“Noah” - The Israeli Federation of Animal Protection Organizations v. The Attorney-General

Facts: Petitioner asked that the Court declare the force-feeding of geese for the production of foie gras to be illegal. Furthermore, they ask that the Court issue an order annulling the Cruelty to Animals Regulations (Protection of Animals), (Force-Feeding of Geese), 2001, and declare them to be in contradiction to section 2(a) of the Cruelty to Animals Law. Held: The Court declared that the force-feeding of geese, pursuant to the Cruelty to Animals Regulations (Protection of Animals) (Force-Feeding of Geese), 2001, constituted abuse of animals, and a violation of section 2(a) of the Cruelty to Animals Law. As such, the Court annulled the regulations that had regulated the raising and force-feeding of geese

Hamadah v. Israel Auto Insurance Fund

[This abstract is not part of the Court\u27s opinion and is provided for the reader\u27s convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.] The Appellant was injured in a traffic accident in Gaza in a car insured by an Israeli insurance company. The Appellant filed his claim seven years later in an Israeli court. The court found that the accident was subject to an order by the military commander, which established a two year limitations period for claims deriving from traffic accidents in Gaza, and thereby held that the period of limitations had elapsed. This appeal challenges that decision. The Supreme Court held: A. 1. Since the enactment of the Compensation for Persons Injured in Traffic Accidents Act 1975 (hereinafter: The Compensation Act), the military commander issued the Order for Compensation for Persons Injured in Traffic Accidents (Gaza Area) (n. 544) 1976 (hereinafter: the Compensation Order). The Compensation Order includes an arrangement that is essentially identical to the arrangement in the Compensation Act and includes reference, in certain matters, to the Civil Torts Ordinance 1944, including a limitations provision that sets the period of limitations at two years. 2. The statutory source for the authority of the military commander in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip (hereinafter: the area) is twofold: it is both a result of customary international law and of Israeli law, as the commander is the long arm of the Israeli government. Each of these sources leads to the conclusion that indeed the claim has passed the statute of limitations and that the appeal must be rejected. B. 1. One alternative assumes that the orders of the commander are foreign law. Under this assumption, the matter of conflict of laws in terms of the limitations issue must be resolved according to the rules of private international law. 2. When a local court must decide a matter that involves foreign law, the rules of international law mandate that procedural provisions be decided according to the laws of the forum, and substantive provisions be adjudicated according to the foreign law. In Israel, periods of limitations are procedural provisions and thus, seemingly, it limitations must be determined under the laws of the forum. However, this is not the case when the foreign law – which creates an encompassing arrangement that includes provisions of substantive law and incidental provisions that regulate the implementation of the substantive rights – is concerned. In a case where a statute grants substantive rights and attaches to them provisions that limit their exercise, including procedural provisions, the arrangement must be applied cohesively rather than in parts. When the foreign law establishes a cause of action to assert substantive rights and attaches to it a specific period of limitations on its realization, the parties may not claim entitlement to enjoy the period of limitations that exists in the adjudicating forum. 3. When the case is heard in Israel, and the substantive law that applies is foreign law that established a specific period of limitations for a right granted in substantive law, the limitations must be considered a substantive provision, or – sadly – a provision that is an integral part of the foreign law that must be applied cohesively in the adjudicating suit. In the case at hand, it is sufficient to find that to the extent that the Compensation Order is foreign law, the Appellant’s claim has passed the statute of limitations. C. 1. Should considering the military commander as an Israeli authority lead to a conclusion that the order is that of an Israeli governmental authority, and thus the Compensation Order constitutes Israeli law, we must refer to the Limitations Act 1958. Section 58 of the Limitations Act stipulates that the Act does not offend a period of limitations in terms of a certain issue that is set in a different source of law. Therefore, should it be possible to consider the Compensation Order a “different source of law”, the period of limitations that it sets will be the applicable period, rather than the ordinary period of limitations that is set in the Limitations Act. In terms of the relevant limitations, the Compensation Act refers to the Civil Torts Ordinance, which sets a period of limitations of two years. 2. The Limitations Act does not define the term “different source of law.” The status of the Compensation Order is not definite because of the duality in the status of the military commander. We must examine the substance of the military commander’s orders, their relation to the Israeli legal system and the particular nature of the Compensation Order. As noted above, the statutory source of the military commander’s orders is Israeli. The Compensation Order is identical in its primary section to the Israeli Compensation Act, and it is considered by the court to be an order that is closely and clearly related to Israel law. The conclusion that results from the combination of the commander’s statutory status and the Compensation Order’s connection with Israeli law is that they can be considered to be Israeli law when adjudicated by an Israeli court. Though from an international perspective the commander’s authorities are sourced in customary international law, when the commander’s legislative activity is heard by an Israeli court it can be seen, for such relevant purposes, as Israeli law. 3. The status of the commander as an organ of Israeli government coupled with the clear link between the Compensation Order and the Israeli Act lead to the conclusion that the Compensation Order can be seen as included in the definition of the term “law” as it appears in the Interpretation Ordinance or in the term “different source of law” as it appears in the Limitations Act. Therefore, We must turn to the Compensation Order for purposes of setting the applicable period of limitations, and this period is of two years according to the Ordinance to which the Order refers

Rare variants in axonogenesis genes connect three families with sound–color synesthesia

Synesthesia is a rare nonpathological phenomenon where stimulation of one sense automatically provokes a secondary perception in another. Hypothesized to result from differences in cortical wiring during development, synesthetes show atypical structural and functional neural connectivity, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. The trait also appears to be more common among people with autism spectrum disorder and savant abilities. Previous linkage studies searching for shared loci of large effect size across multiple families have had limited success. To address the critical lack of candidate genes, we applied whole-exome sequencing to three families with sound–color (auditory–visual) synesthesia affecting multiple relatives across three or more generations. We identified rare genetic variants that fully cosegregate with synesthesia in each family, uncovering 37 genes of interest. Consistent with reports indicating genetic heterogeneity, no variants were shared across families. Gene ontology analyses highlighted six genes—COL4A1, ITGA2, MYO10, ROBO3, SLC9A6, and SLIT2—associated with axonogenesis and expressed during early childhood when synesthetic associations are formed. These results are consistent with neuroimaging-based hypotheses about the role of hyperconnectivity in the etiology of synesthesia and offer a potential entry point into the neurobiology that organizes our sensory experiences

Genetic and environmental contributions to stability in loneliness throughout childhood.

Heritability estimates based on two small cross-sectional studies in children indicate that the genetic contribution to individual differences in loneliness is approximately 50%. A recent study estimated the genetic contribution to variation in loneliness in adults to be 48%. The current study aims to replicate and expand these findings by conducting longitudinal analyses in order to study causes of individual differences in stability of loneliness throughout childhood. Univariate and multivariate longitudinal analyses are conducted in a large sample of young Dutch twins. Information on loneliness comes from maternal ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist. Using an average score of loneliness over ages 7, 10, and 12, results from the two previous studies are replicated and a heritability estimate of 45% is found. The remaining variance is accounted for by shared environmental influences (12%), and non-shared environmental influences (43%). The long-itudinal analyses, however, show that heritability is 58% at age 7, 56% at age 10, but drops to 26% at age 12. A parallel increase in influences of shared family environment is observed, explaining 6% of the variance at age 7, 8% at age 10 and 35% at age 12. The remaining variance is explained by relatively stable influences of nonshared environmental factors. Stability in loneliness is high, with phenotypic correlations in the range of 0.51-0.69. This phenotypic stability is mainly caused by genetic and nonshared environmental influences. The results indicate the importance of both innate as well as nonshared environmental factors for individual differences in loneliness. Further, different results between causes of individual differences for the average score of loneliness and results for age 12 from the longitudinal analyses, indicate the importance of longitudinal analyses with data at well-defined ages. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Endogenous siRNAs promote proteostasis and longevity in germline-less Caenorhabditis elegans.

How lifespan and the rate of aging are set is a key problem in biology. Small RNAs are conserved molecules that impact diverse biological processes through the control of gene expression. However, in contrast to miRNAs, the role of endo-siRNAs in aging remains unexplored. Here, by combining deep sequencing and genomic and genetic approaches in Caenorhabditis elegans, we reveal an unprecedented role for endo-siRNA molecules in the maintenance of proteostasis and lifespan extension in germline-less animals. Furthermore, we identify an endo-siRNA-regulated tyrosine phosphatase, which limits the longevity of germline-less animals by restricting the activity of the heat shock transcription factor HSF-1. Altogether, our findings point to endo-siRNAs as a link between germline removal and the HSF-1 proteostasis and longevity-promoting somatic pathway. This establishes a role for endo siRNAs in the aging process and identifies downstream genes and physiological processes that are regulated by the endo siRNAs to affect longevity

Mechanistic View on the Order-Disorder Phase Transition in Amphidynamic Crystals

We combine temperature-dependent low-frequency Raman measurements and first-principles calculations to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the order-disorder phase transition of 2,7-di-tert-butylbenzo[b]benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (ditBu-BTBT) and crystals. We identify the lattice normal modes associated with the phase transition by following the position and width of the Raman peaks with temperature and identifying peaks that exhibit nonlinear dependence toward the phase transition temperature. Our findings are interpreted according to the "hardcore mode" model previously used to describe order-disorder phase transitions in inorganic and hybrid crystals with a Brownian sublattice. Within the framework of this model, ditBu-BTBT exhibits an ideal behavior where only one lattice mode is associated with the phase transition. TIPS-pentacene deviates strongly from the model due to strong interactions between lattice modes. We discuss the origin of the different behaviors and suggest side-chain engineering as a tool to control polymorphism in amphidynamic crystals