Resource
2021 EN
Shimon Ullman · Liav Assif · Alona Strugatski
+4 more
Scene understanding requires the extraction and representation of scenecomponents together with their properties and inter-relations. We describe amodel in which meaningful scene structures are extracted from the image by aniterative process, combining bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) networks,interacting through a symmetric bi-directional communication between them(counter-streams structure). The model constructs a scene representation by theiterative use of three components. The first model component is a BU streamthat extracts selected scene elements, properties and relations. The secondcomponent (cognitive augmentation) augments the extracted visual representationbased on relevant non-visual stored representations. It also provides input tothe third component, the TD stream, in the form of a TD instruction,instructing the model what task to perform next. The TD stream then guides theBU visual stream to perform the selected task in the next cycle. During thisprocess, the visual representations extracted from the image can be combinedwith relevant non-visual representations, so that the final scenerepresentation is based on both visual information extracted from the scene andrelevant stored knowledge of the world. We describe how a sequence ofTD-instructions is used to extract from the scene structures of interest,including an algorithm to automatically select the next TD-instruction in thesequence. The extraction process is shown to have favorable properties in termsof combinatorial generalization, generalizing well to novel scene structuresand new combinations of objects, properties and relations not seen duringtraining. Finally, we compare the model with relevant aspects of the humanvision, and suggest directions for using the BU-TD scheme for integratingvisual and cognitive components in the process of scene understanding.
Journals
2020 EN
Netanyahu Yael · Gerstenhaber Fabian · Shamai Sivan
+5 more
Existing prognostic tools for retroperitoneal sarcomas (RPS) utilize parameters that can be accurately determined only postoperatively. This study evaluated the application of the neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels for predicting prognosis in primary RPS. Materials and Methods We retrospectively analyzed our database of patients with primary RPS operated between 2008 and 2018. The NLR was calculated from preoperative blood tests and its association with outcomes was determined. Results The NLR values of 78 suitable patients were analyzed. Patients were classified in the NLR‐high group if the NLR was ≥2.1. High‐grade tumors were more common in the NLR‐high group (71.6% vs 48%, P = .02). NLR‐high patients had impaired overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS) compared to NLR‐low patients (median OS not reached vs 74 months 95% confidence interval [CI]: 21.6‐126.4, P = .03; median PFS not reached vs 48 months 95% CI: 6.5‐98.6, P = .06, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed statistical significance only for PFS but not for OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.1, P = .03; HR = 2.3, P = .3). Patients with low CRP levels had improved OS and PFS. Conclusions The NLR may serve as a preoperative, easily derived marker for prognosis in RPS. Serum biomarkers may prove useful in these large and spatially heterogeneous tumors.
Journals
2020 EN
Narmina Abdulaev · Baruch Shomron
In recent years, scholars have increasingly revealed the importance of celebrities in society, among them celebrity politicians. These celebrities not only influence political attitudes but also serve as role models for many individuals. Yet, little is known regarding what types of role models' politicians serve as in the context of health. To fill this gap, we examined three influential contemporary political leaders: Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the type of mediated role models each possibly comprise in the context of healthy living. By conducting a qualitative content analysis, we analyzed 90 articles from 2018 to 2019 from two leading newspapers in each of the three politician's countries, namely Russia, the USA, and Israel as well as the respective politician's Facebook pages. Our findings point to three types of potential role models' as political leaders: a health-promoting model (Putin), a hybrid model (Trump), and a model of non-existence (Netanyahu), as the literature points to mediated role models influencing individuals' beliefs and behaviors. This study contributes to the understanding of mediated types of role models' politicians potentially serve as in the context of health vital to people's personal health.
Springer Science+Business Media
Journals
2020 EN
Alina Raphael · Zvy Dubinsky · David Iluz
+2 more
We describe the application of the computerized deep learning methodology to the recognition of corals in a shallow reef in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea. This project is aimed at applying deep neural network analysis, based on thousands of underwater images, to the automatic recognition of some common species among the 100 species reported to be found in the Eilat coral reefs. This is a challenging task, since even in the same colony, corals exhibit significant within-species morphological variability, in terms of age, depth, current, light, geographic location, and inter-specific competition. Since deep learning procedures are based on photographic images, the task is further challenged by image quality, distance from the object, angle of view, and light conditions. We produced a large dataset of over 5,000 coral images that were classified into 11 species in the present automated deep learning classification scheme. We demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of the method, as compared to painstaking manual classification. Specifically, we demonstrated that this method is readily adaptable to include additional species, thereby providing an excellent tool for future studies in the region, that would allow for real time monitoring the detrimental effects of global climate change and anthropogenic impacts on the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat and elsewhere, and that would help assess the success of various bioremediation efforts.
Journals
2020 EN
Moshe Maor · Raanan SulitzeanuKenan · David Chinitz
This article describes the efforts made by the Israeli government to contain the spread of COVID-19, which were implemented amidst a constitutional crisis and a yearlong electoral impasse, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was awaiting a trial for charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust. It thereafter draws on the disproportionate policy perspective to ascertain the ideas and sensitivities that placed key policy responses on trajectories which prioritized differential policy responses over general, nation-wide solutions (and vice versa), even though data in the public domain supported the selection of opposing policy solutions on epidemiological or social welfare grounds. The article also gauges the consequences and implications of the policy choices made in the fight against COVID-19 for the disproportionate policy perspective. It argues that Prime Minister Netanyahu employed disproportionate policy responses both at the rhetorical level and on the ground in the fight against COVID-19; that during the crisis, Netanyahu enjoyed wide political leeway to employ disproportionate policy responses, and the general public exhibited a willingness to tolerate this; and (iii) that ascertaining the occurrence of disproportionate policy responses is not solely a matter of perception.
Journals
2020 EN
Alessandro Nai · Emre Toros
The personality of political leaders matters for their electoral success and performance once in office. Yet, we still know too little about the personality profiles of leaders worldwide. In this article, we focus on the profile of a particular type of leader, central to contemporary warnings about ‘democratic backsliding’: strongmen. Who are they? Much has been written about their behaviour and policies, but little attention has been granted to their personality profile. As we argue in this article, looking at their personality is a potentially important new avenue to understand the rise and success of strongmen worldwide. We compare the profile of 157 leaders having competed in 81 elections worldwide between June 2016 and July 2019 – including 14 leaders with autocratic tendencies (Putin, Trump, Bolsonaro, Erdoğan, Orbán, Duterte, Netanyahu and several others). Using the ratings provided by 1800+ scholars we show that autocrats score significantly lower on agreeableness and emotional stability, and (marginally) higher on extraversion. Autocrats also score significantly higher than non-autocrats on the Dark Triad (narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism), even when compared to right-wing non-autocrats. These results have important implications for the study of democratic deconsolidation, authoritarianism, and the personality of elected officials.
Journals
2020 EN
Ilan Alon
While the world might recover from the Wuhan, Chinabased 2020 novel coronavirus, it is likely that the virus will leave the world governance system in a different state. Globalization as we knew it is over and a new world order will emerge, with dramatic consequences to our field. Globalization involves the movement of people, information, money and products, and increases in the mobility of these factors of production have allowed for international business (IB) to prosper. The post-WWII world order was held as international institutions, built largely with the US leadership, provided a regulatory framework for trade (e.g., WTO and UNCTAD), finance (e.g., IMF) and development (e.g., World Bank). The 21st century has also witnessed the rise of China as a world power and reformer of existing institutions (e.g., UN, WHO and WTO) and a creator of new global institutions (e.g., Belt and Road Initiative). The 21st century has also witnessed the rise of China as a world power and reformer of existing institutions (UN, WHO and WTO) and a creator of new global institutions (e.g., Belt and Road Initiative). As an orchestrator of global resources, the multinational enterprises have responded to economic incentives by outsourcing production to low-cost countries (such as China), selling to high-income consumers (such as the ones in the EU) and channelling profits to low-tax territories (such as the British Virgin Islands). Shareholders became richer, but blue-collar workers in footloose industries bore some of the burdens as much of the manufacturing base moved to China. A conflict began to emerge between Wall Street and Main Street leading to the likes of Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011. Some democratic countries have responded to the new challenges with populist governments, such as Boris Johnson of the UK, Donald Trump of the USA, Narendra Modi of India, Jair Bolsanaro of Brazil and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. These leaders oppose globalist approaches, that disadvantages them, and favour nationalist policies that benefit their constituencies. In the USA, both Bernie Sanders (populist left) and Donald Trump (populist right) agree, at least in principle, on issues related to protectionism and trade. Populist democratic governments around the world (on the left and on the right) are becoming more popular among mainstream voters.
Journals
2020 EN
Eyal Lewin · Orit Miller-Katav
Aim: This paper focuses on the question to what extent the Netanyahu-Morawiecki joint declaration of June 27, 2018 was indeed a moral one. Ignoring the realpolitik versus ideal politics discourse, our goal is to find out whether solely on an ethical level one can judge the moral qualities of the political concession. Concept: To conduct an ethical judgement process, we took the following steps: (I) A review of the Israeli narrative. (II) A review of the Polish narrative. (III) An account of some moral shortcomings in both the Israeli as well as the Polish narratives. Eventually, these steps enabled us to reach a certain moral conclusion regarding the Polish Israeli declaration. Cognitive Value: We conclude that the Polish Israeli joint declaration was indeed a moderate compromise that could enable positive forces on both sides to strengthen their national narratives – not necessarily on account of each other. Furthermore, it could also serve as a mechanism that can elevate Holocaust research as well as universal understandings of lessons that can be learnt from the darkest age of human history.
Foundation Pro Scientia Publica
Journals
2020 EN
Anat GesserEdelsburg · Rana Hijazi
The coronavirus brought the world's leaders to the center of the media stage, where they not only managed the COVID-19 pandemic but also communicated it to the public. The means they used to communicate the global pandemic reveal their strategies and the narratives they chose to create in their nation's social consciousness. In Israel, the crisis broke out after three election cycles, such that the government in charge of the crisis was an interim government under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was operating under three criminal indictments. This study sought to examine the ways in which Prime Minister Netanyahu and two senior Israel Ministry of Health officials-Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov and Prof. Sigal Sadetsky, Head of Public Health Services-communicated information about the health crisis in Israel during what has been termed the first wave and the beginning of the second wave.
Journals
2020 EN
Golan Shahar · Raz Bauminger · Shal Itamar
The realization that heroism – representing either a trait or a value system – is potentially pernicious is important for both scientific and societal reasons. In this article, we adopt a psychobiographical perspective to analyze the character and life of one of Israel’s greatest heroes, Yonathan (“Yoni”) Netanyahu. Yoni was an illustrious military leader, as well as an outstanding intellectual and adored persona. He served as the commander of the special operation forces spearheading the famous Entebbe Operation during which Israeli commando forces rescued hostages taken captive in Uganda. Yoni was the only military causality in this operation, which was ultimately named after him. Subsequent to his death, his numerous personal letters were made public, allowing further glimpses into his heroic self-representations but also to the emotional distress he suffered. Applying our theory of heroic self-representations (HERS; Shahar, 2013), we analyze Yoni's letters. Our analyses confirm Yoni's tendency to construe himself as a savior and conqueror, and to identify with cultural heroes. The emotional distress Yoni suffered is characterized by depressed and anxious affect, masked by superb functioning. Qualitative analyses of the letters suggest two mechanisms of the effect of heroic self-representations on distress in Yoni's case: compulsive purposefulness and emotional seclusion.