To write his own medical text, Li Shizhen referenced over 800 medical texts, countless books on history and geography, and works of literature. He even studied the complete works of many ancient poets, from     1     he selected a surprising number of verses about medicine. However, the greatest issue he encountered was the widespread     2    (inconsistent) in the use of drug names. Realising the importance of field research outweighed     3    of extensive reading, in 1565 Li travelled far and wide into the mountains and wilderness. He covered what are today’s provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, and many other places.

After over a decade of field research, Li     4    (successful) completed the first draft of his masterpiece, Bencao Gangmu, or the Compendium of Materia Medica in 1578. He revised     5     work at least three times right up until his death in 1593.

Since its first publication in 1596, the book     6    (receive) world-wide recognition. British naturalist Charles Darwin acknowledged the book     7     an “ancient Chinese encyclopedia.” In 2011, the book    8    (list) on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. In 2017, an international conference was held in Beijing     9    (celebrate) Li’s 500th birthday.

Today, there are a     10    (grow) number of international exchanges centering on Li Shizhen and his book, and many people around the world can still find the wisdom of human development in this ancient classic.

2 . Healthy human skin is covered with bacteria (细菌) that are quick to settle in an open wound. To prevent these organisms from spreading through the body, which can permanently injure or kill a person, the infected wound may need to be cleaned and treated with antibiotics. Medical professionals typically identify infections by unwrapping and observing a wound or by swabbing (用拭子擦拭) it and conducting a laboratory test. But removing a wound dressing can slow down the healing process. Plus, observations are subjective, while swab tests take time and require that a patient be physically present.

To address these issues, some research teams are developing devices that sit under bandages and continuously monitor indirect signs of infection, such as changes in wound temperature or acidity. And scientists at the National University of Singapore have now created an even more direct infection sensor.

This sensor can detect an enzyme (酶) called DNase. The enzyme acts as a reliable infection indicator because disease-causing bacteria produce it in large amounts inside wounds, whereas bacteria on healthy skin do not—so testing for the substance reduces the chance of a false positive result. Furthermore, DNase builds up before other infection signs appear. The new alert system, nicknamed the“wireless infection detection on wounds” (WINDOW) sensor, was detailed in Science Advances.

WINDOWs enzyme-sensing parts rely on a material called DNAgel. There searchers developed a particular kind of DNAgel that remains stable in watery environments, such as the human body, but begins to break down in the presence of DNase. They connected this gel (凝胶) to a chip that senses when the gel responds by sending a signal to a smartphone.

Thus far, the team has exposed the DNAgel to wound swabs from 18 people’s wounds to see how much the material degraded in the presence of the bacteria. There searchers also used the device on six living lab mice whose wounds were exposed to the same bacterial species, and it successfully detected infections.

3 . Wu Ming, a young German born after 1995, is a big fan of Chinese culture. As he thought some diseases can’t be treated _______ with Western medicine, he decided to _______traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In 2015, Wu came to Henan province, where a strong TCM culture can be _______. After a year of learning, he _______ the language barrier and started to learn Chinese medicine. Wu always _______ some Chinese herbal medicine by himself to know their flavours and effects, just like Shen Nong, a character in Chinese legend. In Wu’s opinion, TCM is one of the best-preserved _______ of Chinese culture.

Studying TCM also _______ Wu’s mind and lifestyle. He used to be _______ to electronic devices, playing video games every night. Instead of being trapped in the fast-paced but unhealthy daily _______, he now lives a(n) ________ and peaceful life, practicing good habits like drinking tea and reading.

Wu ________ what he has learned to help his family. He always provides his family members with some advice about staying fit after ________ their skin or tongues online. Over time, his family gradually began to understand his ________ for TCM.

Wu thinks there’s no big difference between China and Western countries. “________ comes from being out of touch”, said Wu. He plans to run a traditional Chinese clinic in Germany, which could serve as a(n) ________ between the two countries and publicize TCM and its culture.

4 . Desperately ill and seeking a miracle, David Bennett Sr. took the last bet on Jan. 7. when be became the first human to be successfully transplanted with the heart of a pig. “It creates the beat; it creates the pressure; it is his heart,” declared Bartley Griffith, director of the surgical team that performed the operation at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Bennett, 57, held on through 60 tomorrows, far longer than any previous patient who’d received a heart from another species. His remarkable run offered new hope that such procedures, known as xenotransplantation (异种移植), could help relieve the shortage of replacement organs, saving thousands of lives each year.

The earliest attempts at xenotransplantation of organs, involving kidneys from rabbits, goats, and other animals, occurred in the early 20th century, decades before the first successful human-to-human transplants. Rejection, which occurs when the recipient’s body system recognizes the donor organ as a foreign object and attacks it, followed within hours or days. Results improved after some special drugs arrived in the 1960s, but most recipients still died after a few weeks. The record for a heart xenotransplant was set in 1983, when an infant named Baby Fae survived for 20 days with an organ from a baboon (狒狒).

In recent years, however, advances in gene editing have opened a new possibility: re-edit some genes in animals to provide user-friendly spare parts. Pigs could be ideal for this purpose, because they’re easy to raise and reach adult human size in months. Some biotech companies. including Revivicor, are investing heavily in the field. The donor pig was offered by Revivicor from a line of animals in which 10 genes had been re-edited to improve the heart’s condition. Beyond that, the pig was raised in isolation and tested regularly for viruses that could infect humans or damage the organ itself.

This medical breakthrough provided an alternative for the 20% of patients on the heart transplant waiting list who die while waiting or become too sick to be a good candidate.

5 . DNA testing is one of modern medicine’s most significant breakthroughs. Today, anyone can receive personalized information about their genes (基因) and ancestry with just a little saliva (唾液). Now, a Seattle-based company is working to bring equally deep analysis to the trillions of proteins within our bodies.

Nautilus Biotechnology, a company founded in 2016 by Seattle’s Sujal Patel and the San Francisco Bay Area’s Parag Mallick, is developing a device to identify and count 95% of the different types of proteins in a biological sample.

Human cells can contain roughly 20,000 different types of proteins, with crucial functions ranging from digestion to disease protection. Each cell has a varying amount of each protein. The company wants to measure the key machinery (机制) inside cells with a level of detail that has never been done before. Existing tools, it says. can only measure up to 8% of the different types of proteins in blood samples.

So why count proteins at all? Research shows healthy cells and diseased cells have differing amounts and forms of each protein. For example, cancer cells may have more of Protein A than Protein B. Knowing that might help in two ways: First, doctors could look for higher Protein A levels to detect cancer early. Second, researchers could better design drugs to target Protein A.

Nautilus says such protein measurements, which are unique to every person and change throughout people’s lives, will not only help doctors identify more specific forms of disease but also help pharmaceutical (制药) companies find more precise drugs with fewer side effects.

While other companies also are building new protein analysis machines, experts and prospective customers have expressed excitement over Nautilus’s approach. Mallick, chief scientist of Nautilus and the brain behind its technology, is confident: “It’s not every day when you get…to work on something. That’s the opportunity to change all of biology.”

7 . Occasionally, doctors become patients too. While I wouldn’t wish ill-health on anyone, it can be an inspiring lesson for medical professionals to suddenly be on the other side.

This happened to me a few months ago when I had a kidney stone, which had decided to make its unwelcome presence known in a rather romantic fashion just as I was going out for dinner. The pain came from absolutely nowhere but within minutes I was incapacitated. I was quite taken aback by how astonishingly painful it was.

As a doctor, I initially refused to believe that anything was seriously wrong, because I have witnessed countless individuals come to the emergency room convinced they are dying only for nothing more than trapped wind and then creep (蹑手蹑脚) out as they burp (打嗝) loudly and the pain disappears. However, the unbearable pain continued to exist, forcing me to acknowledge that this was indeed more than just a stubborn burp,

I was particularly pleased to read afterwards in a medical textbook that renal colic, as the pain is known, is the “most painful event a person can endure, often described as being worse than childbirth”. It’s no wonder chronic (慢性的) pain drives people mad. While doctors talk about pain and its management, it’s hard to put into words how exhausting it really is until you’ve experienced it for yourself.

During my time in hospital, I interacted with numerous doctors, each exhibiting professionalism and kindness but one stuck out in my mind. He was actually the most junior of them all, but something about his manner was incredibly calming and comforting. Whenever he came to my bed to speak to me, he knelt down so he was at my eye level. This simple act rid me of the stress that other healthcare professionals unintentionally projected. Just kneeling down made all the difference.

Experiencing the role reversal of doctor-turned-patient provided me with profound insights into the realities of pain and effective patient care.

8 . From crystal-blue lakes to snow-capped mountains and thousand-year-old trees, Canada’s nature is admired around the world. Now it might also be just what the doctor ordered. An ambitious new programme allows doctors to write prescriptions (处方) for free annual passes to Canada’s national parks, encouraging their patients to improve their health — both mental and physical — by taking a stroll in nature.

The prescriptions are provided by PaRX, in partnership with Parks Canada. The first passes were handed out last month, giving holders access to more than 80 national parks, historic sites and nature reserves. PaRX, a health initiative (倡议) launched in 2019 by the British Columbia Parks Foundation, notes on its website that spending time in nature can lead to longer lives, increased energy, reduced stress and anxiety, improved heart health, less pain and better mood. Vitamin D from the sun’s rays has proven health benefits. The organization also hopes that the prescriptions will boost investment in conservation in Canada.

The initial provision covers four Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba. Participating doctors have only 100 annual passes to hand out for now, but PaRX hopes that the programme will be expanded.

“Medical research now clearly shows the positive health benefits of connecting with nature,” Steven Guilbeault, the environment minister, said. “I am confident this programme will quickly show its enormous value to the well-being of patients as it continues to expand throughout the country.”

Canada’s physicians are already in the habit of prescribing “nature therapy” as a treatment for anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, immune function and insomnia (失眠). Previously, though, they would write more general prescriptions, such as spending time in nature twice a week, for at least 20 minutes at a time. This is the first time that they have been able to equip their patients with tickets.

10 . When I was in nursing school, I had to focus more on my studies than other aspects of life, and learn so much in a short amount of time. However, the clinical experience of nursing school allowed me to have the opportunity to put what I learned in my classes and readings into action.

One of my favorite experiences during my clinical training was when I had a patient who was first starting chemotherapy (化疗). My nursing instructor Marie told me that patients often experience an anaphylactic (过敏性的) reaction to the medicine when they first start chemotherapy, so it is important to give the medicine at a slower rate. Marie said that if we had a patient who reacted to the medicine, we should stop running the chemotherapy, check the patient’s blood pressure, and then give the appropriate medicine from the emergency kit.

When I checked my patient a couple of minutes after starting his chemotherapy, I asked him questions related to an anaphylactic reaction. I also noticed his face was getting a little red and he looked short of breath. He mentioned having lower back pain, so I immediately stopped the chemotherapy, started taking his blood pressure, and reported it to Marie. His blood pressure was within his normal limits, so we gave him Benadryl via his IV. The Benadryl helped the patient, and we had the Benadryl running when we started his chemotherapy again, but at a slower rate. This time the patient did not have an anaphylactic reaction, and tolerated his chemotherapy well.

This experience taught me how important it is to assess your patient and to teach your patient beforehand about the reaction the patient could have due to the medicine. Marie and I taught our patient about the reactions he could have due to the chemotherapy; due to our teaching, our patient recognized his symptoms and was able to know that what he was experiencing was an expected reaction. During the clinical training, I had many experiences where I had to think on my feet and conduct nursing care quickly. These experiences taught me a lot about how to be a nurse and emphasized the importance of conducting proper patient care.