Weizmann Institute Research Articles

On the Centenary of Emanuel Gil‐Av, Former Professor of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Pioneer of Enantioselective Chromatography

AbstractEmanuel Gil‐Av (Zimkin) was born in 1916 and passed away in 1996. The introduction of chemical selectivity into the chromatographic separation process constitutes his main scientific contribution. This approach culminated in the first enantiomeric separation of racemic amino acids by gas chromatography on an optically active chiral stationary phase in 1966, together with Binyamin Feibush and Rosita Charles‐Sigler. Thus the year 2016 marks an important date to remember and to appreciate the invaluable achievements of Gil‐Av in the realm of chirality carried out at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.

Hiding messages with molecules

What’s a spy to do when she wants to send a secret message? Maybe she should whip out a fluorescence spectrometer. David Margulies and coworkers at Weizmann Institute of Science show that they can hide messages using the emission spectrum of a fluorescent molecular sensor (Nat. Commun. 2016, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11374). The researchers synthesized a molecule with multiple fluorophores and recognition elements. When common chemicals bind to the sensor, they alter the fluorescence spectrum in ways that can serve as an encryption key for hiding messages. First, the researchers convert a message into numbers using an alphanumeric code. They then encrypt it by taking the emission spectrum of the sensor and a randomly chosen chemical and adding the intensity values at 20-nm intervals to the numbers in the message. To decrypt that message, the recipient measures the emission of the sensor molecule under the same conditions and subtracts those intensity values

Investigating Env9's Mechanism of Membrane Insertion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Tail‐anchored proteins have vital roles within the cell such as vesicular transport and apoptosis, and often times their specific membrane localization is crucial to their function. These proteins have hydrophobic regions near their C‐terminus, making them identifiable to protein insertion machinery. One pathway which targets C‐tail anchored proteins is the well‐characterized Guided Entry of Tail‐Anchored Protein (GET) complex, consisting of Get1‐5 and Sgt2. Interestingly, a second mechanism has been proposed named the SRP‐independent (SND) pathway which similarly targets tail‐anchored proteins. Our protein of interest, Env9, is one of four novel endosome to vacuole interface (ENV) gene products and our data suggests it possesses a hydrophobic region near its C‐terminus. Env9 localizes to lipid droplet membranes however, its insertion mechanism is unknown. We hypothesize Env9 is targeted to membranes by either GET or SND pathways because of both its c‐terminal hydrophobic domain and its interactions with components of both complexes. Negative genetic interactions with both ENV8 (GET4) and with ENV10 (SND2) have been reported in systematic studies and have been observed in our laboratory. In order to investigate these interactions, we used both microscopic and biochemical approaches. Env9 was tagged with either GFP (green fluorescent protein) under an inducible galactose promoter or HA (hemagglutinin) under a constitutive PGK promoter to analyze localization in GET and SND mutants via confocal microscopy and western blot analysis, respectively. Preliminary microscopy results show slight disruption in GET mutants whereas SND mutants appear to have wild‐type Env9 localization patterns. In preliminary western blot analysis, tagged double mutants Δget4/env9 and Δsnd2/env9 continue to localize Env9‐HA to the P13 pellet that includes lipid droplets, but also vacuoles and aggregated protein complexes. These results suggest Env9 may be targeted to membranes via the GET complex and specifically implicate the GET complex in the process of insertion of Env9 into the ER membrane. These moderate phenotypes may also suggest compensation by one complex in the absence of the other in order to accurately target vital C‐tail anchored proteins. Additionally, the compensatory effect may be further stimulated by the highly overexpressed constructs used in these studies. We are currently exploring the insertion of Env9 expressed at native levels. Additionally, we are examining Env9 localization in GET double and triple mutants, as well as determining protein‐protein interactions via other biochemical approaches such as co‐immunoprecipitation.Support or Funding InformationAcknowledgements: This project was supported by NIH AREA #R‐15 GM85794‐02, NSF‐MRI grant #DBI0722757 for confocal microscopy, and NIH 2R25GM071638‐09A1 for the Research Initiative for Scientific Advancement Fellowship funding. We'd like to thank Dr. Maya Schuldiner at the Weizmann Institute of Science for her donations of the GET and SND mutants.

Journal Digest

Journal Digest

Talking about cross-talk: the immune system and the microbiome.

A report on the first EMBO conference entitled “Next Gen Immunology—From Host Genome to the Microbiome: Immunity in the Genomic Era”, held at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, 14–16 February, 2016.

Boosting Immunity To Treat Alzheimer’s

A study in mice suggests that loosening the reins on the body’s immune system could help repair damage in the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Inhibiting a protein that restrains immune responses cleared out characteristic protein plaques in the animals’ brains and improved their memory (Nat. Med. 2016, DOI: 10.1038/nm.4022). Michal Schwartz of Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues last year showed that stimulating an immune response in mouse brains reversed symptoms of Alzheimer’s. They concluded that boosting immunity could be a strategy for treating the disease. In the new study, they looked for inspiration from cancer therapies that manipulate so-called immune checkpoint proteins to push the immune system to attack tumors. These signaling proteins encourage or discourage immune cells from springing into action. Schwartz’s team decided to test an antibody that inhibits PD-1, one of the checkpoint proteins. In mice genetically engineered to carry known Alzheimer’s mutations, the antibody

Mineral Formation Pathways in Bone

Event Abstract Back to Event Mineral Formation Pathways in Bone Steve Weiner1, Anat Akiva1, Michael Kerschnitzki1, Natalie Reznikov1 and Lia Addadi1 1 Weizmann Institute, Structural Biology, Israel The mineralization of bone involves the sequestering of calcium and phosphate ions from the food, and its transport to the extracellular environment, where carbonated hydroxyapatite crystals grow within the preformed collagenous organic matrix. Mammalian bone is composed of two different types of mineralized materials: the ordered material dominated by aligned bundles of collagen, and the disordered material that fills in the spaces between bundles and is composed of individual collagen fibrils, mineral and “ground mass”. Studies of the forming embryonic zebrafish tail bones and mouse long bones show that osteoblasts, as well as other cells sometimes located at some distance from the forming bone surface, contain vesicles with numerous mineral particles. In vivo Raman spectroscopy as well as EDS, indicate that the mineral phase inside cells in close association with the mineralizing matrix is OCP-like, with some ACP, and showing a Ca/P ratio very close to one. The presence of a transient disordered mineral phase on the surfaces of the forming bones of zebrafish has been documented using micro-Xray diffraction. The intracellular mineral phase is exocytosed into the extracellular pre-formed collagen fibril matrix. Here the disordered mineral aggregates disaggregate and particles enter into the fibril arrays, and crystallize. A cryo-SEM and FIB SEM serial sectioning study of the chicken embryonic bones, reveals the presence of abundant calcium phosphate mineral bearing vesicles inside cells in the proximity of the forming bones, but most significantly also within blood vessels. This implies that as yet unidentified cells at an unknown distant location are producing solid mineral for transport to the bone. This view of bone mineral pathways involving many cell types, some at great distance from the final depositional site, is consistent with observations of mineralization of embryonic sea urchins, raising the possibility that this is a widespread strategy. Keywords: cell, Calcium phosphate, Bone repair, acellullar matrix Conference: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, Montréal, Canada, 17 May - 22 May, 2016. Presentation Type: New Frontier Oral Topic: Mechanobiology of cells on biomaterials Citation: Weiner S, Akiva A, Kerschnitzki M, Reznikov N and Addadi L (2016). Mineral Formation Pathways in Bone. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.00282 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 28 Mar 2016; Published Online: 30 Mar 2016. Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Steve Weiner Anat Akiva Michael Kerschnitzki Natalie Reznikov Lia Addadi Google Steve Weiner Anat Akiva Michael Kerschnitzki Natalie Reznikov Lia Addadi Google Scholar Steve Weiner Anat Akiva Michael Kerschnitzki Natalie Reznikov Lia Addadi PubMed Steve Weiner Anat Akiva Michael Kerschnitzki Natalie Reznikov Lia Addadi Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Solar energy at high temperatures; researches at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel; 25 years of success

The paper describes the features of the solar complex at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the projects successfully realized during its 25 years of operation.

Cell scientist to watch – Maya Schuldiner

Maya Schuldiner pursued her PhD degree under the guidance of Prof. Nissim Benvenisty at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She carried out her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan Weissman at the University of California, San Francisco, with support from the Human Frontiers Science Program and the Sandler Fellows Program. Since 2008, Maya has been running her own laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, Israel. She received the Human Frontiers Science Program Career Development Award and the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, and she is a member of the EMBO Young Investigator programme and Faculty of 1000. Her current research interests are focused on unravelling novel functions of yeast proteins that are involved in organelle biology.

Collaborations between Israel and Germany in Chemistry and the Other Sciences – a Sign of Normalization?

AbstractThe scientific collaboration between Israel and Germany was not initiated, as commonly believed, by the Max Planck Society or by German scientists who wanted to revive collaboration with their former Jewish colleagues. Rather, it was initiated in the mid‐1950s by two Israeli scientists from the Weizmann Institute and a German scientist at the time at CERN in violation of the widely accepted cultural boycott by Israel against Germany. The initiators succeeded in procuring political support; large‐scale collaboration between the Weizmann Institute, German universities, and the Max Planck Society was developed. In the aftermath of the Second World War, German science suffered from the Nazi expulsion of Jewish scientists and partial international isolation; the collaboration with Israel enabled young German scientists to overcome this isolation and benefit from stimulating Israeli research environments. In times of economic hardship, the collaboration helped Israeli science materially, provided contacts to chemical industry, and strengthened the cooperation between Israeli and European science. The collaboration was built, in part, on postwar myths created by German scientists and the Max Planck Society about their former anti‐Nazi attitudes. Despite the difficult beginnings and some hidden political agendas, the collaboration developed very successfully. Germany became Israel’s second most important partner in the scientific field, after the USA. Today, normalcy prevails in many – though not all – of the Israeli‐German collaborative projects; the past is not forgotten, but science is in the fore.

Professor Michael Levitt

Professor Michael Levitt (Stanford University, USA) won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems—computational tools which can calculate the course of chemical reactions. Professor Levitt was born in Pretoria, South Africa; he came to the UK on a summer vacation aged 16, where he decided to stay and study for his A‑levels. His interest in the physics of living systems drove him to study biophysics at King’s College London, before securing a PhD position at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. In the interim year between his degree and beginning his PhD, Professor Levitt worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, where he met his future wife. They married later that year and moved to Cambridge, where their three children were born. After completing his PhD, he spent time working in Israel, Cambridge, the Salk Institute and Stanford (both California). Since 1986, he has split his time between Israel and California. Outside of science, he is a keen hiker and he is well-known to have attended the eclectic ‘Burning Man’ Festival in California.[1]Professor Levitt visited the University of Warwick to speak at the Computational Molecular Science Annual Conference in March 2015. In this interview, Dr Gemma-Louise Davies, an Institute of Advanced Study Global Research Fellow, spoke to Professor Levitt about the importance of Interdisciplinarity in his field, role models in Academia, and his plans for the future.Image: Professor Michael Levitt (left) with Dr Scott Habershon (right, organiser of the 2015 Computational Molecular Science Annual Conference) during his visit to the University of Warwick in March 2015.[1] ‘Burning Man’ is a unique annual festival dedicated to community, art, music, self-expression and self-reliance. Tens of thousands of people flock to this temporary metropolis built in the Californian desert.

Sensing Protein Surfaces with Targeted Fluorescent Receptors

Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of David Margulies at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). The image highlights the analogy between fluorescent molecular sensors and a miniaturized camera that can capture changes that occur at the nanoscale and shed light on the structural state of proteins. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201502069.

Editorial introductions

Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes was launched in 1994, with Obesity added to the title in 2007. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of endocrinology and diabetes are divided into 12 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce one of the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS Peter A. GottliebPeter A. GottliebDr Peter A. Gottlieb was born in Havana, Cuba, but at age 2 moved to New Jersey, USA, where he grew up. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, he attended UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, USA from which he graduated in 1984. Dr Gottlieb completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA and then continued his fellowship training in endocrinology and metabolism there as well. In 1990, after completing his fellowship, he moved to the Weizmann Institute in Israel to do post-doctoral training in T cell immunology. After surviving the First Gulf War, he returned to UMass, USA and joined the staff as Clinical Director of Diabetes. He subsequently joined the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in 1995, USA where he is now a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and the Director of the Translational Research Unit at the Barbara Davis Center. He has authored, co-authored and collaborated on more than 110 publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as several book chapters and served as section editor for several journal editions. His research areas of interest include the immunology of type 1 diabetes, intervention trials to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes, islet transplantation and the genetics of autoimmune disease. He had led several multi-center trials in new onset type 1 diabetes and is an active member of the Steering Committee for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet. Whitney WoodmanseeWhitney WoodmanseeDr Whitney Woodmansee is Director of the Clinical Neuroendocrine Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA. Dr Woodmansee received her medical degree and completed her clinical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) in Denver, CO, USA. After completing her training, she joined the faculty at UCHSC in 1999 where she performed basic science research in the neuroendocrine field, as well as directed the Pituitary Disorders Program. She currently manages an active clinical practice caring for patients with pituitary disorders as a member of the Brigham and Women's Hospital's multi-disciplinary Pituitary/Neuroendocrine Center. She also directs the Dynamic Endocrine Testing Unit at her hospital. Dr Woodmansee has more recently shifted her research efforts from understanding the molecular biology of the pituitary to more clinical studies, and has a particular interest in the management of hypopituitarism.

Meet Our Editorial Board Member:

I was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union in 1951, and have received my B.Sc. in Biology/Biophysics (1971) and M.Sc. in Biochemistry (1973) from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Leningrad State University. After receiving my Ph.D. Degree in Molecular Biology and Cancer Biology (1979) from the Petrov Cancer Research Institute, I was continuing my research as a research scientist there. In 1983, I was accepted as a senior research scientist into a newly organized Department of Genetic Engineering at the Institute of Cytology, Leningrad, USSR. In 1990, I immigrated to Israel and started working as an Instructor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, where I studied the interferon type I receptor signaling at the Department of Molecular Virology under the supervision of Prof. Michel Revel, the leader in cytokine signaling. During my tenure at Weizmann, I was awarded a British Council Award to study in ICI/Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (Alderley Park, UK) allowing me to extend my expertise in yeast genetic engineering. In 1994, I was invited to join the Johns Hopkins University School of (Baltimore, Maryland, USA), as an Assistant Professor of Pathology, where I have developed a strong long-lasting interest in protein-protein interaction studies in cardiovascular and cancer diseases. This approach helped me to discover a novel midkine-dependent signaling pathway, the regulatory proteins affecting the NOS2 activity/dimerization/ degradation, and finally, I have focused on the p63 transcriptional factor implicated in head and neck cancer and ectodermal dysplasia. In 2000, I was promoted to the rank of an Associate Professor of Dermatology/Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery/Oncology and then later to the rank of Professor. Since then my laboratory was able to discover a molecular mechanism underlying ectodermal dysplasia via p63-dependent regulation of RNA splicing for fibroblast growth factor receptor 2, which functions as a key regulator of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Since 2004, I have become an Associate Director of Head and Neck Cancer Research Division at the Johns Hopkins. In the same year I have become a member of the Graduate Training Program in Cellular and Molecular at JHMI. In 2008, I have joined the Wilmer Glia Research Laboratory Collaborative Network and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins Neurofibromatosis Research Center. In 2013, I have also become an Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University (GWIN, SEAS), Washington-DC, USA. To the present date, my collaborative efforts with Drs. David Sidransky and Barry Trink (the researchers who first discovered p53 homologue p63) led to more than 40 international publications, reviews, book chapters and patents on p63 function alone. My name was included in the books 2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century, Great Minds of the 21st Century and is Who in Medicine (since 2005). I am a Member of the New York Academy of Sciences, International Society on Interferon and Cytokine Research, American Society for Cell Biology, American Association for Cancer Research, International Society for Cell Biology, Society for Investigative Dermatology, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, International Society for Stem Cell Research. I am a Member of the Executive Advlsory Board, Biotech/Medical Board, and Sustainability Board of Lifeboat Foundation, and Task Force: Getting to know Cancer. Halifax Project. In 2014-2015, I was awarded a Distinguished Visiting Professorship by an Ecuador Prometeo Foundation and served in the Department of Human Genetics at the La Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Loja, Ecuador.

Facing and Overcoming Sensitivity Challenges in Biomolecular NMR Spectroscopy.

In the Spring of 2013, NMR spectroscopists convened at the Weizmann Institute in Israel to brainstorm on approaches to improve the sensitivity of NMR experiments, particularly when applied in biomolecular settings. This multi-author interdisciplinary Review presents a state-of-the-art description of the primary approaches that were considered. Topics discussed included the future of ultrahigh-field NMR systems, emerging NMR detection technologies, new approaches to nuclear hyperpolarization, and progress in sample preparation. All of these are orthogonal efforts, whose gains could multiply and thereby enhance the sensitivity of solid- and liquid-state experiments. While substantial advances have been made in all these areas, numerous challenges remain in the quest of endowing NMR spectroscopy with the sensitivity that has characterized forms of spectroscopies based on electrical or optical measurements. These challenges, and the ways by which scientists and engineers are striving to solve them, are also addressed.

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: state of art.

For patients with hematologic malignancies at high risk of relapse who do not have matched donors, a suitable alternative stem cell source is the HLA-haploidentical 2- or 3-loci mismatched family donor who is readily available for nearly all patients. Transplantation across the major HLA barrier is associated with strong T-cell alloreactions, which were originally manifested as a high incidence of severe GVHD and graft rejection. The present overview of the 7th symposium on haplidentical transplantation that took place at the Weizmann Institute on February 2014, shows how these obstacles to successful transplantation can now be overcome. The review also discusses the advantages and drawbacks of current options for full haplotype-mismatched transplantation and highlights innovative approaches for rebuilding immunity, reducing leukemia relapse and improving survival after transplantation. In addition, new modalities for immune tolerance induction following nonmyeloablative conditioning are discussed, showing new options for treatment of elderly patients who cannot tolerate myeloablative conditioning protocols, as well as novel strategies for immune tolerance and chimerism induction as a platform for cell therapy and organ transplantation.

Aqueous Humor Outflow: Dynamics and Disease

This review summarizes the goals and outcomes of the eighth annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmic Research Institute conference that was held on May 4th and 5th, 2012, at the Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This conference series has been funded by the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research with the help of a generous grant from Pfizer Ophthalmics. Funding from the ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute has allowed a series of “think tanks” for the leading experts on various subspecialties of ophthalmology research. These meetings have helped to define various challenges and potential solutions to issues relevant to the field of ophthalmology. In 2012, the emphasis of the conference was on the physiological role of the conventional outflow pathway in aqueous humor dynamics in normal and glaucomatous eyes. In particular, clinical observations associated with aqueous humor outflow in health and disease, animal models in the understanding of aqueous outflow, role of mechanosensing in aqueous humor fluid flow, and new paradigms in cell and extracellular matrix crosstalk within the conventional outflow pathway were discussed. The primary goal of the conference was to bring together a diverse group of experts who are pioneers in conventional outflow biology and related nonocular areas of research with the hope of utilizing the group's knowledge and experience to evaluate the current understanding of aqueous outflow regulation and problems thereof. The invited group consisted of 29 investigators directly involved in conventional outflow research. Also present were three invited outside experts in cellular mechanics and cytoskeleton structures (Jeffrey Fredberg, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA), molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion and mechanosensing (Benjamin Geiger, PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel), and murine genetics (Richard Libby, PhD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA). In addition, the conference was attended by 27 observers who participated in discussion of key topics at the end of each presentation. Together, the group was tasked with reviewing the current scientific dogma regarding aqueous outflow diseases and identifying the most pressing research questions and needs in the current funding environment. Above all, the group was asked to think “outside the box” to develop future research directions. The conference generated a list of highly relevant but currently unanswered questions with the hope that solutions to these issues would improve understanding of the role of the conventional outflow pathway in normal and glaucoma eyes. The meeting was organized into four sessions: (a) clinical insights into conventional outflow dysfunction, (b) the use of mice as model systems for conventional outflow, (c) mechanosensing within the conventional outflow pathway, and (d) the role of the extracellular matrix and signaling in conventional outflow dynamics. Speakers presented their thoughts on the preselected topics and provided key research goals that have been addressed or need to be addressed in the near future. The sessions were followed by discussion aimed at summarizing and interpreting the current knowledge as well as identifying unique research questions that were as yet unanswered. Anatomy and Physiology of the Conventional Aqueous Humor Outflow Pathway The conventional outflow pathway is mainly a pressure-driven system. Under homeostatic conditions, this pathway regulates the drainage of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber of the eye, thereby maintaining a constant intraocular pressure (IOP).1 Relevant tissues of the anterior segment that are anatomically involved in IOP control include the ciliary muscles, trabecular meshwork (TM), Schlemm's canal (SC), collector channels, and aqueous veins. The ciliary muscle is composed of smooth muscle fibers that have a true elastic net of tendons that anchor into the choroid posteriorly and the scleral spur, TM, and inner wall of SC anteriorly.2,3 It is widely accepted that contraction of the ciliary muscle causes expansion of the TM and opening of SC, which subsequently increases the conductivity of aqueous humor (AH) through the TM. All these, along with reports of nerve innervation in the TM, indicate that the TM is a self-regulating tissue with both afferent and efferent nervous components responsible for controlling its functions.2,4

Berkowitz B, Dror I, Yaron B: Contaminant Geochemistry—Interactions and Transport in the Subsurface Environment

This second edition in 2014 expands upon the 2008 initial edition of Contaminant Geochemistry—Interactions and Transport in the Subsurface Environment’’. While the first version almost exclusively focussed on organic pollutants, this new edition is specially enriched with data on water rock interaction with inorganic pollutants and nanoparticles. The first edition’s almost exclusive focus on organic pollutants is also characteristic for the new edition. Two of the authors, Brian Berkowitz and Ishai Dror, are hydrologists working at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Their working group is developing a new theory for the anomalous (non-Fickian) chemical transport in fractured and heterogeneous porous aquifers. They are carrying out experiments with a new nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) technique for describing the 3D transport in fractured rock as well as developing numerical transport models. Bruno Yaron is Emeritus Professor of Soil Sciences of the Institute of Soil and Water in Bet Dagan and since 2002 advisor for the Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. The working group’s focus on geochemistry may also be promoted because the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Weizmann Institute is part of the Faculty of Chemistry. The book is designed for readers with different scientific backgrounds. For this reason, the first part (50 pp) entitled ‘‘Geochemistry Revisited’’ is applied as a reminder of any & Andreas Winkler rnlab@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Computational Modelling of Organic Semiconductors: From the Quantum World to Actual Devices

Computational Modelling of Organic Semiconductors: From the Quantum World to Actual Devices

Similarity of finger and hand intermittent corrective movements

Event Abstract Back to Event Similarity of finger and hand intermittent corrective movements Jason Friedman1, 2* and Lior Noy3, 4 1 Tel Aviv University, Physical Therapy, Israel 2 Tel Aviv University, Sagol School of Neuroscience, Israel 3 Weizmann Institute of Science, Molecular Cell Biology, Israel 4 Weizmann Institute of Science, The Theatre Lab, Israel Due to the inherent time delays in processing visual and proprioceptive feedback, it is believed that the central nervous system uses intermittent control as a way of producing stable movement, that is, corrections are made at discrete points in time rather than continuously. While several lines of evidence support this notion, the nature of this corrective process is largely unknown. In this study, we examined whether intermittent control results mostly from a central process by comparing two motor tasks with vastly different inertial properties and determining whether the frequency of these corrections is similar. We examined the frequency of these corrections when subjects attempted to move synchronously with (i.e. imitate) the motion of an unpredictably oscillating stimulus, with varying frequency and amplitude. Subjects performed the same task with two different types of movement - either raising and lowering the index finger, or moving a pen backwards and forwards, with the movements recorded with a motion capture system. We defined the onset of a corrective movement as a zero-crossing in the filtered acceleration profile, and removed the acceleration zero-crossings which corresponded to acceleration zero-crossings in the stimuli. We summarized for each subject the frequency of corrections using the value corresponding to the peak of the frequency histogram. We found that while the frequency of these corrections varied significantly across subjects (0.7 - 1.1 Hz), a similar frequency was used by each subject for the two tasks. These results support the notion that corrective movements results from a central process, and it is likely that a similar process is used for the two different movement types. Further, the significant between-subject variation suggests that the timing of these corrective movements varies across individuals, which is likely to affect strategies used for movement generation. Keywords: Hand, Movement, Imitation, motor control, Intermittent control, Finger Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Motor Behaviour Citation: Friedman J and Noy L (2015). Similarity of finger and hand intermittent corrective movements. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00167 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Jason Friedman, Tel Aviv University, Physical Therapy, Tel Aviv, Israel, jason@tau.ac.il Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jason Friedman Lior Noy Google Jason Friedman Lior Noy Google Scholar Jason Friedman Lior Noy PubMed Jason Friedman Lior Noy Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.