1 . For some of us, going to the dentist for routine check-ups is a thing of the ordinary. But for many people around the world, especially those in impoverished (贫困的) areas, having dental improvement and their teeth checked simply isn’t possible. A Brazilian dentist Felipe Rossi has devoted himself to helping changing that situation.

Growing up in USA, Felipe Rossi had just obtained the Bachelor of Medicine Degree and was about to start a master’s degree in Pediatric Dentistry (儿童口腔学) when a journey to his father’s home — Balsabo in Brazil — converted his initial plan. “All locals didn’t have access to dental care, and consequently, many of them suffered deformed teeth or even loss of teeth, leading to many people not daring to laugh with mouth open.” Felipe Rossi recalled. “A desire was planted in my heart. That is, to use my skills to bring healthy smiles to people suffering from dental problems.”

With the support of his parents, Felipe formed an NGO (non-government organization) called Porsorriso to give free oral treatments to individuals with low incomes who require cleaning. fillings, crowns, restoration work and more. His team is composed of approximately 30 registered volunteers who go with him to poor towns and villages in Brazil.

Sponsorship is generally provided by two private companies. Individuals may also make donations through the ‘Smile Solidarity’ program, where they can choose monthly amounts to contribute. Porsorriso also holds regular fundraisers to afford the cost of providing free dental services around the country.

As noble as its objective is, Felipe admits that Porsorriso is “struggling to survive” because of the huge cost of providing dental work and the constant fundraising events they have to hold to keep the NGO in normal functioning. “Challenging as it is, it did bring healthy teeth as well as renewed confidence to the locals. We will continue this transformative act whatever difficulties we will face”. Felipe said with a strong will.

2 . Nightmare disorder is characterized by frequent nightmares that cause unhappiness and greatly impact our life. But a new approach is added to existing therapy (疗法) by introducing certain sounds which can help a person to turn their nightmare into a sweet dream.

The existing therapy, called Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT), is already used as a way to reduce the frequency and intensity of nightmares. “You write down the bad dream in a very detailed way and then create new endings that are nonfrightening for nightmares,” said Dr. Kilkenny, the director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital.

In this newly published study, the 36 participants were divided into 2 equal-sized groups. Both groups practiced IRT, but the second group additionally used Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR). TMR works by associating the stimulation (刺激) of a specific sound with a specific thought while you’re awake. The daily practice saw them completing IRT with added TMR. The 36 participants were then recorded for 2 weeks as they slept.

Fortunately for the dreamers, both groups saw an improvement in their sleep and a drop in nightmare frequency. However, the group who had received the combination of IRT and TMR saw a drop in nightmare frequency that lasted for three months beyond the study — and even began to experience more joyful dreams instead of nightmares. “The study shows again that IRT alone works to improve nightmare disorder, but the new change is that the addition of TMR to IRT not only improves nightmare disorder but also increases the amount of positive dream experiences,” said Kilkenny.

While the results of this study are encouraging, it might be difficult to carry out them on your own. “If you’re experiencing frequent or serious nightmares, it may be helpful to first address your sleeping habits and make sure your are getting enough sleep with regular sleep and wake times,” said Dr. Dimitriu, the founder of Menlo Sleep Medicine in California.

4 . Metin Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and his colleagues have developed tiny robots called “microrollers” that can carry cancer drugs and selectively target human breast cancer cells. The team drew inspiration for the design of the robots from white blood cells in the human body, which can move along the walls of blood vessels (血管) against the direction of blood flow.

The microrollers are round and made from glass microparticles. One half of the robot was coated with a thin magnetic nanofilm (磁性纳米膜) made from nickel and gold. The other half was coated with the cancer drug doxorubicin as well as molecules that recognize cancer cells.

The team tested the robots using mouse blood and artificial channels lined with human endothelial cells—the kind of cells that line the inner walls of our blood vessels. The robots were exposed to a mixture of cancerous and healthy tissue. The microrollers selectively attached to the cancer cells and were activated using UV light to release the doxorubicin.

By applying magnetic fields, the team was able to control the movement of the microrollers, both with and against the flow of blood. The microrollers can reach a speed of up to 600 micrometers per second. “If you come to a spot where you need to take the right path and if you miss it, then you could go back and go to the right one,” says Setti.

In future, the researchers want to use other methods to start the drug release, such as heat or near-infrared light. They also plan to try making microrollers out of materials that would break down in the body over a few weeks or months.

The team hopes to test the microrollers in animals soon. “The rollers need to carry enough cancer drugs, which is why we need to have them in large numbers,” says Setti. “But since we can locally take drugs to the right target, we don’t need huge dosages (剂量).”

Many hospitals employ therapy (治疗) dogs to comfort patients, but at Calais Hospital in

Northern France, a different sort of therapy animal wanders in the halls. Peyo is a 15-year-old horse who used to compete professionally     1     his trainer Hassen Bouchakour. Now, he’s comforting patients and family members alike.

“Doctor Peyo”, as he is known to the hospital staff, seems to have a special gift for detecting     2     sick or injured. Bouchalour says that even at competitions, Peyo seemed to seek out contact specifically with those     3     (struggle) physically or mentally. After a few years of research, vets believe Peyo’s brain     4     (function) in a unique way.

In the hospital, Peyo goes from door to door in the care center.     5     is no doubt that Peyo has been fairly effective in reducing the     6     (anxious) of patients as well as their family members. According to doctors, they knew how     7     (benefit) Peyo’s presence was when they noticed that patients     8     were regularly interacting with him required fewer intense drugs. Peyo has stayed with many patients right until the end of their lives.

Animals have an amazing power     9     (comfort) us even during our     10     (hard) times. Perhaps this uplifting story of animal companionship will encourage more medical institutions to look into the healing benefits of animals.

6 . The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA） has approved a debatable Alzheimer's treatment, the first that promises to slow the disease's destruction in the brain.

The drug, aducanumab, is also the first new Alzheimer's treatment approved since 2003.However, in 2019, aducanumab was nearly abandoned after it appeared unlikely to succeed in two clinical trials. But after reanalyzing more data, the drug's developer Biogen saw signs indicating the drug might work, and decided to pursue FDA approval.

Still, today's decision concerns some doctors and scientists because they aren't convinced that the drug actually works. Approving a drug that's not effective would offer patients false hope, those experts argue. “This is a great day for Biogen but a dark day for the field of Alzheimer's research,” says Michael Greicius, a neurologist at Stanford. Pushing forward on the “illusion of progress,” he says, “will come at a cost to genuine progress in finding an effective treatment for this destructive disease.”

Others disagree that the evidence is slim, and are excited about having a new tool to fight a disease that has escaped an effective treatment for so long. “We have been waiting decades for this,” says Maria Carrillo, an expert at the Alzheimer's Association. A drug that delays decline due to Alzheimer's promises patients “to sustain independence and to hold onto memories longer,” she says.

The drug targets the sticky protein—A-beta（淀粉样蛋白). Some researchers suspect that in Alzheimer's, A-beta confuses connections between nerve cells and damages brain tissue, ultimately causing Alzheimer's symptoms. But that idea is still unsettled. Brain scans reveal that aducanumab is effective at reducing A-beta in the brain. What's less clear is whether this reduction comes with consistent improvements in people's quality of life.