(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
Three university students in Uganda have created a smartphone application that may help improve health care for pregnant women in rural areas.
Joshua Okello and two other students at Makerere University in Kampal created the app in 2012. They call it WinSenga - "senga" is the local word uses to describe a female family member who helps a woman during pregnancy. The "Win" in the name comes from the Microsoft product Windows.
Last year, the computer software company gave Mr Okello and his partners $50,000 to continue development on the WinSenga app.
A small microphone is placed inside a plastic horn. Mr Okello says midwives in the area have used similar devices for centuries to help women during childbirth.
"It's a long cone-shaped device with a hole through it and a flat top. The midwife places it on the belly and listens in. Every midwife in this country has seen it, and that is what they are trained with," said Okello.
The smartphone app records and examines the sound of the unborn baby's heartbeat. Mr Okello says, if the app suspects a problem, then it informs the midwife of different actions she might take.
"Say you have a baby and we detect that the heartbeat is less than 120 beats per minute. That is a problem. So immediately, we pop up something that says ‘Please, we suggest that you could do A, B, C, D,'" explained Okello.
Mr Okello says having a mobile device with this app could make it easier for health care workers to reach women in villages far away from cities. He says it will also be less costly than the machines that are now being used.
"We are getting a solution that's cheaper, which means that more clinics are going to get it. If we could get Huawei or I don't know who to give us phones for free, we are looking at a solution that's less than $100," said Okello.
Juliet Birungi is an obstetrician - a doctor who cares for pregnant women. She has tried WinSenga. She says hospitals could use the app to help medical workers follow the health of the baby, even when they are not there.
"You have so many mothers in labor, and we do not have enough staff. You find that while the mother is laboring here, the other one is delivering, the other one is bleeding. So when you come, you are able to look at the recording," said Birungi.
Doctor Birung says having these up to date records of the baby's health condition, could make the difference between life and death. But she says the app is not a substitute for a trained medical worker.
Mr Okello says the app could also be helpful in other developing countries with similar problems to Uganda. And he says, with further changes to the app, it could even be used at home by pregnant women in developed countries.
Work on WinSenga continues. Mr Okello and his team are busy preparing for a major series of clinical testing this month.
And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. I'm June Simms.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.midwife n. 助产士；促成因素
The midwife cut and tied off the baby's umbilical cord.
助产士剪断婴儿的脐带并将它结扎。
2.heartbeat n. 心跳；情感
Your baby's heartbeat will be monitored continuously.
您小宝宝的心跳将会受到持续监听。
3.obstetrician n. 产科医师
The obstetrician delivered the child.
产科医生替这个孩子接生。
内容解析
1.Doctor Birung says having these up to date records of the baby's health condition, could make the difference between life and death.
make the difference 有影响，很重要；产生差别
Good management often can make the difference between a successful or unsuccessful operation.
管理的好坏往往决定一项工作的成功与否。
This would make the difference, they knew.
他们意识到，这将会是一个转折点。
Keeping your head may make the difference between life and death when fire breads out.
发生火灾时，保持头脑冷静会有生死之别。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
乌干达三名大学生开发了一种智能手机应用，可以帮助提高农村地区孕妇的医疗状况。
约书亚·奥凯洛和坎帕拉市马凯雷雷大学另外两名学生2012年开发了这个应用，将之命名为WinSenga，senga是当地用来描述帮助孕妇的女家庭成员，win则来自微软产品Windows。
去年，这家电脑软件公司给了奥凯洛及其伙伴们5万美元来继续开发WinSenga。
一个小麦克风安置在塑料喇叭里面，奥凯洛说该地区的助产士们几百年来都用类似的装置来帮助生产。
“这是个中空、顶部平坦的长圆锥形装置，助产士用来放在腹部并监听，这个国家的每位助产士都有这个设备，他们都受过这种培训。”
这个智能手机应用能记录并检查胎儿的心跳，奥凯洛说如果应用怀疑出现问题，就会告知助产士可采取其他操作。
“如果你怀孕了，我们检测到胎儿的心跳每分钟不到120次，这就是个问题。那么我们会马上跳出提示消息，‘我们建议你采取A、B、C步骤。’”
奥凯洛说有了安装这个应用的移动装置，护理人员就可更方便地帮助偏远村庄的妇女。他说这也比目前使用的机器成本低。
“我们找到更廉价的解决方案，这意味着更多的诊所能使用它。如果华为或哪个公司能免费给我们手机，我们就能考虑不到100美元的解决方案。”
朱丽叶·比拉吉是位照顾孕妇的产科医生，她使用过WinSenga，她说医院可以用这种应用来帮助医疗人员跟踪婴儿的健康状况，即便是他们不在婴儿身边时。
“有那么多临产的母亲，我们的工作人员人手不够。这位母亲在临产，那位要分娩，那位在流血，所以当你来的时候，就能看看记录。”
比拉吉医生说有了婴儿健康状况的最新数据，就能挽救生命。但她说这个应用还不能替代受过培训的医疗人员。
奥凯洛说该应用能帮助与乌干达有着类似问题的其他发展中国家，他说经过进一步的改进，该应用甚至能用在发达国家孕妇的家中。
WinSenga的研发工作仍在继续，奥凯洛和他的团队本月正忙于进行一系列重大临床试验。
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道，我是琼·西姆斯。
