patients, perhaps we can strengthen their durability, extend the life span of brain cells, and improve their functioning even under dire conditions such as these, with all of the ‘biological garbage’ and the destructive oxidizing free radicals.”To this end, “we decided to research the influence of antioxidization on the brain cells, through lab mice in which we planted the Libyan mutation of the PRP protein. The research hypothesis was that if we treat them with sufficiently strong antioxidization that can reach the brain, this may protect the cells and compensate for the damage already incurred. We further stipulated that the treatment should be completely safe of side effects, in order to offer it to young carriers before the disease erupts, as a preventive measure used over many years with no risk involved.”Her prion research led Gabizon to look for antioxidants connected to lipids that could cross the BBB and reach the brain. “By chance, I bought face cream from the Israeli cosmetics company Lavido that was made from pomegranate oil. People said how young I looked. The Chinese, by the way, discovered long ago that pomegranate seeds were good to eat.”She called the head of the company and asked for a sample of the oil. “We gave it to mice with the Libyan mutation. We saw that it postponed the mice’s death somewhat, but not enough.” So Gabizon went to Magdassi, who prepared a nano formula with tiny particles and two emulsants. When mixed with water, it turns white. The emulsion isn’t destroyed in the stomach and liver; it goes directly to the blood and breaches the BBB. We started to give it to multiple sclerosis patients after it was effective in slowing the animal model of the disease in mice. We also gave it to mice models with Alzheimer’s disease and to healthy mice that we caused to get a stroke.” It is also being tested on Parkinson’s disease.“We can’t cure these neurodegenerative diseases, because when neurons die, they can’t be restored. But the supplement can help prevent the disease in people at risk. I have two capsules a day for two years, and so has my husband. I find the supplement improves my sharpness of thinking and gives me much more energy. There are no known side effects or harmful interactions with drugs. The supplement is comprised of 90% pucinic acid in a form that can enter the brain.”GRANALIX, JUST at the beginning of its marketing effort, sells some 5,000 containers a month, mostly through the Internet. “It costs NIS 10 to manufacture and sells for NIS 120; most of the income goes towards manufacture, salaries and other expenses. We also redirect profits into expanding our research,” said Gabizon, who does not yet profit from the patent held by Yissum and Hadassit registered three years ago. “We don’t want it to be expensive and prohibitive to most people who can benefit from it.”To register GranaGard as a pharmaceutical drug, the company would have to spend a fortune on large, time-consuming clinical trials and fees for applications to the FDA. “We could do this at some point,” but it is very complicated. In the meantime, since GranaGard is a safe food supplement, we ask patients taking it how they feel. Some report improvement in a month or even a week of taking the supplement.”The food supplement’s efficacy in the form of nanodrops taken by rodents with a multiple sclerosis model, CJD and metabolic disorders was proven in three articles in scientific journals, the International Journal of Nanomedicine, Nanomedicine and Neurobiology in Disease. GranaGard was shown to delay disease onset in a mouse model of genetic prion disease, which presents neurodegenerative features reminiscent of Alzheimer’s disease. It also was shown to reduce the disease burden in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. “There are many other studies on the way,” she said.“Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease seem to be prion-like diseases with aggregation and oxidation, so punicic acid with this delivery system could be effective, without being destroyed in the stomach and liver,” she added.Neuropaths recommend pomegranate oil to people, but they don’t take into account that it can’t help against neurodegenerative diseases because it doesn’t reach the brain in the form or ordinary supplements.”IF THE formulation can delay Alzheimer’s disease, it would bring about a revolution, she declared. The International Alzheimer’s Association has reported that by 2030, the number of dementia patients will double, reaching about 70 million worldwide. Global expenditure on treatment has now reached $600 billion, 70% from Western Europe and North America alone.In Israel, there are now some 120,000 dementia patients, including 1% of the population in their 60s. This percentage is doubled every five years, reaching 30% for ages 85 to 90 and 66% of those over 90.This data is even more alarming in view of solutions offered by medicine (nowadays appearing quite ordinary – such as nutrition, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure issues and hygiene) that have increased life expectancy and created a new demography, she added. ‘The various degenerative brain diseases harm half of the population over 80 and cause significant mental and physical suffering. A cure has yet to be found for the disease, but our nutritional supplement may prevent it.”The common cause of all degenerative brain diseases is pathological oxidization of components in the nerve cells, which is the precise point of departure of GranaGard. “Since there is no reversal for highly faulty nerve cells, the treatment focuses on maintaining the existing ones, that is, maintaining our brain cells for as long as possible,” she concluded.Read the source article at Jpost

The pomegranate potential

Meet Hebrew University’s top cannabis researcher

Attorney General Jeff Sessions unwittingly has become a key supporter of Israel’s thriving medical marijuana industry. Just ask cannabis researcher Yossi Tam.Speaking in Palo Alto this week, the Israeli expert on cannabinoids — chemicals that give the cannabis plant its medical and recreational properties — said anti-pot politics in the United States have allowed Israel’s medical marijuana industry to thrive. Israel even has attracted some of the top American researchers, he said.Israel even has attracted some of the top American researchers, he said. After all, in the U.S., marijuana remains a Schedule 1 drug, alongside heroin and ecstasy, meaning that research is stunted because such substances have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”However, in Israel, which is preparing to start issuing export licenses for cannabinoid-based products, cannabis research is flourishing. Tam is focused on how cannabinoids can help patients battle obesity, and he’s also part of a team seeking medicinal uses of cannabis in fighting everything from epilepsy to traumatic brain injury to cancer.“Israel has become a leader because it was allowed to conduct research, whereas here [in the U.S.] it was stopped,” Tam told J. after his talk, which focused on the science of cannabinoids and how to use them to fight obesity. “Once it will be legal here, then the U.S. will take over like with every other thing.”Tam is the managing director of the Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and he also heads the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory there.He spoke Jan. 16 in Palo Alto at the Morgan, Lewis and Bockius law firm, telling an audience of about 50 that medical marijuana was first used in China nearly 5,000 years ago and that synthetic cannabinoids could have an even wider range of curative powers. The talk was presented by the California Israel Chamber of Commerce, American Friends of the Hebrew University and WGD Partners, a Palo Alto-based financial advisory firm.Recreational use of marijuana is banned in Israel, but medical marijuana is legal there — and Israeli researchers have been focused on the efficacy of cannabinoids in fighting pain and disease for more than 50 years. Meanwhile in the U.S., Sessions has spearheaded a federal drive to keep pot illegal, even as California this year became the eighth state to legalize recreational use of marijuana and more than half the states allow the use of medical marijuana.Tam works at Hebrew University with Raphael Mechoulam, who in the 1960s first isolated CBD and THC, the two most prominent of the many cannabinoids found in marijuana.A brochure available at his talk proclaimed: “Join the cannabis revolution: Cannabis is no longer just associated with getting high, but is now tantamount to getting healthy.”Michael Mitgang, WGD’s managing director, gave a short presentation on the cannabis industry and its growth potential before Tam’s talk, predicting the $8.1 billion U.S. cannabis market in 2017 will balloon to more than $100 billion annually in a few years.Tam, a former dentist who did postdoctoral work in the U.S. at the National Institutes of Health, said Israeli researchers know their place at the forefront of cannabinoid investigation will be threatened if the U.S. reclassifies marijuana.“We have a window of opportunity now,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”Read the source article at jweekly.com

January 11, 2018-For the first time in history, the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (HU) will be on display in Asia. The exhibit, Albert Einstein: Life in Four Dimensions, curated by Avi Muller, will open January 12 at the National Chiang Kei-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. Scores of original Einstein memorabilia will be on display, including his 1921 Nobel Prize, handwritten pages from the Theory of Relativity, letters exchanged with Sigmund Freud, family members and lovers, and the physicist’s own vinyl record collection.Taiwan is the first stop on the Einstein exhibit’s Asia tour. Taipei will house the collection through April 8, whereupon the exhibit will head to China and Japan.This historical collaboration began more than two years ago when Taiwan’s Blue Dragon Art Company reached out to the Einstein Archives at Hebrew University to propose the exhibit. Since then, curators, conservationists, shippers, and handlers have painstakingly worked to edit, collect, wrap and transport the 100-year-old collection.In all, 75 artifacts were shipped from Hebrew University in Jerusalem to Taipei, Taiwan. A Brinks truck, complete with a police escort and a dummy car to throw off potential thieves, delivered the collection. Forty of the more valuable artifacts hand to be hand-delivered by Dr. Roni Grosz, curator of the Einstein Archives and his colleague, chief conservator Neil McManus."This exciting new exhibition in Taiwan further deepens Hebrew University’s ties with the people of Asia," said HU president Professor Asher Cohen. “For years our academics have collaborated with their colleagues in the Far East, now the people of Taiwan will get to experience one of our greatest minds up close.”

While everyone knows New York City's Times Square will be the scene of one big party this New Year's Eve, police know it's also a big target for terrorists. City officials said the standard security measures will, of course, be in place, like sand trucks and blocker vehicles. But after two terror attacks in NYC since Halloween, more efforts are being focused on trying to catch and prevent an attack, even though no credible threat has been found. For instance, parking garages will get increased scrutiny. In recent years, the NYPD had been closing some parking garages in the area of Times Square, and this year, they'll close more in a wider zone. NYPD's hotel team, which has discussed security ahead of previous New Year's Eve events, will be on patrol this year. A high ranking police source tells CBN News the NYPD reviewed the recent Las Vegas shooting incident and has decided to position some of its 7,000 officers monitoring Times Square inside every hotel along 7th Avenue on New Year's Eve. "People should expect to see an increase in security this New Year's because of an ongoing threat we've seen from ISIS," said former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Matt Olsen. "Really over the past few years they've sought to encourage their followers to carry out low-level attacks where ever they can, particularly targeting people where they gather in crowds," he explained. A recent joint assessment released by the FBI, NYPD, Department of Homeland Security and the New York Port Authority said they "remain concerned about international terrorists and domestic extremists potentially targeting" the celebration in Times Square where over a million people are expected to gather to ring in 2018. One computer software tool the NYPD will be using is called Video Synopsis. It was developed by Dr. Shmuel Peleg, with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, School of Computer Science and Engineering. The cutting edge program allows police to monitor real time hours of video in minutes. It can even search for specific items in the video, such as men only wearing the color red. Dr. Peleg says whenever someone plans an evil action they do preparations and scout the area, and that's when his software will help. "You can take the entire night and instead of watching 10 hours you can watch ten minutes. You can detect these people and check what they are planning," said Dr. Peleg. He adds the technology was instrumental in identifying and leading the FBI to the Boston Marathon bombers in 2013.Read the source article at CBN.com

Unprecedented Security Measures Expected in New York’s...

Compound kills energy generating system of cancerAn Israeli researcher devised a synthetic compound to disable the enzymes that allow cancer cells to metastasize. When cancer cells leave the primary tumor and spread to other organs, they reprogram their energy-generating system in order to survive in harsh conditions with a shortage of nutrients like glucose. Prof. Uri Nir of Bar-Ilan University identified an enzyme called FerT in the energy-generating mitochondria of metastatic cancer cells – an enzyme normally only found in sperm cells (which need to function outside the body they came from). When he targeted FerT in lab mice, the malignant cells soon died. Using advanced chemical and robotic approaches, Nir’s lab team developed a synthetic compound, E260, which can be administered orally or by injection, causing a complete collapse of the entire mitochondria “power station.” “We have treated mice with metastatic cancer and this compound completely cured them with no adverse or toxic affect that we can see,” reported Nir, adding that normal cells were not affected. Phase 1 clinical trials are planned over the next 18 months.

13 of the biggest health breakthroughs in Israel in 2017

Personal menu to help avoid diabetesIn 2015, two researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel released a groundbreaking study showing that specific foods and food combinations affect each individual’s blood-sugar level differently.That discovery was incorporated into a made-in-Israel app, DayTwo, which helps pre-diabetics and diabetics who are not insulin dependent choose dishes that can best balance their individual blood-sugar levels. The algorithm predicts blood-glucose response to thousands of foods based on gut microbiome information and other personal parameters.High blood sugar is linked to energy dips, excessive hunger and weight gain as well as increased risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.To use the app, which went on sale in the US in 2017, users need to answer a questionnaire about their medical history, physical characteristics, lifestyle and diet. A stool-sample kit is then FedExed to the user, who sends it on to DayTwo’s lab. There the microbiome DNA is sequenced and the data is plugged into an advanced machine-learning algorithm.In about six to eight weeks, users receive a microbiome report and a six-month plan of personalized meal recommendations to help balance blood sugar. World’s first bone implantsIn August and December, doctors at Emek Medical Center in Afula performed rare bone implants – one on a man missing part of his arm bone and the second on a man missing five centimeters of his shinbone, both as the result of car accidents. Normally, the human body cannot restore bone segments, but revolutionary tissue-engineering technology developed by Haifa-based Bonus BioGroup enables growing semi-solid live bone tissue from the patient’s own fat cells. The tissue is then injected back into the patient’s body in the expectation that the missing bone fragment will be regenerated in around six weeks without any danger of implant rejection or the complications of traditional bone transplants. “This surgery is truly science fiction; it changes the entire game in orthopedics,” said Dr. Nimrod Rozen, head of orthopedics at Emek, who carried out the experimental procedure. In the future, the Bonus BioGroup regeneration technology could be used for a variety of bone-loss conditions, including bone cancer, for which there is currently no solution.Artificial corneaAn early-stage Israeli ophthalmic medical devices startup developed a revolutionary artificial cornea implant that holds out hope to millions of blind and visually impaired people. The nanotech-based synthetic cornea by CorNeat Vision of Ra’anana proved successful in initial tests on animals. The company plans human implantations in Israel in mid-2018, and a larger clinical trial in the United States. According to the World Health Organization, diseases of the cornea are the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting as many as 30 million people. “Unlike previous devices, which attempt to integrate optics into the native cornea, CorNeat’s implant leverages a virtual space under the conjunctiva that is rich with fibroblast cells, heals quickly and provides robust long-term integration,” said CorNeat Vision’s Almog Aley-Raz. The surgical procedure takes just 30 minutes.

Hernia surgery just got simplerIn June, ISRAEL21c reported on a new tool developed by Via Surgical for attaching mesh to tissue, allowing surgeons to treat hernias with fewer complications, less pain and faster recovery. In the US alone, some five million people have a hernia – a protrusion of an organ or tissue through a weak spot in the abdomen or groin — according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Traditionally, open hernia-repair surgery involved stitching a mesh patch, or surrounding tissue, over the weak tissue. Today, many hernias are repaired laparoscopically, but because suturing through tiny laparoscopic incisions is difficult, most surgeons use a less ideal solution — screw-like tacks to secure the mesh to the abdominal wall or bone. Via Surgical’s unique FasTouch cartridge system, which received FDA approval in 2016, affixes prosthetic material to soft tissue. It is designed like sutures and delivered like tacks, with the goal of providing the best of both worlds for laparoscopic hernia repair. “Surgeons are very excited about it,” says Lena Levin, cofounder and CFO of Via Surgical. “Hernia repair is one of the most common surgeries.

Screening newborns for autismIsraeli engineer Raphael Rembrand developed a simple noninvasive way to screen newborns for signs of autism using the same instrument currently used to test infants’ hearing. The SensPD diagnostic test, now ready for clinical trials, uses optoacoustic emissions as an indicator of the baby’s overall sensory perception. It can be administered hours after birth, and because the inner-ear mechanism develops in the third trimester of pregnancy, one day it may even be possible to screen for autism spectrum disorders prenatally. Some three million children are diagnosed with autism every year. The earlier the condition is detected the better the possible outcome. Thirty years ago, Rembrand’s four-year-old son was diagnosed as autistic, but it was too late at this point for critical early-intervention therapies. “Applying interventions before the age of two results in better than 90% success rate in ingraining social skills for social integration,” says Rembrand.Reversing cognitive decline with cannabisIn May, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and from the University of Bonn in Germany announced that they had restored the memory performance of lab mice to a juvenile stage by administering a small quantity of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. The report in Nature Medicine showed that after giving low doses of THC to mice over a four-week period, the cognitive functions of 12- to 18-month-old mice treated with cannabis were just as good as the functions of two-month-old mice in the control group. Clinical trials on humans are to follow. A study by Therapix Biosciences presented in September to the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines’ Conference on Cannabinoids in Cologne, Germany, similarly suggested that THC can significantly reverse age-related cognitive impairment in old mice.Early diagnostic test for Parkinson’sThis year, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ph.D. student Suaad Abd-Elhadi won the Kaye Innovation Award for her diagnostic tool, ELISA, which detects Parkinson’s disease at a much earlier stage than existing tools, and better tracks progression of the disease and response to therapy. Parkinson’s disease, affecting seven to 10 million people worldwide, is characterized by stiffness, tremors and shaking. Medication to control symptoms is costly. Currently there are no standard diagnostic tests for Parkinson’s other than clinical information provided by the patient and the findings of a neurological exam. Once Parkinson’s is revealed, the neurodegenerative disease is usually already progressing. Abd-Elahdi’s diagnostic tool detects the alpha-synuclein protein closely associated with Parkinson’s disease, and could lead to a minimally invasive and cost-effective way to diagnose the disorder in time to improve the lives of patients. Abd-Elhadi has demonstrated a proof of concept and is analyzing a large cohort of samples as part of a clinical study. Through its Yissum technology transfer company, Hebrew University has signed an agreement with Integra Holdings for further development and commercialization.Hip-Hope cushions falls in elderlyEach year, nearly 3 million seniors worldwide are hospitalized due to hip fractures – many experiencing a drastic deterioration in quality of life. The direct annual cost of treating hip fractures exceeds $15 billion in the US alone. Rather than focus on better ways to treat the broken bone, Israeli engineer Amatsia Raanan decided to use cutting-edge technology to avoid injury in the first place. He and three cofounders developed Hip-Hope, a smart wearable device designed as a belt. Once Hip-Hope’s multi-sensor detection system senses an impending collision with a ground surface, two large airbags are deployed instantly from each side of the belt to cushion the hips, and a connected smartphone app sends an automatic alert message to predetermined recipients. The 1-kilo (2.2-pound) device, due to go on sale shortly, even has a built-in emergency call button that the user can activate in any situation of distress. Hip-Hope is certified by the CE (Europe), FDA (United States), Health-Canada and AMAR (Israel). In studies carried out at a major Canadian lab, the Israeli device was proven to reduce impact by 90%.

An injection that melts fatJerusalem-based Raziel Therapeutics has developed an injection that melts fat cells and postpones the proliferation of new fat cells. The medication generates heat to use up some of the free fatty acid that’s produced by fat cells in the body, which in turn reduces fat tissue. Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, and the World Obesity Federation predicts that by 2025, a third of the world’s population will be overweight or obese. Raziel’s technology, which targets specific areas in the body, is now in clinical trials in the US. Preliminary results show a 30 to 50 percent reduction in subcutaneous fat at the treated site after a single injection. Each treatment lasts between six and nine months, but treatment could be more effective in those who change their lifestyle in parallel. An audio-analysis technology developed at Ben-Gurion University can assess sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) while the user is awake, at home and not hooked up to machines or sensors. The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that 22 million Americans suffer from the malady and that as many as 80% of moderate to severe OSA cases go undiagnosed. Currently, patients are diagnosed using overnight polysomnography (PSG) to record brain waves, blood oxygen level, heart rate, breathing, and eye and leg movements via electrodes and sensors. The new system, which does not require contact sensors, could be installed onto a smartphone or other device that utilizes ambient microphones. It analyzes speech during waking hours and records and evaluates overnight breathing sounds using new technology that is simpler and significantly less expensive than PSG. The researchers have tested the system on more than 350 subjects and are working toward commercialization.

First implant for heart failureIn July, a 72-year old Canadian man became the world’s first recipient of an Israeli-developed implant to treat diastolic heart failure – a fairly common condition for which there is no effective long-term treatment. The minimally invasive surgery was performed at Rambam Health Care Campus, a medical center in Haifa. The CORolla implant was developed by cardiologists at Israeli startup CorAssist Cardiovascular of Haifa. The elastic device is implanted inside the left ventricle and applies direct expansion force on the ventricle wall to help the heart fill with blood. The patient, Robert MacLachlan, had run out of treatment options in Canada for his diastolic heart failure. His wife read about CORolla on the Internet and contacted Rambam.

Renewing damaged cellsResearchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science discovered a molecule in newborn hearts that appears to control the process of renewing heart muscle. The findings, published in June in Nature, point to new directions for research on restoring the function of damaged cardiac cells. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The Agrin molecule seems to “unlock” the renewal process and enable heart-muscle repair – never seen before outside the womb. Normally, after a heart attack the damaged muscle cells called cardiomyocytes are replaced by scar tissue, which cannot pump blood and therefore place a burden on the remaining cardiomyocytes. Following a single injection of Agrin, damaged mouse hearts were almost completely healed and fully functional. Scar tissue was dramatically reduced, and replaced by living heart tissue that restored the heart’s pumping function. The research team has begun pre-clinical studies in larger animals.Read the source article at ISRAEL21c

December 18, 2017 — Imagine you’re walking down a busy area like Times Square in New York. There are tons of people around. As you make your way through the crowd, your brain notices several faces but ignores the rest. Why is that? What are the processes that determine which faces our brain “chooses” to see and those it allows to fade into the background?Today, a new study published in the prestigious journal Nature Human Behavior by Professor Ran Hassin, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)’s James Marshall Chair in Social Psychology and member of its Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, along with HU graduate student Yaniv Abir and colleagues Professor Alexander Todorov of Princeton University and Professor Ron Dotsch, formerly of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, describes how the unconscious mind processes human faces and the two types of faces it chooses to consciously see, namely: those associated with dominance and threat and, to a lesser degree, with trustworthiness.Hassin and his research team conducted six experiments with 174 participants. In these experiments, researchers exposed participants to 300 sets of rapidly-changing images. In one eye, participants were exposed to images of human faces, and in the other eye they were exposed to geometric shapes. The participants were then asked to press a computer key as soon as they saw a human face.With the onslaught of stimuli—images and rapid flashing—it took the brain a few seconds to understand that it was seeing a face and then to “transfer” these images to the conscious brain for processing. The researchers observed that the facial dimensions that were most quickly registered by participants were ones that indicated power and dominance.“Walking around the world our unconscious minds are faced with a tremendous task: decide which stimuli ‘deserve’ conscious noticing and which do not,” explained Hassin. “The mental algorithm we discovered deeply prioritizes dominance and potential threat,” he noted. “We literally saw the speed with which these images broke through the unconscious mind and registered on a conscious-level with each key press.”For the past decade, Hassin has focused his research on the human unconscious, specifically decision making, memory, motivation, and how opinions are formed. “This study gives insight into the unconscious processes that shape our consciousness,” Hassin shared. “These processes are dynamic and often based on personal motivation. Hypothetically, if you’re looking for a romantic partner, your brain will ‘see’ people differently than if you’re already in a relationship. Unconsciously, your brain will ‘prioritize’ faces of potential partners and deemphasize other faces. Likewise, the same might be true for other motivations, such as avoiding danger. Your eyes might pick out certain ‘menacing’ faces from a crowd and avoid them.”Looking ahead, Hassin hopes these findings can pave the way towards a better understanding of autism, PTSD, and other mental disorders. “It might be possible to train and untrain people from perceiving certain facial dimensions as threatening. This could be helpful for those suffering from PTSD or depression. Likewise, we could train people with autism to be more sensitive to social cues.”This work is not only groundbreaking in revealing how our unconscious minds work but in providing scientists with a new set of tools to approach behavioral and mental disorders, as well.CITATION: The determinants of consciousness of human faces. Yaniv Abir, Asael Sklar, Ron Dotsch, Alexander Todorov, Ran Hassin. Nature Human Behaviour website, 18 Dec 2017.DOI: 10.1038/s41562-017-0266-3. Link: http://dx.doi.org/Read the source article at AFHU

How the Unconscious Mind Picks Out Faces in a Crowd

This One Simple Daily Habit Could Help You Live Longer

Want more birthdays ahead? Go outside.That’s the conclusion of a recent study that looked at the daily habits of more than 3,000 adults between ages 70 to 90, over a 25-year period. Researchers divided the subjects into three groups, based on how often they left their homes: daily, 2 to 5 times per week, and less than once per week. (See what ONE daily ritual these 5 fitness pros over 50 never skip.)When mortality was assessed in the later years of the study, researchers found that those who went outside every day were at the lowest risk of death, while those who rarely left home had the highest mortality risk.

This finding was consistent even when factoring in health issues like diabetes, heart disease, visual impairment, and impaired mobility, notes lead study author Jeremy Jacobs, MD, from the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Israel.“Resilient individuals remain engaged, irrespective of their physical limitations,” he says, adding that the improved survival was observed among people with low levels of activity. That means you don’t need to go for a jog—you could even just sit outside to experience benefits.(Transform your health with 365 days of slimming secrets, wellness tips, and motivation—get your 2018 Prevention calendar and health planner today!)Although the exact reasons behind the findings weren’t included in this study, previous research has found that people who spend more time outdoors may have lower stress levels and better mental health, which can both drive longevity. (Here are 9 habits of the world's longest living people.)“Throughout history, even introverted artists and writers had daily routines that got them out of the lab or studio,” says Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, PhD, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, which profiles several productive thinkers of different eras.In addition to the obvious physical health benefits of going outside and being less sedentary, getting some fresh air, particularly in nature, can improve mood and emotional balance, says Pang.MORE: I Healed Myself Inside By Spending More Time OutsideAlso, the recent study highlighted that people who go outside more often tend to have stronger social connections, which Pang says has been proven to guard against cognitive decline and lower the risk of depression and anxiety. (Every woman needs these 7 types of friends in her life.)Says Pang: “Simply put, getting outside daily is essential for maintaining good physical and mental health.”Read the source article at Prevention

The search for the proverbial fountain of youth is moving underwater. Experimental biologist Itamar Harel, returning to Israel this spring from a post-doc at Stanford University School of Medicine, will establish an aging research lab focused on the tiny East African turquoise killifish, the shortest-lived vertebrate that can be cultivated in the laboratory easily.Gleaning insights into human aging from a fish that lives an average of four to six months sounds counterintuitive. But the East African turquoise killifish has an aging progression remarkably similar to ours, making it perfect for studying human aging in a rapid timeframe.“In the past 25 years, experiments in short-lived yeast, worms and flies have revolutionized the way we perceive aging – revealing that the aging rate itself can be manipulated by genetic and environmental interventions,” Harel says.“However, the lack of short-lived vertebrate models for genetic studies has significantly limited our understanding of vertebrate aging, including the role of vertebrate-specific genes, organs and physiological processes.” At Stanford’s Brunet Lab, Harel used a new genome-editing technique called CRISPR to develop a tool for examining aging and disease in killifish.

Tiny fish swims to Israel to help unlock mystery of aging

Harel’s own lab, to open in March 2018 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Life Sciences, will take this research to the next level.“The key aspect I’m trying to accomplish is to see if we can slow down some of the age-associated diseases we have and extend good health, even if we live the same amount of years,” Harel tells ISRAEL21c.“I envision using killifish as a platform for testing the role of specific drugs and their effect on age-associated pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases,” he says.“Manipulating the aging rate itself might allow us to postpone the onset of these devastating diseases, which will have a tremendous impact on human health.”The 37-year-old scientist got his undergraduate degree at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2005 and his PhD in developmental biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 2012.When he arrived at Stanford in 2013, he was fascinated to learn about the killifish, which has been bred in captivity since 1968 but had never been genetically engineered.The tool he developed using CRISPR enabled him to study the effects of early interventions on elderly killifish.“I was able to do it almost twice as fast as in parallel genetic models like mice, which have a lifespan of two to three years,” he says. In his Jerusalem lab, he will study aspects of aging unique to vertebrates.“The majority of aging research has been done on invertebrates, in which it is challenging to study things like bone degeneration, declining immune function, declining ability to benefit from vaccinations, and increasing susceptibility to cancer and infections,” says Harel.“I think my uniqueness will be to study specific niches that are exceptionally challenging or impossible to study using current models.”To start, Harel will investigate dyskeratosis congenita syndrome, which causes bone-marrow failure.“The killifish model shows rapid onset of this disease and I want to see if we can develop interventions to slow down some of these phenotypes, screen for drugs and do genetic interventions."People have studied this syndrome in mice but you have to breed them for three to four generations before the phenotypes develop.In killifish, the phenotype happens in the first generation, and as fast as only two months.” In the long term, Harel hopes the little fish will reveal why aging is the primary risk factor for every disease type. “We know different organisms live vastly different lifespans.Killifish live six months, while koi fish live up to 200 years,” he says.“Nature has fabulously played with this trait of the aging rate. If we understand the basics behind the differences we could potentially manipulate them ourselves and see what aspects make the body more susceptible or more resilient.” He isn’t trying to make killifish live as long as koi fish.“But we could tailor specific interventions to boost our ability to cope with Alzheimer’s or other degenerative diseases,” says Harel, whose family history does not include any centenarians that he knows of. Harel notes that aging research is advanced in Israel, with multiple aging-related research labs doing groundbreaking work.The Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology recently issued a call for “technologies and innovation for older persons,” including biomedical research on aging.In October, Israeli longevity expert Dr. Nir Barzilai from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York gave a keynote address, “How to die young at a very old age,” at the Pathways to Healthy Longevity conference at Bar-Ilan University sponsored in part by the Israeli Longevity Alliance.Harel was on the judging panel that awarded prizes to graduate students studying the biology of aging, healthy longevity and quality of life.“Doing research in Israel comes with a sense of community and ease of developing new collaborations,” says Harel. “For me it was clear that I wanted to go back.”Read the source article at ISRAEL21c

Why would Crusaders decorate a staircase with the carving of a menorah? This archaeological mystery — almost two millennia in the making — was recently solved, seven years after the Jewish symbol was discovered in a Hebrew University excavation of ancient Tiberias. The massive menorah, originally carved on a basalt tomb door, is tangible evidence of the city’s dramatic historical periods in the past centuries, under the world’s three major monotheistic religions.

Archaeologists uncover bittersweet end of 1,800-year-old...

Menorah carved into the door of a Jewish tomb, circa 150-350 CE found in Tiberias. (Tal Rogoveski)

The 68×78-centimeter (27×31 inch) seven-stemmed menorah was uncovered in a dig led by the Hebrew University’s Dr. Katya Tzitrin Silverman, which has been ongoing since 2009. The door the menorah decorated was typical of a Jewish tomb from circa 150-350 CE, said Silverman in conversation with The Times of Israel on Monday. After the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem, Tiberias was a center for Jewish life. It is thought that the Sanhedrin, the court of Jewish law and scholarship, sat in Tiberias from circa 190 CE. Following Muslim conquest in 635 CE, the city became a seat for the early caliphate. It was during this period, archaeologist Silverman said, that the menorah door was reused as the base of a mosque, which was built on an earlier mosque, said Silverman. Because the door was not found in situ, researchers cannot exactly pinpoint its provenance. However, said Silverman, it is clear that the use of this door by the Muslims in building a mosque was highly intentional. The mosque, she said, also contained reused pagan and Christian pillars, which were put on display as corner pieces. These materials taken for intentional secondary use are called “spoila,” said Silverman. They are trophies, a way of clearly stating, “We’re building our structure on the backs of those who came before us,” she said. “There is an expression of victory and inheritance” in their use, she said. Interestingly, said Silverman, during the team’s excavations, it was discovered that there was a church located next to the mosque which used the spoila. According to an inscription found at the church’s nave, it was still in use until at least the 10th century. “There was only a street between them,” she said, adding that although they’ve found remains of what appears to be a pagan temple, the team has not yet found a synagogue on the site of the ancient religious hub. “It’s strange to think that in Israel we have one of the most important excavations for early Muslim mosque architecture,” said Silverman.

The mosque that was built was upon the menorah was destroyed in an earthquake in 1068. Subsequently, its building materials were reused by the Crusaders and so our menorah became the decoration for a staircase in a room in a sugar factory. Calling it Israel’s “first industrial revolution,” Silverman said that after the crop was introduced under Muslim rule, by the Crusader period, the whole area of the Jordan and Ginosar Valleys was cultivated for sugar production. The heart of residential Tiberias had by this period moved north and the sugar production was done on the outskirts of the city. Silverman said that the menorah’s meaning as a Jewish symbol is not likely to have been understood during the Crusader period. Its use as a step in a secular sugar factory was, if anything, “pragmatic” — a bittersweet end to the menorah, which started its life on a Jewish tomb.Read the source article at The Times of Israel

On December 6, 2017, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople received an Honorary Doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The event was attended by a wide array of religious leaders, ambassadors, and dignitaries. The presentation of the honorary degree was followed by an address from His All Holiness:His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, popularly known as the "Green Patriarch,” was appointed as the primary spiritual leader of the world's approximately 300 million Orthodox Christians on November 2, 1991. Since then he has pursued a constant vision of spiritual revival; of Orthodox unity and Christian reconciliation; interfaith understanding and coexistence; and environmental awareness and protection — making every effort to mobilize the world's moral and spiritual forces for the sake of harmony among all human beings and between humankind and nature.Under his auspices, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has advanced interreligious dialogue with the Muslim world and with the worldwide Jewish community. He has also initiated and co-sponsored international peace conferences and symposia dealing with issues such as racism and fundamentalism and has endeavored to generate cooperation and increase mutual tolerance and respect among Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox Christian communities, particularly in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.No less important, the "Green Patriarch" Bartholomew I is a distinguished environmentalist, avidly involved in urgent ecological issues such as the pollution of the world's waterways. His reputation for raising global environmental awareness has earned him the Sophie Prize, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, and numerous other awards. His efforts to promote religious freedom and human rights, his initiatives to advance religious tolerance among the world's religions, together with his work toward international conflict resolution and environmental protection, have justly placed the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the forefront of global visionaries, peacemakers, and bridge-builders.Click here to enjoy photos from the event.

Honorary Doctorate Ceremony for His All Holiness

James Patterson and Einstein archivists creating new series

Already co-writing a political thriller with former President Bill Clinton, James Patterson is now set for a collaboration with the managers of Albert Einstein’s archives.The best-selling and prolific novelist is developing a series for middle schoolers inspired by Einstein’s scientific discoveries. In a licensing deal with the Einstein archive, Little Brown will publish the first of three planned books, currently untitled, next fall. The release will come through the author’s own JIMMY Patterson children’s imprint.“I love the idea of introducing Einstein and the ideas of science to millions of kids around the world,” says Patterson, sounding childlike himself as he speaks of “taking this so freaking seriously.”Patterson, admittedly still learning when it comes to science, has worked in an innovation of his own. The series’ young protagonist, Max Einstein, is a girl.“Women are definitely underrated in science and I wanted to address that,” he told The Associated Press during a recent telephone interview. Little, Brown describes Max as “inventive, irreverent, highly imaginative,” one who “loves to solve problems in fun, unconventional ways, much like Einstein himself.”“The high-stakes adventure series follows Max and the world’s brightest kids as they travel the globe to solve humanity’s biggest problems with the power of science,” the publisher announced.Financial terms for the books were not disclosed. According to Little Brown, Einstein archivists will assist Patterson with research and also have input in the manuscripts and artwork. Proceeds will be divided among the archive, the publisher and Patterson.Einstein has inspired fiction before, such as Alan Lightman’s critically praised “Einstein’s Dreams.” He also was the subject of a best-selling biography by Walter Isaacson and of numerous biographies for children.Officials for the Einstein archives, which are based at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, cite Patterson’s enormous popularity and see the new series as an ideal way to expand Einstein’s appeal among young people. Dr. Roni Grosz, curator of the archives, praised Patterson’s ability to keep readers interested.“You don’t want readers just putting the books down because they’re not interesting enough,” he told the AP. “There’s tremendous interest in Einstein, but it’s not easy to convey his lessons and his knowledge. These books are one way to package this rather complex information and present it to young readers.”Read the source article at Washington Post

This article originally appeared on Massive.

Why teamwork is better than attempting lone heroism in...

The best way for scientists — or anybody, really — to address shortcomings after experiencing failure is teamwork. And never has that been more clearly apparent than in the story of Doxil, the first nanomedicine, which failed multiple times before a resourceful team cracked the code.

Nanomedicine is the application of nanoscale technologies (think about it as really, really tiny pieces of matter — 10,000 times smaller than a strand of hair or 100 times smaller than a red blood cell) for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and study of disease and human health. It’s pretty successful at getting funded as well — privately held nanomedicine companies (such as Nanobiotix) are getting a lot of money — in the tens of millions of dollars — from pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer and Merck.

But nanomedicine wasn’t always such a buzzworthy topic — it really hit the scene in the 1990s when an anti-cancer drug called Doxil became the first FDA-approved nanomedicine-based therapy thanks to a multinational team headed by biochemist Yechezkel Barenholz at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Decades in the making

Barenholz believed as far back as the late 1970s that chemotherapy could be improved by placing anti-cancer drugs in nanoscaled carriers made of lipids — the stuff that forms the membranes of all the cells in our body. Placing the free-floating drug molecules into carriers takes advantage of the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, in which nanosized particles in the blood stream should enter and accumulate in solid tumors more easily than in healthy tissue.

Placing drugs in nanocarriers would cause fewer side effects and require smaller doses.

One of the characteristics of tumors is their rapid growth, causing blood vessels to grow abnormally, which results in tiny gaps in the vessel walls that nanoparticles can pass through easily. Another consequence of rapid growth is the suppression of “lymphatic drainage,” meaning that the lymph fluid in tumors can’t clear out waste products and nanoparticles as effectively as in healthy tissues, causing more accumulation in tumors than in the rest of the body. Ideally, placing the drugs in nanocarriers would cause fewer side effects and require smaller doses as a result.

Barenholz began to develop early prototypes of such a drug in 1979 with oncologist Alberto Gabizon. But in 1987, that trial drug, called OLV-DOX, failed its clinical trial. The carriers were too large; they didn’t have enough of the drug inside of them to be effective, and they were readily destroyed by the body’s immune system.

In the interim, though, Barenholz started a parallel project as part of a team. In 1984, after chatting with an old colleague from UC–San Francisco, Dimitri Papahadjopoulos, Barenholz was convinced to take a sabbatical at Papahadjopoulos’s startup, Liposome Technology Inc. (LTI) in California, on the condition that LTI would support the ongoing Doxil research at Hebrew University at the same time.

Second time’s the charm

In the 1990s, Barenholz and his team at LTI worked together on what they called “stealth liposomes.” An outer layer of a polymer called polyethylene glycol (commonly called PEG) was added to the lipid carrier to extend the circulation time of the liposomes. This polymer is very hydrophilic — it interacts well with water, so that the closely packed water molecules at the surface of the liposome will prevent the liposomes from interacting with any proteins or cells in the blood stream, allowing them to reach their intended target.

At the same time, Barenholz was working in his lab in Israel to figure out a way to make the nanocarriers smaller while still being able to put enough of the drug inside to make the treatment effective. These teams patented these new technologies by 1989, and the new and improved OLV-DOX, now called Doxil, began clinical trials in Jerusalem in 1991.

Barenholz leaves us with a lesson anyone can learn from.

The rest is history. FDA approved in 1995, the team was excited to have brought the first nanomedicine to market. Even though another research and development company approached Barenholz with a large sum of money and royalties for the rights to the early Doxil prototypes, he stuck with LTI, believing that he would have more control and success with the team there. (LTI is part of Johnson & Johnson today.)

In some of the last words of his reflective and personal review, Barenholz wrote that he wants to transfer his experience with Doxil development and eventual approval to researchers worldwide. He leaves us with an overarching lesson that anyone can learn from: collaboration is an essential part of successful science and is undervalued most of the time in the pursuit of great personal discoveries.

Read the source article at salon.com

Read the source article at TechCrunch

Israeli serial startup stars of blockchain tech return with...

Leveraging some “mind boggling math” introduced as an update onto the Ethereum blockchain only a few months ago, QEDit is launching its product on our Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.

The company, which takes its name from the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum (which was what would have been demonstrated) relies on the principle of zero knowledge proofs to provide audit and due diligence services for financial institutions.One of the problems that’s been slowing down blockchain adoption in businesses is how to share information based on proprietary data. Companies don’t want to share a lot of information with competitors, but need to have ways to ensure that the information they’re receiving is correct.The QEDit service allows that on the blockchain. Creating ways for multi-party transactions to engage in queries that prove certain facts about a business, without ever accessing the data underlying those proofs.This differs from a “regular” blockchain where every transaction is sent to all the nodes on the network and all of those nodes record the rules and value of the transaction on a public ledger. With QEDit, only the user runs the rules on their own data. The only thing that anyone else on the chain sees are the proofs.One of the company’s co-founders is Aviv Zohar, a researcher at Hebrew University whose work was cited by none other than Ethereum project developer VItalik Butarin in his early writing about cryptocurrency. Zohar has been working in cryptography for years and his work is critical to the very “mind boggling math” that makes zero knowledge proofs possible.Helping him round out the team at QEDit are Jonathan Rouach and Ruben Arnold, two serial entrepreneurs who first met in 1999 while studying at Technion University in Israel.“We saw that there were two conflicting trends. More and more data is accumulated in the enterprise world and companies are trying to keep it for themselves and monetize it and companies are trying to keep it for themselves but there are instances… on the one hand you want to keep the data for yourself and on the other hand you want to share the data with other parties,” says Rouach of the idea behind QEDit. “This is what we built. It’s the possibility of sharing proofs about the data without sharing the data itself.”While Arnold pursued a career in consulting in Paris at McKinsey & Co., Rouach stayed in Israel working in electrical engineering. But around 2012 he became interested in a novel idea percolating out from the edges of the internet called bitcoin (it was a post on Slashdot, Rouach says).In 2013, he co-founded Bits of Gold with his brother Yuval Rouach and Arnold as one of the first bitcoin exchanges to launch in Israel.“It was the technology,” that first attracted Rouach to the Bitcoin bomb that was exploding on the Internet. “It’s a beautiful solution to a problem that I didn’t even think of… How can you create trust between people without central coordination?”Rouach’s fascination with that concept of anonymous trust is a thread that runs through his future endeavors as well — businesses that all attempt to refine that notion of anonymous, verified trust.“Every fact on the blockchain is mathematically verified,” says Rouach. “That is enough to know what is the state of the whole world.”

While bitcoin may have been Rouach’s gateway drug into the wild world of cryptobusiness, he quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the technology to actually fulfill the promise of expanding on that notion of anonymous trust and verification.That’s because the security issues around bitcoin had yet to be resolved. So Rouach launched a second company called LedgerLock, which provided security services for a range of digital assets.Once LedgerLock was sold to Digital Assets Holdings, during the split between the application of blockchain technology to business problems which ignored the push to tokenization, and a more public-facing movement that was predicated on token sales.So QEDit is the next step on the road to a fully cryptographic, nearly automated transaction system. The idea is to replace the army of auditors that are involved in providing due diligence and oversight for negotiations and transactions that involve proprietary information.Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), audit firms, financial services companies, and large telecoms themselves are on board for the experiment. QEDit has partnerships with Deloitte, BNP Paribas and British Telecom for its first product called QEDit Enhanced Diligence.Unlike the rash of companies based on blockchain that have gone the coin sale route, Rouach tells me that his firm has no intention of launching an ICO. “We’re completely on the enterprise blockchain side and what we want to do is ensure that companies can build trust between them without having to reveal their private data.”The company sells the service on a per use basis and as part of the beta launch here at Disrupt the QEDit is offering two free years of service to customers that sign up for its beta.Rouach says there’s a big market for this kind of work, with roughly $6 billion floating out there in the rating market alone.It’s hard to understate how radical the change this technology could bring to financial services actually could be.“You never had a peer-to-peer way of an investor or an acquirer or an auditor knocking on the door of the company and say prove me this, and to know what they’re giving back is accurate,” says Rouach.

At Stanford, Israeli brain scientist thinks thoughts about...

Ask Adi Mizrahi if he loves his work and his answer is a no-brainer.“I’m absolutely convinced I have the best job in the world,” said Mizrahi, a neurobiologist, award-winning scientist and the director of the Hebrew University’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences.Mizrahi, 47, now on sabbatical at Stanford University, is taking a year to talk to other scientists and learn about cutting-edge research techniques he can bring back to Israel. It’s part of his philosophy of interdisciplinary science, which he believes is crucial for understanding the brain.“I think it is a multidisciplinary problem,” he said. “You cannot neglect one side and expect to solve the problem.”It’s an approach he uses at the Center for Brain Sciences, which brings together physicists, neurobiologists, psychologists, computer scientists and engineers to collaborate on research. The cross-discipline point of view is essential because the brain is just too complicated to be understood by one approach. “If you only look at behavior, you’ll never know what the cells are doing,” Mizrahi said.Mizrahi, the author or co-author of more than 25 papers, with titles such as “Distinct Spatiotemporal Response Properties of Excitatory Versus Inhibitory Neurons in the Mouse Auditory Cortex,” does what he calls “basic research.” That means that it’s not dedicated to finding practical solutions for immediate problems. “We do it for the sake of knowledge,” he said.

"We do it for the sake of knowledge."

But sometimes results come anyway. For example, the center — not Mizrahi personally — has made splashy headlines for therapies such as deep brain stimulation, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease.In 2009, Mizrahi won the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Discovery in Medical Research, which goes to a scientist under 45 at Hebrew University or the University of Sydney, in alternate years. The award honored Mizrahi for his work on new approaches that are “essential steps towards therapies which will allow the regeneration of brain structures from stem cell technology,” according to the prize website.Hebrew University’s brain sciences center was founded in 2009 with $20 million in funding from the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. In 2015 this was increased by another $30 million, a hefty chunk of the center’s $150 million initial budget. Next year, the center will move into a new 156,000-square-foot home, the Goodman Brain Sciences building. (The new building will be the largest neuroscience center in Israel and one of the most ambitious in the world, according to Hebrew University.)Until then, Mizrahi says his time as a visiting professor at Stanford, where he can focus on studying and learning about techniques like revolutions in RNA sequencing, is a gift and a privilege. But he is also looking to the future, including to students he and others are training back at the Center for Brain Sciences.He said it’s those “the scientists of tomorrow” who are growing up within the interdisciplinary approach, who will be able to take research even further with their intuitive understanding of how to approach the brain from many points of view. But once they become scientists, they’ll find it’s a hard but rewarding road, where being ready to fail again and again is a prerequisite for the job.“Science is not for everyone,” Mizrahi said, even if he’s sure that it’s definitely for him.Read the source article at jweekly.com

Ancient Temple Built by the Descendent of A Vast Biblical...

BY CALLUM PATON Experts working at the Horvat ‘Amuda site have said the drone images allowed them to pinpoint their dig.Drones flying over a military training area in Israel have revealed the location of an ancient temple built by the biblical Idumean people some 2,200 years ago.Subsequent excavations of the structure, spotted in military aerial photographs, uncovered a number of cultic jars and vessels and a rare hellenistic altar for the burning of incense decorated with the image of a bull.Experts working at the Horvat ‘Amuda site have said the drone images allowed them to pinpoint their dig, the Times of Israel reported.“This technology helped us choose where to focus our excavation probes, and, indeed, it very quickly emerged that this was in fact a unique discovery,” Oren Gutfeld of the Hebrew University, and Pablo Betzer and Michal Haber from the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.The temple discovered in the Lachish region military training area is just one of handful of Idumean buildings recovered in Israel. The ancient people settled across the holy lands until the civilization was wiped out by the Babylonians in B.C. 700.Trading across the region in the time of Alexander the Great they were eventually assimilated into the area’s Jewish population. The ancient carved city of Petra in modern Jordan remains one of the most prominent examples of remaining Idumean culture and architecture.Excavations at Horvat ‘Amuda revealed a series of rooms, one of them containing two stone incense altars. The bull image adorning one of them also showed the architecture of what appears to be a temple or a similar structure like a palace. "[This] may have symbolized a deity worshipped by the Idumeans,” Israel’s Archaeological Authority said in a statement. It added that as well as painted bowls, juglets and oil lamps made of delicate pottery the altar was a rare and significant find.The temple appears to have been dismantled on purpose rather than destroyed. Experts believe this may have occurred in around 112 B.C. during the conquests of the Hasmonean king, John Hyrcanus I.The Hasmonean dynasty that ruled Judea and the surrounding area at the time sacked Maresha, a nearby Idumean stronghold, home to 6,000-10,000 people. As part of the conquests locals were forced to convert to the Jewish faith or leave the area.Numerous archaeological discoveries have been made in and around Horvat ‘Amuda including remains dating from the Jewish revolts against the Romans in the second century.Read the source article at Newsweek

(JTA) — Three Israeli universities were ranked in the top 100 of the most innovative universities in the world in the Reuters’ annual list. Hebrew University came in at 82, climbing 12 spots from last year. Tel Aviv University was ranked at 88 and The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology was 89. The Reuters analysis identifies the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and power new markets and industries. The ranking is based on a number of indicators, including patent filings and research paper citations. Reuters cited the Hebrew University’s technology transfer company, Yissum Research Development Company, as bringing students’ and researchers’ technologies and discoveries to market, with 10,000 registered patents covering 2,800 inventions, more than 900 licensed technologies, and the launch of 125 startups. Stanford University came in first place for the third year in a row. MIT was ranked second and Harvard University third. Overall, the top 100 consists of 51 universities based in North America, 26 in Europe, 20 in Asia and 3 in the Middle East.Read the source article at The Forward

3 Israeli Universities Ranked In World’s Top 100 Most...

Researchers discovered that dense ensembles of quantum spins can be created in a diamond with high resolution using electron microscopes, paving the way for enhanced sensors and resources for quantum technologies.Diamonds are made of carbon atoms in a crystalline structure, but if a carbon atom is replaced with another type of atom, this will result in a lattice defect. One such defect is the Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV), where one carbon atom is replaced by a nitrogen atom, and its neighbor is missing (an empty space remains in its place).

Enhancing the Quantum Sensing Capabilities of Diamonds

Shooting electrons at diamonds can introduce quantum sensors into them

If this defect is illuminated with a green laser, in response it will emit red light (fluoresce) with an interesting feature: its intensity varies depending on the magnetic properties in the environment. This unique feature makes the NV center particularly useful for measuring magnetic fields, magnetic imaging (MRI), and quantum computing and information.In order to produce optimal magnetic detectors, the density of these defects should be increased without increasing environmental noise and damaging the diamond properties.Now, scientists from the research group of Nir Bar-Gill at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics and Department of Applied Physics, in cooperation with Professor Eyal Buks of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, have shown that ultra-high densities of NV centers can be obtained by a simple process of using electron beams to kick carbon atoms out of the lattice.This work, published in the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters, is a continuation of previous work in the field and demonstrates an improvement in the densities of NV centers in a variety of diamond types. The irradiation is performed using an electron beam microscope (Transmission Electron Microscope or TEM), which has been specifically converted for this purpose. The availability of this device in nanotechnology centers in many universities in Israel and around the world enables this process with high spatial accuracy, quickly and simply.The enhanced densities of the NV color centers obtained, while maintaining their unique quantum properties, foreshadow future improvements in the sensitivity of diamond magnetic measurements, as well as promising directions in the study of solid state physics and quantum information theory.Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) color centers exhibit remarkable and unique properties, including long coherence times at room temperature (~ ms), optical initialization and readout, and coherent microwave control.“This work is an important stepping stone toward utilizing NV centers in diamond as resources for quantum technologies, such as enhanced sensing, quantum simulation, and potentially quantum information processing”, said Bar-Gill, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Racah Institute of Physics at the Hebrew University, where he founded the Quantum Information, Simulation, and Sensing lab."What is special about our approach is that it's very simple and straightforward," said Hebrew University researcher Dima Farfurnik. "You get sufficiently high NV concentrations that are appropriate for many applications with a simple procedure that can be done in-house."

Hebrew University Graduates Ranked Among Most Employable in...

International survey ranks Hebrew University among the world's best at preparing students for workplace

November 20, 2017 — An analysis published by Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked Hebrew University of Jerusalem students as the 62nd most employable graduates in the world, placing the Hebrew University among the world's top 100 universities at preparing its students for the workplace. The ranking also positions Hebrew University graduates as the most employable from Israeli universities, followed by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at 113, and Tel Aviv University at 135. The Hebrew University moved up 5 points this year, from 67 last year.The global employability ranking, designed by the French human resources consultancy Emerging and published exclusively by Times Higher Education, reveals which universities the recruiters at top companies think are the best at preparing students for the workforce. The survey was conducted among thousands of recruiters and managers from a range of firms and industries around the world. Respondents were asked to define what they look for in graduates and which universities they believe produce the most employable graduates.The top 5 ranked institutions globally were Caltech-California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University, MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Cambridge. The complete Global University Employability Ranking list is available online.

In an unprecedented find, Israeli archeologists recently unearthed the first evidence of ancient deer bones on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, near the Jordan Valley. According to researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Earth Sciences and the Geological Survey of Israel, the remains are approximately 9 million years old. The discovery was initially made by two doctoral candidates at the university, Alexis Rosenbaum and Dotan Shaked-Gelband, who were reconstructing the lake’s stretch to characterize the composition of its ancient waters, the university said Monday. “The bones were partly submerged in a coastal sediment, and it is assumed that the animal apparently died on the shore of the lake and was eroded,” the researchers said in a joint statement. “The presence of an ancient deer is not rare in assemblages during the same period, but this is the first time such remains have been discovered in Israel. The reason for this apparently lies in the processes of extinction and burial.” The researchers added that the presence of the deer is also “indicative of a rich world of terrestrial animals” known from other areas of the Levant and the Mediterranean basin. “Moreover, the development of freshwater bodies during the Miocene Epoch (23 million to 5.3 million years ago) in the Mediterranean basin allowed the distribution of reindeer from Asia to the West,” they noted. The researchers said that studies of this type are of great importance in understanding regional climate change in recent years, as well as the development of the Mediterranean Sea.Read the source article at Jpost

First time in Israel: Ancient deer bones discovered near Sea...

/PRNewswire/ -- Therapix Biosciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: TRPX), a specialty clinical-stage pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of cannabinoid-based treatments, executed a non-exclusive material transfer agreement with Yissum, the technology transfer company of The , for two synthetic cannabinoids synthesized by , Ph.D., Professor of medicinal chemistry at the university and Chairman of the Therapix Scientific Advisory Board. Therapix plans to initiate a preclinical study during the fourth quarter to evaluate the opioid-sparing effect of these compounds in a rat model. The opioid overuse epidemic in was recently declared a public health emergency by President . According to Medical Care, prescription opioid overdose, abuse and dependence carries high costs for society with an estimated total economic burden of alone. Nevertheless, for immediate relief of moderate-to-severe acute as well as chronic pain, opioids are frequently the treatment of choice due to their rapid onset and efficacy. However, due to their addictive nature and deleterious adverse events that may lead to lethal outcomes, there is a need to significantly reduce their effective therapeutic dose, Chief Technology Officer at Therapix, said, "To address the opioid issue, Therapix is collaborating with Professor Mechoulam to develop a therapy of innovative cannabinoids and opioids. The study builds upon the innovative work of Professor Mechoulam and seeks to reduce the use of opioids by combining them with proprietary cannabinoid molecules to alleviate pain." "Based on our research surrounding the effects of the endocannabinoid system and how cannabinoids can play a role in pain relief, our group of research scientists has synthesized cannabinoids with improved binding affinity and target specificity, which do not cause the therapeutically undesirable cannabis psychoactivity," stated Professor Mechoulam. "In view of their parallel actions in pain, cannabinoids and opioids together may allow the development of a novel therapy that could exhibit a synergistic effect that reduces the therapeutic effective dose of opioids." , Chief Financial Officer at Therapix, said, "We are privileged to be working with Professor Mechoulam and the in paving the way forward to a potential new therapeutic that may one day help to address this deadly social and medical crisis." About Therapix Biosciences Ltd.: Therapix Biosciences Ltd. is a specialty clinical-stage pharmaceutical company led by an experienced team of senior executives and scientists. Our focus is creating and enhancing a portfolio of technologies and assets based on cannabinoid pharmaceuticals. With this focus, the Company is currently engaged in the following drug development programs based on repurposing an FDA approved synthetic cannabinoid (dronabinol): THX-110 and THX-120 for the treatment of Tourette syndrome (TS) and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA); THX-130 for the treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); and THX-150 for the treatment of infectious diseases. Please visit our website for more information at www.therapixbio.com. About Yissum: Yissum is the technology transfer company of the Hebrew University . Founded in 1964, it is the third company of its kind to be established, and serves as a bridge between cutting-edge academic research and a global community of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry. Yissum's mission is to benefit society by converting extraordinary innovations and transformational technologies into commercial solutions that address our most urgent global challenges. Yissum has registered over 10,000 patents covering 2,800 inventions; licensed over 900 technologies and has spun out more than 125 companies. Yissum's business partners span the globe and include companies such as Boston Scientific, Google, ICL, Intel , Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Microsoft, Novartis and many more. For further information please visit www.yissum.co.il Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company's expectations, beliefs, and intentions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", "may", "should", "could", "might", "seek", "target", "will", "project", "forecast", "continue" or "anticipate" or their negatives or variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical matters. Such forward-looking statements used in this press release include, among other things, references to the clinical and commercial potential of the Company's product candidates. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, our ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue our business and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, our ability to commercialize our product candidates, competition in the industry in which we operate and overall market conditions. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in Therapix Biosciences Ltd.'s annual report on Form 20-F dated filed with the SEC, which is available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. For further information: Investor Contact: , CFO, Therapix Biosciences, [email protected] Therapix Biosciences Ltd. For further information: +972-3-616-7055 Media Contact: +1-212-825-3210 SOURCE Therapix Biosciences Ltd http://www.therapixbio.com Read the source article at PR Newswire

Therapix Biosciences Plans Preclinical Study to Evaluate...

On the banks of a creek near Jerusalem stands an enchanted forest, its trees shrouded by giant cobwebs woven by long-jawed spiders. Science and nature combined to create the unusual sight: the Soreq creek largely contains treated sewage full of nutrients that promote the proliferation of mosquitoes that serve as a source of food for spiders, which then reproduce in multitudes. "It's an exceptional case," said arachnophile Igor Armicach, a doctoral student at Hebrew University’s Arachnid Collection. He said millions of long-jawed spiders created the webbing that envelops the forest, a phenomenon rarely seen in the Middle East. But while spider egg sacs and spiderlings are everywhere along the banks of the creek, the future is bleak. Colder temperatures will soon cause a drastic drop in the mosquito population that sustains the web-weavers.Read the source article at Jpost

In Jerusalem forest, spiders weave their magic

As Israel faces a shortage of some 10,000 engineers and programmers in the coming decade, three Jerusalem-area students in the tech field noticed an even bigger scarcity in their classrooms and workplaces: women. “We’re frustrated that not enough girls are involved in the computer science field,” said Noga Mann, a Hebrew University student and a co-founder of QueenB. Yasmin Dunsky and Neta Moses, and later, Mann, wanted to address the gender disparity as early as possible. They created QueenB, a mentorship and training program for girls of middle-school age, to support their interest in computer science and instill confidence in their abilities. Israel has some 5,600 active innovation companies and startups, which raised a record $4.8 billion in funding last year. But the number of women in this growing and lucrative field is relatively meager. According to Innovation Authority 2016 data, females account for 26% of the some 140,000 people who work in research and development in Israel, or some 36,000 women. Mann traces part of this problem to the messages girls receive when they are first thinking about what they want to do when they grow up. “They think that computer science is not for them; they think it’s only for geniuses or it’s very boring,” said Mann. QueenB is now in its second year, offering basic classes in computers and programming once a week in a computer lab at Hebrew University. Currently, there are about 30 volunteer instructors helping 120 girls, teaching them a relatively high level of computer programming and utilizing high school and college-level materials, said Mann. Maayan Mirchan, 28, studies at Hebrew University and is in her second year of volunteering with QueenB. She found out about the organization through a friend who works at Google, who’s also a friend of Dunsky’s. “I’m the only girl studying electrical engineering in my year,” said Mirchan. “It’s a bummer that there aren’t more girls in the field. I think a lot of it has to do with self-confidence.… It doesn’t have to be a guys’ subject.” Mirchan teaches Java programming, as well as sessions on gender stereotyping and famous women involved in computer engineering. And the girls are quick learners. “They can work by themselves after three months, and none of them knew how to program before,” said Mirchan. QueenB girls also participate in hackathons, coding competitions, and tours of tech companies, some of which help to sponsor the organization. They learn about being a tech entrepreneur and how to “pitch” or present their products to an audience. The girls also start working on their own personal app during the year. Past projects have included an exercise app, in which clicking on a photo of muscles on the body would show exercises that could relieve pain in that muscle, and an app that identifies nail polish brands. “It was really important for us to be really interesting and creative,” said Mann. “We try to make it close to the things they’re interested in.” Tuv Feller, 14, created a “friendship” app last year that tests how well friends know each other through questions. After getting involved in QueenB, she said, she would now like to study something in the computer science field. Feller said the instructors are like “big sisters.” “The leaders are very nice, they explain everything really well. And I think it’s a good program because it’s very good for girls. There are lots of girls from all the sciences and computer science,” said Feller. And QueenB will be able to do more teaching with $72,000 it recently won at the WeWork Creator Awards, which took place in Tel Aviv on October 26. The co-working space WeWork held a competition for nonprofit and for-profit startups in Israel and around the world, awarding a total of $20 million. Mann said with the prize money they will be able to expand out of Jerusalem into other cities in Israel, such as Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Haifa and Beersheba. “The dream is having branches all over Israel,” she said. She Codes, another female tech initiative in Israel, also won big at the WeWork Creator Awards, with a large grant of $180,000. She Codes is a community of 7,000 female computer programmers that offers mentoring and courses to women who are already working in the tech field. QueenB focuses on younger girls, with the aim of giving them the confidence to enter a field dominated by men. Mann and the other co-founders hope those girls will in turn become mentors for younger girls. And even if some don’t go onto work in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — Mann said they hope to give the girls motivation and belief in their own abilities. “We teach them to be brave and take on challenges, even if later on in life they won’t be programmers,” she said. Mirchan hopes that QueenB can lead to more women in the tech world. “Long term, it would be really cool if we got a community of high-tech women, even 5 or 10 years in the future,” said Mirchan. “A whole networking system would be really cool to pass around job openings and that could benefit a lot of women.”Read the source article at The Times of Israel

QueenB takes a byte out of gender gap to promote diversity...

German-Israeli Accelerator Speeds Up Cybersecurity...

November 6, 2017 — A new initiative to accelerate cybersecurity innovation and collaboration between Germany and Israel was launched in Jerusalem.The Hessian Israeli Partnership Accelerator for Cybersecurity (HIPA) brings together top talents in cybersecurity from Israel and Germany to jointly work on cybersecurity projects in areas such as network technologies, internet infrastructure, and software security. The overarching goal is to trigger the creation of innovation and businesses in cybersecurity in Israel and Germany.HIPA connects the participants with entrepreneurs, researchers, mentors, customers and influencers, and the in-depth technical and business training provided is expected to give the start-ups emerging from HIPA exceptionally high chances of succeeding in the market.The accelerator program began with one week of in-depth entrepreneurship and cybersecurity training in Jerusalem (October 29 to November 5, 2017), which will be followed by two months of targeted research and development activities. The results will be reviewed and finalized in one week of technology training in Darmstadt, Germany, and presented in team pitches at a conference in Berlin, Germany (January 2 to 9, 2018).HIPA is organized by the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT in Darmstadt, Germany, and the Cyber Security Research Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's School of Computer Science and Engineering. This partnership connects one of Europe‘s leading cybersecurity research centers with Israel‘s vibrant start-up scene to develop a new generation of cybersecurity researchers and to foster collaboration between Germany and Israel.Almost half of the researchers at the Hebrew University's School of Computer Science and Engineering are currently involved in various aspects of cybersecurity research. Israeli scientists in general, and researchers from the Hebrew University, in particular, have always played a major role in securing the Internet and ensuring its robustness.Fraunhofer SIT is the leading institute for applied cybersecurity research in Germany and one of the oldest research institutions for IT security in the world. Fraunhofer SIT conducts world-class applied research with the aim of bringing new technology to the market. Together with its partners, the institute works on innovative new methods and procedures, creates prototypes, develops customized IT solutions and tests existing products and systems.In 2015, the Hebrew University and Fraunhofer SIT initiated the Fraunhofer Project Center for Cybersecurity in Jerusalem. The joint Project Center is part of the Hebrew University's Cybersecurity Innovation Center, a leading institute for applied cybersecurity in Israel.

German and Israeli thought leaders and industry experts attended the launch reception on Thursday, November 2 at the Hebrew University's Edmond J. Safra campus. Participants included Boris Rhein, the Hessian State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts; Yigal Unna, Head of Cybersecurity Technology Unit, Israeli National Cybersecurity Directorate; and Iddo Moed, Cybersecurity Coordinator, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The event was opened by Professor Danny Dolev, head of Hebrew University's Cybersecurity Innovation Center, and Professor Michael Waidner, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT. The accelerator programme was presented by Dr. Haya Shulman, Division Director at Fraunhofer SIT and Managing Director of the accelerator."Cyber-attacks are a constant threat to state and financial entities, as well as to each and every one of us," said Professor Danny Dolev, the Berthold Badler Chair in Computer Science and head of the Cyber Security Research Center at the Hebrew University. "As is proven daily, the communications infrastructure of the Internet and the many services that rely on it are most vulnerable to such attacks. At the Hebrew University, we are researching many aspects of cyber protection, including protection of Internet data routing, cloud computing, Bitcoin, the smart grid, and more. Our collaboration with Fraunhofer deepens the research into these issues and will enable researchers from both countries to collaborate on the creation new tools for dealing with cyber-attacks.""The establishment of a joint project center with Fraunhofer is a vote of confidence in the Hebrew University's scientific excellence and in Israel's position as a global innovator in cybersecurity," added Professor Yair Weiss, head of the Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering at the Hebrew University.

U of Illinois signs research deal with Israeli university

The University of Illinois has signed a research partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.U of I President Timothy Killeen signed the pact Tuesday during Gov. Bruce Rauner's trip to Israel this week. Rauner says the collaboration will boost Illinois' economy.Officials say Hebrew University has more than 100 research centers and 7,000 patents to its credit. They say like the U of I, it's routinely ranked among the top universities globally.Killeen says Hebrew University is "a global leader in producing the workforce and innovation of tomorrow through world-class programs."Asher Cohen is Hebrew University president. He says the school is trying to "establish internationalization," expand student-exchange programs and advance large-scale research.Read the source article at Chicago Tribune

October 31, 2017 — Researchers have long pondered on the origin of delicate criss-cross facetted patterns that are commonly found on the surfaces of broken material. Typical crack speeds in glass easily surpass a kilometer per second, and broken surface features may be well smaller than a millimeter. Since the formation of surface structure lasts a tiny fraction of a second, the processes generating these patterns have been largely a mystery.Now there is a way around this problem. Replacing hard glass with soft but brittle gels makes it possible to slow down the cracks that precipitate fracture to mere meters per second. This novel technique has enabled researchers Itamar Kolvin, Gil Cohen, and Professor Jay Fineberg, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics, to unravel the complex physical processes that take place during fracture in microscopic detail and in real time.Their work sheds new light on how broken surface patterns are formed. Surface facets bounded by steps are formed due to a special “topological” arrangement of the crack that cannot easily be undone, much as a knot along a string cannot be unraveled without pulling the whole length of the string through it.These “crack knots” increase the surface formed by a crack, thereby creating a new venue for dissipating the energy required for material failure, and thereby making materials harder to break.“The complex surfaces that are commonly formed on any fractured object have never been entirely understood,” said Professor Jay Fineberg. “While a crack could form perfectly flat, mirror-like fracture surfaces (and sometimes does), generally complex facetted surfaces are the rule, even though they require much more energy to form. This study illuminates both how such beautiful and intricate patterns emerge in the fracture process, and why the crack cannot divest itself of them once they are formed.”This physically important process provides an aesthetic example of how physics and mathematics intertwine to create intricate and often unexpected beauty. The research appears in Nature Materials.

New Technique Reveals the Intricate Beauty of Cracked Glass

A protein “switch” that activates the immune system to attack cancer cells when it detects signs of the disease has been developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The switch stimulates an immune response only when it detects the cancer cells, without harming other healthy tissues, the researchers said.The important discovery has just been published in the journal Cell.Immunotherapy is now seen as having great potential in the research effort to develop drugs against a wide variety of cancers. Despite this success, the use of immunotherapy remains limited due to the lack of antibodies specific to the tumor of substances that can cause an immune response to a particular type of cancer.The toxicity of certain treatments, such as systemic therapy for the whole body, for example, is another obstacle. In addition, the treatments do not work in all cases; only about 30% to 40% of patients will respond positively to treatment, even with the most advanced drugs.As a result, oncology researchers have been trying to develop integrated therapies of various kinds that serve to increase the immune response to damage the cancer cells accurately and specifically by directing the immune system to attack only cancer cells. But to activate the immune system against the tumor, but not against the healthy tissue, a sophisticated mechanism was needed to distinguish between them.In a research collaboration between MIT and HU and headed by Dr. Yuval Tabach in Jerusalem, the researchers developed a method for finding short sequences of DNA that differentiate cancer cells from healthy tissue. The research itself was conducted by Dr. Lior Nissim, MIT researchers, and Doron Stop, an HU doctoral student who is also a medical student in the Jerusalem faculty.These DNA sequences, called “promoters,” react to an existing state of the cell and change it by expressing proteins that are suitable for it – for example, in a situation of heat stress.The team found that naturally occurring proteins in cells do not distinguish well between cancer cells and healthy cells. The researchers then developed a method that enables the design of promoters that discriminate between cancer cells and healthy cells.They are continuing to develop them with DNA sequencing and using machine-learning algorithms to distinguish between them thus creating a “guided missile” that attacks only malignancies. To the missile, various methods of killing cancer cells could be added, including an immunotherapeutic “Trojan horse” approach.“We are in the midst of a huge and growing revolution in which computers, biology, and engineering will join together to change medicine,” said Tabach. “Israeli academia has an essential part in the process. This project and others like it will enable targeting in the near future of a specific cell, and killing it either with the immune system or by initiating cell suicide.”To do this, the research team built a genetic circuit, encoded in DNA, to differentiate cancer cells from non-cancer cells. The circuit, which can be customized to respond to different types of tumors, is based on simple gates used in electronics that will create a circuit only when two existing inputs are present.The method is based on the fact that cancer cells differ from normal cells in the profile of their gene expression.The researchers developed synthetic promoters – DNA sequences – designed to initiate gene expression, but only in cancer cells. The circuit is transferred to cells in the affected area via a virus, and focuses on tumors more accurately than existing treatments, as it requires two cancer-specific signs before it responds.The researchers were able to build a system that works only in specific cancer cells. They attached an “alarm mechanism” to the system, which activates the immune system and infiltrates the system with virus vectors for a mouse with cancerous growths.In response, only the cancer cells activated the alarm system that caused the immune system to attack the tumor. Moreover, the researchers have shown that the circuit can also focus on other types of cancer cells.Therefore, the researchers hope the system will also be used to treat other diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and other autoimmune diseases.Read the source article at Jpost

Joint Israeli-US research distinguishes cancerous cells from...

LONDON and TEL AVIV, Israel, October 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/

CIITECH Sponsors Research Project on Cannabis-based Therapy...

CIITECH, a UK-Israel cannabis biotech startup, announced today that it has selected to sponsor a research project with the Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focused on the therapeutic benefit of cannabis for the treatment of asthma.

CIITECH selected to award research funding, through a non-exclusive grant competition, to the collaborative work of Professor Raphael Mechoulam, a pioneer in the field of cannabis research credited for the discovery of the endocannabinoid system, and his colleague, Professor Francesca Levi-Schaffer, a global expert in asthma research. Together, these two Hebrew University scientists will embark on research to identify a possible inhibitory effect of a derivative of cannabidiol (CBD) on allergic airway inflammation.CBD is the non-psychoactive ingredient or cannabinoid found in both hemp and regular cannabis strains. Last year, the UK Home Office reclassified cannabis, scheduling only the psychoactive compounds of the drug. CBD is now legal in the UK, available in retailers across the country and online."We know that CBD has anti-inflammatory properties and we're looking forward to investigating whether this will be effective on treating asthma and related respiratory conditions," said Professor Raphael Mechoulam. "We're excited to further explore the therapeutic potential of cannabis."Asthma is a common allergic inflammatory disease both in children and in adults of the lungs airways causing a heavy health burden for patients. From 1990 to 2015, the number of asthma cases worldwide has doubled. According to Asthma UK, 5.4 million people here receive treatment for the condition including 1.1 million children, equating to one of the highest rates in Europe. Alongside asthma, other allergic diseases include allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy that affect approximately 20% of the global population and are continually increasing."Most of the symptoms of allergic disease patients are controlled by either symptomatic drugs or corticosteroids. However, some patients are steroid-resistant and allergic diseases such as severe asthma have been labelled as unmet clinical needs by the WHO," adds Professor Francesca Levi-Schaffer. "We believe our research will provide a novel and effective solution to treating this condition."The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is globally recognized as the epicenter of cannabis scientific research. The Hebrew University's recently established Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabis Research, headed by Dr. Joseph Tam, now serves as one of the world's leading institutes on the plant. Israel's supportive regulatory environment and collaborative healthcare ecosystem place the country at the vanguard of therapeutic cannabis. Prof. Francesca Levi-Schaffer'slaboratory at the University is focused on finding novel ways to treat allergy and recently started to study the effects of cannabis compounds on mast cells and eosinophils, the major effector cells in allergic diseases."We believe therapeutic, non-psychoactive, cannabis supplements provide consumers with a real alternative option for health and wellbeing, especially in countries such as the UK that have yet to legalise cannabis medicinally," says Clifton Flack, founder of CIITECH. "Cannabis could well become this century's wonder drug and we're honored to have the opportunity to support Professors Mechoulam and Levi-Schaffer on this preclinical research project. Many of the plant's therapeutic benefits and compounds are yet to be explored and we're excited to take part in expanding and galvanizing this new field of therapy."CIITECH is sponsoring the UK's first medical cannabis conference Cannatech London on 26th October 2017, organized by iCan: Israel Cannabis.About CIITECHCIITECH is a cannabis biotech company that focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapeutic cannabis products. By collaborating with leading research institutions in Israel and local suppliers in the UK & the EU, CIITECH leverages the full potential of Israel's cutting-edge cannabis innovation. Through its UK based eCommerce shop EssentialCannabinoids.co.uk, Israeli cannabis products are available for the first time and exclusively overseas. Go to www.ciitech.co.uk for more info.About the Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid ResearchThe Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research, staffed by leading scientists and medical doctors from the Hebrew University and its affiliated Hadassah Medical Center, conducts and coordinates exciting new research about cannabinoids, endocannabinoids and medical Cannabis, while promoting collaboration and disseminating information. More info at http://cannabinoids.huji.ac.il/

Read the source article at PR Newswire

Scientists have discovered that it’s impossible to model the physics of our universe on even the biggest computer. What that means is that we’re probably not living in a computer simulation . Theoretical physicists Zohar Ringel and Dmitry Kovrizhin from the University of Oxford and the Hebrew University in Israel applied Monte Carlo simulations (computations used to generate probabilities) to quantum objects moving through various dimensions and found that classical systems cannot create the mathematics necessary to describe quantum systems. They showed this by proving that classical physics can’t erase the sign problem, a particular quirk of quantum Monte Carlo simulations of gravitational anomalies (like warped spacetime, except in this case the researchers used an analogue from condensed matter physics).Therefore, according to Ringel and Kovrizhin, classical computers most certainly aren’t controlling our universe.The notion of a simulated universe isn’t new. Scientists and philosophers alike have flirted with the idea for decades. Some even argue that the human mind could be a simulation. Here’s Andrew Zimmerman Jones, writing for The Nature of Reality:

Yissum Announces New Platform for 3D Printing of...

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the technology-transfer company of the Hebrew University, introduced today a novel technology for the 3D printing of personalized food based on nano-cellulose, a natural, edible, calorie-free fiber.

In 2003, philosopher Nick Bostrom of the University of Oxford made the first rigorous exploration of the simulation argument. The simulations he considered are different from those in movies like “The Matrix,” in which the world is simulated but the conscious minds are not—that is, where biological human beings with human brains interface with the simulated world. In Bostrom’s simulations, human consciousness is just another figment of the simulation.Bostrom assumes that the human mind is substrate-independent: that human consciousness isn’t strictly dependent on the biological brain itself, and that if we could physically replicate that brain in sufficient detail in another form (such as within a computer) it would also have the subjective experience of consciousness. The replication doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be good enough that the replicated being has a human-like subjective experience (a “mind”). An advanced civilization with sufficient computing power to pull this off would be classified as “posthuman.”

All this being said, some physicists say that we won’t ever be able to prove definitively that we’re not in a simulation, because any evidence we collect could itself be simulated evidence. It’s exhausting to think about—but somebody has to do the work of figuring out what’s real.Read the source article at PBS: Public Broadcasting Service

Rainer Weiss of M.I.T. and his Caltech collaborators Kip Thorne and Barry Barish discovered ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves.

Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to LIGO Black Hole...

Rainer Weiss, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, both of the California Institute of Technology, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for the discovery of ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago but had never been directly seen.

In announcing the award, the Royal Swedish Academy called it “a discovery that shook the world.”

In February 2016, when an international collaboration of physicists and astronomers announced that they had recorded gravitational waves emanating from the collision of a pair of massive black holes a billion light years away, it mesmerized the world. The work validated Einstein’s longstanding prediction that space-time can shake like a bowlful of jelly when massive objects swing their weight around, and it has put astronomers on intimate terms with the deepest levels of physical reality, of a void booming and rocking with invisible cataclysms.

Why did they win?

Dr. Weiss, 85, Dr. Thorne, 77, and Dr. Barish, 81, were the architects and leaders of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, the instrument that detected the gravitational waves, and a sister organization the LIGO Scientific Collaboration of more than a thousand scientists who analyzed the data.

Dr. Weiss will receive half of the prize of 9 million Swedish Kronor and Dr. Thorne and Dr. Barish will split the other half.

The prize announcement at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, on Tuesday. The detection of gravitational waves was described as “a discovery that shook the world.”Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, pronounced in 1916, suggested that matter and energy would warp the geometry of space-time the way a heavy sleeper sags a mattress, producing the effect we call gravity. His equations described a universe in which space and time were dynamic. Space-time could stretch and expand, tear and collapse into black holes — objects so dense that not even light could escape them. The equations predicted, somewhat to his displeasure, that the universe was expanding from what we now call the Big Bang, and it also predicted that the motions of massive objects like black holes or other dense remnants of dead stars would ripple space-time with gravitational waves.

Read the source article at The New York Times

• A s emi-automatic catheter insertion gun seeks to reduce pain in hospitalized children

Energy demands in developing nations fuels storage...

- The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that energy demands from developing countries are going to grow by about 41 percent between now and 2040. By that year, these nations will be using 65 percent of the world’s total energy supply. Cambridge - The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that energy demands from developing countries are going to grow by about 41 percent between now and 2040. By that year, these nations will be using 65 percent of the world’s total energy supply. In the world's developing countries, the EIA is seeing strong economic growth, increased access to marketed energy, and quickly growing populations - all lead to a rising demand for energy. While new renewable energy technology is easily adaptable, the problem comes in implementing the technology when basic energy infrastructure is lacking. Because of the lack of reliable energy infrastructure, energy supplies are not as reliable. “In some places, we have hospitals that have 12 hours of blackouts a day,” says Enass Abo-Hamed, chief executive, and co-founder of hydrogen storage startup H2GO, reports the Solving the energy storage problem Storage of energy is the problem, and this is where the focus of a lot of technology is today. Ideally, if electricity could be stored on-site for when it was needed, outages would be few and far between. However, right now, the cost of existing battery technology is still fairly expensive. This is exactly what H2GO is working on. Abo-Hamed and her colleagues are working on an innovative way of storing hydrogen gas that can be burned in fuel cells. Their Powered by hydrogen, the Coradia iLint only emits excess steam into the atmosphere, and provides an alternative to diesel power. “Once you reach the required temperature, the structure gets distorted and releases the hydrogen,” says Abo-Hamed. H2GO Power uses a water electrolyzer to split water and produce hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is then stored within H2GO's solid-state hydrogen storage system until needed. When energy is needed during periods of unmet demand, hydrogen is released to a fuel cell where the output is only electricity and water. Abo-Hamed says that, based on their calculations, a medium to a large hospital in sub-Saharan Africa, would need about 50 liters of water per hour. The cool thing about this system is once the hydrogen is burned to make power, 80-90 percent of the water can be used again. Who is H2GO Power? Enass Abo-Hamed founded H2GO Power In July 2014 after her successful research with a novel porous catalytic material for the production and storage of hydrogen as part of her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. H2GO Power is an Investments in hydrogen storage technologies is growing. Shown here is a High power Ni-MH Battery used in the Toyota NHW20 Prius. Having previously obtained her BSc and MSc degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), she is currently a research associate at Cambridge and a Cambridge University Energy Champion. The company's mission is to bring affordable reliable energy to millions across the globe in a green way for large social and environmental impact. H2GO Power's entire containerized energy unit is a plug-and-play energy system the size of a standard shipping container. It is controlled using various algorithms to ensure maximum efficiency on both a device and system scale. H2GO Power's patent-pending technology involved a highly porous nano-particle based smart material that combines production, storage and controlled release of hydrogen. This three feature approach allows for enhanced safety and complete fuel utilization. In the EIA report released in September 2017 , the agency projected world energy consumption would rise 28 percent between now and 2040 - Note this is different from the 41 percent rise in developing nations. And there is a reason for this.In the world's developing countries, the EIA is seeing strong economic growth, increased access to marketed energy, and quickly growing populations - all lead to a rising demand for energy. While new renewable energy technology is easily adaptable, the problem comes in implementing the technology when basic energy infrastructure is lacking.Because of the lack of reliable energy infrastructure, energy supplies are not as reliable. “In some places, we have hospitals that have 12 hours of blackouts a day,” says Enass Abo-Hamed, chief executive, and co-founder of hydrogen storage startup H2GO, reports the UK's Wired Storage of energy is the problem, and this is where the focus of a lot of technology is today. Ideally, if electricity could be stored on-site for when it was needed, outages would be few and far between. However, right now, the cost of existing battery technology is still fairly expensive.This is exactly what H2GO is working on. Abo-Hamed and her colleagues are working on an innovative way of storing hydrogen gas that can be burned in fuel cells. Their system uses nanomaterials to create a partially flexible sponge that is able to trap hydrogen atoms in its pores. The gas gets released after the structure is heated.“Once you reach the required temperature, the structure gets distorted and releases the hydrogen,” says Abo-Hamed. H2GO Power uses a water electrolyzer to split water and produce hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is then stored within H2GO's solid-state hydrogen storage system until needed.When energy is needed during periods of unmet demand, hydrogen is released to a fuel cell where the output is only electricity and water. Abo-Hamed says that, based on their calculations, a medium to a large hospital in sub-Saharan Africa, would need about 50 liters of water per hour. The cool thing about this system is once the hydrogen is burned to make power, 80-90 percent of the water can be used again.Enass Abo-Hamed founded H2GO Power In July 2014 after her successful research with a novel porous catalytic material for the production and storage of hydrogen as part of her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. H2GO Power is an award-winning spin-out company from the University of Cambridge developing safe and low-cost hydrogen production and storage technologies.Having previously obtained her BSc and MSc degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), she is currently a research associate at Cambridge and a Cambridge University Energy Champion. The company's mission is to bring affordable reliable energy to millions across the globe in a green way for large social and environmental impact.H2GO Power's entire containerized energy unit is a plug-and-play energy system the size of a standard shipping container. It is controlled using various algorithms to ensure maximum efficiency on both a device and system scale.H2GO Power's patent-pending technology involved a highly porous nano-particle based smart material that combines production, storage and controlled release of hydrogen. This three feature approach allows for enhanced safety and complete fuel utilization.

BioDesign is a one-year academic course taught by Hebrew University faculty, clinical experts, medical device entrepreneurs, corporate executives, intellectual property attorneys and venture capitalists. It provides a unique opportunity to gain real-world experience in an academic environment growing a new generation of entrepreneurs.

hu150721_holodent2

Since starting 2012, the BioDesign program has developed innovations such as:

‘Liver-on-a-chip,’ functional liver cells that detect real-time changes in metabolism and viability and drastically reduces using animal testing in research

• Digital holography reducing dentures procedure• Headphones to help detect ear infection and lung disease in infants• Pressure-sensing socks feel the pain of diabetic patients• Robotic intubation prototype crawls to the lungs in difficult situations• Curvy plastic tube protects against obesityBioDesign Medical innovations have been featured in MedGadget, FoxNews, MSNBC, Times of Israel, and the Jerusalem Post and more

As the growing global population continues to put pressure on our fragile ecosystem, the need for long-term, sustainable ecological solutions is more important today than ever before.That’s why scientists at Hebrew University are pioneering research to answer our most serious global challenges. Whether it’s discovering new ways to clean contaminated water in developing nations or breakthroughs that are leading to greater crop production — Hebrew University is pushing the boundaries of knowledge and scientific discovery for the benefit of us all.

HU’s Agricultural Advancements

One of the best ways to stay updated with the most recent industry changes is to follow the top giants in the security industry. The cybersecurity industry is a quickly expanding market, growing in response to the increasing number of cyber crimes. According to the most recent report of Cybersecurity Ventures, its spending is expected to reach $1 trillion over the next 5 years. This expected spending has raised the demand for security vendors, opening the door for new start-up companies and growth for reputable firms. Below, I’ve summed up a list of 10 Chief Executive Officers in Security industry. Eugene Kaspersky is the CEO of Kaspersky Lab which is the world’s largest privately-held vendor of endpoint protection, operating in almost 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company employs around 3,300 professionals and IT security specialists in dedicated regional offices across 32 countries, and its cybersecurity technologies protect over 400 million users worldwide. Eugene has earned many international awards for his technological, scientific and entrepreneurial achievements. He was voted the World’s Most Powerful Security Exec by SYS-CON Media in 2011, awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Plymouth University in 2012, and named one of Foreign Policy Magazine’s 2012 Top Global Thinkers for his contribution to IT security awareness on a global scale. Kris Hagerman is the CEO of Sophos. He is responsible for all aspects of Sophos’ strategic direction and business operations. Before Sophos, Kris was the chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. Previously, Kris served as group president, data centre management at Symantec, where he led a business of more than $1.5 billion that represented nearly 30 per cent of Symantec’s global revenue. Earlier in his career, Kris was founder and CEO of BigBook, an online yellow pages service and founder and CEO of Affinia, an online contextual advertising network. Kris also held positions at Silicon Graphics and McKinsey & Company. Kris has a bachelor’s degree in Russian and economics from Dartmouth College, an M.Phil. in international relations from Cambridge University, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ginni Rometty is the president and CEO of IBM, and the first woman to head the company. Before becoming president and CEO in January 2012, she held the positions of senior vice president and group executive for sales, marketing, and strategy at IBM. She joined IBM as a systems engineer in its Detroit office in 1981. Rometty's tenure as CEO has been marked by prestigious awards including by Bloomberg who named her among the 50 Most Influential People in the World, and Fortune was naming her among the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" for ten consecutive years. Her tenure as CEO has been met by criticism related to executive compensation and outsourcing, and IBM's 21 consecutive quarters of revenue decline. She holds a degree of Bachelor in Science, with high honours, in computer science and electrical engineering from Northwestern University. Chuck Robbins is the CEO of Cisco and a member of its Board of Directors. Chuck has more than 20 years of leadership experience and over 19 years at Cisco. He began his career as an application developer and worked as an app developer for North Carolina National Bank, (now part of Bank of America). Robbins next worked for Wellfleet Communications, which merged with SynOptics to become Bay Networks, followed by a short spell at Ascend Communications before joining Cisco in 1997. On 4 May 2015, Cisco announced that the CEO and chairman John Chambers would step down as CEO on 26 July 2015 but remain chairman. Chuck Robbins, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales & Operations and a 17-year Cisco veteran, would become CEO. On 26th July 2015, Robbins was appointed CEO of Cisco Systems. PureVPN is the brainchild of Uzair Gadit, who specializes in network and information security. As of now, he steers the information security wing of all the ventures under Disrupt. He employs his hardcore IT expertise to plug any vulnerabilities in the systems developed by Disrupt. Ever vigilant in his approach, he ensures all pre-emptive measures are in place to guarantee complete security of users’ data. Time and again, he has proven himself to be ahead of the curve and has lead from the front. Advanced features such as Antivirus/Anti-malware, IDS & IPS, Web Filter, App Blocker, etc. are the direct outcomes of the forward-looking and innovative thinking of Uzair Gadit. As of now, no other VPN provider has the same arsenal of features like PureVPN, which is another feather in Gadit’s cap. As the CEO of PureVPN, Uzair overlooks marketing, product development, user experience, finances, security, etc. His end-to-end approach ensures the highest quality output by his team in every task undertaken by them. Tom Kennedy is the head of Raytheon, a global aerospace, and defence company. Having 40 years of experience, served in many roles, each with different responsibilities but all with the same goal: protecting the United States and its allies. Kennedy became chairman and CEO of Raytheon in 2014, and today leads a team of 63,000 employees serving customers in the defence, civil government, and cybersecurity markets around the world. In 2016, Raytheon had sales of $24 billion. In 2015, began serving as chairman of Forcepoint – a Raytheon joint venture providing defence-grade cybersecurity solutions for the commercial market. He holds a doctorate in engineering from UCLA, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University. During the time as CEO, Raytheon has committed millions of dollars toward educational programs and opportunities for service members and their families, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Udi Mokady is the Chairman and CEO of CyberArk and a pioneer in establishing the Privileged Account Security software market. Since co-founding the company in 1999, Mokady has entrenched CyberArk as the market leader in privileged account security. During his tenure at CyberArk, Mokady has also served as CyberArk’s chief strategist and visionary, overseeing global expansion, management, execution and corporate development. Mokady was named the 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Technology Security category in New England. He holds a law degree (L.L.B.) from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a master of science management degree (MSM) from Boston University. Marillyn Hewson is the Chairman, President, and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation. In her over 30 years with Lockheed Martin, she has held a variety of increasingly responsible executive positions with the Corporation, including President and Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin's Electronic Systems business area. For the past seven years, Fortune magazine has identified Ms. Hewson as one of the "50 Most Powerful Women in Business," naming her No. 3 in 2016. Ms. Hewson was born in Junction City, Kansas. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and her Master of Arts degree in economics from The University of Alabama. She also attended the Columbia Business School and Harvard Business School executive development programs. Corey Thomas is the president, CEO, and a member of the Rapid7 board of directors. In 2016, he was appointed to serve on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Board of Advisors, and in 2017 Corey was elected to the board of directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, serving on its audit and health care quality and affordability committees. Corey has more than 15 years of experience in leading companies to the next stage of growth and innovation. Corey received a B.E. in electrical engineering and computer science from Vanderbilt University and a MBA from Harvard Business School. Peter Bauer is the CEO, Co-founder, a Board Member & the visionary behind Mimecast, which he launched in 2003, with CTO and fellow Co-founder, Neil Murray. Peter was born and raised in South Africa, trained as a Microsoft systems engineer, and began working with corporate messaging systems in the mid 90’s. He moved to the UK where Mimecast was founded, and then moved once more, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts in 2011, in order to lead Mimecast’s aggressive push into North America. Since that time, Mimecast has been one of the strongest performers in its market segment in terms of customer acquisition and top line growth, making Peter one of only a handful of CEO’s to have led a pure SaaS company for over 10 years while acquiring well over 10,000 customers worldwide.Read the source article at ITProPortal

10 most influential figures of the cybersecurity world

July, 20-2017-Researchers made the first direct visual observation and measurement of ultra-fast vortex dynamics in superconductors. Their technique, detailed in the journal Nature Communications, could contribute to the development of novel practical applications by optimizing superconductor properties for use in electronics.

First Direct Observation and Measurement of Ultra-fast...

New technique can be used to test designs for reducing vortex motion and improving superconductors’ properties

This photo shows four different images of vortices penetrating into a superconducting lead film at rates of tens of GHz, and traveling at velocities up to about 20 km/s. The vortex trajectories, appearing as smeared lines, show a tree-like structure with a single stem that undergoes a series of bifurcations into branches. Each image is done at a different magnetic field and each image is 12 x 12 μm2. (Credit: Yonathan Anahory / Hebrew University)

Superconductivity is a state of matter in which an electric current can flow with absolutely no resistance. This occurs when certain materials are cooled below a critical temperature. The effect is useful for various applications, from magnetically levitating trains to MRI machines and particle accelerators. It also sparks the imagination with thoughts of lossless power transfer and much faster computation.However, superconductivity is, generally speaking, suppressed in the presence of magnetic fields, limiting the ability to use these materials in real life applications. A certain family of superconductors, called type 2, can withstand much higher values of magnetic fields. This is thanks to their ability to allow the magnetic field to thread through the material in a quantized manner, in a local tubular-shaped form called a vortex. Unfortunately, in the presence of electric currents, these vortices experience a force and may begin to move. The motion of vortices allows for electrical resistance, which, again, poses an obstacle for applications.Understanding when and how vortices will move or remain localized is the focus of much scientific research. Until now, addressing the physics of fast moving vortices experimentally has proven extremely challenging, mainly because of the lack of adequate tools.Now an international team of researchers, led by Professor Eli Zeldov from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Dr. Yonathan Anahory, senior lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics, has shown for the first time how these vortices move in superconducting materials and how fast they may travel.They used a novel microscopy technique called scanning SQUID-on-tip, which allows magnetic imaging at unprecedented high resolution (about 50 nm) and magnetic sensitivity. The technique was developed over the last decade at the Weizmann Institute by a large team including Ph.D. student Lior Embon and Ella Lachman and is currently being implemented at the Hebrew University in Dr. Anahory’s lab as well.Using this microscope, they observed vortices flowing through a thin superconducting film at rates of tens of GHz, and traveling at velocities much faster than previously thought possible — up to about 72 000 km/hr (45 000 mph). This is not only much faster than the speed of sound but also exceeds the pair-breaking speed limit of superconducting condensate — meaning that a vortex can travel 50 times faster than the speed limit of the supercurrent that drives it. This would be like driving an object to travel around the earth in just over 30 minutes.In photos and videos shown for the first time, the vortex trajectories appear as smeared lines crossing from one side of the film to another. This is similar to the blurring of images in photographs of fast-moving objects. They show a tree-like structure with a single stem that undergoes a series of bifurcations into branches. This channel flow is quite surprising since vortices normally repel each other and try to spread out as much as possible. Here vortices tend to follow each other, which generates the tree-like structure.

Seen here are, from front to back: Professor Eli Zeldov from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Dr. Yonathan Anahory from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Dr. Lior Embon from the Weizmann Institute of Science. (Photo credit: Weizmann Institute of Science)

A team of theoretical physicists from the U.S. and Belgium, led by Professors Alexander Gurevich and Milorad Miloševi, partially explained this finding by the fact that when a vortex moves, the appearance of resistance locally heats the material, which makes it easier for following vortices to travel the same route.“This work offers an insight into the fundamental physics of vortex dynamics in superconductors, crucial for many applications,” said Dr. Lior Embon, who was, at the time, the student in charge of this study. “These findings can be essential for further development of superconducting electronics, opening new challenges for theories and experiments in the yet unexplored range of very high electromagnetic fields and currents.”“The research shows that the SQUID-on-tip technique can address some outstanding problems of non-equilibrium superconductivity, ultrafast vortices and many other magnetic phenomena at the nanometer scale,” said Dr. Yonathan Anahory, senior lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics.Furthermore, simulation results obtained by a Ph.D. student from Belgium suggest that by proper sample design and improved heat removal it should be possible to reach even higher velocities. In that regime, the calculated frequencies of penetration of vortices may be pushed to the much technologically desired THz frequency gap.The research uncovers the rich physics of ultrafast vortices in superconducting films and offers a broad outlook for further experimental and theoretical investigations. In the future, this technology could allow researchers to test designs that aim to reduce vortex motion and improve the properties of superconductors.

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A collection of seals, some of which bear ancient Hebrew inscriptions as well as additional new findings, go on public display this week at the annual City of David archaeology conference, bringing with them a mystery. Who was Achiav ben Menachem? A collection of dozens of sealings, mentioning the names of officials dated to the days of the Judean kingdom prior to the Babylonian destruction, was unearthed during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the City of David National Park in the area of the walls of Jerusalem, funded by the ELAD (El Ir David) organization. The sealings (bullae, from which the Hebrew word for stamp, “bul”, is derived) are small pieces of clay which in ancient times served as seals for letters. A letter which arrived with its seal broken was a sign that the letter had been opened before reaching its destination. Although letters did not survive the horrible fire which consumed Jerusalem at its destruction, the seals, which were made of the above-mentioned material that is similar to pottery, were actually well preserved thanks to the fire, and attest to the existence of the letters and their senders. According to Ortal Chalaf and Dr. Joe Uziel, directors of the excavation for the Israel Antiquities Authority, “In the numerous excavations at the City of David, dozens of seals were unearthed, bearing witness to the developed administration of the city in the First Temple period. The earliest seals bear mostly a series of pictures; it appears that instead of writing the names of the clerks, symbols were used to show who the signatory was, or what he was sealing. “In later stages of the period – from the time of King Hezekiah (around 700 BCE) and up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE – the seals bear the names of clerks in early Hebrew script. Through these findings, we learn not only about the developed administrative systems in the city, but also about the residents and those who served in the civil service.” Some of the seals bear Biblical names, several of which are still used today, such as Pinchas. One particularly interesting seal mentions a man by the name of “Achiav ben Menachem.” These two names are known in the context of the Kingdom of Israel; Menachem was a king of Israel. While Achiav does not appear in the Bible, his name resembles that of Achav (Ahab) – the infamous king of Israel from the tales of the prophet Elijah. Though the spelling of the name differs somewhat, it appears to be the same name. The version of the name which appears on the seal discovered – Achav – appears as well in the Book of Jeremiah in the Septuagint, as well as in Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 15: 7-8). Chalaf and Uziel add that the appearance of the name Achiav is interesting for two main reasons. First – because it serves as further testimony to the names which are familiar to us from the kingdom of Israel in the Bible, and which appear in Judah during the period following the destruction of the kingdom of Israel. “These names are part of the evidence that after the exile of the Tribes of Israel, refugees arrived in Jerusalem from the northern kingdom, and found their way into senior positions in Jerusalem’s administration.” Furthermore, the sealings is the fact that the two names which appear on the seal – Achiav and Menachem – were names of kings of Israel. Though Achav (Ahab) is portrayed as a negative figure in the Bible, the name continues to be in use – though in a differently spelled version – both in Judea in the latter days of the First Temple, as reflected in Jeremiah and on the seal, and also after the destruction – in the Babylonian exile and up until the Second Temple period, as seen in the writings of Flavius Josephus. The various stamps, along with other archaeological findings discovered in the recent excavations, will be exhibited to the public for the first time at the 18th City of David research conference, the annual archaeological conference held by the Megalim Institute, will be held on September 7th at the City of David National Park. Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.

Read the source article at The Jewish Press

Marijuana was first comprehensively studied in Israel in the 1960s by Professor Raphael Mechoulam, considered “the father of medical marijuana.” Professor Mechoulam is with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Faculty of Medicine.Mechoulam’s research team isolated some of the major compounds in marijuana, many of which had been previously unknown, including THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (Cannabidiol). THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana that causes the typical “high” effect, and CBD is non-psychoactive. Both compounds have medicinal properties.THC has proven valuable in helping to treat a multitude of issues such as pain, insomnia, depression, nausea and appetite loss. CBD has shown an ability to treat inflammation, nausea, diabetes, alcoholism, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease. Hebrew University’s research on cannabinoids includes studying how different types and amounts of CBD treat various medical issues such as how it may help heal fractured bones, reduce or eliminate negative side effects from cancer treatment, anxiety, seizures, chronic pain and more.Israel boasts one of the most advanced medical marijuana programs in the world. More than 20,000 Israeli patients use medical marijuana to alleviate various ailments, such as Crohn’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, pediatric epilepsy, cancer side effects and PTSD.In early 2015, Hebrew University ‘s technology transfer company, Yissum Research Development Co. Ltd., signed an exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement with PhytoTech Medical Ltd. for the development, manufacturing and marketing of a novel delivery system to enhance the bioavailability of cannabidiol (CBD) and/or THC. The novel formulations are based on oral and transbuccal delivery technologies developed by Professors Abraham Domb and Amnon Hoffman of The Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Institute of Drug Research.Hebrew University’s efforts in medical marijuana research have been featured in The New York Times, BBC News, Washington Post, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg and more.With more than 400 scientific papers and 35 patents to his name, Professor Mechoulam is so highly regarded that a documentary about him came out in 2015. Watch The Scientist below:

Medical Marijuana: Studying for Higher Purpose

The Lautenberg Center, headed by Professor Ofer Mandelboim, has achieved international recognition as a major unit for research and instruction in immunological science. Its personnel includes more than 30 faculty members, postdoctoral and research associates. Organized into several independent, but closely collaborating research units, the center’s staff, is pursuing a multifaceted program of investigation in tumor immunology, transplantation immunology, and basic cellular and molecular immunology. More than 1000 scientific communications – articles reporting research findings, reviews, chapters in textbooks and in symposium publications, books, and abstracts of lectures presented at international scientific conventions – have been published by investigators conducting their studies in the center’s laboratories.The center offers formal courses of lecture and laboratory instruction in immunology, molecular biology, tumor biology and host-parasite relationship studies to medical, dentistry, and pharmacy students, and to undergraduate and graduate students in the natural sciences. Large numbers of graduate and medical students, including many from abroad, pursue dissertational research at the center, and foreign scholars with advanced standing are frequent visitors for prolonged periods of joint investigational endeavors.A variety of clinical services and consultation to hospitals in Israel is provided, especially through its affiliated Unit of Tissue typing. The Lautenberg Center is linked to Israel and international scientific and medical communities by an intensive, ongoing program of collaborative basic studies and by its active role in the planning and carrying out of clinical trials pertaining to the diagnosis and therapy of neoplastic, infectious and parasitic diseases.

The Lautenberg Center For Immunology and Cancer Research

A new study provides insights on the mechanisms behind the development of kidney damage due to obesity. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), point to a potential target for protecting the kidney health of individuals with obesity. Obesity can cause structural and functional changes in the kidneys, which may help explain why individuals with obesity face an elevated risk of chronic kidney disease and its progression to kidney failure. Although multiple metabolic factors have been proposed to contribute to obesity-induced kidney problems, the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. To investigate, a team led by Joseph Tam, DMD, PhD and PhD student Shiran Udi, MSc (Institute for Drug Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel) examined the kidney cells that are responsible for the reabsorption of nutrients, while allowing other substances of no nutritional value to be excreted in the urine. These renal proximal tubular cells (RPTCs) are especially sensitive to the accumulation of fat, or lipids, an effect called lipotoxicity. The researchers examined the potential role of endocannabinoids, lipid molecules that act on a cellular receptor (CB R), in RPTC lipotoxicity. Mice that lacked expression of the receptor in RPTCs experienced significantly less obesity-induced lipid accumulation in the kidney as well as less kidney dysfunction, injury, inflammation, and scarring. Moreover, the study revealed the molecular signaling pathway involved in mediating the CB R-induced kidney injury and lipotoxicity in RPTCs. Specifically, these deleterious effects associated with decreased activation of liver kinase B1 and the energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase, as well as reduced fatty acid β-oxidation. "This work provides a novel approach to slow the development of renal injury through chronic blockade of peripheral CB Rs," said Dr. Tam. "And, it also supports strategies aimed at reducing the activity of the endocannabinoid system, specifically in the kidney, to attenuate the development of RPTC dysfunction in obesity."Read the source article at Health News and Information

New study offers insights on mechanisms behind development...

In 1955, the first program for international students opened at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Today, more than 50 programs for international students are offered at The Hebrew University and its Rothberg International School (RIS), located on the beautiful Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem.

Rothberg International School: The Gateway to Global...

Undergraduate students from leading universities and colleges throughout the world are offered a rich array of interdisciplinary programs extending over an academic year or semester. Students attend an intensive Hebrew language course (Ulpan), designed to help them acclimate to Israel before they launch their studies. Students also enjoy an extensive program of extracurricular studies and enrichment activities that expands their knowledge and heightens the pleasure of their overseas study experience in Israel.Programs in the Division of Graduate Studies at the RIS are offered in cooperation with the Faculties and Schools of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel’s top-ranked and most comprehensive university. Both Master’s degree and visiting scholar options are available to RIS students. Seminars and tutorials are provided in areas such as Jewish and religious studies, Jewish education, Israel studies, the Middle East, the Bible, nonprofit management and leadership, business and law. Many courses are taught mainly in English, and Hebrew language instruction is available on all levels, as are courses in Arabic, Biblical Hebrew and Greek.

A variety of exciting short-term summer courses and special programs are also made available through the RIS. During the summer term, visiting undergraduate and graduate students from other countries benefit from a stimulating academic and cultural experience. They gain the opportunity to live and breathe their chosen subject matter, and to experience Israel to the fullest.Detailed information about the Rothberg International School programs is available on the RIS website. Follow RIS on Facebook.

Further development could open door to on-chip biological and chemical sensing applications, e.g. detecting chemicals in real-time continuous flow systems and even in an open-air environmentAugust 30, 2017 — Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have created a nanophotonic chip system using lasers and bacteria to observe fluorescence emitted from a single bacterial cell. To fix the bacteria in place and to route light toward individual bacterial cells, they used V-groove-shaped plasmonic waveguides, tiny aluminum-coated rods only tens of nanometers in diameter. The novel system, described in the journal Nano Letters, paves the way for an efficient and portable on-chip system for diverse cell-based sensing applications, such as detecting chemicals in real-time.The field of on-chip photonic devices for biological and chemical sensing applications presents many powerful alternatives to conventional analytical techniques for applications ranging from “lab on a chip” to environmental monitoring. However, these sensing schemes rely mainly on off-chip detection and require a cumbersome apparatus, even when measuring only single cells.The Hebrew University team looked for ways to integrate all system components, including light sources and detectors, on-chip at the nanoscale. This would result in a lab-on-chip system that is small, portable and can perform sensing in real-time.To achieve this, they molecularly engineered live bacteria that emit a fluorescent signal in the presence of target compounds. They paired these on-chip with a nanoscale waveguide, which not only served the purpose of guiding light, but also allowed mechanical trapping of individual bacteria within the V-groove.

Nanoscale chip system measures light to enable portable...

In three different illumination conditions, they experimentally demonstrated the interrogation of an individual Escherichia coli bacterial cell using a nanoscale plasmonic V-groove waveguide. First, they measured the light emitted from a bacterium flowing on top of the nanocoupler in a liquid environment by allowing the fluorescence from the bacterium to be coupled directly into the waveguide through the nanocoupler. Next, a bacterium was mechanically trapped within the V groove waveguide and was excited by laser directly either from the top or through the nanocoupler. In all cases, significant fluorescence was collected from the output nano coupler into the detector.The system worked well both in wet environments, where the bacteria are flowing on top of the waveguide, and in dry conditions, where the bacteria are trapped within the waveguide.The research was led by Professor Uriel Levy, Director of The Harvey M. Krueger Family Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Hebrew University in collaboration with Professor Shimshon Belkin, at the Hebrew University’s Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, who genetically engineered the bacterial sensors, and Professor Anders Kristensen from the Danish Technical University, who was in charge of fabricating the V-groove waveguides. Professor Levy is the Eric Samson Chair in Applied Science and Technology, and Professor Belkin is the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare Chair in Industrial Hygiene, at the Hebrew University.Unlike the more traditional plasmonic waveguides consisting of either silver or gold, the choice of aluminum was instrumental for being able to guide the fluorescent light emitted from the bacteria all the way to the output nanocoupler. Furthermore, the waveguide dimensions allow for efficient mechanical trapping of the bacteria and the multimode characteristics may become instrumental in gathering more information, e.g., on the specific position and orientation of the bacteria.The results provide a clear indication of the feasibility of constructing a hybrid bioplasmonic system using live cells. Future work will include the construction of waveguide network, diversifying the system to incorporate different types of bacterial sensors for the detection of various biological or chemical analytes.# # #The research is a collaboration between scientists at the Department of Applied Physics, the Rachel and Selim Benin School of Engineering and Computer Science, the Harvey M. Krueger Family Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; and the Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. Additional researchers include Oren Lotan, Jonathan Bar-David, Cameron L.C. Smith, and Sharon Yagur-Kroll.Support: The researchers acknowledge financial support from the Danish International Network Programme (grant no. 1370-00124B) with Israel. Work in the Belkin lab was partially supported by the Minerva Center for Bio-Hybrid Complex Systems and by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme project 985042.Citation: Oren Lotan, Jonathan Bar-David, Cameron L.C. Smith, Sharon Yagur-Kroll, Shimshon Belkin, Anders Kristensen, and Uriel Levy*. Nanoscale Plasmonic V-Groove Waveguides for the Interrogation of Single Fluorescent Bacterial Cells. Nano Lett., Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02132. Publication Date (Web): August 3, 2017. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02132

Stainless steel hangerFrom 2D metal sheet to 3d hanger

Flat surfaces with carefully planned cuts—with a single motion their purpose is revealed.

I graduated from a unique joint program for Computer Science at The Hebrew University and Industrial Design at Bezalel Academy. My project is a result of my studies, combined scientific research with aesthetics and leaves an opening to variety of potential applications.

My fascination of using mathematics as a tool to enhance design led me to the development of a new design and production form based on auxetic structures. Auxetics are structures or materials that when stretched, become thicker perpendicular to the applied force. This structure serves as the basis for planning cuts that provide the flat sheet with its potential third dimension.

Design Team

Designer: Tamar Levy

Advisor: Tal Gur

Oded AntmanKinetic bamboo BagReacts to hand movement inside

Oded AntmanKinetic bamboo Bagside view

Oded AntmanKinetic bamboo BagReacts to its varying content volumes

Oded AntmanTextile partition - detailUnder gravity laws the parametrically designed textile partitions receive a three dimensional transformation.

Hanger - stretching manipulationStretching manipulation - from 2D metal sheet to 3D hander

Kinetic bamboo BagKinetic bag, reacts to its varying content volumes

Hanger

Oded AntmanTextile partitionSphere mapping, 3D transformation detail

Oded AntmanTextile partitionGradient mapping, 3D transformation detail

Oded AntmanTextile partitionUnder gravity laws the parametrically designed textile partitions receive a three dimensional transformation.

My project, guided by Tal Gur, was a process of cutting style development, transforming from 2D to 3D and exploring behavior of various materials under deformation. The cuts are made using common techniques and technologies, while abiding to two central constraints: minimize material loss and create the ability to transform the two dimensional form into a three dimensional structure in a single manipulation.

Designing the complex auxetic geometries was fraught with obstacles. By treating the pattern design as an algorithmic problem, I built an auxetic pattern rule-based system. The process led to various discoveries. For example, when the pattern is enclosed with an uncut border (see image…) the direction of expansion is upwards and is receives a three dimensional form. In addition, it became clear that there were three parameters that influenced the sheet's behavior: material, geometry and transition method. While with textiles and layered materials the transformation can be repeated, with metal it is irreversible. The method of the transition between dimensions can be created by various forces which gives the object special characteristics. On the one hand, external physical forces, such as electromagnetic field or gravity. On the other hand, manual forces like stretching, pulling or pushing.

Potential applications of these forms could be done in different disciplines and varying scales, from medical stents to architectural structures. As a result of my research, I chose to demonstrate three applications that best show the production method capabilities from different angles. In a manual motion, the piece of metal stretches and becomes a hanger. Under gravity laws, the parametrically designed textile partitions receive a three dimensional transformation. The wooden bag reacts to its varying content volumes and to hand movement inside.

Read the source article at News - NewsFiber

Read the source article at Archaeology

Byzantine Mosaic Contains Rare Greek Inscription

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—A 1,500-year-old mosaic floor in what may have been a Christian pilgrim hostel has been unearthed in an area heavily damaged by infrastructure groundwork on the road to Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, according to a report in The Times of Israel. The nearly intact mosaic contains six lines of Greek text, written in black on a white background. Leah Di Segni of Hebrew University translated the text, which reads, “In the time of our most pious emperor Flavius Justinian, also this entire building Constantine the most God-loving priest and abbot, established and raised, in the 14th indiction.” The inscription may commemorate the construction of the building by a priest named Constantine, who was abbot of the Nea Church, founded by Justinian. De Segni also noted that the word “indiction” refers to an ancient method of keeping track of time for taxation purposes. “This new inscription helps us understand Justinian’s building projects in Jerusalem, especially the Nea Church,” Di Segni explained. Archaeologist David Gellman of the Israel Antiquities Authority said the salvage excavation team also found traces of the building’s walls, pieces of pottery, and coins dating to the sixth century A.D. For more, go to “Byzantine Riches.”

Standing on the rear balcony of a gray factory building off the side of a highway, Tamir Gedo shields his eyes from the blazing sun. He points to the 23 acres of agricultural fields spread out before him. "We'll be able to produce more cannabis here than the entire state of Colorado," he says. Minutes later, walking past the 8,000 square-foot storage room, he adds, "We can store enough in this warehouse to supply medical marijuana for the whole United States."With one million square feet of cultivation fields, a 35,000-square-foot production plant, and 30,000 square feet of grow rooms and labs, Gedo's company, Breath of Life Pharma (BOL), is about to open the world's largest medical marijuana production, research and development facility. According to Gedo's estimates, BOL will produce 80 tons – more than 175,000 pounds – of cannabis per year.A tour of BOL's new facility feels like a walk through the medical-marijuana version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. With its patented extraction and purification equipment, grow rooms and germination labs, BOL will be pumping out pharmaceutical-grade cannabis tablets, capsules, inhalers and oils that are customized to treat certain ailments, with specific and controlled consistencies.And no, this isn't happening in Colorado, California, or anywhere near America for that matter. This medical weed wonderland sits in what might be the last place you would imagine finding the world's largest facility for medical marijuana: Israel.Over the past 50 years, Israel has become the epicenter of medical pot. Home to Raphael Mechoulam, the pioneer of marijuana research, Israel is where THC and the endocannabinoid system were first discovered. And with the world's largest number of clinical trials testing the benefits of medicinal cannabis, Israel has become the global destination for medical cannabis research and development. Now it is becoming the offshore greenhouse for American cannabis companies seeking to overcome the federal roadblocks standing in their way.Israel was among the first countries to legalize medicinal use, and is one of just three countries with a government-supported medical cannabis program. Though recreational use remains illegal, support for legalization is a bipartisan issue, with some of the most outspoken proponents coming from the right. Until now, Israel's role in this multi-billion dollar field has been limited to R&D. Yet now that the Israeli government has approved the export of medicinal cannabis products, companies there are hoping to gain a larger piece of the market. While importing cannabis into the United States is illegal under federal law, companies can get around that ban by receiving drug approval from the FDA – and that is exactly what Israeli companies hope to do. According to the FDA, nothing is stopping them, as long as they meet the agency's arduous requirements for drug approval.

Israel’s ‘medical weed wonderland’ draws US pot...

While the FDA has approved three drugs containing synthetic cannabinoids (Marinol, Syndros and Cesamet, which treat symptoms of AIDS and chemotherapy), it has never approved a product derived from botanical marijuana. According to the agency's guidelines, "Study of marijuana in clinical trial settings is needed to assess the safety and effectiveness of marijuana for medical use." Yet initiating clinical trials on U.S. soil is difficult to the point of being nearly impossible. So, American companies are increasingly taking a shortcut: beginning phases 1 and 2 of their clinical trials in Israel, after which they will complete phase 3 in the U.S., speeding up the process through which they can apply for FDA approval of the botanical cannabis drugs they are developing.

Though this level of American R&D in Israel is new, Israel's impact on the American cannabis industry is not. The very fact that medical marijuana is now legal in 29 U.S. states and counting, is a direct result of Israeli research, which essentially legitimized the study of cannabis in the international scientific community that had long stigmatized it. Without this research, "We wouldn't have the scientific interest we have now around the world," says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the D.C.-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "That really opened the door to making the study of cannabis and cannabinoids a legitimate avenue for more conventional scientists and researchers."

"The seriousness with which the Israeli scientific community approaches this is incomparable," says Charles Pollack, director of the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "Israel is a hotbed of quality cannabis research, because they have a much more favorable regulatory climate for doing serious scientific research on medical cannabis."

Israel is becoming the offshore greenhouse for American cannabis companies seeking to overcome the federal roadblocks.

The Lambert Center is one of several American institutions that have partnered with BOL, collaborating on at least one of the more than 50 clinical trials the Israeli company will begin once its new facility is fully operational in late September. Of the 15 international companies that have already signed up to conduct their R&D at BOL's facility, at least six are American, and Gedo is in talks with more.

BOL isn't the only Israeli cannabis company benefitting from international interest. A growing number of American investors are getting on the Israeli cannabis wagon, which they see as the best vehicle for transforming the medical cannabis field, still in its infancy, into a pharmaceutical-level industry.

According to Saul Kaye, the founder of iCAN, an Israeli cannabis R&D firm, 2016 saw the investment of more than $250 million in Israeli cannabis companies and startups – half of that investment came from North America. Kaye predicts that investment will grow ten-fold over the next two years, reaching $1 billion. At least 50 American cannabis companies – and counting – have established R&D operations in Israel.

Israel's journey to the forefront of the medical cannabis field began with 86-year-old Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam, known in the field as the Grandfather of Medical Marijuana. In 1963, as a young researcher, Mechoulam secured 11 pounds of Lebanese hashish, which had been confiscated by his friend at a police station in Tel Aviv. He used that hash to identify, isolate and synthesize THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis, for the first time in history, and study its medical uses. He was also the first to decode the structure of CBD, the plant's primary non-psychoactive ingredient. But Mechoulam's most groundbreaking discovery came in 1992, when he and his team at Hebrew University in Jerusalem discovered the physical reason humans can get high.

"It turned out that the cannabinoids in the plant actually mimic the compounds that we form in our brain," says Mechoulam, a professor and researcher at Hebrew University who works with several American cannabis companies. He and his team discovered that THC triggers the human body's largest receptor system, now known as the endocannabinoid system, and that the human brain produces its own cannabinoids – compounds that stimulate the body almost exactly the way THC does.

While Mechoulam's research is what first placed Israel on the medical marijuana map, the country's progressive attitudes toward cannabis, coupled with the Israeli government's liberal regulatory policies and the nation's technological leadership, are what have maintained Israel's status as the capital of medical marijuana research and development. It might also help that Israel has the world's highest ratio of marijuana users, according to Israel's Anti-Drug Authority, with 27 percent of the population aged 18-65 having used marijuana in the last year. That rate is followed by Iceland and the U.S., at 18 and 16 percent respectively.

While the Israeli government invests millions of dollars in medical cannabis research, the U.S. government makes the same research nearly impossible.

"There are onerous restrictions on conducting this research in the U.S. that don't exist in Israel," says one expert.

Despite the fact that 95 percent of the U.S. population lives in states where cannabis is legal in some form, marijuana remains federally illegal. This policy makes conducting research into the medical benefits of marijuana notoriously difficult on U.S. soil. Researchers who wish to do so must go through the DEA, the FDA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Even when American researchers are given approval, they have only one source for their material: a cannabis farm at the University of Mississippi, operated by NIDA. The process, if successful, can take years."There's a lengthy and arduous regulatory process for getting approval for doing studies, and limited resources at these agencies for processing those requests," says Pollack, of Thomas Jefferson University. "It's deliberately made very difficult for us." In Israel, on the other hand, a cannabis clinical trial can get off the ground in a matter of months."I think they have approached the issue in a more even-handed and genuine way than the U.S. government has," says Armentano of NORML. "There are onerous restrictions on conducting this research in the U.S. that don't exist in Israel."This is precisely why many American researchers from universities and private companies are using Israel as an offshore research hub. For example, Pollack, from Thomas Jefferson University, will be conducting clinical trials at BOL's new facility. Since the trials haven't begun, he won't divulge details, but says they will focus on orphan drug indications, meaning they will be testing the benefits of cannabinoids on people with diseases that don't afflict many people in the U.S. (It also means that the clinical studies are smaller – and go faster – given that fewer patients are needed for these trials.) For that reason, he said, "Big pharma companies tend not to pursue them because there's not a big enough market for these drugs."Kalytera – a California-based company with a lab in northern Israel and Mechoulam on its scientific advisory board – is also focusing on orphan drug indications, conducting clinical trials at Israeli clinics and hospitals in order to bring to market a cannabinoid drug for the treatment of graft-versus-host-disease, which can happen after certain kinds of transplants.What institutions like Kalytera and Thomas Jefferson University do is they conduct the initial phases of their clinical trials in Israel, since it's much easier to get the process started here, and then they do the final stages in the U.S., since FDA approval requires that part of the study be done there. Once they reach the final stage (phase 3) it's much easier to conduct the rest of their study in the U.S., because they've already amassed enough data to show that it's safe. This is the ultimate goal for Kalytera, Pollack and other researchers in Israel: to speed track the process of conducting a clinical trial that meets FDA standards, thus shortening the journey toward FDA approval of their drugs.In addition to Kalytera, Mechoulam works with two other American companies, helping them develop new cannabinoid drugs and delivery methods out of his lab in Jerusalem, where he tests the specific properties, compositions and combinations of the cannabis compounds that are best suited to alleviate a specific ailment. American companies then use that research and data to manufacture cannabinoid drugs in the U.S.According to Saul Kaye of iCan, about 50 U.S. cannabis companies are conducting research in Israel through partnerships, joint ventures or by employing Israel-based researchers like Mechoulam. At least 15 American cannabis companies have set up their entire R&D operations on Israeli soil, conducting clinical trials, and developing the appropriate dosing forms and delivery systems for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based drugs. According to Michael Dor, senior medical advisor at the Health Ministry's cannabis unit, at least 120 clinicaltrials are currently under way in Israel to test the medicinal benefits of cannabis — more than any other country.

At least 15 American cannabis companies have set up their entire R&D operations on Israeli soil.

Cannabics, a Maryland-based, publicly-traded company, is conducting a clinical trial at an Israeli hospital in order to develop a capsule for cancer treatment. In 2015, One World Cannabis Pharmaceuticals, a public company based in Delaware, established an Israeli subsidiary overseen by Yehuda Baruch, the first head of the Israeli government's medical cannabis program, established in 2007. They are now beginning phase 1 of a clinical trial to test the benefits of a topical cannabis cream to treat psoriasis. Their next trial will study the efficacy of a soluble pill for the treatment of chronic pain. They eventually plan to conduct clinical trials on patients with multiple myeloma.Some Israeli companies have partnered with American companies to establish a presence in the U.S., where they sell products that were developed in Israel. For example, Tikun Olam, Israel's first medical cannabis distributor, opened an American subsidiary in 2016. It now sells its proprietary medical-grade plant strains at 10 dispensaries in Delaware and Nevada and will soon be available at dispensaries in Oregon and California. Their most popular strain is Avidekel, a non-psychoactive CBD blend used to help children with seizures.Some American researchers have even moved to Israel all together. Alan Shackelford, a Harvard-trained physician, was among the first American doctors to prescribe cannabis to a child. His eight-year-old epileptic patient Charlotte Figi sparked national interest in CBD after her miraculous story aired on CNN's Weed documentary in 2013.Yet after years of failed attempts to conduct clinical trials in the U.S., Shackelford recently established his own research entity in Israel because of his frustration with the American government's stonewalling."The U.S. government has funded $1.4 billion in marijuana research since 2008," says Schackelford. "Yet $1.1 billion of that went to studying addiction, withdrawal and drug abuse," problems that barely exist with cannabis when compared to the effects of other legal medications, like prescription painkillers, which killed more than 17,000 Americans in 2016.His research subjects in Israel will include the development of new delivery methods, he says, "because to date, most medical cannabis products no matter where you look in the world, are pot-culture derived. They're things like brownies, cookies, candy and smoking. Even with advances to these things being much more consistent, they're still not medically appropriate."While the U.S. government restricts American cannabis companies on U.S. soil, it does not prevent them from or penalize them for conducting their work in Israel. According to Robert Farrell, president of Kalytera, "The FDA has no problem with this work being done in Israel. When you file with the FDA, in the application you say, 'Look we've done the previous studies in Israel, gave the drug to this many patients, the drug is safe, it works, now we want to conduct a larger study with patients in the U.S.' If the FDA is satisfied with the data, they'll say, 'Go ahead, try it in the U.S.'"

The FDA will never get behind cannabis the plant as medicine, since it can't be controlled as a consistent drug.

Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded cannabis research in Israel. Indeed, much of Professor Mechoulam's groundbreaking research was funded by the American government. The NIH provided him with grants to the tune of $100,000 a year for over four decades, says Mechoulam.There is also nothing preventing Israeli companies from receiving FDA approval for their cannabis-based drugs, as long as they meet FDA requirements. In order to do so, they will need to develop the kind of products that are more in line with pharmaceutical standards, such as the kinds of capsules and inhalers BOL is developing.While that goal is feasible, Gedo and others admit that it will take time, perhaps several years, to achieve. The process of getting FDA approval is an arduous one, especially for a drug that has long been viewed with skepticism by the medical establishment. Yet it is these clinical trials that are taking place at a record pace in Israel, along with the advancement of pharmaceutical grade cannabinoid drugs, that will enable Israeli companies to eventually receive FDA approval for their drugs, or for the drugs that they are helping American companies to develop.As Gedo notes, the FDA will never get behind cannabis the plant as medicine, since it can't be controlled as a consistent drug that has the same effect day in and day out. After all, there are 140 active compounds in cannabis, and the composition of the flowers plucked from one branch can fluctuate wildly, by up to 300 percent. "The experience of a user will vary a lot with the same strain," says Gedo. "So even if you have the best-grown product, it will never become a scientific pharmaceutical product."This is precisely why the FDA has never approved a botanical marijuana drug, a larger problem than scheduling when it comes to drug approval. According to Senate testimony by the FDA's Douglas Throckmorton in 2016, who was citing a report from the Institute of Medicine, in order to obtain FDA approval, drug manufacturers "must demonstrate that they are able to consistently manufacture a high-quality drug product. This is an essential part of drug development and presents special challenges when the drug is derived from a botanical source, such as marijuana…. If there is any future for marijuana as a medicine, it lies in its isolated components, the cannabinoids and their synthetic derivatives."BOL and other Israeli companies are working to meet that challenge by developing cannabis-based drugs – the capsules, inhalers, creams and oils composed of isolated, controlled and consistent cannabinoids. Going this route, they could eventually receive FDA approval.While Gedo is optimistic, he's also realistic, knowing the complexity of the FDA's drug approval process, and the skepticism that remains among many in the medical establishment.Still, asked when Israeli companies might be exporting their cannabis medicine to the U.S., Michael Dor, of the Israeli Health Ministry says, "I believe it's not far."Read the source article at Rolling Stone

An ancient Greek inscription was found on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor near the Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem. Byzantine emperor Justinian, who ruled in the 6th century A.D., is mentioned in the inscription, which was deciphered by Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It reads: “In the time of our most pious emperor Flavius Justinian, also this entire building Constantine the most God-loving priest and abbot, established and raised, in the 14th indiction.” EXPERTS UNCOVER EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT JERUSALEM'S DESTRUCTION BY THE BABYLONIANS In a statement released by the Israel Antiquities Authority, Dr. Di Segni explained that the inscription commemorates the building’s founding by a priest called Constantine. “Indiction,” she noted, is an ancient method of counting years that was used for taxation purposes. The mosaic has been dated to 550 or 551 A.D - experts believe that the room was used as a hostel for pilgrims. The floor was discovered this summer during preparations for laying communications cables near the Damascus Gate. “The fact that the inscription survived is an archaeological miracle,” said David Gellman, who directed the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Gellman noted that ancient remains at the site had been badly damaged by groundwork in recent decades. “We were about to close the excavation, when all of a sudden, a corner of the mosaic inscription peeked out between the pipes and cables. Amazingly, it had not been damaged.” An important historical figure, Flavius Justinian was emperor when the later Roman empire completed its conversion to Christianity. He also established a large church in Jerusalem dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, known as The Nea Church, also known as The New Church. The church’s abbot was Constantine, whose name also appears on the mosaic floor near the Damascus Gate. Di Segni notes that the mosaic floor inscription is similar to an inscription found in the vaults of The Nea Church. "This new inscription helps us understand Justinian's building projects in Jerusalem, especially the Nea Church,” she wrote. “The rare combination of archaeological finds and historical sources, woven together, is incredible to witness, and they throw important light on Jerusalem's past." LOST ROMAN CITY THAT WAS HOME TO JESUS' APOSTLES FOUND, SAY ARCHAEOLOGISTS The ancient mosaic inscription has been removed from the site and is being treated at the Israel Antiquities Authority’s mosaic workshop in Jerusalem. The discovery is just the latest fascinating archaeological find in Jerusalem. Archaeologists excavating the City of David in Israel’s Jerusalem Walls National Park recently uncovered charred wood, grape seeds, pottery, fish scales and bones and numerous rare artifacts that date back to the city’s demise at the hands of the Babylonians more than 2,600 years ago.Read the source article at Fox News

Ancient inscription unearthed in Jerusalem, thrilling...

A method for teaching artificial intelligence analogies through crowdsourcing could allow a computer to search data for comparisons between disparate problems and solutions, highlighting important—but potentially unrecognized—underlying similarities. The method could enable A.I. to search through databases of patents, inventions, and researcher papers, identifying ideas that can be repurposed to solve new problems or create new products. As anyone who enjoyed watching TV’s MacGyver disarm a missile with a paperclip or staunch a sulfuric acid leak with a chocolate bar could tell you, analogies can provide critical insights and inspiration for problem-solving. Tapping huge databases of inventions could spur innovation, but doing so without the help of analogies is, well, like finding a needle in a haystack. Computer scientists solved the analogy problem by combining crowdsourcing and a type of artificial intelligence known as deep learning. By observing how people found analogies, they obtained insights they used to train computer software to find even more analogies. “After decades of attempts, this is the first time that anyone has gained traction computationally on the analogy problem at scale,” says Aniket Kittur, associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. “Once you can search for analogies, you can really crank up the speed of innovation,” says Dafna Shahaf, a computer scientist at Hebrew University. “If you can accelerate the rate of innovation, that solves a lot of other problems downstream.” The research team will present its findings in a paper at KDD 2017, the Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Analogies have played a role in any number of discoveries. Italian microbiologist Salvador Luria conceived an experiment on bacterial mutation—which later earned him a Nobel Prize—while watching a slot machine. The Wright Brothers used insights about balance and weight acquired while building bicycles to help them achieve powered flight. A trick for removing a loose cork from a wine bottle inspired an Argentinian car mechanic to invent a device to ease difficult childbirths. Finding analogies is not always easy, particularly for computers, which do not understand things on a deep semantic level like humans do. Researchers have tried handcrafting data structures, but this approach is time consuming and expensive—not scalable for databases that can include 9 million US patents or 70 million scientific research papers. Others have tried inferring this structure from large amounts of text, but this approach identifies primarily surface similarities, not the deep understanding that is useful for problem-solving. To pursue a new approach, Kittur, who has spent years studying crowdsourcing as a means of finding analogies, joined forces with Shahaf, who has specialized in computational analogies. Along with Shahaf’s doctoral student Tom Hope and postdoctoral researcher Joel Chan, they devised a scheme in which crowd workers hired through Amazon Mechanical Turk would look for analogous products in the Quirky.com product innovation website. Based on the product descriptions, they would look for those that had similar purposes or employed similar mechanisms. “We were able to look inside these people’s brains because we forced them to show their work,” Chan explains. A description for a yogurt maker, for instance, might yield words such as “concentrate,” “food,” and “reduce,” associated with its purpose and words such as “liquid,” “pump,” and “heating” associated with its mechanism. “In terms of analogies, this isn’t about yogurt, but about concentrating things,” he notes. Based on these insights, the computer could learn to analyze additional product descriptions and identify its own analogies, many of which reflected similarities between seemingly disparate products, not simply surface similarities. When crowd workers subsequently used the analogies to suggest new products, these “distant” analogies yielded the most innovative ideas, Hope says. The same approach could be used to tailor computer programs to find analogies in patent applications or scientific research papers. The National Science Foundation supported this research, as did Bosch, Google, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Web 2020 initiative.Read the source article at Futurity

To spur innovation, teach A.I. to find analogies

Scientists find that affected children’s cells are flooded with ribosomal RNA and are poisoned by it; the first time that an excess of ribosomal RNA has been linked to a disease in humansAugust 3, 2017 — In a new study published today in The American Journal of Human Genetics, a multinational team of researchers describes, for the first time, the biological basis of a severe neurological disorder in children.The extremely rare disorder is characterized by developmental regression and neurodegeneration. At first, the children lead normal lives and seem identical to their age-matched peers. However, beginning at around 3 to 6 years of age, the children display neurological deterioration, gradually losing motor, cognitive, and speech functions. Although the condition progresses slowly, most patients are completely dependent on their caretakers by 15-20 years of age.Researchers from the Hadassah Medical Center and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Medicine, working with colleagues from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and a multinational research team, have now identified and studied seven children — from Canada, France, Israel, Russia, and the United States — who suffer from the disorder.The researchers found the same spontaneously occurring, non-inherited genetic change in a gene (named “UBTF”) responsible for ribosomal RNA formation in all the patients. Because of this small change, the patients’ cells are flooded with ribosomal RNA and are poisoned by it. Ribosomes are responsible for the translation and production of cell proteins and are made up of ribosomal proteins and of ribosomal RNA in a precise ratio.

Israeli scientist develops early diagnostic test for...

Mysterious Pediatric Neurological Disease Traced to a Single...

Prof. Orly Elpeleg

The researchers found an identical error in the same gene in all the patients tested, representing a difference of one letter among the roughly 3 billion letters that make up human DNA. By finding the identical change in children who suffer from the identical clinical disease, the researchers determined that the altered gene is indeed the cause of the disease.Professor Orly Elpeleg, head of the Department of Genetics at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem and a professor of Pediatrics at the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, led the multinational research. Professor Elpeleg credits the discovery to deep sequencing technology that Hadassah and the Hebrew University were among the first to introduce into clinical practice in the world and the first in Israel.Professor Elpeleg initially encountered the disease in a young girl who came to Hadassah: “Five years ago, I saw a patient who was healthy until the age of three, and then experienced a disturbance in her walking and motor function, speech, and cognition. Around that time, we had introduced the deep-sequencing technology for clinical use at Hadassah, which enabled us to read all the coding genetic material of a person within a couple of days, in order to identify genetic defects.” Since 2010, Hadassah has assembled the largest genetic mapping database in Israel, of about 2,400 patients.“Searching for similar genetic defects in this database, we found a 9-year-old boy who had been treated at Hadassah and now lives in Russia. The boy had been healthy until the age of five and then displayed neurological deterioration just like the girl I had diagnosed. Dr. Simon Edvardson, a pediatric neurologist at Hadassah, flew to Russia, examined the boy, took genetic samples from him and from his parents and confirmed that his illness was identical to that of the Israeli girl. We then knew we had identified a new disease that was not recognized in the medical literature,” said Professor Elpeleg.Comparing their data in a program called Gene Matcher, the researchers found several more children around the world who shared an identical genetic defect and the same course of disease.In order to understand the mechanism of the newly identified disease, the researchers collaborated with Dr. George-Lucian Moldovan at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, in the United States. Dr. Moldovan confirmed the disease mechanism: in the children’s cells, there is an excess RNA of the ribosome, which probably causes brain cells to be flooded and poisoned.“Our study links neuronal degeneration in childhood with altered rDNA chromatin status and rRNA metabolism. It is the first time that an excess of ribosomal RNA has been linked to a genetic disease in humans,” said Professor Elpeleg.While there is currently no cure for genetic diseases of this kind, the identification of the exact mutation may allow for the planning of therapies designed to silence the mutant gene. “Science may not be able to repair the gene, but now that our findings are published, it may be possible to make early identification of the disease and in the future find ways to prevent such a serious deterioration,” said Professor Elpeleg.# # #The research was supported by the NIH.Citation: Edvardson et al., Heterozygous De Novo UBTF Gain-of-Function Variant Is Associated with Neurodegeneration in Childhood, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2017), August 3, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.07.002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.07.002

A new type of nano-photoinitiator could lead to advanced biomedical and industrial materials, along with more environmentally friendly printing processesAugust 2, 2017 — Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology developed a new type of photoinitiator for three-dimensional (3D) printing in water. These unique nanoparticles could allow for the creation of bio-friendly 3D printed structures, further the development of biomedical accessories, and drive progress in traditional industries such as plastics.

HU Scientists Make a Splash with 3D Printing in Water

Hybrid nanoparticles as photoinitiators. a. Electron microscope image of hybrid nanocrystal. The inset shows a schematic of semiconductor nanorod with a metal tip. b. Bucky ball structure produced by rapid 3D printing in water using HNPs as photoinitiators. c. Spiral printed with HNPs by two photon printer providing high-resolution features. Adapted with permission from Pawar et al., Nano Lett. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01870. Copyright (2017) American Chemical Society.

Move from basic Linux administration to advanced in this course that details how to monitor, profile, and trace Linux systems and applications. Linux expert Sasha Goldshtein shows you how to run basic performance checklists to get a reading of high-level system performance. You'll discover ways to diagnose specific issues such as high CPU load, excessive I/O, and slow network requests; as well as gain a solid understanding of the Linux system infrastructure that makes tracing and profiling possible. The course is designed for application developers, system administrators, and SREs with some Linux system administration experience and a basic understanding of OS concepts like threads, I/O operations, and memory. Sasha Goldshtein is the CTO of Sela Group, a Microsoft C# MVP, an expert on Azure, and a frequent speaker at O'Reilly Media's Velocity and Fluent conferences. An internationally recognized consultant, book author, and trainer, Sasha is known for his work in Linux performance monitoring, distributed architecture, production debugging, and mobile application development. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Read the source article at O'Reilly Media

Using Linux Performance Tools

Yeshayahu Talmon is a chemical engineer and former director of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI) at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa. A frequent spokesman for the industry, he answers even laymen’s questions patiently and lucidly, and offers positive news about Israel as a “nucleus” for nanoscience. “Nanoscience is the science of everything that happens on that very small scale. Now, technology is being developed to take that science and apply it,” says Talmon. “One example of applications we are working with at the Russell Berrie Nanotech Institute is carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are only one to two nanometers thick, but the single particle is extremely strong. And in some forms, they are very good electrical conductors, and they are lightweight . . . so in principle they could be the material of the future. “However, in most cases, we cannot use them as single nanoparticles, so somehow we have to spin fibers out of them, and this is a challenge. (Sometimes, although it all works very well on a basic scientific level, when you try to make it into a process, things become more complicated.) “Another example of how the technology is applied is graphene sheets. Graphite, of course, is what you have in your pencil. However, when graphite is dispersed into single layers of carbon atoms, it has mechanical and electrical properties that can be used to make interesting coatings, like for touch screens, for instance. “All touch screens now have some kind of conductors in them, and by using graphene, you can potentially make better, cheaper, longer-lasting coatings. “In 2010, the Nobel Prize in Physics was given to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, two scientists working on graphene, so this field suddenly became even more exciting than before. “There is also a very important interface between medicine and the nanosciences, starting with intelligent, sophisticated sensors, all the way to drug delivery. “At the Technion, we try to bring people from our faculty of medicine together with people from engineering and the basic sciences, in some cases to advise graduate students jointly, and to work on a medical or biological problem where scientists and engineers can help. Collaborations among the various scientific disciplines are crucial here.” “Israel joined the nano community early on. And the Technion formed the nanotechnology center in 2005, two years before anybody else here. I played a part in its formation, but the effort was primarily led by Professor Uri Sivan of the physics department, who was the first director of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute. (I took over in 2010.) “In a way, it was a pioneering effort not only for the Technion, but for the entire country, because it formed a model on which all the other institutes were formed, not so much in the structure, but much more in the emphasis and in the way they are supported. “We have recruited many new faculty members at the RBNI; each of them is excellent. Many of them spent a good number of years in the United States or in other places, but most are originally Israeli. “There is a lot of talk about bringing back Israelis from abroad. We’ve had to lure them from places like Boston University, Stanford, UCLA – it’s competitive. And then, when they’ve made the decision to come to Israel, we have to compete with the other Israeli universities: the Weizmann Institute, the Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, and so on. “Our government is trying to reverse the brain drain that we have experienced most acutely in the sciences, of course, because these are the people who are most sought-after by institutions outside Israel. “But there is a kind of snowball effect – although we scientists prefer to call it a nucleation process! Once you form a nucleus, it grows and attracts more material to form a crystal. Good researchers are attracted to a good nucleus.” Lin Arison & Diana C. Stoll are the creators of The Desert and the Cities Sing: Discovering Today’s Israel, a treasure box that highlights Israel’s creative achievement and innovation.Read the source article at ISRAEL21c

Israel’s vital contributions to nanotechnology

Albany When Australian experts wanted to know which terrorist groups pay pirates to capture ships, steal cargo and ransom the crews to provide new revenue for terrorists, they teamed up with two University of Albany professors to find the answers. Karl Rethemeyer, interim dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, and political science associate professor Victor Asal are creators of a database named BAAD — Big, Allied and Dangerous. BAAD is packed with in-depth information on hundreds of terrorist groups, their alliances and whether those ties are based on religion, ideology, affection or cold cash. BAAD can also monitor which groups abandon politics to become nothing more than criminal gangs. It can track which terrorists abandon violence to become elected officials. It also assesses which terrorists are likeliest to develop weapons of mass destruction—and hit the button. Rethemeyer and Asal offer BAAD as a tool for journalists and researchers striving to separate political spin and fake news from reality and facts. BAAD's data is harvested from declassified documents, news articles, academic papers and even selected social media threads. Rethemeyer and Asal met in 2003 as the United States prepared to invade Iraq based on what later proved to be erroneous intelligence reports. "We were both looking for a project that would help us get tenure so we went to Sovrana's to brainstorm over pizza," Rethemeyer said. By the time they got to Death in a Cup, the Albany pizzeria and deli's signature chocolate-drizzled custard dessert, they had envisioned a unique project. Rethemeyer has long been fascinated by how networks function. He earned his master's from the London School of Economics before getting his Ph.D. from Harvard. Asal has master's degrees from both Tufts University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "We decided to focus on non-state actors who kill civilians intentionally for the purpose of changing a political regime," Asal explained. "The database also includes insurgents who did not kill civilians but have caused at least 25 battle deaths of soldiers or policemen." The pair immediately drafted teams of students to review all English-language reporting they can find on a region or terrorist group. Linguistic software complements their work by translating documents from Arabic, Mandarin, Russian and other key languages. But "robot linguists" have limits; they don't grasp sarcasm and often stumble over idioms. While BAAD calculates a set of 30 to 40 terrorist groups want to strike on the U.S., its data also has contradicted several common beliefs held among U.S. officials about terrorism. Former president George W. Bush's "global war on terrorism", for example, seemed a misnomer since most terrorist groups have no interest in attacking America. And FARC guerrillas devastated Colombia for decades but had no plans to attack America or its embassy. Then in 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation described "environmental terrorism" America's "number one threat." Environmental Liberation Front members occupied four of 11 spots on the FBI's Most Wanted domestic terrorists list. BAAD disagreed. "To this day, American environmentalist and animal rights groups have never killed anyone, not one human," Rethemeyer said. Academics, U.S. and foreign government agencies are interested in BAAD's intelligence. Rethemeyer recently spoke to South Korea's National Assembly and Korean intelligence agencies about how North Korea might use terrorists. ("It's a mistake for anyone to dismiss Kim Jong Un as a buffoon or a fool; he is sane and insecure and knows he can trust no one in his government," Rethemeyer said.) The professors have applied for grants to expand BAAD's scope to include American groups who threaten violence against perceived enemies ranging from gun background check advocates to government workers alleged to be part of the "Deep State," a term conspiracy theorists apply to a stealth insurgency they believe plots against the president. The men are interested in how even inaccurate rhetoric about terrorism by elected officials and journalists can be used to justify political goals or government spending. And they believe it is crucial for Americans to know that terrorism is not the prosaic danger here that it is in the Middle East or even in Europe. Statistics indicate Americans should feel more secure. "I tell Americans that statistics show they have a bigger danger of being killed by their toddlers than of being murdered by a terrorist," Rethemeyer said.Read the source article at timesunion.com

UAlbany professors’ database tracks terrorist groups

You can learn more about the event on the Hebrew University website.

Hebrew University Memorial Service Marks 15 Years Since...

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem held a memorial service on July 31, 2017, to honor and remember those who were killed and injured 15 years ago in a terrorist attack at the Mount Scopus campus. The ceremony was attended by leadership, students, staff, faculty, and friends of the Hebrew University, at Nancy Reagan Plaza near the site of the attack. Among the dignitaries who participated in the event was Ambassador Hélène Le Gal, France’s first female ambassador to Israel, who delivered remarks in Hebrew.

Laying a memorial wreath, front row, left to right: Hebrew University President, Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson; French Ambassador to Israel, Helene Le Gal; Hebrew University Rector and President-elect, Prof. Asher Cohen. (Photo: Hebrew University)

Nine students and staff members were killed in the bombing of the cafeteria in 2002:

Benjamin Blutstein
Marla Bennett
Revital Barashi
David Gritz
David Diego Ladowski
Janis Ruth Coulter
Dina Carter
Levina Shapira
Daphna Spruch

From ‘Startup Nation’ to ‘Cannabis Nation’

Hebrew University and City of Jerusalem to Host ‘International Conference on the Cannabinoids‘ in 2021July 26, 2017 — The International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) has chosen the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to host the International Symposium on the Cannabinoids in 2021 in Jerusalem.The ICRS is the oldest scientific society dedicated to the research in the cannabis plant, cannabinoids, and their physiological and biochemical targets. The ICRS has nearly 400 members from all over the world. The members and guests of the ICRS gather yearly to present the ICRS Symposium.Hundreds of participants from Israel and around the world will participate in the conference, at the International Convention Center (ICC) in Jerusalem, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Conventions & Visitors Bureau (JCVB), which operates under the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA).The event will be hosted by the Hebrew University’s Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research (MCCR), which is the leading center in Israel for conducting and coordinating research on cannabinoids, endocannabinoids and medical Cannabis.Over the last 50 years, Hebrew University research has spearheaded a new scientific era of Cannabis research. Professor Raphael Mechoulam, a Hebrew University researcher widely regarded as “the father of cannabinoid research,” and his colleagues isolated the active constituent of the Cannabis plant, tetrahydrocannabinol, elucidated its structure, and synthesized it. Later Professor Mechoulam identified the endogenous cannabinoids (formed in the mammalian body) and thus pioneered the field of cannabinoid research.

Professor Raphael Mechoulam

The International Symposium will mark Professor Mechoulam’s 90th birthday.The Symposium will feature oral and poster presentations covering a wide range of topics germane to cannabinoid science and medicine. Past conferences have covered such topics as autoimmunity, epilepsy, pain, PTSD, drug development and medicinal chemistry, neuroprotection, metabolism, endocrine and obesity, cancer, and much more.Professor Cecilia Hillard, Executive Director of the ICRS, said: “The board of directors of the International Cannabinoid Research Society is very pleased that our 31st annual meeting will be held in Jerusalem in 2021. Jerusalem holds a special place in the history of the science of cannabis and the endocannabinoids. Professor Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew University was the first to publish the structure of the active principal of cannabis, THC, and was also the first to identify an endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide. Just as impressive is the current state of cannabinoid research in Jerusalem and Israel at large, including the Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research led by Dr. Tam. We are looking forward to visiting Jerusalem and to an exciting and informative conference.”Dr. Joseph (Yossi) Tam, Director of the Hebrew University’s Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research, said: “I’m excited that the International Cannabinoid Research Society has decided to hold its 31st conference in Jerusalem under the auspices of the Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research. One of our first goals after establishing the Center was to host the ICRS conference in Jerusalem so that the international community of researchers can learn about the highly advanced work in the field of cannabinoids carried out in the Center and in Israel. I am certain that hosting this high-level conference will constitute another turning point in Israel’s position as a global leader in cannabinoid research and development.”“Modulating endocannabinoid activity has therapeutic potential in a large number of human diseases, and research on cannabinoids may lead to very significant advances in basic science and therapeutics. We look forward to hosting the world’s top scientists working to discover new therapies based on cannabinoids,” said Professor Raphael Mechoulam, Head of the Academic Committee of the Multidisciplinary Center, and the Lionel Jacobson Professor Emeritus of Medicinal Chemistry in the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine.“Bringing this global symposium to Jerusalem emphasizes the ongoing collaboration between multiple institutions including the JCVB, ICC, and MCCR. This partnership was only possible with the shared vision in highlighting the city’s potential as a leading scientific conference destination. Jerusalem offers an ideal setting to host the over 400 global researchers to learn and promote the exchange of scientific information and gain new perspectives about Cannabis,” said Ilanit Melchior, Director of Tourism in Jerusalem.“As the largest and leading conference center in Israel, the Jerusalem ICC looks forward to hosting this important conference aimed at bringing international researchers together to improve human health and well-being,” said Mira Altman, CEO of the International Convention Center (ICC) in Jerusalem.The ICRS is a scientific association with hundreds of international members, all active researchers in the field of endogenous, plant-derived and synthetic cannabinoids and related bioactive lipids. The ICRS Symposium is considered the most important conference in the field of cannabinoids research. The conference brings together the leading researchers from the international scientific community and presents the latest and most up-to-date research in the field.The Multidisciplinary Center on Cannabinoid Research, staffed by leading scientists and medical doctors from the Hebrew University and its affiliated Hadassah Medical Center, conducts and coordinates exciting new research about cannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and medical Cannabis, while promoting collaboration and disseminating information. More info at http://cannabinoids.huji.ac.il/.

Comprehensive study shows a significant ongoing decline in sperm counts of Western men, pointing to impaired male health and decreasing fertilitySUMMARY: A rigorous and comprehensive meta-analysis of data collected between 1973 and 2011 finds that among men from Western countries who were not selected on the basis of their fertility status, sperm concentration declined by more than 50%, with no evidence of a “leveling off” in recent years. These findings strongly suggest a significant decline in male reproductive health that has serious implications beyond fertility and reproduction, given recent evidence linking poor semen quality with a higher risk of hospitalization and death. Research on causes of this ongoing decline and their prevention is urgently needed.Jerusalem, July 25, 2017 — In the first systematic review and meta-analysis of trends in sperm count, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai report a significant decline in sperm concentration and total sperm count among men from Western countries. The study is published in Human Reproduction Update, the leading journal in the fields of Reproductive Biology and Obstetrics & Gynecology.By screening 7,500 studies and conducting a meta-regression analysis on 185 studies between 1973 and 2011, the researchers found a 52.4 percent decline in sperm concentration, and a 59.3 percent decline in total sperm count, among men from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand who were not selected based on their fertility status. In contrast, no significant decline was seen in South America, Asia, and Africa, where far fewer studies have been conducted.The study also indicates the rate of decline among Western men is not decreasing: the slope was steep and significant even when the analysis was restricted to studies with sample collection between 1996 and 2011.The research was led by Dr. Hagai Levine, Head of the Environmental Health Track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem, with Dr. Shanna H. Swan, Professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, and an international team of researchers from Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Spain, and the United States.While declines in sperm count have been reported since 1992, the question has remained controversial because of limitations in past studies. However, the current study uses a broader scope and rigorous meta-regression methods, conservatively addresses the reliability of study estimates, and controls for factors that might help explain the decline such as age, abstinence time, and selection of the study population.“Given the importance of sperm counts for male fertility and human health, this study is an urgent wake-up call for researchers and health authorities around the world to investigate the causes of the sharp ongoing drop in sperm count, with the goal of prevention,” said Dr. Hagai Levine, also an adjunct assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.The findings have important public health implications. First, these data demonstrate that the proportion of men with sperm counts below the threshold for subfertility or infertility is increasing. Moreover, given the findings from recent studies that reduced sperm count is related to increased morbidity and mortality, the ongoing decline points to serious risks to male fertility and health.“Decreasing sperm count has been of great concern since it was first reported 25 years ago. This definitive study shows, for the first time, that this decline is strong and continuing. The fact that the decline is seen in Western countries strongly suggests that chemicals in commerce are playing a causal role in this trend,” Dr. Shanna H. Swan.While the current study did not examine causes of the observed declines, sperm count has previously been plausibly associated with environmental and lifestyle influences, including prenatal chemical exposure, adult pesticide exposure, smoking, stress, and obesity. Therefore, sperm count may sensitively reflect the impact of the modern environment on male health across the lifespan and serve as a “canary in the coal mine” signaling broader risks to male health.The Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine is the first school of public health in Israel and one of five schools within the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine. Since 1961, both in Israel and internationally, the Braun School, which is APHEA accredited, has improved the physical, mental and social well-being of populations, trained a public health workforce for the challenges of today and the future, conducted public health research, and made an impact on health services and policy. The School’s renowned International Master’s in Public Health (IMPH) program prepares graduates to take up key positions as leaders and teachers of public health in their home countries.# # #Researchers who participated in this study are affiliated with Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, and the Hebrew University Center of Excellence in Agriculture and Environmental Health, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; University Department of Growth and Reproduction, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Physiology, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil; Division of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Murcia School of Medicine and Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. CITATION: Temporal trends in sperm count: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Hagai Levine, Niels Jørgensen, Anderson Martino‐Andrade, Jaime Mendiola, Dan Weksler-Derri, Irina Mindlis, Rachel Pinotti, Shanna H Swan. Human Reproduction Update, July 25, 2017, doi:10.1093/humupd/dmx022. Link: https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/humupd/dmx022.FUNDING: Researchers received support from the Environment and Health Fund (EHF), Jerusalem, Israel; American Healthcare Professionals and Friends for Medicine in Israel (APF); Israel Medical Association (IMA) [Levine]; Research Fund of Rigshospitalet (grant no. R42-A1326) [Jørgensen); The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development [Martino-Andrade]; The Mount Sinai Transdisciplinary Center on Early Environmental Exposures (NIH P30ES023515) [Swan].

Sperm Counts Are Declining Among Western Men

Leadership

July 3, 2017 — The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is pleased to announce that its Board of Governors, headed by its Chairman Mr. Michael Federmann, has elected Professor Asher Cohen as the next President of the Hebrew University.Professor Cohen will succeed Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson, who led the University for the last eight years. He will begin serving as President on September 1, 2017.Professor Cohen was elected President after serving for five years as Rector of the University. As Rector, Professor Cohen led many important initiatives. Among these are recruiting top researchers from Israel and abroad, opening new and innovative academic programs, refreshing the university’s curricula, and developing in-depth processes for continually improving the education of university students, in cooperation with the Student Union.After graduating from the Hebrew University with a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Psychology, Professor Cohen completed his doctoral and post-doctoral studies at the University of Oregon in the United States. He served as a senior lecturer at Indiana University before returning in the early 1990s to the Hebrew University’s Department of Psychology, in the Faculty of Social Sciences. From 2008 to 2012, he served as the head of the Department of Psychology, after which he was appointed Rector, a position he currently holds.Professor Cohen’s research in the cognitive sciences focuses on the relationship between the human perception system and human response mechanisms in situations that require very fast motor responses. In the framework of his research, Professor Cohen developed a theoretical model that successfully predicts the situations in which performing two tasks simultaneously will lead to a decline in abilities.At the request of incoming President Professor Asher Cohen and Chairman of the Board of Governors Mr. Michael Federmann, the Board of Governors appointed outgoing President Professor Ben-Sasson as Chancellor of the Hebrew University. As Chancellor, he will undertake a variety of tasks which will be assigned to him from time to time by the President, particularly in the area of relations with donors, key supporters, and government officials in Israel and around the world, to advance the University’s development plans.Chairman of the Board of Governors Mr. Michael Federmann congratulated the Board of Governors, wished Prof. Asher Cohen success, and thanked Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson for his service. Said Federmann: “In the coming years, Professor Asher Cohen will lead the university to even greater academic heights. At the end of his two terms in office, I thank Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson for his great contributions to establishing the Hebrew University’s leading position in Israel and around the world, to which he will continue to contribute as Chancellor.”

Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, British Architect Lord Norman Foster, and more than 400 friends and supporters joined the gala celebration and naming ceremony of Israel’s largest neuroscience centerJuly 2, 2017— More than 400 friends and supporters joined Mrs. Lily Safra as she dedicated the new home of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Edmond J. Safra Campus.

Mrs. Lily Safra Dedicates New Home of Hebrew University’s...

(L-R) ELSC scientist Prof. Idan Segev, Member of the Council for Higher Education and Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats, Hebrew University Rector and President-elect Prof. Asher Cohen, and ELSC researcher Prof. Eilon Vaadia. (Credit: Bruno Charbit)

The Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and Lord Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman of the British architectural firm Foster + Partners, which designed the new Center, were among the dignitaries attending the gala event.“I am thrilled to join in celebrating this defining moment for ELSC when such an extraordinary new building becomes home to a remarkable community of researchers and students,” said Mrs. Lily Safra. “Their multi-disciplinary study of the brain’s secrets will surely make a profound impact on how we treat disease and care for patients. I know that my husband Edmond would share my deep sense of pride that our names are associated with such pioneering work, and with such dedicated and inspiring people.”Mrs. Safra is a leading supporter of neuroscience research projects around the world, and Chairwoman of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, which pledged a lead donation of $50 Million of the Center’s $150 Million initial budget.

(Credit: Michael Zekri)

“The Hebrew University is grateful to Mrs. Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation for their leadership in this historic initiative to unlock the mysteries of the brain,” said Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson, President of the Hebrew University. “ELSC is unique in the way it brings together theoretical and experimental researchers to develop pioneering approaches to brain science.”The 14,500 square meter Center is a premier setting that will encourage effective collaboration through interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction. Specialists in disciplines such as physics, computer science, psychology, neurobiology, and medicine will all work under one roof to achieve breakthroughs that improve the lives of patients suffering from illnesses of the brain.Directed by Professor Israel Nelken and Professor Adi Mizrahi, the Center will include state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, an innovative imaging center, and areas for biological and pre-clinical research. Significant emphasis was placed on constructing an environmentally friendly building with a focus on conserving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Potential for regenerative medicine and cancer research earns doctoral student Ido Sagi a Kaye Innovation AwardJune 28, 2017 — Stem cell research holds huge potential for medicine and human health. In particular, human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), with their ability to turn into any cell in the human body, are essential to the future prevention and treatment of disease.One set or two? Diploid versus haploid cells Most of the cells in our body are diploid, which means they carry two sets of chromosomes — one from each parent. Until now, scientists have only succeeded in creating haploid embryonic stem cells — which contain a single set of chromosomes. However, scientists have long sought to isolate and replicate these haploid ESCs in humans, which would allow them to work with one set of human chromosomes as opposed to a mixture from both parents.

First ‘Haploid’ Human Stem Cells Could Revolutionize...

This milestone was finally reached when Ido Sagi, working as a Ph.D. student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, led research that yielded the first successful isolation and maintenance of haploid embryonic stem cells in humans. Unlike in mice, these haploid stem cells were able to differentiate into many other cell types, such as brain, heart, and pancreas cells, while retaining a single set of chromosomes.With Professor Nissim Benvenisty, Director of the Azrieli Center, Sagi showed that this new human stem cell type will play an important role in human genetic and medical research. It will aid our understanding of human development – for example, why we reproduce sexually instead of from a single parent. It will make genetic screening easier and more precise, by allowing the examination of single sets of chromosomes. Additionally, it is already enabling the study of resistance to chemotherapy drugs, with implications for cancer therapy.Diagnostic kits for personalized medicine

Based on this research, Yissum, the Technology Transfer arm of the Hebrew University, launched the company New Stem, which is developing a diagnostic kit for predicting resistance to chemotherapy treatments. By amassing a broad library of human pluripotent stem cells with different mutations and genetic makeups, NewStem plans to develop diagnostic kits for personalized medication and future therapeutic and reproductive products.

2017 Kaye Innovation Award In recognition of his work, Ido Sagi was awarded the Kaye Innovation Award for 2017.The Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded annually since 1994. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff, and students of the Hebrew University to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential, which will benefit the university and society.Ido Sagi received B.S summa cum laude in Life Sciences from the Hebrew University and currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the laboratory of Professor Nissim Benvenisty at the university’s Department of Genetics in the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences. He is a fellow of the Adams Fellowship of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and has recently received the Rappaport Prize for Excellence in Biomedical Research. Sagi’s research focuses on studying genetic and epigenetic phenomena in human pluripotent stem cells, and his work has been published in leading scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Genetics, and Cell Stem Cell.

Professor Yuval Dor and Dr. Ruth Shemer received Kaye Innovation Award for developing a way to detect specific tissue damage from a blood sampleJune 25, 2017 — One of the holy grails of medical research is the development of a simple non-invasive test that can detect a variety of diseases with high accuracy. However, to date, there is no single diagnostic test that fulfills this function.To solve this problem, Professor Yuval Dor and Dr. Ruth Shemer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (together with Professor Ben Glaser, Head of the Endocrinology Department at the Hadassah Medical Center) developed a new blood test that looks for the remnants of dying cells cast off by specific tissue types throughout the body.

HU Scientists Develop Potentially Life-Saving Test to Detect...

When cells die, they release DNA fragments into the circulatory system. The DNA of each type of dying cell carries a unique chemical modification called methylation. By detecting the unique methylation signatures of DNA from the fragments of dying cells, Professor Dor and Dr. Shemer established a way to detect multiple disease processes —including diabetes, cancer, traumatic injury, and neurodegeneration — in a highly sensitive and specific manner.Professor Dor and Dr. Shemer are researchers in the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine. Both earned their Ph.D.s at the Hebrew University.Goal: a rapid blood test to assess multiple diseases simultaneouslyA test that accurately pinpoints tissue damage from dying cells’ DNA fragments could hold the key to a variety of medical advances — from a deeper understanding of human tissue dynamics to earlier detection of life-threatening illnesses, to more efficient monitoring of responses to medical therapies.Professor Dor and Dr. Shemer envision a future where the continued research and refinement of their new technology will lead to a universal, rapid, sensitive and quantitative blood test for tissue-specific cell death. This blood test could be used to assess multiple pathologic conditions simultaneously, equivalent to standard blood chemistry panels in use today.Their paper describing the method and its applications was published the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in 2016, drawing considerable interest from the scientific and popular media.Aurum Ventures MKI Ltd., the technology investment arm of Morris Kahn, provided Yissum, the Technology Transfer arm of the Hebrew University, with $1.2 million of funding for research and development of this new diagnostic approach. Earlier this year, OnTimeBio was founded to make Professor Dor’s and Dr. Shemer’s vision become a reality.2017 Kaye Innovation Award In recognition of their work, Prof. Dor and Dr. Shemer were awarded the Kaye Innovation Award for 2017.The Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded annually since 1994. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff and students of the Hebrew University to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential, which will benefit the university and society. For more information about the 2017 Kaye Innovations Awards, visit http://bit.ly/kaye2017.

Aquaculture Innovation Helps Increase World Food Supply

A new way to grow larger fish and feed the expanding world population earns Professor Berta Levavi-Sivan a 2017 Kaye Innovation Award June 27, 2017 — As the world faces a projected population increase from today’s 7.5 billion people to 9 billion people by 2050, the demand for sustainable food sources is on the rise. The answer to this looming dilemma may well reside within the booming field of aquaculture. While wild fisheries have been on the decline for the last 20 years, aquaculture, or fish farming, is the fastest growing food-producing sector in the world and will play an increasingly vital role in our planet’s food resources in the years to come.One of the challenges to aquaculture is that reproduction, as an energy intensive endeavor, makes fish grow more slowly. To solve this problem, Professor Berta Levavi-Sivan at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem identified tiny molecules named Neurokinin B (NKB) and Neurokinin F (NKF) that are secreted by the fish’s brains and play a crucial role in their reproduction. Professor Levavi-Sivan, a specialist in aquaculture at the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, then developed molecules that neutralize the effect of NKB and NKF. The molecules inhibited fish reproduction and consequently led to increased growth rates.Better Fish Growth, More Aquaculture Jobs These inhibitors can now be included in fish feed to ensure better growth rates. For example, young tilapia fed the inhibitors in their food supply for two months gained 25% more weight versus fish that did not receive the supplement. So far, NKB has been found in 20 different species of fish, indicating that this discovery could be effective in a wide variety of species.The technology developed by Professor Levavi-Sivan and her team was licensed by Yissum, the Technology Transfer company of the Hebrew University, to start-up AquiNovo Ltd., established and operating within the framework of The Trendlines Group. AquiNovo is further developing the technology to generate growth enhancers for farmed fish.

As the aquaculture industry obtains the tools to flourish, an increase in jobs is likely to follow. In Europe, aquaculture accounts for about 20% of fish production and directly employs some 85,000 people. The sector mainly benefits those living in coastal and rural areas, where jobs are most needed.2017 Kaye innovation Award In recognition of her work, Professor Berta Levavi-Sivan was awarded the Kaye Innovation Award for 2017.The Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded annually since 1994. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff and students of the Hebrew University to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential, which will benefit the university and society. For more information about the 2017 Kaye Innovations Awards, visit http://bit.ly/kaye2017.Professor Berta Levavi-Sivan earned her B.S. degree in life science and her M.S. and Ph.D. in zoology from Tel Aviv University. At the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, where her work focuses on fish reproduction and growth, she has published over 100 articles in referred journals and has won several prizes for her findings. As a specialist in aquaculture, she has worked extensively in Uganda to combat depleted fish supplies in Lake Victoria.

An algorithm developed at the Hebrew University cuts through the immense number of possible solutions to shorten drug discovery times from years to monthsDiscovery earns Prof. Amiram Goldblum a 2017 Kaye Innovation AwardJune 22, 2017 — Antibiotics for treating particularly resistant diseases, molecules that block immune system overreactions, molecules that inhibit the growth of cancer cells by removing excess iron, molecules that may increase the digestion of fats: all these and more have been discovered in recent years using a unique computerized approach to solving particularly complex problems.Over the past five years, an Iterative Stochastic Elimination (ISE) algorithm developed in the laboratory of Professor Amiram Goldblum, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Drug Research, has been applied to the discovery of potential drugs. The Institute is part of the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty Of Medicine. First tested to solve problems in the structure and function of proteins, the algorithm has since been used to reduce drug discovery times — from years to months and even to weeks.Goldblum’s solution is different from other algorithms called “heuristics,” which are based on deriving solutions using logic and intuition, and suggests better solutions. In this instance, the algorithm produces a model for the activity of small molecules on one or more proteins known to cause the disease. A model is a set of filters of physico-chemical properties that distinguish between active and non-active molecules, or between more and less active ones. Millions of molecules can then be screened by the model, which enables the scoring of each molecule by a number that reflects its ability to pass through the filters based on its own physico-chemical properties.A model of this type is usually built in a few hours and is capable of screening millions of molecules in less than a day. Therefore, within a few days or more, it is possible to make initial predictions about the candidate molecules for a specific activity to combat a disease. Most of those candidates have never been known before to have any biological activity.

Algorithm Leads to Dramatic Improvement in Drug Discovery...

Professor Amiram Goldblum

For the development of this algorithm, Professor Goldblum won an American Chemical Society Prize in 2000. Since then, the algorithm has solved many problems related to understanding various biological systems such as protein flexibility, proteins-small molecules interactions, and more. These and other discoveries stem from collaborations between Goldblum’s laboratory, where his students employ the algorithm to solve various problems and laboratories and pharmaceutical companies in the world that test Goldblum’s predictions in Germany, Japan, the United States, and Israel.On the strength of Goldblum’s technology, the company Pepticom was founded in 2011 by Yissum, the Technology Transfer arm of the Hebrew University, to revolutionize the discovery of novel peptide drug candidates. Pepticom’s key asset is an exceptional artificial intelligence platform aimed at designing peptide ligands based upon solved crystal structures of proteins.Wide ApplicationsThe algorithm can be applied to other types of problems, in which the number of possibilities is immense and are not solvable even if the world’s most powerful computers would work on it together. These include problems in which the number of possible outcomes are 10 to the power of 100 (10100) and more, such as problems of land transport, aviation, communications and biological systems.In the field of transportation, this could involve finding alternative ways to get from one point to another using traffic data on each of the alternative roads leading between the two points. In aviation, an optimal arrangement of landings and takeoffs at busy airports. In telecommunications, finding the least expensive routes within a complex array of communication cables. And in biology, a model that is constructed on the basis of a few dozen or hundreds of molecules serves to screen millions of molecules and to discover new drug candidates. These are then sent to experimental labs to be developed further, and in some cases have been crucial in furthering the development of treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and different forms of cancer.Kaye Innovation AwardIn recognition of his work, Professor Amiram Goldblum was awarded the Kaye Innovation Award for 2017.The Kaye Innovation Awards at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been awarded annually since 1994. Isaac Kaye of England, a prominent industrialist in the pharmaceutical industry, established the awards to encourage faculty, staff, and students of the Hebrew University to develop innovative methods and inventions with good commercial potential, which will benefit the university and society. For more information about the 2017 Kaye Innovations Awards, visit http://bit.ly/kaye2017.

The efficient classification of bacterial strains as tolerant, resistant, or persistent could help to guide treatment decisions, and could ultimately reduce the ever-growing risk of resistanceJune 21, 2017 — A growing number of pathogens are developing resistance to one or more antibiotics, threatening our ability to treat infectious diseases. Now, according to a study published in Biophysical Journal, a simple new method for measuring the time it takes to kill a bacterial population could improve the ability of clinicians to effectively treat antimicrobial-tolerant strains that are on the path to becoming resistant.“These findings allow measurement of tolerance, which has previously been largely overlooked in the clinical setting,” says senior study author Professor Nathalie Balaban, the Joseph and Sadie Danciger Professor of Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Routinely measuring tolerance could supply valuable information about the duration of antibiotic treatments, reducing the chance of both under- and over-treatment. Furthermore, data compiled from such measurements could give an estimate of how widespread the phenomenon of tolerance really is, which is currently a complete unknown.”According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health and is putting the achievements of modern medicine at risk. Due to selective pressure, pathogens acquire resistance through mutations that make the antibiotic less effective, for example, by interfering with the ability of a drug to bind to its target. Currently, clinicians determine which antibiotic and dose to prescribe by assessing resistance levels using a routine metric called minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)—the minimal drug concentration required to prevent bacterial growth.Although resistant strains continue to grow despite exposure to high drug concentrations, tolerant strains can survive lethal concentrations of an antibiotic for a long period of time before succumbing to its effects. Tolerance is often associated with treatment failure and relapse, and it is considered a stepping stone toward the evolution of antibiotic resistance. But unlike resistance, tolerance is poorly understood and is currently not evaluated in healthcare settings.“The lack of a quantitative measure means that this aspect of the treatment relies largely on the experience of the individual physician or the community,” says first author Asher Brauner, a Ph.D. student in Balaban’s lab at the Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics. “This can lead to treatment being either too short, increasing the risk of relapse and evolution of resistance, or much too long, unnecessarily causing side effects, a release of antibiotic waste into the environment, and additional costs.”To address this problem, Balaban and her team developed a tolerance metric called the minimum duration for killing 99% of the population (MDK99). The protocol, which can be performed manually or using an automated robotic system, involves exposing populations of approximately 100 bacteria in separate microwell plates to different concentrations of antibiotics for varied time periods while determining the presence or lack of survivors.

Simple Method Measures How Long Bacteria Can Wait Out...

View inside biofilm of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

The researchers applied MDK99 to six Escherichia coli strains, which showed tolerance levels ranging from 2 to 23 hr under ampicillin treatment. MDK99 also facilitates measurements of a special case of tolerance known as time-dependent persistence—the presence of transiently dormant subpopulations of bacteria that are killed more slowly than the majority of the fast-growing population. Like other forms of tolerance, time-dependent persistence can lead to recurrent infections because the few surviving bacteria can quickly grow to replenish the entire population once antibiotic treatment stops. “A take-home message from this is that it is important to complete a course of antibiotic treatment as prescribed, even after the disappearance of the symptoms,” Balaban says. “Partial treatment gives tolerance and persistence mutations a selective advantage, and these, in turn, hasten the development of resistance.”In future studies, Balaban and her team will use MDK99 to study the evolution of tolerance in patients. Moreover, the ability to systematically determine the tolerance level of strains in the lab could facilitate research in the field. “If implemented in hospital clinical microbiology labs, MDK99 could enable the efficient classification of bacterial strains as tolerant, resistant, or persistent, helping to guide treatment decisions,” Balaban says. “In the end, understanding tolerance and finding a way to combat it could significantly reduce the ever-growing risk of resistance.”###Scientists involved with this research are affiliated with The Racah Institute of Physics and The Center for NanoScience and NanoTechnology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and The Broad Institute of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).FUNDING: This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) (grant 681819) and the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) (grant 492/15).CITATION: Biophysical Journal, Brauner et al.: “An Experimental Framework for Quantifying Bacterial Tolerance” http://www.cell.com/biophysj/fulltext/S0006-3495(17)30551-9 / doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.05.014

Research at Israel’s leading quantum science center paves the way for massive improvements in computation speed and secure communicationJune 11, 2017 — The Quantum Information Science Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem won a NIS 7.5 million tender from the Government of Israel to lead the construction of a national demonstrator for quantum communications technologies.

Hebrew University Wins Government Quantum Communications...

A system from Dr. Yaron Bromberg’s lab to control light in optical fibers, shaping the wavefront of photons using a fiber piano, at the Hebrew University’s Quantum Information Science Center. (Credit: Yitz Woolf for Hebrew University)

The goal of this project is to develop homegrown Israeli expertise and technology for a national quantum communications system that will prevent eavesdropping, protect data privacy and secure national infrastructure.Professor Nadav Katz, director of the Quantum Information Science Center, and a researcher at the Hebrew University’s Racah Institute of Physics, said: “This project to build a national quantum communications system will position Israel in the leading edge of research toward ultimately secured communication systems. With support from the Government of Israel and in cooperation with our research partners, this is the first Israeli national project in the emerging field of quantum information technologies.”Quantum information research is one of the hottest areas in 21st century science, promising dramatic improvements in computation speed and secure communication. Based on the inherent wave-like nature of matter and light, it will lead to massive leaps forward in our ability to fabricate, control, measure and understand advanced structures.To help drive this field forward, in 2013 the Hebrew University founded the Quantum Information Science Center (QISC) and recruited an interdisciplinary team of over 20 researchers from physics, computer science, mathematics, chemistry, philosophy, and engineering. Representing the vanguard of Israel’s quantum researchers, this group is advancing our understanding of quantum information science and the development of quantum technologies.

Graduate student Yifat Baruchi in Prof. Ronen Rapaport’s lab, testing a photon measurement setup, at the Hebrew University’s Quantum Information Science Center. (Credit: Yitz Woolf for Hebrew University)

As part of this project, researchers will build a communication system at the Hebrew University’s laboratories based on single photons representing quantum bits. Quantum bits make it possible to perform calculations in new ways that are not possible in current communications systems or even supercomputers. Current methods of encrypting data are increasingly vulnerable to attack as the increased power of quantum computing comes online. Quantum communication systems use the laws of physics to secure data and are therefore resistant to attack.Commercial quantum communication systems are not subject to peer review by Israeli experts and are therefore not suitable to the needs at hand. An Israeli implementation, subject to peer review and hack testing by Israeli scientists, is an essential national resource.The NIS 7.5 million contract was awarded by the Ministry of Defense, which is tasked with developing a secure communications infrastructure to improve privacy and secure national infrastructure. Also participating in the project are Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. and Opsys technologies, and an additional researcher from Tel Aviv University.About the Quantum Information Science Center:

Prof. Hagai Eisenberg and graduate student Daniel Istrati study a single photon experiment at the Hebrew University’s Quantum Information Science Center. (Credit: Yitz Woolf for Hebrew University)

The Quantum Information Science Center (QISC) of the Hebrew University is a unique center for investigating both fundamental and applied science of quantum information. Its mission is to understand how quantum systems can be controlled and isolated to reach goals of communication, sensing, simulation and computation beyond the state of the art of any classical system. Bringing together diverse disciplines and methodologies, the Center has revolutionized many aspects of the field, including quantum computing threshold and security theorems, quantum control and thermodynamics, and many exciting experimental implementations such as optical, diamond vacancies, superconducting and more. For more information, please visit http://qcent.huji.ac.il/.

Other partners in running the venture, which will be housed at OurCrowd’s Jerusalem headquarters, will include the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Yissum Technology Transfer Company and Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries. “This represents a unique team with a global reach, incredible scale, and with deep technological, commercial and academic roots,” said Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd. “We expect to invest in close to 50 companies over the next 10 years and further grow the formidable cadre of Jerusalem start-ups.” OurCrowd will be replacing Jerusalem Venture Partners, which previously led the incubator, launching operations and accepting applications in the second half of 2017. The venture will be part of the larger incubator program overseen by the Israel Innovation Authority. “In today’s technology environment, strong partnerships and strategic investments help accelerate innovation,” said Eduardo Conrado, executive vice president for strategy and innovation at Motorola Solutions. “The Jerusalem incubator is one element of our Israel innovation hub, which is focused on developing advanced solutions in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and other fields.” A representative of Reliance Industries, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the promise of Israeli start-ups and the “unique value proposition” they offer “by delivering next-gen digital services. “We believe the incredible technological innovation from Israel will gain immensely by addressing the huge Indian market riding on the nationwide 4G LTE [high-speed wireless communication] digital infrastructure set up in India by Jio,” the representative said, referring to a mobile network operator owned by Reliance. “This will be a significant win-win for both India and Israel.”Read the source article at Jpost

Israeli, Indian partners team up with Motorola to launch...

Hebrew University to Dedicate New Home of the Edmond and...

Philanthropist Mrs. Lily Safra, Architect Lord Norman Foster, and more than 400 people from Israel and abroad to attend the gala celebration and naming ceremony of Israel’s largest neuroscience centerJune 6, 2017 — The Hebrew University of Jerusalem will dedicate the new home of The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) in Jerusalem on June 13, 2017. More than 400 people from Israel and abroad will attend the gala celebration and naming ceremony of the largest neuroscience center in Israel and one of the most ambitious in the world.Participating in the event will be Mrs. Lily Safra, a leading supporter of neuroscience research projects around the world, and Chairwoman of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation, which pledged a lead donation of $50 million of the Center’s $150 million initial budget.“I am truly thrilled to join in celebrating this defining moment for ELSC when such an extraordinary new building becomes home to a remarkable community of researchers and students,” said Mrs. Lily Safra. “Their multi-disciplinary study of the brain’s secrets will surely make a profound impact on how we treat disease and care for patients. I know that my husband Edmond would share my deep sense of pride that our names are associated with such pioneering work, and with such dedicated and inspiring people.”The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences is at the forefront of the revolution in neuroscience research. Harnessing the extraordinary opportunities created by advances in technology and medicine, ELSC is shaping the next generation of researchers to advance the brain sciences and transform the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.“ELSC is unique in the way it brings together theoretical and experimental researchers to develop pioneering approaches to brain science,” said Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson, President of the Hebrew University. “The Hebrew University is grateful to Mrs. Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation for their leadership in this historic initiative to unlock the mysteries of the brain.”Lord Norman Foster, the award-winning Founder and Executive Chairman of the British architectural firm Foster + Partners, which designed the new center, will participate in the gala event.“The project for the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences is much like a city in microcosm, with some of the same challenges: how do we best create a sense of community, share knowledge, bring people together, and support collective endeavors towards common goals? The building works flexibly, accommodating a diverse range of requirements from customizable, individual workstations to a central courtyard that is the social heart, breaking the traditional mold of learning and making the process more collaborative. It is a celebration of the brain, and of the vital work that is carried out by the researchers here,” said Lord Foster.The 14,500 square meter center will include state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, an innovative imaging center, and areas for biological and pre-clinical research. Significant emphasis was placed on constructing an environmentally-friendly building with a focus on conserving energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.Professor Israel Nelken, Co-Director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, and the Milton z”l and Brindell Gottlieb Professor of Brain Science, said: “At the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, scientists follow an interdisciplinary agenda to uncover the causal links between genes, neurons, and circuits from which cognition and behavior emerge, paving the way to a wide spectrum of future applications, from clever gadgets that improve quality of life to better health care.”ELSC scientists have already paved a way towards a fundamental understanding of brain processes in health and disease. At the Lab for Understanding Neurons, Professor Idan Segev, the David & Inez Myers Professor in Computational Neuroscience, uses mathematical tools to digitally reconstruct a whole piece of cortical circuits using powerful computers. Using these models his team recently discovered rich structures or connectivity previously unknown. These “hidden” circuit structures pose constraints on how sensory information is processed in the neocortex. Professor Merav Ahissar, the Joseph H. and Belle Braun Professor of Psychology, with a longstanding interest in studying dyslexia, recently found that a central problem for dyslexics is forming prediction, a fundamental aspect of brain computing that governs our behaviors.ELSC’s young generation of researchers is also studying the brain at unprecedented resolutions. Dr. Ami Citri, for example, received the prestigious $100,000 Adelis Brain Research Award for his outstanding work in the field of experience-dependent plasticity and its impact on diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Most projects are led by ELSC’s Ph.D. students, an elite group of young scholars.About the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences ELSC’s mission is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of brain mechanisms by developing a thriving interface between theoretical and experimental neuroscience. By building bridges across disciplines—combining high-resolution studies of local neuronal circuits (from genes to neurons and synapses) with a global theory of the brain’s computational principles—ELSC aims to be at the forefront of neuroscience research worldwide. ELSC was founded with the generous support of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, which supports hundreds of organizations in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://elsc.huji.ac.il.

Increased levels of a micro-RNA could have a protective effect explaining why identical stressors trigger seizures in some people but not in others.June 5, 2017 — On December 16, 1997, hundreds of Japanese children were brought to a hospital suffering from epilepsy-like seizures. They all had one thing in common: they had been watching an episode of the Pokémon TV show when their symptoms began. Doctors determined that their symptoms were triggered by five seconds of intensely bright flashing lights on the popular TV program. But why did the lights affect a few hundred children while thousands of other viewers were unharmed?In new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers headed by Professor Hermona Soreq at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sought to answer this question. Drawing on her previous research, Professor Soreq, the Charlotte Slesinger Professor of Molecular Neuroscience at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences and the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, hypothesized that healthy brains may be protected from epileptic seizures by rapidly produced molecules called short RNAs, or microRNAs (miRs). MicroRNAs are a recently discovered class of non-coding RNAs that can prevent genes from expressing particular proteins.To test this idea, Soreq and her colleagues at the Hebrew University developed a transgenic model producing unusually high amounts of one micro-RNA called miR-211, which the researchers predicted was involved. The levels of this molecule could be gradually lowered by administering the antibiotic Doxycycline, enabling tests of its potency to avoid epilepsy.Working with colleagues at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and Dalhousie University in Canada, they suppressed excess miR-211 production in the engineered models to the levels found in normal brains. Within four days, this caused the models to display electrically-recorded epilepsy and hypersensitivity to epilepsy-inducing compounds. “Dynamic changes in the amount of miR-211 in the forebrains of these models shifted the threshold for spontaneous and pharmacologically induced seizures, alongside changes in the cholinergic pathway genes,” said Professor Soreq.These findings indicated that mir-211 plays a beneficial role in protecting the brain from epileptic seizures in the engineered models.

Researchers Get Head Start on Gene That Protects the Brain...

Noting that miR-211 is known to be elevated in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients who are at high risk for epilepsy, the researchers suspect that in human brains as well, elevated miR-211 may act as a protective mechanism to reduce the risk of epileptic seizures.“It is important to discover how only some people’s brains present a susceptibility to seizures, while others do not, even when subjected to these same stressors,” said Professor Soreq. In searching for the physiological mechanisms that allow some people’s brains to avoid epilepsy, we found that increased levels of micro-RNA 211 could have a protective effect.”According to the researchers, recognizing the importance of miR-211 could open new avenues for diagnosing and interfering with epilepsy. By understanding how miR-211 affects seizure thresholds, scientists could potentially develop therapeutics that lead to greater miR-211–production.Participating researchers are affiliated with the following institutions: The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences and The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; and Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Canada. The authors thank the Netherlands Brain Bank for human-derived samples.

July 2, 2017 — 75 Christian, Jewish and Muslim youth from around the world gathered at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for a unique summit, in answer to Pope Francis’ call to create a culture of encounter for peace. Students ages 15 and 16 from Argentina, Brazil, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Mexico, Spain, and other countries joined their Palestinian and Israeli counterparts for four days of learning through arts, sports, technology, and living together.

Youth Summit for Peace Takes Place in Jerusalem

Students from Burundi and Congo perform a song in Swahili at the opening ceremony of the Interreligious Citizenship Encounter. The female singer from Burundi’s name is “Shalom.” (Credit: Scholas Occurentes)

At the opening ceremony, young people expressed their hopes for peace through a variety of artistic presentations. Students from Burundi and Congo performed a song in Swahili; Palestinian students from Beit Hanina performed “Imagine” by John Lennon, and Israeli students from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance sang of peace in Hebrew.Three senior religious leaders, representing the three Abrahamic faiths, gave opening benedictions as part of an interreligious prayer for peace: Kadi Iyad Zahalka, The Kadi of Jerusalem and the Head of the Sharia Courts of Israel; His Eminence Mons. Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio to Israel; and Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Dov Rosen, the Rabbi of Yakar Congregation in Jerusalem.

Palestinian students perform at the opening ceremony (Credit: Scholas Occurentes)

The summit, from July 2-5, 2017, is co-organized by the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes (“Scholas”) and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace (“Truman Institute”) at the Hebrew University. Within the framework of this gathering, two major events are taking place: “Scholas Chairs International Congress 2017: Between University and School – Peacebuilding through Culture of Encounter” and “Interreligious Citizenship Encounter.”The closing ceremony on Wednesday, July 5 is expected to include greetings from Pope Francis, together with the planting of a traditional olive tree for peace in his name, as students describe their experiences and present their works of art and their social projects.Among the dignitaries present representing Scholas Occurentes were José María del Corral, President of the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes; and for the Holy See, His Eminence Mons. Angelo Zani, General Secretary of the Congregation For Catholic Education and His Eminence Mons. Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Vice President of Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes and Great Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Religious leaders pose with organizers of the Interreligious Citizenship Encounter (Credit: Scholas Occurentes)

Attending from the Hebrew University were Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson, President; Professor Asher Cohen, Rector and President-elect; Amb. Yossi Gal, Vice President for Advancement and External Relations; and Ms. Naama Shpeter, Executive Director of the Truman Institute and Conference Chair.Speaking at a meeting with leaders of Scholas and the Hebrew University at his residence on February 7, Pope Francis said: “Religion can bring us together and teach us to create the bonds of friendship. With the intuition of Scholas and the intelligence and history of the Hebrew University, I am sure that this will produce great changes in the world.”Scholas (http://web.scholasoccurrentes.org/en) is an international educational organization created by Pope Francis when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, which was adopted as a global youth project of the Vatican, to educate young people in the commitment for the common good.The Truman Institute (http://truman.huji.ac.il) is the first and largest research institute in the Middle East to examine conflict resolution and propose peaceful solutions for the region, and fostering discussion and understanding on the challenges facing Israelis and Palestinians and the citizens of the developing world.

Leadership

Marc O. Mayer was elected President of the Board of Directors of American Friends of the Hebrew University during a meeting of the AFHU National Board in New York City on Sunday, May 21, 2017. Daniel I. Schlessinger, who served as President of AFHU for two terms, was appointed Board Chairman.Marc Mayer heads North American Distribution at Schroders plc, a company that manages $520 billion in global assets. An active lay leader who champions varied causes related to education and the arts, Mayer has been involved with AFHU for more than two decades. He has served on the National Board and Northeast Region Board, previously chaired the Audit Committee, and until May 2017, served as Campaign Chair. He is a member of the Executive, Audit, and Investment Committees. Dedicated to the Hebrew University’s academic and research community of 1,000 faculty and 23,000 students, Mr. Mayer is a Governor of the Hebrew University’s International Board of Governors and serves on the University’s Executive Committee.Marc and his wife Meera Mayer are Benefactors of the university and received the Maimonides Award in 2007 in recognition of their humanitarianism and leadership. In 2016, Marc Mayer and Patricia L. Glaser, Vice Chairman of AFHU’s Western Region, co-chaired an AFHU National Mission to Israel. He recently served on the Advisory Committee for Nexus:Israel, Hybrid Solutions to Global Challenges, an innovation conference showcasing technologies developed at Hebrew University in fields such as cybersecurity, food safety, and neuroscience.Prior to joining Schroders plc, Mr. Mayer was a partner and CEO of GMO LLC, a privately owned global investment management firm. He joined GMO in 2009 after 20 years at AllianceBernsteinLP and its predecessor firm, the privately owned Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc. Mr. Mayer was a partner and member of the Bernstein Board of Directors. Before joining Sanford Bernstein, he worked at the Squibb Corporation for six years in strategic planning, business development, marketing and marketing research. Marc Mayer earned his B.A. in Philosophy from Yale University and received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.Stated AFHU Chairman, Daniel I. Schlessinger: “We are privileged to have Marc’s exemplary leadership in support of Hebrew University and Israel. In addition to being a consummate professional and expert in his field, Marc has a profound commitment to advancing higher education. We are honored to have his service.” Engaged in numerous civic, educational and cultural activities, Marc Mayer serves on the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School. He serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he chairs the Finance and Budget Committee. He is on the Board and Executive Committee of Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights, where he serves as Treasurer. He is a trustee emeritus of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, whose board he previously chaired.Meera Mayer, an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, is similarly dedicated to lay leadership, serving on the Advisory Board of the Chazen Institute for Global Business at Columbia Business School. She plays an active role in Women in Science at Rockefeller University. The Mayers have three children and a tortoise and reside in New York City.

Marc O. Mayer, AFHU Board President 2017

How Glowing Soil Can Help Find Land Mines

In a time when there is much talk of a “Mother of All Bombs” and the possibility of a conflict involving nuclear weapons, a landmine can seem an artifact of conflicts past, a weapon that has little to do with mass destruction.And yet, the prosaic device continues to induce its own form of terror around the world, sometimes long after wars have ended. In 2015, the number of people killed or maimed by land mines and other explosive remnants of war rose to 6,461, an increase of 75 percent, according to the 2016 Landmine Monitor. The big jump was largely related to conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Ukraine and Yemen.Almost 80 percent of the victims were civilians, and nearly 40 percent were children.Since an international Mine Ban Treaty went into effect in 1999, tens of millions of anti-personnel mines have been destroyed. But almost 110 million remain buried in fields and forests, reports the Landmine Monitor, which also estimates the expense of removing a mine—one that might have cost as little as $3 to make—could be as high as $1,000.When mines moveAs costly and methodical a process as it is to extract mines, it’s even more challenging to find them. Reliable technology has been slow to evolve beyond the conventional metal detector, and in some places, giant rats are still the detection method of choice.Engineers at the German Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Technical University Ilmenau are making progress in developing a ground-penetrating radar technology, with the goal of one day implementing it through a handheld device. Building a prototype could take several years, however.In Israel, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have taken a very different approach—they’re relying on genetically-engineered bacteria to do the job. In a study recently published in Nature Biotechnology, the team of researchers reported that they were able to create microbes that produce fluorescent molecules when they come into contact with vapors that leak from the explosive component in mines.Along with nutrients and water, the engineered E. coli bacteria were encased in polymer beads only three millimeters in diameter. The beads were scattered over a test field where explosives were buried. Then 24 hours later, using a laser scanning system, the scientists were able to locate the mines based on where the soil was glowing.“Once you know where a mine is, it’s not that difficult to neutralize it,” says Aharon Agranat, who oversaw the design and construction of the remote scanning system. “The problem is to know where it is. Things like weather conditions and mudslides can cause mines to move over the years. They’re not always in the same place as where they were first buried.”

These luminous microbial beads demonstrate the fluorescent signal produced by the bacteria.

In what he describes as “quintessential multidisciplinary research,” Agranat, an applied physicist, worked closely with Shimshon Belkin, a microbiologist who created the bacterial sensors, and Amos Nussinovitch, a biochemist who encapsulated the microbes in the polymer beads. They loaded about 100,000 vapor-detecting cells inside each bead. The laser in Agranat’s detection system was able to locate the explosives while mounted on a cart about 70 feet away.“The advantage of fluorescence is that we can have the laser detect only that light,” he explains, “and not any light reflected from the ground, or from the moon, or from lights nearby. That light doesn’t respond to our laser beam. So, we can work outdoors. This proved to be very effective.”Taking on challengesTheir research at this point, Agranat acknowledges, is at the proof-of-concept stage. They’ve shown that their process can work, but both acknowledge there are challenges they still need to overcome before it could be used widely.Belkin says they have to make the sensor bacteria even more sensitive and stable, and need to increase the scanning speed to deal with large areas that contain land mines.“There are many assumptions that are involved in the success of this methodology,” Agranat notes. “For starters, is it a given that the vapors released by the mine will reach the surface, or that enough will reach the surface that it can be detected?”There are other questions. “We need to know what happens in different minefields,” says Agranat. “The way they’re in the ground varies from place to place, the climate conditions are different, the type of soil is different, the type of mines is different.“What needs to be done now is to see how effective this is going to be in all those different situations.”

This is the laser-based scanning system used to locate buried land mines.

One more challenge is to be able to shrink the size of the scanning equipment so that it can be carried by a light unmanned aircraft or a drone, allowing larger areas to be surveyed.But they continue to make progress. Now, they say they can detect explosives only three hours after the bacteria-filled beads are spread across a field. They’re also programming the bacteria to have a limited life span to ease any concerns about introducing genetically engineered microbes into the environment.More research certainly needs to be done, but Agranat is encouraged by the results so far.“As far as I know, this is the first case of remote sensing of buried land mines,” he says. “Most of the questions relate to things like cost effectiveness. But there is no showstopper we can point to.”Read the source article at Smithsonian.com