Consumers increasingly use smartwatches and other wearable devices to measure their heart rates and rhythm during exercise and for overall health monitoring. However, those measurements may be less accurate in people with darker skin tones (肤色), according to a study.
The findings are based on a systematic review of 10 previously published studies involving a total of 469 participants. The study is the first to pool data from many studies to specifically examine how skin tones may affect the accuracy of heart data in wearables.
After screening 622 scientific papers, the researchers identified 10 studies that reported the heart rate and rhythm data for consumer wearable technology according to a participant’s skin tone. Of those studies, they found that heart rate measurements were significantly less accurate in darker-skinned individuals compared with either lighter-skinned individuals or measurements from proven devices, such as chest strap monitors or electrocardiograms (心电图). One study reported that although there was no difference in heart rate accuracy, wearable devices recorded significantly fewer data points for people with darker skin.
Most wearables detect the heart rate and rhythm by aiming a beam of light at the wrist and then detecting how much light is absorbed. Greater light absorption indicates a greater volume of blood flowing through the veins (静脉) under the skin. The study results suggest that this signaling process might not work well in darker skin that contains more melanin (黑色素), which absorbs light.
In addition to the rising use of wearables to monitor physical activity and sleep patterns, interest in the use of consumer wearables for medical research and even early detection of heart problems has increased in recent years.
The study emphasizes the importance of ensuring that technology meets the needs of diverse populations, especially when it’s intended to improve health. “It’s urgent to explore alternative options to collect reliable data from all users. There is some evidence to suggest that certain light, particularly green light, is more accurate in people across all skin tones,” Daniel Koerber, the study’s co-lead author, said.
1. How did researchers conduct research?| A．They surveyed wearable device users. | B．They took advantage of existing data. |
| C．They communicated with professionals. | D．They tested wearable devices on the market. |
| A．By detecting melanin levels in users’ skin. |
| B．By observing users’ breathing rates and blood pressure. |
| C．By measuring the speed of the blood flow in users’ veins. |
| D．By detecting the amount of light absorbed by users’ wrists. |
| A．They require improvement. | B．They face severe competition. |
| C．They are a double-edged sword. | D．They are a kind of marketing trick. |
| A．How is your heart rate detected properly? |
| B．How accurate is the heart data from your smartwatch? |
| C．What challenge does future wearable technology face? |
| D．How may skin tones affect the accuracy of heart data in wearables? |
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【推荐1】The skull(颅骨)of a tiny bird preserved in a 100-million-year-old Myanmar amber has been discovered by an international team of scientists, according to a paper newly published in the scientific journal Nature.
The 14-millimeter-long skull is smaller than that of a bee hummingbird, the smallest living bird, making the new species the smallest bird and dinosaur ever found.
When Xing Lida, a paleontologist(古生物家)at the China University of Geosciences, who led the research, first saw the amber in 2016, he was amazed. "It's like a tiny arrow with a long beak(鸟喙)and big eyes. . . Only birds have such characteristics," he said.
The well-preserved fossil skull has rows of nearly 100 teeth that extend all the way under its big eyes that are supported by eye bones of a unique structure. The unusually high number of teeth and the unique shape of the eye make it difficult to classify the specimen(标本).
Scientists think that about 100 million years ago this bird-like animal lived in the tropical Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar, where the amber was mined.
Despite its small size, the specimen, named Oculudentavis khaungraae(宽娅眼齿鸟), has more teeth than any other fossilized bird. The large number of teeth indicates that it was a predator(捕食者), the paper said.
"Judging from its size, it might prey mainly on insects," Xing said. "In fact, it has some characteristics that do not belong to birds or even dinosaurs. At present we think of it as a bird or a dinosaur, which is the most likely conclusion based on the characteristics of the skull.”
One of the biggest advantages of amber lies in its high-quality preservation of the fine details in the skull and soft tissue features. "Amber gives us almost the only opportunity, to learn about tiny vertebrates(脊椎动物)from the dinosaur age," Xing said. "Oculudentavis is by far the smallest and most important specimen."
1. What has the international team of scientists found recently?| A．The smallest fossil ever found. | B．The oldest amber ever discovered. |
| C．The smallest bee hummingbird fossil | D．The skull of the smallest known bird. |
| A．Its teeth and eyes were different from any other animal. |
| B．Its eve structure shows that it might have good eyesight. |
| C．It was classified in 2016 when first seen by Xing Lida. |
| D．Its small size suggests that it might feed on plants. |
| A．Small size. | B．Tropical habitat. |
| C．High number of teeth. | D．Unique shape of the eye. |
| A．The way that the fossil was well preserved. |
| B．The reason why Oculudentavis was stuck in amber t |
| C．The contribution of the fossil to scientific research. |
| D．The importance of amber research in scientific research. |
【推荐2】A new study found evidence that dogs developed in physical ways to present “puppy dog eyes” as a way to help connect with humans.
The study compared the facial muscles of dogs and wolves, which share ancestral history. Dogs broke off from wolves after being domesticated about 33,000 years ago. During that time dogs changed physically and behaviorally to adapt to life with humans.
The researchers examined the heads of six dogs and two wolves for comparison. They found the facial structures of both animals were mostly very similar. But one major difference was found above the eyes. The dogs were found to have two well-formed muscles around the eye that were not present in the wolves. These small muscles permit dogs to raise their inner eyebrows, the study found.
Juliane Kaminski, a comparative psychologist from the research suggests this eyebrow-rising movement causes “a warm” feelings in humans because it makes the dogs’ eyes appear larger. This expression also makes the dog look more like a human baby. The eye movement is similar to that which humans make when they are sad.
“The evidence is very obvious that dogs developed a muscle to raise the inner eyebrows after they were domesticated from wolves,” Kaminski said.
In a separate part of the study, the researchers observed how 27 dogs and nine wolves interacted with a human. “We also studied dogs’ and wolves’ behavior. And when exposed to a human for two minutes, dogs raised their inner eyebrows more and higher than wolves,” Kaminski said.
The researchers suggest that the eye movements developed over time as a way for dogs to get humans to do things for them, such as giving them food, care or attention.The only dog species in the study that did not have the muscles was the Siberian husky, which is an ancient kind of dog. The husky could be the best living example of what the link between dogs, and wolves looked like.
1. What is the difference found between dogs and wolves?| A．They have diverse ancestors and senses. | B．Dogs have striking eyebrows. |
| C．Dogs have additional muscles around the eyes. | D．They have easily distinguishable faces. |
| A．Dogs have developed in order to get along with humans. |
| B．Dogs have changed their behaviors to get food from humans. |
| C．Dogs are intentionally raising their eyebrows to please humans. |
| D．Dogs have learned facial expressions from human babies. |
| A．The evolution of the wolves. | B．The similarities between dogs and wolves. |
| C．Dogs’ ability to connect with humans. | D．Changes in dogs caused by domestication. |
【推荐3】Your friends have one, maybe even two or three.
Dogs and hamsters(仓鼠) are both fun to hold and pet, but they relate to people in different ways. For example, dogs enjoy human contact. They love to play with their owners. They also like to show affection(喜爱) and love licking(舔) their owners’ faces.
| A．Dogs like to be petted. |
| B．Your neighbors have one. |
| C．Hamsters are very different from dogs. |
| D．They like to spend their time exploring. |
| E．They need food and water just as dogs do. |
| F．However, dogs need a lot of daily care, too. |
| G．Dogs and hamsters both make good family pets. |
【推荐1】Failure is an unavoidable part of life. Though science has named some life skills that promise success, we're told over and over again that no great success was ever achieved without failure -- or many failed attempts. One of life's most important lessons, therefore, has to be how to handle failure best. But what is the message?
For starters, ignore advice from anyone that tells you, “Don't beat yourself up about it,” no matter how well-meaning they are. According to the new research from the University of Kansas, we absolutely should be beating ourselves up when we fail. Marketing professor Noelle Nelson and her team found that the more emotional a person's response is to failure, the more likely they are to achieve better results the next time they deal with a related task.
The researchers carried out two experiments in which undergraduate students were required to perform specific tasks. In one experiment, they were asked to search online for a squeezer and report the lowest price they could find with the possibility of winning a $50 cash prize. However, the task was controlled, and all participants were told (by a computer) that the lowest price was $3.27 less than their reported price. Consequently, no participant won the cash prize. When the results were announced, some participants were asked to focus on their emotional response, and others on their cognitive (认知的) response. During the next similar task, participants who focused on their emotional response to failure made more effort than those who focused on a cognitive response.
Everybody has their own unique challenges, responsibilities, duties, and projects, but these findings are related to all of us. Your personal failure may be a cake that fails to rise, a presentation that goes wrong, or a deadline that gets missed—it doesn't matter. What matters is how you react to it. Instead of thinking about the failure, let yourself feel bad about it. Then follow this advice on how to bounce back after your failure.
1. What's the relationship between failure and success?| A．Failure promises success. | B．Failure is the key to success. |
| C．Failure does damage to success. | D．Well-handled failure is good for success. |
| A．It's a well-meaning suggestion for failure. |
| B．It's been proved by the study of a university. |
| C．Being emotional is good for his future success. |
| D．It can make people less emotional about failure. |
| A．Personal Failure Is a Cake That Fails to Appear |
| B．The Most Productive Way to Handle Any Failure |
| C．Different Methods to Change Failure into Success |
| D．The Reason Why Failure Is the Mother of Success |
【推荐2】Jasmine Charbonier’s heavy drinking started in college. By her early thirties, she was downing up to eight cocktails daily, several days each week. Last year she tried to quit and was surprised when she suffered from withdrawal symptoms (症状).
Unlike hard drugs, alcohol is generally viewed as a less dangerous way to reduce stress, says Dhruti Patel, a specialist at the University of Miami Medicine School. “It’s legal, readily available, and not so forbidden in society, so women feel less worry drinking,” she says.
That was certainly the case for Charbonier, a 35-year-old CEO and blogger in Florida. Drinking made nights out and travel more fun, enabling her to meet new people and dance excitedly. Last year, she temporarily gave up alcohol to lose a few pounds and was horrified by the withdrawal symptoms: strong desires for alcohol, heightened anxiety, and trembling hands sometimes. “I was completely shocked,” she says. “I didn’t think I had an addiction until then.”
Recent researches have confirmed the belief that even small amounts of wine, beer, or cocktails endanger health. Last year, the global non-profit World Heart Federation challenged the widely held idea that a daily glass of red wine is good for you. Any amount increases the risk for heart disease and stroke (中风), the group stated.
Compared with men, women who drink are more susceptible to its negative effects. Experts point out that women’s body composition, which has more fatty tissue and less water than men of similar weight, leads to higher blood-alcohol concentration. Therefore, women who drink will develop a greater number of medical problems at much lower alcohol levels than men.
Federal guidelines recommend that women consume no more than five ounces (盎司) of wine a day. But from a health perspective, less — actually none — is a better target, Patel says.
Reducing consumption starts with replacing alcohol in social situations. Charbonier now orders sparkling water, or a soft drink at happy hour, which gives her a glass to hold when others do. She tells her friends that she’s no longer drinking.
1. What’s the cause for Charbonier’s alcohol addiction mentioned in the passage?| A．Her trouble from work. | B．Her family’s influence. |
| C．Her health condition. | D．Her ignorance of its danger. |
| A．Feeling very nervous. | B．High blood pressure. |
| C．Long lasting thirsty. | D．Walking unsteadily. |
| A．Emotional. | B．Adaptable. | C．Exposed. | D．Welcoming. |
| A．Giving up drinking completely. | B．Drinking modestly every day. |
| C．Reducing drinking step by step. | D．Seeking help from her friends. |
【推荐3】A group of researchers studying the behavior of Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, have found that they have different “personality” types that help them survive and raise their baby tigers.
According to the previous investigation, Amur tigers are definitely the largest cuts in the world. They live in vast forests in wildness areas of eastern Russia and in protected areas of northern China. There are about 400 of these tigers left in the wild, although there are probably hundreds more living in zoos or reserves.
The researchers based the study on a human test called “The Big Five”, which scores people on five personality features. They asked feeders working with 248 cats in two shelters to spy on the tigers and give an account of their personalities. The results divided the tigers into two groups, which the researchers described as having either “majesty” or “steadiness”. Tigers in the majesty category were those that appeared “dignified (高贵的) and ambitious”. The tigers in the steadiness category were “sincere and tolerant”.
Majestic tigers had a higher social status, spent more time hunting live animals, and mated and ate more. The steady tigers seemed gentler and loving toward one another. Rosalind Arden, co-author of the study, said, “It’s pleasant to see that you don’t have to be dominant, fierce, competitive, and aggressive in order to succeed as a tiger, which doesn’t correspond with people’s traditional insights into tigers.”
There were female and male tigers in both categories. In fact, female Amur tigers are rare and feel exhausted after giving birth to baby tigers so that fathers often help raise the baby tigers. Having a steady personality, especially for male ones, could play a significant role in the relatively long amount of time — two to three years — that baby tigers stay with their parents. The researchers say both personalities have advantages that help the tigers survive threats, including loss of habitat and hunting. The team hopes the study will encourage more support from all walks of life in a bid to guarantee the tigers’ conservation.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?| A．To justify an argument. |
| B．To add background information. |
| C．To summarize the previous paragraph. |
| D．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．categorizing them for inspection |
| B．scoring them on 5 personality features |
| C．doing comparison experiments in the lab |
| D．observing them through a personality test |
| A．They improve Amur tigers’ welfare. |
| B．They change the tigers’ living conditions. |
| C．They help the reproduction of Amur tigers. |
| D．They contradict traditional ideas about tigers. |
| A．Few sex-related differences exist in tigers’ personalities. |
| B．A steady personality decreases tigers’ chance of survival. |
| C．Greater conservation efforts have been made due to the study. |
| D．Personality types of baby tigers are influenced by their parents. |
