Starch-rich plant foods 780,000 y ago: Evidence from Acheulian percussive stone tools.

In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform. These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed their adoption into our diets. Through the analysis of starch grains preserved on basalt anvils and percussors, we demonstrate that a wide variety of plants were processed by Middle Pleistocene hominins at the site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel, at least 780,000 y ago.

Unprecedented yet gradual nature of first millennium CE intercontinental crop plant dispersal revealed in ancient Negev desert refuse.

Global agro-biodiversity has resulted from processes of plant migration and agricultural adoption. Although critically affecting current diversity, crop diffusion from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages is poorly researched, overshadowed by studies on that of prehistoric periods. A new archaeobotanical dataset from three Negev Highland desert sites demonstrates the first millennium CE's significance for long-term agricultural change in Southwest Asia.

[PSYCHIATRY - AN ERA OF CHANGES AND TRANSFORMATIONS].

In this issue of Harefuah, we present several aspects of mental health during hospitalization and rehabilitation and in the community. Most mental health care is now in the community. This issue begins with a study of sleep monitoring in the community aiming to predict the development of depression; and continues with an interesting characterization of seasonality in presentation to the emergency room, noting the importance of family and community connections as a protective factor.

Self-Catalyzed Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube-Silicon Core-Shell Array for Highly Stable, High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Here, we report on the simple, catalyst-free preparation and application of carbon nanotube-silicon core-shell composite anodes on stainless steel. The stainless steel mesh structure acts as a self-catalyzing agent for the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) growth of vertically aligned, dense, multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays. The carbon nanotube array then serves as a bed for silicon deposition by the decomposition of silane through chemical vapor deposition (CVD).

[HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY (HBO) FOR RADIATION NECROSIS - PHYSICIAN AWARENESS IS REQUIRED].

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is the inhalation of 100% oxygen at a pressure of at least 1.4 atmospheres absolute (ATA), 140 kPa, in the hyperbaric chamber. The therapeutic effect is obtained by delivery of oxygen to the tissues dissolved in the plasma and independent of the hemoglobin.

The plant component of an Acheulian diet at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel.

Diet is central for understanding hominin evolution, adaptation, and environmental exploitation, but Paleolithic plant remains are scarce. A unique macrobotanical assemblage of 55 food plant taxa from the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel includes seeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and plants producing underground storage organs. The food plant remains were part of a diet that also included aquatic and terrestrial fauna.

[KIDNEY TRANSPLANTION IN A MENTAL HEALTH PATIENT].

This journal has previously published articles on the issue of kidney transplantation in mentally ill patients. The current case report highlights the issue of kidney transplantation in a patient suffering from a psychotic disorder. The case study describes a patient who, although he does not comply with his psychopharmacological treatment, fully complies with all medications pertaining to his physical illness.

The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming.

Weeds are currently present in a wide range of ecosystems worldwide. Although the beginning of their evolution is largely unknown, researchers assumed that they developed in tandem with cultivation since the appearance of agricultural habitats some 12,000 years ago. These rapidly-evolving plants invaded the human disturbed areas and thrived in the new habitat.

Video Surveillance in Mental Health Facilities: Is it Ethical?

Video surveillance is a tool for managing safety and security within public spaces. In mental health facilities, the major benefit of video surveillance is that it enables 24 hour monitoring of patients, which has the potential to reduce violent and aggressive behavior. The major disadvantage is that such observation is by nature intrusive.

Hyperbaric oxygen for stage I and II femoral head osteonecrosis.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a suggested joint-preserving treatment for symptomatic early-stage osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Limited studies of this treatment have been published. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment in a relatively large patient cohort.

Testamentary capacity of the schizophrenic patient.

Testamentary capacity refers to an individual's capability to write his or her own will. Psychiatrists are required occasionally to give expert opinions regarding the testamentary capacity of individuals with a medical history or suspected diagnosis of a mental illness. This may stem from the patient/lawyer/ family initiative to explore the current capacity to testate in anticipation of a possible challenge, or may be sought when testamentary capacity of a deceased has been challenged.

Voting of hospitalized and ambulatory patients with mental disorders in parliamentary elections.

The authors examined the voting rate among psychiatric inpatients and the voting rate of outpatients, in relation to the severity of their illness. On election day the number of inpatients that voted was recorded in one psychiatric hospital in Israel. For two weeks following the elections outpatients were asked if they voted: 100/271 (36.

Prognostic factors predicting ischemic wound healing following hyperbaric oxygenation therapy.

Identifying patients who benefit from hyperoxygenation therapy is important, because treatment is time-consuming and involves high costs and complications (minor). Our objective was to develop a model for predicting therapy outcome based on population of patients with and without diabetes. A retrospective cohort study was carried out in a major hospital in Israel.

Maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for a neuroleptic-intolerant patient with disorganized schizophrenia.

Owing to unresolved questions concerning the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of schizophrenia, and widespread negative attitudes toward ECT, maintenance ECT (mECT) is generally considered only as a last resort. Nevertheless, in some clinical situations, the advantages of mECT may outweigh the risks and associated concerns. We report the case of a patient suffering from disorganized schizophrenia who had life-threatening hematological side effects to treatment with antipsychotic agents.

Culturally sensitive mental health care: a study of contemporary psychiatric treatment for ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel.

Background: The literature describes psychiatric treatment of ultra-orthodox Jews as complex and challenging, in light of this community's unique characteristics and the ideological gap between ultra-orthodox patients and secular professionals. Recent data indicate that patient-centred culturally sensitive care contributes to the treatment outcomes among cultural minorities.

Aims: To examine the effect of the level of a physician's religiosity and cultural sensitivity, as perceived by ultra-orthodox Jewish psychiatric patients, as well as the treatment venue (i.

Evaluation of the capacity of inpatients with chronic schizophrenia to provide informed consent for participation in clinical trials; use of the Hebrew version of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR).

Background: Patient protection requires the provision of informed consent for participation in medical research. The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR) is frequently used for screening the capacity of research subjects to consent to participate in research.

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of the Hebrew translation of the MacCAT-CR for assessing the capacity of patients with chronic schizophrenia to provide informed consent to participate in clinical trials.

[Involuntary outpatient treatment].

Much has been written about involuntary outpatient treatment, both in Israel and abroad. Since the amendment of the law in Israel in 1991, there is an option for compulsory outpatient treatment that is Less confining than hospitalization. Research has noted its efficacy in avoiding exacerbation of the mental state, repeat hospitalizations and involvement in dangerous activities among patients with low compliance to treatment.

Nonmedication smoking reduction program for inpatients with chronic schizophrenia: a randomized control design study.

People with schizophrenia are more likely to smoke, and to smoke more frequently, than those without schizophrenia. Furthermore, inpatients smoke even more frequently compared with those living in the community. In light of this, we implemented and assessed a smoking reduction intervention using a wide array of behavioral group techniques and methods in chronic hospitalized schizophrenic clients.

Responsibility of the therapist for the patients' actions (Tarasoff Rules): position of the psychiatrists.

Background And Aims: Patient confidentiality and the therapists responsibility to society may present a challenge in the therapeutic relationship between the psychiatrist and the patient. We examined the attitudes of Israeli psychiatrists concerning the duty to warn and protect according to the Tarasoff Rule.

Methods: Questionnaires to examine psychiatrists opinions concerning the implementation of the Tarasoff Rule in Israel were sent to senior psychiatrists involved in forensic psychiatry for anonymous completion.

Improvement of ischemic non-healing wounds following hyperoxygenation: the experience at Rambam-Elisha Hyperbaric Center in Israel, 1998-2007.

Background: Wounds of the lower extremities are a significant public health problem, being severe and costly to treat. Adjunctive treatment with hyperbaric oxygenation (HBOT) has proven to be a useful and cost-effective means of treating ischemic wounds, mainly in diabetic patients.

Objectives: To describe patients with ischemic wounds treated at the Rambam and Elisha Hyperbaric Medical Center and their wound improvement following HBOT.

[The rate of development of myopia during hyperbaric oxygen therapy].

Background: Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) is a common treatment both for emergency medicine as well as for chronic treatments. One of the most common indications for treatment is a non-healing wound due to diabetes. It is known that prolonged HBO treatments cause a myopic change in refraction.