Intrusion Mechanism of a Granite Batholith

The Yagyu batholith, which is placed in the northern margin of the Ryoke belt of the Central Kinki Province, Japan, is one of granite batholiths which intruded after the regional metamorphism and strong regional-tectonism in the Ryoke belt ceased. The intrusion mechanism of the southern half of Yagyu batholith has been analysed in this paper. It is a zoned pluton, whose mantle and core consist mainly of quartz diorite — granodiorite facies and of adamellite facies respectively, and forms a tongue-like shape jutting toward the south. The gneissosity develops concordantly with the shape of the batholith and the intensity tends to increase from its core toward its margin. The structural trends of wall rocks are generally parallel or subparallel to the batholith boundary, showing that the southern half of Yagyu batholith had forcefully intruded forming gneissosity and strongly deforming its wall rocks. Microtextures of constituent minerals (quartz and plagioclase) of the Yagyu batholith have been analysed. Quartz is recognized as two textural units, quartz grains and quartz pools: quartz grains as individual crystals distinguished from each other by high-angle boundaries, and quartz pools as individual domains occupied only or almost only by quartz grains and bounded mainly by other minerals than quartz. It has been clarified that quartz pools were commonly initially older single quartz grains as one of magmatic crystallization-induced microtextures and strongly elongated during the forceful intrusion of the batholith, and that quartz grains as constituents of quartz pools are secondary grains produced by dynamic recrystallization of older quartz grains related to the deformation which occurred after the emplacement of the batholith had been almost completely performed. Plagioclase also is recognized as two textural units, plagioclase grains and plagioclase pools: plagioclase grains as individual crystals distinguished from each other by distinct boundaries, and plagioclase pools as individual domains occupied only or almost only by plagioclase grains, showing euhedral outlines and single zonal structures of chemical composition. It has been pointed out that plagioclase grains (pl-grains) as constituents of plagioclase pools tend to increase in number but to decrease in size with increase of the intensity of development of gneissosity, showing that the formation of pl-grains is ascribed to the deformation related to the formation of gneissosity during the forceful intrusion of the batholith. The formation mechanism of pl-grains has been also briefly considered. And it has been concluded that, when the intrusion of the southern half of Yagyu batholith began, the lithofacies fractionation had already ceased and its mantle had already been almost completely consolidated

Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a malignant neoplasm derived from nonkeratinizing cells that originate from the basal layer of the epidermis and is the most frequent type of skin cancer in humans, with cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation as an important risk factor. BCC occurs most frequently at sun-exposed sites, with the head and neck being common areas. Tumors can be classified as nodular, superficial, morpheaform, infiltrating, metatypic, and fibroepithelioma of Pinkus. Several treatment options such as surgical excision and nonsurgical procedures are available. The choice of treatment should be determined based on the histological subtype of a lesion, cost, its size and location, patient age, medical condition of the patient, treatment availability, and the patient's wishes. The aim of any therapy selected for BCC treatment involving the head and neck is to ensure complete removal, the preservation of function, and a good cosmetic outcome

Utilizing the Effective Xanthophyll Cycle for Blooming of Ochromonas smithii and O. itoi (Chrysophyceae) on the Snow Surface

Snow algae inhabit unique environments such as alpine and high latitudes, and can grow and bloom with visualizing on snow or glacier during spring-summer. The chrysophytes Ochromonas smithii and Ochromonas itoi are dominant in yellow-colored snow patches in mountainous heavy snow areas from late May to early June. It is considered to be effective utilizing the xanthophyll cycle and holding sunscreen pigments as protective system for snow algae blooming in the vulnerable environment such as low temperature and nutrients, and strong light, however the study on the photoprotection of chrysophytes snow algae has not been shown. To dissolve how the chrysophytes snow algae can grow and bloom under such an extreme environment, we studied with the object of light which is one point of significance to this problem. We collected the yellow snows and measured photosynthetically active radiation at Mt. Gassan in May 2008 when the bloom occurred, then tried to establish unialgal cultures of O. smithii and O. itoi, and examined their photosynthetic properties by a PAM chlorophyll fluorometer and analyzed the pigment compositions before and after illumination with high-light intensities to investigate the working xanthophyll cycle. This experimental study using unialgal cultures revealed that both O. smithii and O. itoi utilize only the efficient violaxanthin cycle for photoprotection as a dissipation system of surplus energy under prolonged high-light stress, although they possess chlorophyll c with diadinoxanthin

Molecular characterization of Mybbp1a as a co-repressor on the Period2 promoter

The circadian clock comprises transcriptional feedback loops of clock genes. Cryptochromes are essential components of the negative feedback loop in mammals as they inhibit CLOCK-BMAL1-mediated transcription. We purified mouse CRY1 (mCRY1) protein complexes from Sarcoma 180 cells to determine their roles in circadian gene expression and discovered that Myb-binding protein 1a (Mybbp1a) interacts with mCRY1. Mybbp1a regulates various transcription factors, but its role in circadian gene expression is unknown. We found that Mybbp1a functions as a co-repressor of Per2 expression and repressed Per2 promoter activity in reporter assays. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed endogenous Mybbp1a binding to the Per2 promoter that temporally matched that of mCRY1. Furthermore, Mybbp1a binding to the Per2 promoter correlated with the start of the down-regulation of Per2 expression and with the dimethylation of histone H3 Lys9, to which it could also bind. These findings suggest that Mybbp1a and mCRY1 can form complexes on the Per2 promoter that function as negative regulators of Per2 expression

Linear Basal Cell Carcinoma in an Asian Patient

Linear basal cell carcinoma (BCC), which has a ratio of its long and short axes of more than 3: 1, is a distinct clinical entity among BCC. We report the first case report of a linear BCC in an Asian patient. An 87 year-old woman presented with an ulcerated black nodule, 15×5mm (3: 1), on her nasojungal fold of the right lower eyelid. The tumor was excised with 5 mm safety margin. The pathological examination confirmed the tumor was a BCC with a clear margin. Diagnosis of a linear BCC is based on its morphological features and occurrence along the wrinkle line, which needs to be also considered in Asian