A infected body fluidsB against the outbreak severityC the mode of transmissionD the initial days of being infectedE three countries in West AfricaF within a wide range of days

The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

The political situation in the region has deteriorated rapidly.

She's extremely competent and industrious .

He said some harsh words about his brother.

We were attracted by the lure of quick money.

The organization was bold enough to face the press.

A in your bodyB without waterC before longD for a changeE on a busy dayF to your weight

Ebola Outbreak1 You are likely aware that several countries in West Africa are battling an Ebola outbreak. Ebola is a dangerous and often lethal viral infection. Scientists believe that humans contracted the virus by eating the meat of rare animals. It is now believed that bats are the primary carriers of the virus.2 To date, there are only three major countries in West Africa experiencing a major outbreak: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. However, other countries such as Nigeria have reported confirmed cases of Ebola with their border.3 Unless you recently visited one of the three affected West countries, your risk of contracting the virus is virtually zero. Unlike other recent airborne virus outbreaks like SARS, the Ebola virus can only be spread through direct contact with an infected person. Specifically, Ebola is spread through contact with body fluids. Though the vims is transmittable, only an infected person exhibiting symptoms is communicable.4 The signs and symptoms of Ebola are non-specific and patients typically exhibit them after a week of contracting the virus. Symptoms may appear as early as two days or as late as three weeks after initial infection. Symptoms include disgust, weakness and stomach pain. More uncommon symptoms include chest pain, bleeding and sore throat.5 Ebola is devastating because of its ability to attack and replicate in every organ of the body. This causes an overstimulation of the body's inflammatory response, causing the flu-like symptoms. The virus also causes bleeding and impairs the body's normal clotting mechanism(凝血机制), making bleeding even more severe. Loss of blood volume and decreased organ perfusion(器官灌注)ultimately lead to organ failure and death.6 The current outbreak is the deadliest viral outbreak in over 35 years. While diseases such as the malaria(疟疾)are far more communicable, Ebola is one of the world's most fatal viral infections. Ebola's fatality rate exceeds that of SARS.A Am I at risk of contracting the virus?B Is the current outbreak the deadliest?C How do I know if I have contracted the virus?D What areas are currently affected?E What exactly does Ebola do to the body?F What caused the Ebola outbreak?

It is prudent to start any exercise program gradually at first.

He achieved success through hard work.

One-third of Parents Lack Facts about Child Development One-third of parents of babies have a surprisingly low knowledge of child development, including basic concepts about what their children should know or how they should act, a new study finds. For instance, the study found that many parents don't know that 1-year-olds can't tell the difference between right and wrong, and often don't cooperate or share when playing with other children. The results are surprising because the parents who took part in the survey had young children , said lead author Dr. Heather Paradis, a pediatric fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. "They were watching or had just watched their kids go through this development , and they were probably the most knowledgeable of anybody. " Paradis and her colleagues examined the results of a survey of parents—98. 6 percent of whom were mothers—of more than 10,000 9-month-old babies. As part of the survey, the parents were asked 11 questions designed to test their knowledge of a baby's development. The researchers also examined what the parents said about their interactions with their children, and watched videotapes of how the parents taught new things to their kids. One-third of those surveyed incorrectly answered four or more of the questions. Even when the researchers adjusted the statistics to account for such factors as education levels and income, those parents were still less likely to enjoy "healthy interactions" with their children. A lack of proper understanding of a child's development can cause assorted problems, Paradis said. For example, she said, a mother might expect an 18-month-old child to sit still for a doctor's appointment, even though children that age are normally curious and like to wander around. "A mom could misinterpret a child's normal curiosity as intentionally being defiant, and could respond with harsh discipline, withdrawal of affection and repetition of that pattern over time," Paradis said. "That could hinder the child's potential for full growth and development. " The findings were to be presented Sunday at the Pediatric Academic Societies' meeting in Honolulu. One solution, Paradis said, is for pediatricians to take a more active role in educating new parents. "By improving knowledge of child development among all parents, not just those who are at highest risk, there's an opportunity to enhance parent-child interaction," she said. " It can ultimately lead to better parenting. "

Better Control of TB Seen If a Faster Cure Is Found The World Health Organization estimates that about one-third of all people are infected with bacteria that cause tuberculosis(结核病). Most times, the infection remains inactive(不活跃的). But each year about eight million people develop active cases of TB, usually in their lungs. Two million people die of it. The disease has increased with the spread of AIDS and drug - resistant forms of tuberculosis. Current treatments take at least six months. Patients have to take a combination of several antibiotic(抗生素)drugs daily. But many people stop as soon as they feel belter. Doing that can lead to an infection(传染病)that resists treatment. Public health experts agree that a faster-acting cure for tuberculosis would be more effective. Now a study estimates just how effective it might be. A professor of international health at Harvard University led the study. Joshua Salomon says a shorter treatment program would likely mean not just more patients cured. It would also mean fewer infectious patients who can pass on their infection to others. The researchers developed a mathematical(数学的)model to examine the effects of a two -month treatment plan. They tested the model with current TB conditions in Southeast Asia. The scientists found that a two-month treatment could prevent about twenty percent of new cases. And it might prevent about twenty-five percent of TB deaths. The model shows that these reductions would take place between two thousand twelve and two thousand thirty. That is, if a faster cure is developed and in wide use by two thousand twelve. The World Health Organization developed the DOTS program in nineteen ninety. DOTS(短 期直接观察治疗)is Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course. Health workers watch tuberculosis patients take their daily pills to make sure they continue treatment. Earlier this year, an international partnership of organizations announced a plan to expand the DOTS program. The ten-year plan also aims to finance research into new TB drugs. The four most common drugs used now are more than forty years old. The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development(全球结核病药物开发联盟)says its long-term goal is a treatment that could work in as few as ten doses.

Her behaviour is extremely childish .

The story was very touching .

It is the movement,not the color,of objects that excites the bull.

Dangers Await Babies with Altitude Women who live in the world's highest communities tend to give birth to underweight babies, a new study suggests. These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes. Research has hinted that newborns in mountain communities are lighter than average. But it wasn't clear whether this is due to reduced oxygen levels at high altitude or because their mothers are under-nourished—many people who live at high altitudes are relatively poor compared with those living lower down. To find out more,Dino Giussani and his team at Cambridge University studied the records of 400 births in Bolivia during 1997 and 1998. The babies were born in both rich and poor areas of two cities:La Paz and Santa Cruz. La Paz is the highest city in the world, at 3. 65 kilometers above sea level, while Santa Cruz is much lower, at 0.44 kilometers. Sure enough, Giussani found that the average birthweight of babies in La Paz was significantly lower than in Santa Cruz. This was true in both high and low-income families. Even babies born to poor families in Santa Cruz were heavier on average than babies born to wealthy families in lofty La Paz. "We were very surprised by this result,"says Giussani. The results suggest that babies born at high altitude are deprived of oxygen before birth. " This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child," says Giussani. His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to the rest of the body. Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood, for example. Low birthweight is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life.

New U. S. Plan for Disease Prevention Urging Americans to take responsibility for their health, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Tuesday launched a $ 15 million program to try to encourage communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes(糖尿病). The initiative highlights the costs of chronic diseases—the leading causes of death in the United States—and outlines ways that people can prevent them, including better diet and increased exercise. "In the United States today,7 of 10 deaths and the vast majority of serious illness, disability and health care costs are caused by chronic diseases," the Health and Human Services Department said in a statement. The causes are often behavioral—smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise. "I am convinced that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future," Thompson told a conference held to launch the initiative. " Our current health care system is not structured to deal with the rising costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices. " Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than $351 billion in 2003. " These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for us to lead healthier, longer lives," he said. The $ 15 million is designed to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more. Daily exercise such as walking can prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes,and prevent cancer and strokes. The money will also go to community organizations, clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at risk of diabetes about what they can do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening. The American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancers can be caught by screening, including Pap tests(巴氏试验)for cervical cancer(宫颈癌), mammograms for breast cancer, colonoscopies(结肠镜检查),and prostate(前列腺的)checks. If such cancers were all caught by early screening, the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent.

These products are inferior to those we bought last year.

Most Adults in U. S. Have Low Risk of Heart Disease More than 80 percent of U. S. adults have a less than 10-percent risk of developing heart disease in the next 10 years, according to a report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology(心脏病学). Just 3 percent have a risk that exceeds 20 percent. " I hope that these numbers will give physicians, researchers, health policy analysts, and others a better idea of how coronary(心脏冠状动脉的)heart disease is distributed in the U. S. population," lead(带头的)author Dr. Earl S. Ford, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said in a statement. The findings are based on analysis of data from 13 ,769 subjects, between 20 and 79 years of age, who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition(营养的供给)Examination Survey from 1988 to 1994. Overall, 82 percent of adults had a risk of less than 10 percent, 15 percent had a risk that fell between 10 to 20 percent and 3 percent had a risk above 20 percent. The proportion of subjects in the highest risk group increased with advancing age, and men were more likely than women to be in this group. By contrast, race or ethnicity(种族划分)had little effect on risk distributions. Although the report suggests that most adults have a low 10 -year risk of heart disease, a large proportion have a high or immediate risk, Dr. Daniel S. Berman, from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Dr. Nathan D. Wong, from the University of California at Irvine, note in a related editorial. Aggressive treatment measures and public health strategies are needed to shift the overall population risk downward, they add.