Science, Medicine, & Education

Israeli Fat Sand Rats prove ideal for testing effects of light deprivation on depression

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― Saying goodbye to summer can be difficult for everybody. In some people the onset of winter triggers Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, a mood disorder in which sufferers experience symptoms of depression. Happily, a special kind of gerbil exhibits remarkably similar reactions to SAD treatments as humans, opening a promising […]

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Is your preschooler ‘fearless’? It could be in the genes

HAIFA (Press Release)–Preschool-aged children who demonstrate fearless behavior also reveal less empathy and more aggression towards their peers. This has been shown in a new study that was carried out at the University of Haifa’s Faculty of Education. “The results of this study show that fearless behavior in children can be identified and is related

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Science, Medicine, & Education

San Diego Jewish Academy fifth graders send protest letters to TIME

SAN DIEGO – When fifth grade teacher Shani Abed of San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) shared with her two fifth grade classes the September 14 cover of Time Magazine displaying a daisy chain Star of David and the headline “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace,” it caused some strong reactions among her students.  “Many students

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Lecture set Nov. 17 on how Israel has shaped Holocaust memory

CORONADO, California (Press Release)-The Agency for Jewish Education continues its monthly Mandelbaum Family Lecture Series with Professor Oren Meyers of the University of Haifa. Meyers’ lecture will take place in the Winn Room of the Coronado Library on Nov. 17 at 10:30 am. His lecture is titled, “The Shaping of the Israeli Memory of the

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Science, Medicine, & Education

To improve workplace efficiency, employees need to have confidence in their tools

TEL AVIV (Press Release)― Employers are constantly looking for innovative ways to motivate their workforce.  “Self-efficacy,” a typical technique, involves improving employees’ confidence in their abilities so that they expect greater success. This motivates them to exert greater effort and leads to better performance. But according to organizational psychologist Prof. Dov Eden of Tel Aviv

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Tel Aviv University scientists say cloud-seeding usually not effective for producing rain

TEL AVIV (Press Release)― In many areas of the world, including California’s Mojave Desert, rain is a precious and rare resource. To encourage rainfall, scientists use “cloud seeding,” a weather modification process designed to increase precipitation amounts by dispersing chemicals into the clouds. But research now reveals that the common practice of cloud seeding with

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Garden dating from 7th Century BCE discovered by archaeologists near Ramat Rachel

TEL AVIV (Press Release)― Ancient gardens are the stuff of legend, from the Garden of Eden to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Heidelberg University in Germany, have uncovered an ancient royal garden at the site of Ramat Rachel near Jerusalem, and are leading the first full-scale

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Science, Medicine, & Education

One Palestinian cartoon shows why there isn’t peace

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — After fifteen years of following the Palestinian Authority (PA) media on a daily basis, I’ve never seen anything that sums up the problem of why there’s no peace better than this cartoon in al-Hayat al-Jadida, the official PA newspaper. If only the Western mass media ran this cartoon the situation

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Tel Aviv University researcher says more breech babies should be delivered vaginally

  TEL AVIV (Press Release)― Most babies are delivered head-first, but in about 4% of all deliveries babies are “born breech” ― with their buttocks or feet first. Doctors usually exercise caution and use caesarean sections (C-sections) as the delivery method of choice for such births, believing it safer for the baby. After a large-scale

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Methodology developed to help students work through trauma

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― A child who grows up in the midst of political conflict, such as war or terrorism, can exhibit severe emotional scars. But certain qualities, which psychologists call “resilience factors,” can help overcome this adversity. Prof. Michelle Slone of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychology has now developed a program to help

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Strep throat may lead to obsessive-compulsive disorder

TEL AVIV (Press Release) — A common infection in children, strep throat can lead to problems with a child’s heart, joints or brain if left untreated. And when the brain is involved, motor and mental functioning may be compromised, leading to syndromes such as attention deficit disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While scientists have speculated on

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Israeli physicist among U.S. Medal of Science winners

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― Renowned in the physics community for the “Aharonov-Bohm Effect,” Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Yakir Aharonov, 78, is one of 10 scientists to win America’s National Medal of Science this year. He will receive the award from the hands of President Barack Obama at the White House in a November ceremony. “The

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Science, Medicine, & Education

New principal is a long-time educator and a new rabbi

By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Rabbi Laura Harari, a lifelong Jewish educator and a recently ordained rabbi, benefitted from both experiences.  As a child, her “first real exposure” to Jewish life was through summer camping and informal education.  She attended a Reform Jewish camp operated in Wisconsin by the Olin-Sang-Ruby-Union Institute.   Later, she

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Science, Medicine, & Education

Chaperone molecules transfer copper, other substances from membranes to cells

TEL AVIV (Press Release) ― Information on proteins is critical for understanding how cells function in health and disease. But while regular proteins are easy to extract and study, it is far more difficult to gather information about membrane proteins, which are responsible for exchanging elements essential to our health, like copper, between a cell

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Science, Medicine, & Education