VOA慢速英语2013 AS IT IS - A discovery that could save the lives of millions of newborns

 

AS IT IS - A discovery that could save the lives of millions of newborns

Welcome to AS IT IS, from VOA Learning English. I’m Christopher Cruise.

Today, it’s all about saving babies and preventing pregnancy¹… 

Kelly Jean Kelly will report on a discovery that could save the lives of millions of newborns.

And I’ll tell you about a study that suggests a possible link between stress in pregnancy and autism or schizophrenia. 

But first, we bring you news about a study that predicts a huge unmet need for modern contraceptives in the coming years. 

The study predicts millions of married women will not be able to get them over the next few years. Researchers estimate that, by 2015, modern contraceptive methods will not be available to more than 230 million women worldwide who want to use them. 

Onka Dekker tells us more… 

Researchers examined contraceptive use in 194 countries between 1990 and 2010. They designed a mathematical model to estimate the number of married women who used modern, effective contraceptives. These family-planning methods include hormonal² medicines --drugs that use hormones⁴ produced by the body. The study estimated the number of women who wanted to use such medicines to prevent pregnancy. But these women were instead using older, traditional birth control methods that sometimes fail. 

The model showed that this “unmet need” for modern birth control had decreased over the past 20 years. It also showed a worldwide increase in family planning methods based on hormone³ medicines, such as The Pill and injections. Yet the researchers say the growing world population will result in a greater need for modern family planning methods by 2015. They estimate that 233 million women will not be able to find or use these contraceptive methods. 

Ann Biddlecom leads the United Nations Fertility and Family Planning office in New York. She was the main writer of the report. She says there is a lack of support in many countries for family-planning services. 

“It comes to, you know, having access not only to the method itself but also better access to quality counseling and options for other kinds of methods to use if one particular method is not working for you.” 

She says that, by 2010, the greatest improvements in availability of hormonal birth control methods came in Central America and North Africa. But, she said fewer than one in five married women used any sort of effective birth control in parts of central and western Africa. 

Ann Biddlecom says the study only involved married women. She believes the actual number of women needing modern birth control methods by 2015 will be more than 233 million estimated by the researchers. 

I’m Onka Dekker. 

American researchers have identified a protein that may be linked to neurodevelopmental disorders⁵ like autism and schizophrenia. The researchers say the level of the protein is affected⁶ by serious stress women experience during their pregnancy. 

The researchers studied women who experienced stress --that is, physical or emotional tension --during pregnancy. They found that such women sent lower levels of a protein to their developing fetuses⁸ through the placenta than other women. The lowest levels were found in the placentas of boys. 

The placenta connects the fetus⁷ to the wall of the uterus. It passes blood, oxygen and nutrients⁹ to the unborn child through the mother’s blood. 

Tracy Bale is a professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She also was the lead researcher in the study. She says the placenta acts as a filter, sorting liquids and other materials within a pregnant woman. 

“So, it has genes¹⁰ that are expressed that produce these functions. But those genes can change in response to mom’s stress, mom’s dietary changes, mom’s immune responses, etc.”  

Autistic individuals have poor communication and social interaction skills. People with schizophrenia imagine unreal things or situations, and have difficulty connecting with people and their environment. 

The researchers knew that the two disorders affect males more often and more severely¹¹ than females. So, Dr. Bale and her team began looking for a protein that might explain why that is. 

Researchers caused stress in mice during their first week of pregnancy. One week would be the same as the first three months of a human pregnancy. The researchers used the smell of animals that attack mice and noises the mice had not heard before. They then compared the placentas of the stressed mice to those of unstressed mice. 

They discovered a protein, called OGT, which seems to be present in higher levels in the female placentas than in the placentas of males. They found that OGT levels were lower in the placentas of the stressed mice compared to those lacking emotional or physical tension. 

Investigators¹² also found that mice with half the normal amount of OGT had changes in hundreds of different genes known to be involved in brain development. Researchers also examined human placentas after birth and found lower levels of the protein in male placental tissue. 

Dr. Bale cannot say for sure whether the protein affects the neurodevelopment of humans. But she says the discovery of OGT could lead to a test to identify babies at increased risk for autism and schizophrenia because of stress during pregnancy. 

“You would know which babies to follow to keep an eye on them, to determine if they are at a greater risk. And they may be presenting earlier with different stress-reactivity levels, behavioral changes, etcetera, that would predispose them.” 

The study was the work of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A report on the pregnancy stress protein was published in Proceedings¹³ of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Researchers have discovered a way to possibly help protect the health of newborns when they are most at risk of infection. The discovery could save the lives of millions of babies around the world every year. 

Kelly Jean Kelly explains. 

Each year, bacterial¹⁴ and viral infections kill more than two million babies under the age of six months. These newborns are at risk because their natural defenses for fighting disease are too underdeveloped to be helped by vaccines¹⁶. 

That is why vaccines are usually not given to babies less than two months old. These include vaccinations¹⁷ to guard against rotavirus and polio, which children receive as they grow up. Yet in many countries, birth might be the only time a child will have contact with a health-care worker. 

Ofer Levy¹⁸ studies infectious diseases at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He says researchers have been looking for a way to protect newborns. 

“So we want to design a super vaccine¹⁵ that you can give at birth and maybe even get single-shot protection or maybe fewer shots needed. But also by giving it early in life, you close the window of vulnerability inherent to the current vaccine schedule.” 

Dr. Levy and researchers at Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital have identified a small man-made molecule¹⁹, called VTX-294. The molecule produces a strong immune response in protective white cells taken from the umbilical-cord blood of newborns. 

A report describing VTX-294 was published in the journal PLOS One. I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

I’m Christopher Cruise, and that’s “As It Is” in Special English from The Voice of America.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 hormonal   

adj.激素的

参考例句：

• Some viral diseases are more severe during pregnancy, probably tecause of hormonal changes. 有些病毒病在妊娠期间比较严重，可能是由于激素变化引起的。
• She underwent surgical intervention and a subsequent short period of hormonal therapy. 他接受外科手术及随后短暂荷尔蒙治疗。

3 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

4 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

5 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 affected   

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。

7 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

8 fetuses   

n.胎，胎儿( fetus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• DNA was extracted from fetuses at mid-gestation, about 10 days past conception. DNA从受孕大约10天后的中期妊娠胚胎中提取。 来自互联网
• Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. 普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。 来自互联网

9 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 genes   

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

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

14 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

15 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。

16 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。

17 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

19 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。