The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, near Tiberias, has implanted for the first time a lower jaw and teeth that were printed using 3-D technology, the hospital announced Sunday.

The patient, Gad Pireni, 80, from Kibbutz Nir David, has suffered for years from ulcers and sores in his jaw. Dr. Imad Abu al-Naag, Director of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Poriya-Padeh Medical Center, explained that “Gad suffered from a premalignant mouth ulcer, which is why he has been monitored by our department in recent years. About two years ago it turned out that an ulcer located on the right side of his lower jaw had turned malignant and Gad underwent a resection. At that time we carried out a conventional reconstruction of the jaw, without the teeth.”

Over time the reconstructed jaw developed infections, and Drs. Abu al-Naag and Avi Toeg decided to carry out another reconstruction of the jaw, and with the services of the AB-Dental company plotted and carried out a 3-D printed reconstruction of the jaw and the teeth.

Dr. Toeg noted that this “is the best treatment available in the world today. The innovative technology allows us to reconstruct the jaw accurately and, just as important, after two years Gad has spent toothless, now he can go back to his normal routine.”

The surgical team of Drs. Abu al-Naag and Toeg performed the surgery on Pireni last Thursday, Sept. 8, and three days later the patient was able to carry a conversation and speak clearly. “I feel good,” Pireni said, I can speak almost normally, this is a big and significant change for me, I need to get used to my new mouth.”

Dr. Abu al-Naag added that “in the past such surgery would last about six hours, and now the time was cut in half. Obviously, recovery time is also shorter, with significant advantages in quality of life, improvement in patient’s functionality and the aesthetic improvement.”

Back in April 2016, the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Poriya-Padeh treated a patient suffering from a large tumor in the back of his jaw by replacing the damaged part with a replacement they created on a 3-D printer.

The father of IDF Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, Herzl Shaul, was laid to rest on Sunday in the cemetery of the northern Israeli community of Poria Illit, overlooking Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee.)

Attending the funeral were top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and others.

Both Netanyahu and Eisenkot vowed to work to bring back Oron Shaul’s remains for proper burial in Israel. “My commitment [and] those of the government of Israel, of the IDF, of the State of Israel — our commitment is to bring Oron home,” Netanyahu said.

“Oron’s body, along with that of Hadar Goldin, is held by Hamas, a vicious terrorist organization that respects no humanitarian norm. Herzl Shaul was a brave man and until his last days he fought to return his son’s remains for a Jewish burial,” Netanyahu had told the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

“At the same time, over the past year, he was compelled to fight the cancer with which he had been stricken. I saw him several times and on each occasion, from meeting to meeting, he appeared more gaunt, and heroically met the double tragedy that befell him and his family. On behalf of the Government and the people of Israel, I would like to send condolences to his dear wife Zehava and their sons Aviram and Ofek.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman also said the government is “committed to returning the bodies of Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin of blessed memory, and bringing them to Israel for burial.”

Oron and a second soldier, Hadar Goldin, both died in battle during Operation Protective Edge, but their bodies were stolen and held as bargaining chips by the Hamas terrorist organization. The prime minister said he guaranteed the IDF would continue to support the Shaul family and “fulfill the will of Herzl.”

“We will continue to act in all fields to bring the late Hadar Goldin and the late Oron Shaul back for a Jewish burial,” Netanyahu said.

Herzl Shaul, the father of IDF Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul, z’l, has passed away 10 months after a hard-fought battle of his own with a difficult illness.

The elder Shaul has spent the past two years fighting for the return of his son’s remains from captivity by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, but earlier this year he was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine.

The soldier’s father was treated for the disease at Poriya Medical Center in Tiberias and at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, a global leader in the treatment of cancer, but the disease metastisized. Within the year Herzl Shaul lost 25 kilograms, more than 50 pounds.

This past week he gave up his fight for his son’s remains, as his own fight for life intensified. He was moved to Tel Hashomer Medical Center in Tel Aviv, with the Defense Minister providing accommodations for his wife near the hospital in order for her to remain close to her husband.

Shaul was initially believed to be missing. The six other soldiers inside his armored personnel carrier (APC) were killed. But the evidence gathered from the scene led investigators to the conclusion that the 20-year-old soldier had died in the July 20, 2014 battle during Operation Protection Edge. The terrorists who attacked his Givati Brigades unit stole his body to hold him hostage as a bargaining chip with Israel.

The younger Shaul was subsequently declared by the IDF Chief Rabbi to be a soldier who died but whose burial place is unknown. His family sat shiva, but later requested the IDF designate him as a soldier “missing in action,” which it did.

Herzl and Zehava Shaul for months led a daily vigil outside the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, pressuring the government to bring back the body of their son.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara expressed their condolences to the family on Friday. “In our meetings with Herzl we saw a strong man who devoted all his time and energy toward his health and efforts to return the body of his late son,” the prime minister said, adding a vow that Israel would not fail to retrieve Oron’s remains.

“The Defense Ministry and the people of Israel bow their heads in sorrow at the death of Herzl, of blessed memory,” said Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in his statement. I met with Herzl about a month ago. [He] did everything in his power to return his late son Oron and I am saddened he did not achieve this before he died. The Israeli government is committed to returning the bodies of Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul and Lieutenant Hadar Goldin of blessed memory and bringing them to Israel for burial.”

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot paid tribute to the elder Shaul as well, saying he had pledged to keep fighting to return the bodies of both his son and Goldin. “Herzl was the head of an exemplary family,” he said in a statement.

“I send a strong embrace to [his wife] Zehava and the family at this difficult time. I met Herzl for the last time a week ago, and I promised him that we will continue to do everything we can to bring Oron and Hadar home, to be laid to rest in Israel.”

An era has ended. Iconic Jewish comedian, actor and author Gene Wilder has passed away at the age of 83, his family said in a statement Monday.

The actor died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. Although he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1989, he managed to beat the disease several years later with chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Gene Wilder-One of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.— Mel Brooks (@MelBrooks) August 29, 2016

“We understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones — this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality,” his nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman said in a statement.

“The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him “there’s Willy Wonka,” would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.

“He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.”

Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee to a Russian emigre father and a mother of Polish descent, both Jewish, Wilder began to study acting at age 12 — an occupation he took on after his mother’s heart attack, and the doctor told the young eight-year-old never to argue with her, but rather to try and make his mother laugh. He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1955. One year later he was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces and served for the next three years as a paramedic at Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, PA. He was accepted into the Actors Studio following his discharge in 1958, taking the stage name, Gene Wilder at age 26.

He cared for his third wife, acclaimed comedienne Gilda Radner, as she slowly wasted away from ovarian cancer and then for several years worked only sporadically after her death in 1989, deeply depressed. He last acted in 2003, winning an Emmy for his role as Mr. Stein on the TV sitcom “Will & Grace.”

Wilder helped found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles, and Gilda’s Club support network, and with his wife Karen quietly donated to families whose were affected by the Sept. 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

He wrote a number of books, including a painfully detailed autobiography, but Wilder is best known for his work with Jewish director-producer-writer Mel Brooks and actor Richard Pryor. The actor brought tears of laughter to audiences with his performances in hit films like “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” and “Stir Crazy.”

He is survived by his fourth wife, Karen Boyer, whom he married in 1991, and his nephew.

Baruch Dayan HoEmes.

By Michael Bachner/TPS

Israeli Olympic bronze medalist Yarden Gerbi has announced that she is auctioning the name patch she was wearing during her competition in Rio on August 9th to benefit the Children’s Oncology Department at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. She has already donated to that ward in the past in a similar auction after winning the World Championship in 2013.

The former judo world champion in the 63 kilogram division started an eBay auction on Tuesday, which will continue for five days until August 29.

“The very fact that she is doing this, and for the second time, is a testament to her character,” Rafi Agiv, Gerbi’s agent told Tazpit Press Service (TPS). “I hope that she raises even more money this time.”

That hope was quickly realized when the highest bid was already at USD 12,100 (over NIS 45,000) after just four hours, compared to USD 3,800 raised in the previous auction.

“All profit from this auction will be used as a donation for buying important medical equipment. I hope that together we will manage to raise a significant amount of money that will make this name patch much more special and meaningful to our society,” Gerbi wrote on the auction page.

The auction is open to people all around the world, and the highest bidder will receive the item, dedicated and signed by Gerbi. “If the winner of the back number is Israeli, I will gladly hand over the item personally,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“Three years ago, when I won the World Championship, I auctioned the special back number I was awarded with the title of world champion,” added Gerbi in her Facebook post. “The winner was Tal Keidar, and together we managed to raise USD 3800, all of which was donated to the children’s oncology ward of Ichilov hospital.”

Gerbi wrote that she had visited the ward in person and toured it with Professor Jacob Bickels, head of the Oncological Orthopedics Department at the Sourasky Medical Center. “I met amazing kids who are heroes, doing their best to fight and keep high spirits,” she wrote.

“I recently found out that Liran Or, a sweet and loving girl with whom I was in contact, had passed away,” explained Gerbi. “That’s the reason I decided to donate to the same ward.”

The Children’s Hemato-Oncology Department at Ichilov Hospital thanked Gerbi for her initiative, saying that the children were brought to tears by her gesture and had created a colorful sign and drawing in her honor. “Yarden, thank you for the strength you give us,” they said. “The same way you prevailed, so will we.”

“Yarden is proving that she is not only a champion on the mat, but also a true sportswoman with great generosity,” said Professor Ronni Gamzu, CEO of Ichilov Hospital. “The whole hospital thanks her very much for her consideration, and for the support and encouragement she gives to the children.”

Michael Zeff contributed to this article.

When malignant melanoma metastasizes to the brain, it is a death sentence for most patients. Metastatic melanoma is the deadliest of the skin cancers and the mechanisms that govern early metastatic growth and interactions of metastatic cells with the brain microenvironment remain shrouded in mystery.

A new Tel Aviv University study reveals a novel way of detecting brain micrometastases months before they transform into malignant inoperable growths. According to the research, micro-tumor cells hijack astrogliosis, the brain’s natural response to damage or injury, to support metastatic growth. This knowledge may lead to the detection of brain cancer in its first stages and permit early intervention.

The study was led by Dr. Neta Erez of the Department of Pathology at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and published in Cancer Research.

Following the path to cancer

Dr. Erez and her team used mouse models to study and follow the spontaneous metastasis of melanoma in the brain. She and her partners recapitulated all the stages of metastasis: the initial discovery of melanoma in the skin, the removal of the primary tumor, the micrometastatic dissemination of cancer cells across the body, the discovery of a tumor and death.

The detection of metastasis depends on imaging techniques that still can’t detect micrometastases. Melanoma patients whose initial melanoma was excised believe that everything is fine for months or years following the initial procedure.

But following the removal of the primary tumor, micrometastatic cells learn to communicate with cells in their new microenvironment in the brain — cells which are, at first, hostile to them. But eventually a tumor appears. These cells travelled across the body to the brain or other organs but were undetectable at the micro level. When they become detectable, it is too late for treatment.

Opening the “black box”

Dr. Erez calls the period of the initial growth of disseminated micrometastatic cells in distant organs the metastasis’ “black box” — the history of melanoma in the brain. “We believe that we have found the tools to characterize this black box,” said Dr. Erez. “And this is key to developing therapeutic approaches that may prevent brain metastatic relapse.

“Every organ in body has a defense system that detects intruders,” said Dr. Erez. “Much of this is regulated by support cells in the brain. When there is tissue damage due to a stroke or viral infection, these cells are activated and induce an inflammatory response.

“At the earliest stages of metastasis, we already see astrogliosis and inflammation. The brain perceives the micrometastatic invasion as tissue damage, activating inflammation — its natural defense mechanism. We found that the inflammation unfortunately gets hijacked by tumor cells that are able to grow faster and penetrate deeper because the blood vessels in the brain are more permeable than in any other part of the body. We found that all of this happens very early on.”

Dr. Erez is currently studying detailed molecular pathways in the brain’s biological response to find a way to block the metastases. “We’re hoping to develop the detection tools for humans that we developed in mice,” said Dr. Erez. “We’re also trying to find molecular targets that will allow us to prevent metastasis rather than trying to treat it.”

This article was originally published by AFTAU.

{Originally posted to the Dailywire website}

On Friday, the day after Barack Obama openly lied about Israeli support for his Iran nuclear deal — which grants the Iranians hundreds of billions of dollars with no limitations on terror funding or ballistic missile testing, and a clear path to a nuclear weapon after a decade – the Israeli Defense Ministry sounded off:

The Munich Agreement didn’t prevent the Second World War and the Holocaust precisely because its basis, according to which Nazi Germany could be a partner for some sort of agreement, was flawed, and because the leaders of the world then ignored the explicit statements of Hitler and the rest of Nazi German’s leaders. These things are also true about Iran, which also clearly states openly that its aim is to destroy the state of Israel.

The Defense Ministry continued by stating that the Iran deal “only damages the uncompromising struggle we must make against terrorist states like Iran.”

Thursday, Obama fibbed that “Israeli military and security community…acknowledges this has been a game-changer, the country that was most opposed to the deal.”

Obama has been lying about the Iran deal all along, of course. His White House now brags that they crafted a fictionalized account of the deal wherein the “election” of “moderate” Hassan Rouhani ushered in an opening for diplomacy – even though in truth, Obama had been pursuing a deal long before Rouhani’s election. The White House lied throughout the Iran deal process on the elements of the deal and its secret side-sections. They lied that it wasn’t a treaty. They lied that it would contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They lied that Iran hadn’t captured American sailors to humiliate the United States. This week, they’re lying that they didn’t pay a $400 million ransom to free American hostages.

Israel’s already been screwed by the deal, of course. Iran is using American-freed money to pay off Hezbollah and Hamas, terrorist groups who will use that cash to kill Israeli children. And Obama’s bragging about it. No wonder Israel’s ticked.

Sadly, the Iran deal is significantly worse than Munich. First, when Munich took place, there was no Munich precedent – there was no model of diplomatic appeasement failure. Second, Neville Chamberlain was at least arguably attempting to buy time to allow Britain and its allies to build up their own militaries to fight the German war machine. In this case, America could step on Iran with its pinkie toe, or let Israel do it – but instead, Obama chose to cave to the Iranians.

In any case, this is just the latest proof that Obama’s not only a horrible liar, but that he has no interest in any of our allies, especially the Israelis. They know it.