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VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS 2013-07-08 Apps for That: Traffic Jams, Alzheimer’s Care

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AS IT IS 2013-07-08 Apps for That: Traffic Jams, Alzheimer’s Care

Hello, and welcome once again to “As It Is,” our daily show for people learning everyday American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we tell about a new app for those who are caring for people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

“It is not easy and we hope this will make it a little easier for people.”

They’ve Got an App for Traffic

But first, we tell about a navigation app that helps predict traffic problems.

From New Delhi to Beijing, commuters spend a lot of time stuck in traffic.

The VOA’s Faith Lapidus tells us about a scientist and a student who are trying to do something about it.

In the United States, Los Angeles and San Francisco tie for second place for having the worst traffic problems. Washington, D.C., is in first place with the worst traffic, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. 

In Los Angeles, drivers spend 61 hours every year stuck in traffic. These drivers know all too well how bad the traffic can be.

“It’s a prison of cars. There’s too many cars, you can’t move around a lot.”

“I get very frustrated1.  I try to listen to some music, maybe snap my fingers or something to try to pass the time.”

Professor Cyrus Shahabi also knows about traffic jams. He lives more than 65 kilometers from his office at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. He is always late -- even with the help of a navigation system.

He and PhD student Ugur Demiryurek decided2 to develop an app for that. The ClearPath app claims to do what other navigation systems cannot. Professor Shahabi says his program uses historical data to predict traffic conditions even before the driver leaves the house. 

"What’s unique is that we utilize3 a lot of data that’s currently become available including traffic data, weather data, and we analyze4 that so that we can predict what’s going to happen in front of you when you leave home.”

ClearPath uses two and a half years worth of traffic data from 9,000 sensors5 on the roads of Los Angeles. It also collects information on accidents.

“Now you are driving and there’s an accident in front of you, but the accident is 20 minutes away. And you know from historical data that that accident would clear by the time you get there. We can take that into account and send you towards the accident because we think by the time you get there, there wouldn’t be any accident.”

Professor Shahabi says his system does more than just respond to current traffic conditions. With ClearPath, he says, a driver can enter what time he wants to leave on a specific time and date, and ClearPath will give the fastest route. It looks at the entire road network, including surface streets as well as highways, before the driver hits the road. 

Ugur Demiryurek says they will launch the free ClearPath app for roads in Los Angeles in two months. In a year, he and Professor Shahabi hope to have ClearPath available nationwide and overseas once they can collect traffic data from other cities.

“I thought always that L.A. had the worst traffic, but now I know that Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, believe it or not, Singapore, Hong Kong definitely are examples that can immediately utilize this.”

Professor Shahabi hopes to license6 this new technology to companies that already have navigation systems, such as Google and Apple.

I’m Faith Lapidus.

Using Technology to Help Caregivers

Alzheimer’s disease is mostly a condition of old age. Life expectancy7 is getting longer around the world, and the number of people affected8 by the brain disease is expected to triple in some countries by the middle of the century. 

People with Alzheimer’s often have other medical needs that require the services of numerous health care professionals. Caregivers often have a hard time keeping up with all the medical information. 

More and more, family members are being called on to help care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. It is a responsibility for which most people are unprepared. This is why the Hebrew Home, a private health care group in Riverdale, New York, developed an iPhone and iPad application called “Balance.”

The VOA’s June Simms tells us about it.

The app offers caregivers advice on recognizing symptoms and on feeding, bathing and providing a healthy environment for the patient. It can be bought on the Internet for four dollars. 

David Pomeranz is Hebrew Home’s program development director, and he created “Balance.”

“It is not easy and we hope this will make it a little easier for people.”

The Hebrew Home is a not-for-profit organization that provides care to 75,000 patients throughout New York City.

“We are dealing9 with their family members because, as a philosophy, we feel that we need to care for the caregiver equally in our (response to the) care needs (of) the clients themselves, since if the caregiver does not have the proper supports, they simply cannot be a caregiver.”

Mr. Pomeranz says the “Balance” software is designed to let users organize medical and other information so they can easily keep track of the person’s health. It helps caregivers manage doctor’s appointments and share information with doctors about the patient’s daily emotional changes. 

Interest in the app is not limited to the United States.

“It has been interesting to see that we have had apps purchased (in countries) from Egypt to the Netherlands to Greece. It is like the United Nations every day, to see where people are buying this.”

David Pomeranz says software developers are working on a version of “Balance” for mobile devices using the Android operating system.

In a separate but unrelated story, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri have identified genes10 linked to Alzheimer’s disease. They say the discovery could help researchers develop new drugs to fight the brain disease.

I’m June Simms.

And that’s “As It Is.” We hope you enjoyed our program today.


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1 frustrated ksWz5t     
adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
参考例句:
  • It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
  • The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
3 utilize OiPwz     
vt.使用,利用
参考例句:
  • The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
  • You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。
4 analyze RwUzm     
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse)
参考例句:
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
5 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
6 license B9TzU     
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
参考例句:
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
7 expectancy tlMys     
n.期望,预期,(根据概率统计求得)预期数额
参考例句:
  • Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
  • The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。
8 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
9 dealing NvjzWP     
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。
10 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

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