Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) demonstrate antiviral functions in vitro, and safety for application to COVID-19 patients in a pilot clinical study

Coronaviruses are the causative agents of several recent outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. One therapeutic approach is blocking viral binding to the host receptor. As binding largely depends on electrostatic interactions, we hypothesized possible inhibition of viral infection through application of electric fields, and tested the effectiveness of Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), a clinically approved cancer treatment based on delivery of electric fields. In preclinical models, TTFields were found to inhibit coronavirus infection and replication, leading to lower viral secretion and higher cell survival, and to formation of progeny virions with lower infectivity, overall demonstrating antiviral activity. In a pilot clinical study (NCT04953234), TTFields therapy was safe for patients with severe COVID-19, also demonstrating preliminary effectiveness data, that correlated with higher device usage

Trade, Institutions, and Religion: The Effect of the Jewish Diaspora on Israel's Foreign Trade

Judaism is the only world religion to predominate in just a single country, Israel, which also has a widely dispersed diaspora. This paper makes use of this fact to examine the effect of the diaspora on Israel's foreign trade. This paper contributes to the very limited literature which tries to distinguish between the effect of trade institutions (trade agreements, embassies, tax treaties, and the like) and the effect of religion or common values on economic activity in general and on trade in particular. The results lead to important policy implications: The existence of a national diaspora constitutes a trade multiplier; in view of the increased scope of emigration to the West, encouraging trade activity between the new minority communities and their country of origin with significant potential for growth, as well as for the immigrants' socioeconomic improvement. JEL Classification: F19, O1