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  3. Perhaps the most ambitious long-term health study ever planned by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been hit by a NASA

Perhaps the most ambitious long-term health study ever planned by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been hit by a NASA

admin2015-05-24  50
问题     Perhaps the most ambitious long-term health study ever planned by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been hit by a NASA style price shock: Once estimated at $3 billion over 25 years, the actual cost could be twice that much. The problem became public last week at a Capitol Hill hearing on the NIH budget. Acting NIH Director Raynard Kington said he has launched a high-level review of the plan to track the health of 100,000 children from before birth to age 21 and that the study will likely be scaled back.
    The National Children’s Study (NCS) grew out of a 2000 congressional directive to NIH to determine how environmental influences, from chemical contaminants to video games, shape the development of children and affect diseases such as autism and obesity. Researchers plan to recruit a diverse group of pregnant mothers at 105 sites around the United States by knocking on randomly selected doors. Congress provided $192 million in funding this year to set up the sites and launch a pilot study.
    Kington says he became concerned in early January after being informed of his staffs latest cost projections. It was since then that Kington realized "there was a fundamental problem in estimating the true costs." In order to turn things around, Kington has now added "greatly heightened oversight." That includes asking Claude Lenfant, former director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, to return to NIH as his adviser on the study. NIH will also take a longer pause than originally planned after the 1-year pilot, which began in January at two of seven sites, to revise the protocol and reassess the costs.
    When trimming begins, Kington says he hopes the 100,000 sample size will be "the last thing" considered for cuts. But the size, number of hypotheses, and the protocols are all on the table. Pediatrician Philip Landrigan, who helped conceive the NCS, hopes not to lose components such as in-home detailed assessments of each child’s development, which are expensive. "We’re just waiting to see how this works out," says Landrigan, whose team has knocked on more than 1000 doors in Queens and found that many women seem interested.
    The budget problems come as no surprise to former NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, who wanted to avoid funding for the NCS. Zerhouni says he had "severe reservations" about the potential cost and felt NIH should complete the pilot before any decisions were made about proceeding with the full study. Instead, "Congress interfered" by providing the money to move ahead anyway. "It was political management," Zerhouni says, and "I don’t think people should be shocked" at the result.
National Children’s Study aims to
选项 A、recruit pregnant mothers as main subjects to study the environment.
B、confirm 105 sites around the US are suitable for pilot studies.
C、verify whether environmental pollution causes various disease.
D、explore the link between environment and the growth of children.
答案D
解析 推理判断题。根据National Children’s study定位到第二段，根据该段第一句话可得知该研究是为了找出环境因素和儿童成长的关系。因此D项正确。
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