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VOA慢速英语2013 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Major Progress in Health Through Technology

时间:2013-01-24 09:00:41

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Major Progress in Health Through Technology

From VOA Learning English, this is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in Special English. I’m Bob Doughty1.

And I’m Faith Lapidus. Today, we tell about a woman who can use signals from her brain to move a robotic arm. We tell about efforts to develop an experimental gene2 treatment for patients with heart disease. And we explain how American computers are helping3 medical workers in Zimbabwe study the condition of their patients.

A woman paralyzed from the neck down has learned to use her thoughts to control a specially-designed motorized arm. The arm is the product of years of research on mind-controlled artificial limbs.

Researchers in the American state of Pennsylvania say the motorized arm is the most advanced mind-controlled prosthetic, or replacement4 limb ever made. They created the device to help return some muscle control to Jan Scheuermann. She is suffering from a degenerative neuromuscular disease that paralyzed her from the neck down. She has no control of her arms and legs.

The motorized right arm has a five-fingered, fully-jointed hand. It enables Ms. Scheuermann to pick up and hold objects, and feed herself.

Neurobiologist Andrew Schwartz led the University of Pittsburgh research team that developed the prosthetic arm. He says researchers placed about 200 electrodes in the woman’s left cerebral5 cortex. The left cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that people use to move their right arm.

Dr. Schwartz says the electrodes recorded what the woman’s brain cells were doing when she thought about moving the arm.

“And that was enough information that we could then decode6 from those recordings7, what the intention of the subject was, the way she wanted to move her arm and her wrist and close her hand. We could decode the information from those neurons to allow us to do that.”

Jan Scheuermann took part in a 13-week-long program to teach her brain to move the arm. But she did not need that much time. She was able to use her mind to move the robotic arm after just two weeks of training.

She reportedly told researchers that she planned to use the arm to feed herself some chocolate. When she was able to do that, it made the research team very happy.

Andrew Schwartz says his team plans to build another artificial arm, so people like Ms. Scheuermann can hold and move objects using two hands.

“And really the satisfying part is that we’re not just making a machine move, we’re actually recreating natural humanoid movements. So we’re capturing all the beauty and grace and skill of a real movement, and allowing these subjects to basically return to a certain amount of function that they used to have.”

The researchers would like to create a wireless8 system that helps the brain communicate with the robotic limbs. The brain’s signals would be changed into messages that computers can understand. People could then use the arms or legs in their homes without wires or help from scientists.

A report describing the prosthetic arm was published in the journal The Lancet.

A patient with an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, might one day be able to have a normal heartbeat with the injection of a single gene. The experimental gene would help to create a natural heart pacemaker. This would end the need for placing an electronic device in a person’s chest to control the heartbeat.

Researchers in California created what they are calling “biological pacemaker cells” by adding a single gene to a virus. They then injected the engineered virus into the hearts of guinea pigs. The animals had been bred to suffer from arrhythmia.

The gene caused the creation of an exact copy of the sino-atrial node in the heart’s upper right chamber9. Other studies have shown that this node helps to keep the heart beating normally. The gene changed heart muscle cells -- called cardiomyocytes -- into natural pacemaker cells.

Eduardo Marban is director of the Cedars-Sinai Health Institute in Los Angeles. He says the node, called S-A-N, makes up just 10,000 cells among the ten billion heart muscle cells. He says the tissue made by the inserted gene looks almost like the structure it replaces.

“If we were to give scientists who are specialized10 in this area the data to look at it then compare it to a genuine pacemaker cell -- which, as I said, are exceedingly rare -- to the ones we created by putting a gene into an ordinary heart cell, it’d be, they’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference.”

Dr. Marban estimates that five to six billion dollars is spent each year worldwide on electronic pacemakers for millions of patients. But these man-made pacemakers can cause life-threatening infections. And every five to seven years, the batteries that supply power must be changed. This requires another operation.

Dr. Marban says the devices are not right for all patients. And others are too sick to use them. He says researchers plan to put the experimental gene in very sick patients in about two years. They want to prove the gene is both safe and effective.

“Basically, what we are going to look for are patients who already have an electronic pacemaker, who develop a severe infection and need to have the electronic pacemaker taken away. And then, during the time the patients are free of an electronic pacemaker, they, their hearts need to be sustained by some means, and we hope that we would be able to create this biological pacemaker to keep the heart going between treatments.”

A report on the natural cardiac pacemaker was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. 

Finally, the United States has launched a program to help improve Zimbabwe’s health information management system. The program is meant to strengthen investigation11 and reporting of disease outbreaks and epidemics13.

You are listening to a group of health workers. They include doctors and medical aides from Manicaland, an area in eastern Zimbabwe. They were happy because America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had donated laptop computers and other equipment. The computers will be used to store information about patients they treat in the area.

The donation is part of a $2.1 million gift from PEPFAR -- the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief -- to strengthen Zimbabwe’s health management system.

Paula Morgan is the deputy director of the CDC in Zimbabwe.

“Health wise across the board, particularly around disease detection and surveillance, it’s important to us to capture all of them, but because we do work with the PEPFAR program, we do concentrate on the HIV and AIDS epidemic12.”

One of the biggest problems facing Zimbabwe is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV, is the cause of the disease AIDS. The United Nations says new HIV infection rates have dropped by 50 percent in Zimbabwe. But there are still 1.2 million people infected with the virus.

The government in Zimbabwe has little money for health care programs. As a result, the country has failed to meet the targets of what health officials have called the “Abuja Declarations.” Under those goals, African governments are required to spend 15 percent of their budgets on health-related issues.

Ponesai Nyika is a director of the Zimbabwe Ministry14 of Health.

“This donation is really, really important. It came at a time when we really need it, because what has been happening is at the local clinic they’re using hard copies, which is a paper-based system. They record their patients in registers and tally15 sheets, where they just tally against the patient’s age, name and the diagnosis16, the treatment that they have been given.”

Ponesai Nyika says all of that work is now done with the CDC’s donation of computers to Zimbabwe.

PEPFAR is paying a non-profit group, Research Triangle International, to give two weeks of training to health workers in Zimbabwe. Henry Chidawanyika works for the group. He says Zimbabwe needs the help.

“It is very weak in terms of the ability to deliver, mostly because we don’t have enough personnel on the ground, we don’t have enough equipment, issues of infrastructure17, power, connectivity. Health information is a cornerstone of a delivery of a health system, because if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where to go.”

Health care workers in Zimbabwe must deal with many diseases and epidemics. A working, dependable health information system will enable them to gather information about groups like pregnant women living with HIV. Medical workers can use that information to help such women receive antiretroviral therapy and treatment for tuberculosis18.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子,基因
参考例句:
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
3 helping 2rGzDc     
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。
4 replacement UVxxM     
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品
参考例句:
  • We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
  • They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。
5 cerebral oUdyb     
adj.脑的,大脑的;有智力的,理智型的
参考例句:
  • Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
  • He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人,措辞谨慎。
6 decode WxYxg     
vt.译(码),解(码)
参考例句:
  • All he had to do was decode it and pass it over.他需要做的就是将它破译然后转给他人。
  • The secret documents were intercepted and decoded.机密文件遭截获并被破译。
7 recordings 22f9946cd05973582e73e4e3c0239bb7     
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
参考例句:
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
8 wireless Rfwww     
adj.无线的;n.无线电
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
  • Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。
9 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
10 specialized Chuzwe     
adj.专门的,专业化的
参考例句:
  • There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
  • These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。
11 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
12 epidemic 5iTzz     
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。
13 epidemics 4taziV     
n.流行病
参考例句:
  • Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间,又会引入歧途。
  • The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。
14 ministry kD5x2     
n.(政府的)部;牧师
参考例句:
  • They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
  • We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。
15 tally Gg1yq     
n.计数器,记分,一致,测量;vt.计算,记录,使一致;vi.计算,记分,一致
参考例句:
  • Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
  • The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。
16 diagnosis GvPxC     
n.诊断,诊断结果,调查分析,判断
参考例句:
  • His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。
17 infrastructure UbBz5     
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
参考例句:
  • We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
  • We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设,发展各类群众文化。
18 tuberculosis bprym     
n.结核病,肺结核
参考例句:
  • People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
  • Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

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