Acute encephalitis/encephalopathy is a severe neurological syndrome that is occasionally associated with viral infection. Comprehensive virus detection assays are desirable because viral pathogens have not been identified in many cases. We evaluated the utility of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for detecting viruses in clinical samples of encephalitis/encephalopathy patients. We first determined the sensitivity and quantitative performance of NGS by comparing the NGS-determined number of sequences of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in clinical serum samples with the HHV-6 load measured using real-time PCR. HHV-6 was measured as it occasionally causes neurologic disorders in children. The sensitivity of NGS for detection of HHV-6 sequences was equivalent to that of real-time PCR, and the number of HHV-6 reads was significantly correlated with HHV-6 load. Next, we investigated the ability of NGS to detect viral sequences in 18 pediatric patients with acute encephalitis/encephalopathy of unknown etiology. A large number of Coxsackievirus A9 and mumps viral sequences were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of 2 and 1 patients, respectively. In addition, Torque teno virus and Pepper mild mottle viral sequences were detected in the sera of one patient each. These data indicate that NGS is useful for detection of causative viruses in patients with pediatric encephalitis/encephalopathy.

Aims/hypothesis It is difficult to use HbA 1c as an indicator of glycaemic control in patients with neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) because of high levels of fetal haemoglobin (HbF) remaining in the blood. In this study, glycated albumin (GA), which is not affected by HbF, and HbA 1c were compared to evaluate whether they reflect glycaemic control in patients with NDM. Methods This study included five patients with NDM. Age at diagnosis was 38±20 days. Insulin therapy was started in all patients, and levels of GA, HbA 1c and HbF were measured monthly for 6 months. One-month average preprandial plasma glucose (aPPG) was calculated using self-monitoring of blood glucose. Results Plasma glucose and GA were elevated (29.7± 13.1 mmol/l [n=5] and 33.3±6.9% [n=3], respectively) but HbA 1c was within normal limits (5.4±2.6% [35.5± 4.9 mmol/mol]; n=4) at diagnosis. With diabetes treatment, aPPG (r=−0.565, p=0.002), GA (r=−0.552, p=0.003) and HbF (r=−0.855, p<0.0001) decreased with age, whereas HbA 1c increased (r=0.449, p=0.004). GA was strongly positively correlated with aPPG (r=0.784, p<0.0001), while HbA 1c showed no correlation with aPPG (r=0.221, p=0.257) and was significantly inversely correlated with HbF (r=−0.539, p=0.004). Conclusions/interpretation GA is a useful indicator of glycaemic control in patients with NDM, whereas HbA 1c is influenced by age-related changes in HbF and does not accurately reflect glycaemic control.

ObjectiveThe aim of this prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial was to compare the efficacy of silver nitrate cauterization against that of topical steroid ointment in the treatment of neonatal umbilical granuloma.MethodsAn open-label, non-inferiority randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2013 to January 2016. The primary endpoint for the silver nitrate cauterization and topical steroid ointment groups was the healing rate after 2 weeks of treatment, applying a non-inferiority margin of 10%. The healing rate was evaluated until completion of 3 weeks of treatment.ResultsParticipants comprised 207 neonates with newly diagnosed umbilical granuloma, randomized to receive silver nitrate cauterization (n = 104) or topical steroid ointment (n = 103). Healing rates after 2 weeks of treatment were 87.5% (91/104) in the silver nitrate cauterization and 82% (82/100) in the topical steroid ointment group group. The difference between groups was -5.5% (95% confidence interval, -19.1%, 8.4%), indicating that the non-inferiority criterion was not met. After 3 weeks of treatment, the healing rate with topical steroid ointment treatment was almost identical to that of silver nitrate cauterization (94/104 [90.4%] vs. 91/100 [91.0%]; 0.6% [-13.2 to 14.3]). No major complications occurred in either group.ConclusionsThis study did not establish non-inferiority of topical steroid ointment treatment relative to silver nitrate cauterization, presumably due to lower healing rates than expected leading to an underpowered trial. However, considering that silver nitrate cauterization carries a distinct risk of chemical burns and that the overall efficacy of topical steroid ointment treatment is similar to that of silver nitrate cauterization, topical steroid ointment might be considered as a good alternative in the treatment of neonatal umbilical granuloma due to its safety and simplicity. To clarify non-inferiority, a larger study is needed.

Dynamic images such as computer graphics animation, moving things captured by video camera are always composed of several images as frames. This paper proposes one of the mathematical formulations for such animations. The key idea of our formulation is that each of the pixels representing an image is regarded as a kind of potentials in vector fields. Based on the vector calculus in classical physics, any static and dynamic images can be represented by the Poisson-and Helmholtz-type partial differential equations, respectively. This makes it possible to handle any images as analytical and continuous quantity even though these are given in terms of the discrete ones.Further, it is clarified that the animation technology is closely related with the simulation one. In the present paper, we carry out one of the simulations for magnetodynamic fields in ferro-magnetic material to show the relationship between the animation and simulation methodologies. As a result, it is demonstrated that our animation methodology reproduces the simulated magnetodynamic fields. Thus, it is found that our approach has versatile capability for analyzing the electric and electronic devices.

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