Week 5 - Still Alice, Alzheimer's disease

Monday, February 2, 2015

Julianne Moore’s performance as a vibrant woman fading into the darkness of Alzheimer's is doing more than earning awards for actress Julianne Moore. The movie "Still Alice" is raising awareness of a disease too often suffered in isolation, even if the Hollywood face is younger than the typical real-life patient.

Some things to know about Alzheimer's:

ALZHEIMER'S IS INCREASING BUT THE EARLY-ONSET FORM ISN'T COMMON

The movie is about a linguistics professor stricken at the unusually young age of 50 with a form of Alzheimer's that runs in her family. That type of Alzheimer's accounts for a small fraction of the brain-destroying disease.

About 35 million people worldwide, and 5.2 million in the U.S., have Alzheimer's or similar dementias. The vast majority are 65 or older. Barring medical breakthroughs, U.S. cases are expected to more than double by 2050, because of the aging population.

As many as 4 percent of cases worldwide are thought to be the early-onset form that strikes people before age 65, usually in their 40s or 50s, said the Alzheimer's Association's chief science officer, Maria Carrillo, who served as a scientific adviser for the movie. In the U.S., the association estimates that's 200,000 people.

GENE TESTING ISN'T RECOMMENDED FOR MOST PEOPLE

Alice's type is even rarer; she tells her three adult children in the movie: "It's familial. It's passed on genetically."

With this autonomic dominant form of young Alzheimer's, inheriting one of three genes with particular mutations leads to the disease. Children of an affected parent have a 50 percent chance of having inherited the family's culprit mutation. As in other families, Alice's children have to grapple with whether they want to be tested to find out.

But the vast majority of Alzheimer's isn't linked to a particular bad gene. There are various genes that can increase the risk, but people who never develop dementia symptoms can carry them, too. That's why medical guidelines don't recommend genetic testing for the average person.

MANY SYMPTOMS ARE UNIVERSAL REGARDLESS OF AGE OF ONSET

"I can see the words hanging in front of me and I can't reach them, and I don't know who I am or what I'm going to lose next," Alice says.

To help with the movie's first-person perspective, Carrillo's group put actress Moore in touch with someone in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's who could describe how disorienting symptoms felt — that frustrating inability to retrieve a word or the fear that comes with suddenly not recognizing a familiar place.

Forgetting a word now and then happens to lots of people. The Alzheimer's Association lists warning signs that may distinguish between normal forgetfulness and something you should discuss with a doctor. On the worry list: memory loss that disrupts daily life, difficulty completing familiar tasks, withdrawing from social activities and personality changes.

PEOPLE MAY COMPENSATE FOR A WHILE

If it seemed like the movie's Alice suddenly declined fast, consider a concept that neuroscientists call "cognitive reserve." People who have had more years of education are thought to have some protection because the extra learning increased connections between their brain's neurons. When Alzheimer's begins blocking those connections, the brain at first can choose an alternate route to retrieve a memory.

"Your brain's kept buffered up," explained Carrillo. But eventually, the brain reaches a tipping point and can't compensate any longer, so "the change seems more dramatic."

WHAT'S IN THE PIPELINE

There is no cure for Alzheimer's, and today's treatments only temporarily ease some symptoms. Scientists aren't even sure what causes the disease, although a sticky brain protein called amyloid is one suspect.

Nor is diagnosis simple. There is no one Alzheimer's test, but a battery of evaluations. Sometimes, doctors use PET scans to measure amyloid buildup, but only in carefully selected cases because plenty of people without Alzheimer's harbor the gunk, too.

The Obama administration has declared a goal of finding effective Alzheimer's treatments by 2025. Research suggests Alzheimer's begins silently ravaging the brain up to 20 years before symptoms begin. One approach under study now is testing to see whether curbing sticky amyloid during that window period might at least postpone symptoms a few more years, if not prevent them.

節錄自http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/alice-highlights-hidden-toll-alzheimer-article-1.2100571

Structure of the Lead

Who- Julianne Moore
When- 2015
What- A film about early-onset ALZHEIMER'S disease
Why- maybe passed on genetically
Where- United States of America
How- The disease can’t be cured and today's treatments only temporarily ease some symptoms

Keywords

1. vibrant (a.)充滿活力的
2. mutation (n.)突變;變種
3. culprit (n.)禍首
4. grapple (v.)搏鬥
5. administration (n.)行政部門;行政
6. ravage (v.)糟蹋;摧殘
7. neuroscientists (n.)神經學家
8. buffer up (v ph.)緩衝
9. gunk (n.)泥狀物質

Medical Words
1. dementia symptom (n.)癡呆症
2. disorienting symptom (n.)定向障礙
3. cognitive reserve (n.)認知儲備
4. amyloid (n.)類澱粉沉積症

Week4 - Zika virus

MAR 17 2016

A new vaccine protected 100 percent of volunteers from getting infected with dengue virus, a sometimes deadly mosquito-borne germ that's a close cousin of Zika virus.

And the unusual trial showed a possible new and faster path towards developing a vaccine: The volunteers were intentionally infected with a specially weakened version of the virus. It worked just as the researchers hoped.

"We were able to get 100 percent efficacy, which we were really thrilled about," said Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, who helped test the vaccine.

All 21 volunteers who received the vaccine, called TV003, were protected from infection, while all 20 people who got a placebo shot became infected, developing the characteristic dengue rash.

Researchers have been working on a vaccine for years with little luck. Any vaccine must protect against all four strains of dengue. There is one vaccine on the market, Dengvaxia, which must be taken in three doses. In one trial, it actually seemed to make children under nine more likely to become infected and seriously ill with dengue.

So the U.S. team wanted something significantly safer and more effective. They've been working on the TV003 vaccine for 15 years at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health. This vaccine protects against all four dengue vaccine strains, the team reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

It was easy to tell, Durbin said. "Zero percent of the vaccinated people had a rash," she said. Most of the people given a sham shot developed a rash when they were injected with the weakened dengue virus. The new vaccine is now being deployed in Brazil for a giant, real-world trial in 17,000 volunteers.

If it works safely, it might provide a short-cut for vaccinating people against Zika, also. Zika's spreading explosively across Latin America and the Caribbean, and it's also spreading in the South Pacific. It's causing serious birth defects and probably also causes neurological symptoms such as Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The idea would be to tack on a Zika component to the four-strain dengue vaccine, says Dr. Stephen Whitehead, who's helping lead the vaccine's development at NIAID.

That would be useful because dengue's spread by the same mosquitoes that spread Zika and it's circulating in the same places as Zika circulates. It's a very close relative of Zika.

"We don't believe that dengue antibodies are protective against Zika infection. So many people who previously had dengue are getting Zika," Durbin told NBC News.

The experiment also showed that it's possible to safely infect people with a virus like dengue to test vaccines. The team wanted to test people they were sure had never been infected by any strain of dengue before, so they tested volunteers in the U.S.

And they wanted a quick way to test vaccines so they know which ones to dump and which ones to go ahead with. This experiment shows it can be done, the researchers said.

They removed a gene from the dengue viruses they used, so they didn't cause a full-blown infection but still caused a real infection. Such "live" vaccines usually provide better and longer-lasting immune protection. "They can go to school. They can go to work. They don't feel ill. A Zika component would be similarly weakened,” Durbin said.

Removing the gene makes it less likely that the virus could somehow regain its ability to make people really sick - and it also prevents mosquitoes from picking up and transmitting the vaccine strain of the virus, Whitehead told reporters in a conference call.

"The U.S. government has made the vaccine materials and technology available for licensure across the world," Whitehead said.

"We have several licensees come forward. There's the Butantan Institute in Brazil and they have an exclusive license for the product in Brazil. We also have Merck & Co in the U.S.," he added.

Two companies in India and one in Vietnam are also interested in producing the vaccine, he said.

節錄自http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/new-dengue-vaccine-may-form-basis-zika-vaccine-n540851

Structure of the Lead
Who- Dr. Anna Durbin, Dr. Stephen Whitehead
When- 2016
What- vaccine of dengue and Zika
Why- Many people suffered from dengue and Zika virus
Where- The US
How- Develop the vaccines

Keywords
1. trial (n.)試驗
2. sham (adj.)假的
3. neurological (adj.)神經的
4. tack (v.)附加
5. full-blown (adj.)全面爆發的
6. licensure (n.)執照
7. licensee (n.)許可

Week 3 - Twelve Nights

2013.12.13
A new documentary about the plight of animals in Taiwan’s shelters has sparked a public discussion about the treatment of stray dogs and cats on the island, prompting the government to amend its policies.

“Twelve Nights,” shot almost entirely inside a government-run animal shelter in southern Taiwan, follows the fate of several stray dogs, starting from their initial capture on the streets. After 12 days in the shelter, the animals are destroyed, have died of disease, or, if they are lucky, end up in the arms of a new owner.

Although the problem of street dogs isn’t a fresh one in Taiwan, the movie has attracted a throng of animal lovers. As of the beginning of this week, “Twelve Nights” had pulled in more 30 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1 million) since its release on Nov. 29, according to the film’s distributor, a considerable amount for a documentary in Taiwan.

The film opens with a black-and-white puppy named Jumpy prancing happily in a well-manicured neighborhood and other harmless-looking dogs wandering the streets.

The scene quickly changes. Animals — including a kitten and a basket full of puppies — are jerked and tossed around by workers as they are taken to the shelter.

At the shelter, the camera pans across rows of rusty metal cages crowded with dogs, some of which try to gnaw their way out of confinement. Feeble dogs curl up in the corners, watching their peers being dragged around the shelter by their metal collars.

The film shows many dogs entering the shelter looking healthy but later falling ill or dying due to the rampant transmission of canine distemper and other diseases inside the facility.

“Imperfections,” Mr. Ko, the owner of a rescued labrador, said in an interview. “however, I had no idea that I had to be a flawless saint and make sure all the children in the world have enough to eat before I can speak up for animals.” He said that he had also been called a hypocrite because he’s a meat-eater, and intends to remain so.

“I have no good rebuttal about my meat-eating habit, except to say, ‘Who set the rule that one has be a perfect vegetarian saint before he can save animals?’ ”

The film has done what Mr. Ko and the movie’s director, who goes by just the name of Raye, say it set out to do — stir up discussion about Taiwan’s stray animals and influence the government to address the problem.

Many Facebook users have joined Mr. Ko’s cause by adding the movie’s logo to their profile pictures. Several veterinarians have also publicly expressed their indignation over how the shelters are managed.

Raye said that her goal isn’t to condemn the shelter workers, because they, too, are victims of the system. The purpose of the film, she said, is to influence policy makers with more effective solutions on reducing the stray-animal population, including adoption, laws requiring pet owners to implant microchips in their pets for ID purposes, and neutering or spaying animals.

More than 11,400 animals last year, during which time 50% were destroyed and 29% were placed in new homes, according to the Council of Agriculture. (Most of the remaining 21% died while in the shelter.)

“We understand that most people who watch this movie already like dogs, and those who should watch it may opt not to,” Raye said. “But that’s fine, because we believe the movie will start a domino effect [of awareness] that begins with the animal lovers.”

Raye, who ended up adopting Jumpy just before he was slated for lethal injection, said that the film’s box office is important because “each ticket represents one person who wants to see the system changed.”

Mr. Ko and Raye said that all proceeds from the movie will be donated to promote animal-protection awareness in Taiwan.

來源於http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2013/12/13/film-triggers-debate-on-plight-of-taiwans-homeless-dogs/

Structure of the Lead
Who- Mr. Ko, Raye, Stray dogs in Taiwan
When- 2013.12.10
What- A film called “Twelve Nights” was come out
Why- The producer wanted to convey something very important to everyone
Where- Taiwan
How- By filming

Keywords
1. plight (n.)困境
2. prancing (n.)昂首闊步
3. well-manicured (a.)友善的;精心修剪的
4. jerk (v.)抖動;抽搐
5. gnaw (v.)啃;囓
6. curl up (v. ph.)蜷縮;蜷伏
7. rampant (a.)猖獗的
8. rebuttal (n.)反駁

Week2 - Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above

2015.02.24

Chi Polin (齊柏林), the award-winning director of the extremely well-received documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (2013), thinks that instead of acquiring investors to produce documentary films, this type of film production should be made possible by donations.

Chi Polin directed the internationally famed documentary, Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (看見台灣). Beyond Beauty showcases Taiwan using only aerial photography for the entire length of the film. The film opened in theaters on November 1, 2013 and broke Taiwan’s box office records for the largest opening weekend and the highest total gross of a locally produced documentary. The box office racked up one hundred and ninety million NT (gross revenue) through the year of 2014. Chi Polin remained humble and stated that he had learned a lot in the past year, “I took this film with me all over the world, and I discovered that there isn’t a language barrier, because this is a common topic for all of us.”

On the dwindling situation of the documentary industry in Taiwan, Chi Polin expressed, “CCTV (China Central Television) used to only have one channel for documentaries. Now they have two channels. In comparison, only PTS (Public Television Service) has similar shows in Taiwan, but that is too few.” He pointed out that nowadays, foreign countries go overseas to look for material and funding, just so they could produce great stories. “For example BBC’s (British Broadcasting Corporation) documentary Hidden Kingdoms, I thought it was 3-D animation at first. I realized Taiwan’s production teams have a lot of room for improvement. BBC was able to make this kind of scientific film so full of drama, it’s very interesting.”

Furthermore, Chi Polin stated that the way to acquire funding for documentary films shouldn’t be through obtaining investors but rather should be done through donations, “Because no one can guarantee any documentary will be profitable, it’s even hard for movies to be profitable, let alone documentaries.” He hoped that the quality corporations in Taiwan can give some level of attention to this lesser known market.

Taiwan’s Elta TV will partner with BBC starting 2015. Their partnership includes channel authorization and promotions of on-demand programs. This has been the most comprehensive collaboration ever since BBC’s entrance into the Taiwanese market.

源自於：http://www.taipeimain.com/chi-polin-thinks-taiwan-can-increase-the-production-of-documentary-films/

Structure of the Lead
Who- Chi Polin
When- 2013
What- Chi Polin directed “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above”
Why- the dwindling situation of the documentary industry in Taiwan
Where- Taiwan
How- using only aerial photography

Keywords
1. aerial (a.)空中的
2. dwindling (a.)縮小的
3. corporation (n.)公司
4. authorization (n.)授權
5. collaboration (n.)合作