Revolutionary: Israeli Researcher Says He Can ‘Erase’ Memory Of Addiction

“Blow”, “Charlie”, “snow” and “nose candy”. These are only some of the code names for the second most addictive drug after methamphetamine – cocaine. The white powder that’s sniffed, smoked or injected is so highly addictive, because users develop tolerance quickly, causing them to gradually increase the amounts they consume. This and other factors make cocaine addictions one of the most difficult drugs to recover from, with drastically high relapse rates.
By Maya Yarowsky, NoCamels

One Israeli researcher hopes he can combat this rate of relapse by overhauling the way we do drug rehabilitation. According to Bar Ilan University Prof. Gal Yadid, drug addiction is not the reward

disease that it was once believed to be, but rather a learning and memory disease that is more like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than anything else. This distinction made it clear that in order to curb addiction, something had to be dramatically changed in the brain. That’s where Yadid’s alternative method to traditional rehabilitation, called “the Incubation of Craving”, comes into play.


By identifying the changes made to our DNA during withdrawal from drugs, namely cocaine, Yadid is able to reprogram the genes responsible for triggering the addict’s strongest cravings to ensure that they won’t return. The method has undergone successful trials in rats addicted to cocaine, and if Yadid is able to show similar results in humans, traditional rehab centers and “replacement” drugs could be a thing of the past.

“Eternal Sunside” of the addicted mind

In what sounds like something out of the science-fiction movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, Yadid claims that he is able to “erase” the memory of drug addiction, thereby preventing relapse. Before jumping to any rash conclusions about what “erasing” memories may mean, we should clarify the scientific backstory.


Back in the 1950’s, a psychologist named James Olds discovered what is colloquially known as the

“pleasure center” of the brain, scientifically termed the ‘nucleus accumbens’. Through images of the
brain, known as PET Scans, Olds noted that a part of the pleasure center, the amygdala, lights up when stimulated by external factors dealing with particular traumatic memories that lend to addictive behavior.

With Olds in mind, Yadid, a neuropsycopharmacologist, wanted to observe what was stimulating the amygdala on a microscopic level, “We screened the entire genome and we found two things: one was that, against all logic, during drug consumption, not many genes are altered in the brain. Second, we found that when the addict is in remission, thousands of genes are changed epigenetically.” Epigenetic changes to genes are those that aren’t inherited from our families, but occur as a result of external, environmental factors, like an exposure to trauma or the ritual of taking a drug. These are actual changes to how the gene functions, which makes it clear why methods of drug replacement and reward therapy wouldn’t and shouldn’t work on the majority of drug addicts.

Yadid discovered that in order to address these epigenetic changes, special drugs needed to be administered in the amygdala at a point of heightened cravings to subdue the effect of the altered genes on the brain. He knew that the epigenetic changes in the genes, a process known as methylation, needed to be reversed, but how?


“We saw that it wasn’t just one or two genes that were changed, it was a cluster of genes that had their DNA changed, or methylated, during the remission period from the drug. That means that we would have to administer a number of drugs in order to see the changes reversed,” says Yadid. “As a frustrated neuropsychopharmacologist I said to myself, ‘Why not reset the system?’”

“Acute, robust, targeted” treatment

Right off the bat, a number of ethical questions came to mind. What if the drugs trying to reverse the

methylation altered the entire genome, and therefore brain function? And what about “innocent” genes that have absolutely nothing to do with addiction? There were a number of potentially scary psychological outcomes that Yadid had to take into account. Yet following a number of trials on cocaine-addicted rats, he finally discovered the correct dosage of the demethylating drugs that could eliminate the memory of drug addiction.
“The beauty of acute, robust and targeted treatment is that you don’t change all of the genes in the brain; you only change the genes that have undergone the most dramatic epigenetic changes. Those genes are reset immediately when they meet the drug at a very specific time and according to a particular cue so that we are reprogramming the genes at the height of the craving,” says Yadid of the method, which has yet to be examined in human subjects. Though Yadid claims that this method could potentially “erase” the memory of addiction for up to 15 years, it is still uncertain how long the brain will retain the effects of the demethylating drugs. He will present the results of his study for examination by his colleagues at the annual Society for Neuroscience Conference this year.

Could rehabilitation be as simple as taking a daily supplement?

If the idea of altering genes in your brain scares you (you’re not alone in that boat), Yadid has a more “natural” way to help wean addicts off drugs. He discovered that a common, over-the-counter

supplement used mostly for its anti-aging benefits called DHEA could dramatically decrease the likelihood of relapse.
Because of its anti-aging properties that seek to keep the brain fresh and on-point, Yadid found that by administering DHEA to drug addicts on a regular basis, it was possible to “replace” memories of addiction with new memories of a life a sobriety. “I observed the cognitive performance of the subjects while they took the DHEA supplement, and a year-and-a-half after they stopped taking the supplement. We saw that 60 percent wouldn’t relapse when they were taking the supplement and then only 11 percent relapsed after taking the supplement,” says Yadid. He also claims that the entire process restored confidence in the subjects, making them less compulsive and less prone to giving into the cravings.

Besides the impressive scientific progress Yadid has made in understanding the treatment of drug addiction, he is convinced that the health systems of today are mistreating drug addicts and leading them down a dangerous path of a lifetime of addiction. “It is our responsibility as a society to make sure that there is proper treatment for drug addiction. I believe that we need to change our entire perception of addiction and what it is, and initiate new approaches to a more effective and long-lasting treatment.”

Brazilian government wants fiber in 90 percent of the country

The Brazilian government wants to roll out fiber optic technology across 90 percent of the country's cities. Current fiber optic coverage is concentrated in 4 percent of Brazilian cities.

By Angelica Mari,Brazil Tech

Without specifying how long the project might take to complete, telecommunications secretary at the Ministry of Communications Maximiliano Martinhão told delegates at an event promoted by the Brazilian Senate that the ambition is part of the National Broadband Plan.

About 80 percent of fiber provision is concentrated in 4 percent of Brazilian cities, the secretary said, adding that the fiber roll out should initially focus on expanding the existing networks.


"Doubling the average [Internet] speed could add 0.3 percentage points to the GDP. Increasing the average speed by five-fold can increase the average monthly household income up to 5.7 percent," Martinhão said.


Internet speed in Brazil lags behind rest of the world: the country's average connection speed goes up, but other South American such as Chile and Uruguay neighbors fared better.

As well as the government intentions to expand the fiber network across the country, other major projects are underway to improve the Internet connectivity in the country: a Brazil-Angola submarine fiber optic cable will be ready in 2017 while a Google-sponsored undersea link will connect Brazil to the US and is due to commence operations in 2016.

Israeli tech firms wins an ‘Oscar’ for fraud prevention

The Israeli fraud prevention firm Forter last week won a Silver Stevie, one of the most prestigious awards in the business world, for taking a lead in the e-commerce and fraud prevention industries.
By David Shamah, The Times of Israel

The Silver Stevie, given out as part of the American Business Awards, are considered “the Oscars of

the business world,” and are given only to companies with “fascinating and inspiring stories of success,” according to Stevie Awards president and founder Michael Gallagher.

Forter is the only fraud prevention company that’s willing to put its money where its mouth is – refunding money to customers if they make an incorrect call about a sale that a retail website loses money on.

When hackers steal credit card numbers, there’s really only two things they can do with them – either sell them, or use them. And using them means going to a website and trying to buy something with them. Unable to stop illicit use of those numbers, consumers have no choice but to rely on retail sites to determine if their account is being used illicitly.

That’s a problem for not only consumers, but for online retailers, who often can only catch fraudulent sales after it’s too late. Often, a purloined credit card number is used even before the consumer is aware that their identity has been compromised, and when that happens, sites and credit card companies foot the bill.

To prevent that, Forter provides a service that examines each sale, determining whether or not it appears legitimate.

“We provide a real-time automated decision service for web retailers that protects them from fraudsters,” said Forter CMO Bill Zielke. “Using our behavior detection algorithms, retailers can quickly determine what transactions are legitimate and which ones are fraudulent.”

“We remove the entire decision-making burden from the retailer – they don’t have to analyze metrics and make an educated guess, as our competitors require,” added Zielke “If we approve a transaction that is fraudulent – we take the hit, paying the site 100% of the failed transaction.

It’s a bold policy, but one that Forter feels quite comfortable backing, said Zielke. “We really have no choice but to be as accurate as possible because we only get paid on approved transactions.”

Forter’s made-in-Israel technology – the company’s founders, Michael Reitblat, Liron Damri, and

Alon Shemesh are all graduates of the IDF’s Unit 8200 cyber-tech unit – uses machine learning to figure out if a transaction represents a problem, said Zielke.

“We implement a behavior analysis layer to see what the customer is doing on a retail site, including what pages they are looking at and what they are doing on those pages,” he explained.

Just like a trained security agent can spot a potential shoplifter in a brick and mortar store, Forter’s system is able to draw on a large database of user behavior on a site to see whether a specific user’s activities fit a legitimate pattern – or if the customer is a likely fraudster.

“There are many data points that can indicate this, like the type of products they are looking at as compared to previous purchases, information about their personal life based on registration information or location, and much more,” said Zielke.

In addition, the system looks at log-in location, IP address, billing/shipping information – in short, casting a very wide net that a fraudster is unlikely to slip through. According to the company, Forter is able to thwart 99% of phony transactions.

Besides keeping out thieves, the system’s big data analytics ensures that legitimate users are not the victims of a false-positive bias.

“We recently had a case where a user logged into a site with an African IP address, and a billing and shipping address in Washington, DC,” said Zielke. “That is the kind of transactions most other fraud prevention systems would have immediately banned, because of the disparity of the data. We approved it, because the customer’s behavior online was in line with acceptable patterns.

“And it turned our we were right,” added Zielke. “After checking the shipping address, we realized that it was a diplomatic mission of an African country, and the customer was a diplomat who was ordering products he was planning to bring home.”

Last November, the company, with 65 employees in Israel, received $15 million in Series B funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Sequoia Capital.

“During the last year we have approved hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions that have allowed merchants to boost their mobile commerce, accept more international customers and significantly improve the brand experience,” said Michael Reitblat, Forter CEO and co-founder.

“Our merchants are shipping faster, selling more and experiencing higher customer satisfaction. The support of NEA and Sequoia will help us respond to market demand among US e-tailers by expanding our sales and marketing efforts.”

Next stop Mars, with Israeli radiation protection

Israeli technology that can protect first responders from deadly gamma radiation – the kind of radiation emitted by nuclear bombs – may one day protect astronauts who explore deep space from the high levels of radiation they are likely to encounter.
By David Shamah, The Times of Israel


Israel’s StemRad is working with US defense giant Lockheed-Martin to develop a version of its gamma-ray shielding vest for use in deep-space missions, the companies announced this week.

“We’re going to take our extensive knowledge of human spaceflight, apply our nano-materials engineering expertise, and working closely with StemRad, evaluate the viability for this type of radiation shielding in deep-space,” said Randy Sweet, Lockheed Martin business development director for the civil space line of business. “The Lockheed Martin team believes this could result in an innovative solution to enhance crew safety on the journey to Mars.”

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor building Orion, NASA’s next-generation spacecraft designed to transport humans to destinations beyond low Earth orbit and bring them safely home. Designed for the space missions of tomorrow, Orion will, among other things, provide technology against the effects of deep-space radiation, considered one of the biggest threats and roadblocks to human exploration of the solar system beyond the moon.

Key to the effort to protect against such radiation is the solution by StemRad, which has a product that protects first responders against gamma radiation generated by, among other things, nuclear explosions. Cleverly designed to allow freedom of movement, the StemRad 360 Gamma belt is not a full-body suit that makes it difficult to maneuver and freely explore – a key requirement for rescue workers.

Exposure to gamma radiation results in radiation sickness, the accelerated destruction of the blood cells and the inability of the body to replenish them, due to the damage sustained to bone marrow, which needed to generate new cells. Fifty percent of the body’s bone marrow is located in the groin and midsection areas of the body – and that is exactly the part of the body the StemRad belt protects, ensuring that rescue workers are protected against the effects of radiation sickness, but are able to maintain freedom of movement needed to assist others.

The company’s technology got a tribute from the Japanese ambassador to Israel, who said that

“StemRad has answered the challenge of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.” Ambassador H.E. Hideo Sato did not reveal the specifics of StemRad’s activities in Japan in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, perhaps the worst, and long-lasting, effect of those events, but StemRad has received numerous awards and accolades ijn Japan for its work there.

Now that radiation on earth has been “conquered,” it’s time to move into outer space – and the new project with LM will do just that, officials in both companies said. The joint project won the support of a bilateral research committee and will be supported by grants from Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency of Florida and MATIMOP, the executive agency of the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Economy Ministry of Israel.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Lockheed Martin on this important project,” said Dr. Oren Milstein, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of StemRad. “Our team possesses advanced capabilities in the areas of radiation biology and innovative shielding strategies, and we will now be applying those skills to the unique challenges in human space exploration.”

10 hot TV-tech startups

At this year’s third annual Keshet conference in Jerusalem, ten startups took to the stage, each hoping to disrupt the way you watch and interact with your television screen. These 10 Israeli startups want to show you that there are big things happening on the screen.

 Reut ShechterMar, Geektime 

Without further ado, here are the 10 startups:

1. eyeSight

You want to change the channel, but can’t find the remote. Or the remote works, but only from a certain angle, height and distance? EyeSight wants to get rid of the remote control altogether and let you use your hands to change channels. The company’s technology allows remote control of various devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops and TVs using nothing more than body movements.

In terms of your TV, eyeSight will let you control the volume, change channels and even control the menus, all with a wave of your hand. At present, the technology can be found in televisions by Philips, HiSense and TCL. If you want to buy the technology on its own, the company recently released Singlecue, a product that lets consumers control existing products in their homes without touching them and without the need for adapters or cables.

2. SCREEMO

Nowadays, customers have dozens of ways of skipping through commercials they don’t feel like watching.

For advertisers, this presents an extra challenge. SCREEMO allows companies to get viewers’ attention with relatively inexpensive interactive games. As soon as the commercial break starts, the advertiser invites the viewer to take part in a game, using their smartphone. While the commercials are running, the viewer can shoot baskets or bowl. Your phone double as a game dashboard and when it’s over, the advertiser can encourage the viewer to take action: sharing on social media, using a coupon, downloading an application, etc.

SCREEMO has customers in Europe, China and the United States including international brands like Coca Cola, Ping An and Deutsche Telekom.

Inside the Most Complex Places to Do Business in Latin America

The TMF Global Complexity Index 2014 placed five Latin American countries in the top 10 most complex places to do business rankings, with Argentina and Brazil placing first and second as the most complex in the world.
By Bianca Wright,Nearshore america  

Argentina and Brazil were followed by Bolivia (3), Mexico (6) and Paraguay (8). Fully half of the top ten list of complex places to do business is in Latin America.

Despite this, though, a robust and thriving ITO/ BPO landscape serving North America and other places in the world has evolved in the region, which begs the question: are these countries really so difficult to do business in?

As the TMF report notes the global business environment has become more complex in a number of ways, especially in terms of “an increase in the compliance requirements shouldered by organizations, including FATCA compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, BEPS and changes in international company law.” Within this context, North American firms looking to benefit from nearshore advantages have to tackle a nest of legal, compliance and business requirements that can make setting up shop elsewhere particularly daunting.

Sara Haq, Founder and Principal of SH International, who has worked across Latin America, explained that many of the factors assessed in studies such as the TMF one relate to the ability for foreigners to do business in the country.


“For instance, whether record keeping is not in English is considered, as is whether local residence is required for directors. Many other factors simply create higher barriers to entry, as well as higher barriers to exit, leading many international companies to prefer to do business elsewhere where they can be more agile in moving around resources between countries as needed,” she said, adding that these factors include the length of registration process as well as the process for the dissolution of a private company.

Haq noted that many countries in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru have had less modernization of institutions by the government to open up towards foreign investment.

Israeli experts: ‘We could’ve halted Jeep hack’

More than 150 blue-and-white companies are developing advanced security and vision systems that will prevent hack attacks on vehicles.
By Viva Sarah Press, Israel 21C

The terrifying car hacking scenario in the US now in headlines everywhere – showing two guys using a laptop and a mobile phone to seize control of a Jeep Cherokee’s engine, brakes, windshield wipers

and radio — shocked drivers the world over.

But Israeli security experts have been warning about – and preparing solutions for – this probable situation for four years.

Israel’s well-known cybersecurity expertise extends to the connected-car arena as well. More than 150 blue-and-white companies are developing advanced security and vision systems for these vehicles.

TowerSec and Argus Cyber Security both claim their solutions to automotive cybersecurity threats can protect against every hacking attack.

5-minute car battery charger on its way

StoreDot does it again, adding a fast-charging electric-vehicle battery to its coming instant-charge smartphone battery.

 Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21C

StoreDot made headlines when it unveiled its prototype instant phone battery charger at last year’s Microsoft ThinkNext exhibition in Tel Aviv. The FlashBattery/FlashCharger unit could be available on smartphones by the end of this year.

In another bombshell, the Israeli company announced at yesterday’s 2015 ThinkNext that it intends to demonstrate its five-minute ultra-fast-charge car battery at this time next year.

This groundbreaking technology would enable drivers to charge their car batteries in less time than StoreDot needs to explain how it works.

StoreDot specializes in cost-effective, environmentally friendly nanotechnologies using organic materials that increase electrode capacitance and electrolyte performance. This is the recipe for making batteries that can be fully charged in minutes rather than hours.

While competitors in the electric-vehicle space seek to increase mileage per battery charge, StoreDot is focusing on dramatically reducing charging time.

“This is part of our larger initiative to commercialize a proprietary game-changing technology of fast-charging batteries that would transform the lives of smartphone users as well as drivers,” said StoreDot CEO Doron Myersdorf.

The privately owned StoreDot, incorporated in Israel in 2012, also announced the opening of its new facility in Herzliya, housing an organic chemistry lab, battery material development lab and R&D battery production line.

Brazilian Businesses Invested $60 Billion in IT Last Year

 Enterprises across Brazil shelled out US$60 billion in information technology in 2014, making the country the world’s 7th biggest IT market, according to a study released by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES).

By Narayan Ammachchi, Nearshore Americas

The primary beneficiaries of this investment were software and IT services firms, who received $25.2 billion in total.

Much of the investment came from micro and small businesses, while medium-sized enterprises accounted for just 4.33%, according to the study, which was commissioned by ABES but was conducted by IDC.

According to the report, Brazil accounts for as much as 46% of the Latin American IT market.

In recent years, many global technology firms – including German firm Bosch Service Solutions, the Indian IT outsourcing firms Tech Mahindra and Wipro, and Spain’s Indra – have expanded operations to Brazil.

As recently as this week, Unicom Engineering, a provider of application platforms and lifecycle support services for software technology developers, expanded to Brazil with the launch of an office in Sao Paulo.

The study shows that the IT market in Brazil, including hardware, software and services, has grown by 6.7% compared to 2013. Software makers and IT services firms have also registered a significant growth during the period.

The southwest region of the country received the lion’s share of investment, with 60.67%. The south claimed 14.53%, while the mid-west and the northeast regions seized 10.9% and 10.1% of the investment respectively. The states in the north of the country received less investment.

At the end of last year, there were 120 million Internet users in Brazil. ABES expects the country’s Business Intelligence and Analytics market to reach $788 million this year.

‘Big Brother’ app knows all, tells all on driver behavior

A smartphone ‘tattletale’ that will record driving transgressions spells good news for good motorists, according to its creator
David Shamah , time of Israel

Technology that keeps an eye on traffic, provides turn-by-turn directions, and keeps track of movements and footsteps for exercisers and runners has been repurposed – to report on how well drivers observe the rules of the road.

The app, created by Dr. Eli Rohn and six of his students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, has

the potential to be the ultimate “spy app” for police, insurance companies and others who believe that the best way to cut down on traffic fatalities is to force drivers to toe the line.

“That’s certainly one way to look at it,” said Rohn. “But I prefer to look at it in a more positive sense. Insurance companies already know who is at risk and who is a bad driver, but they don’t know who the good drivers are. Instead of just punishing the bad drivers with higher rates and restrictions, which they already do, they could use this technology to determine who the good drivers are, for a change, and reward them.”

The app, which is still under development (it should be ready for the market in the coming months, according to the team) uses a smartphone’s sensors to collect data in real time while an individual is driving and stores it in a cloud-based database. It uses the smartphone’s built-in tech – GPS chip, accelerometer, camera, motion detector, wifi, etc, to record everything that happens on a trip. If the driver goes over the speed limit, the app records that; if a driver swerves, stops short, or switches lanes too often, the app records that as well. All the information is uploaded to the cloud, where it is analyzed and personalized. Anyone who is authorized (including the driver) can get specifics on an entire trip or just the metrics that interest them.

The app even rates drivers, analyzing behavior over time to classify a driver’s driving style on a continuous scale, indicating if s/he is anxious, cautious, dangerously irresponsible, angry or hostile. The information – and its conclusions – can be stored in a database, or sent over to parents, as well as “authorities,” like police or insurance companies, who, in the case of the latter, can assign a driver to a higher-risk (and higher premium) pool, or, in the case of the former, yank their license altogether, as a precautionary measure.

To verify the app’s proof of concept and to assess the system’s accuracy, the team used the system in three different vehicles, with three different drivers. Test drives collected over 10,000 driver events in urban, rural and highway environments. The vehicles used were a sedan, a bus and a motorcycle. The data collection portion worked flawlessly, including periods where data communications was interrupted, as did the driver behavior and other components of the app’s analysis component.

With smartphones as sophisticated as they are, and apps like Google Maps and Waze already for years using a smartphone’s capabilities to the hilt, it was just a matter of time before someone developed the new and as yet unnamed BGU app. And even though “there is definitely plenty of opportunity for it to be abused, I prefer to think that it will be used as a carrot, not a stick.”

For example, said Rohn, “you could reward drivers who are already restricted with an easing of those restrictions for good road behavior.” That could apply, he said, to new drivers in jurisdictions (like in Israel) where they are required to have an adult accompanying them for their first six months or year on the road. “With a good report after three months, they could get an exemption for driving with an adult, or for being limited in the number of passengers they can drive with.”

Both those factors – getting parents out of the car and being able to take “the gang” wherever they want without fetters – are powerful motives to encourage good driving habits in young drivers, which they will hopefully take with them throughout the rest of their driving career. Until the BGU app was developed, said Rohn, there was no way to accurately track that good behavior. “Ditto for insurance companies, who could reward drivers who go out of their way to drive carefully, and not just punish bad drivers. We’ve done that for years, and traffic fatalities are still unacceptably high. We believe this app can help bring those numbers down.”