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VOA慢速英语2013 SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - New Vaccine Shrinks Head and Neck Cancers

时间:2013-03-16 14:42:50

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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - New Vaccine1 Shrinks Head and Neck Cancers

From VOA Learning English, this is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in Special English. I’m Bob Doughty2.

And I’m June Simms. Today, we tell about a new vaccine for fighting cancers in the head and neck. We tell about progress in the fight against malaria3. And we report on evidence suggesting that being able to speak two languages is good for the brain as we age.

Scientists are developing a new vaccine to treat cancers of the head and neck. The new vaccine is reported to be most effective as a nasal spray, entering the body as a watery4 mist through the nose. The treatment is one of a growing number of vaccines5 in the past few years to fight cancer.

When a person develops cancer, the body’s natural defenses for fighting disease launch an attack against the cancer cells. But the natural defenses are often too weak to prevent the cells from spreading.

So, scientists have been working to develop vaccines to improve the natural defenses against the cancer cells. Two promising6 vaccines in human tests target prostate cancer and metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Another experimental vaccine is designed to treat solid tumors that form in the mucosal tissues. Those tissues are found in the head, neck, lungs and reproductive organs. They produce a thick fluid containing powerful chemicals that normally protect against infection. However, they also block the immune cells that are supposed to fight the cancerous tumors.

Now, researchers have developed a nasal spray vaccine that can cancel out this resistance. The vaccine is able to activate8 and energize9 an immune cell called a CD8+ T-cell in the tissue at the tumor7.

French researcher Eric Tartour led a team studying the effectiveness of the intranasal spray on solid mucosal tumors in mice. He says the tumors developed after the animals were infected with human papilloma virus -- a virus known to cause cancer.

“The tumor shrank. And we analyzed10 the tumors when they shrank. And they are heavily infiltrated11 by immune cells which destroyed the tumors.”

He and his team compared the effectiveness of their vaccine, both as a nasal spray and when it was injected. They found the vaccine worked better as a spray.

Eric Tartour works with the Universitie Paris Descarte. He and his team have been developing the intranasal vaccine for five years. He says their next goal is to see how well it works against tumors that have spread to other areas in the body.

A report on the anti-cancer spray was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

There is good news in the fight to save children from the most serious kind of malaria, known as cerebral12 malaria. Each year, cerebral malaria infects about 500 thousand young people in African countries south of the Sahara Desert. They get the disease after being bitten by a common insect, the mosquito.

Cerebral malaria causes the brain and spinal13 tissues of its victims to swell14 or expand. Many children die. Others develop memory problems and have learning difficulties. 

Recently, scientists in the United States and Brazil discovered that the drug lovastatin may help. The drug is normally used to lower cholesterol15 levels in the blood.

Guy Zimmerman works at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. He and his research team performed tests on a group of mice infected with the disease. Half of the animals were given chloroquine, a well-known malaria drug. The other half also received lovastatin. 

“The mice that got the anti-malarial16 drug and the lovastatin had a significantly reduced incident of the late brain dysfunction.” 

Lovastatin is one of many drugs that limit how the body’s natural defenses against disease react to infection. A certain amount of swelling17 is expected when a person is sick. But sometimes there is too much swelling, and the body begins to harm itself. 

Dr. Zimmerman suggests that lovastatin be used in the treatment of sepsis, also known as blood poisoning. It, like cerebral malaria, sickens and kills many people around the world each year.

Researchers have asked American health officials to act quickly to approve lovastatin for malarial patients. But they know that many tests will need to be done in many parts of Africa where the disease causes so much misery18.

Details of this study can be found in the journal “PLOS Pathogens.”

Next, we have a “bad news” “good news” story. The World Health Organization reports that malaria kills about 660,000 people around the world each year. The good news is the number of deaths has dropped 30 percent over the past 10 years because of progress in treatment and prevention.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders is providing the latest drugs to rural medical centers in Mali. In some areas, the infection rate dropped 65 percent in only a week. One mother of three young children says she saw a fast improvement in their health. She says her children often had higher than normal body temperatures in the past. But with the new medicines, they are much improved.

The World Health Organization fears that there will not be enough money to keep this kind of medical program operating. In 2011, international donors19 offered more than two billion dollars to fight malaria. That is less than half of what the WHO says is needed each year.

Some of the money goes for simple, but effective tools. Sir Brian Greenwood is with the London School of Hygiene20 and Tropical Medicine.

“One of those is the humble21 bed net which people have been using for hundreds of years. But the relatively22 new advance has been in treating the nets with insecticide. Now, the insecticide is actually incorporated into the material.” 

The bed nets and insecticide products keep mosquitos from biting people while they sleep. Malaria is caused by small organisms carried by the mosquito. Over time, these parasites23 have begun to develop resistance to some anti-malarial drugs.

Professor Greenwood says he has seen this in Cambodia, and thinks the same thing is happening in other Southeast Asian countries. 

“Fortunately, not yet in Africa. But it would be a disaster if those parasites got loose in Africa, and our main treatment was failing again, like it did with chloroquin.”

Researchers say it is important for donors to continue to provide money for treatment. At this time, there is no drug that can keep people from becoming infected. 

Finally, a new study has added to evidence suggesting that being bilingual is good for the brain. In the study, older adults who have spoken two languages since childhood showed better mental skills than those who speak just one language.

Earlier studies showed that bilingualism seemed to favor the development of these heightened skills. Organizers of the new study say their findings provide evidence of that cognitive24 advantage among older, bilingual adults.

In the study, the researchers asked people to sort colors and shapes in a series of simple exercises. They used brain imaging to compare how well three groups of people switched among these exercises. The groups were bilingual seniors, monolingual seniors and younger adults.

The imaging showed different patterns of activity in the frontal part of the brain, in an area used for processing such tasks.

Brian Gold is a neuroscientist at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He was also the lead author of the study.

“We found that seniors who are bilingual are able to activate their brain with a magnitude closer to young subjects. So they don’t need to expend25 as much effort, and yet they still out-perform their monolingual peers, suggesting they use their brain more efficiently26.”

He says that knowing a second language made no difference for the young adults. They did better at the exercises than both groups of older people. But he says the older bilingual adults appear to have built up a kind of surplus from a lifetime of increased mental activity.

He says his findings confirm an earlier study on bilingualism among patients with Alzheimer's disease. That study showed that bilingual speakers developed more damage, but were able to think at the same level as patients with less damage.

Dr. Gold says he believes the new study confirms that bilingualism can play a protective role in the brain. He now plans to study whether learning a second language or immigrating27 to another country as an adult can provide some of the same mental advantages as lifelong bilingualism. 

The study appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience.


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1 vaccine Ki1wv     
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。
2 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。
3 malaria B2xyb     
n.疟疾
参考例句:
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
4 watery bU5zW     
adj.有水的,水汪汪的;湿的,湿润的
参考例句:
  • In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
  • Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏,她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。
5 vaccines c9bb57973a82c1e95c7cd0f4988a1ded     
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。
6 promising BkQzsk     
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。
7 tumor fKxzm     
n.(肿)瘤,肿块(英)tumour
参考例句:
  • He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
  • The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。
8 activate UJ2y0     
vt.使活动起来,使开始起作用
参考例句:
  • We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
  • These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。
9 energize GpyxN     
vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量
参考例句:
  • It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
  • This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒,可以激活你的能量,让你有更多的活力!
10 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 infiltrated ac8114e28673476511d54b771cab25a1     
adj.[医]浸润的v.(使)渗透,(指思想)渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
  • Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
12 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。
13 spinal KFczS     
adj.针的,尖刺的,尖刺状突起的;adj.脊骨的,脊髓的
参考例句:
  • After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天,就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
  • Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。
14 swell IHnzB     
vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强
参考例句:
  • The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
  • His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。
15 cholesterol qrzzV     
n.(U)胆固醇
参考例句:
  • There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
  • They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。
16 malarial 291eb45ca3cfa4c89750acdc0a97a43c     
患疟疾的,毒气的
参考例句:
  • Malarial poison had sallowed his skin. 疟疾病毒使他皮肤成灰黄色。
  • Standing water like this gives malarial mosquitoes the perfect place to breed. 像这样的死水给了传染疟疾的蚊子绝佳的繁殖地点。
17 swelling OUzzd     
n.肿胀
参考例句:
  • Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
  • There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。
18 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
19 donors 89b49c2bd44d6d6906d17dca7315044b     
n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 );献血者;捐血者;器官捐献者
参考例句:
  • Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去,请给我们发电子邮件。
  • About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 hygiene Kchzr     
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic)
参考例句:
  • Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
  • He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。
21 humble ddjzU     
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低
参考例句:
  • In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见,他将在选举中获胜。
  • Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。
22 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
23 parasites a8076647ef34cfbbf9d3cb418df78a08     
寄生物( parasite的名词复数 ); 靠他人为生的人; 诸虫
参考例句:
  • These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的,而与寄生虫无关。
  • Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。
24 cognitive Uqwz0     
adj.认知的,认识的,有感知的
参考例句:
  • As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大,他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
  • The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。
25 expend Fmwx6     
vt.花费,消费,消耗
参考例句:
  • Don't expend all your time on such a useless job.不要把时间消耗在这种无用的工作上。
  • They expend all their strength in trying to climb out.他们费尽全力想爬出来。
26 efficiently ZuTzXQ     
adv.高效率地,有能力地
参考例句:
  • The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
  • Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。
27 immigrating 97e64302f3d55565cfd50b8d2f6cb4ef     
v.移入( immigrate的现在分词 );移民
参考例句:
  • I have to tie up loose ends before immigrating to America. 移民美国前,我先要处理手头上的一些琐事。 来自互联网
  • Marrying an American citizen is a guaranteed ticket to immigrating to America. 与美国公民结婚是移民美国最佳的门票。 来自互联网

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