Visual Exploration System for Analyzing Trends in Annual Recruitment Using Time-varying Graphs

Annual recruitment data of new graduates are manually analyzed by human resources specialists (HR) in industries, which signifies the need to evaluate the recruitment strategy of HR specialists. Every year, different applicants send in job applications to companies. The relationships between applicants' attributes (e.g., English skill or academic credential) can be used to analyze the changes in recruitment trends across multiple years' data. However, most attributes are unnormalized and thus require thorough preprocessing. Such unnormalized data hinder the effective comparison of the relationship between applicants in the early stage of data analysis. Thus, a visual exploration system is highly needed to gain insight from the overview of the relationship between applicants across multiple years. In this study, we propose the Polarizing Attributes for Network Analysis of Correlation on Entities Association (Panacea) visualization system. The proposed system integrates a time-varying graph model and dynamic graph visualization for heterogeneous tabular data. Using this system, human resource specialists can interactively inspect the relationships between two attributes of prospective employees across multiple years. Further, we demonstrate the usability of Panacea with representative examples for finding hidden trends in real-world datasets and then describe HR specialists' feedback obtained throughout Panacea's development. The proposed Panacea system enables HR specialists to visually explore the annual recruitment of new graduates

4-Hydroxy-2-Nonenal-Modified Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Is Degraded by Cathepsin G in Rat Neutrophils

Degradation of oxidized or oxidatively modified proteins is an essential part of the antioxidant defenses of cells. 4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal, a major reactive aldehyde formed by lipid peroxidation, causes many types of cellular damage. It has been reported that 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified proteins are degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway or, in some cases, by the lysosomal pathway. However, our previous studies using U937 cells showed that 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase is degraded by cathepsin G. In the present study, we isolated the 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-degrading enzyme from rat neutrophils to an active protein fraction of 28 kDa. Using the specific antibody, the 28 kDa protein was identified as cathepsin G. Moreover, the degradation activity was inhibited by cathepsin G inhibitors. These results suggest that cathepsin G plays a crucial role in the degradation of 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

A case of sporadic intestinal cryptosporidiosis diagnosed by endoscopic biopsy

Sporadic intestinal cryptosporidiosis is not easily diagnosed and might be overlooked. We present here a case of this disease in a 23-year-old Japanese military man with 3 days of abdominal pain, watery diarrhea, and nausea. The frequency of his diarrhea was more than 10 times per day. After his diarrheal bowel symptoms subsided, a colonoscopy was performed because inflammatory bowel disease was suspected. Although the endoscopic findings indicated non-specific ileitis, intestinal cryptosporidiosis was suspected from the histology of ileal biopsy specimens, and this was confirmed ultrastructurally. At that time, however, the patient was on active duty, and thus it was not possible to confirm this as a definitive diagnosis by an adequate stool examination for cryptosporidium. Routine practitioners should be encouraged to carefully inspect patients for this disease, supported by detailed knowledge of it and its diagnosis. If stool-examination results are negative or are not obtained at first, histological diagnosis by endoscopic biopsy could be a useful way to screen for intestinal cryptosporidiosis. Furthermore, stool or histological examination should be performed in recovered patients because the oocysts may continue to be shed for 1 to 4 weeks after the symptoms disappear. Therefore, endoscopic and histological examinations may be useful tools for the early diagnosis of intestinal cryptosporidiosis, although admittedly they are invasive procedures.</p

Median nerve neuropathy in the forearm due to recurrence of anterior wrist ganglion that originates from the scaphotrapezial joint: Case Report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Median nerve neuropathy caused by compression from a tumor in the forearm is rare. Cases with anterior wrist ganglion have high recurrence rates despite surgical treatment. Here, we report the recurrence of an anterior wrist ganglion that originated from the Scaphotrapezial joint due to incomplete resection and that caused median nerve neuropathy in the distal forearm.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 47-year-old right-handed housewife noted the appearance of soft swelling on the volar aspect of her left distal forearm, and local resection surgery was performed twice at another hospital. One year after the last surgery, the swelling reappeared and was associated with numbness and pain in the radial volar aspect of the hand. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the multicystic lesion originated from the Scaphotrapezial joint and had expanded beyond the wrist. Exploration of the left median nerve showed that it was compressed by a large ovoid cystic lesion at the distal forearm near the proximal end of the carpal tunnel. We resected the cystic lesion to the Scaphotrapezial joint. Her symptoms disappeared 1 week after surgery, and complications or recurrent symptoms were absent 13 months after surgery.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A typical median nerve compression was caused by incomplete resection of an anterior wrist ganglion, which may have induced widening of the cyst. Cases with anterior wrist ganglion have high recurrence rates and require extra attention in their treatment.</p

On The Unsteady Aerodynamics Of Road Vehicles In The Dynamic Motions

Unsteady aerodynamics of road vehicles in dy-namic pitching motion were investigated by numerical analysis. Dynamic coupling simulation of flow and vehicle motion was realized based on a large eddy simulation (LES) technique with moving boundary methods. Fully unstructured finite volume code previously developed was implemented for the road vehicle aerodynamics. Arbitrary Lagrangean-Eulerian (ALE) method was employed to handle vehicle’s ro-tating motion, particularly the dynamic pitching. This vehicle motion type is chosen because of the unsteady aerodynamics are expected to be crucial in regards to the comfort of passenger. By using the numerical simulation, a method to estimate the vehicle’s aerodynamic damping was proposed

Spermatogenic Dysfunction in Azoospermic Japanese Men Caused by Y Chromosome Microdeletions

Genetic factors are responsible for approximately 15％ of male infertility. The azoospermia factors AZFa, AZFb（P5/proximal P1）, and AZFc（b2/b4） present on Yq are most important for spermatogenesis. Here,we evaluated frequencies of microdeletions of AZFa, AZFb, AZFc in azoospermia due to spermatogenicdysfunction in the Japanese population. The overall prevalence of Y chromosome microdeletions in infertilemen was 8.1％（79/980）. The prevalence of Y chromosome microdeletions in AZFa, AZFb, AZFabc, AZFbc （P5/distal P1 or P4/distal P1） and AZFc was 0.1％ , 0.8％ , 0.7％ , 2.0％ and 4.4％ , respectively. Microdissection for testicular sperm extraction failed in all patients with microdeletion in AZFa, AZFb, AZFabc, and AZFbc, although sperm could be retrieved in 28/43 patients with AZFc deletions（62.2％）. The presence of an AZFc deletion was associated with significantly better sperm retrieval than the 33.0％ retrieval rate in idiopathic non-deleted azoospermic men undergoing microdissection for testicular spermextraction at our institution during the study period. We conclude that Y chromosome microdeletion testing is essential for genetic and preoperative counseling in these patients

The CD70-CD27 interaction during the stimulation with dendritic cells promotes naive CD4+ T cells to develop into T cells producing a broad array of immunostimulatory cytokines in humans

CD70 expressed on dendritic cells (DCs) has been shown to play a critical role in inducing effective CD8+ T cell responses and a Th1 response in mice. However, it has not been extensively examined whether human primary DCs express CD70 and whether the CD70–CD27 interaction promotes naive CD4+ T cells to acquire the ability to produce effector cytokines during the DC–T cell interaction in humans. Here, we show that human myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells stimulated with CD40 ligand together with pro-inflammatory cytokines or Toll-like receptor ligands express CD70. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin plus prostaglandin E2 also induced CD70 on mDCs. Naive CD4+ T cells stimulated with DCs but not with anti-CD3/CD28 microbeads expressed CD70. Stimulation with CD70 together with anti-CD3/CD28 microbeads imparted the ability to produce Th1 (IFN-), Th2 (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13) cytokines, IL-2 and tumor necrosis factor- to naive CD4+ T cells. The production of IFN- was associated with the induction of T-bet. Naive CD4+ T cells stimulated with mDCs acquired an enhanced ability to produce a broad array of immunostimulatory cytokines in a CD70-dependent manner. These data suggest that human CD70 expressed on mDCs and activated T cells transmits a ‘basal level’ signal, rather than a ‘polarizing’ signal, to naive CD4+ T cells, in that CD70 promotes the development of CD4+ T cells that produce a variety of effector cytokines including both Th1 and Th2 types, thus contributing to the enhancement of a broad spectrum of immune responses

Three Type 6 Hepatitis C Virus Subgroups among Blood Donors in the Yangon Area of Myanmar Are Identified as Subtypes 6m and 6n, and a Novel Subtype by Sequence Analysis of the Core Region.

Previously, using phylogenetic analysis of NS5b sequences, we found that three type 6 variant subgroups (M6-1, M6-2 and M6-3) exist in Myanmar. According to the new nomenclature of hepatitis C, M6-1 and M6-2 belong to subtypes 6m and 6n, respectively, but M6-3 is unassigned. In this study, we sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed the core region of these type 6 variant subgroups. Serum samples assigned as 6m or 6n by NS5b sequence were also identifi ed as 6 m or 6n by core region analysis. The M6-3 (sample name MYAN-3E-3) remained unassigned to a subgroup based on its core region analysis. The fi ndings of this study suggest that either the core region or the NS5b region can be analyzed for HCV subtype classifi cation

Venous Thromboembolism after Total Hip Arthroplasty Diagnosed by Enhanced Computed Tomography : Comparison of Selective Thromboprophylaxis and No Thromboprophylaxis

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is the most effective treatment for advanced or end-stage hip osteoarthritis. However, venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains one of its unresolved complications. We reviewed the records of 322 patients undergoing primary THA and investigated the efficacy of anticoagulant prophylaxis for VTE. Our study cohort consisted of 60 patients who received no anticoagulants, 100 patients who received a factor Xa inhibitor (fondaparinux), 100 patients who received low molecular weight heparin (enoxaparin), and 62 patients who selectively received no anticoagulant prophylaxis due to perioperative bleeding, weight, and/or hemoglobin concentration. Enhanced 64-slice multidetector row computed tomography was performed postoperatively for 7 days in all cases. The incidence of VTE in the four groups was 15ｵ, 9.0ｵ, 6.0ｵ, and 6.4ｵ, respectively. The incidence of VTE was significantly lower in the groups receiving anticoagulant prophylaxis and the group selectively receiving no anticoagulant prophylaxis than in the group receiving no anticoagulants. Complications of fondaparinux therapy included hepatic dysfunction in 4 cases (4.0ｵ), minor bleeding in 2 cases (2.0ｵ), persistent wound drainage in 3 cases (3.0ｵ), and eruption in 1 case (1.0ｵ). The complications of enoxaparin therapy were persistent wound drainage in 1 case (1.0ｵ) and progression of anemia in 1 case (1.0ｵ). The incidence of VTE was low in patients who selectively received no anticoagulant prophylaxis, so we conclude that anticoagulant prophylaxis should be used selectively in THA cases