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Plastic Additives Harm Corals’ Reproductive Processes

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University researchers examined four chemical additives that are used in consumer products, including food packaging, toys, medical devices, and adhesives.

A new study by Tel Aviv University and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat examined the effect of plastic additives on the reproductive process and larvae development of corals and other organisms commonly found in the coral reef of Eilat.

Plastic additives are chemicals that are added to plastic products during manufacturing, and many of them are known to be endocrine disrupting compounds. The current study shows that these chemicals can have species-specific effects that may damage the population structure and biodiversity of coral reefs.

The study was led by Ph.D. student Gal Vered of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat and Tel Aviv University, and Prof. Noa Shenkar of Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology in the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. The study was published in the prestigious journal Environmental Pollution.

The researchers focused on four organisms: a stony coral, a soft coral, a fire coral, and a solitary ascidian. These organisms play an important role in the ecology of tropical coral reefs, and damage to their reproduction and development may affect the structure of the reef community.

In addition, the researchers examined four chemical additives that are widely used in plastic products, and which have been found in seawater in tropical areas inhabited by coral reefs. Two of these were phthalate chemicals, which are used to soften and increase the flexibility of different types of plastic and can be found in a wide variety of consumer products such as food packaging, toys, medical devices, and adhesives. The others were 4-nonylphenol a stabilizer used in plastic packaging and as an additive in cleaning agents, and bisphenol A found in polycarbonate plastic that is used for food and beverage packaging, baby bottles, boxes, and more. The European Chemicals Agency has classified bisphenol A as a substance that may cause damage to human fertility, based on evidence found in laboratory animals.

 

“To better understand the impact of plastic additives on this endangered ecosystem, we suggest developing better methods for measuring the actual concentrations within the tissues of the organisms to produce relevant risk assessments.” Prof. Noa Shenkar

 

Selective Effect on Different Species

“Plastic additives are chemical additives that are incorporated into plastic products during the manufacturing process,” explains Gal Vered. “These substances reach marine environments through plastic waste and wastewater. Some of them are known to activate or suppress hormonal processes and can therefore disrupt biological systems. However, their effects on organisms in coral reefs have hardly been studied.”

“The structure of the coral reef population depends on the success of the reproduction, development and settlement of corals and other reef organisms. Interference with their hormonal systems may affect the chances of success of these processes, and an uneven effect on the different species may lead to a change in the community’s structure and damage to the entire system.”

The researchers conducted a series of exposure experiments in which the effects of the plastic additives were tested at environmentally relevant concentrations in seawater, and at higher laboratory concentrations. The parameters measured were fertilization, larvae development, larvae survival, and larvae settlement and metamorphoses.

The environmentally relevant concentration of 4-nonylphenol was found to inhibit larvae settlement in the soft coral, while a high concentration of the same compound damaged the fertilization, development, and settlement of all the studied organisms. The higher laboratory concentration of one of the studied phthalate chemicals damaged the settlement only of the stony coral larvae, and not of the other organisms’ reproductive products. These findings add to the accumulating evidence that plastic pollution has a selective effect on different species.

According to Prof. Shenkar, their findings “demonstrate plastic additives’ negative and selective effects on the development and reproduction of coral reef organisms. The environmentally relevant concentrations used in our experiments were concentrations found in seawater; alarmingly, some had deleterious effects on organisms’ reproduction. Nevertheless, concentration within organisms’ tissues may reach higher levels as these compounds can potentially bioaccumulate.”

“To better understand the impact of plastic additives on this endangered ecosystem, we suggest developing better methods for measuring the actual concentrations within the tissues of the organisms to produce relevant risk assessments.”

 

“Most of the coral reefs in the world are found in developing countries where the human population is expanding rapidly, and waste management is lacking. Steps towards preventing plastic waste from reaching the environment include proper local waste management that reduces transportation of waste, and sustainable consumption of products regulated for additives.” Gal Vered

 

The Importance of Proper Waste Management

“Climate change, ocean acidification, and ongoing anthropogenic stressors place coral reefs at existential risk,” says Gal Vered. Furthermore, she notes that, “most of the coral reefs in the world are found in developing countries where the human population is expanding rapidly, and waste management is lacking. Steps towards preventing plastic waste from reaching the environment include proper local waste management that reduces transportation of waste, and sustainable consumption of products regulated for additives.”

“We emphasize the importance of proper waste management that will reduce the presence of plastic waste from reaching the marine environment, as well as the need for methods to measure the concentration of chemicals inside the bodies of organisms, in order to assess the possible risk to their reproductive and developmental processes,” the researchers conclude.

Featured image: Prof. Noa Shenkar (photo: Hadas Zion)

Sir Frank Lowy Donates $18M USD to Tel Aviv University’s International School

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The gift from the Israeli-Australian businessman will expand TAU’s offering of global programs and collaborations; it will include a scholarship fund for outstanding international students, a fund for visiting professors; and it will fund a new building for the International School.

Sir Frank Lowy is donating $18M USD (65M NIS) to Tel Aviv University to expand the activities of the International School, to be renamed ‘THE LOWY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Dedicated to the Memory of Shirley Lowy’ (the School honors Shirley Lowy, the late wife of Sir Frank). The official name change of TAU’s International School will take place on Tuesday, December 20, 2022. 

Enabling Further Expansion

The donation will fund the construction of a building that will serve as the new home of the International School, as well as the launch of three key activities at the International School:

  • The Lowy Scholarship Fund supporting outstanding international students at stages of their academic studies, including research students
  • The Lowy Distinguished Guest Professors Fund financing visits of leading scholars from abroad
  • The development of new international and local programs and initiatives

Sir Frank’s generous gift will also enable TAU to expand, enrich and diversify the School’s student body as well as its study programs. TAU already offers more than 20 English-language academic programs including a joint Liberal Arts bachelor’s degree with Columbia University, a new International BA in Management and Liberal Arts, and an online MBA program – the first of its kind in Israel.

Over 2,000 students from over 100 countries come to TAU every year, and there are more than 30,000 international student alumni worldwide. The School has experienced significant recent growth and now serves as the hub for all international activities on campus, including study programs, research partnerships, student exchanges, visits of scholars from abroad, and conferences.

The Lowy International School is central to TAU’s international strategy, aiming for several goals: enhancing international collaboration through research ties with leading institutions, attracting students from across the globe, and providing Israeli students with the tools they need to prosper in today’s globalized era. To date, the broad network of partners developed by TAU comprises over 280 institutions in 46 countries, including universities in the Gulf states and Morocco (a new and rapidly growing collaboration), Ivy League universities in the USA, and leading academic institutions in Europe and Asia.

Strengthening Ties between Israel and the World

“I have always been a Zionist,” says Sir Frank Lowy, “and now I am excited for this extension of my warm friendship with Tel Aviv University – intended to bolster TAU and Israel’s relations with leading partners in academia and industry around the world. With this gift, I hope to enhance the important connection between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry, and to encourage academic excellence by bringing the best researchers and students from all over the world to Israel.”

“My family and I know that my dear wife Shirley’s memory will forever live on at TAU, and this makes us very proud. Shirley believed in education, and in her 40s fulfilled a childhood dream and completed an academic degree. This tribute to my wife combines all the things that were most important to her – education, the state of Israel, and empowering the new generations. The gift in her memory will benefit students and scholars in many ways, and for years to come. I know that Shirley would be happy and honored to see that her legacy is commemorated in this way.”

Prof. Ariel Porat, President of Tel Aviv University: “Sir Frank Lowy’s leadership and philanthropic activity have for decades generated significant changes in communities in Israel, Australia, and worldwide. This new gift will further enhance his impact, strengthen the ties between Israel and the world, and extend the reach of Israeli academia.”

“It is a great privilege for us at Tel Aviv University to regard Sir Frank as a close and steadfast friend. The fact that he has seen fit to entrust us with the legacy of his beloved wife Shirley, is a great honor for us.”

TAU Vice President International Prof. Milette Shamir: “We are immensely grateful for Sir Frank Lowy’s gift. It is a great honor for us to house THE LOWY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL Dedicated to the Memory of Shirley Lowy. This generous donation will allow us to significantly bolster the University’s international standing, attract hundreds of excellent international researchers and students, and strengthen TAU’s ties with communities around the world. This gift brings about an enormous transformation when it comes to TAU’s global impact.”

A festive ceremony celebrating the important gift will take place in December in the presence of Sir Frank and his family.

About Sir Frank Lowy

Sir Frank Lowy served for many years as the owner and Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global real estate and shopping center conglomerate. He has been a steadfast friend of TAU for more than 20 years, has received an Honorary Doctorate from TAU, and serves as a TAU Governor. His generous contributions to TAU include support for the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), the Center for Combating Pandemics, and research in the field of nanotechnology.

As part of his broad philanthropic activities Sir Frank provides support for the Jewish community in Australia and Israel and donates generously to a range of causes in the spheres of education, security, health, sports, and charity. He has held various leadership roles in Jewish organizations, including President of Keren HaYesod in Australia – United Israel Appeal, and Leading Member of the Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) in Australia.

Sir Frank was born in Slovakia, managed to escape before the Holocaust, lived in Budapest during the Holocaust, then moved to the USA. He moved back and forth between the UK and Israel, even taking part in the War of Independence as a Golani soldier, before finally settling in Australia. As an ardent Zionist, he recently fulfilled a dream of many years, and once again made Aliyah to Israel. 

Featured image: Prof. Ariel Porat, President of Tel Aviv University (to the left) and Sir Frank Lowy

Common Medications May Reduce Risk of Metastases after Colon and Rectal Cancer

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Existing drugs to prevent anxiety, stress reactions and inflammation reduced the risk of the spread of cancer metastases after surgery to remove a colon tumor by tens of percent.

Although surgery to remove primary tumors is the mainstay of all cancer treatments, the risk of metastases after tumor removal is estimated at 35% among colon cancer patients, with higher risk in patients with more advance stages of the disease. However, a short, simple, and safe drug treatment developed at Tel Aviv University reduced the risk of the spread of cancer metastases after surgery to remove the primary tumor – according to the first clinical study of its kind conducted among 34 colon cancer patients operated on at Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center.

The research was led by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu of TAU’s Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences at the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences and Prof. Oded Zamora of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and its results were published in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. At the same time, an overview of the theory and principles underlying the research was published in Nature Review Cancer.

“The stress during the waiting period for surgery, the stress and inflammation reactions that the body produces during the surgery itself and the physical recovery period, and finally the following anxiety of cancer recurring – all have an adverse effect on the body’s ability to fight metastatic processes,” explains Prof. Ben-Eliyahu. “These mental and physiological conditions create stress-inflammatory responses, which cause ample release of hormones from the prostaglandin and catecholamine families. These hormones suppress anti-metastatic immune activity, and thus encourage the development of metastases.”

“In addition, these hormones directly help the cancer cells that remain in the body even after surgery: due to exposure to these hormones, the cancerous tissue becomes more aggressive and metastatic. The good news is that we know how to treat both stress and inflammation using off-the-shelf medications.”

 

“This is a short, cheap drug treatment with no significant side effects. We deliberately sought the safest and cheapest drugs capable of lowering the body’s stress-inflammatory response to surgery, in order to save lives.” Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu

 

Significant and Encouraging Results

The researchers from Tel Aviv University gave 34 colon cancer patients two safe drugs that are available in every pharmacy: propranolol (Darlin), used to lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety, and etodolac (Etopan), used to prevent pain and inflammation.

Sixteen randomly chosen patients took the medication for 20 days – from five days before to two weeks after surgery at the Sheba Medical Center. The other 18 patients received placebo drugs (control group). Five years later, nine of the 18 patients who received the placebo (50%) developed cancer metastases, compared to two of the 16 patients who took Darlin and Etofen (12.5%).

“Although at five years after the operation, the statistical significance is clear, we need to conduct larger clinical studies,” says Prof. Ben-Eliyahu. “Our treatment reduced markers of metastasis in the tumor tissue and reduced the chances of cancer recurrence. This is a short, cheap drug treatment with no significant side effects. We deliberately sought the safest and cheapest drugs capable of lowering the body’s stress-inflammatory response to surgery, in order to save lives.”

“It sounds too good to be true, but similar results in breast cancer tissue were obtained in a study we conducted in 2017. Due to the small number of subjects in both studies, it is impossible to accurately estimate the magnitude of the beneficial effect, but the effects are statistically significant, meaning that they are not accidental.”

 

“We seek to save lives without financial gain, and we have received financial support from several Israeli and international sources, but these are insufficient for large clinical studies.” Prof. Shamgar  Ben-Eliyahu

 

Saving Lives Without Financial Gain

According to Prof. Ben-Eliyahu, part of the medical establishment distrusts the effects of stress-inflammatory reactions, particularly those resulting from psychological factors such as waiting for surgery or fear of the disease spreading. Another problem concerns the financing of clinical studies.

“One should bear in mind that the pharmaceutical companies have no financial incentive to support such studies. Our medicines are not patented; they are safe, cheap, and administered in a short treatment lasting just a few days. The drug companies look for patents on expensive drugs and prefer that the patient be dependent on the drug for the rest of their life.”

“Unfortunately, the major science foundations in Israel do not fund clinical research on drugs, assuming that the drug companies will fund them. We seek to save lives without financial gain, and we have received financial support from several Israeli and international sources, but these are insufficient for large clinical studies. I hope that funding will be found for a large-scale clinical study that we have now embarked on, with the intention of recruiting hundreds of colon and rectal cancer patients in Israel, because without such research – we will not be able to convince the medical establishment of the treatment’s effectiveness.”

The Superpowers of the Female Locust

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She can stretch up to 2-3 times her original length when laying eggs in the ground, without causing irreparable damage.

Every mother will do anything to know that her offspring are in a safe place. The female locust, however, takes it to a whole new level: A new Tel Aviv University study has discovered that these females have superpowers. The female locust’s central nervous system has elastic properties, allowing her to stretch up to two or three times her original length when laying her eggs in the ground, without causing any irreparable damage.

“We are not aware of a similar ability in almost any living creature,” say the researchers. “Nerves in the human nervous system, for example, can stretch only up to 30% without tearing or being permanently damaged. In the future, these findings may contribute to new developments in the field of regenerative medicine, as a basis for nerve restoration and the development of synthetic tissues.”

 

“The superpower of the locust is almost something out of science fiction. There are only two other known examples in nature of a similar phenomenon: the tongue of the sperm whale, and a certain type of sea snail whose nervous systems are able to extend significantly due to an accordion-like mechanism they have.” Prof. Amir Ayali

 

WATCH: TAU Researchers Describe their Surprising Discovery – The Female Locust has Superhero-like Abilities

 

Showing Flexibility

The study was conducted by a team of Tel Aviv University researchers led by Dr. Bat-El Pinchasik of the School of Mechanical Engineering in The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and Prof. Amir Ayali of the School of Zoology in the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. Also participating in the study were Dr. Rakesh Das from the School of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Moshe Guershon from the School of Zoology, and Prof. Eran Perlson and Amjd Ibraheem from the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The research was published in iScience.

“When the female locust is ready to lay her eggs, she digs a hole in the ground that will offer them protection and optimal conditions for hatching,” explains Dr. Pinchasik. “For this purpose, she is equipped with a unique digging apparatus, consisting of two pairs of digging valves located at the tip of the abdomen, on either side of the ovipositor (a tube-like organ used for laying eggs).”

“As she digs, she extends her body, until sensors located along its length signal that she has reached a suitable point for depositing her eggs. Thus, an adult female, whose body length is about four to five centimeters, may, for the purpose of laying her eggs, stretch her body to a length of 10-15 centimeters, then quickly return to her normal length, and then extend again for the next egg-laying.”

“The superpower of the locust is almost something out of science fiction,” muses Prof. Ayali. “There are only two other known examples in nature of a similar phenomenon: the tongue of the sperm whale, and a certain type of sea snail whose nervous systems are able to extend significantly due to an accordion-like mechanism they have. We sought to identify the biomechanical mechanism that gives the female locust its wonderful ability.”

 

From left to right: Prof. Amir Ayali, Dr. Rakesh Das and Dr. Bat-El Pinchasik

 

“Contrary to previous hypotheses and examples we are familiar with, we did not find any accordion-like mechanism. We discovered that the nervous system of the female locust has elastic properties, which enable it to elongate and then return by itself to its original state, ready for reuse, without any damage caused to the tissue. This finding is almost incomprehensible from a biomechanical and morphological point of view.” Dr. Bat-El Pinchasik

 

Key to Rehabilitation Treatments and Regenerative Medicine?

In the study, the researchers removed the central nervous systems from female locusts and placed them in a liquid simulating their natural environment, under physiological conditions similar to those inside the body. Using highly sensitive measuring instruments, they measured the forces needed to extend the nervous system.

Dr. Pinchasik: “Contrary to previous hypotheses and examples we are familiar with, we did not find any accordion-like mechanism. We discovered that the nervous system of the female locust has elastic properties, which enable it to elongate and then return by itself to its original state, ready for reuse, without any damage caused to the tissue. This finding is almost incomprehensible from a biomechanical and morphological point of view.”

Prof. Ayali adds that, “in further studies, we will investigate the matter in depth, with the aim of identifying the specific mechanism that enables this unique feature. We hope that in the future our findings will help to develop synthetic tissues with a high level of flexibility, and to restore nerves in regenerative medicine therapies.”

TAU Students Continue to Work on Solving the Water Crisis in Northern Tanzania

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The delegation “Africa Group, Engineers Without Borders Israel – Tel Aviv” went to Tanzania during the country’s worst droughts in history

Tel Aviv University students from The Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences recently returned from the Babati district in northern Tanzania,  where they worked to supply safe drinking water to the local rural population. The students are part of a team of 20 volunteers from various fields and degree levels, called “Africa Group, Engineers Without Borders Israel – Tel Aviv”.

The solution TAU students bring to Tanzania’s water shortage problem is simple and sustainable: through hefty use of the roofs of the regional schools, water can be stored in low-cost rainwater harvesting containers to meet the needs of the children throughout the dry season. The team uses several simple filters and chlorine tablets for storage.

Throughout the year, when TAU volunteers are in Israel and busy with their studies, they still find time to manage all the different aspects of the project, including its fundraising and marketing needs as well as the systems’ construction and implementation. This time around, the students were in Tanzania while the country experienced a severe drought, which resulted in a water crisis and severe hunger.

“During the expedition, we preserved and upgraded our water systems, which at this point provide water to 5,000 children in six schools. We also conducted several pilots for water purification systems; cultivated relationships with organizations that operate in the Babati district; and delivered an extensive educational program on water and sanitation issues together with our local partners. We also visited the area’s new water laboratory (together with the local water authorities). The new lab will be carrying out water tests for us, including in new areas where we are looking to operate in,” say delegation members Aviv Avinoam, Yaeli Benovich, Dan Komiserchick, Sharon Berkovich and Offir Inbar.

 

Children who get to drink clean water and participate in an extensive educational program on water and sanitation issues

 

A New Meteorological Station and Empowering School Management

According to Dan Komiserchick, more accurate meteorological data is needed in the Babati district. The team, therefore, together with the local community, installed the first automatic meteorological station in the region, which will be helpful for the planning of future water systems. The station measures parameters such as rain, wind, humidity, and temperature, and the information gathered is transmitted to the water authorities and local farmers and organizations.

One of the highlights of the delegation was organizing a first-of-its-kind executive seminar for all school principals in Babati. “Investing time and resources in training and empowering school principals is critical for the success of the project, as the school principals are very involved in all aspects of the operation of the water purification systems,” explains Aviv Avinoam. “The main topics discussed were maintenance of the systems; insights and suggestions for improvements; educating the students about water safety and training the teachers. The discussions were very enlightening and productive, and it was decided (in agreement with the regional director of education) that the seminar will be held on an annual basis going forward.”

“We also expanded the existing educational program by collaborating with local organizations and creating instructive content on topics like ‘How is rain created?’, ‘Seasons of the year’, ‘How to build water systems’, ‘What pollutants are present in water?’ and more.”

 

Principals’ Seminar, October 2022

No Room for White Elephants

The team is also conducting a comprehensive academic study to examine the impact of the water systems on the local communities throughout the years, in terms of health, nutrition, entrepreneurship, and more.

The research is led by Yaeli Benovich, who is writing a thesis on the subject with the guidance of Prof. Dror Avisar, Head of the Water Research Center at Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Shira Bookchin from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who researches interdisciplinary aspects of sustainability in the developing world.

As part of the research, hundreds of students and educators answered questionnaires aiming to ensure that the activities of Engineers Without Borders are not causing any harm, and making sure that the water project does, in fact, benefit the community. The research adds a professional and academic dimension to the ongoing project and examines the impact of the systems in a broad perspective.

“Visiting the schools and building the water purification systems is only half of the job,” emphasizes Yaeli Benovich. “A lot of projects initiated in Africa quickly turn into so-called ‘white elephants.’ Typically, some foreign organization arrives, pours some money out and leaves the country. Shortly thereafter, the project is abandoned and terminated. We seek to avoid such a situation, by involving the local authorities and the communities as part of the planning and construction of the systems already from an early stage. We are very clear from the start that the local community is responsible for the project.”

Over the years, the Engineers Without Borders delegations have conducted dozens of meetings with the local authorities, including village leaders, heads of the districts and members of parliament. Additionally, they’ve cultivated a close relationship with the local water authorities.

“We signed a contract this year, a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which clearly outlines the role each party has for the success of the project. This contract guides our cooperation with the local representatives,” explains Yael. “The document lists all the responsibilities of our team, as well as those of the local authorities and community – before, during and following the construction of any water purification system. Introducing these written agreements has had a very positive impacted on the contributions by the local authorities and community. There’s no doubt that this is the right way to work. It is a necessary step that will help the community to maintain the project over the years.”

Members of the delegation during a tour of the new water laboratory of Babati district

Offir Inbar shares that in this type of projects, the team’s presence on the ground is critical: “It is only when you physically present and meet with people face to face that you fully understand the situation, the people involved, the challenges at play and in what direction one should be heading.”

“It is hard to bridge various gaps over Zoom conversations or messages. Close relationships are formed by sitting down and talking together at eye level. When you sit down and talk everything seems much simpler – opportunities emerge, you meet with organizations and key people who may lead you to form new connections. It is the only way to fully grasp the challenges facing the local community. Sometimes the challenges on ground are different from what we imagine from afar.”

 

Close relationships are formed by sitting down and talking together at eye level. An educational activity with school children on the importance of hygiene

Help Ensure the Supply of Water to an Additional 1,000 Children

The drought that hit Africa during the past nine months has emphasized the importance of creating a variety of water solutions. “On our next expedition to Tanzania, planned for April 2023, we will install two new water purification systems to provide clean water to a thousand more children,” says Sharon Berkovich.

“One of the systems will be based on rainwater and the other on the use of filters. The filter system will provide a solution for areas where groundwater or surface water sources exist, but where these are contaminated by bacteria that harm the health of the local community.”

The project is funded mainly by donations from Tel Aviv University, private companies and individual businessmen, philanthropic foundations, and the Embassy of Israel in Kenya. A significant fundraising operation is currently taking place for the upcoming expeditions.

Featured image: Local women collecting water from a polluted water source, drying up in Tanzania

Surprising the Pope with The Artwork ‘Jesus from the Soil of the Holy Land’

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Prof. Dina Porat: “The Pope was moved by the gesture. He thanked me wholeheartedly and said that it was a very special gift.”

Prof. Dina Porat from Tel Aviv University recently surprised Pope Francis when she handed him the artwork ‘Jesus from the Soil of the Holy Land’ while in Rome. The Pope thanked Prof. Porat wholeheartedly for the “very special gift”.

 

“Nilly sent me a photo of the unusual composition and asked, half-jokingly, if perhaps I could meet the Pope and bring him a very special gift from the soil of the Holy Land.” Prof. Dina Porat.

 

From the fields of Israel to the Vatican

‘Jesus from the Soil of the Holy Land’ was conceived, almost accidentally, by artist Nilly Shachor from Sde Warburg, a moshav in central Israel.

One day, as she was walking in the fields near her home, Shachor tripped and fell. When she got up, she saw that she had tripped on some branches that lay on the ground in an unusual formation, reminding her of Jesus Christ: two branches spreading sideways like human arms, a disheveled head, and long thin legs. Even a wreath was in place on Jesus’ head.

Shachor took the branches home, cleaned them, and embellished the wreath with some more twigs and thorns.  

 

The artwork ‘Jesus from the Soil of the Holy Land’

Shachor called her friend, Prof. Dina Porat from Tel Aviv University’s Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and Archaeology at The Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities, who was planning to attend an international conference on antisemitism in Rome a few days later.

“Nilly sent me a photo of the unusual composition and asked, half-jokingly, if perhaps I could meet the Pope and bring him a very special gift from the soil of the Holy Land,” recalls Prof. Porat.

 

“It was a very meaningful experience for me, and I hope that ‘Jesus from the soil of the Holy Land’ is now displayed on a wall somewhere in the Vatican.” Prof. Dina Porat

 

Challenge Accepted

Accepting the challenge, Prof. Porat framed the photo in gold and called an old friend, Father Norbert Hofmann, Secretary of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, who immediately agreed to help.

“When I arrived in Rome, my friend Norbert said that the next day, like every Wednesday, the Pope would hold the General Audience in which he greets visitors, and that it had been arranged for us to sit in the VIP section, right next to the stage,” recounts Prof. Porat.

“It was a very exciting event. Thousands of people gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, the Vatican’s large plaza, sang songs and merrily waved their flags. The Pope approached and shook people’s hands. When he approached me, I offered him the gift. He was moved and asked his attendants to safeguard the artwork. It was a very meaningful experience for me, and I hope that ‘Jesus from the soil of the Holy Land’ is now displayed on a wall somewhere in the Vatican.”

Researchers Characterize Earliest Galaxies in the Universe

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First-of-its-kind study sheds light on epoch of the first stars, 200M years after the Big Bang.

An international team of astrophysicists, including Prof. Rennan Barkana from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy at Raymond & Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, has managed for the first time to statistically characterize the first galaxies in the Universe, which formed only 200 million years after the Big Bang.

According to the groundbreaking results, the earliest galaxies were relatively small and dim. They were fainter than present-day galaxies, and likely processed only 5% or less of their gas into stars. Moreover, the intensity of the radio waves emitted by the earliest galaxies wasn’t much higher than that of modern galaxies.

 

“We are trying to understand the epoch of the first stars in the Universe, known as the ‘cosmic dawn’, about 200 million years after the Big Bang.” Prof. Rennan Barkana

 

Researching the “Cosmic Dawn”

This new study, carried out together with the SARAS observation team, was led by the research group of Dr. Anastasia Fialkov from the University of Cambridge, England, a former PhD student of TAU’s Prof. Barkana. The results of this innovative study were published in the prestigious journal Nature Astronomy.

“This is a very new field and a first-of-its-kind study”, explains Prof. Barkana. “We are trying to understand the epoch of the first stars in the Universe, known as the ‘cosmic dawn’, about 200 million years after the Big Bang.”

“The James Webb Space Telescope, for example, can’t really see these stars. It might only detect a few particularly bright galaxies from a somewhat later period. Our goal is to probe the entire population of the first stars.” 

 

“Since stellar radiation affects the light emitted by hydrogen atoms, we use hydrogen as a detector in our search for the first stars: if we can detect the effect of stars on hydrogen, we will know when they were born, and in what types of galaxies.” Prof. Rennan Barkana

 

Prof. Rennan Barkana from TAU’s Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy

Searching for the First Stars

According to the standard picture, before stars began to fuse heavier elements inside their cores, our Universe was nothing but a cloud of hydrogen atoms from the Big Bang (other than some helium and a lot of dark matter).

Today, the Universe is also filled with hydrogen, but in the modern Universe it is mostly ionized due to radiation from stars.

“Hydrogen atoms naturally emit light at a wavelength of 21cm, which falls within the spectrum of radio waves”, explains Prof. Barkana. “Since stellar radiation affects the light emitted by hydrogen atoms, we use hydrogen as a detector in our search for the first stars: if we can detect the effect of stars on hydrogen, we will know when they were born, and in what types of galaxies. I was among the first theorists to develop this concept 20 years ago, and now observers are able to implement it in actual experiments. Teams of experimentalists all over the world are currently attempting to discover the 21cm signal from hydrogen in the early Universe.”

One of these teams is EDGES, which uses a small radio antenna that measures the average intensity on the entire sky of radio waves arriving from different periods of the cosmic dawn. In 2018, the EDGES team announced that it had found the 21cm signal from ancient hydrogen.

“There was a problem with their findings, however,” says Prof. Barkana. “We could not be sure that the measured signal did indeed come from hydrogen in the early Universe. It could have been a fake signal produced by the electrical conductivity of the ground below the antenna. Therefore, we all waited for an independent measurement that would either confirm or refute these results.”

 

“Every year the experiments become more reliable and precise, and consequently we expect to find stronger upper limits, giving us even better constraints on the cosmic dawn.” Prof. Rennan Barkana

 

Setting Limits

“Last year, astronomers in India carried out an experiment called SARAS, in which the antenna was made to float on a lake, a uniform surface of water that could not mimic the desired signal. According to the results of the new experiment, there was a 95% probability that EDGES did not, in fact, detect a real signal from the early Universe.”

“SARAS found an upper limit for the genuine signal, implying that the signal from early hydrogen is likely significantly weaker than the one measured by EDGES. We modeled the SARAS result and worked out the implications for the first galaxies, i.e., what their properties were, given the upper limit determined by SARAS.  Now we can say for the first time that galaxies of certain types could not have existed at that early time.”

Prof. Barkana concludes: “Modern galaxies, such as our own Milky Way, emit large amounts of radio waves. In our study we placed an upper limit on the star formation rate in ancient galaxies and on their overall radio emission. And this is only the beginning. Every year the experiments become more reliable and precise, and consequently we expect to find stronger upper limits, giving us even better constraints on the cosmic dawn. We hope that in the near future we will have not only limits, but a precise, reliable measurement of the signal itself.”

Featured image: Earliest galaxies in the Universe (photo: NASA – James Webb Space Telescope)

Are Today’s Gynecologists Ignoring Women’s Health Issues?

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

Women’s health and wellbeing receive little attention compared to childbirth and reproduction, both in research and in clinic.

A new preliminary study from Tel Aviv University reveals that due to masculine dominance of the gynecological science field, most gynecological research focuses on childbirth and reproduction rather than women’s health and wellbeing. Mapping scientific journals in the category of gynecology and obstetrics, the study found that the majority deal with fertility, pregnancy, fetuses, and childbirth, while many topics that are much more critical to women’s quality of life receive little attention, both in scientific research and in the clinic.

The study was conducted by Dr. Netta Avnoon of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University. The preliminary results were published in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Urology

 

“Men have dominated gynecology for almost a thousand years, and their gender identity impacts everything that happens in this specialty, including research design and medical practices.” Dr Netta Avnoon

 

Male Dominated Discipline

According to the preliminary study important issues that have been marginalized for centuries include diseases and damage to the muscles and nerves of the female pelvis and sexual organs, female sexual pleasure, rights and autonomy in childbirth, the connection between the menstrual cycle and the immune system, menopause, and the later years of life, and more.

“Men have dominated gynecology for almost a thousand years, and their gender identity impacts everything that happens in this specialty, including research design and medical practices,” says Dr. Avnoon. “Even if they are unaware of their own bias and have the best intentions, men traditionally regard the female body as an object for producing babies or satisfying men’s sexual desires. The time has come for women to dominate the discipline that is meant to care for their health.”

Dr. Avnoon explains that no social activity is neutral, objective or contextless, and science and medicine are no exception. Inevitably, social positions and dispositions impact the attitudes of those who create science.

Extensive historical and feminist scholarship has shown that gynecology as a medical specialty was masculinized 800 years ago, and still adheres to patriarchal values. In ancient times women were usually treated by women-experts, who even wrote books on the subject, but during the Middle Ages, these women and their knowledge were gradually ousted and replaced by men.

Since the 16th century the specialty has been wholly dominated by males, and consequently they were the ones to determine which topics are ‘interesting’ and worth studying; they were the ones who set practices and protocols and introduced treatments, technologies, and techniques, all too often subjecting patients to medical practices that are not necessarily benevolent.

 

Dr. Netta Avnoon

Exposing Current Focus

To expose the actual focus of gynecological research today, in line with previous feminist studies, Dr. Avnoon chose a tell-tale indicator: the titles of international scientific journals in the ‘gynecology and obstetrics’ category.

She analyzed the list appearing in the Journal Citation Reports, a database that provides general and statistical information about scientific journals worldwide, and the results were clear-cut: of the 83 journals listed by title in the category, 49% are dedicated solely to reproductive functions, pregnancy, fetuses, and childbirth; 24% focus on both gynecology and obstetrics; only 12% deal with health issues in the female sexual organs that are unrelated to reproductive functions; 6% deal with breasts; 5% deal with gynecological cancers; and a mere 4% (3 journals) address the health of women before and after childbearing age, including menopause.

Dr. Avnoon notes a recent instance of gynecology’s gender bias: the transvaginal mesh scandal. In 2019 the FDA banned the use of the transvaginal mesh – a common gynecological procedure used since the 1950s to repair pelvis organ prolapse in the anterior vaginal compartment, which had caused extensive morbidity and even 77 documented deaths in the USA.

Patients’ activism moved the regulator to intervene, exposing the decades-long failure of gynecological science to clinically assess the outcomes of this surgical procedure, and revealing the bias in how researchers presented these results in scientific publications.

 

“Care for the fetus, essential in its own right, must not come at the expense of the mother’s health.” Dr. Netta Avnoon

 

It’s Time: Women-Centered Gynecology

What solution does Dr. Avnoon have in mind? She proposes the following: “Obstetrics, focusing on fertility, reproduction, pregnancy, the fetus and childbirth, should be separated from gynecology, a specialty dedicated to women’s health.”

“Care for the fetus, essential in its own right, must not come at the expense of the mother’s health.”

“Also, gynecology training must include a major chapter of gender and feminist studies, and existing medical protocols should be amended to focus on the needs of the women – rather than those of their babies, their spouses, or their doctors. Moreover, legislation and legal procedures are in order, especially in courts of human rights, to protect women’s right to health and optimal medical care.”

“The time has come for women-centered gynecology,” says Dr. Avnoon. “Women’s voices must be heard.”

“To date, medical schools offer their students very scant and unsatisfactory knowledge about female anatomy and physiology, specifically in terms of women’s sexuality. Even though the overall numbers of female gynecologists are on the rise (in the US there are by now more women than men in this profession), their education is still based on age-old masculine and chauvinistic traditions.”

“In order to generate real change, doctors must be trained to regard women’s rights, health, and sexuality as the focus of women’s medicine, and to treat their patients with respect. Greater emphasis should be given to patient experience and autonomy in medical settings, and to much-needed innovation in research, instruments, technologies, protocols, surgical procedures, and medications.”

Will COP27 Change the World Order?

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

Our researchers went to Egypt for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference and returned with new insights.

The annual international climate conference held on November 6-20 was attended by world leaders, climate researchers and key officials from all over the world. On the agenda for this year’s summit was the implementation of decisions made at last year’s event, including the design of a global emissions trading program and provision of “loss and damage” funding to vulnerable countries hit hard by the climate crisis. Tel Aviv University researchers participated in several events held at the Israel Pavilion. They presented their groundbreaking research in various fields, aiming to provide practical solutions to the crisis facing our world.

We asked them to share their contributions and takeaways from the event. 

 

“The enthusiasm for outer space is so great that we forget that by launching many satellites, up to hundreds every year, we pollute space and the effect can be fatal in the future.” Prof. Eyal Ben-Dor

 

Monitoring Climate Change from Space

Prof. Eyal Ben-Dor from the Department of Geography at the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences is a world leading expert in hyperspectral (remote) sensing, a method of imaging the earth’s surface. He participated in a session on how space technologies can contribute to climate action. In the session, organized by the Israel Space Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ben-Dor demonstrated innovative applications such as a quantitative monitoring of methane emissions; quantitative assessment of soil erosions following extreme rainfall; and the assessment of vegetation and risk of forest fires given extreme temperature increase.

Ben-Dor gives more details: “Dust constitutes a major problem in several respects: air pollution and breathing problems; migration of dust and with it, bacteria; its lowering of the intensity of radiation; its effect on plants (reducing their photosynthesis), and more. In addition, weather changes impact the risk of forest fires, so it is necessary to monitor this potential to prepare for fires long before they occur. We participate in projects run by foreign space agencies such as NASA [America’s civil space program] and ESA [European Space Agency], in order to monitor atmospheric dust from soil undergoing climatic decay, as well as changes in the organic carbon content in the world’s soils, which is an important component of the global balance of atmospheric carbon.”

His conclusions from the summit? That space can be used to monitor climate change and the phenomena that occur as a result, but with limited liability.

“The enthusiasm for outer space is so great that we forget that by launching many satellites, up to hundreds every year, we pollute space and the effect can be fatal in the future,” he warns. “Space gets filled up with human waste, and humanity must take into account not only the pollution of the earth’s surface, but also of space. Therefore, there should be regulation for planned launches, a sort of ‘launch treaty’ agreed upon by all countries, and priority should be given to launching satellites with a large capacity instead of a large number of satellites with little (but complementary) capacity.”

Ben-Dor returned from the conference with mixed feelings. “The event,” he says, “was good for ‘letting off steam’ between scientists and getting an idea of what is being done in tangential or other environmental fields. New collaborations were created, but it happened at the individual level and not in an organized way. The event was, in my opinion, one big political show of heads of state.”

 

Monitoring the Earth’s climate from space. Prof. Eyal Ben-Dor

 

“I was very hopeful that together we will be able to reach a solution and stop global warming. Some will say that this is a naive position, but if we don’t believe there’s a chance to succeed, then what’s the point of participating?” Meital Peleg Mizrahi

 

“Shocking and Unsettling”

Meital Peleg Mizrahi, is a PhD candidate from TAU’s Department of Public Policy at the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences and a researcher of consumerism, sustainable fashion and environmental justice. She also presented at the conference, discussing a path to promote green employment and a just transition to a low-carbon economy. 

“To be honest, participating at the climate conference was shocking and unsettling,” shares Peleg Mizrahi. “I arrived skeptical, but at the same time I was very hopeful that together we will be able to reach a solution and stop global warming. Some will say that this is a naive position, but if we don’t believe there’s a chance to succeed, then what’s the point of participating?”

According to her, the conference played out more like a business-academic conference than humanity’s greatest effort to fight the climate crisis. As a result, hardly any concrete achievements were made. “This is a very depressing situation, which puts a lot of personal responsibility on us, as researchers and as members of the public.”

“My main conclusion from Sharm El-Sheikh is that the solution won’t come from the governments of the world. The responsibility lies with us.”  

 

Taking responsibility and promoting sustainable consumerism. Meital Peleg Mizrahi

 

“If we all act responsibly, we can change this world for the better.” Prof. Hadas Mamane

 

“We Can Change This World for the Better”

Prof. Hadas Mamane, Head of the Environmental Engineering Program at the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, presented on the SoLED project, which aims to make safe drinking water available all over the world. The project offers a groundbreaking off-grid water disinfection device, designed for infrastructure-limited areas such as developing countries and deserts. It is designed to provide maximum disinfection at a low cost, and minimal human intervention is required for installment and operations purposes. 

“At the conference, I had the opportunity to meet very interesting people, and listen to discussions that are not standard in terms of professional conferences,” says Mamane. “These included discussions on the climate crisis and women; how students can share their research through media; and  the effects of the climate on environmental conflicts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and between Israel and Jordan.”

“Although I have criticisms – a lot has already been said about ‘greenwashing’ [a critical term that describes the creation of an environmentally conscious public image to supposedly conceal harmful actions] in the context of Coca Cola as supporting sponsor to COP27 – I remain optimistic and think that if we all act responsibly, we can change this world for the better.”

Featured image: Israel’s pavilion at the COP27 conference. From left: Prof. Marcelo Sternberg; Prof. Hadas Mamane; Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg and Prof. Colin Price

Mobilizing for Efficient Climate Action

Written by AUFTAU on . Posted in Newsroom.

Tel Aviv University leads Israeli collaboration with international research organization, IIASA.

For efficient climate action – aiming to reduce human footprints, enhancing the resilience of natural and socioeconomic systems and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – individual, organizations and countries must be mobilized for concerted efforts.  

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IIASA, is an international research institute that advances systems analysis and applies its research methods to identify policy solutions for exactly these types of issues.

Five years ago, Israel joined the organization as a member, and recently the government approved the renewal of membership for another five years.

TAU Hosts IIASA’s 50th Anniversary

The organization is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and on November 28-9, Tel Aviv University has the great honor of hosting the organization’s entire management in a big event in which all the heads of the universities in Israel will participate – and the public is invited to join. 

“The conference is celebrating IIASA‘s 50th anniversary and Israel’s decision to extend its membership for five more years,” says Prof. Itai Sened, Dean of TAU’s Faculty of Social Sciences.

“Tel Aviv University is leading Israel’s collaboration with IIASA and will host this conference, showcasing IIASA’s resources and opportunities to Israeli academic staff and students at all universities, as well as ministerial chief scientists’ offices. The event will highlight relevant and potential research projects involving system analysis in various fields of research jointly for Israeli teams and IIASA.”

Prof. Wolfgang Lutz is the Interim Deputy Director General for Science in IIASA and considered the world’s leading demographer. Lutz will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming conference and shares a quick insight on its subject matter: “When it comes to survival, minds matter more than money.”

 

We invite you all to register for the event on November 29, 2022 >>

View full program >>

Featured image: Meeting in Vienna. From left to right: Prof. Wolfgang Lutz, Interim Deputy Director General for Science IIASA; Prof. Itai Sened, IIASA Council member for Israel and Dean of TAU’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Prof. Michael Clegg, IIASA Council Chair (Photo Credit: TAU)

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