Influenza

Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: a high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. The cough, however, may last for more than two weeks. In children, there may be nausea and vomiting, but these are not common in adults. Nausea and vomiting occur more commonly in the unrelated infection gastroenteritis, which is sometimes inaccurately referred to as "stomach flu" or "24-hour flu". Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure.

Three types of influenza viruses affect people, called Type A, Type B, and Type C. Usually, the virus is spread through the air from coughs or sneezes. This is believed to occur mostly over relatively short distances. It can also be spread by touching surfaces contaminated by the virus and then touching the mouth or eyes. A person may be infectious to others both before and during the time they are sick. The infection may be confirmed by testing the throat, sputum, or nose for the virus. A number of rapid tests are available; however, people may still have the infection if the results are negative. A type of polymerase chain reaction that detects the virus's RNA is more accurate.

Flu (disambiguation)

Flu is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae, the influenza viruses.

Flu or FLU may also refer to:

Medicine

Influenza

  • Human flu, influenza caused by viruses endemic in human populations
  • Avian flu, influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds
  • Swine flu, influenza caused by viruses endemic in pigs
  • Equine flu, influenza caused by viruses endemic in horses
  • Dog flu, influenza occurring in canine animals
  • Other diseases

  • Influenza-like illness, a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms
  • Stomach flu, also known as gastroenteritis
  • Haemophilus influenzae, or H. flu, a bacterial infection which can cause respiratory infections and sepsis
  • Cat flu, the common name for a feline upper respiratory tract disease
  • Other uses

  • Flushing Airport's IATA code
  • FLU (plant gene), a mutation that causes plants to glow red in presence of blue light
  • "The Flu" (Parks and Recreation), an episode of the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation
  • Flu (film)

    Flu (Hangul: 감기; RR: Gamgi) is a 2013 South Korean disaster film written and directed by Kim Sung-su about an outbreak of a deadly disease which throws a city into chaos. It stars Jang Hyuk and Soo Ae.

    Plot

    A group of illegal immigrants are smuggled to South Korea inside a shipping container, but when it's opened in the affluent Seoul suburb of Bundang by traffickers, it's discovered that all of the immigrants are dead, except for one man, a carrier of a deadly strain of H5N1 (avian influenza, or bird flu). As the man escapes, he quickly spreads the virus to nearby residents. Mir (Park Min-ha), daughter of a single mother Kim In-hae (Soo Ae), meets the man, named Mossai, and gives him some food and tells him to wait as she calls rescue worker and paramedic Kang Ji-goo (Jang Hyuk). However, as he arrives, Mossai is nowhere to be found.

    One of the traffickers presents himself at a trauma centre with the symptoms of the flu. Doctors are perplexed on his condition and consider the diagnosis of H5N1. His accompanying brother becomes aggressive as a "Code Blue" is declared over the hospital's intercom, indicating that his brother has entered cardiac arrest. He runs into the isolation room of his brother, who has already expired.

    Rhyme

    A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (or the same sound) in two or more words, most often in the final syllables of lines in poems and songs. The word rhyme is also a pars pro toto ("a part (taken) for the whole") that means a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.

    Function of rhyming words

    Rhyme partly seems to be enjoyed simply as a repeating pattern that is pleasant to hear. It also serves as a powerful mnemonic device, facilitating memorization. The regular use of tail rhyme helps to mark off the ends of lines, thus clarifying the metrical structure for the listener. As with other poetic techniques, poets use it to suit their own purposes; for example William Shakespeare often used a rhyming couplet to mark off the end of a scene in a play.

    Types of rhyme

    The word rhyme can be used in a specific and a general sense. In the specific sense, two words rhyme if their final stressed vowel and all following sounds are identical; two lines of poetry rhyme if their final strong positions are filled with rhyming words. A rhyme in the strict sense is also called a perfect rhyme. Examples are sight and flight, deign and gain, madness and sadness.

    Syllable

    A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants).

    Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter and its stress patterns.

    Syllabic writing began several hundred years before the first letters. The earliest recorded syllables are on tablets written around 2800 BC in the Sumerian city of Ur. This shift from pictograms to syllables has been called "the most important advance in the history of writing".

    A word that consists of a single syllable (like English dog) is called a monosyllable (and is said to be monosyllabic). Similar terms include disyllable (and disyllabic) for a word of two syllables; trisyllable (and trisyllabic) for a word of three syllables; and polysyllable (and polysyllabic), which may refer either to a word of more than three syllables or to any word of more than one syllable.

    Rhyme (disambiguation)

    Rhyme is a form of poetry or speech.

    Rhyme or Rhymes may refer to:

  • Rhymes (surname)
  • "Rhymes", song by The Goons With The Wormwood Scrubs Screws Orchestra
  • Rhymes Punch (band) Charles D. Merriam, Anne Herring
  • HTC Rhyme
  • Aprilia Dorsoduro

    The Aprilia SMV750 Dorsoduro is the latest in a small number of road-legal motorcycles taking their inspiration from the supermoto form of motorcycle racing - essentially motocross, or dirt, bikes fitted with slick road racing tyres and raced over a half-tarmac/half-dirt circuit.

    This exciting but minority form of racing had not seen road bike applications until a few years ago, when Austrian bike-maker KTM began to produce bikes which could trace their heritage back to supermoto machines. Unusually, the popularity of road-legal Supermoto bikes caught the motorcycling press somewhat by surprise. In fact it was one of the rare occasions when the hype didn't arrive until after the event itself.

    Supermoto bikes, in their racing form, are extreme machines. They have all the huge power and light weight of motocross bikes, but channel that subsequent speed to the road through huge racing tyres. However, the popularity of the road-going versions stems not only from their extreme power-to-weight ratios, unusual looks, and individuality, but from a practicality not envisaged by the manufacturers: on-road supermotos enjoy the high seating position of off-road bikes, giving excellent visibility, together with the sharp handling of sports bikes (but with a better turning circle) making them excellent (if somewhat hardcore) commuting machines for those who want all the speed of a traditional sports machine with a little more urban practicality. Add to this the long suspension travel Supermotos enjoy and you have what for many is the ultimate way to work (although, it has to be said, not too much further - long-distance machines they are not). Italian manufacturer Aprilia has a long and successful racing history in Supermoto. The concept suits Aprilia's desired corporate image as performance-related but not ordinary. The Dorsoduro was the company's first attempt to transfer that race pedigree to road bike sales.

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