Cancer, What You May Want to Know

To know early
By Dudi Goldberg (translated from Yedioth Aharonoth, 18 December 2007)

Professor Hadassah Dagani has developed a revolutionary non-invasive method for early detection of beast cancer and prostate cancer.

The sad truth is that the most effective tool in the fight against cancer is early detection; thus the best treatment is—as banal as it sounds—prevention or, regrettably, early detection.

In a large number of cancer cases, no matter the type (excepting a few types of leukemia where the cure is almost certain), by the time metastatic tumors are discovered, the chances for a cure are not high. This is the background necessary to understand the importance of the discoveries by Professor Hadassah Dagani of the Department of Biological Regulation at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Professor Dagani and her research team developed a very precise yet non-invasive method to detect cancerous growths, even of a small size, using magnetic resonance. The revolutionary method, which has gained FDA approval, is already implemented in several major medical centers in the United States. Besides being very precise, this method reduces the pain associated with an invasive biopsy.

The method even permits assessing the success rates of different cancer treatments at halting tumor development.

Professor Dagani, how does your method work?
The method is based on injecting contrast (a substance that “colors” organs so they can be seen in an MRI) into the patient’s blood stream, and then we follow the contrast with an MRI machine. The rate and pattern of the contrast’s diffusion differs between tumor cells and normal tissue. This method also gives us specific information about microscopic blood vessels that begin to develop in the area of the tumor. This information can also help us forecast the rate of tumor development since the development of blood vessels, which feed the tumor nutrients and oxygen, is necessary for tumor development. Without these “supply lines,” tumor development will slow to a standstill.

How do the blood cells in a tumor differ from blood vessels in normal tissue?
In general, blood vessels in malignant tumors grow in a disorganized fashion and are “leakier” than normal cells; in other words, nutrients enter a tumor at a much higher rate than a normal tissue, so following its progression is clear. An area that the contrast enters much more quickly than other areas is where cancer cells are hiding. By the way, the blood cells of a cyst are leakier than a normal cell but not as leaky as cancer cells.

Continue reading Cancer, What You May Want to Know…

Israeli Photogs Bring Food to Life

From Haaretz:

Israeli Duo Shoots Good Eats

Shimon and Tammar, a pair of Israeli photographers, are in demand among chefs at New York’s elite restaurants. “They make the food speak,” says Eric Ripert, chef at Le Bernardin. The two admit: “We are trying to surprise ourselves.”

By Haim Handwerker, New York (Haaretz 29 January 2008)

Many photographers would be happy to work with Eric Ripert, chef at Le Bernardin, the New York fish and seafood restaurant that earned a three-star rating in the Michelin Guide, its highest rating. Ripert chose the Israeli husband-and-wife team Shimon and Tammar (as they sign their work) to shoot his last two books. “They’re the best,” he says. “I’ve worked with many photographers and no one works like they do; they make the food speak.”

Shimon Rothstein and Tammar Shavit, who came to the United States in 1999, have since managed to shoot 17 cookbooks—by such leading chefs as Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit, the late Jean-Louis Palladin, and David Burke, among others—and a catalog for Daniel Boulud.

“We don’t try to stage the shots,” says Rothstein. In their photographs, one can see, for example, an apple with brown spots or a ladle with a few drops of soup. In the past few years, they have specialized in photographing moving liquids. How do you shoot in tandem? “There is no set division of labor, we do everything together,” says Shavit. “Sometimes we argue, but we learn from it.”

Continue reading Israeli Photogs Bring Food to Life…

‘In Treatment’ Israeli TV Drama on HBO

The most talked about Israeli drama got snatched up by HBO recently and will be airing next week on the pay for cable channel. According to Ms. Stanley, it seems the show should make quite a splash State side as well.

From the NYT:

Four Days, a Therapist; Fifth Day, a Patient
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Some things sound simply awful: a family reunion holiday cruise, an all-you-can-eat haggis buffet, a television series set entirely in a psychotherapist’s office.

And that is the premise of “In Treatment,” a series that begins Monday on HBO. For nine weeks, five nights a week, viewers are invited to sit in on the therapy sessions of Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne). He treats four patients (five, actually, since one session is with a married couple), and then on the fifth day he discusses his demons with his own therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest).

Electroshock therapy might seem more welcome.

“In Treatment,” however, is hypnotic, mostly because it withholds information as intelligently as it reveals it. Each night a new half-hour episode follows a different patient’s session. In every session the patients’ words are veined with allusions and elusions, clues to problems or patterns that are invisible to them but absorbing for the viewer.

Continue reading ‘In Treatment’ Israeli TV Drama on HBO…

4,200 Balloons for Sderot

The New York JCRC planted a field of some 4,200 balloons across the street from UN headquarters on Thursday, in a display meant to call international attention to the intolerable situation in the Israeli city of Sderot and its surrounding communities.

The red balloons were meant to represent the thousands of rockets, fired from the Gaza Strip, that have struck Sderot since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005. Sderot and the surrounding area have been under near-constant bombardment, suffering thousands of strikes by Qassam rockets, thousands of mortar shells, and recently an Iranian-made Katyusha (”Grad”) rocket.

The plight of Sderot’s citizens has gone largely unnoticed by the international media — and hence the international community — even as the city absorbs more and more projectiles fired from Gaza. It is hoped that international pressure can help stop the attacks that have damaged homes, hospitals and schools and force children to have class in bomb shelters.

Israel’s Big Plan for Electric Cars by 2011

Israel plans to go electric by 2011. For the first time in history, we’ll see recharging stations and battery-exchange points to make electric cars practical on a mass scale. TIME magazine calls Israel’s new plan “far more sophisticated than anything that precedes it.” Now all we need are the matching futuristic jumpsuits.

From Time:

The Israeli government announced a major initiative to push the nation’s drivers toward electric cars on Monday, a move meant to both lessen dependence on foreign oil and address the environmental and health hazards of gas-burning vehicles.

It is not the first time a government has tried to promote electric cars on a mass scale. A 1990 California mandate requiring automakers to sell zero-emissions vehicles famously flopped. But the Israeli attempt is far more sophisticated than anything that precedes it. It aligns policy makers and a major car company with an outfit prepared to build hundreds of thousands of electric charging stations across the country. In an interview with TIME, Israeli President Shimon Peres called the project, “an experimental lab, a pilot project, before it’s applied to other, bigger industrialized nations.”

Automaker Renault-Nissan will manufacture the cars and Better Place, a California start-up founded by former SAP executive Shai Agassi, will build the infrastructure, which may eventually consist of 500,000 charging points and up to 200 battery-exchange stations. A pilot involving a few dozen cars will start later this year in Tel Aviv. A few hundred vehicles are expected to be on the road by 2009, with production scaled to the mass market by 2011. On Jan. 13, Israel slashed the tax rate on cars powered by electricity to 10% in order to encourage consumers to buy the vehicles once they are available.

Read full story here.

Watch a video from JerusalemOnline about Israel entrepreneur Shai Agasi and his electric car revolution.

‘Beaufort’ Nominated for an Oscar

The Israeli film Beaufort has been nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Foreign Language Film” category.

Beaufort tells the story of a group of Israeli soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon during the 2000 war. Based on the novel by Ron Leshen, the film centers around Liraz Liberti, a 22-year-old outpost commander, and his troops in the months before Israel pulled out of Lebanon.

According to Entertainment Weekly, director “Joseph Cedar has created a movie of tremendous power — nerve-racking, astute, and neutral enough to apply to all soldiers, in all wars, everywhere.”

The film has already earned 7 nominations and 5 awards worldwide, including “Best Director” at the Berlin International Film Fesitval. Definitely a must-see!

Selling Falafel to Eskimos

Think it’s impossible to sell ice to Eskimos? Try selling falafel in Alaska!

If you compare Nadav Weiss, 30, to a salesperson selling ice to Eskimos, he will laugh. Ice to Eskimos? That is no match for the challenge he took upon himself: selling falafel to the residents of Fairbanks, Alaska without ever cooking it before and in a place where most have never heard of the national Israeli food.

Yet, the risk paid off. Nadav’s “Falafel Place” that is open four hours a day, sells about 200 falafel meals. The locals love it.

Read the full story here on Ynet.

Israel Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Did you know?

Israel is the only country outside of the Unites States that marks Martin Luther King Day annually. This special day is marked with a special session in parliament.

Why?

Because Israel chooses to embrace the legacy of Dr. King for it exemplifies values of hope and peaceful co-existence between people of diverse backgrounds.

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, were great friends to Israel and the Jewish people. Both were active in the battle against anti-Semitism.

“Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Watch Miri Ben-Ari’s powerful music video: Symphony of Brotherhood.

Trip to Israel a home run for NY Mets’ manager

President Bush’s visit to Israel distracted everyone from a different type of diplomacy at work. Omar Minaya, the New York Mets’ general manager, visited the Holy Land recently with a team of sports and business people to learn about life and baseball in Israel.

“I can happily report there were Mets fans in Israel,” he said. “People came up to me in the airport and said, ‘Go Mets.’ They also said, ‘Have a good year, but get more pitching.’ ”

Click here to read the story.

A High Quality L’Chaim

The Land of Milk and Honey is getting rave reviews for its wines. These are serious reviews, too, from noted wine critic Robert Parker and Wine Spectator magazine. And that’s something we can drink to. Manischewitz, anyone?

Read the full review on Israel21c.