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Presents a study that examined the effects of silicon (Si) and aluminum (Al) on magnetic properties of melt-spun neodymium-iron-boron base alloy permanent magnets. Effect of the addition of Si to the alloy; Effect of the addition of Si on Curie temperature; Effect of the combined addition of Si and Al on wheel surface velocity.

Thermodynamic and structural aspects on the solvation steric effect for yttrium(III) and lanthanide(III) ions in DMF, DMA and their mixtures will be reviewed. The yttrium(III) and lanthanide(III) ions form outer- and inner-sphere bromo complexes in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), respectively, and an equilibrium geometry is established in the mixture. This is ascribed to the solvation steric effect of DMA, i.e. the simultaneous coordination of bulky DMA molecules around the metal ion causes a severe steric hindrance among them, allowing replacement of the solvent molecule with the penetrating bromide ion into the first-coordination sphere. Solvation steric effects for the metal(III) ion bring about appreciable changes in the bond length and solvation number. The results from titration calorimetry, EXAFS, 89Y-NMR and titration Raman spectroscopy will be discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Purpose: This investigation aimed to establish the basis of a pharmacotherapy for nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth. Gingival overgrowth has been attributed to the enhanced growth of gingival fibroblasts. In this study, we investigated the effects of 18-α-glycyrrhetinic acid (18α-GA) on growth, the cell cycle, and apoptosis and on the regulators of these processes in gingival fibroblasts isolated from patients who presented with nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth.Experimental Approach: Gingival fibroblasts were cultured in medium containing 1% FBS with/without 10 μM 18α-GA for 24 or 48 h, and the cell number, cell cycle phase distribution, relative DNA content, apoptotic cell number and morphological characteristics of the cells undergoing apoptosis were measured together with the levels of proteins that regulate these processes and the level of caspase activity.Key Results: 18α-GA significantly decreased cell numbers and significantly increased the percentage of cells in the sub-G1 and G0 /G1 phases of the cell cycle and the number of apoptotic cells. Nuclear condensation and fragmentation of cells into small apoptotic bodies appeared in the fibroblasts treated with 18α-GA. In addition, 18α-GA significantly decreased the protein levels of cyclins A and D1, CDKs 2 and 6, phosphorylated Rb (ser(780) and ser(807/811)), Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 and increased the protein levels of p27, cytosolic cytochrome c, pro-caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3 and the activities of caspases 3 and 9.Conclusions and Implications: 18α-GA inhibited gingival fibroblast growth by suppressing the G1 /S phase transition and inducing apoptosis. In conclusion, 18α-GA may be used as a pharmacotherapy for nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors assessed the early antihypertensive efficacy of olmesartan medoxomil (OM) in a 12-week prospective observational study. Of 2221 patients with untreated hypertension who received OM (mainly 10 or 20 mg), 331 patients whose blood pressure (BP) was measured at 1 week after initiation of treatment were defined as the "early BP determination group,'' whereas the remaining 1890 patients were defined as the ;;standard BP determination group.'' Baseline characteristics, doses of OM, concomitant drugs used, and BP during treatment did not differ between the 2 groups. The achievement rate of BP target (<140/90 mm Hg) was 28.4% at 1 week in the early BP determination group and 28.3% at 2 weeks in the standard BP determination group (P=NS). Rates of adverse drug reactions in the 2 groups were similar. The present study suggests that OM is safe and effective in reducing BP at an early time point of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy and safety of the angiotensin receptor blocker olmesartan medoxomil (OLM) was assessed in 550 elderly Japanese hypertensive patients who were followed for 24 weeks in daily clinical practice. Patients were given OLM alone or in combination with other antihypertensive drugs at the discretion of the investigators. After 24 weeks of treatment, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) significantly decreased from baseline (P<.0001). When patients were classified as either young-old (65-74 years) or older-old (75 years and older), with either isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) or systolic-diastolic hypertension (SDH), the reduction of diastolic BP in ISH patients was significantly smaller than that in SDH patients (5.0 vs 15.2 mm Hg; P<.0001), indicating that OLM did not cause excessive reduction of diastolic BP in ISH patients. Treatment was well tolerated in all groups. In conclusion, the medication was safe and effective in reducing BP levels in ISH patients aged 75 years and older, as well as in other elderly hypertensive patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous study of glucose tolerance, plasma insulin levels were greatly elevated in genetically obese Wistar fatty rats but not lean rats fed a diet containing polyunsaturated fatty acids. In the present study, triacylglycerol-regulation of levels of circulating insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (7-36) (GLP-1) has been investigated in these rats. In the glucose tolerance test, the two plasma insulin peaks appeared in obese and lean rats intubated with glucose + corn oil, at 15- 30 min and 4 h, whereas only the first peak appeared in rats intubated with glucose alone, although the glucose response did not differ. After intubation of corn oil only, the insulin peak at 15 min was not detected but the peak at 4h was large. The two plasma GLP-1 peaks appeared 15 min and 4 h after intubation of glucose + corn oil similarly to the insulin responses, although the first peak was small and the second peak was very large. A small peak at 15 min was not significant in rats intubated glucose alone and no peak was seen at 4 h. The GLP-1 concentrations were significantly higher in the following order: portal vein > inferior vena cava > tail vein. The plasma GLP-1 increment in response to oral triacylglycerols was significantly higher in obese rats than in lean rats as was the insulin increment. Thus, oral triacylglycerols (possibly polyunsaturated) appeared to act at the gut lumen to stimulate GLP-1 secretion, which may be responsible for the second (4 h) insulin peak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An examination was conducted of the time courses of incorporation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) into lipids of plasma, liver and its nuclei, and the time courses of hepatic lipogenic enzyme gene expression after oral administration of perilla oil by a stomach tube to rats fed a fat-free diet. Linolenic acid, 18:3(n-3), and eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5(n-3), were considered indices of exogenous fatty acids. In total lipids of liver and its nuclei, linolenic acid was detected 1 h after the intubation, continued to increase during the first 4 h, then decreased and almost disappeared by 48 h. Eicosapentaenoic acid also increased within only 1 h of intubation, reached a maximum after 8 h and then gradually decreased. In contrast with the increase of exogenous PUFA, the mRNA concentrations of hepatic lipogenic enzymes began to decrease 2 h after the perilla oil intubation, were at a minimum at 8 h, and then increased. In another experiment to examine the effects of dietary perilla oil concentration on PUFA incorporation and gene expression, rats were given diets containing 0-10% perilla oil (supplemented with hydrogenated fat to 10% fat) for 3 d. Only 1% perilla oil elevated the exogenous PUFA concentrations in liver and its nuclei in comparison with concentrations in rats fed a hydrogenated fat diet. Perilla oil at 2% of the diet was sufficient to suppress lipogenic enzyme gene expressions, which were suppressed to the minimum level by 5% perilla oil in the diet. Thus, lipogenic enzyme gene expression was quickly suppressed by a small amount of exogenous PUFA, in contrast with the increase of PUFA incorporation into liver and its nuclei. Newly incorporated exogenous PUFA appear to be involved in suppression of lipogenic enzyme gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]