PBS高端访问:科技创新在预防埃博拉感染上能起什么作用?

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: The World Health Organization reported the Ebola outbreak is still racing¹ well ahead of efforts to stop it. West Africa needs at least 4,000 more hospital beds and thousands more workers.

　　In addition, the first case in Mali was confirmed today. And while drugs and vaccines³ are still being developed, there's a push to see if science can find new and different answers.

　　The president's team had a meeting on that subject today.

　　Shortly afterward⁵, our science correspondent, Miles O'Brien, sat down in the Briefing Room with the president's top science adviser⁶, John Holdren.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. Holdren, thank you so much for being with us.

　　JOHN HOLDREN, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: Happy to be here.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Tell us a little bit — for people who are uninitiated, a little bit about this group and this meeting. What was the goal here today?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Well, the President's Council of Advisers⁸ on Science and Technology is a group of leaders from the scientific, engineering and biomedical communities from around the country who advise the president on a part-time basis, bringing perspectives from that wider science and technology community to bear on the policy issues the president has on his plate.

　　Of course, one of the big policy issues the president has on his plate now is the Ebola challenge. And the idea of this meeting was to call together the PCAST members, at the president's request, to share their ideas with him, particularly about what capabilities⁹, ideas and approaches from the private sector¹⁰ and the academic sector could be married to what the government is already doing on the Ebola challenge, which is a lot, in order to amplify¹¹ and improve the effectiveness of the whole effort.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about technology here.

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Yes.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Are there technological¹² solutions out there that are within the time frame of the current crisis that could make a dent⁴?

　　And one of the things we think about, of course, is protecting our health care workers. Is there a better garment and a better procedure out there that your group is seeing?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Well, in fact, we have been working inside the government on better personal protective equipment. They call it PPE.

　　We had a two-day workshop October 10 and 11 with over a hundred innovators, inventors, public health practitioners¹³, doctors, working on how to improve these garments. Of course, part of the challenge with the garments we have is making sure you put them on and take them off in a way that is safe.

　　But a further problem with them is that they're not air-conditioned. And a lot of this work is going out in very hot and humid environments. The workers can only stay in these garments for maybe 40 minutes to an hour. So, we're working on garments that can be cooled. We also have assistance from NASA in this space.

　　This is very much inside the government, an interagency effort. NASA knows how to make protective suits that work in extreme environments. We're tapping that expertise¹⁴, along with others, to end up with better suits so that the health care workers can work longer and safer.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: So, if we can put a man on the moon, we can make them safe to deal with Ebola, can't we?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Exactly.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Exactly.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about another technological solution that I read about. I was a little bit skeptical¹⁵ about it, the idea that robots could somehow be employed to deal with this crisis in a way that would protect human beings. Is that realistic at this point?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Well, in fact, we are having a workshop, my office, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a number of other partners on November 7 on potential uses of robots in the Ebola challenge.

　　Perhaps the best example of how a robot can be useful is cleaning up and decontaminating a room that has had Ebola patients in it, and has a lot of contaminated stuff in it. Obviously, if you could have a robot do that, and do it effectively, it would be safer than having a human being dealing¹⁶ with all of that contaminated waste and mess.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: But are robots really ready for that?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: I think they probably are.

　　I mean, you would be amazed at what robots can now do. You know, we have robots being developed that can fight fires and go into dangerous fire situations that you wouldn't want to send a human fireman into. We can certainly — we can certainly make a robot that can decontaminate a room.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: I suspect that's not within the time frame of the immediate¹⁷ crisis, however, right?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: I wouldn't be so sure. I think we could probably adapt some existing robots to be useful in the current situation in a fairly short span of time.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: All right.

　　Let's talk a little bit on the science side for a minute. I know this is not your particular area of expertise, so — and there are other people in the government who are…

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Thank you for recognizing.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: You are a physicist¹⁸, and I get that. So, as — but there are a lot of people who have been working for some time on vaccines.

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Absolutely.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: But Ebola has been around for a long time, and we're still waiting for a vaccine². Is it still quite some time before one might be available?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: Well, obviously, the current crisis has ramped¹⁹ up the interest and the effort in developing an Ebola vaccine. There is a promising²⁰ vaccine in what they call phase one testing right now, looking to confirm the immunological response that one is looking for in a vaccine that would then, if it passes that test, go into what they call phase two and three testing, where they are looking for efficacy and the absence of any unmanageable side effects.

　　It is possible that we would have a vaccine by some time next year. These time scales are challenging. You have to do clinical trials to be sure that you are dealing with a vaccine that is going to do a lot of good and not a lot of harm on the side.

　　And with luck, we will have a vaccine in a matter of months, not in years. But then you have the challenges of ramping²¹ up the production. And one of the things that, with PCAST, the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, is looking at is, how can the government and the private sector work together to make sure that we have the production capacity that would be needed the moment we have a good vaccine?

　　MILES O'BRIEN: I would be remiss²² if we didn't talk about the travel ban, much discussed, much misunderstood. The question is, you know, if you are trying to stop the spread of a disease, isn't it prudent²³ to stop the spread of the people who might be carrying the disease, and wouldn't it be prudent to initiate⁷ a travel ban from people coming out of these countries?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: We think a travel ban is actually a bad idea, in that it would make the American public less safe and our challenge of dealing with this epidemic²⁴ worse.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: How so less safe?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: And the reason is that, if you emplace a travel ban, first of all, you only catch a modest fraction of the people who are moving around.

　　We have, for example, about 150 people a day traveling directly to the United States from these countries, that is, not on a broken itinerary²⁵, where they stop for a week in London or Paris or Brussels in between, about 150 a day; 55 percent of those are American citizens who have a constitutional right to return to the United States.

　　Another 10 percent are green card holders²⁶ who one is not sure their permanent residence. We're not sure that it would be a great idea to keep American green card holders from returning. But the worst thing about a travel ban is that it would drive travel underground.

　　Right now, we are able to identify and monitor the people who are coming in from these countries. As you know from the newspaper, we now have them all funneling²⁷ into five airports. Everybody who comes in from these countries is advised to monitor and report in every day on their temperature and whether they are showing any symptoms.

　　You put a travel ban on, you're going to drive the travel underground. There are lots of routes by which people can get into this country without being noticed in the net you would have under a travel ban. And you will have far less control, far less insight, far less monitoring than you have now.

　　You would, in addition, of course, with a travel ban, make it much harder for health workers to come in and out, make it much harder for us to control the epidemic there. If we can't control the epidemic there, the sources from which it could spread to the United States will propagate and, again, in that longer-term respect, we will also be worse off.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: To the extent that you are dealing with in this country an epidemic of fear more than an epidemic of disease, would announcing a travel ban, to the extent that it might allay²⁸ some fears, would it be prudent in that respect?

　　JOHN HOLDREN: I think embracing a bad policy for reasons of optics is almost always a bad idea.

　　In fact, as a scientist, I would venture to say it is always a bad idea. If this is a bad policy, we shouldn't do it. And we should use our ability to communicate with the American public and to educate them to persuade them why it is a bad idea. It is a bad idea because it would make us less safe, and not more safe.

　　MILES O'BRIEN: Dr. John Holdren, thank you so much for your time.

　　JOHN HOLDREN: My pleasure.

　　GWEN IFILL: So far, the more immediate Ebola threat domestically, at least, has been the fear and anxiety it has sparked. Online, we break down the impact this kind of stress can have on your health. That is on our Rundown.

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

8 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

9 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

12 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

13 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

14 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

15 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

16 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。

17 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

18 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

19 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

20 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。

21 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

22 remiss   

adj.不小心的，马虎

参考例句：

• It was remiss of him to forget her birthday.他竟忘了她的生日，实在是糊涂。
• I would be remiss if I did not do something about it.如果我对此不做点儿什么就是不负责任。

23 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

24 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

25 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

26 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

27 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：

28 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。