University of Haifa

Species interactions, not Richness: How does long-term pastoral land use alter Mediterranean mammal communities?

Abstract Pastoralism, a common land use worldwide, plays a significant ecological role in Mediterranean ecosystems, where it has been present for millennia. However, its long-term effects on mammal communities, community composition, and interspecific interactions are not fully u...

Negative Infant Temperaments: The Maternal Influences of Resilience Versus Postpartum Depressive Symptoms

Abstract Infant temperament is an important indicator of childhood, teenage and adulthood behaviour. Substantial attention has focused on risk factors, such as postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS), which are associated with higher levels of negative infant temperaments. Yet, mate...

Translating etiological effect measures into medical test evaluation metrics

Abstract Traditional metrics for medical test evaluation (TE) and etiological evaluation (EE) are often analyzed within separate frameworks. We review these metrics, including recommendations to use less frequently used TE metrics. We propose a novel framework for TE by drawing f...

Complex, but not simple, motor tasks assessment improves detection of motor-cognitive interaction in midlife

Abstract Executive and motor function are bidirectionally linked and decline as we age, yet motor-cognitive links are predominantly studied in older adults, while studies focused on midlife report mixed results. We aimed to evaluate whether motor tasks of varying complexity refle...

The paradox of pleasing: therapeutic recognition and the limits of conversational AI

Abstract Conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) is increasingly used by hundreds of millions of people for emotional support, personal advice, and therapeutic purposes, rapidly emerging as a mediator of human self-understanding (Stade et al. 2025). Yet despite growing evide...

Prototype-based explainable deep learning for sex classification of Mountain Gazelles in the wild

Abstract Wildlife preserves are critical for countering the decline of biodiversity, yet monitoring species distribution and demographics via direct observation is time-consuming and prone to observer disturbance. Deep learning has emerged as a scalable alternative for analyzing...

Lived Experience and Economic Decision-Making in Contexts of Poverty: Jewish and Arab Families in Israel

This study examined how families living in poverty in Israel experience economic decision-making within a neoliberal context that attributes poverty to individual failure. Using a mixed-methods design, the study combined 32 qualitative interviews with Jewish and Arab families wit...

Heart rate variability and physician performance during airway management simulations: an exploratory pilot study

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between heart-rate variability (HRV) and physician performance during airway management simulations in two physician cohorts studied under different HRV measurement conditions. METHODS: This exploratory pilot study included otolaryngologists...

Flexible Late Mousterian lithic technological organisation at Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (Italy): A typo-technological and 3D-based approach

Abstract The portion of the Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (Italy) stratigraphic sequence so far excavated provides an outstanding record of the local population history between ca. 55 − 42 kya BP: a key period for understanding the end of the Middle Palaeolithic and the onset of the Uppe...

A Transdiagnostic IPT-Based Intervention for Global Crises

This Psychotherapy Tools article presents an ultra-brief, transdiagnostic crisis intervention protocol designed for use during national emergencies such as war, natural disasters, or pandemics. Based on interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and integrating skills from cognitive-behav...

Perceived Emotional Support and Burnout Dimensions Among Physical Therapists: A Cross‐Sectional Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Burnout may differ across its dimensions, yet the role of perceived emotional/social support among physical therapists remains unclear. This study examined burnout dimensions, their associations with perceived support, and physical therapists' reported sup...

Closing the loop on Φ4 in AdS3

A bstract We compute the one-loop correction to the CFT data of all double-trace operators [ ϕϕ ] n,ℓ for a Φ 4 theory in AdS 3 , for arbitrary values of n , ℓ , and of the scaling dimension ∆ ϕ > 1. Working in the spectral representation, the t -channel one-loop bubble diagram i...

National HBsAb serosurvey and HBsAg/Hepatitis D coinfection prevalence across sociodemographic and immigrant populations in Israel

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a global health burden despite widespread vaccination efforts. This nationwide serosurvey aimed to assess Hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) seropositivity in Israel and HBV/ Hepatitis D virus (HDV) prevalence among immigrant...

“How can I help you learn?” Incorporating emotions into parents' support of young children's self-regulated learning at home and school during prolonged crisis

Background Parents apply their knowledge of cognition, emotion, and behavior (metacognition, metaemotion, and metabehavior) to provide children external regulation to achieve learning goals. Aims Two studies examined how parents' metaprocesses shape children's self-regulated lear...

Preliminary Evidence for the Effects of Bilingual ECoLoGiC Treatment for People With Aphasia

Purpose: The focus of this preliminary study is to report the effects of bilingual Expanding Communication and Language Opportunities Generated in Conversation Treatment (ECoLoGiC-Tx) on formal measures of language, functional communication, and patient/family-reported outcomes (...

Mortars and plasters at Herod's Caesarea Maritima: integration of imported and local construction technologies

Abstract Building materials from different architectural elements at Herodian Caesarea Maritima (22–4 BCE ) provide evidence for a variety of compositions tailored to specific construction functions, demonstrating the extent of Roman technological influence on Herod's architectur...

“I’m Present but Absent”: A Phenomenological Study of Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence in Arab Society in Israel

Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) experience significant psychological consequences; however, the current literature is largely grounded in Western, individualist trauma frameworks. These perspectives often overlook how children interpret and negotiate violence...

Metabolic switching between inorganic and organic phosphorus sustains microbial activity in an ultraoligotrophic ocean

Abstract Phosphorus scarcity constrains microbial activity in parts of the oligotrophic ocean, yet the extent to which dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) supports microbial P demand remains unresolved. Here, we quantified the concentrations, turnover times, and uptake kinetics of...

On definable groups in real closed fields with a generic derivation, and related structures

We study finite-dimensional groups definable in models of the theory RCF ∂ of real closed fields with a generic derivation (also known as CODF , the theory of closed ordered differential fields [28]). We prove that any such group Γ definably embeds in a “canonical” semialgebraic...

Policy Entrepreneurs and Policy Change When Politicians Are Absent: The Inclusion of Autistic Individuals in Armed Forces

ABSTRACT How do policy entrepreneurs change policy when politicians are not directly involved in the process? While public policy scholars have examined the conditions under which politicians refrain from direct engagement in policy design, they have paid less attention to the st...