VOA常速英语2015--智能手机成为疟疾诊断工具

 

Smartphones Becoming Tools for Diagnosing Malaria¹ 智能手机成为疟疾诊断工具

Doctors fighting malaria - one of the deadliest diseases on the planet - may soon have a new affordable² weapon in their smart phones.  Researchers have found a way to use the phone’s camera to detect the microorganism in the patient's blood that causes the disease.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 600,000 people died of malaria in 2013, making this mosquito-borne disease one of the deadliest in the world.

世界卫生组织表示2013年近600,000人死于疟疾,这种借由蚊子传播的疾病一跃成为全世界其中一位最致命的杀手。

The saddest aspect of this calamity³ is that it affects mostly young children.

而这场疾病灾难最令人悲痛的一方面是它主要影响儿童。

Early detection of the infection is important for successful treatment.  But since the first symptoms resemble ordinary flu, a microbiologist must look at a drop of a patient’s blood under a microscope for a proper diagnosis⁴.

感染的早期发现对成功治疗至关重要。但因为首发症状类似普通流感,因此微生物学家必须通过观察显微镜下病人的血液才能进行正确诊断。

Scientists in Britain have now developed a smart phone attachment⁵ called Xrapid, that turns the phone into a 200-power microscope, while the attached app - based on facial recognition software - quickly detects the parasitic⁶ protozoa in the blood smear⁷.

而英国科学家们已经研发出一种名为Xrapid的智能手机附件，它会将手机变成分辨力200的显微镜,而基于面部识别软件的应用附件能够快速检测血涂片上的寄生原生物。

Jean Viry-Babel is the CEO of IanXen, the company that developed the app.  He says it is cheap and works on the spot.

研发这款应用程序的IanXen公司首席执行官琼·威里贝尔表示这款应用非常便宜而且马上就可以得到结果。

“So we take a high-definition picture of a sample of blood. We separate the red blood cells from the rest - the white blood cells, the platelets - and we start looking at each of the red blood cells individually," said Viry-Babel.

“所以我们采集的是血液样本的高清图片。我们将红细胞从白细胞,血小板中分离,而后我们开始观察每个个体红细胞。”

Viry-Babel says the app is affordable, easy to use and provides reliability⁸ of up to 98 percent.  The only additional equipment required is an ordinary glass lab slide - called a "slate⁹."

威里贝尔表示这款软件人们能够负担得起,易于使用而且可信度高达98%。唯一额外需要的设备就是一块被称为面板的普通玻璃室玻片。

“There's only one button, which is called "Diagnose". So you put it on the slate and you put it on the dried blood, and you press diagnose and it tells you yes or no," he said.

“只有一个名为诊断的按钮。所以你把它放在面板上,放在干血上然后你按诊断它就会告诉你“是”或“不是”。

Researchers say the field-testing of the device will begin in January and February in Tanzania, Benin and Indonesia - while commercial use is scheduled to start by the end of March.

研究人员表示这种装置的实地试验将于1月和2月在坦桑尼亚,贝宁和印度尼西亚地区开始，而3月底将投入商业用途。

They also plan to expand the versatility¹⁰ of the new device - teaching it to recognize other diseases, such as tuberculosis¹¹ and Lyme Disease.

他们还计划扩大这种新设备的多功能性，比如识别如肺结核和莱姆病的其他疾病。

1 malaria   

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。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

4 diagnosis   

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。

5 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

6 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

7 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。

8 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

9 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

10 versatility   

n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能

参考例句：

• Versatility is another of your strong points,but don't overdo it by having too many irons in the fire.你还有一个长处是多才多艺，但不要揽事太多而太露锋芒。
• This versatility comes from a dual weather influence.这种多样性是由于双重的气候影响而形成的。

11 tuberculosis   

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。