University of Haifa

About: University of Haifa is a education organization based out in Haifa, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 7558 authors who have published 27141 publications receiving 711629 citations. The organization is also known as: Haifa University & Universiṭat Ḥefah.

On Diagonally Relaxed Orthogonal Projection Methods

Abstract: We propose and study a block-iterative projection method for solving linear equations and/or inequalities. The method allows diagonal componentwise relaxation in conjunction with orthogonal projections onto the individual hyperplanes of the system, and is thus called diagonally relaxed orthogonal projections (DROP). Diagonal relaxation has proven useful in accelerating the initial convergence of simultaneous and block-iterative projection algorithms, but until now it was available only in conjunction with generalized oblique projections in which there is a special relation between the weighting and the oblique projections. DROP has been used by practitioners, and in this paper a contribution to its convergence theory is provided. The mathematical analysis is complemented by some experiments in image reconstruction from projections which illustrate the performance of DROP.

Dorsal periaqueductal gray-amygdala pathway conveys both innate and learned fear responses in rats

Abstract: The periaqueductal gray (PAG) and amygdala are known to be important for defensive responses, and many contemporary fear-conditioning models present the PAG as downstream of the amygdala, directing the appropriate behavior (ie, freezing or fleeing) However, empirical studies of this circuitry are inconsistent and warrant further examination Hence, the present study investigated the functional relationship between the PAG and amygdala in two different settings, fear conditioning and naturalistic foraging, in rats In fear conditioning, electrical stimulation of the dorsal PAG (dPAG) produced unconditional responses (URs) composed of brief activity bursts followed by freezing and 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalization In contrast, stimulation of ventral PAG and the basolateral amygdalar complex (BLA) evoked freezing and/or ultrasonic vocalization Whereas dPAG stimulation served as an effective unconditional stimulus for fear conditioning to tone and context conditional stimuli, neither ventral PAG nor BLA stimulation supported fear conditioning The conditioning effect of dPAG, however, was abolished by inactivation of the BLA In a foraging task, dPAG and BLA stimulation evoked only fleeing toward the nest Amygdalar lesion/inactivation blocked the UR of dPAG stimulation, but dPAG lesions did not block the UR of BLA stimulation Furthermore, in vivo recordings demonstrated that electrical priming of the dPAG can modulate plasticity of subiculum–BLA synapses, providing additional evidence that the amygdala is downstream of the dPAG These results suggest that the dPAG conveys unconditional stimulus information to the BLA, which directs both innate and learned fear responses, and that brain stimulation-evoked behaviors are modulated by context

Dispositional resistance to change : measurement equivalence and the link to personal values across 17 nations

Abstract: The concept of dispositional resistance to change has been introduced in a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses through which the validity of the Resistance to Change (RTC) Scale has been established (S. Oreg, 2003). However, the vast majority of participants with whom the scale was validated were from the United States. The purpose of the present work was to examine the meaningfulness of the construct and the validity of the scale across nations. Measurement equivalence analyses of data from 17 countries, representing 13 languages and 4 continents, confirmed the cross-national validity of the scale. Equivalent patterns of relationships between personal values and RTC across samples extend the nomological net of the construct and provide further evidence that dispositional resistance to change holds equivalent meanings across nations.

Innovativeness, exploratory behavior, market mavenship, and opinion leadership: An empirical examination in the Asian context

Abstract: The market maven construct, developed by Feick and Price (1987), has been used in empirical studies in the USA, South Africa, Germany, Poland, and Hungary. This study extends previous research by being the first to use the general mavenship concept in an Asian country (Israel). Furthermore, the study examines market mavenship and opinion leadership as outcome concepts arising from exploratory behavior or innovativeness tendencies. Additionally, the impact of a three-dimensional exploratory behavior concept is compared to the impact of a unidimensional innovativeness concept on opinion leadership and market mavenship. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the two nomological models based on a sample of 142 adult Israeli consumers. Although both exploratory behavior and innovativeness affect market mavenship and opinion leadership, the impact of the former is stronger. Additionally, the impact of the “new brand trial” facet of exploratory behavior on market maven was comparable to that of innovativeness, whereas its impact on opinion leadership was weaker than the impact of innovativeness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Toward an Ethnography of Silence The Lived Presence of the Past in the Everyday Life of Holocaust Trauma Survivors and Their Descendants in Israel

Abstract: Despite the abundant scholarship on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the memoropolitics entailed by testimonial accounts of trauma and genocide, little is known of the everyday experience of trauma survivors and their descendants. Survivor silence is thought to signify only psychological or political repression and the "unspeakability" of traumatic pasts. It is widely accepted that the everyday lives of trauma victims and their descendants entail only the "absence of presence" of the past and the absence of descendant knowledge of that past, while the familial social milieu is thought to foster only the wounds of transmitted PTSD. Contrary to the literature, ethnographic accounts of Holocaust descendants depict the survivor home as embedding the nonpathological presence of the Holocaust past within silent, embodied practices, person-object interaction, and person-person interaction. These silent traces form an experiential matrix of Holocaust presence that sustains familial "lived memory" of the past and transmits tacit knowledge of the past within the everyday private social milieu. The ethnography of silent memory may also provide a tentative model of nontraumatic individual and familial memory work in everyday life.