1 . A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.
The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.
“RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected,” said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.
RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.
“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” Minor said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”
1. How does RAS serve elderly people?| A．Through sensors. | B．Through objects. |
| C．Through a mobile robot. | D．Through their daily activities. |
| A．It is the first robot used in daily life. | B．Its function remains to be tested. |
| C．It can locate people and do any task. | D．It can cook for owners on its own. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. |
| C．Optimistic. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Elderly people leave the nursing home. |
| B．Smart Home Tests first elder-Care robot. |
| C．RAS, the first robot to make home smart. |
| D．Older adults have benefited from RAS. |
2 . In a major medical breakthrough, Tel Aviv University researchers have “printed” the world's first 3D vascularized (有血管的）engineered heart using a patient’s own cells and biological materials. Their findings were published on April IS in a study in Advanced Science.
“This is the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart,” says Prof. Tal Dvir of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research for the study. “This heart is made from human cells and patient-specific biological materials. In our process, these materials serve as the bioinks, something made of sugars and proteins that can be used for 3D printing of complex tissue models，” Prof, Dvir says. “People managed to 3D print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels (血管).Our results demonstrate the potential of our approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future.”
According to Prof. Dvir，the use of “ native ” patient-specific materials is important to successfully engineering tissues and organs.
The researchers are now planning on culturing the printed hearts in the lab and “ teaching them to behave” like hearts, Prof. Dvir says. They then plan to transplant the 3D-printed heart in animal models.
“We need to develop the printed heart further，” he concludes. “The cells need to form a pumping ability ； they can currently contract (收缩），but we need them to work together. Our hope is that we will succeed and prove our method’s efficacy (功效)and usefulness. “Maybe, in ten years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world，and these procedures will be conducted routinely. ”
1. What does Prof. Dvir think of an early 3D-printed heart?| A．It was highly practical. | B．It was too expensive. |
| C．It was personalized. | D．It was too simple. |
| A．It can be cultured in the lab. |
| B．It can match a patient perfectly. |
| C．It has been transplanted in animals. |
| D．It has been widely used in hospitals, |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Positive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Cautious. |
| A．To explain the basic principle of 3D technology. |
| B．To introduce a breakthrough of medical research. |
| C．To doubt the medical value of a new invention. |
| D．To prove the effectiveness of the new technology. |
3 . Babies made from three people approved in UK
Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK’s fertility regulator. The historic and controversial move is to prevent children from being born with deadly genetic diseases.
Doctors in Newcastle — who developed the advanced form of In Vitro Fertilization or IVF (人工授精) — are expected to be the first to offer the procedure and have already appealed for donor eggs. The first such child could be born, at the earliest, by the end of 2017.
Some families have lost multiple children to incurable mitochondrial (线粒体的) diseases, which can leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating.
The diseases are passed down from only the mother, so a technique using a donor egg as well as the mother’s egg and father’s sperm has been developed.
The resulting child has a tiny amount of their DNA from the donor, but the procedure is legal and reviews say it is ethical (伦理的) and scientifically ready.
“It is a decision of historic importance,” said Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). “I’m sure patients will be really pleased by what we’ve decided today.”
But some scientists have questioned the ethics of the technique, saying it could open the door to genetically-modified(转基因) ‘designer’ babies.
The HFEA must approve every clinic and every patient before the procedure can take place. Three-person babies have been allowed only in cases where the risk of a child developing mitochondrial disease is very high.
Prof Mary Herbert, from the Newcastle Fertility Centre, said, “It is enormously pleasing that our many years of research in this area can finally be applied to help families affected by these devastating diseases”.
“Now that we are moving forward towards clinical treatments, we will also need donors to donate eggs for use in treatment to prevent affected women transmitting disease to their children.”
Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, the director of the Welcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, said, “We are delighted by today’s decision. We will also provide long-term follow up of any children born.”
NHS England has agreed to fund the treatment costs of the first trial of three-person IVF for those women who meet the HFEA criteria, as long as they agree to long-term follow up of their children after they are born.
1. Why is it historically important to approve babies made from three people?| A．It helps couples who lose the ability to give birth to a baby. |
| B．It marks a foundation stone to change babies’ appearances before birth. |
| C．It stops deadly genetic diseases passing down to newly-born babies. |
| D．It turns out to be an advanced form of In Vitro Fertilization. |
| A．They pass down on to babies from their parents. |
| B．They prevent people’s heart from functioning normally. |
| C．Some children infected can be cured with proper treatment. |
| D．Babies can be infected with them through a donor’s egg. |
| A．Only when the baby to be born needs it to survive. |
| B．Only when the patient gets financially prepared. |
| C．Only when the clinic gets scientifically ready. |
| D．Only when the technique is ethnically accepted. |
| A．Supportive | B．Indifferent | C．Worried | D．Objective |
