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Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
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Wind turbine syndrome or wind farm syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder primarily caused by anxiety generated by heightened awareness of turbines – the "nocebo effect" – prompted by proponents of the idea that wind turbines have adverse health effects. While proponents claim that a number of effects including death, cancer and congenital abnormality have been caused by wind farms, the distribution of recorded events correlates with media coverage of wind farm syndrome itself, and not with the presence or absence of wind farms. It is not recognised by any international disease classification system and does not appear in any title or abstract in the United States National Library of Medicine's PubMed database. The Center for Media and Democracy's "SourceWatch" website has identified at least one Australian fossil fuel industry funded astroturfing group as involved in promoting the idea of wind turbine syndrome. An investigation led to the foundation being stripped of its status as a health promotion charity.
A 2011 literature review stated that wind turbines can be associated with some health effects, such as sleep disturbance, and argued that the health effects reported by those living near wind turbines were probably caused not by the turbines themselves but rather by "physical manifestation from an annoyed state."
Eighteen research reviews about wind turbines and health, published since 2003, all concluded that there was very little evidence that wind turbines were harmful in any direct way.
A meta study published in 2014 concluded:
- Infrasound is emitted by wind turbines. The levels of infrasound at customary distances to homes are typically well below audibility thresholds.
- Components of wind turbine sound, including infrasound and low-frequency sound, have not been shown to present unique health risks to people living near wind turbines.
- Among the cross-sectional studies of better quality, no clear or consistent association is seen between wind turbine noise and any reported disease or other indicator of harm to human health.
- Annoyance associated with living near wind turbines is a complex phenomenon related to personal factors. Noise from turbines plays a minor role in comparison with other factors in leading people to report annoyance in the context of wind turbines
In Ontario, Canada, the Ministry of the Environment created noise guidelines to limit wind turbine noise levels 30 metres away from a dwelling or campsite to 40 dB(A). These regulations also set a minimum distance of for a group of up to five relatively quiet [102 dB(A)] turbines within a radius, rising to for a group of 11 to 25 noisier (106-107 dB(A)) turbines. Larger facilities and noisier turbines would require a noise study.
Modern wind turbines produce significantly less noise than older designs. Turbine designers work to minimise noise, as noise reflects lost energy and output. Noise levels at nearby residences may be managed through the siting of turbines, the approvals process for wind farms, and operational management of the wind farm.
Embouchure collapse caused by focal dystonia can be diagnosed medically; embouchure collapse caused by embouchure overuse, however, is generally speaking not considered to be a specifically medical issue. A difficulty in diagnosis is that when a brass player describes the symptoms to a doctor or dentist (as is often the case), the medical practitioner does not fully understand what the patient means. This is because brass players learn their embouchure by "feel," and therefore words have a limited ability to describe embouchure problems, especially if the person listening to the description is not a brass player and has a limited knowledge of the embouchure.
Also, in less severe cases, the player may only be able to feel what is wrong while playing. Many players with an embouchure problem will, once they have realized that it is more than a simple case of tired lips, wish to refrain from playing. The fact that around 24 muscles are employed in forming a brass embouchure, and that each will change slightly as a player struggles to play when experiencing embouchure problems, mean that what players describe as being wrong will have not only worsened their condition when they play, but will be different each time they do so.
In the severest cases, the pain caused by embouchure overuse can be felt even when not playing; in some cases, other symptoms will manifest, such as loss of tissue and damaged nerves. This, however, occurs only in the rarest and most extreme circumstances and usually signals the end of the player's career.
Scintigraphy, plain radiographs, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may all be useful diagnostically. Patchy osteoporosis (post-traumatic osteoporosis), which may be due to disuse of the affected extremity, can be detected through X-ray imagery as early as two weeks after the onset of CRPS. A bone scan of the affected limb may detect these changes even sooner and can almost confirm the disease. Bone densitometry can also be used to detect changes in bone mineral density. It can also be used to monitor the results of treatment since bone densitometry parameters improve with treatment.
Presently, established empirical evidence suggests against thermography's efficacy as a reliable tool for diagnosing CRPS. Although CRPS may, in some cases, lead to measurably altered blood flow throughout an affected region, many other factors can also contribute to an altered thermographic reading, including the patient's smoking habits, use of certain skin lotions, recent physical activity, and prior history of trauma to the region. Also, not all patients diagnosed with CRPS demonstrate such "vasomotor instability" — less often, still, those in the later stages of the disease. Thus, thermography alone cannot be used as conclusive evidence for - or against - a diagnosis of CRPS and must be interpreted in light of the patient's larger medical history and prior diagnostic studies.
In order to minimise the confounding influence of external factors, patients undergoing infrared thermographic testing must conform to special restrictions regarding the use of certain vasoconstrictors (namely, nicotine and caffeine), skin lotions, physical therapy, and other diagnostic procedures in the days prior to testing. Patients may also be required to discontinue certain pain medications and sympathetic blockers. After a patient arrives at a thermographic laboratory, he or she is allowed to reach thermal equilibrium in a 16–20 °C, draft-free, steady-state room wearing a loose fitting cotton hospital gown for approximately twenty minutes. A technician then takes infrared images of both the patient's affected and unaffected limbs, as well as reference images of other parts of the patient's body, including his or her face, upper back, and lower back. After capturing a set of baseline images, some labs further require the patient to undergo cold-water autonomic-functional-stress-testing to evaluate the function of his or her autonomic nervous system's peripheral vasoconstrictor reflex. This is performed by placing a patient's unaffected limb in a cold water bath (approximately 20 °C) for five minutes while collecting images. In a normal, intact, functioning autonomic nervous system, a patient's affected extremity will become colder. Conversely, warming of an affected extremity may indicate a disruption of the body's normal thermoregulatory vasoconstrictor function, which may sometimes indicate underlying CRPS.
The subject of mouthpiece pressure is closely related to the issue of embouchure collapse/embouchure overuse.
It has long been argued that excessive mouthpiece pressure is a cause of embouchure problems and can be a factor in causing embouchure collapse. However, the pressure of the mouthpiece is not static during playing: it increases the higher in the register a player plays and the louder volume level. Also, a little mouthpiece pressure is essential to provide a seal between the player's embouchure and the instrument; without this, all the air would escape before entering the instrument and no sound would be emitted (brass instruments are dependent on an airflow to produce sound).
Embouchure collapse is far more common among trumpet and horn players. Both of these instruments have mouthpieces with a small circumference, and therefore the pressure is presumably greater, as the force of the mouthpiece on the face is more concentrated. This is in accordance with the principle of physics that pressure is the amount of force divided by the area on which the force is exerted.
As a result of a lack of scientific evidence (no scientific study into mouthpiece pressure as a cause of embouchure collapse has ever been done), the equally valid argument that all brass players can suffer embouchure collapse, and the subjective (not static) nature of mouthpiece pressure, knowledge of mouthpiece pressure as a cause of embouchure collapse is limited.
In China, frigophobia is known as Wei Han Zheng (畏寒症). From the standpoint of traditional Chinese beliefs, the disorder is highly influenced by an imbalance of yin (the female element) and yang (the male element). Chinese traditional beliefs also states that working women are particularly susceptible to frigophobia, triggered by a combination of stress, menopause, pregnancy and other disorders such as anemia. During winter, these women are likely to experience coldness in extremities and back pains caused by the disorder.
It is believed that the disorder can be treated using a combination of diet in order to re-balance the yin and yang. A common dietary treatment include:
- Chicken soup
- Turnip juice mixed with ginger juice and honey, three times a day
- Red tea with ginger juice and sugar, two times a day
- Foods containing yeast (e.g. bread)
- Spices (ginger, chili pepper)
- Vinegar diluted in water
It is also believed that the dietary treatment will be more effective if taken in conjunction with an acupuncture routine.
A case study of a 45-year-old Singaporean housewife with frigophobia was studied and the results concluded: frigophobia is closely related to, and strongly influenced by cultural beliefs. Generally speaking, in therapy, treatments would consist of using low dose of anxiolytics and antidepressants, and psychological interventions. But usually when Asian women are notified of the illness, they would adopt various measures to recover. These include withdrawal from workforce, avoid exposure to cold air and wind, and most importantly they will take dietary precautions. It would be rather important to consider the patient’s cultural beliefs about the “illness” in comparison to the therapist’s belief of the illness, and then find a negotiable approach for the treatment.
A sizable industry has developed in Japan around services and products that help people deal with hay fever, including protective wear such as coats with smooth surfaces, masks, and glasses; medication and remedies; household goods such as air-conditioner filters and fine window screens; and even "hay fever relief vacations" to low-pollen areas such as Okinawa and Hokkaido. Some people in Japan use medical laser therapy to desensitize the parts of their nose that are sensitive to pollen.
Recovery is most likely if it is spotted within the first 24–48 hours, and you should seek veterinary advice—a vet may choose to give the animal drugs.
The sick animal should be kept in a cage by itself so that others do not catch the disease—wet tail can be very contagious so sanitize all objects the animal has come in contact with (wheel, food dish, huts, etc.).
If the animal doesn't want to eat, then dry, unflavored oats can be hand fed, which can also help with the diarrhea. The animal should only be fed dry foods, any foods with a high water content should be avoided.
If the animal has an unclean or matted rear-end, this should not be remedied using a bath in water—instead a q-tip (cotton bud) or cotton ball can be used to very gently clean the animal's rear end to avoid discomfort or rashes.
If the animal is not drinking, hydration can be aided by scruffing (i.e. very gently holding the rodent by the extra skin on the back of the neck) the animal so that they open their mouth; then in small, short intervals, water can be provided with a 1 ml syringe. It is very important that this is done slowly, to avoid getting water down the animal's wind pipe. Unflavored pedialyte can be purchased from a grocery store and can be very helpful with wet tail. If feeding is also an issue, a suggested aide is to feed extremely small amounts of no garlic, no onion, no added sugar mashed baby food, and administered using the same scruffing method, and again at a very slow pace.
Hay fever was relatively uncommon in Japan until the early 1960s. Shortly after World War II, reforestation policies resulted in large forests of cryptomeria and Japanese cypress trees, which were an important resource for the construction industry. As these trees matured, they started to produce large amounts of pollen. Peak production of pollen occurs in trees of 30 years and older. As the Japanese economy developed in the 1970s and 1980s, cheaper imported building materials decreased the demand for cryptomeria and Japanese cypress materials. This resulted in increasing forest density and aging trees, further contributing to pollen production and thus, hay fever. In 1970, about 50% of cryptomeria were more than 10 years old, and just 25% were more than 20 years old. By 2000, almost 85% of cryptomeria were over 20 years old, and more than 60% of trees were over 30 years old. This cryptomeria aging trend has continued since then, and though cryptomeria forest acreage has hardly increased since 1980, pollen production has continued to increase. Furthermore, urbanization of land in Japan led to increasing coverage of soft soil and grass land by concrete and asphalt. Pollen settling on such hard surfaces can easily be swept up again by winds to recirculate and contribute to hay fever. As a result, approximately 25 million people (about 20% of the population) currently suffer from this type of seasonal hay fever in Japan.
Ancraophobia, also known as anemophobia, is an extreme fear of wind or drafts. It is rather uncommon, and can be treated. It has many different effects on the human brain. It can cause panic attacks for those who have the fear, and can make people miss out on regular everyday activities. Such as, going outside.
No one is born with a fear of the wind. This mental disorder is most commonly the result of psychological trauma caused by a negative experience with wind in the afflicted person's past. The experience may be remembered, or it may be "imprinted" on the subconscious mind of the traumatized person.
People who suffer from this phobia tend to be frightened by changes in the weather, such as storms. They are likely to believe that the wind has the potential to kill and destroy. Additionally, they avoid things that remind them of wind, like ocean waves. Ancraophobia is also related to terms like aeroacrophobia, which is the fear of open high places, and anemophobia which is the fear of air drafts.
The fear of ghosts in many human cultures is based on beliefs that some ghosts may be malevolent towards people and dangerous (within the range of all possible attitudes, including mischievous, benign, indifferent, etc.). It is related to fear of the dark.
The fear of ghosts is sometimes referred to as phasmophobia and erroneously spectrophobia, the latter being an established term for fear of mirrors and one's own reflections.
Blain was an animal disease of unknown etiology that was well known in the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries. It is unclear whether it is still extant, or what modern disease it corresponds to.
According to Ephraim Chambers' eighteenth-century "Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences", blain was "a " (in the archaic eighteenth-century sense of the word, meaning "disease") occurring in animals, consisting in a "Bladder growing on the Root of the Tongue against the Wind-Pipe", which "at length swelling, stops the Wind". It was thought to occur "by great chafing, and heating of the Stomach".
Blain is also mentioned in "Cattle: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases", published in 1836, where it is also identified as "gloss-anthrax". W. C. Spooner's 1888 book "The History, Structure, Economy and Diseases of the Sheep" also identifies blain as being the same as gloss-anthrax.
Modern scholarship suggests that "gloss-anthrax" was not the same disease as modern-day anthrax, but instead could have been foot-and-mouth disease, or a viral infection with a secondary "Fusobacterium necrophorum" infection. It has also been suggested that it may have been due to a variant strain of true anthrax that is no longer in existence. Other sources also report epizootics known as "blain" or "black-blain" in the 13th and 14th centuries, but it is not clear if the disease involved was the same as "gloss-anthrax".
Frigophobia is a phobia pertaining to the fear of becoming too cold. Sufferers of this problem bundle up in heavy clothes and blankets, regardless of the ambient air temperature. This disorder has been linked to other psychological disorders such as hypochondriasis and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In a 1975 study among ethnic Chinese in Taiwan, it was noted that frigophobia may be culturally linked to koro. Where that disorder causes male sufferers to feel that their penis is retracting into the body due to an insufficiency of "male element" (or "yang"), male frigophobia sufferers correlate coldness with an over-abundance of "female element" (or "yin").
Wet-tail or proliferative ileitis, is a disease of hamsters. It is precipitated by stress. Even with treatment, the animal can die within 48–72 hours. Baby hamsters are much more likely to get the disease than older hamsters. It commonly is found when the hamster is being weaned at about four weeks of age.
Prevention of ocular trauma is most effective when soldiers wear polycarbonate eye armor correctly in the battlefield. For Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States Military have made Ballistic Laser Protective Spectacles (BLPS), Special Protective Eyewear Cylindrical System (SPECS), and Sun/Wind/Dust Goggles (SWDG) available to combatants and associated personnel. These forms of eye protection are available in non-prescription and prescription lenses, and their use has been made mandatory at all times when soldiers are in areas of potential conflict. Despite their proven record of protection against secondary blast trauma, soldier compliance remains low: 85% of soldiers afflicted ocular trauma in the first year of OEF were not wearing their protective lenses at the time of detonation. While 41% of soldiers could not recall whether or not they were wearing eye protection at the time of detonation, 17% of casualties were wearing eye protection while 26% of casualties were not. Among this group, the poorest visual prognoses were documented in individuals who did not wear eye protection. The lack of compliance has been attributed to complaints about comfort, stylishness, and “misting” of the lenses when in the field. BLPS and SPECS offer the same line of protection against secondary trauma as the SWD goggles, and these lenses may overcome the complaints many soldiers have with their military-issue goggles.
The most effective diagnostic strategy is to perform laryngoscopy during an episode, at which time abnormal movement of the cords, if present, can be observed. If the endoscopy is not performed during an episode, it is likely that the vocal folds will be moving normally, a 'false negative' finding.
Spirometry may also be useful to establish the diagnosis of VCD when performed during a crisis or after a nasal provocation test. With spirometry, just as the expiratory loop may show flattening or concavity when expiration is affected in asthma, so may the Inspiratory loop show truncation or flattening in VCD. Of course, testing may well be negative when symptoms are absent.
The widespread use of wetsuits has allowed people to surf in much colder waters, which has increased the incidence and severity of surfer's ear for people who do not properly protect their ears.
- Avoid activity during extremely cold or windy conditions.
- Keep the ear canal as warm and dry as possible.
- Ear plugs
- Wetsuit hood
- Swim cap
- Diving helmet
The symptoms of VCD are often inaccurately attributed to asthma, which in turn results in the unnecessary and futile intake of corticosteroids, bronchodilators and leukotriene modifiers, although there are instances of comorbidity of asthma and VCD.
The differential diagnosis for vocal cord dysfunction includes vocal fold swelling from allergy, asthma, or some obstruction of the vocal folds or throat. Anyone suspected of this condition should be evaluated and the vocal folds (voice box) visualized. In individuals who experience a persistent difficulty with inhaling, consideration should be given to a neurological cause such as brain stem compression, cerebral palsy, etc.
The main difference between VCD and asthma is the audible stridor or wheezing that occurs at different stages of the breath cycle: VCD usually causes stridor on the inhalation, while asthma results in wheezing during exhalation. Patients with asthma usually respond to the usual medication and see their symptoms resolve. Clinical measures that can be done to differentiate VCD from asthma include:
- rhinolaryngoscopy: A patient with asthma will have normal vocal cord movement, while one with VCD will display vocal cord abduction during inhalation
- spirometry: A change in the measure following the administration of a bronchodilator is suggestive of asthma rather than VCD
- chest radiography: The presence of hyperinflation and peribronchial thickening are indicative of asthma, as patients with VCD will show normal results.
Feeding the lawn with a nitrogen based fertilizer will help the grass recover and help prevent future attacks.
Red Thread can be treated using a fungicide that contains benomyl or carbendazim. The infection will rarely kill the grass, usually only affecting the blades and not the roots, and the lawn should recover in time.
References
1) Ryzin, Benjamin Van. “Red Thread.” "Wisconsin Horticulture", 23 June 2013, hort.uwex.edu/articles/red-thread/
2) Harmon, Philip, and Richard Latin. “Red Thread.” "Purdue Extension", Dec. 2009, www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-104-w.pdf.
3) “Red Thread.” "Plant Protection", NuTurf, nuturf.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/09/Red-Thread-Info.pdf.
4) “Suppression of Soil-Borne Plant Diseases with Composts: A Review.” "Taylor & Francis", www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09583150400015904
5) “Red Thread — Laetisaria Fuciformis.” "Red Thread (Laetisaria Fuciformis) - MSU Turf Diseases.net - Disease Identification and Information. A Resource Guide from the Dept. of Plant Pathology at Michigan State University", www.msuturfdiseases.net/details/_/red_thread_14/.
6) “Lawn and Turf-Red Thread.” "Pacific Northwest Pest Management Handbooks", OSU Extension Service - Extension and Experiment Station Communications, 4 Apr. 2017, pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/host-disease/lawn-turf-red-thread.
"Vertigo" is often used (incorrectly) to describe a fear of heights, but it is more accurately a spinning sensation that occurs when one is not actually spinning. It can be triggered by looking down from a high place, or by looking straight up at a high place or tall object, but this alone does not describe vertigo. True vertigo can be triggered by almost any type of movement (e.g. standing up, sitting down, walking) or change in visual perspective (e.g. squatting down, walking up or down stairs, looking out of the window of a moving car or train). Vertigo is called "height vertigo" when the sensation of vertigo is triggered by heights.
Visual outcomes for patients with ocular trauma due to blast injuries vary, and prognoses depend upon the type of injury sustained. The majority of poor visual outcomes arise from perforating injuries: only 21% of patients with perforating injuries with pre-operative light perception had a final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) better than 20/200. Collectively, patients who experienced choroidal hemorrhage, perforated or penetrated globes, retinal detachment, traumatic optic neuropathy, and subretinal macular hemorrhage carried the highest incidence rates of BCVAs worse than 20/200. Reports from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) indicate that 42% of soldiers with globe injuries of any kind had a BCVA greater than or equal to 20/40 six months after injury, and soldiers with intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) retained 20/40 or better vision in 52% of studied cases.
Globe perforation, oculoplastic intervention, and neuro-ophthalmic injuries contribute significantly to reported poor visual outcomes. 21% of tertiary centers treating patients exposed to blast trauma reported traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) in their patients, although avulsion of the optic nerve and TON were reported in only 3% of combat injuries. In the event that a victim of globe penetrating trauma cannot perceive any light within two weeks of surgical intervention, the ophthalmologist may choose to enucleate as a preventative measure against sympathetic ophthalmia. However, this procedure is extremely rare, and current reports indicate that only one soldier in OIF has undergone enucleation in a tertiary care facility to prevent sympathetic ophthalmia.
There is some laboratory tests that may aid in diagnosis of GSD-V. A muscle biopsy will note the absence of myophosphorylase in muscle fibers. In some cases, acid-Schiff stained glycogen can be seen with microscopy.
Genetic sequencing of the PYGM gene (which codes for the muscle isoform of glycogen phosphorylase) may be done to determine the presence of gene mutations, determining if McArdle's is present. This type of testing is considerably less invasive than a muscle biopsy.
The physician can also perform an ischemic forearm exercise test as described above. Some findings suggest a nonischemic test could be performed with similar results. The nonischemic version of this test would involve not cutting off the blood flow to the exercising arm. Findings consistent with McArdle’s disease would include a failure of lactate in venous blood and exaggerated ammonia levels. These findings would indicate a severe muscle glycolytic block. Ammonia arises from the impaired buffering of ADP, which leads to an increase in AMP concentration resulting in an increase in AMP deamination.
Physicians may also check resting levels of creatine kinase, which are moderately increased in 90% of patients. In some, the level is increased by multitudes - a person without GSD-V will have a CK between 60 and 400IU/L, while a person with the syndrome may have a level of 5,000 IU/L at rest, and may increase to 35,000 IU/L or more with muscle exertion. This can help distinguish McArdle's syndrome from carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency (CPT-II), a lipid-based metabolic disorder which prevents fatty acids from being transported into mitochondria for use as an energy source. Also, serum electrolytes and endocrine studies (such as thyroid function, parathyroid function and growth hormone levels) will also be completed. Urine studies are required only if rhabdomyolysis is suspected. Urine volume, urine sediment and myoglobin levels would be ascertained. If rhabdomyolysis is suspected, serum myoglobin, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, electrolytes and renal function will be checked.
Some desensitization treatments produce short-term improvements in symptoms. Long-term treatment success has been elusive.