1 . 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.

Hogewey, a small village at the edge of Amsterdam, has everything—restaurants, shops, a movie theater, and even a hairdresser. In    1    23 apartments of the village, the 152 residents spend their days    2    peace. However, it is different from the rest of the    3    （village）in the world. It's not an ordinary village for people    4    （live）in. Hogewey is a nursing home and the residents are dementia patients.

Hogewey is quite similar to a movie set. Doctors and nurses don't walk around in white uniform. Instead, they play the roles of the shopkeepers, restaurant managers and even supermarket cashiers in Hogewey. The nurses are neighbors    5    chat with residents instead of    6    （give）medications to them. Patients in Hogewey lead a normal life where they are at    7    （easy）with medical staffs. Also, they require less medication as they feel at home.

Since its beginning, Hogewey    8    （receive）praises from experts. Although Hogewey's kinder approach has been received with    9    （appreciate）, it doesn't come cheap. Building Hogewey has cost    10    （rough）25 million dollars.

4 . A new research shows that blood from young adult mice that get lots of exercise benefits the brains of same-aged, inactive mice. A single protein in the blood of exercising mice seems largely responsible for the benefit.

For the study in Nature, researchers compared blood from exercising and inactive mice of the same age. They showed that transfusions（输入）of blood from running mice reduced neuroinflammation（神经炎症）in the inactive mice and improved their cognitive performance.

Mice love to run. Give a caged mouse access to a running wheel and it will run up 4 to 6 miles a night. If you lock the wheel, the mouse won't log nearly as much exercise, although it's still free to walk about in its cage.

The investigators put either functional or locked running wheels into the cages of 3-month-old lab mice. A month of steady running was enough to greatly increase the quantity of neurons and other cells in the brains of marathoner mice when compared with those of inactive mice.

Next, the researchers collected blood from marathoner and inactive mice. Then, every three days, they injected other inactive mice with plasma（血浆）from either marathoner or couch-potato mice. Each injection equaled 7% to 8% of the recipient mouse s total blood amount.

On two different lab tests of memory, inactive mice injected with marathoner plasma outperformed their equally inactive peers who received couch-potato plasma.

In addition, the researchers discovered a protein in the blood that appears to play an important role in the anti-neuroinflammatory exercise effect. Remove a single protein, clusterin（丛生蛋白）, from marathoner mice's plasma and there will be no anti-inflammatory effect on inactive mice's brains. No other protein the scientists similarly tested had the same effect. There was significantly more clusterin in the marathoners' blood than in the couch potatoes' blood.

Researchers are expecting that a drug that can play clusterin's role might help slow the course of neuroinflammation-associated diseases.

5 . If you would like to work in the medical field, there are many types of companies, organizations, and medical employers from which to choose.    1    Whether you want to work for a large organization or a small private medical office practice, there is an employer that would fit your needs. Read on to learn more about a variety of interesting practice environments and medical employers.

Hospitals are one of the first places people may think of when deciding to work in the health care field, but there are many different types of hospitals available.    2    Just like companies in any other industry, each hospital has a different culture and environment. Therefore, consider the different features of the hospitals before making your decision.

    3    There are people who are unable to take care of themselves due to age, serious illness or trauma. Patients in nursing homes are often unable to handle basic care such as bathing, feeding, and dressing. Therefore, nursing homes employ a lot of nursing assistants to help with the many labor-intensive tasks.

Besides, a variety of medical job opportunities are available in educational field, such as colleges, university medical centers, or teaching hospitals.    4    

Non-profit organizations are groups that have been formed to promote a cause. There are hundreds of non-profit organizations that advocate health-related causes or activities.     5     So it is necessary to do some research to find one that’s suitable for you.