Abstract. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of tadalafil (0.5, 2.5, and 10 mg /kg per day) on the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in early treatment and on the survival rate in late treatment on the monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH rat model. Tadalafil was administered once daily to rats for 3 weeks from the day of MCT-injection or 21 days after the injection. With early treatment, tadalafil at 10 mg/kg per day prevented the development of PAH by maintaining mean pulmonary artery pressure within the normal range and attenuated right ventricular hypertrophy. With late treatment, tadalafil tended to increase the partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood and dose-dependently improved the survival rate by 55%, 60%, and 70% at 0.5, 2.5, and 10 mg /kg per day, respectively, versus 40% in the MCTcontrol group. Both early and late treatments with tadalafil were associated with elevated lung cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). These results suggest that tadalafil relaxes pulmonary arteries by elevating cGMP in lungs and extend survival time by improving pulmonary hemodynamics even when treatment occurs in the late phase of PAH. Thus, it is expected that tadalafil may be an effective, once-daily treatment option in humans with PAH.

The changes in i.m. fat deposition in the principal muscles [M. semitendinosus, M. semimembranosus, M. psoas major, M. latissimus dorsi, LM (7th to 8th and 10th to 11th thoracic vertebrae), and M. supraspinatus] from 24 to 30 mo of age were investigated using identical twins of Japanese Black steers. Four sets of identical twins of Japanese Black steers were used in this study. Animals were fattened from 10 to 24 or 30 mo of age for each pair of identical twins. Body weights of twin steers slaughtered at 24 and at 30 mo of age were similar at 10 mo of age and thereafter up to 24 mo of age. The changes in serum concentration of vitamin A, glucose, total cholesterol, albumin, and total protein were similar in each pair of twins during the first fattening stage (10 to 24 mo). Fat contents of LM (7th to 8th thoracic vertebrae) at 24 and 30 mo of age were 37.0 and 42.4%, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, in the principal muscles, except M. semimembranosus and M. supraspinatus, fat content at 30 mo of age was greater than at 24 mo of age (P < 0.05). The proportional increase in fat content from 24 to 30 mo of age was greatest in M. semitendinosus (+58.7%) and least in M. supraspinatus (+6.1%). These results demonstrate that i.m. fat continues to increase after 24 mo of age, and the rates of i.m. fat deposition and the ages when i.m. fat is deposited are different for every muscle.

Regarding the fattening of younger cattle that the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recommends in Japan, this study looked at vitamin A control in feed and blood and its effect on performance of production and carcass composition of Wagyu steers. Five sets from 10 Wagyu artificial identical twins were divided to into 2 groups, a restricted group (Test) and a supplied group (Control). The body weight at the finishing time of the Test was significantly lower than that of the Control (p<0.05). The daily gain from 13 to 21 months old, as the animals in the Test were fed the concentrated feed without Vitamin A, was significantly different (p<0.05) between the Test and the Control. The total daily gains for the Test and the Control for the fattening period were 0.82 kg/day and 0.93 kg/day, respectively, which showed a significant difference (p<0.01). Regarding the rib thickness, the Test was thinner than the Control. The Beef Marbling Scores of the Test and Control were 3.60 and 2.80, respectively. The muscle weight of the Test was significantly smaller than that of the Control (p<0.01). However, regarding the ratio to the carcass, the Test was significantly higher than the Control (p<0.05). For the fat weight, the Test was smaller by about 15 kg than the Control (p<0.01). Furthermore, for the fat ratio to the carcass, the Test was significantly lower than the Control (p<0.05). The bone weights of the two groups were approximately the same. Regarding the ratio of bone to carcass, the Test was higher than the Control (p<0.01). For the younger fattening method, the low level vitamin A in the serum had the effect that the muscle ratio to the carcass weight was greater and the fat was less, but the carcass and muscle weight were less.

Understanding the overall features of magnetic excitation is essential for clarifying the mechanism of Cooper pair formation in iron-based superconductors. In particular, clarifying the relationship between magnetism and superconductivity is a central challenge because magnetism may play a key role in their exotic superconductivity. BaFe2As2 is one of ideal systems for such investigation because its superconductivity can be induced in several ways, allowing a comparative examination. Here we report a study on the spin fluctuations of the hole-overdoped iron-based superconductors Ba1-xKxFe2As2 (x = 0.5 and 1.0; Tc = 36 K and 3.4 K, respectively) over the entire Brillouin zone using inelastic neutron scattering. We find that their spin spectra consist of spin wave and chimney-like dispersions. The chimney-like dispersion can be attributed to the itinerant character of magnetism. The band width of the spin wave-like dispersion is almost constant from the non-doped to optimum-doped region, which is followed by a large reduction in the overdoped region. This suggests that the superconductivity is suppressed by the reduction of magnetic exchange couplings, indicating a strong relationship between magnetism and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

The effects of intramuscular fat on the sensory characteristics of M. longissimus dorsi in Japanese Black steers were investigated by a trained analytical panel (average 13.4 panelists). Five sets (10 head) of artificial identical twins were divided into 2 groups, high level of intramuscular fat group (HG) which utilized the fattening method of increasing intramuscular fat and low level of intramuscular fat group (LG) which did not use the above method. Regarding M. longissmus dorsi which was produced for use in the sensory evaluation, crude fat contents of HG and LG was 25.8% and 23.2% respectively (p<0.05). Warner-Bratzler shear force, water holding capacity, cooking loss and fatty acid composition of HG and LG were similar between the two groups. M. Longissimus dorsi taken from HG and LG were tested for their sensory characteristics by a trained panel. HG was given higher points for juiciness than LG (p<0.05). There were no significant differences for tenderness and flavor between the two groups. Overall acceptability which synthesized each of the sensory characteristics of HG and LG were 5.04 and 4.69 points respectively (p = 0.05). These results suggested that juiciness increased with the increase of intramuscular fat, and this raised the overall acceptability of M. longissimus dorsi.