Questões de Inglês - Grammar

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New player in cancer’s spread

    When people hear that they might have cancer, perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word. Metastatic disease — in which the tumor has traveled beyond its primary place to other spots in the body — is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths.

    Recently an unexpected player in this process has emerged: a common bacterium. Fusobacterium nucleatum, which normally lives harmlessly in the gums, appears to have a role in the spread of some cancers of the colon, esophagus, pancreas and — possibly — breast. Laboratory studies and evidence in patients indicate that the microbe can travel through the blood and infect tumor cells by attaching to a sugar molecule on their surface. There it provokes a range of signals and immune responses known to cause tumor cells to migrate. If further confirmed, the work with F. nucleatum could add to a growing understanding of how the microbiome influences cancer progression and may even point the way to fresh approaches to treatment.

(Claudia Wallis. Scientific American, outubro de 2020. Adaptado.)

Asia architects use green solutions to cool buildings

    In many subtropical countries across Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, air conditioning is increasingly being considered a necessity. But one architecture firm specializes in “bioclimatic architecture", says it could make air conditioning units redundant. By connecting with the local topography, climate, and vegetation, as well as cleverly manipulating a building's orientation, the firm can naturally create a comfortable indoor climate.

    In cooperation with the World Bank, Charles Gallavardin, director of an architecture firm in Asia, built an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City, which houses 350 families in an impoverished neighborhood. "We try to avoid big glass façades facing east or west, because that would make the building like an oven in a tropical climate," he says. "If you work with the main wind stream and have smart sun protection, you can do it -- you really can design buildings that need no air conditioning in a hot place like Vietnam." Gallavardin explains that a typical bioclimatic building is naturally about 5 Celsius cooler than the outside temperature, with natural ventilation and the ceiling fan doing the rest of the work.

    "It is crucial for all new building designs in cities to encompass bioclimatic architectural features," Myles McCarthy, director of implementation at the Carbon Trust consultancy and research firm, tells CNN. "As demands in Asian cities for buildings -- both domestic and commercial -- increases, and the need for higher density living continues to climb with urban populations, it will be crucial to ensure this growth does not drive energy and water consumptions higher."

(From: http://edition.cnn.com. Access: 31/07/2018. Adapted.)

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Homeless crack addict revitalizes small square in downtown São Paulo 
[1]  A homeless man has chosen to occupy his free time
revitalizing a small square on the corner of avenues São João
and Duque de Caxias, in downtown São Paulo. He planted
pau-brasil, palm, banana and avocado trees. He also planted
[5] boldo, sweet potatoes, beans, peppers and ornamental plants,
such as snake plants. Residents noticed the square’s gradual
changes and congratulated the author for the modifications.
Fonte: Folha de São Paulo Internacional – 21/03/2017

Alzheimer’s breakthrough: ultrasound successfully treats disease in mice

Rodents found to have improved memories after ultrasound treatment, without any apparent damage to brain tissue

Scientists believe they may have found a new weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease
– not in the form of a drug, but in focused beams of ultrasound.
While the approach has only been tested in mice, researchers said on Wednesday it proved
surprisingly good at clearing tangles of plaques linked to Alzheimer’s in the animals’ brains and
[5] improving their memory, as measured by tests such as navigating a maze.
In the past, high-energy ultrasound has been combined with injected microbubbles, which
vibrate in response to sound waves, to get drugs across the so-called blood brain barrier.
But the new research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, is the first
demonstration that ultrasound alone might have a beneficial effect on the memory-robbing
[10] condition. “Our research was very exploratory and we really didn’t expect to see such a massive
effect”, Juergen Goetz of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, one of the study authors,
said. “I’m really excited by this.”
After several weeks of treating mice that had been genetically altered to produce amyloid
plaques, the scientists found the ultrasound almost completely cleared the plaques in 75% of
[15] the animals, without apparent damage to brain tissue.
While there is still some debate as to whether plaques are a cause or a symptom of Alzheimer’s,
the experiment did find that the treated mice had improved memory, as measured by three
different tests, compared with untreated ones.
Goetz stressed that his research was at a very early stage and it would be several years before it
[20] could be tested in people. Several hurdles must be overcome first, including long-term checks
for side effects in animals and much more research into whether the approach will work with
thicker skulls and larger brains. While mice studies can give us an indication of how a treatment
may affect humans, they are only indications, as there are inherent differences between the
species, and between the model and the actual human disease.
[25] Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, affects close to 50 milion people
worldwide and that number is set to reach 135 milion by 2050, according to Alzheimer’s Disease
International, a non-profit campaign group.

theguardian.com

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Disponível em: http://teachinandlearnin.blogspot.com.br/. Acesso em: 09/05/2015.

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    Traditional medicine has been gradually forced underground in many societies due to pressure from missionaries and governments who perceived such practices as witchcraft. Contrary to those beliefs, however, traditional medicine has proven to be quite effective in treating both chronic diseases and psychological problems, especially those associated with stress, which frequently stem from social alienation, anxiety or loss of self-esteem. Examples of diseases influenced by stress are certain types of ulcers, skin problems and bronchial disorders.
    Traditional medicine is not only effective in treating psychosomatic illnesses, however. Many practitioners of traditional medicine have a solid knowledge of herbs and of their effects in healing organically based illness as well. Rather than perpetuate what is probably a meaningless distinction between psychosomatically based illnesses and organically based diseases, it is probably more useful to emphasize that most traditional healers utilize a holistic approach which deals with a wide variety of problems on three levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. Holistic treatment emphasizes disease prevention and positive changes in lifestyle to ensure a balance among these three aspects of life.
    Traditional medicine is usually community based. Healers are selected by a community process that emphasizes personal qualities, and they frequently have to pass various tests. Because they are from the community, traditional healers usually know their patients personally, and are well acquainted with their backgrounds, lifestyles and cultural beliefs. Another benefit of traditional medicine is that it is decentralized: it is easily and quickly available to individuals for whom traveling to urban centers for treatment is inconvenient, time-consuming and costly.

(www.culturalsurvival.org)