经济学人256:挺过中风 继续活着

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Surviving strokes

　　挺过中风

　　Living on

　　继续活着

　　Why some cells survive strokes while others don't

　　为什么有些细胞能幸免于中风，而另一些则不能

　　WHEN dealing¹ with a stroke—a loss of blood supply to the brain—time is of the essence.

　　在应对由于大脑失去血液供应造成的中风时，时间是至关重要的。

　　If the cause is a blocked artery², blood flow can often be restored using clot-busting drugs.

　　如果原因是动脉阻塞，在使用溶栓药物后，血液流动通常会恢复正常。

　　If those drugs are swallowed too late, however, they can do more harm than good.

　　然而，如果这些药物吃得过晚，那么弊大于利。

　　In one of nature's crueller ironies³, the metabolic⁴ changes that take place in cells after about three hours without oxygen or glucose⁵ mean that restoring blood flow becomes damaging in itself.

　　自然的残酷讽刺是，细胞在约三个小时没有氧气或葡萄糖时所产生的代谢变化意味着恢复血流本身是具破坏性的。

　　This is called a reperfusion injury.

　　这就是所谓的再灌注损伤。

　　Doctors have long searched for ways to extend the period during which clot-busting pills might help.

　　医生一直在寻找延长溶栓药片作用时间的方法。

　　They have tried drugs and even artificially induced hypothermia to help the brain protect itself from the consequences of oxygen and sugar deprivation⁶.

　　他们曾尝试过麻醉剂，甚至人为地诱导低体温以帮助大脑保护自身由于缺失氧气和糖所造成的后果。

　　Now, in a paper in Nature Medicine, a group of researchers led by Alastair Buchan, a neurologist at the University of Oxford⁷, describe a new idea.

　　目前，一篇由牛津大学神经学家阿拉斯泰尔?巴肯所领导的一个研究小组在自然医学杂志中发表的文章中，描述了一个新的想法。

　　Dr Buchan's team began with an old medical mystery.

　　但巴肯博士的团队是从一个古老的医学之谜开始的。

　　It has been known since the 1920s that some nerve cells, or neurons, are more susceptible⁸ to stroke damage than others.

　　自20世纪20年代以来，就有人知道一些神经细胞或神经元比其他的更易遭中风损伤。

　　In particular, a group of neurons called CA3 cells that live in the hippocampus—a seahorse-shaped chunk⁹ of brain tissue involved in forming memories—are much hardier¹⁰ than another sort called CA1 cells, even though the two types are neighbours.

　　特别是，一组存在于海马状突起中称为CA3的细胞比另一种叫CA1细胞更具有耐受性，尽管这两种细胞是彼此相邻的。

　　Medical science is often concerned with working out why cells die, says Dr Buchan.We thought we'd look at why some seem to survive.

　　巴肯博士说：医学经常关注于解决细胞死亡的原因，我们想看看有些细胞幸存下来的原因。

　　The researchers compared versions of both types of cells taken from rats, looking for differences in their chemistry after they had been subjected to an artificial stroke.

　　研究人员比较了取自大鼠的这两种类型细胞的变体，以找出它们在遭受人为中风后化学成分的差异。

　　One conspicuous¹¹ difference involved a protein called hamartin, which was present in larger amounts in the hardy¹² CA3 cells than in the fragile CA1 cells.

　　一个显着的区别在于一种名为错构瘤的蛋白质，耐受性强的CA3细胞的错构瘤蛋白数量要比脆弱的CA1细胞中的多。

　　To check whether hamartin was indeed responsible for the CA3 cells' robustness¹³, the researchers created in a test tube a strain of rat neurons which were unable to produce the protein, and then deprived them of oxygen and sugar for three hours.

　　为了检验是否错构瘤真的使CA3细胞变得更具耐受性，研究人员在试管中放入一株无法产生错构瘤的大鼠神经元，然后使它们丧失三个小时的氧气和糖。

　　Sure enough, cell deaths were about a third higher in the modified group than in the controls.

　　果然，改动组细胞的死亡率比对照组高出约三分之一。

　　Flipping¹⁴ the experiment around, neurons modified to produce more of the protein than usual had a stroke survival rate 31% higher than their unmodified counterparts.

　　再将该实验反过来进行，经改良比平常产生更多蛋白质的神经元的中风存活率比未经改良的高出31％。

　　Experiments in rats themselves showed similar results.

　　在大鼠身上进行的实验也显示出类似结果。

　　Hamartin, which is also known as a tumour¹⁵ suppressant, encourages a cellular¹⁶ recycling mechanism¹⁷ called autophagy.

　　错构瘤，也被称为肿瘤抑制剂，能促进被称为细胞自噬的细胞再生机理。

　　This breaks down existing bits of cellular machinery¹⁸ so that their chemical components¹⁹ can be reused elsewhere.

　　它能够分解现有的少量细胞组织以使这些细胞的化学成分可以在其他地方重新使用。

　　Autophagy presumably arose long ago as a way of helping²⁰ cells survive lean times.

　　自噬大概很早以前就出现，作为一种帮助细胞在缺氧缺糖时存活下来的方式。

　　The theory is that such austerity measures also help neurons survive the hardscrabble environment of a blood-deprived brain.

　　该理论认为，这种紧缩措施还有助于神经元在大脑缺乏血液的贫瘠环境中存活下来。

　　So far, of course, the studies have been on rats rather than people.

　　当然，到目前为止，这些研究仅在大鼠而不是人类身上进行。

　　But the hippocampus is fairly similar across all of mammaldom.

　　但所有哺乳动物的海马状突起都完全类似。

　　Autophagy is a virtually universal property of cells in higher organisms, so it may well be worth investigating this process in other medical conditions in which organs are starved of blood, such as heart attacks.

　　细胞自噬实际上是高等生物的普遍特征，因此很值得研究它对缺乏血液的身体器官在其他身体状况下的作用，比如心脏病发作时。

　　And because hamartin is already known to oncologists, some preliminary pharmaceutical²¹ groundwork has already been done.

　　因为错构瘤已为肿瘤学家所了解，一些初步的制药基础原理已经完成。

　　Dr Buchan and his team are a long way from human trials, let alone a usable drug.

　　巴肯博士和他的团队离人体试验还有很长的路要走，更不必说可用的药物。

　　But they have turned up a promising²² lead.

　　但是，他们已经找到了一个有希望的线索。

　　1.blood supply 血供

　　The lens has no melanins and no blood supply.

　　水晶体则没有黑色素也没有血液供应。

　　Cancers require a blood supply to grow and survive, and they form their own blood vessels²³ to accomplish this.

　　癌症要求供血增长并且幸存，并且他们形成他们自己的血管完成这。

　　2.take place 发生，举行

　　They will now take place on january 15th.

　　这一切将会在明年1月15日发生。

　　The new poll will take place on november 7.

　　这一轮投票将在11月7日举行。

　　3.search for 搜索，搜寻；访求

　　The unemployed²⁴ will search for jobs online.

　　失业者可以在网上寻找工作。

　　Many are making it easier to search for content.

　　许多人正尝试使搜索变得更容易。

　　4.begin with 以…开始， 从…开始

　　Let me begin with human brutalities towards those wild animals.

　　我首先要讲的是人类对野生动物的凶残行径。

　　I'd like to begin with a disclaimer.

　　我得先来个免责声明。

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

3 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

5 glucose   

n.葡萄糖

参考例句：

• I gave him an extra dose of glucose to pep him up.我给他多注射了一剂葡萄糖以增强他的活力。
• The doctor injected glucose into his patient's veins.医生将葡萄糖注入病人的静脉。

6 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

9 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

10 hardier   

能吃苦耐劳的，坚强的( hardy的比较级 )； （植物等）耐寒的

参考例句：

• Theoretically, experiments with genes that confer resistance to disease or herbicides could create hardier weeds. 从理论上说，用含有抗病或抗除草剂的基因进行试验，可能产生更难于对付的杂草。
• Similar fruit to Black Mission, but hardier and a smaller size tree than Mission. 类似加洲黑，但比加洲黑强壮，果比加洲黑更小的尺寸。

11 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

12 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

13 robustness   

坚固性，健壮性；鲁棒性

参考例句：

• There were other reasons for concern about the robustness of an economic recovery. 人们还有其他一些原因对经济恢复的健全程度表示关心。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Robustness analysis attracts more and more attention in these years. 鲁棒性分析是近几年学术界较为关注的问题。 来自互联网

14 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

15 tumour   

n.(tumor)(肿)瘤，肿块

参考例句：

• The surgeons operated on her for a tumour.外科医生为她施行了肿瘤切除手术。
• The tumour constricts the nerves.肿瘤压迫神经。

16 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

17 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

18 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

19 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

21 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

22 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

23 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。