First Self ContainedHeart Implanted
??A patient on the brink ofdeath has received the world's first self-contained artificial heart-a bat-tery powered device about the size of a softball that runs without the need forwires, tubes or hoses sticking out of the chest.????
?? Two surgeons from the University of Louisvilleimplanted the titanium and plastic pump during a seven-hour operation at JewishHospital Monday. The hospital said the patient was "awake andre-sponsive" Tuesday and resting comfortably. It refused to releasepersonal details.
?? The patient had been expectedto die within a month without the operation, and doctors said they expected theartificial heart to extend the person's life by only a month But the device isconsidered a major step toward improving the patient's quality of life.??
?? The new pump, called AbioCor, is also a technological leap from the mechanical hearts used in the 1980s,which were attached by wires and tubes to bulky machinery outside the body. Themost fa- mous of those, the Jarvic-7, used air as a pumping device and wasattached to an apparatus about the size of a washing machine.??
?? "I think it'spotentially a major step forward in the artificial heart development,"said Dr. David Faxon, president of the American Heart Association. However, hesaid the dream of an implantable, permanent artificial heart is not yet areality: "This is obviously an experimental device whose long-term successhas to be demonstrated. " Only about half of the 4, 200 Americans on awaiting list for donor hearts receivedthem last year, and most of the rest died:??
?? Some doctors, includingRobert Higgins, chairman of cardiology at the Medical Colle??ge of Virgin-ia in Richmond, said artificial hearts are unlikely to replacedonor hearts.
?? "A donor heart in a goodtransplant can last 15 t0 30 years, " he said. "It's going to be hardto re-place that with a machine. "
?? The Abil Cor has a 2-poundpumping unit, and electronic controls that adjust the pumping?? speed based onthe body's needs. It is powered by a small battery pack worn outside the bodythat transmits current through the skin.
The pump of the first implanted self-contained heart was made of titanium andplastic????????????
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
Ulcers are wounds in thestomach that are similar to small cuts or tears. These wounds can harm the tis-sue in the stomach, the pipe that carries the food to the stomach or parts ofthe small intestines. Fluids in the stomach then increase the pain of an ulcer.How does a person know he or she has an ulcer? Doctors say most people withulcers feel a buming pain in their chest or stomach. This pain often is calledheart bunx It usually happens before eating or during the night. It causes somepeople to lose their desire to eat, or they are unable to keep food in theirstomachs. Doctors believed that ulcers were caused by unusualfy strong stomachfluids, which damaged stomach tissue. Now they have discovered that most ulcersare caused by a bacterial organism called Hillico Bactor Pilorie or HPillorie.HPillorie bacteria are what make stomach produce extra stomach fluid Doctorsfound that they can kill the bacteria with medicines called antibiotics. Healthexperts say the discovery of a cure for ulcers can save thousands of millionsof dollars in medical costs. They also believe curing ulcers will re- duce thenumber of people who develop stomach 'cancer. The number of people with stomachcancer is very high inJapan,Southeast Asia and parts of Africa.
Doctors say a person is more likely to getan ulcer if his or her family has had one. In fact a person with the familyhistory of ulcers is three times more likely to get one than other people.There are ways people can protect themselves from developing an ulcer. Doctorssay it is more important to reduce the amount of strong fluids in the stomach.To do this, doctors say, people should not smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.And they say people should reduce tension in their lives.
In the past, doctors could not do anything about stomach ulcers
A. Right
B. Wrong
C. Not mentioned
??This essay talks about DNA fingerprinting concerning the following aspects EXCEPT________??
A. legal application of the method
B. the way to obtain a DNA sample
C. work yet to be done about DNA fingerprinting
D. possible danger in drawing a DNA sample from the human body
Medicine Award Kicks off Nobel PrizeAnnouncements
Two scientists who have wonpraise for research into the growth of cancer cells could be candi-dates forthe Nobel Prize in medicine when the 2008 winners are presented on Monday,kicking off six days Nobel announcements.
Australian-born U. S. citizenElizabeth Blackburn and American Carol Greider have already won a series ofmedical honors for their enzyme research and experts say they could be amongthe front-run-ners for Nobel.
Only seven women have wonthe medicine prize since the first Nobel Prizes were handed out in 1901. Thelast female winner wasU. S.researcher Linda Buck in 2004, who shared the prize with Richard Axel.
Among the pair's possiblerivals are Frenchman Pierre Chambon and Americans Ronald Evans and ElwoodJensen, who opened up the field of studying proteins called nuclear hormonereceptors.
As usual, the awardcommittee is giving no hints about who is in the running before presenting itsdecision in a news conference at Stockholm'sKarolinska Institute.
Alfred Nobel, the Swede who invented dynamite,established the prizes in his will in the catego- ries of medicine, physics,chemistry, literature and peace. The economics prize is technically not a No-bel but a 1968 creation ofSweden'scentral bank.
Nobel left few instructions on how to selectwinners, but medicine winners are typically awarded for a specific breakthroughrather than a body of research.
Hans Jornvall, secretary ofthe medicine prize committee, said the lo million kronor (US $ 1. 3 million)prize encourages groundbreaking research but he did not think winning it wasthe primary goal for scientists.
"Individual researchersprobably don't look at themselves as potential Nobel Prize winners when they're at work," Jornvall told The Associated Press. "They get theirkicks from their research and their interest in how life functions. "
In 2006, Blackburn, of the University of California,San Francisco, and Greider, of Johns Hop- kins Universityin Baltimore, shared the Lasker prize for basicmedical research with Jack Szostak of Harvard Medical School. Their work setthe stage for research suggesting that cancer cells use telom- erase to sustaintheir uncontrolled growth.
Who is Not a likely candidate for this year's Nobel Prize in medicine?
A. Elizabeth Blackburn
B. Carol Greider
C. Linda Buck
D. Pierre Chambon