Comparison between point-of-care testing from capillary samples and conventional laboratory testing from venous samples for white blood cells and C-reactive protein in a pediatric outpatient setting.

Background: Studies on the accuracy of point-of-care (POC) testing using capillary samples are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the analytical accuracy of POC testing for white blood cell (WBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) using capillary samples compared with conventional central laboratory testing using venous samples in a pediatric ambulatory care setting.

Methods: This was a retrospective study including patients younger than 18 years who underwent concurrent WBC and CRP evaluations via capillary and subsequent venous sampling within a 2-h window.

Routine varicella vaccination program and hospitalization for herpes zoster in Japan.

Whether reducing exposure to varicella by the implementation of the routine varicella vaccination program for children leads to increased incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to identify the trend in the hospitalization associated with HZ before and after the introduction of routine varicella vaccination by using nationally representative data from an inpatient database in Japan. Data were obtained on the number of inpatients hospitalized for HZ from the "Survey on the effect of the introduction of Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) database" and the total population in Japan from the Population Estimates created by the former Statistics Bureau between fiscal years 2013 and 2018.

Regional variation in the development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and relation with sunshine duration in Japan: an ecological study.

Background: Few studies have investigated the regional variations in the development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. This study aimed to investigate regional variations in medical costs for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia and the correlations between sunshine duration and medical care costs for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in an ecological study, using the National Database of Japan.

Methods: We obtained data on the annual medical costs for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, annual live births, and annual sunshine duration in each prefecture from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB) Open Data, Vital Statistics in Japan, and System of Social and Demographic Statistics Prefectural Data Basic Data from 2014 to 2017.

Comparison of Machine Learning Models for Prediction of Initial Intravenous Immunoglobulin Resistance in Children With Kawasaki Disease.

We constructed an optimal machine learning (ML) method for predicting intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) using commonly available clinical and laboratory variables. We retrospectively collected 98 clinical records of hospitalized children with KD (2-109 months of age). We found that 20 (20%) children were resistant to initial IVIG therapy.

Hitomi X-ray studies of Giant Radio Pulses from the Crab pulsar.

To search for giant X-ray pulses correlated with the giant radio pulses (GRPs) from the Crab pulsar, we performed a simultaneous observation of the Crab pulsar with the X-ray satellite Hitomi in the 2 - 300 keV band and the Kashima NICT radio observatory in the 1.4 - 1.7 GHz band with a net exposure of about 2 ks on 25 March 2016, just before the loss of the Hitomi mission.

Laryngeal Injury and Pneumomediastinum Due to Minor Blunt Neck Trauma: Case Report.

Background: Serious isolated laryngeal injuries are uncommon in children.

Case Report: We describe the case of an 8-year-old boy with laryngeal injury and pneumomediastinum due to minor blunt neck trauma. He presented to the emergency department complaining of odynophagia and hoarseness, but without respiratory distress.

Post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis complicated by gouty arthritis: a case report.

Gouty arthritis is uncommon in childhood and adolescence. On the other hand, there has been no report of cases with development of gouty arthritis with post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis (PSAGN) in pediatric patients. Here we report the case of a mildly obese 12-year-old boy with PSAGN complicated by gouty arthritis of the left first metatarsophalangeal joint.

Synthesis of carbocyclic pyrimidine nucleosides and their inhibitory activities against Plasmodium falciparum thymidylate kinase.

Plasmodium falciparum thymidylate kinase (PfTMK) is a promising antimalarial target due to its unique substrate specificity. Recently, we reported that 2',3'-dideoxycarbocyclic thymidine showed moderate inhibitory activity and reported the related structure-activity relationship for inhibitors against PfTMK. In this study, we have designed and synthesized enantioselective 2',3'-dideoxycarbocyclic pyrimidine nucleosides based on our previous results and screened them for inhibitory activity against PfTMK.