Showing papers by "University of Haifa published in 2022"
TL;DR: In this article , the authors discuss data on suicide and present the limitations of the Dutch studies that have been the basis for interventions, and discuss the need for a proper informed consent process to both prepare parents and patients for the difficult choices that they must make and ease professionals' ethical tensions.
Abstract: In less than a decade, the western world has witnessed an unprecedented rise in the numbers of children and adolescents seeking gender transition. Despite the precedent of years of gender-affirmative care, the social, medical and surgical interventions are still based on very low-quality evidence. The many risks of these interventions, including medicalizing a temporary adolescent identity, have come into a clearer focus through an awareness of detransitioners. The risks of gender-affirmative care are ethically managed through a properly conducted informed consent process. Its elements-deliberate sharing of the hoped-for benefits, known risks and long-term outcomes, and alternative treatments-must be delivered in a manner that promotes comprehension. The process is limited by: erroneous professional assumptions; poor quality of the initial evaluations; and inaccurate and incomplete information shared with patients and their parents. We discuss data on suicide and present the limitations of the Dutch studies that have been the basis for interventions. Beliefs about gender-affirmative care need to be separated from the established facts. A proper informed consent process can both prepare parents and patients for the difficult choices that they must make and can ease professionals' ethical tensions. Even when properly accomplished, however, some clinical circumstances exist that remain quite uncertain.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examine the reasons for adolescents' refusal to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, and examine correlates of vaccination among adolescents aged 12-18 years in Israel.
16 citations
TL;DR: Based on the largest ethnographic study to date, undertaken with 150 women who froze their eggs for nonmedical reasons in the United States and Israel, this work examines egg freezing at the end of romance.
Abstract: The newest innovation in assisted reproduction is oocyte cryopreservation, more commonly known as egg freezing, which has been developed as a method of fertility preservation. Studies emerging from...
13 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigate the pricing efficiency of numerous popular cryptocurrencies using a wide range of noneconomic events that include calendar anomalies, natural condition-based anomalies, holidays when US exchanges are closed and secular and ethnic holidays when exchanges are open.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze 10,000 outdoor photographs retrieved from three social media platforms and geolocated within green and blue spaces in Haifa (Israel) by means of machine tags from three popular cloud-based services.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined whether non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and FIB-4, a non-invasive index of advanced fibrosis, are associated with brain amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau pathology.
Abstract: Liver steatosis and fibrosis are emerging as risk factors for multiple extrahepatic health conditions; however, their relationship with Alzheimer's disease pathology is unclear.To examine whether non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and FIB-4, a non-invasive index of advanced fibrosis, are associated with brain amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau pathology.The study sample included Framingham Study participants from the Offspring and Third generation cohorts who attended exams 9 (2011-2014) and 2 (2008-2011), respectively. Participants underwent 11C-Pittsburgh Compound-B amyloid and 18F-Flortaucipir tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and abdomen computed tomography, or had information on all components of the FIB-4 index. Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship of NAFLD and FIB-4 with regional tau and Aβ, adjusting for potential confounders and multiple comparisons.Of the subsample with NAFLD information (N = 169; mean age 52±9 y; 57% males), 57 (34%) had NAFLD. Of the subsample with information on liver fibrosis (N = 177; mean age 50±10 y; 51% males), 34 (19%) had advanced fibrosis (FIB-4 > 1.3). Prevalent NAFLD was not associated with Aβ or tau PET. However, FIB-4 index was significantly associated with increased rhinal tau (β= 1.03±0.33, p = 0.002). Among individuals with prevalent NAFLD, FIB-4 was related to inferior temporal, parahippocampal gyrus, entorhinal and rhinal tau (β= 2.01±0.47, p < 0.001; β= 1.60±0.53, p = 0.007, and β= 1.59±0.47, p = 0.003 and β= 1.60±0.42, p = 0.001, respectively) and to Aβ deposition overall and in the inferior temporal and parahippocampal regions (β= 1.93±0.47, p < 0.001; β= 1.59±0.38, p < 0.001, and β= 1.52±0.54, p = 0.008, respectively).This study suggests a possible association between liver fibrosis and early Alzheimer's disease pathology, independently of cardio-metabolic risk factors.
9 citations
TL;DR: The "bilingual education" policy in Xinjiang has been one of the most contentious policies implemented in the region in recent decades as mentioned in this paper, given its negative impact on the most important marker.
Abstract: The “bilingual education” policy in Xinjiang has been one of the most contentious policies implemented in the region in recent decades. Given its negative impact on one of the most important marker...
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article , the main types of tradeoffs and synergies that can originate from the design and implementation of UGI are identified and categorized based on a review of the recent literature.
7 citations
02 Apr 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors examined the sense of agency and its associated confidence judgments using an embodied virtual reality paradigm in psychosis patients and controls and found that the SoA capacities allow for high levels of accuracy in clinical classification of psychosis.
Abstract: The Sense of Agency (SoA), our sensation of control over our actions, is a fundamental mechanism for delineating the Self from the environment and others. SoA arises from implicit processing of sensorimotor signals as well as explicit higher-level judgments. Psychosis patients suffer from difficulties in the sense of control over their actions and accurate demarcation of the Self. Moreover, it is unclear if they have metacognitive insight into their aberrant abilities. In this pre-registered study, we examined SoA and its associated confidence judgments using an embodied virtual reality paradigm in psychosis patients and controls. Our results show that psychosis patients not only have a severely reduced ability for discriminating their actions but they also do not show proper metacognitive insight into this deficit. Furthermore, an exploratory analysis revealed that the SoA capacities allow for high levels of accuracy in clinical classification of psychosis. These results indicate that SoA and its metacognition are core aspects of the psychotic state and provide possible venues for understanding the underlying mechanisms of psychosis, that may be leveraged for novel clinical purposes.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors explored the effects of lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the incidence and characteristics of hip fracture in older adults, and found that there was a significantly higher incidence of hip fractures in elderly adults living alone during lockdown.
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined empirically the prevalence and the determinants of ageism towards older and younger people in the wake of COVID-19 and found that negative age-related stereotypes played a central role in ageist beliefs towards both older and young people during the crisis.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the effects of lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the incidence and characteristics of hip fracture in older adults, and found that there was a significantly higher incidence of hip fractures in elderly adults living alone during lockdown.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors describe the dynamics of a single annual cycle (2018-19) of phyto- and bacterioplankton (abundances, pigments and productivity) in relation to the physical and chemical conditions in the photic water column at an offshore EMS site.
Abstract: The Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) is a poorly studied ultra-oligotrophic marine environment, dominated by small-size phyto- and bacterioplankton. Here, we describe the dynamics of a single annual cycle (2018–19) of phyto- and bacterioplankton (abundances, pigments and productivity) in relation to the physical and chemical conditions in the photic water column at an offshore EMS site (Station THEMO-2, ∼1,500 m depth, 50 km offshore). We show that phytoplankton biomass (as chlorophyll a), primary and bacterial productivity differed between the mixed winter (January–April) and the thermally stratified (May–December) periods. Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus numerically dominated the picophytoplankton populations, with each clade revealing different temporal and depth changes indicative to them, while pico-eukaryotes (primarily haptophytes) were less abundant, yet likely contributed significant biomass. Estimated primary productivity (∼32 gC m−2 y−1) was lower compared with other well-studied oligotrophic locations, including the north Atlantic and Pacific (BATS and HOT observatories), the western Mediterranean (DYFAMED observatory) and the Red Sea, and was on-par with the ultra-oligotrophic South Pacific Gyre. In contrast, integrated bacterial production (∼11 gC m−2 y−1) was similar to other oligotrophic locations. Phytoplankton seasonal dynamics were similar to those at BATS and the Red Sea, suggesting an observable effect of winter mixing in this ultra-oligotrophic location. These results highlight the ultra-oligotrophic conditions in the EMS and provide, for the first time in this region, a full-year baseline and context to ocean observatories in the region.
09 Jan 2022
TL;DR: In this article , the Grothendieck-Serre conjecture on principal homogeneous bundles and the local purity conjecture for certain outer forms of Azumaya algebras with involution were established.
Abstract: Given an Azumaya algebra with involution $$(A,\sigma )$$ over a commutative ring R and some auxiliary data, we construct an 8-periodic chain complex involving the Witt groups of $$(A,\sigma )$$ and other algebras with involution, and prove it is exact when R is semilocal. When R is a field, this recovers an 8-periodic exact sequence of Witt groups of Grenier-Boley and Mahmoudi, which in turn generalizes exact sequences of Parimala–Sridharan–Suresh and Lewis. We apply this result in several ways: We establish the Grothendieck–Serre conjecture on principal homogeneous bundles and the local purity conjecture for certain outer forms of $${\mathbf {GL}}_n$$ and $${\mathbf {Sp}}_{2n}$$ , provided some assumptions on R. We show that a 1-hermitian form over a quadratic étale or quaternion Azumaya algebra over a semilocal ring R is isotropic if and only if its trace (a quadratic form over R) is isotropic, generalizing a result of Jacobson. We also apply it to characterize the kernel of the restriction map $$W(R)\rightarrow W(S)$$ when R is a (non-semilocal) 2-dimensional regular domain and S is a quadratic étale R-algebra, generalizing a theorem of Pfister. In the process, we establish many fundamental results concerning Azumaya algebras with involution and hermitian forms over them.
TL;DR: Among all of the studied potential causes of autism, vaccines have received some of the most scrutiny and have been the topic of many evidence-based studies as discussed by the authors , however, despite the overwhelming data demonstrating that there is no link between vaccines and autism, many parents are hesitant to immunize their children because of the alleged association.
TL;DR: The authors decompose the CBOE's VIX index into the variance risk premium (VRP) and conditional variance of stock returns (CV) to predict the return spread between high and low idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL) quintile portfolios.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors outline significant advances and recent findings in youth suicide research that may facilitate strategies for identifying and preventing suicide risk among youth at risk in general and in specific risk groups.
Abstract: The rate of youth suicidal behaviors has gradually increased over the last 15 years and continues to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend burdens mental health services and demands significant developments in risk detection and delivery of interventions to reduce the risk. In this article we outline significant advances and recent findings in youth suicide research that may facilitate strategies for identifying and preventing suicide risk among youth at risk in general and in specific risk groups.The rise in suicide and suicidal behaviors is most likely to affect young people of racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender identity minorities and those living in poverty or experiencing maltreatment. The suicide rate in children is rising and demands special attention. Proximal risk factors for suicidal behavior compared with suicidal ideation have been suggested to identify near-term suicidal risk. Effective and scalable prevention strategies were identified, and the role of new technologies in suicide prevention among youth is to be determined.To reach broader suicide prevention in youth and reduce the pressure on mental healthcare, public health approaches and improved service access for minority youth and those living in underserved areas of the world are needed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored adolescents' resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic stress by examining core aspects of well-being across countries using network analysis and identified two highly similar network clusters were identified for UK and Israel, with three clusters emerging for India.
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the responses of 539 adults who met an evidence-based criterion of probable maladaptive daydreaming and met the description of at least one of the following personality facets: grandiosity, separation insecurity, and anhedonia.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present findings from a three-phase longitudinal study on the evolvement of public service motivation (PSM) of Israeli students who gradually enter the job market.
Abstract: What are the impact of work values and academic training on public service motivation (PSM) over time? We present findings from a three-phase longitudinal study on the evolvement of PSM of Israeli students who gradually enter the job market. A cohort of 2,799 students were surveyed in late 2012 and a surviving final cohort of 558 respondents took part in the third stage of data collection during early 2015. We analyzed this group's postgraduate career development when they joined various public and nonpublic organizations and professions. We tested several hypotheses about possible relationships between and effects of work values (intrinsic–extrinsic; individualistic–collectivistic), academic studies, and person-organization fit and PSM over time. In general, individuals with higher levels of intrinsic and collectivistic values, and an academic background in core public service studies demonstrated stronger PSM over time. Implications and suggestions for future studies are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the case study of a program for Jewish and Palestinian educators in Israel and their initial insights into the outcome of the initiative, which aims to address racism.
Abstract: This article discusses the case study of a programme for Jewish and Palestinian educators in Israel and our initial insights into the outcome of the initiative The programme aims to address racism
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of temperature and light availability in the breakdown of detrital material was evaluated for two North Atlantic species with contrasting thermal affinities: the "warm water" kelp Laminaria ochroleuca and the "cool water" laminaria hyperborea, and the degradation rates (i.e. changes in Fv/Fm and biomass) were faster under lower light conditions and at higher temperatures.
TL;DR: In this article , the prevalence of informal caregivers in the European population, illustrates current difficulties in gathering unequivocal information on this topic and deals with the scientific and policy implications of the problem, using the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and the Study on Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE).
Abstract: To promote long-term care policies for older adults, accurate mapping of the often invisible and insufficiently recognized role of their informal caregivers is needed. This paper measures the prevalence of informal caregivers in the European population, illustrates current difficulties in gathering unequivocal information on this topic and deals with the scientific and policy implications of the problem. Using the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) and the Study on Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE), the current difficulties in gathering unequivocal information on this topic are illustrated. In most countries, the share of informal caregivers varies, sometimes markedly, among the three surveys. As for the sex of caregivers, while confirming the well-known higher prevalence of caregivers among women than among men, large variations emerge across the three surveys in most countries in respect of the two sexes. The takeaway message of the paper is that it is urgent to promote international concerted action in gathering comprehensive informal caregiving information and/or exploring in greater depth the different intercultural understandings of informal care itself.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors examined the utility of intrinsic versus extrinsic re-appraisal training for distress reduction during two consecutive COVID-19 lockdowns in Israel.
Abstract: In two studies, we examined the utility of intrinsic (i.e., self) versus extrinsic (i.e., other) reappraisal training for distress reduction during two consecutive COVID-19 lockdowns in Israel. In both Study 1 (n = 104) and Study 2 (n = 181), participants practiced the use of reappraisal for eight sessions across three weeks. Participants were trained to reappraise either a personal event (self-reappraisal group) or an incident presumably written by another participant (other-reappraisal group). Study 2 also included an untrained control group. Outcome measures were daily negative mood and psychological distress immediately at post-training and at a two-month follow-up. The results demonstrate a benefit for training compared to no training in lowering immediate post-training distress and daily negative emotions. However, this advantage disappeared at the two-month follow-up. In both studies, intrinsic reappraisal was associated with lower post-training distress than extrinsic reappraisal. Findings suggest reappraising negative experiences may lower distress at times of major contextual stress.
TL;DR: Petrosia ficiformis as mentioned in this paper is a marine sponges that produces a diversity of chemical compounds, which plays a fundamental role in this sponge's extraordinary adaptation to various ecological conditions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined interaction effects between SPS and early posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) assessed daily during the first week after a motor vehicle collision on subsequent 1-and 4-months PTSS.
TL;DR: This paper found that dyslexic individuals would be impaired in RL compared with neurotypical individuals in two different tasks, i.e., probabilistic selection and implicit transitive inference.
Abstract: According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis, abnormalities in corticostriatal pathways could account for the language-related deficits observed in developmental dyslexia. The same neural network has also been implicated in the ability to learn contingencies based on trial and error (i.e., reinforcement learning [RL]). On this basis, the present study tested the assumption that dyslexic individuals would be impaired in RL compared with neurotypicals in two different tasks.In a probabilistic selection task, participants were required to learn reinforcement contingencies based on probabilistic feedback. In an implicit transitive inference task, participants were also required to base their decisions on reinforcement histories, but feedback was deterministic and stimulus pairs were partially overlapping, such that participants were required to learn hierarchical relations.Across tasks, results revealed that although the ability to learn from positive/negative feedback did not differ between the two groups, the learning of reinforcement contingencies was poorer in the dyslexia group compared with the neurotypicals group. Furthermore, in novel test pairs where previously learned information was presented in new combinations, dyslexic individuals performed similarly to neurotypicals.Taken together, these results suggest that learning of reinforcement contingencies occurs less robustly in individuals with developmental dyslexia. Inferences for the neuro-cognitive mechanisms of developmental dyslexia are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors in this paper provided a simplistic overview of the current progress and advancements after synthesizing the enormous literature on SCZ genetics and SCZ iPSC-based models, which has allowed to delineate important cellular mechanisms and biological pathways affected in SCZ.
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present a seismic-based reconstruction of the complete depositional history of Lake Chala as well as a first-order age model for the major documented stages in lake evolution.
Abstract: Sediments deposited in Lake Chala (Kenya/Tanzania) constitute a high-resolution archive of past climate and environmental change in equatorial East Africa spanning two glacial-interglacial cycles. To correctly interpret the proxy records it contains, it is crucial to understand the evolution of lacustrine sedimentation in this volcanic crater basin. Building on previous seismic stratigraphic analysis by Moernaut et al. (2010) of a dense grid of 37 km high-resolution seismic reflection profiles with up to 270 ms two-way travel time (ca. 210 m depth) of sub-bottom penetration, this study presents a seismic-based reconstruction of the complete depositional history of Lake Chala as well as a first-order age model for the major documented stages in lake evolution. The seismic stratigraphic sequence comprises 16 distinct and finely-stratified units (U1-U16, youngest to oldest), grouped into five major depositional stages. Stage I (U16, ca. 249-212 ka) marks the initiation of sedimentation in an originally ring-shaped depositional area surrounding two central tuff cones emerging from the basin floor. Stage II (U15-U12, ca. 212-114 ka) represents the onset of basinwide sedimentation above the tuff cones, implying a gradual rise in lake depth and shift to more strictly hemipelagic sedimentation. Stage III (U11-U8, ca. 114-97 ka) represents the development of a relatively flat lake floor during a period of significantly reduced lake depth. Stage IV (U7-U4, ca. 97–20.5 ka) is again characterized by largely undisturbed hemipelagic sedimentation under mostly high lake-depth conditions. Stage V (U3-U1, 20.5 ka BP to Present) represents the establishment of the present-day, very broad and flat basin floor under fluctuating lake level. Reassessing the Moernaut et al. (2010) suggestion of a minor disconformity at ca. 100 m sub-bottom depth, we here interpret this seismic feature as a thick turbidite related to a mass wasting event. Consequently we can affirm continuity of lacustrine sedimentation in the depocenter of Lake Chala throughout the past ca. 250,000 years.
TL;DR: In this paper , a low-cost paradigm of EDSS as a Service (EDSS-as-a-Service) is presented for developing a water quality EDSS as a service that utilizes the CE-QUAL-W2 model as a kernel for deriving optimized decisions.
Abstract: An environmental decision support system (EDSS) can be used as an important tool for the rehabilitation and preservation of ecosystems. Nonetheless, high assimilation costs (both money and time) are one of the main reasons these tools are not widely adopted in practice. This work presents a low-cost paradigm of “EDSS as a Service.” This paradigm is demonstrated for developing a water quality EDSS as a service that utilizes the well-known CE-QUAL-W2 model as a kernel for deriving optimized decisions. The paradigm is leveraging new open-source technologies in software development (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, and Helm) with cloud computing to significantly reduce the assimilation costs of the EDSS for organizations and researchers working on the rehabilitation and preservation of water bodies.