介绍:
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing. Here is the news.
Private U.S. space firm SpaceX has conducted its first rocket launch since a June failure that destroyed its cargo ship bound for the International Space Station.
The California-based company's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at around 8:30pm Local time, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, delivering 11 satellites to low-Earth orbit.
But more attention may be on SpaceX's first attempt to land the rocket's first stage back at the launch site, although the company itself described the landing as "a secondary test objective".
Previously, SpaceX has tried several times to land its rocket booster on a drone ship in the ocean, but all attempts failed. The new landing mission is actually easier than the drone ship idea.
SpaceX is focusing on cheap space travel. Rocket landing is one of the company's first steps aimed at building fully reusable rockets, which will drastically reduce the cost of spaceflight. Currently, rockets are built only for one-time use.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
At least one in 10 of the global population with hepatitis C lives in China. However, despite being available in most parts of the world, drugs known as "direct-acting antivirals" are not available in the Chinese mainland. The drugs, also known as DAAs, can cure at least 95 percent of cases.
According to medical experts, hepatitis C affects the liver, and 80 percent of patients develop a chronic infection.
Initially, many patients display minimal or even zero symptoms, but chronic infection can lead to cirrhosis or scarring of the liver, which can develop into liver failure or cancer over the course of 20 to 30 years.
In China, the current standard treatment for Hepatitis C is a combination of Ribavirin and Interferon, to keep the level of infection low. However, only around half of the patients can endure the severe side effects the drugs provoke.
A recent survey conducted by Chinese hospitals concluded that Interferon is unsuitable for around 50 percent of patients, mainly because of serious adverse reactions.
Doctors have urged the drug authorities, patient organizations and pharmaceutical companies to work together to bring the new drugs to Chinese patients.
Currently, several types of DAAs are undergoing the mandatory clinical trials required to obtain approval from the China Food and Drug Administration, a process that usually takes more than five years.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Liu Yan in Beijing.
（全文见周日微信。）
