Question
How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria
Jason Daley - Correspondent
January 12, 2017
One of the most basic and necessary pieces of equipment in a medical labs is a centrifuge. Often bulky and expensive, this device (in the most simple terms) spins things. And spinning things like blood, can separate out its components, allowing doctors to diagnose disease like malaria. But the lack of electricity and resources in rural regions around the world means no centrifuge. Now, a simple new 20-cent gadget could change all that, and it's based on an unusual source of inspiration: the whirlygig.
“There are more than a billion people around the world who have no infrastructure, no roads, no electricity," says Manu Prakash, a physical biologist at Stanford and inventor of the new gadget. When he visited Uganda in 2013 he found that clinics either did not have centrifuges or didn't have the juice to power them. “One clinic used its broken centrifuge as a doorstop,” Prakash tells Devin Powell at Nature.
"I realized that if we wanted to solve a critical problem like malaria diagnosis, we needed to design a human-powered centrifuge that costs less than a cup of coffee,” Prakash says in a press release.
When he returned to Stanford, Parkash began brainstorming ideas with one of his post-docs, Saad Bhamla, examining at all sorts of spinning things, reports Madeline K. Sofia at NPR. They quickly began focusing on old-school, preindustrial toys like yo-yos and whirligigs.
“One night I was playing with a button and string, and out of curiosity, I set up a high-speed camera to see how fast a button whirligig would spin. I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Bhamla says in the press release. The button was rotating at 10,000 to 15,000 rpms.
The pair began prototyping small hand-powered centrifuges based on the whirligig principle. Their final model, the Paperfuge, spins at 125,000 rpm, the equivalent of a centrifuge costing $1,000 to $5,000, according to the press release.
The Paperfuge is made of a disk of paper coated in a polymer, reports Sofia. The disk is attached to two pieces of wood or PVC pipe via string. When the strings are pulled, the disc in the middle spins, acting as a centrifuge for a blood sample attached to the center of the disk. The team, describes their work in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
The Prakash and Bhamla recently returned from successful field trials of the Paperfuge in Madagascar where they used it to test for malaria. While the gadget only takes two minutes to separate blood, reports The Economist, it takes 15 minutes of whirligigging for malaria-diagnosing separations.
Once the blood is separated, however, it needs to be examined by a microscope. Luckily, several years ago Prakash also created the Foldscope, a $1 paper microscope with optical quality similar to conventional microscopes that will begin distribution in 2018.
In 3-5 sentences, explain how the author orders information in the article to support the central idea.
Use the sentence stems below to help you.
A- In the article “How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria”, Daley orders the information by first presenting the claim, and also using facts and details; therefore, supporting the central idea that________________. (Note the central idea of the author.)
C- The author first__________(What does the author first do or explain in the literary piece?) and says, “____________________________”. (What words does the author use in order to make his or her point?)
E- Daley clearly means_________________________________. (Explain the quote above and how the author used specific words in order to emphasize his or her central idea.)
C- The author then goes on to explain and support his claim by stating, "___________________________________"
E- He means, ______________________.
S- This information clearly supports the author’s claim of___________________. (What is the author’s central idea in other words.)
Jason Daley - Correspondent
January 12, 2017
One of the most basic and necessary pieces of equipment in a medical labs is a centrifuge. Often bulky and expensive, this device (in the most simple terms) spins things. And spinning things like blood, can separate out its components, allowing doctors to diagnose disease like malaria. But the lack of electricity and resources in rural regions around the world means no centrifuge. Now, a simple new 20-cent gadget could change all that, and it's based on an unusual source of inspiration: the whirlygig.
“There are more than a billion people around the world who have no infrastructure, no roads, no electricity," says Manu Prakash, a physical biologist at Stanford and inventor of the new gadget. When he visited Uganda in 2013 he found that clinics either did not have centrifuges or didn't have the juice to power them. “One clinic used its broken centrifuge as a doorstop,” Prakash tells Devin Powell at Nature.
"I realized that if we wanted to solve a critical problem like malaria diagnosis, we needed to design a human-powered centrifuge that costs less than a cup of coffee,” Prakash says in a press release.
When he returned to Stanford, Parkash began brainstorming ideas with one of his post-docs, Saad Bhamla, examining at all sorts of spinning things, reports Madeline K. Sofia at NPR. They quickly began focusing on old-school, preindustrial toys like yo-yos and whirligigs.
“One night I was playing with a button and string, and out of curiosity, I set up a high-speed camera to see how fast a button whirligig would spin. I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Bhamla says in the press release. The button was rotating at 10,000 to 15,000 rpms.
The pair began prototyping small hand-powered centrifuges based on the whirligig principle. Their final model, the Paperfuge, spins at 125,000 rpm, the equivalent of a centrifuge costing $1,000 to $5,000, according to the press release.
The Paperfuge is made of a disk of paper coated in a polymer, reports Sofia. The disk is attached to two pieces of wood or PVC pipe via string. When the strings are pulled, the disc in the middle spins, acting as a centrifuge for a blood sample attached to the center of the disk. The team, describes their work in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
The Prakash and Bhamla recently returned from successful field trials of the Paperfuge in Madagascar where they used it to test for malaria. While the gadget only takes two minutes to separate blood, reports The Economist, it takes 15 minutes of whirligigging for malaria-diagnosing separations.
Once the blood is separated, however, it needs to be examined by a microscope. Luckily, several years ago Prakash also created the Foldscope, a $1 paper microscope with optical quality similar to conventional microscopes that will begin distribution in 2018.
In 3-5 sentences, explain how the author orders information in the article to support the central idea.
Use the sentence stems below to help you.
A- In the article “How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria”, Daley orders the information by first presenting the claim, and also using facts and details; therefore, supporting the central idea that________________. (Note the central idea of the author.)
C- The author first__________(What does the author first do or explain in the literary piece?) and says, “____________________________”. (What words does the author use in order to make his or her point?)
E- Daley clearly means_________________________________. (Explain the quote above and how the author used specific words in order to emphasize his or her central idea.)
C- The author then goes on to explain and support his claim by stating, "___________________________________"
E- He means, ______________________.
S- This information clearly supports the author’s claim of___________________. (What is the author’s central idea in other words.)
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
A- In the article “How a Children’s Toy Could Help Fight Malaria”, Daley orders the information by first presenting the claim that a simple, low-cost gadget could address the issue of malaria diagnosis in resource-limited settings, and also uses facts and details; therefore, supporting the central idea that innovative, low-tech solutions can effectively combat serious health challenges like malaria.
C- The author first introduces the problem of the lack of reliable medical equipment in rural clinics, and says, “When he visited Uganda in 2013 he found that clinics either did not have centrifuges or didn't have the juice to power them.”
E- Daley clearly means to emphasize the severity of the situation that healthcare workers face in these areas, using the word “juice” to highlight the lack of electricity that prevents the use of essential medical devices, thus illustrating the need for alternative solutions.
C- The author then goes on to explain and support his claim by stating, "Their final model, the Paperfuge, spins at 125,000 rpm, the equivalent of a centrifuge costing $1,000 to $5,000."
E- He means that this innovative design not only addresses the resource limitations but does so at an extremely low cost, demonstrating that effective medical technology doesn’t have to be expensive or reliant on electricity.
S- This information clearly supports the author’s claim of the potential for low-cost innovations to address critical health issues in underserved communities, affirming the central idea that creative and accessible solutions can make a meaningful impact in the fight against malaria.
C- The author first introduces the problem of the lack of reliable medical equipment in rural clinics, and says, “When he visited Uganda in 2013 he found that clinics either did not have centrifuges or didn't have the juice to power them.”
E- Daley clearly means to emphasize the severity of the situation that healthcare workers face in these areas, using the word “juice” to highlight the lack of electricity that prevents the use of essential medical devices, thus illustrating the need for alternative solutions.
C- The author then goes on to explain and support his claim by stating, "Their final model, the Paperfuge, spins at 125,000 rpm, the equivalent of a centrifuge costing $1,000 to $5,000."
E- He means that this innovative design not only addresses the resource limitations but does so at an extremely low cost, demonstrating that effective medical technology doesn’t have to be expensive or reliant on electricity.
S- This information clearly supports the author’s claim of the potential for low-cost innovations to address critical health issues in underserved communities, affirming the central idea that creative and accessible solutions can make a meaningful impact in the fight against malaria.
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