Israeli engineers develop implants to help paralyzed people walk again and for those that love trains: All Passenger traction rolling stock of Israel Railways in one video and Most Useless Megaprojects in the World and The Portion of VayikraAn Offering of Fine Flour- Sixty Tenths
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
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What is the largest amount of fine flour one may bring in one vessel for a "Korban Mincha" (flour offering)?
The Mishna in Tractate Menachot 12;4 reads as follows:
"A man may offer a minchah consisting of sixty tenths and bring them in one vessel. If one said, "I take upon myself to offer sixty-one tenths," he must bring sixty in one vessel and the one in another vessel, since the congregation brings on the first day of the festival of Sukkot] when it falls on Shabbat sixty-one tenths as a minchah], it is enough for an individual that his minchah] should be one-tenth less than that of the congregation. Rabbi Shimon said: but some of these sixty-one tenths] are for the bullocks and some for the lambs, and they may not be mixed one with the other! Rather sixty-tenths mingle in one vessel]. They said to him: can sixty be mingled in one vessel] and not sixty-one? He answered, so it is with all the measures prescribed by the sages: a man may immerse himself in forty seahs of water, but he may not immerse himself in forty seahs less one kortob. One may not offer one log], two, or five logs], but one may offer three, four, six, or anything above six."
When one volunteers to bring a flour offering, the most that he is permitted to bring in one vessel is sixty tenths.
This amount is derived from that which was sacrificed in the Temple on the first day of Sukkot when 61 tenths of flour were offered as a communal sacrifice.
Therefore an individual must bring one-tenth less than that of a communal offering.
This law is alluded to in the crown atop the letter "samech" (whose numerical value is 60) in the word "solet" in the verse which describes the offering of the individual. (Remazei Rabbenu Yoel)
Israeli engineers develop implants to help paralyzed people walk again
New study from Tel Aviv University sees the successful engineering of the world's first 3D human spinal cord tissues
People with long-term chronic paralysis may regain the ability to walk after Israeli scientists successfully engineered the first 3D human spinal cord tissue and detailed the results in a groundbreaking new peer-reviewed study published in the Advanced Science journal on Monday morning.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Sagol Center for Regenerative Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University, headed by Prof. Tal Dvir, and he was joined by researchers from the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University. The team at Prof. Dvir's lab includes PhD student Lior Wertheim, Dr. Reuven Edri, and Dr. Yona Goldshmit.
Why haven't we been able to heal spinal cord injuries?
Paralysis can occur after a spinal cord injury, which can refer to damage sustained to any part of the spinal cord or the nerves at the end of the spinal canal. These injuries can cause permanent changes in strength, sensation and other bodily functions, and in severe cases, can lead to long-term paralysis, for which there is currently no cure.
Despite many prior attempts having been made worldwide to promote natural or intervened regeneration at the site of the injury, minimal success has been seen.
Many existing experimental or investigated methods rely on the transplantation of different cells or biomaterials into the site of the injury. However, two issues jeopardize the success of the treatment - the immune response to the transplanted cells causing them to be rejected, and the implantation of dissociated cells that fail to form into a functional network. MRI of an injured spinal cord with and without treatment (credit: SAGOL CENTER FOR REGENERATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY)
A new method for treating spinal cord injuries
Therefore, the research team hypothesized that mimicking embryonic development by applying a specific spinal cord motor neuron differentiation protocol in a 3D dynamic environment would provide cells with signals for appropriate regenerative tissue formation, healing the site and lowering the risk of rejection.
Furthermore, they theorized, assembling a functional neuron network prior to implantation would increase the chances of functional engraftment, in which it integrates well into the host body.
The procedure developed by the research team would involve taking a small fatty tissue biopsy from the patient and separating it into the cells and the extracellular biomaterial.
The cells would then be reprogrammed to become patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) - a cell type used in regenerative medicine that can propagate indefinitely and can be used to replace cells lost to damage or disease.
Meanwhile, the biomaterial undergoes a process to turn it into a personalized hydrogel, which the embryonic-like iPSC cells are then encapsulated in, allowing them to differentiate into a 3D spinal cord network.
(Left to right): Dr. Yona Goldshmit, Prof. Tal Dvir and Lior Wertheim (credit: SAGOL CENTER FOR REGENERATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY)
Not only does the biomaterial turned hydrogel support the cells, the study explained, but it also constantly adapts and develops, thereby providing a dynamic inductive microenvironment, allowing for the assembly and maturation of a functional spinal cord implant.
Following the successful mimicking of embryonic spinal cord development and the engineering of functional tissue implants, the researchers moved on to testing the therapeutic potential of the 3D spinal cord network, choosing to use mice as the testing model.
Success in treating paralysis
The mice were divided into two groups - those who had been recently paralyzed (acute), and those who had been paralyzed for at least a year in human terms (chronic).
The mice with acute paralyzation regained the ability to walk within the space of three months after the insertion of the implant, showing significant gains over mice with acute paralysis that had been left untreated.
While the untreated mice did regain partial motor function over time, they showed worse coordination, and much-decreased ability to place pressure on the injured foot, among other issues, than those that underwent the implantation of the lab-grown spinal cord.
Visualization of the next stage of the research - human spinal cord implants for treating paralysis (credit: SAGOL CENTER FOR REGENERATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY)
Following the success observed in the acute phase of injury, the research team moved on to testing the same theory in the mice with chronic paralyzation, a more clinically relevant model due to the extent of permanent damage to the spinal cord still being unclear during the acute phase of paralysis.
Six weeks after implanting the artificial spinal cord into the mice with chronic paralyzation, the animals showed significant improvement, indicating that the implant had successfully been integrated into the body. Overall, 80% of the mice in the test group regained the ability to walk.
"The model animals underwent a rapid rehabilitation process, at the end of which they could walk quite well," explained Prof. Dvir. "This is the first instance in the world in which implanted engineered human tissues have generated recovery in an animal model for long-term chronic paralysis – which is the most relevant model for paralysis treatments in humans."
Following the success seen in the lab trials and the results observed in the mice post-implant, the researchers hope to progress to clinical trials in humans within the next few years and have already held talks with the FDA regarding the preclinical program.
"Since we are proposing an advanced technology in regenerative medicine, and since at present there is no alternative for paralyzed patients, we have good reason to expect relatively rapid approval of our technology," he explained.
Based on the revolutionary organ engineering technology, Dvir teamed up with industry partners to establish Matricelf, founded in 2019. The company applies his approach in their work with the aim of making spinal cord implant treatments commercially available.
Visualization of the next stage of the research - human spinal cord implants for treating paralysis (credit: SAGOL CENTER FOR REGENERATIVE BIOTECHNOLOGY)
How could impact the field of medicine?
While the study focused on injured spinal cord specifically, the researchers hope that in the future the same technology could be applied and used to treat a variety of different diseases and injuries such as Parkinson's disease, brain trauma, myocardial infarction and age-related macular degeneration, all of which they are currently researching through this technology.
"There are millions of people around the world who are paralyzed due to spinal injury, and there is still no effective treatment for their condition," Dvir concluded.
"Individuals injured at a very young age are destined to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives, bearing all the social, financial, and health-related costs of paralysis. Our goal is to produce personalized spinal cord implants for every paralyzed person, enabling regeneration of the damaged tissue with no risk of rejection."
for those that love trains: All Passenger traction rolling stock of Israel Railways in one video
Let's compare IR passenger traction rolling stock together. From the worst to the best! Check the cards with links of each video I've used here.
