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Summary: Background: Predictors of suboptimal coronary flow in the infarct-related artery (IRA) after stent-based primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have not been fully investigated. Methods and results: Using the AMI-Kyoto Multi-Center Risk Study database, we retrospectively compared clinical manifestations and in-hospital prognosis between AMI patients undergoing stent-based primary PCI with final Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade ≤2 in the IRA (nonoptimal group, n =69) and those with final TIMI grade 3 (optimal group, n =1200). The nonoptimal group had higher prevalence of Killip class ≥3 at admission, higher frequency of mechanical support devices during procedures, larger value of maximal creatine phosphokinase, and a significantly higher in-hospital mortality rate (27.5% for nonoptimal vs. 9.0% for optimal, P <0.001), compared with the optimal group. On multivariate analysis, Killip class ≥3 at admission was the independent predictor of the final nonoptimal flow (odds ratio 2.33, 95% confidence intervals 1.27–4.26 P =0.006), but TIMI 3 flow before primary PCI and elapsed time (symptom onset-to-admission time)<24h were not. Conclusions: Killip class ≥3 at admission is an independent predictor of the final nonoptimal flow in AMI patients undergoing primary PCI with stent implantation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Background: Recurrent acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a disastrous condition with high in-hospital morbidity and mortality. However, the relation between location of previous myocardial infarction (MI) and in-hospital outcome in repeat-AMI patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains unclear. Methods and results: Using the AMI-Kyoto Multi-Center Risk Study database, clinical background, angiographic findings, results of primary PCI, and in-hospital prognosis were retrospectively compared between primary PCI-treated AMI patients with previous anterior MI (anterior group, n =151) and those with previous non-anterior MI (non-anterior group, n =157). Clinical backgrounds, angiographic findings, results of primary PCI, and in-hospital outcome did not differ significantly between the two groups. On multivariate analysis, Killip class ≥3 at admission, number of diseased vessels ≥2 or diseased left main trunk at initial coronary angiography, and age were the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality in the recurrent-AMI patients, but not the anterior location of previous MI. Conclusions: These results suggest that among recurrent-AMI patients undergoing primary PCI, in-hospital prognosis mostly depends on the severity of acute heart failure at the onset and the residual myocardial ischemia rather than previous MI sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Photonic fractal with self-similar structure of dielectric medium can strongly localize the electromagnetic wave energy in the three-dimensional fractal structure. We have fabricated Menger-sponge fractal structures of epoxy by using stereolithography. Titania–silica particles were dispersed into the epoxy to increase the dielectric constant and decrease the dielectric loss. The samples have square holes of 1, 3, 9 and 27mm in edge length through the cubic body of 81mm. Four types of Menger-sponge samples with fractal stages 1–4 were subjected for measurement of microwave responses. The both reflection and transmission amplitudes were attenuated simultaneously at frequencies of 9.5, 10.5, 12.0 and 13.5GHz for each sample with fractal stages 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The electromagnetic field amplitudes in the air holes measured by inserting a mono-pole antenna probe confirmed the strong localization of the electromagnetic wave in the central air cavity. The localized mode frequency can be calculated using the sample size, number of stage, and the effective dielectric constant. The localization efficiency increased according to the fractal stage number. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Background: Coronary angiography (CAG) has been the mainstay of diagnostic image analysis for coronary artery fistula (CAF). However, it is difficult to fully delineate this complex vessel structure including coronary trees, particularly in cases with large CAF, by this method. Case reports: In the present 3 cases with large CAF, contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) was performed to examine the whole coronary vessel structure including CAF. Selective CAG was also undertaken. In all 3 cases, based on the echocardiographic findings and the characteristic heart murmur, presence of CAF was suspected. However, transthoracic echocardiography as well as CAG alone could not define the whole abnormal vessel structure precisely. Moreover, CAG could not obtain clear images of the coronary artery with large CAF, because of contrast-steal. In contrast, MDCT could not only define CAF in detail but also depict coronary artery adjacent to CAF. On the basis of the MDCT findings, in cases 1 and 3, surgical exclusions were undertaken without and with coronary artery bypass grafting, respectively. Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced MDCT might be useful for the diagnosis of large CAF and for the estimation of the coronary artery adjacent to CAF, which is absolutely indispensable for surgical treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The surface polarization scattering is investigated in terms of the coherence matrix for the electric field scattered from a birefringent material with a random interface between its surface and air. The relationship between the statistical properties of the scattered light at the scattering surface and the micro-structure of the anisotropic media has been explored for the first time to understand the underlying mechanism of the surface scattering phenomena for the electric field with random states of polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The phase-crossing algorithm is proposed for white-light interferometry, which uses the multi-color phase information of spectrally decomposed interferograms recorded simultaneously with color-sensitive image sensors. The location of zero optical path difference is identified as the singular point at which the phase becomes color invariant, and is determined accurately with a sub-sampling-interval resolution from the crossing point of the multi-color phase distributions obtained by the Fourier transform method. An experimental result is presented that demonstrates the performance of the phase-crossing algorithm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Rather than regarding the phase singularities as obstacles or nuisances in phase unwrapping, we explore new possibilities of making use of the phase singularities in optical metrology. Instead of intensity correlation techniques used in conventional speckle metrology, we propose a new technique of displacement measurement that makes use of the density of phase singularities in the complex analytic signal of the speckle pattern, which is generated by Hilbert filtering. Experimental results and theoretical analysis are presented that demonstrate the validity of the proposed technique. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Three-dimensional electromagnetic or photonic crystals with periodic variations of the dielectric constants were fabricated by a rapid prototyping method called stereolithography. Millimeter-order epoxy lattices with a diamond structure were designed to reflect electromagnetic waves by forming an electromagnetic bandgap in the GHz range. Titanium oxide-based ceramic particles were dispersed into the lattice to control the dielectric constant, resulting in the formation of narrow and deep bandgaps. Crystals of the inverse form that have a network of holes with the diamond structure in a dielectric matrix were successfully fabricated as well. These inverse diamond structures formed the perfect bandgap reflecting electromagnetic waves for all directions. The location of the bandgap agreed with the band calculation using the plane wave propagation method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]