Hay fever indistinguishable from cold

I am suffering from hay fever now.

It is so serious that I can hardly do anything without trouble.

I cannot concentrate on work. I have to care about my nose every minute.

Interestingly, and quite unfortunately, I cannot distinguish the symptoms of my hay fever from a common cold. I have a headache, as well as a sneeze. I feel very tired and I become easily exhausted. The only difference is the itching eyes. Therefore, I guess I have no cold.

I hate March and April. I would like to keep sleeping until summer.

Ghosn of Nissan released from jail

Recently, Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan CEO, was released on bail from jail.

The Guardian: Carlos Ghosn: former Nissan chairman released on bail in Tokyo

Ghosn seated Nissan CEO several years ago. He was expected to recover the performance of Nissan, a leading motor company in Japan. And indeed, he achieved a splendid profit. Once he was approved as a god of management.

However, in recent years, Ghosn has criticized by some major persons in Nissan, as well as other counterparts. Finally, Ghosn was arrested for breach of corporate governance.

I am not sure if he has committed crimes. Gohsn himself denies any involvement of crimes. It is possible that he was tricked by some enemies wanting to exile him from Nissan. On the other hand, it is possible he had betrayed workers and stakeholders as the prosecutor claims.

By the way, Japan is infamous for lengthened detention of suspects. If you are arrested, you would be detained for up to 23 days almost without any liberty. Furthermore, you will be prosecuted when you deny committing crimes. In this case, the detention will be prolonged for months, even years.

In Ghosn's case, France, as well as other foreign countries, was surprised by this Japanese trend of criminal justice. It is one of the reasons Ghosn got bailed successfully, I guess.

The environment of detention is very harsh in Japan. I know some persons who died during detention. Even if Ghosn has committed something wrong, I am doubtful he deserved to such long-term inconvenience.

How to raise your confidence

Many people say they dare not to challenge something because of the lack of confidence. They say they would challenge when they become assured of success.

I would like to say, never you got confident.

The less you are confident, the more you should try it. When you are not confident, you may be unskilled or inexperienced. In these cases, you would be not blamed if you fail. It is a chance of you.

Also, confidence is made only from successful experience. Never try, never confidence.

Facebook changes itself from a hall to a room

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, announced his latest idea. He intends to change the core feature of Facebook and relevant services dramatically.

The Washington Post: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says he’ll reorient the company toward encryption and privacy

According to him, Facebook will invest more to privacy and encryption. Users will store their personal information and activity more secure, to broadcast to limited people he or she truly trusts. It looks Facebook will become a living room from a city hall.

Nowadays, Facebook is connected with several leading apps such as Messenger and Instagram. These apps require absolute security level for daily use, different from Facebook itself which is basically open to the whole world. Considering the fact that Facebook provides those apps, prioritizing security is rational at a glance.

However, this direction is opposite to Mark Zuckerberg’s ideology, I believe. His goal is to make everything clear. Secure communication with limited number of people is not his favor.

In recent years, Facebook has been blamed on its fragile security and loose privacy policy. As a gigantic company, keep users’ data secure is essential. But Zuckerberg may be indifferent to this issue. If is possible that he departs from Facebook in the near future, I guess.

Investment companies relax dress code

Goldman Sachs relaxed the dress code.

BBC: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for all employees

The top of Goldman Sachs approved an internal memorandum permitting casual dressing on business, according to the media. In this memo, it is confirmed that firm-wide flexible dress cord should be adapted. On the other hand, casual dresses are not allowed in everywhere and every time. Workers are expected to decide the clothes best matching the occasion in each opportunity.

In Goldman Sachs, as well as other investment companies, under 30s has become majority. This policy change is reflecting young workers’ will.

I believe, however, generation gap is not the main reason for this decision. To begin with, it is doubtful that workers in an investment company have to wear formal suits. Also, opinion of customers than employees will be prioritized in the decision-making of dress code. Nowadays, face-to-face communication in investment consultation is shrinking. Many customers seem not to be interested in the clothes of workers.

Overcoming fear

Fear is one of the primitive emotions in humans. We feel fearful when encountering threats. Sometimes you feel your heartbeat is rapid and your hands are sweating. And you may think it would be grateful if you could run away.

Some people are suffering from excessive fear. Anxiety disorders and phobia are common mental disorders. Controlling fear is an essential issue for patients.

There are some tips to overcome your fear. Positive goal setting and focusing the process to achieve something are important to protect you from overwhelming fear.

Forbes: How To Overcome Your Fears

On the other hand, some patients are not good at thinking positively. In this case, I recommend you not to be positive so much. Rather, imagine the worst scenario. Then, prepare yourself to face the worst thing. In this time, it is important not to prepare any protection from the doom. Throw you away to the dark hole.

This method is effective for some patients. Of course, if you feel bad, do not try it. Therapists are responsible to suggest a tailor-made way for you.

Annoying SPSS

SPSS is a leading software of statistical analysis provided by IBM. Most researchers use SPSS for examining the data they gained. It is almost essential for scientists to utilize SPSS.

However, SPSS has some disadvantages. First, SPSS is very costly. It takes over 1,000 USD even for minimal use.

Second, SPSS is very hard to use. The interface of SPSS is not sophisticated. Its quality is far inferior to Microsoft Excel.

And third, SPSS has several bugs. Statisticians say they do not recommend us to use SPSS because of many bugs. When I heard it for the first time, I imagined that there were merely technical issues around the calculation. But actually, there are many apparent and critical bugs in SPSS. For example, when copying the data of Microsoft Excel to SPSS spreadsheet, a line of datasheet disappeared. I had to check hundreds of lines of the data manually.

After all, I consider abandoning SPSS. It is critical for me if the bug led to an incorrect conclusion of my research.

MMR vaccination does not cause autism

A newly developed evidenced denies the causal relationship between vaccination of measles, mumps and rubella and the onset of autism.

The Guardian: No link between autism and MMR, affirms major study

There have been debates about the adverse effects of vaccination. Most of the claims suggesting the health risk of vaccination lack evidence, in my sense. Therefore, this result published recently is not surprising at all. But, it is essential to prove scientifically a fact that has been consistent with clinician's common sense.

On the other hand, autism is a heterogeneous illness. There is no decisive etiology to explain the onset of autism. It means several hypotheses are still allowed to be considered. Thus, it is theoretically possible that exposure to some kind of chemical substance would raise the risk of the onset of autism.

In general, autism is deemed as a congenital disease. Therefore, it is unlikely that a particular treatment such as vaccination in their childhood is a cause of autism. On the other hand, autism becomes apparent in early childhood. Parents often think their early nurturing is so bad to make their child autistic. More complicated, there are some other illnesses caused by environmental issues which are often misidentified as autism.

Anyway, scientific consideration and critical thinking are important for better support to children at risks. At present, MMR vaccination is beneficial for a child's health far more than the risk.

Collective intelligence in medical science

Crowd working seems to be beneficial for physicians.

Reuters: When diagnosing a patient's ills, there's strength in numbers

An international online project was conducted to prove the correctness of collaborative diagnosing. Over a thousand of medical doctors participated in the test for correct diagnosis. The correct rate was only 62.5% in physicians and doctors-in-training. However, after consulting with other residents, the rate was raised to 85.6%, according to the report.

It looks quite natural that collaboration among specialists results in better outcome, for ordinary people. But, physicians are usually proud of their ability of diagnosing patient. They often hesitate to consult with other doctor. Furthermore, there are some paradoxical etiologies in many regions in medical science. Therefore, it seems a little surprising result, in my sense.

Especially, psychiatry is one of the specialties in which medical diagnosis is controversial. The previous year, WHO released ICD-11, revised from ICD-10. There are many points of argument in ICD-11. So far, consensus in diagnosis itself is still yet to be developed.

London Tube attempt to reduce suicide

London Tube company is eager to prevent suicides of passengers.

Independent: Suicide attempts on Tube fall for first time in five years as TfL staff interventions double

According to the report, the suicide rate on Tube is decreasing in these years. It might be a fruit of intervention for this issue. Transport for London is strengthening the training of the workers so that they can successfully detect passengers with risk and telling them to treat such people with sympathetic ways.

Suicide is not a rare occasion for us. Therefore, each of us should be aware that we are somewhat responsible to prevent the suicide of our neighbors.

 I never deny the influence of successful intervention by humans to prevent suicide. On the other hand, I believe that the most effective way to prevent suicide is to develop the fence at the end of each platform. A physical barrier is beneficial to suppress impulsive behaviors.

I have no data on the effectiveness of the fence for reducing incidence. But, it is likely some people hesitate to throw their body on the rail only when the fence interrupts it. Indeed, new legislation to mandatory developing of the fence on the top of building in Hongkong, maybe, reduced the suicide rate.

Protection with the fence is costly. In Japan, although several platforms equip the fence, many are still bare. I expect the railway companies can invest the protection as soon as possible.

Bohemian Rhapsody will be released in China, but

Bohemian Rhapsody will be modified for the Chinese market.

Evening Standard: LGBT scenes to be cut from Bohemian Rhapsody for Chinese release

Bohemian Rhapsody is a cinema movie describing Queen, a legendary rock band, and its leader Freddie Mercury's dramatic life.

Freddie Mercury was a genius musician. Because of his extraordinary character, he caused several troubles with his friends. But many supported him. On the last scene of the film, he was again on stage with his old colleague together to send his songs to people all around the world.

Also, Freddie was a gey. His sexuality made his life strange. He experienced a bitter divorce with his wife. Gender minority is one of the themes of this film.

But, it seems not to be acceptable in China.

After getting Oscars, it was decided that Bohemian Rhapsody will be released in China. But, some scenes describing drug use and kisses between males are to be eliminated.

Being a gey is an icon of Freddie Mercury. Deleting the scenes suggesting it will discount the value of this film. Many people will be disappointed with this treatment.

On the other hand, if it is a necessary condition for releasing Bohemian Rhapsody in China, we may have to accept it. It is also no doubt many Chineses expect to see this film on cinema, even if it is a less-qualified version.

Oxytocin level decides your marriage?

A new study found that marital stability is partially affected by genotypes.

The Telegraph: Key to a happy marriage? It's in your genes, scientists discover

According to the researchers, there is some variation regarding oxytocin, a hormone recently attracting specialists' attention, in genes. People with GG genotype are likely to be satisfied with their social relationship due to a stabilized release of oxytocin.

Indeed, oxytocin is said to be associated with social bonding, and even love. Oxytocin is expected to be a remedy to cure social disturbance in patients with autism, though the outcome is yet to be critically examined.

However, it is hardly credible that a single hormone influences the success rate of a couple's life.

Researchers calculated that the intensity of influence by oxytocin was 4%. It seems reasonable rate, I sense.

Nowadays, the divorce rate is increasing in many developed countries. It is for several societal reasons. I am doubtful that the oxytocin level is inferior in modern humans to ancestors.

Second summit between US and North Korea ends bitter

Donald Trump, the President of the US, and Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea met again. This conference was conducted at Hanoi on Feb 27-28, 2018. It was deemed as a second round to the previous summit conducted in the last June.

However, they seem not to have got any deals.

The Economist: Trump and Kim walk away

Trump seems to have attempted to make North Korea abandon nuclear weapons. The North' complete and irreversible withdrawal from developing nuclear weapons is the goal for the US. On the other hand, the potential of nuclear weapons is a crucial tool in negotiation for the North. Kim seems to have judged it is not the time to surrender.

The two promised further continuous conversation. Therefore, it is unlikely that this event will knock the door to the nuclear war. The situation will be stuck for a while.

For Donald Trump, the next election is approaching. I expect him not to be reckless for excessive concerning about the vote.