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回顧星期天LBS - 健康相關時事趣聞 All about health

· 每日跟讀單元 Daily English,國際時事跟讀Daily Shadowing

Topic: Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain

There is no such thing as a "safe" level of drinking, with increased consumption of alcohol associated with poorer brain health, according to a new study.

根據一項新研究,沒有所謂的「安全」飲酒量,飲酒量增加與大腦健康狀況較差有關。

In an observational study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers from the University of Oxford studied the relationship between the self-reported alcohol intake of some 25,000 people in the UK, and their brain scans.

在一項尚未經過同行評審的觀察性研究中,牛津大學的研究人員,研究英國約2萬5000人報告的飲酒量,和與他們的大腦掃描圖像之間的關係。

The researchers noted that drinking had an effect on the brain’s gray matter - regions in the brain that make up "important bits where information is processed," according to lead author Anya Topiwala, a senior clinical researcher at Oxford.

研究人員指出,飲酒對大腦的灰質有影響,灰質是構成「重要資訊處理位元」的大腦部位,牛津大學高級臨床研究員托皮瓦拉說。

The team also investigated whether certain drinking patterns, beverage types and other health conditions made a difference to the impact of alcohol on brain health.

研究團隊還調查了特定的飲酒習慣、酒精飲料類型和其他健康狀況,是否會改變酒精對大腦健康的影響程度。

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Topic: Scientists have taught bees to smell the coronavirus 科學家教導蜜蜂嗅出冠狀病毒

Scientists in the Netherlands have trained bees to identify COVID-19 through their sense of smell, according to a press release from Wageningen University.

瓦赫寧恩大學發布新聞稿聲稱,荷蘭科學家已訓練蜜蜂透過嗅覺,識別2019冠狀病毒病(COVID-19,武漢肺炎)。

The research was conducted on more than 150 bees in Wageningen University’s bio-veterinary research laboratory.

這項研究是在瓦赫寧恩大學生物獸醫研究實驗室對150多隻蜜蜂進行的。

The scientists trained the bees by giving them a treat — a sugar-water solution — every time they were exposed to the scent of a mink infected with COVID-19. Each time the bees were exposed to a non-infected sample, they wouldn’t get a reward.

科學家透過獎勵糖水溶液來訓練蜜蜂,每次蜜蜂在聞到感染COVID-19的貂身上氣味時,都會獲得獎勵。如果蜜蜂聞到的是沒被感染病毒的氣味樣本,則不會獲得獎勵。

Eventually, the bees could identify an infected sample within a few seconds — and would then stick out their tongues like clockwork to collect the sugar water.

最終,這些蜜蜂可以在幾秒鐘內識別出感染的樣本,而且牠們的舌頭會像發條一樣,伸出來吸取糖水。

Bees aren’t the first animals to detect COVID-19 by scent. Researchers have also trained dogs to distinguish between positive and negative COVID-19 samples from human saliva or sweat with fairly high levels of accuracy.

蜜蜂不是第一種透過氣味識別COVID-19的動物。研究人員也曾訓練狗區分來自人類唾液或汗液的陽性和陰性COVID-19樣本 ,準確率相當高。

Topic: Whale of a time: NYC offers walk-up vaccinations for all

Appointments are no longer mandatory at any of the coronavirus vaccination sites run by New York City, including its newest and maybe coolest location: beneath the giant blue whale at the Museum of Natural History.

任何紐約市設立的新型冠狀病毒疫苗接種處,不再強制要求預約,包括最新設立、或許也是最酷的地點:位於自然歷史博物館巨大藍鯨下的接種處。

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that the city will now be accepting walk-ins at all its vaccination sites. "You can just walk up and get vaccinated," he said.

市長白思豪週五宣布,該市所有接種站現在接受隨到隨登記接種,「你可以直接進來接種疫苗」。

The expansion of walk-in service comes as supplies of the vaccine have increased.

擴大實施現場登記接種,是在疫苗供應量已經增加之際推出。

Just weeks ago, most people trying to get an appointment for a vaccination in the nation’s biggest city had to game online appointment systems in which scarce slots would be snapped up in moments.

僅在數週之前,在這個全美最大城市,大多數要預約接種時間的人還得在網路預約系統上賭運氣,稀少的名額一下子就會被搶光。

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Topic: Serbian diner thanks those getting COVID shots with plates of roast meat (感謝客人打新冠疫苗 塞爾維亞餐館請吃烤肉)

Get a COVID-19 vaccine and you will be served a plate of spit-roast ox or wild game goulash for free - in the Serbian city of Kragujevac.

塞爾維亞「米盧廷圖書館」餐廳招待接種疫苗的顧客吃牛肉大餐。(路透資料照)

在塞爾維亞克拉古耶瓦茨,只要接種新冠肺炎疫苗,就能免費獲得一盤烤牛肉串或野味燉牛肉。

Restaurateur Stavro Raskovic offered the popular local dishes as his way of promoting vaccination and campaigning for the full reopening of the country’s restaurants, cafes and bars.

餐館老闆斯塔夫羅.拉斯科維奇端出這2道受歡迎的本地菜餚,作為推廣疫苗及推動該國餐廳、咖啡廳、酒吧全面重新營業的方式。

Lockdowns in 2020 and partial restrictions this year have driven Biblioteka kod Milutina (Milutin’s Library) restaurant to the brink of closure, he said.

他說,2020年的封城及今年的局部封鎖措施,讓「米盧廷圖書館」餐廳瀕臨停業。

"Our trade, catering, has been particularly hit... and if this (vaccination) is the way out, then we wanted to contribute."

「我們的生意、外燴服務尤其受到影響…若這(疫苗)是解決方法,我們想要出一份力。」

Local health authorities turned the restaurant into a vaccination point to deliver shots made by Pfizer/BioNtech, and China’s Sinopharm.

當地衛生當局把餐廳變成疫苗接種點,提供輝瑞/BNT疫苗和中國國藥集團疫苗。

"Today we have vaccines from both East and West on the menu, to everybody’s taste," said Raskovic.

拉斯科維奇說:「今天我們的菜單上有來自東方和西方的疫苗,任君挑選。」

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Topic: Dracula’s castle’ offers tourists Covid shots 「德古拉的城堡」提供觀光客武漢肺炎疫苗接種

Visitors to Romania’s forbidding Bran Castle are being jabbed with needles rather than vampiric fangs this weekend in a coronavirus vaccination drive.

造訪羅馬尼亞令人生畏的布蘭城堡的遊客,在本週末的冠狀病毒疫苗接種活動中,將會被針頭而不是吸血鬼的毒牙扎刺。

Those who take the jab are handed a certificate hailing their"boldness and responsibility"promising they will be welcome at the castle"for the coming 100 years" - as well as offered a free tour of the"torture chamber".

那些接受施打的人將拿到證書,為他們的「勇氣與責任」喝采,並承諾這座城堡在未來100年都歡迎他們,並提供一次「酷刑室」的免費導覽。

Nestled in a misty valley in the Carpathian mountains, Bran Castle is associated with the 15th-century Romanian prince Vlad Dracula.

布蘭城堡坐落於喀爾巴阡山迷霧籠罩的山谷,與15世紀羅馬尼亞王子弗拉德.德古拉有關。

Dracula author Bram Stoker is believed to have been inspired by Vlad and descriptions of Bran Castle when writing his 1897 novel that helped found the modern vampire genre.

德古拉的作者布拉姆.史托克在撰寫他的1897年的小說時,被認為受到弗拉德與布蘭城堡的描述的啟發,這本小說幫助他奠定現代吸血鬼體裁。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1449642;https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1449828;https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1450439

Topic: Spanking may affect brain development in children

Spanking may affect a child’s brain development in similar ways to more severe forms of violence, according to a new study led by Harvard researchers.

哈佛大學研究人員領導的一項新研究表明,打屁股對兒童大腦發育的影響,可能與更嚴重的暴力虐待造成的後果類似。

The research, published recently in the journal Child Development, builds on existing studies that show heightened activity in certain regions of the brains of children who experience abuse in response to threat cues.

這篇最近發表在《兒童發育》期刊上的研究,以現有的一些研究為基礎,這些研究發現,遭受虐待的兒童在回應威脅提示時,大腦的特定區域活動會增強。

The group found that children who had been spanked had a greater neural response in multiple regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). These areas of the brain respond to cues in the environment that tend to be consequential, such as a threat, and may affect decision-making and processing of situations.

研究團隊發現,打屁股會增強兒童大腦前額葉皮層(PFC)多個區域的神經反應。大腦的這些區域會根據環境中的威脅等重要線索做出反應,並可能影響兒童的決策,以及對局勢的分析能力。

According to the study’s authors, corporal punishment has been linked to the development of mental health issues, anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and substance use disorders.

研究作者指出,體罰一直和心理健康問題、焦慮、憂鬱、行為問題及藥物濫用有關。

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Topic: Coffee before exercise increases fat-burning/運動前喝咖啡增加燃脂

If you’re looking to maximize the amount of fat burned in your next workout, think about having a coffee half an hour before you get started – as a new study suggests it can make a significant difference to fat burning, especially later on in the day.

如果你希望在下次運動健身時最大程度地燃燒脂肪,不妨考慮在開始之前半小時喝咖啡—因為有新研究表明,它可以使脂肪燃燒量明顯變化,尤其是在下午。

Researchers found that 3 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight can boost the rate of fat burning during aerobic exercise, based on results gathered from 15 male volunteers.

研究人員發現,根據從15名男性志願者收集到的結果,按每公斤體重3毫克的量來攝取咖啡因,就可以提高有氧運動期間的脂肪燃燒率。

The coffee dose was shown to increase maximal fat oxidation rate(MFO, a measure of how efficiently the body burns off fat)by an average of 10.7 percent in the morning and 29 percent in the afternoon.

研究表明,這個咖啡攝取量可以增加最大脂肪氧化率(MFO,衡量人體燃燒脂肪效率的指標),上午平均增加10.7%,下午增加29%。

This is a study with a fairly small sample of participants, so it’s important not to jump to too broad a conclusion, but the results are clear enough to suggest that there is some kind of association there.

由於該研究的參與者樣本數很少,因此重要的是不要過於廣泛下結論,但結果足夠清楚,表明存在某種關聯。

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Topic: Study Shows Baldness Can Be a Business Advantage 研究:光頭可成職場優勢

Men with shaved heads are perceived to be more masculine, dominant and, in some cases, to have greater leadership potential than those with longer locks or with thinning hair, according to a recent study out of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

賓州大學華頓商學院最近的一項研究顯示,剃光頭的男人讓人覺得更有男人味和支配地位,在某些情況下,他們比頭髮較長或者頭髮稀疏的男人看起來更具領導潛力。

Some executives say the style makes them appear younger—or at least, makes their age less evident—and gives them more confidence than a comb-over or monk-like pate.

一些主管認為,光頭的髮型讓他們看起來更年輕,至少沒那麼顯老,而且相較於將頭髮梳向一邊或像修道士一樣的腦袋瓜,這種髮型能讓他們感到更自信。

The study found that men with thinning hair were viewed as the least attractive and powerful of the bunch, a finding that tracks with other studies showing that people perceive men with typical male-pattern baldness as older and less attractive. For those men, the solution could be as cheap and simple as a shave.

該研究發現,頭髮稀疏的男人被認為最沒有魅力、最沒有力量的一群人。這一結果也與其他研究相符,這些研究表明,人們認為典型的雄性禿頭讓男人看上去更老,更缺乏魅力。對於這些男人來說,既便宜又簡單的解決辦法就是剃個頭。